Chapter 62 Chapter 62 Wen Shan heard the news…

Wen Shan had just woken from a nap when she heard the news and thought she was dreaming.

"What did you say?"

Zhenzhu repeated hastily: "The Crown Prince and Princess Yundai… were caught by the eldest prince."

Yinxiang had been on his bed, packing up the gifts Yinzhen and Yinsi had given him for his birthday a few days ago. Upon hearing this, he jumped down, his eyes wide open, and asked hurriedly, "Where were they?"

"In Yuhua Pavilion, where Princess Yundai lives," Zhenzhu said, "The eldest prince happened to run into them while visiting the princess."

"Empress Hui and Empress Ping have already rushed over, and Concubine Niuhuru sent someone to tell the master to come and see as well."

Of course she had to see such a big commotion!

Yinxiang was also clamoring to go, so Wen Shan took him along. As soon as they entered Yuhua Pavilion, they heard Concubine Hui scolding the Crown Prince for his immorality, for doing such a thing in the palace. Concubine Ping spoke up for the Crown Prince, saying that Princess Yundai had seduced him.

Concubine Nianhulu was so overwhelmed by the conversation that she couldn't get a word in.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, has arrived—"

Wen Shan's arrival sparked a light in her eyes, and she quickly stood up and pulled her over. "You're finally here. We've been arguing for almost a quarter of an hour."

Concubine Ping and Concubine Hui paused their argument to greet Wen Shan.

"What's going on? I'm completely confused." Concubine Nianhulu pulled Wen Shan to a seat and ordered the palace maids to serve tea. Before

Concubine Nianhulu could say anything, Concubine Hui spoke first: "Your Highness, the Crown Prince and Princess Yundai were engaging in an indecent act in broad daylight. Unfortunately, Yinzhi caught them in the act. Enraged, the Crown Prince punched Yinzhi."

"Huh?" Wen Shan's forehead was almost bulging with questions.

Why hadn't the Crown Prince changed his bad habits? He'd been fond of fighting with his brothers since he was a child.

"Ahem." Concubine Niohuru coughed twice and warned, "Concubine Hui, what you said is too vulgar.

Didn't you see the Thirteenth Prince still nearby?

At this point, Concubine Niohuru gave Wen Shan a look: "Why did you bring the Thirteenth Prince along?" Why

bring a child to such a "caught in adultery" situation ? "

Yinxiang can't leave me alone and insisted on coming along." Wen Shan said, "That's fine. He's still young." The

naive Yinxiang played dumb.

Now that they were here, Concubine Niohuru couldn't say anything more and could only continue investigating the case. After Concubine

Hui finished speaking, Concubine Ping was not to be outdone: "Everyone in the palace knows that the eldest prince and Princess Yundai are very close. They're always seen together in public, and today, he came to the Princess's boudoir to look for her in public."

"I wonder if they're secretly having this kind of affair too?" Concubine Ping insisted that the eldest prince and Princess Yundai were also having an affair.

Upon hearing this, Concubine Hui flew into a rage. Pointing at Concubine Ping, she declared, "This is ridiculous! It's clearly the Crown Prince's misdeeds, yet Concubine Ping is blaming Yinzhi. After all, who's the target today, the

Crown Prince, not Yinzhi?" Concubine Ping didn't bother to argue with Concubine Hui. Instead, she addressed Concubine Nianhulu and Wen Shan, who sat at the top table, saying, "Please, Your Majesties, I beg you to understand. It must have been Princess Yundai who deliberately seduced the Crown Prince. Perhaps it was the eldest prince and the princess who were conspiring to frame her!"

Wen Shan listened for a moment, convinced that Concubine Ping was simply making a fuss, muddying the waters, insisting that the eldest prince and Princess Yundai were colluding to frame the Crown Prince. Concubine Hui, always slow to think, was nearly led into a ditch by Concubine Ping, and the two ended up arguing in the street.

Wen Shan peered into the inner room. The layers of curtains were drawn, obscuring what lay within. The incense was burning, and the smell made Wen Shan feel a little sickened.

Concubine Ping and Concubine Hui were still bickering. Wen Shan poked Concubine Nianhulu, who was also listening with a headache, and whispered, "Are the princess and the crown prince still in there?" "

How could that be?" Concubine Nianhulu said helplessly, completely speechless by the three people before her. "Soetu just sent someone to say he had urgent matters to report to the crown prince, so he's already left. The princess is stuck inside, and Concubine Ping and Concubine Hui won't let her leave."

Even if the crown prince was implicated in this scandal, he was still the regent, and state affairs couldn't be delayed.

"Alright, both of you be quiet for a while," Concubine Nianhulu finally put a stop to the farce.

Concubine Ping, still unwilling to give up, sank to her knees and said, "Your Highness, the Emperor is not in the palace now and has appointed the Crown Prince as Regent. Now the Crown Prince has been framed and is trying to disregard our Great Qing Empire. You must stand up for the Crown Prince."

Concubine Ping's ability to wheedle others' opinions was truly exceptional. With just a few words, she could turn black into white.

Concubine Hui was about to say something but was stopped by Concubine Niohuru.

"Come on, Concubine Hui, what are you doing here? It's not the eldest prince who's in trouble." Concubine Niohuru, in a rare act of kindness, gave Concubine Hui a word of advice.

It was the Crown Prince who was caught having an affair with the Princess, not the eldest prince. Not to mention that the eldest prince had also witnessed this scandal. By jumping out to argue with Concubine Ping at this time, wasn't Concubine Hui waiting for Concubine Ping to throw dirty water on the eldest prince?

Concubine Hui came to her senses after being reminded by Concubine Nianhulu. The evidence was solid and there was no way the Crown Prince could escape. What was she arguing with Concubine Ping for? Concubine

Hui glanced at Concubine Ping with a haughty look and took her leave without saying anything more to her.

"Concubine Ping, you should get up first." Concubine Nianhulu asked the maid beside her to help Concubine Ping up. She said earnestly: "You have always been close to the Crown Prince and are his aunt. I understand that you are worried. But please don't keep talking about rumors that involve other princes."

"Yes, I know I was wrong." Concubine Ping asked hurriedly: "Then here... Madams, how do you two want to deal with it first?"

Noble Concubine Niohuru and Wen Shan looked at each other, thought for a while and said: "Such a big matter should have been reported to the Queen Mother, but the Queen Mother is old, and I am worried that she will hurt herself due to anger."

Wen Shan also added: "My sister is considering that the Queen Mother just closed the door to worship Buddha and pray for the Emperor a few days ago. It is not appropriate to disturb her with such a matter now."

Seeing that they had been talking for a long time without saying anything, Concubine Ping was worried. Noble Concubine Niohuru really didn't know how to deal with it. One of the people involved was the prince who was regulating the country, and the other was the orphan of a meritorious official who had just been sent back to Beijing by the Emperor to be properly resettled by the Queen Mother. No matter how they dealt with it, it would be inappropriate.

Concubine Niohuru pursed her lips and thought for a long time before saying, "The Crown Prince carries the heavy responsibility of regent. This is a major matter and cannot be handled without authorization. Let's discuss this matter after the Emperor returns. As for Princess Yundai...she can only be confined to Yuhua Pavilion for now." Concubine

Niohuru asked Wen Shan for her opinion, and Wen Shan nodded. It was indeed the only way to delay it now.

They couldn't arrest the

Crown Prince as well. She was quite satisfied with this treatment of Concubine Ping. At least there was no substantial punishment for the Crown Prince. It

would take some time before the Emperor returned, and Soetu would probably find a way for the Crown Prince to escape. After finally settling the matter temporarily, Concubine Niohuru was exhausted and wanted to go back to the palace to rest. Wen Shan hesitated for a while and said she wanted to go in to see the Princess. Concubine Niohuru didn't stop her and just told Wen Shan to handle it. Then she and Concubine Ping left first.

Although Yinxiang was still young, it was not appropriate for him to enter the princess's boudoir, especially where such a thing had just happened, so Wenshan left him in the outer room and asked Zhenzhu to look after him.

As soon as Wen Shan entered the inner room, she saw a mess. The tables and chairs were piled up in a mess, and the things on the table were swept to the ground in a mess. Wen Shan was a little shocked by this.

So the eldest prince rushed directly into the inner room?

It was estimated that he had a fight with the prince here.

There were not many servants in the room, so the things on the floor were not cleaned up. Princess Yun Dai had her hair loose but was dressed neatly. She was sitting in front of the only relatively tidy dressing table, combing her hair.

Princess Yun Dai did not expect Wen Shan to come in. She was a little surprised for a while before she stood up to greet her.

"Get up, I just came in to see you." Wen Shan did not expect this to be the case. She was a little embarrassed and did not know what to say.

Yun Dai smiled calmly at this moment. "Is your Imperial Concubine visiting me because we both share Mongolian ancestry?"

"Yes and no," Wen Shan hesitated for a moment before asking, "What happened today was the Crown Prince..." "

The Crown Prince didn't force me," Yun Dai said. "I did it willingly."

Wen Shan: "..."

Why was she so confused?

Hadn't Yinsi previously said that the eldest prince was her savior?

Why was she getting involved with the Crown Prince again?

And she was caught by the eldest prince who came looking for her.

Yun Dai looked at Wen Shan's bewildered expression and suddenly a hint of envy crossed her face. "I, Imperial Concubine, of all the concubines in the palace, I envy you the most."

Yun Dai had been surprised the first day she saw Wen Shan.

A woman of Imperial Concubine status, with three princes under her wing and over a decade of experience, could still have such an innocent look.

Wen Shan's leisurely demeanor was especially pronounced after meeting the other concubines.

This demonstrates just how comfortable Concubine Xuan's life in the inner palace had been for over a decade.

"I just came in to see you. I'm glad you're alright." Wen Shan had nothing to say, after all, they weren't familiar with each other.

At first, she'd thought the Crown Prince had forced Yun Dai out of a moment of lust, and she felt a little sorry for the young girl. But then, realizing Yun Dai had volunteered, she had nothing more to say.

"I and Concubine Nianhulu have decided to have you recuperate in Yuhua Pavilion for a while. This is a serious matter, and we can't make the final decision. We'll decide after the Emperor returns," Wen Shan relayed the outcome.

Yun Dai expected this, so she nodded and said nothing.

Wen Shan sighed. Just then, Amber arrived with a bowl of medicine, and Yun Dai's eyes immediately lit up with alarm.

This was Concubine Nianhulu's order just before she left, telling her to drink the contraceptive medicine.

While the Crown Prince wasn't married yet, and there was a possibility the Emperor would arrange a marriage for Yun Dai, it was a shameful matter, so she had to handle it with caution.

"Your Majesty, can I not drink it?"

Yun Dai looked at Wen Shan pleadingly. She didn't want to drink the contraceptive soup.

"Think it over. If you really get pregnant, there's no turning back." Wen Shan looked at the bowl of soup. Although the probability of getting pregnant in one go was a bit low, if there really was such a chance, then the matter had to be brought to the table. Otherwise, if Kangxi didn't pursue it, it could be covered up.

Yun Dai insisted on not drinking it, and Wen Shan didn't force her. She sent someone to tell Concubine Nianhulu. Concubine Nianhulu didn't say anything after hearing it, but only said that they had tried their best, and they would have an explanation if the emperor asked about it in the future.

"Your father died on the battlefield for the Qing Dynasty. The palace will naturally not treat you badly. All the necessary food and clothing will be provided as usual, but don't go out before the emperor returns." Wen Shan instructed before leaving.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, Yun Dai will stay here obediently." Yun Dai smiled and said, "I hope Your Majesty can send me some flowers. I love peonies, the more vibrant the better."

Wen Shan left the inner chamber and took Yinxiang back to Xianfu Palace.

"Mother, what's going on in there?" Yinxiang asked.

"I'll tell you when we get back. Mother's a bit confused right now." Wen Shan spread her hands and led Yinxiang back to Xianfu Palace, where she saw Yinzhen and Yinsi had also returned.

Wen Shan was surprised: "Why are you two back? It's not even time for school to end yet?"

"The Emperor isn't in the palace anymore, so he's not that strict." Yinsi stepped forward to help Wen Shan over and said, "Mother, how are things going at Yuhua Pavilion?" Sure

enough, the two had sneaked back for this matter.

"Don't you know that you have spies all over the harem?" Wen Shan teased Yinsi with a smile.

Yinsi said: "The incident happened suddenly. When my fourth brother and I got the news, the prince had already returned. Then Concubine Niohuru went there, so I asked people to withdraw first."

Later, when they heard that their mother had taken their thirteenth brother there, they were no longer anxious.

"The matter is simple. The eldest prince went to Yuhua Pavilion to look for Princess Yundai, but unfortunately he ran into the prince inside." Wen Shan said, "Then the prince and the eldest prince had a fight, but it was not serious."

"Noble Concubine Niohuru meant that the prince could not act rashly as regent now, so he had to put the princess under house arrest and wait until the emperor came back."

Yinxiang added, "Princess Ping and Concubine Hui also went there. The two of them tried to drag the eldest prince into it. Concubine Ping kept saying that the eldest prince and the princess set up a trap to frame the prince."

"I think this is pure nonsense." Wen Shan took a sip of water. "How could this be a frame-up? Who could force the prince to do such a thing?" "

It's hard to say." Yinzhen thought for a while and said, "I met the prince, and he was indeed very embarrassed and looked like he was running away."

Yinsi peeled a pear, divided it into four pieces and handed them to Yinzhen and Yinxiang.

"The Emperor won't be back for more than a month. Soetu will think of a way."

"I don't think it will be any use no matter how busy he is this time." Yinxiang took a bite of the pear and said, "Since the eldest prince has blocked her way, how can he let her go so easily?"

Today, Hui Fei's attitude towards Ping Fei will be, to some extent, the eldest

prince's attitude towards the crown prince. Wen Shan also told Yinzhen and the others about the conversation with Princess Yundai in the inner chamber.

After listening to it, Yinzhen suddenly understood and figured out many things that he couldn't understand before.

"So that's how it is."

Yinzhen and Yinsi looked at each other, and Yinsi smiled playfully: "It turned out that a woman was able to trick the eldest prince and the crown prince."

"To be honest, I also think that Yundai wanted to marry the crown prince to find a way out for herself." Wen Shan also sighed: "It's understandable that she wants to make plans for herself."

Yinxiang suddenly changed the subject: "Eighth brother, do you mean that the eldest prince was specially called by Princess Yundai?"

"My eighth brother and I felt something was amiss when we heard the news just now." Yinzhen washed his hands and said, "How could Big Brother suddenly go to Yuhua Pavilion at this time? It's such a coincidence."

Yinsi continued, "When I heard Mother say that Big Brother went straight into the inner room, I was sure that the princess had called him in specially. Otherwise, how could Big Brother have entered the inner room without any obstruction?" The prince

should have sent someone to guard him when doing such things in there. Even if he was really unlucky and happened to run into someone, the palace maids and eunuchs outside could find an excuse that the princess was unwell and resting to stop Big Brother outside.

It turned out that the princess had let Big Brother in on purpose.

"This matter won't be suppressed anymore, and it's bound to get to the Emperor," Yinxiang pondered. "If the Emperor knew about it, there's a real chance he'd arrange a marriage for them."

After all, family disgrace shouldn't be aired publicly, and the princess is the descendant of a meritorious official.

Wen Shan gave this matter a rare moment of serious consideration and felt a flaw.

"Your Majesty is such a shrewd person, and so cunning. Yun Dai's tactics couldn't even be hidden from you, let alone the Emperor."

Kangxi was probably able to see through her subtle intentions at a glance.

How could he possibly arrange for such a woman, who Kangxi considered to have ulterior motives, to be the Crown Prince? Yun Dai's plan seemed successful, but Kangxi probably didn't have a good impression of her.

"So this is a risky move," Yinsi sighed. "It's not necessarily that she hadn't thought of it, but she simply had no better plan."

"The Emperor probably won't change the Crown Princess's choice. He'll probably just hastily arrange a marriage for her as a concubine," Yinzhen said, trying to gauge Kangxi's intentions.

But even the Crown Prince's concubine likely felt Yun Dai preferred Kangxi's return to marrying her to a less-than-active member of the imperial family as his principal wife.

If the Crown Prince ever ascended the throne, she would have finally made her mark.

"It's never happened before," Yinxiang said, fiddling with a small spinning top Yinsi had been carving on the table, chin in his hand. "I never imagined a princess would suddenly appear and drag the Crown Prince and the eldest prince into this."

Regardless of how the Emperor handled this matter, he would undoubtedly be dissatisfied with the Crown Prince and the eldest prince.

Both of them were considered to have low moral standards.

However, this incident reminded Wen Shan of a scene from a classic TV series about the struggle for the throne among nine princes.

Since Yinzhen and Yinsi had skipped classes today and weren't planning to return to the Shangshufang, Wen Shan brought up the matter, causing Yinzhen's expression to twist and turn into a wry smile.

"Mother, this is the most outrageous story I've ever heard from you," Yinsi said, patting his forehead, awed by the imagination of later generations.

The Crown Prince's affair with the Emperor's concubine was truly...

even the recent incident between the Crown Prince and Princess Yundai was shocking enough.

But nothing could be as shocking as the affair with the Emperor's concubine.

After all, the Crown Prince and Princess were both unmarried, so at most it was just a bit... informal.

But an affair with the Emperor's concubine was a different matter.

And the Emperor caught them red-handed. The most outrageous thing was that the Emperor let it go. If it had really happened, given the Emperor's temperament, he would have immediately deposed the Crown Prince.

Wen Shan said that this was just the beginning, and it was a gross underestimation of the future generations' imagination of this legendary battle for the throne.

Then, Yinzhen received the joyous news that his concubines had slept with his younger brother and the imperial physician, and had given birth to children.

Yinzhen: A little tired.

Yinsi's expression was also fascinating; it seemed that, relatively speaking, the future generations had gone easy on him.

Yinxiang, on the side, also held his forehead and smiled bitterly: "Seventeenth brother... it's okay, at least it wasn't me."

Having escaped danger, Yinxiang, fearing his mother would say something earth-shattering again, quickly skipped the topic and pulled Yinzhen and Yinsi to go fishing together.

The atmosphere in the harem became strange after this incident. Except for Concubine Ping, everyone was eager to get involved, but the two protagonists, one under house arrest and the other the crown prince, and the matter was so private that it was difficult to discuss it in public, which was almost suffocating.

In particular, Concubine Niohuru had strictly prohibited gossip in the palace, especially about the crown prince. If discovered, the person would be immediately expelled from the palace.

There was also a small matter in the meantime. The fourteenth prince was three years old this year. According to tradition, after his birthday, he should have entered the Shangshufang for initiation. However, since Kangxi was away from the palace, Concubine De had delayed the matter, hoping to make a decision after Kangxi returned.

After Concubine Yi learned about this, she privately complained to Wen Shan that Concubine De was so overly devoted to her sons that she'd lost her mind. After the Sixth Prince passed away, she'd given him the Fourteenth Prince, and she'd doted on him

to no end. She supposedly thought it was the Fourteenth Prince himself who didn't want to go to the Shangshufang, and Concubine De had let him do it. "When the Sixth Prince was still around, although Concubine De doted on him, she never accommodated him academically and was quite strict with him," Wen Shan said.

Today was a nice day, so Wen Shan and Concubine Yi decided to go to Changchun Garden together.

Concubine Yi waved a fan, swayed gracefully and smiled as she said: "It's not easy for Concubine De. So many children died in infancy and in the end only this one prince is left. Of course he loves him like the apple of her eye." "

It's true that when people like me have so many children, it's really hard to treat them all equally."

Wen Shan teased her: "I see that you love the Ninth Prince the most. Everyone says that the youngest son and eldest grandson is the most favored. Why are you different?"

Concubine Yi glared at her: "Come on, among my three sons, Yinzhen is the one who worries me the most. Although Yinqi is a little naughty, he is obedient and the empress dowager is taking care of him, so I have nothing to worry about. As for Yinzhen, he has been well-behaved since he was young and I have never seen such an obedient child. In the end, there is only Yinzhen left, who makes the Yikun Palace a mess all day long. Fortunately, he will be moving to Ganxi Wusuo soon, so I can have some peace and quiet."

Although Concubine Yi said this, her face was still full of happiness and satisfaction when she mentioned her three children.

Ever since the Eleventh Prince was born, Concubine Yi had indeed stopped focusing on her quest for favor, devoting much of her attention to her three children. Her temper had softened, though.

Unfortunately, the Eleventh Prince didn't reach adulthood, passing away at the age of twelve. Wen Shan had even asked Yinsi and Yinxiang how the Eleventh Prince died. Now, seeing that he was healthy and well, already twelve years old, his passing at such a young age must have broken Concubine Yi's heart.

Yinsi reflected on it and told her that the Eleventh Prince had suddenly contracted an acute illness, passing away within a month.

This was truly difficult to prevent.

"Mother, what is destined must come to pass. Don't meddle too much in matters of life and death," Yinsi warned her.

Although many things had changed since their return to this world compared to their previous lives, birth, aging, sickness, and death were inevitable. Although Yinsi wasn't a big believer in Buddhism, he still felt a pang of caution about these matters and urged Wen Shan to refrain from meddling.

Wen Shan didn't continue to discuss this with Concubine Yi. They were just talking about how beautiful Changchun Garden was now and how they should come back often when Baoquan suddenly came over from the palace.

"Master, Concubine Yi, Concubine Nianhulu wants you two to hurry back to the palace. Princess Yundai has just been diagnosed with pregnancy."