My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 113 I'm afraid you'll drown me?

Marseille was greatly alarmed by this, but he did not offer any advice.

Because Orondai had indeed gone too far, and if Yongzheng didn't kill him, the emperor would have no face to save.

Moreover, as a member of the Fourth Prince's faction and a staunch confidant of Yongzheng, he would naturally want to curry favor with Hongli for the sake of his future, but there was really no reason for him to offend the emperor by expressing goodwill for Orondai.

Marseille took the imperial edict and hurried to the Qianqing Gate.

"By imperial decree!"

“In the past, when the Emperor spoke of the faction formed by Orondai and others, he rebuked Orondai along the way, rebuking him for thirty li. However, the Emperor’s anger was not appeased. Yet Orondai was brazen and fearless, and had no love for the Emperor whatsoever.”

"When the Emperor was in Rehe, his health was not good. Ministers and guards all paid their respects and asked to see his face. However, Orondai did not pay his respects. Instead, he and the guards of Qianqing Gate played archery games every day, showing no respect or love for the emperor or father."

“Orondai was wicked and often offended the emperor. For example, when the emperor went hunting for deer, he listed all his crimes and ordered his fifth brother, a guard, to whip him. Then he ordered Orondai to go to the border to manage the post stations. When he arrived there, he did not comfort the people at the post stations. Instead, he ruined the post station affairs, which led to the deaths of the Mongols.”

"After ascending the throne, upon learning of the matter, considering that the emperor was related to his grandmother and father had died in battle, he could not bear to pursue the matter and bestowed upon him tens of thousands of gold coins as a special reward. He also showed great favor to the emperor's father and grandfather. However, Orondai showed no gratitude or desire to repay the emperor, and did not utter a word of thanks. Moreover, because the new emperor was not a member of his faction, he secretly slandered and spread rumors."

"Now there is an imperial edict with red ink, which is to be given to Arsona. Orondai is to deliver it. However, in front of everyone at the Qianqing Gate, Orondai threw the edict to the ground and tried his best to protect Arsona, admitting that he was guilty of a capital crime, and thought himself a hero."

Is there any reason for such stubbornness?

"This is tantamount to deceiving the emperor and showing utter disrespect!"

"If his crime is not clearly punished and he is severely executed, it will not be enough to maintain order in the court. He shall be handed over to the Ministry of Justice to be sentenced to death, and shall be taken to Caishikou for execution tomorrow. This is my decree!"

Under the bright sun, the Jinshui River shimmered, and the palace walls of Qianqing Gate gleamed.

Marsai, accompanied by his guards, arrived at Orondai's place and read the contents of the edict to Orondai, who was kneeling there.

Clearly, Yongzheng had already drafted most of this edict and had long been fed up with Orondai. He was just waiting for Orondai to run into his trap, otherwise he wouldn't have included so much content in the edict all at once.

Orondai was also shocked upon hearing this, his upper eyelids drooping high below his brow bone.

He never expected that Yongzheng would actually kill him, and he already had so much discontent.

Admittedly, he said he was willing to take the blame for Arsona's death, but in reality, he was just being arrogant and thought that this would intimidate Yongzheng.

After all, he had done the same thing in front of Emperor Kangxi before.

Not only was Orondai shocked, but the Manchu and Han officials in power in the inner court were also horrified.

Because Orondai was either a relative of the late emperor or a descendant of a meritorious Manchu official.

"This is utterly outrageous! Orondai is, after all, a relative of the late emperor, which is why the late emperor did not kill him. How can he be killed now!"

"I beg Your Majesty to pardon his death sentence!"

When the Grand Minister and member of the Imperial Clan, De Ning, who was on duty at the Jingyun Gate guard post, arrived and heard the decree, he expressed his dissatisfaction and immediately knelt down, shouting first.

Chang Ming, the chief steward of the Imperial Stables who had also come here, knelt down as well: "Your Majesty, please reconsider! Orondai is a man of the Upper Three Banners, he cannot be killed!"

for a while.

Many members of the imperial family, princes, and ministers knelt down upon hearing the news, crying out to heaven and earth outside the Qianqing Gate.

Hongshi soon learned of this matter and immediately came to Lao Ba's place: "Uncle Ba, I heard that Father Khan is going to execute Orondai?"

Lao Ba nodded solemnly.

"Nephew, should I plead for Orondai to win over the hearts of the princes and ministers?"

Hongshi asked a question.

The Eighth Prince waved his hand: "That's not advisable! If you go, you'll end up like your Eighth Uncle did back then. Not only will you not be understood, but you'll also be reprimanded by your Khan! Because your Khan, like the late Emperor, does not allow princes to try to win people's hearts by going against his wishes! That's a big taboo!"

Hongshi trembled upon hearing this.

Then, Hongshi nodded and said nothing more.

The eighth prince laughed and said, "It's good to let these princes and ministers fight with the fourth brother now. This way, the fourth brother will know how many people oppose his large-scale purge."

“When the eunuch He Yugui and the censor Qin Daoran were executed, we, the Eight Banners nobles, remained silent; later, when Wang Yan was put to death, we, the Eight Banners nobles, remained silent; but that doesn’t mean that we, the Eight Banners nobles, will remain silent now that he wants to kill Orondai!” Hongshi echoed, “What Uncle said is true. Orondai is of noble status. If Father Khan really wants to kill Orondai, even I, his nephew, find it unbelievable! Although he has always been arrogant and domineering, and Father Khan had repeatedly reprimanded him when he was alive, Father Khan never said he wanted to kill him.”

“You are not the only royal prince who thinks like this. Whether or not Orondai should be killed is never important to them. The key is whether or not they can be killed.”

“But, Hongshi, we absolutely cannot take the lead at this time.”

“Because once those princes and nobles start making trouble, your father will definitely suspect that I am stirring up trouble behind the scenes. At that time, he may also find out about you, and he will certainly not tolerate you.”

Lao Ba continued to give Hongshi instructions.

Hongshi looked up at the eighth uncle: "Eighth Uncle, I understand. I will not take the lead, so please rest assured."

Then, Hongshi asked Lao Ba, "But what should I do next, nephew?"

“Do nothing! Wait for the conflict to escalate, for them to become more uneasy, and for their calls for joint rule by the Eight Banners to grow louder, then push for a leader to take charge!”

Lao Ba said with a smile.

……

……

Many princes and ministers came to the Qianqing Gate upon hearing the news.

Yongzheng's cousin, Manchu General of the Plain White Banner, Beile Manduhu, Beile Abulan, the vanguard commander, and Grand Minister Leshheng, among others, all knelt down here.

Orondai glanced back at the princes and ministers who had come to plead for him, and a cold smile crept onto his lips.

He knew that his Manchu princes and ministers would not stand idly by and watch Yongzheng kill him.

However, Marse dared not disobey the Emperor's order, and ordered the guards to arrest Orondai and take him away.

"You treacherous officials, let me go!"

Orondai shouted in response.

"First he imprisoned the Ninth Brother, then he killed Grand Secretary Wang Yan, and now he wants to kill his cousin Orondai. What is the Emperor Fourth Brother trying to do? Does he really want to leave himself with a reputation for cruelty and meanness for all eternity?!"

After learning about this, Prince Yu, Baotai, rushed to Qianqing Gate and happened to meet Beile Sunu on the way, so he told Beile Sunu about it.

Because Baotai was Emperor Kangxi's nephew and was regarded as his own son by Emperor Kangxi, who made him call him "Khan Ama" (King Father), Baotai also addressed the Ninth Prince as "Ninth Brother". Moreover, he had always had a good relationship with the Eighth and Ninth Princes.

Sunu chimed in, "What Prince Yu said is true. Not only are they severely punishing embezzlement and profiting at the expense of the people, but now they are also killing members of the imperial family. This is shaking the foundation of the Qing Dynasty and is a chaotic government!"

"We cannot stand idly by and watch the Emperor do such an inhumane and ignorant thing! It will ruin the foundation of our Great Qing!"

Not long after, Baotai and Sunu knelt down after arriving at the Qianqing Gate, prostrating themselves before the palace gate and shouting, "Your Majesty, please show leniency and follow the example of the late Emperor! Do not hold this against us lowly subjects!"

Suddenly, dark clouds gathered above the Forbidden City, obscuring the sun and turning the sky as black as the large group of princes and ministers kneeling on the ground.

Yongzheng also learned about the many princes and ministers who had been waiting outside the Qianqing Gate.

The sixteenth prince, Yinlu, who was in charge of the Imperial Household Department, had already left the Imperial Household Department's duty room on the left side of the Qianqing Gate. He first came to the Yangxin Hall, met with Yongzheng, and told Yongzheng about the situation.

The sixteenth brother, who was inexperienced in the ways of the world, was seeing such a scene for the first time. In particular, he was quite flustered when he saw many of his elder brothers and cousins ​​pleading for mercy: "Fourth brother, what should we do now? My cousin Baotai has come. Should we forgive Orondai? If this continues, will our Manchu Eight Banners be thrown into chaos?"

"Why panic!"

"What kind of battles haven't I seen? Do you think I'm afraid they'll drown me?"

Yongzheng reprimanded his sixteenth brother, secretly sighing that his younger brother was still too young and inexperienced.

Before long, the thirteenth prince, Yinxiang, also arrived.

Like the sixteenth prince, he had direct access to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Upon arriving, the thirteenth prince went straight to the point and asked Yongzheng, "Fourth brother, are you really planning to kill Orondai? After you kill Orondai, do you plan to kill the eighth brother as well?"

(End of this chapter)