My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 93 The Fourteenth Prince Chooses to Stand with Hongli

"Fourteenth Uncle, please don't be angry. I only dared to tell you these secrets because I saw that you were also angry about Ninth Uncle being imprisoned in Jingling."

Hongshi was taken aback, but he hurriedly began to explain with a look of panic.

The fourteenth prince dismissed Hongshi and said only, "I won't say these things to Hongli, but next time, if you try to use your fourteenth uncle like a fool, it won't be so simple."

"Your nephew wouldn't dare."

Hongshi breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, he couldn't hide his disappointment.

The fourteenth prince chuckled and then seized the opportunity to come to Hongli's place.

Hongli was burning incense and praying for Empress Dowager Renshou in a Buddhist hall, just as Yintao had instructed him.

When Hongli saw that the fourteenth prince had arrived, he hurriedly bowed and paid his respects.

After the fourteenth prince helped him to his feet, he sat on the prayer mat to Hongli's left and asked him, "I heard that your ninth uncle was imprisoned in Jingling. Was that your doing?"

Hongli looked at the fourteenth prince with curiosity: "Uncle Fourteen, who told you that?"

"Don't worry about it."

The fourteenth prince replied.

Hongli had already guessed who it was, and simply smiled and said:

“There’s no way around it. My nephew can’t possibly keep anything from his father. It’s the duty of a subject to his ruler, and also the duty of a father to his son.”

"Just like how Uncle Fourteen never kept anything from Hammafa, that's why he bluntly said that Longkodo could only be a general who defended the city!"

The fourteenth prince hadn't expected Hongli to say that, but he admired Hongli's courage and smiled, saying, "You're right."

Then, the fourteenth prince looked at Hongli, frowned, and asked, "But from what you're saying, it sounds like you're mocking your fourteenth uncle for being brainless and not understanding the late emperor's profound meaning at the time?"

"You misunderstood."

Hongli replied.

The fourteenth prince immediately said, "I have no misunderstanding!"

Then, the fourteenth prince added, "But Longkodo is indeed only fit to be a general who defends the city! Even if I could do it all over again, I would still say the same thing. As the Grand General of Pacification, I still have to be responsible for the Qing Dynasty!"

Hongli knew that the fourteenth prince was saying this to him to let him know that he was not someone who disregarded the overall situation.

Hongli also expressed his belief and nodded repeatedly: "Nephew believes that what Fourteenth Uncle said is true. As for Ninth Uncle's matter, I hope that Fourteenth Uncle will not blame Father. He had no choice but to do it for the sake of the Qing Dynasty."

The fourteenth prince fell silent.

After a while, the fourteenth prince looked at Hongli and said with a solemn expression, "Although Haili is controlled by your ninth uncle, it is not only your ninth uncle who benefits from it, but also many princes and ministers!"

"Therefore, if Fourth Brother were to bring Haili under state control today, it would make life difficult for many princes and ministers."

"Leaving aside others, just look at your third brother, Hongshi. Do you know how much benefit he receives from your ninth uncle every year?"

The fourteenth prince patted Hongli on the shoulder and said, "Be careful of him! Also, tell your father what I said, and tell him to be careful too!"

“I don’t care, it just means less spending, but other princes and ministers will inevitably harbor resentment because of this.”

After saying that, the fourteenth brother left.

Hongli smiled slightly.

He didn't care what the princes and ministers thought of Yongzheng.

He didn't care how much Hongshi would be affected by this.

But Hongli knew that the fourteenth prince wouldn't have brought up Hongshi without a reason.

It was clear that Lao Jiu's situation had indeed affected Hong Shi's life, and it also made him blame himself for Lao Jiu's confinement.

However, Hongli didn't care about Hongshi.

There is no other reason.

If he remembered correctly, historically, Hongshi was to be adopted by Yongzheng to the eighth prince, Yinzhi, as early as the fourth year of Yongzheng's reign.

At that time, Hongshi had nowhere to even cry.

Of course, aside from someone like Hongli who knew the course of history, most people in his time would probably find it hard to imagine that Yongzheng would be so hard-hearted as to disown his own son. Hongshi himself probably didn't expect it either.

Because you should know that Yinzhi had his own son, Hongwang.

Moreover, Hongwang lived into the Qianlong era.

It is evident that when Yongzheng adopted Hongshi to Yinsi, it was purely to deny Hongshi himself, to disown him as a son in terms of legal lineage, to strip him of his princely status, and to completely eliminate Hongshi's hope of vying for the throne.

In addition, not long after Hongshi was adopted by Lao Ba, he fell ill due to depression and died.

This also shows that Hongshi himself really didn't expect it, so he couldn't bear such a blow.

What Hongli is curious about now is how Hongshi will feel when he learns that he has been adopted by the Eighth Prince.

Meanwhile, after being warned by the fourteenth prince, Hongshi felt disappointed and somewhat disheartened.

He didn't understand why the Fourteenth Prince wasn't angry about knowing that the Ninth Prince's confinement was related to Hongli.

This was mainly because he did not live in the inner palace and was unaware of the fact that Hongli had made empty promises to Empress Dowager Renshou and the fourteenth prince in the past.

The reason why Hongshi is now disheartened is that he has neither won Yongzheng's favor nor made his closest and most respected uncle, the Fourteenth Prince, resent Hongli because of the Ninth Prince's affair, and thus become more willing to support him.

The key point is that the fourth and fourteenth brothers said almost the same things to lecture him.

This made Hongshi himself doubt himself, wondering if he was really too arrogant usually.
"Hongshi, why are you standing here in a daze, seemingly lost in thought?"

The eighth prince approached Hongshi at some point. Seeing Hongshi standing motionless in the pond in the back garden of Ningshou Palace, he smiled and asked him a question.

After bowing to the Eighth Prince, Hongshi said to him:
“I don’t have any particular reason, but I just feel that I am indeed inferior to Hongli in every way. I’m afraid that many people really think that Khan Mafa passed the throne to Khan Ama because of Hongli.”

After hearing this, Lao Ba smiled and said, "Hongshi, you don't need to belittle yourself. Hongli is indeed clever and talented, but you also have advantages that he doesn't have."

"Uncle, please don't try to comfort your nephew!"

“Look, he’s already a prince, but I, the de facto eldest son, don’t even have a title!”

“I dare not blame my father for being biased, but this also shows that I am not worth mentioning in his heart.”

“I have tried my best to change Khan’s opinion of me and to win people’s hearts, but things have always gone against my wishes, and Khan has instead made me think that I am arrogant.”

As Hongshi finished speaking, he looked at the dark clouds filling the sky, his expression somewhat forlorn.

The eighth brother put his hands behind his back and said to Hongshi, "This world has always been ruled not by the talented, but by the virtuous. What is virtue? It is the ability to gain the respect of the people!"

At this point, Hongshi looked at Lao Ba and said with a smirk, "Nephew can hardly be considered virtuous."

Just because you lack virtue now doesn't mean you won't have virtue in the future!

Lao Ba said another thing.

Hongshi was surprised that the Eighth Prince still valued him so much, and looked at the Eighth Prince with some confusion: "Eighth Uncle, what do you mean by that?"

The eighth brother stopped hiding his true intentions and said with a smile, "Hongshi, your eighth uncle admits you're right. Hongli is indeed more intelligent than you! He also knows how to build up his reputation! So, why did he take the initiative to bring your fourteenth uncle back to the capital and help your tenth uncle pay off his debts?"

"The purpose was to make more and more princes and ministers believe that he was the late emperor's favorite grandson, and that the late emperor passed the throne to his fourth brother, regardless of the fact that his fourth brother was nearly fifty years old, because of him."

When Lao Ba got to this point, Hong Shi nodded, gave a bitter laugh, and said, "That's why I said I feel I'm not as good as Hong Li. He is indeed very admirable."

"However, he certainly cannot uphold ancestral rules and accept the joint governance of the Eight Banners leaders!"

Lao Ba suddenly looked at Hong Shi with a serious expression.

Hongshi also sat up straight.

He seemed to understand the deeper meaning behind Lao Ba's words, but he still took the initiative to ask, "Uncle Ba, what do you mean?"

Lao Ba continued, "Because he's too clever. Even if he says he's willing, the Eight Banners leaders won't believe him."

"On the contrary, it's you, Hongshi! If you think this way and support the Eight Banners discussing national policies together, then the banner leaders will be willing to trust you. So, now it depends on whether you can accept following the ancestral system in the future and sharing the world with the banner leaders!"

"If you're willing, you might still have a chance to become the top official."

"Even if you don't win your father's favor, at least the princes and ministers of the court favor you, and there are even Han Chinese officials. Most of them don't actually want the emperor of our Great Qing to rule alone, even if they can't participate in the decision-making of banner affairs."

(End of this chapter)