boyutpedia Chapter 283 Fang Nanxi's Transmigration to the Qing Dynasty 37
Chapter 283 Fang Nanxi's Transmigration to the Qing Dynasty 37
In the fourth year of Yongzheng's reign, Yinzhi saw that the struggle for the throne was irreversible and could only hope to rely on the next generation to help him seize power.
After regaining his senses, Yinzhi began to contact several princes from the previous dynasty. One of them was the emperor's third prince, Hongshi. Hongshi was foolish, and if Hongshi came to power, Yinzhi would gain even more benefits.
The fourth prince Hongxu, the fifth prince Hongxi, and the sixth prince Hongchen, who were involved in politics, formed their own faction and did not need Yinzhi's "help in their time of need".
After making the decision, Yun Si began to approach Hong Shi. As expected, Hong Shi was even more foolish than his elder brother. He was easily fooled and began to side with him.
However, his ninth and tenth brothers seemed to have severed ties with him, spending their days carrying out the tasks assigned to them by his fourth brother, acting like dutiful subjects.
"Hmph, back then we were brothers who would risk our lives for each other, but now things have changed." Yun Si sat solemnly in his chair.
Although he had gotten involved with Hongshi, Hongshi did not leave the palace to establish his own residence, and he was also imprisoned by the fourth prince, which was ultimately inconvenient. It would have been much easier if he had a few brothers to pass on messages, but when he sent a message to his ninth and tenth brothers, he did not expect them to refuse directly.
"It seems we still need to plan carefully," Yun Si sighed.
……
The previous dynasty was unpredictable, and the emperor had been slow to appoint his fourth son as crown prince, leaving Hongxu with the title of imperial grandson, which was neither legitimate nor proper.
Some ministers did submit memorials urging the emperor to establish a crown prince as soon as possible, but the emperor ignored them all.
Hongxu was steady and completed the tasks assigned by the Emperor perfectly. Hongshi was a little anxious. In recent months, Hongxu had seen Hongshi sneaking out of the palace several times.
Hongxu secretly sent someone to investigate and found out that Hongshi was going to meet with his twelfth uncle. The late emperor's twelfth son was low-key and was completely eliminated during the struggle for the throne. Unexpectedly, his twelfth uncle wanted to help his third brother.
"Does Your Highness wish to continue the investigation?" the kneeling eunuch replied respectfully.
Hongxu took the letter to the side of the candle and waited until it had completely burned out before slowly speaking: "No rush, Third Brother is no match for you."
His only rival was the Emperor. The Emperor did not recognize him and forced him to bear the title of Crown Prince. He was also forced to raise the son of Consort Dunsu. Although his mother said that his tenth brother was in poor health and would not survive, the ministers of the previous dynasty put a lot of pressure on him. If he could not become the Crown Prince and instead became the Emperor, he would definitely be punished by the future Emperor.
Fortunately, his fifth and sixth brothers had already entered the imperial court to help him, so he was no longer fighting alone.
Hongxu did not prevent Hongshi from leaving the palace to contact his twelfth uncle. Through his twelfth uncle's contact with Yunsi, the two formed an alliance.
In mid-June, Hongxu's primary consort, Niohuru Siyan, gave birth to his eldest son. The son appeared healthy and strong, putting Hongxu in a good mood. The emperor was also very happy to learn that he had his first grandson.
Since the miscarriage of Lady Tian, there has been no news from the inner quarters. Consort Qi is anxious. Her son is almost twenty-three years old this year and has not yet given birth to an heir. If she had known this would happen, Consort Qi has regretted more than once that she should have let Lady Tian give birth to a child.
Consort Qi filled Hongshi's harem with many women, and as expected, in September it was announced that Hongshi's concubine, Lady Zhong, was almost two months pregnant.
……
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Hongshi strengthened his ties with Yinzhi and frequently left the palace. Unbeknownst to Hongshi, his actions were being observed by the Emperor.
The Emperor looked at the message sent up from the Imperial Guard, which detailed how Hongshi, Yinzhi, and Yintao formed a clique and plotted to seize power.
The emperor swept the memorials off the table with a stern face, his hair standing on end in fury. Su Peisheng carefully served the emperor from his side.
I originally intended to spare Yinzhi's life, but I never expected him to be so treacherous, and my twelfth brother also joined in.
(This is the author's own interpretation and should not be confused with historical events.)
The Emperor ordered Su Peisheng to summon Hongshi. A short while later, Hongshi entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation, trembling, and knelt down, saying, "Greetings to Father Emperor, may Father Emperor enjoy ten thousand years of good fortune and peace."
The Emperor glanced at him, suppressing his anger, and said, "I am not necessarily your imperial father. You seem to be very dissatisfied with me as your imperial father."
"How dare I, Your Majesty? Has Father listened to someone's slander?" Hongshi glanced cautiously at the Emperor.
The Emperor threw the letter from the Imperial Registry to Hongshi, his face grim: "Slander? Take a good look at it yourself."
Hongshi was struck by the Emperor's letter. He quickly picked it up, glanced at it, and saw that it contained a record of all the conversations he had with his eighth and twelfth uncles.
"What else do you have to say?" The Emperor saw Hongshi bow his head and felt helpless. "My third son is foolish."
Seeing that his father already knew what he had done, Hongshi spoke up directly: "Since Father knows, he understands Eighth Uncle's innocence. He is now being suppressed by Father. Father should take care of the brotherhood. Fourteenth Uncle is Father's half-brother, yet he is imprisoned by Father."
The Emperor was so angry by Hongshi's words that his neck turned red. His son only knew how to listen to one side of the story. At the beginning of his reign, Yinzhi and Yinti led the way in causing trouble. He was merciful for not issuing an edict to behead them for each and every one of these incidents. Now, Hongshi was openly criticizing him.
"They were the ones who started the distortion of the truth back then, and now all I've done is imprison them, yet you dare to accuse me of making a mistake?" A ruthless glint flashed in the Emperor's eyes.
“That’s precisely why Father Emperor is so lenient. Your son has spoken with Uncle Eight on your behalf and understands that Uncle Eight is a man of great talent. Why doesn’t Father Emperor release Uncle Eight and Uncle Fourteen so that they can govern the court together?” Hongshi continued his foolish remarks.
"Very well, very well. Since you think Yinzhi is a great talent, then go and become Yinzhi's son." The Emperor suddenly spoke.
Upon hearing this, Hongshi was dumbfounded. He wanted his eighth uncle to help him, but he didn't want to become his eighth uncle's son. Besides, he wasn't the emperor's son, so what was the point of his efforts to win over the court officials?
"Father, why are you so stubborn?" Hongshi shouted directly.
The Emperor did not want to see Hongshi again, so he ordered Su Peisheng to take men and escort Hongshi back to the Princes' quarters.
After dealing with all of this, the Emperor sat heavily in his chair, his face gloomy and his eyes full of anger. Yinzhi had caused him to lose another son.
In the afternoon, the Emperor issued an edict to adopt the Third Prince Hongshi to Yinzhi, stripped Yinzhi of his title, and demoted Yinzhi to Duke of Zhenguo.
After receiving the news, Fang Nanxi ate an extra bowl of rice at dinner and had a small drink, sighing, "Although it differs a bit from history, I didn't expect that the Third Prince would still be adopted out."