noffsinger Chapter 354 Father, have you messed up this time?
Chapter 354 Father, have you messed up this time?
Yinzhuo thought that since he had made his laziness so obvious, the matter of recommending the crown prince should have nothing to do with him. But guess what? His father was quite impartial this time. Look, he even sent the imperial edict to his Enze Garden.
As the saying goes, what's meant to be will be. Since there's no escaping it, then let's recommend him. Yinzhuo and his father have never been polite. After receiving the imperial edict, he locked himself in his study and quickly wrote a stack of recommendation letters filled with strong personal feelings. Coincidentally, today was the day his father had mandated he go to the palace, so Yinzhuo simply didn't bother the eunuchs who delivered the edict and took the memorials to his father himself.
"Oh, normally it takes three or four urgings to get you into the palace, how come you're here so quickly today? Have you finished writing the recommendation letter? If so, show it to me."
What is Yinzhuo here to do at the palace today? Isn't he just here to deliver these recommendation letters? Upon hearing that Kangxi wanted to see them, he quickly waved to Wan Quan at the door.
"I would like to trouble Eunuch Wan to go to the entrance of Qianqing Palace and look for my son Dexi. That memorial is too heavy, so I asked him to help me carry it."
If Kangxi was still a little confused by Yinzhuo's words, then when Wanquan brought in the large stack of recommendation memorials, Kangxi would understand why Yinzhuo thought the memorials were heavy. When Yinzhuo saw Wanquan bring in the memorials, he quickly went to greet him, took the memorials from his hands, walked to Kangxi's desk, put down the stack of memorials, and gently swept them in front of Kangxi.
"These are all yours? You didn't recommend all of my princes, did you?"
In fact, from the moment Kangxi saw Wan Quan carrying this stack of memorials through the door, he had a bad feeling. The reason he asked this question now was simply because he couldn't believe it. His eldest son never disappointed him. As soon as he heard Kangxi's question, Yinzhuo immediately perked up.
“Father is indeed wise. This is what I’m thinking. You said that I get along well with my elder brother and the others, but you insist that your son choose one to recommend. Isn’t that putting me in a difficult position? Since that’s the case, I might as well recommend them all so that I won’t offend anyone. Father, you can choose whoever you prefer to be the crown prince.”
When Yinzhu said that he wanted Kangxi to choose from among them, he was not joking. After all, that was his original intention. You can see that Kangxi's expression was somewhat complicated. Yinzhu even went over and unfolded his stack of memorials one by one for his father to analyze carefully.
"Father, look, what if you regret it? Choose Second Brother. If you follow the ancestral rules of primogeniture, choose Eldest Brother. If you want someone with literary talent, choose Third Brother. If you want someone practical, choose Fourth Brother. Choosing Fifth Brother would surely please the Ancestor. You probably won't choose Seventh Brother, but you can consider Eighth Brother, after all, he's eloquent and good at handling interpersonal relationships. As for Ninth and Tenth, forget it. Ninth is too sharp-tongued, and although Tenth is wise beyond his years, he's sometimes too naive. Twelfth isn't bad, but his ambition probably isn't to be emperor. Thirteenth is good, he has a chivalrous spirit. As for Fourteenth, you should let him be a general, after all, this child is too easy to fool. Fifteenth and Sixteenth are still young, but they're slowly starting to enter the court. I haven't had much contact with them, so I don't know them very well..."
Although Kangxi knew his son was unreliable, he never expected him to be such a scoundrel. Look at how logically he analyzed things. Kangxi reached out and tapped Yinzhuo's head as he leaned closer, then pointed to the seat opposite him, indicating that Yinzhuo should go and sit down.
"Didn't you say you recommended all of my princes? Why didn't you recommend yourself?"
Recommending oneself? To Yinzuo, these four words sounded a bit too niche. Although it is said that one should not avoid relatives when recommending the virtuous, writing one's own name on a letter of recommendation was still a bit too shameless for someone as thick-skinned as Yinzuo.
“Look at the question you ask, Father. Putting aside the fact that I don’t want to be the emperor, let’s talk about recommending myself in the recommendation letter. I’m too shameless to do that. Besides, what’s the point of recommending myself? Even if it’s a recommendation, it should be someone else who does it to save face.”
It seemed that Kangxi had been waiting for Yinzhuo to say this. As soon as he finished speaking, a stack of memorials was slammed in front of him with a loud bang.
“Yinzhuo is right. It’s more respectable to have someone else do this. My son, you have quite the face. Look at all these memorials recommending you.”
They recommended me? No, they're all crazy. Someone like me, who's aspired to be a spoiled brat since childhood, wanting me to be emperor? Are they insane? And Dad, what's with the way you're acting? Are you crazy too?
“Father, tell me the truth, didn’t you mess this up? Eldest brother, third brother, did they guess that you and second brother were putting on an act to test them? Look, I advised you to let Doctor Wang acupuncture you for a while longer, but you wouldn’t listen. Look at you now, your face is rosy, you don’t look overly sad at all. You’re a typical case of having more authority than acting skills. Now look what’s happened, you’ve even dragged your son into being laughed at by them…”
Kangxi frowned deeply at Yinzhuo's regretful and remorseful appearance. He thought his elder brother and the others had submitted excellent memorials, so why was it that his acting was deemed lacking and his flaws were exposed?
"Yinzuo, sit down for me first. What do you mean I have plenty of authority but lack acting skills and messed up? Let me tell you, my acting skills are excellent. And what's wrong with this recommendation letter? You have been intelligent since childhood, and you get along well with your brothers. You have also received my careful guidance for many years. Apart from being a little lacking in riding and archery, what else are you lacking? I think your elder brother's recommendation letter is quite good."
No, how is this all good? I just came to deliver a recommendation letter, and now I'm the one everyone wants to have? And Father, I know you've always favored me, but aren't you being a little too biased? What, are you already planning to put the crown prince position on my head?
“Father, I appreciate your good intentions, but please send this memorial back to them so they can rewrite it. My elder brothers may have genuine feelings for recommending me, but more so because they are good at assessing the situation. After all, my second brother is the Crown Prince you personally trained, and he hasn't done anything heinous over the years. Yet you want to depose him. While this gives my elder brothers hope, it also seems somewhat unusual. Why did they all recommend me? It's simply for two reasons—safety. Father, don't underestimate your sons. If you have truly decided to depose my second brother from his position as Crown Prince and don't want to spend the rest of your life embroiled in the struggle for the succession, then you must be cautious this time and try to resolve this issue once and for all.”