Chapter 57 Chapter 57 Wen Shan quickly discovered that

ever since she and Yinzhen discussed future events, the three of them had become even busier. They'd gather every day for discussions lasting an hour or two, then disappear from view the rest of the day.

Wen Shan didn't bother them, only occasionally filling them in on the historical developments of later times, and each time, she succeeded in making the three of them furious.

One day, Tong Guowei was in the Shangshufang, conferring with Ma Qi, Suo Etu, and the others, and preparing to leave the palace for their residence when they were suddenly stopped by a young eunuch.

"Master Tong, our master has something to discuss with you."

Tong Guowei calmly assessed the young eunuch. Judging from his attire, he wasn't a low-ranking eunuch, but he had certainly never seen one before.

However, in the palace, the only people who could claim to be masters were either the princes or the concubines.

The concubines wouldn't easily meet outsiders, so it was most likely one of the princes.

Tong Guowei stroked his beard and asked, "Excuse me, which prince has summoned me?"

The young eunuch simply bowed and replied, "Your Excellency will know when you arrive. Please follow me."

Tong Guowei had expected the eldest prince or the crown prince to meet him, but after following the eunuch through several side streets and into a secluded palace behind the Ganxi Wusuo, he was met with a different person than he had anticipated.

"This old minister greets the eighth prince."

Yinsi stood with his hands behind his back, awaiting Tong Guowei's arrival. Upon seeing him arrive, he signaled to Xiao Shunzi, who, understanding his intention, went out to guard the palace.

Tong Guowei had assumed that anyone who dared to intercept him in the palace would have to be one of the crown prince or the eldest prince. After all, if they lacked control over the harem, how could they dare to stop him in the street and bring him here?

Otherwise, the emperor would know the moment he entered.

Yinsi was alone in the room. He smiled faintly and said, "Master Tong, please rise and take a seat."

Tea was already on the table, but Tong Guowei had no desire to drink.

He felt a certain anxiety, worried that the Eighth Prince's recklessness would get out and implicate him.

He regretted his rashness.

Yinsi had been dealing with Tong Guowei for many years and knew the old fox well enough to know his thoughts.

"Don't worry, Master Tong, I've arranged everything. What I say to you today will never be known to anyone else."

Tong Guowei was a little startled. He didn't know much about the Eighth Prince, mainly because he was almost ten years younger than the eldest. Although there had been rumors in recent years that the Eighth Prince was clever and the Emperor loved him, he was still too young, and few people expected him to achieve anything.

But today, upon meeting Yinsi and Tong Guowei, he immediately understood that the Eighth Prince was indeed not to be judged by ordinary standards.

"I wonder what the Eighth Prince has summoned me for?" Tong Guowei sat down and began to wonder what Yinsi had come to him about.

Yinsi took a sip of tea, pulled an envelope from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and gently pushed it towards Tong Guowei.

"Master Tong, please take a look at this letter first."

Tong Guowei picked up the letter. The envelope was blank, and he couldn't tell anything. He took out the letter and read only two lines before his eyes suddenly widened.

"Eighth Prince, this is..."

Yinsi smiled gently, "No one else has seen anything here except me."

"Longkodo is quite diligent in his work with the Emperor, but this obsession..." Yinsi shook his head. "Being too obsessive will only harm others and himself."

Tong Guowei felt a chill in his heart as he read the letter detailing Longkodo's interactions with the eldest prince.

If the Emperor knew about this...

"Lord Tong has served in the government for many years and is a royal relative. I could

n't bear to see Longkodo stray into a wrong path and bring disaster upon the entire Tong family, so I gave Lord Tong a heads-up," Yinsi continued. Yinsi's attitude wasn't coercive or cajoling, but rather a desire to cultivate a good relationship with Tong Jia. Tong Guowei, with his years of experience in the officialdom, naturally understood Yinsi's intentions immediately. Furthermore,

Tong Guowei couldn't help but be astonished by the intelligence of the Eighth Prince, who had just turned ten. His access to these records proved that the Eighth Prince had secretly cultivated connections not only within the harem and the

Emperor's entourage, but also within the previous court. The Crown Prince and the Eldest Prince couldn't even begin to match his abilities.

"Thank you, Eighth Prince. When I return, I will strictly discipline this rebellious son. I am deeply grateful for your kindness today."

Tong Guowei bowed deeply to Yinsi, who hurriedly helped him to his feet.

"Master Tong, you're being too formal. It's getting late, so I'll send someone to escort you out of the palace."

Yinsi stopped short, not mentioning his intention to win over Tong Guowei, and Tong Guowei didn't mention future interactions. Both sides concluded the meeting with a single word. As soon as

Tong Guowei left, Yinzhen and Yinxiang emerged from the back.

"Eighth Brother is such a liar these days! He's blushing just hearing things like, 'No one knows,'" Yinxiang quipped.

Yinsi dismissed the idea, saying, "I didn't swear anything. Whether you believe me or not is up to Tong Guowei."

Originally, Yinzhen and the others had planned to cultivate Longkodo, a corrupted scoundrel, to one day use him to overthrow the eldest prince. However, after learning about the events of later generations from Wenshan, their minds had changed. They could no longer focus solely on the succession. More importantly, the future development of the Qing Dynasty required the recruitment of more learned, capable, and loyal officials. It was best to deal with those with ill intentions as soon as possible.

Secondly, Empress Tongjia had devoted herself to Yinzhen's plans before her death, and because of her, Yinzhen inevitably felt a certain softness towards her brother. So, the three of them decided to have Tong Guowei take care of Longkodo's son before he committed any outrageous acts, thus avoiding future trouble. Furthermore, Tong

Guowei was an old acquaintance of Yinsi's, and if Yinsi were to reveal his ambitions to seize the throne, he would be the first person he would seek to win over. The two considered this a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Ever

since Longkodo learned that the emperor had only personally appointed the eldest prince to accompany him, he began to walk with a certain air of confidence.

Returning to the Tong residence from his shift, he was in high spirits, humming a little tune until the housekeeper stopped him.

"Third Young Master, the master is waiting for you in the study. He told you to come as soon as you return,"

the housekeeper said with a smile, accepting Longkodo's official hat.

"Father is looking for me?" Longkodo followed the housekeeper to the study and asked, "Does Housekeeper Wu know what it is?"

Longkodo was still a little afraid of his always strict father.

He always felt that calling him over was not to praise him.

Housekeeper Wu bowed his body and said with a very respectful smile, "This servant doesn't know. The master went into the study as soon as he came back and didn't ask anyone to serve him."

Longkodo nodded thoughtfully. When he arrived at the door of the study and was about to go in, he said casually, "Today is Laba Festival. The emperor has given Laba porridge as a reward. The eunuchs will deliver it later. You can tell my mother to go and greet her."

The Tonggiya clan was the emperor's maternal family and they were constantly rewarded during the New Year, so Housekeeper Wu didn't suspect anything and just nodded in agreement.

Longkodo straightened his clothes and knocked on the closed red door.

"Father, your son is here."

Tong Guowei's deep voice soon echoed from inside: "Come in."

It sounded like any other day.

Longkodo pushed the door open and saw Tong Guowei at his desk reviewing official documents.

"Father, is there something you want me to come with? If it's nothing important, I'll go and pay my respects to Mother first,"

Longkodo said with a smile.

Longkodo and Empress Tongjia were siblings. After Empress Tongjia's death, Mother Tong was devastated and bedridden for months before recovering. Now she's just able to walk. If anyone in the Tong family could control Tong Guowei, it was Mother Tong. After all,

her daughter had just passed away, and Tong Guowei couldn't do anything to her, emotionally or logically. As

soon as Longkodo mentioned his mother, Tong Guowei knew what he was up to. He raised his sleeves and continued reviewing documents, not even glancing at him.

"What? Have you done something wrong and are you feeling guilty?"

Longkodo quickly smiled. "How could that be? As a son serving the Emperor, I always remember my father's teachings and must be cautious and careful not to make a single mistake."

"You still remember you're serving the Emperor?" Tong Guowei slammed his pen down, glaring at him grimly. "What do you mean by cautious and careful not to make a single mistake? I think you're just about to bully me!"

Longkodo thought to himself, "Oh no! Father's fury must be serious. "

Sure enough, Tong Guowei then tossed a secret letter in front of him.

"Open it yourself."

Longkodo picked it up, read a few lines, and his face paled.

"How dare you approach the eldest prince now? You've got the audacity to reveal the emperor's whereabouts to him. Do you know this is a capital offense?"

The secret letter contained a detailed account of his and the eldest prince's recent private interactions, detailing every moment, location, and even the words exchanged.

"Father, I..." Although Longkodo spoke with great ambition, he also knew that if what he was doing was exposed, even Tong Guowei would be unable to protect him.

"How dare you!"

Longkodo slammed the table with a deafening roar, and fell to his knees.

"Father, I'm just looking for a wise leader..."

Tong Guowei interrupted him harshly, "You're still talking nonsense. The current emperor is a wise leader. Who else are you looking for?"

Longkodo finally calmed down and understood. He was no longer as scared as before. Since the secret letter had been delivered to Father, it had been suppressed. It was nothing serious.

"Father, my sister died young and left no prince. If we, the Tonggiya clan, want to prosper for generations, we must choose the right person to follow us."

Tong Guowei was so angry that he laughed: "I haven't even thought about these things yet, and you're already planning for the Tonggiya clan. Are you the Prime Minister or am I?"

"Now, of course, Father is the Prime Minister, but in the future, the Tonggiya clan will have to rely on his sons to bring glory to the family."

Longkodo's words really touched Tong Guowei's heart. Although he had several sons, except for Longkodo, none of them were talented enough to achieve anything significant. That's why he sent Longkodo to the emperor as a first-class guard to pave his official career. This was equivalent to announcing to the public that Longkodo was the next leader of the Tonggiya clan.

Kangxi was naturally aware of Tong Guowei's thoughts. His favor for Longkodo was already a tacit consent to the transfer of power in the Tonggiya clan.

"Then you have to choose the right person, the right tree, or you'll end up falling to the ground, leaving nothing but a corpse." Tong Guowei rubbed his forehead and waved. "Get up first."

Longkodo swiftly climbed from the ground and poured Tong Guowei a cup of tea.

"Father, where did this letter come from?"

What mattered now was who had been monitoring his movements and knew so much about them. The thought of someone spying in the dark made his scalp tingle.

"You don't need to know who it was." Tong Guowei glared at him. "All you need to know is that the fact this letter appeared here, not on the Emperor's desk, means your life has been spared!"

"Starting tomorrow, I'll cut off all ties with the eldest prince. If someone can deliver this letter to me today, who knows if the Emperor will find out about this someday."

Longkodo gritted his teeth, unwilling to give up. After all, he had been working with the eldest prince for over a year and was becoming the man he relied on most.

"Father, aren't you also not optimistic about the crown prince? Then we have to choose another one from among the princes, right?" Longkodo tried to persuade Tong Guowei to join him in supporting the eldest prince.

Tong Guowei had indeed not sided with the crown prince. It wasn't just that many of the Manchu military nobles in his court didn't support him. The reason had nothing to do with the crown prince's character or ability, but rather that from the moment he was enthroned, he had a natural antagonism towards these princes and ministers, who were military nobles from outside the Great Wall.

The crown prince was enthroned before he was even a year old because of circumstances. During the Three Feudatories Rebellion, Wu Sangui's power was immense and he had already begun to rebel. To consolidate Han power, Emperor Kangxi, in accordance with Han tradition, appointed his eldest son as crown prince to stabilize the government

. However, the Manchus had always disregarded the concept of primogeniture. Every Qing emperor, including Kangxi, had been chosen by the Manchu military nobles through the Eight Princes Council. In their view, only the crown prince thus chosen was the legitimate heir. The idea of primogeniture was a Han custom, not something they, the Manchus, had anything to do with.

Therefore, the enthronement of the crown prince itself represented Kangxi's weakening of the interests of these Manchu princes, and naturally no one was happy.

Furthermore, the crown prince was inherently arrogant, not only towards his brothers but also towards his ministers. As the other princes grew older, more people would consider supporting other princes.

Having said that, Tong Guowei, seeing his son had grown up and had his own thoughts, rarely spoke to him.

"You are right. There are many people in the court who are not optimistic about the prince, but few are as eager as you to place a bet at this time, or to bet their lives."

"Just look at Mingzhu and you will know. You don't really think that the emperor dismissed Mingzhu just because he accepted bribes and sold official positions, but because he instigated factional disputes among the princes and stirred up trouble!"

Longkodo was not convinced and said, "That was because Mingzhu was careless. Father, you know, the emperor is about to lead the army in person and only ordered the eldest prince to accompany him. As long as the eldest prince has military merits in the expedition against Galdan, he will overshadow the prince. No matter how you look at it, he is the most promising one among the princes."

Tong Guowei got angry when he saw Longkodo with his neck stiff and a foolish look.

"You are so blind. Why did you choose the eldest prince? What? You also want to be a palace gate guard?"

Longkodo was scolded by Tong Guowei and couldn't raise his head. He looked up quietly and asked: "Then father, you mean that the eldest prince can't make it, and you have other candidates in mind?"

Longkodo thought for a moment and asked: "Could it be the fourth prince or the eighth prince?"

The fourth prince was the only one among the princes who had some connection with their Tonggiya clan. After all, his sister raised him for several years. In recent years, the reputation of the eighth prince for his virtue and humility has spread more and more. The emperor also likes him. He is also an outstanding prince.

"Don't ask questions now. Be honest and go back to your room to reflect on yourself!"

Tong Guowei said with his hands behind his back: "Tomorrow I will submit a petition for leave on your behalf, saying that you have an acute illness and need to rest for a month."

"Father, how can I ask for leave now when we are about to go to the battle!" Longkodo was anxious.

But Tong Guowei had someone come and forcibly drag him back to the house.

Mrs. Tong happened to rush over at this time, and she got anxious when she saw her son being held down.

"What are you doing? Let the young master go!"

Tong Guowei closed his eyes, feeling that his head was about to explode.

"Madam, why are you here?"

Mrs. Tong Jia ignored him, and just pushed away the servants who were holding Longkodo, hugged Longkodo and glared at him: "What are you doing? Why are you tying up your own son?"

Tong Guowei sighed and looked at Longkodo: "If you still have a little filial piety, don't let your mother worry about it, and go back to the house and reflect on your mistakes."

Longkodo looked left and right and realized that this time his father would not be let off just because his mother came to protect him, so he honestly went to reflect on his mistakes.

Mrs. Tong didn't know what had happened, and she got angry when she saw Tong Guowei's face.

"What are you up to? Lin Yue has just passed away, and you're already torturing her brother like this!"

"You're still talking about your daughter? Wasn't it you who instigated Lin Yue's early death?" Tong Guowei lowered his voice, took a few deep breaths, and then said, "Forget it, forget it. Go back, and stay out of Longkodo's business."

The woman was short-sighted. She'd delayed the Empress, after all, after all was done. But Longkodo was the Tong Jia family's hope for the future, and she couldn't interfere.

Madam Tong naturally couldn't get over Tong Guowei on major issues, so after a temper tantrum, there was nothing she could do. She sent Longkodo to reflect on his mistakes.

But before leaving, she thought of her other daughter.

"Master, has the matter of Lin Wen entering the palace that you mentioned a few days ago been finalized?" Madam

Tong had two daughters and one son. In addition to Empress Tong Jia and Longkodo, she also had a young daughter who had just turned sixteen.

A few days ago, Tong Guowei had revealed to her that the Emperor intended to select another daughter of the Tonggiya clan to enter the palace, and her rank wouldn't be lower; at least her initial appointment would be that

of a consort. Besides missing her deceased eldest daughter, Madam Tong was also concerned about her youngest.

"I'll tell you when there's some progress on this matter. Fangling, why don't you hurry up and help Madam return!"

Tong Guowei was now extremely upset. He had no desire to argue with the two of them, only to have them quickly escorted out. Only

after Madam Tong left did Tong Guowei sigh deeply. He had accepted the Eighth Prince's favor, and he had already gained leverage over him. Fortunately, the Eighth Prince seemed to be a capable leader.

Now all he could do was hope that the Tonggiya clan had chosen the right person this time.

...

Yinzhen and the others were busy. Kangxi had been busy lately, too, but he was busy with the campaign against Dzungar Khanate, and his visits to the harem had been much less frequent than before. Wen Shan was so overjoyed that she decided to retract her assessment of Kangxi as a warmongerer.

Okay, it's better to be busy.

Yet Kangxi would still find time to rest here for a few days. The longer he spent with Wenshan, the more relaxed he felt, as if being at Xianfu Palace lifted a heavy burden.

Kangxi was never one to compromise himself, and naturally, he didn't care what others thought. He preferred to be at Xianfu Palace, and whenever he felt comfortable, he would come.

He had been so dedicated to the Qing dynasty, and if he finally had some free time and couldn't enjoy it as he pleased, what was the point of being emperor?

So, one day, while staying at Xianfu Palace, Kangxi suddenly brought up something Wenshan had never considered.

"Yinzhen will be twelve next year, and it's time to start preparing for his marriage. If you have any girls you'd like, you can tell me."

Kangxi casually dropped the news over a sip of tea.

Wenshan was feeding the koi fish tank Yinsi had given her, and her hands trembled as she heard this, almost spilling the food.

"Yinzhen is only twelve. There's no need to rush," Wenshan said.

In modern times, discussing marriage at the age of twelve—just after graduating from elementary school—is truly shocking.

While ancient people married earlier, the eldest prince in this situation didn't choose a wife until he was fifteen or sixteen. Even without the national mourning, he would have been married around seventeen.

While still a bit early, Wen Shan could accept it.

"I got married at eleven, and now I'm just starting to choose a wife. How can it be so early?"

If Kangxi had to find a point of dissatisfaction with Wen Shan, it was that she doted on her sons too much. Forget Yinxiang, in his eyes, Yinzhen and Yinsi were no longer children who needed their parents' constant care. Their manners, tactics, and cunning were already well-developed, almost like adults.

Wen Shan pursed her lips, thinking that Kangxi occasionally lamented the high number of children who died in the palace in his youth, likely due to early marriage and childbearing.

Wen Shan also worried about the potential health risks of premature intercourse and childbearing for Yinzhen.

Kangxi could tell from her expression that she hadn't considered this before, and he couldn't help but scold her, "You're Yinzhen's mother now, and you don't care about marriage?" "

Give it a couple of years. The Crown Prince and the Third Prince haven't even started discussing marriage yet. How can Yinzhen get ahead of them?" Wen Shan could only bring up her two older brothers.

"The Crown Prince's marriage is a matter of state. I have my own plans. Let's not talk about it for now." Kangxi put down his book, beckoned Wen Shan closer, and pushed a memorial in front of her.

"But Rong Fei has just been released from house arrest, and you've already submitted a memorial to me, seeking a marriage for Yinzhi. Look at how you, as a mother, are doing."

Wen Shan glanced at Rong Fei's letter. It earnestly stated that the Third Prince was now old enough and hoped Kangxi would arrange a marriage for him so he could start a family soon.

The Third Prince was only a year older than Yinzhen, and Rong Fei's words made Wen Shan feel embarrassed to refuse on the grounds of Yinzhen's youth.

"Rong Fei is really good at choosing daughters-in-law." Kangxi knocked on the table and said calmly: "Yehenara, Dong'e, Tongjia, they are all good."

Their families are prominent, and their fathers and brothers hold important positions in the court. They are no worse than the Irgen Jueluo clan that Kangxi chose for the eldest prince.

Kangxi looked up and saw Wen Shan was distracted. He tapped her forehead with his fingers and said helplessly: "You can also pick one for Yinzhen. If you like someone, you can summon her to the palace to take a look. When you have chosen one, tell me."

Wen Shan knew he was talking nonsense when she heard what he said. It was as if whoever she liked was the one. If she picked the Guaerjia clan that Kangxi had prepared for the prince, it would be strange if he could be right.