Getting Rich from Legend of Zhen Huan

Ever since the Empress Dowager spoke to Kangxi that day, her health began to deteriorate rapidly, and the joint diagnosis and treatment of the entire Imperial Hospital came to only one result - just to get through the day.

Of course, Kangxi was unwilling to accept this judgment, but he was only an emperor and had no right to interfere in life and death.

On this day, Kangxi felt uneasy as soon as he got up. He sent someone to ask about the Ningshou Palace, and the person said there was nothing unusual. Kangxi could only go to the morning court with some trepidation. After the court, he went to the Ningshou Palace without staying for a moment.

The closer they got to the Ningshou Palace, the more uneasy Kangxi felt. He kept urging the eunuchs carrying the sedan chair to speed up. By the time they arrived at the Ningshou Palace, the servants who had come with him were already out of breath.

Kangxi quickened his pace and entered the Ningshou Palace. The Fifth Princess came out to greet him with red eyes, "Father, the Royal Madam woke up early today, stood up and walked a few steps, and ordered breakfast, saying that she wanted mutton and milk tea. She drank three bowls before she stopped. Now she is lying in bed waiting for Father!"

Kangxi's heart sank. Just as he was about to continue walking inside, he heard a commotion, "Imperial Physician! Imperial Physician! The Empress Dowager has fainted!"

Kangxi felt dizzy again after hearing these words, but he could no longer care about himself. He stumbled to his knees beside the Queen Mother's bed, holding her hand and calling out, "Mother, I am here."

The Queen Mother heard Kangxi's voice and forced herself to open her eyes and look at him. She wanted to open her mouth, but after trying for a long time she still couldn't make a sound. She could only shake Kangxi's hand in response.

The Queen Mother thought that everything was arranged and there was nothing to worry about, but when the moment of departure came, she still felt reluctant, and finally she could only condense into one sentence that she couldn't say, "Xuan Ye, don't cry."

The fifth princess heard the silence inside and was afraid that something might happen to Kangxi, so she called out softly, "Father Emperor..."

"Come in!" Kangxi's weak voice came.

When the Fifth Princess and Liang Jiugong walked in, they saw Kangxi with his hair loose and short. He had performed the ritual of cutting his braid (cutting his braid was originally only used for the emperor's funeral to express grief. Kangxi cut his braid once when Shunzhi and Xiaozhuang died). On the sixth day of the twelfth month, the Empress Dowager Renxian died!

"Royal Mama!" The fifth princess burst into tears.

People inside and outside the palace were busy, hanging white cloth everywhere, changing into mourning clothes, preparing to cry for the dead.

There was less than a month until the new year, but with the Queen Mother's death, how could Kangxi be in the mood to prepare for the New Year's gifts? This year was particularly quiet.

In the first month of the fifty-seventh year, the cabinet ministers reported to the emperor to decide on the posthumous title of Empress Xiaohui Zhang. Li Guangdi actually omitted the three characters "Empress Zhang" in his memorial, and the Ministry of Personnel decided to demote Li Guangdi by three ranks. Seeing Li Guangdi almost kneeling down to plead guilty, Kangxi issued an order to pardon him.

Kangxi could understand Li Guangdi. After the empress dowager passed away, Kangxi's rheumatism worsened. He was now a little dizzy and could not see the handwriting clearly. He often made omissions in what he wrote. It was probably the same for Jin Qing.

But as I said, when it comes to a matter of life and death, the emperor may be able to kill someone in an instant, but he cannot save the life from passing away.

On May 28, Li Guangdi died at his post due to a sudden onset of hernia at the age of 77.

When Kangxi received the news, he was shocked and asked, "Jin Qing has always taken good care of himself, how could something go wrong?"

Liang Jiugong said embarrassedly, "Lord Li suddenly suffered a hernia, and the doctor didn't have time to treat him." Li Guangdi thought it was just some pain in his abdomen, perhaps because he didn't eat well. As people get older, they are prone to illnesses, so he didn't take it seriously at all.

Fearing that Kangxi could not bear the stimulation, Hongxi and Honghui, who often followed Kangxi, could not help but speak out, "Huang Ma Fa."

Kangxi was silent for a moment, then ordered, "Order Prince Heng to express condolences on my behalf, reward me with a thousand taels of gold, and choose the posthumous title of 'Wenzhen'." Jin Qing also left, and I was the only one left.

After giving the order, Kangxi continued to talk to Hongxi and Hongshi about the campaign to expel the Dzungar Khan Tsewang Arabtan, who was entrenched in Tibet, which took place this year in Tibet. "Nian Gengyao is indeed a talented person. I sent him to guard Shu and provide logistical supplies for the expeditionary army. He has done a great job."

Unable to figure out Kangxi's intention, Hongxi and Honghui looked at each other and could only continue with the previous topic.

Honghui knew Nian Gengyao too well. Even if he didn't know, the concubine Nian in Prince Yong's mansion would let everyone, even the passing dogs, know. He accidentally heard Aunt Jianqiu complain that Nian Shilan felt very proud and even said that compared with Yixiu, the only thing she lacked was an heir.

Hongxi noticed that Honghui was distracted and covered for him. Kangxi saw that the two children were not paying attention, so he stopped explaining and let them go about their own business.

Honghui and Hongxi walked out of the Qianqing Palace. Hongxi pretended to be casual and reminded them, "Nian Gengyao is arrogant and I heard that he is not very close to Prince Yong. You should be careful that he may rebel."

Honghui didn't expect Hongxi to say this, but he still smiled and thanked him, "Thank you for your reminder, I will let my father know."

Hongxi snorted. If the Fourth Prince and Honghui had not been taking care of the imprisoned deposed prince's family, Hongxi would not have had such kind intentions.

Honghui watched Hongxi walk away, then left with a frown.

Nian Gengyao was indeed arrogant enough that this year he even received a letter from the Fourth Prince scolding him.

In the letter, the Fourth Prince accused Nian Gengyao of only referring to his title instead of calling himself "servant" when signing his letters to him, and that he did not change his ways despite repeated admonitions. On the occasion of his mother, Concubine Defei Uya's 60th birthday and his son Honghui's wedding, Nian Gengyao not only did not send any gifts, he did not even write a letter of congratulations, showing no respect at all for the master and the servant.

In addition, the case of Meng Guangzu and the sinister statement in a letter Nian Gengyao wrote to himself in the past, "If I don't let the emperor down today, I won't let the prince down in the future," were mentioned.

Meng Guangzu was the eunuch of the Third Prince. Following the Third Prince's orders, he bribed local officials. Nian Gengyao was not spared. It was not until the 55th year that the Governor-General of Zhili, Zhao Hongxie, learned about it and reported it to Emperor Kangxi. Emperor Kangxi was furious and Nian Gengyao was dismissed but retained. However, Emperor Kangxi still protected the Third Prince, saying that Meng Guangzu was just a liar and was not a disciple of the Third Prince at all, and that the Third Prince was unaware of the matter.

Finally, he asked Nian Gengyao to send all his sons, brothers and nephews who were over ten years old to the capital to serve Nian Xialing. Nian Gengyao followed Yinzhen's instructions and sent all his adult sons and nephews to the capital. He also wrote back to explain that he was playing a double act with the fourth prince in order to win Kangxi's trust.

Two people who are in tune with each other are called double-acting. Nian Gengyao neither told the Fourth Prince in advance nor asked someone close to him to convey it privately. What kind of double-act is this? But in order to win over Nian Gengyao, the Fourth Prince had no choice but to accept it.