My father-in-law is Kangxi

Chapter 2114: Many Thoughts

Outside Qingxi Book House, the Ninth Prince came in great interest.

Today, the Internal Workshop delivered the mechanical sample he had ordered before, a mechanical God of Wealth.

After reading it, the Ninth Prince thought of coming to Qingxi Book House, but it turned out that someone was here to see the emperor.

"Buxi is back and brought the Tong family to see the emperor?"

The Ninth Prince went to the duty room to wait, and saw the Fourth Prince was also there, so he went up to him and asked.

The Fourth Prince nodded and said, "Yes, I just went in."

The Ninth Prince thought about it and still had no impression of these Tong family members. He just remembered that they were all young in the thirty-eight years and were Shun Anyan's uncles.

The oldest one is much younger than Shun Anyan.

"Are they all grown up?"

The Ninth Prince asked casually.

The Fourth Prince shook his head and said, "The youngest is Tong Eighty-three, Tong Fifty-seven, Tong Six, and Tong Seventy-six."

The Ninth Prince blinked and said, "Then can Cheng Ding and the other two fill in their responsibilities?"

And there is the youngest son, who probably has no hope of inheriting the title.

Even if an heir to the title is to be chosen for the second branch of the Tong family at this time, he must be able to fill the job and represent the Tong family in front of the emperor.

The Fourth Prince nodded.

This is true.

Although his father the Emperor had promised him to choose the successor to the title from among the brothers of the Tong family, the Fourth Prince knew the taboos and did not intend to interfere too much.

All he could do was to prevent outsiders from plotting against and bullying his brothers.

As for who among the last four brothers is useful, the decision will be made in person.

Before making a decision, the three brothers should be assigned tasks to see their abilities.

The Ninth Prince was shocked and said, "Tong Guowei is now over 60 years old, and these sons were all born around 50. How frivolous!"

The four illegitimate sons and four mothers were all born in old age and are in good health.

No wonder he was still alive and kicking after being exiled for several years...

*
In Qingxi Bookstore.

Kangxi sat on the kang and looked at Buxi and the four brothers of the Tong family.

This was the first time he had seen these four brothers.

These four brothers don't look much alike.

The oldest, Tong Wu, looks a little thin, Tong Liu looks most like his father, Tong Qi looks the strongest among the brothers, and Tong Ba is short and has a timid look on his face.

Kangxi glanced at the desk, which contained information about his brothers.

Tong Wu and the deceased Hong Shan, the fourth son of the Tong family and a successful candidate in the imperial examination of Bingzi, have the same mother. His biological mother was from the Han Army Banner, and his maternal family came from a scholarly family.

If the Tong family had not been exiled, Tong Wu would have followed the same path as his brothers and taken the imperial examinations for the Eight Banners.

According to the news from outside the Great Wall, this Tong Wu seemed to have raped his mother's maid, and was not liked by Tong Guogang and his wife, and was considered to have poor moral character.

Tong Liu...

His biological mother was of Juelu origin, and he was Tong Guowei's favorite son, both civil and military.

Kangxi lowered his eyes, feeling disgusted.

Longkodo was not the first one to take a Juelu woman as his concubine.

There is a precedent with Tong Guowei. The arrogance of the Tong family comes from the root.

Tong Qi's biological mother was a servant of the Tong family. She was of the lowest birth among the concubines' sons and learned riding and archery from her uncle who was a bodyguard.

Tong Ba lost his mother and was raised by his stepmother Hesheli.

This was the candidate for the title that Tong Guowei had mentioned in his previous memorial, but looking at Tong Ba's personality, one could tell that this was not the one who was truly favored, but a choice made out of helplessness, as he wanted to establish a puppet.

Bu Xi stood in front of the four sons of the Tong family, and was also very curious.

Who is the right candidate to inherit the title?

If a son is honored by his mother, it should be Tong Liu.

Kangxi looked at Tong Wu and said, "Hong Shan died of illness. What was the illness?"

Tong Wu's eyes turned red when he heard this. He clenched his fists and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I, your fourth brother... contracted typhoid fever in early March... and died of a high fever..."

Kangxi raised his eyebrows and said, "Caught cold in early March? I don't know. It's spring and the flowers are blooming in March. How could a healthy person catch cold?"

With a plop, Tong Wu fell to his knees.

"Your Majesty, my fourth brother was wronged. He was murdered by someone..."

Tong Wu said with a sob.

Kangxi's face darkened and he asked, "Who killed Hong Shan and how did he kill Hong Shan?"

Hong Shan was a juren in the 35th year and died of illness in March of the 36th year.

Seven years had passed, and Tong Wu was no longer a child.

If there was anything wrong, Tong Wu would indeed remember it.

Tong Wu choked up and said, "I remember clearly that the second day of March was my elder brother's birthday. My elder brother was preparing for the exam at home. My mother sent a maid to my fourth elder brother to deliver a table of food... Later, word got out that my elder brother had raped my mother's maid. My father got angry and asked my third elder brother to teach my fourth elder brother a lesson. My third elder brother whipped my fourth elder brother dozens of times. Later, my fourth elder brother had a high fever, but my third elder brother didn't allow anyone to call the imperial physician..."

What Tong Wu can remember, Tong Liu and others who are about the same age will naturally remember as well.

The brothers all looked terrified.

Bu Xi was standing beside him, but he looked at Tong Wu several more times.

In the past few years, Bu Xi had been in charge of all the affairs of the Shengjing Tong family. Naturally, he knew a lot about Tong Wu's blemish on his reputation.

At this moment, is this to appeal for justice for the deceased Tong Si, or to appeal for justice for oneself?
These brothers who shared life and death share the same stigma.

Kangxi's face showed no emotion. He did not ask Tong Wu again, but looked at Tong Liu and asked, "How much do you know about what happened back then?"

Tong Liu hesitated for a moment and said, "I remember that the fourth brother was drunk and the third brother beat someone up. Later, Shun Anyan returned home and also went to the fourth brother's yard."

Kangxi did not comment and looked at Tong Qi again.

Tong Qi looked confused for a while before he said with lingering fear: "I live in a remote place, and I only heard a few words about it after my fourth brother passed away... I knew that my third brother had beaten someone."

Kangxi looked at the youngest, Tong Ba.

Tong Ba shuddered and murmured, "Enie said... Third Brother loves his younger brother, so he is willing to take the trouble to discipline him..."

Kangxi looked away, waved his hand, and asked someone to take the Tong brothers away.

Bu Xi was standing nearby and felt sweat coming out on his forehead.

"What did Hesheli say?"

Kangxi said.

The four brothers were young but very cunning, and they all went after Longkodo without any prior arrangement.

Bu Xi hesitated for a moment and said, "My great aunt has been talking about her grandson Yue Xing all the way."

Tong Guowei had eight sons. The eldest and third sons were legitimate, and the others were illegitimate sons.

Now the four eldest sons have all passed away, but the fourth son died unmarried due to illness and had no offspring, leaving behind three grandchildren.

The last four sons are still unmarried.

Kangxi snorted and then asked, "What do you think of these four brothers?"

Bu Xi hurriedly said, "The four uncles were all raised by my great uncle himself, so they are naturally all outstanding. I am a junior, so it is not appropriate for me to comment on them."

Kangxi was not very satisfied. He pondered for a moment and said, "Arrange Qingyuan to be promoted to the sixth-rank clerk of the Ministry, Qingheng and Qingfu to be promoted to blue-feathered guards, and Qingtai to be promoted to the upper study to be the fifteenth prince's companion."

For ordinary bannermen, both the sixth-rank scribe and the blue-feathered guard are sixth-rank officials, which is considered a step to heaven.

For the Tong family, it’s really nothing.

If nothing had happened to the Tong family, he should have started as a third-class guard.

Bu Xi quickly agreed.

When Buxi came out of Qingxi Bookstore, the four Tong brothers were still waiting outside.

The four brothers were all very nervous, like little quails, not daring to look around or walk around casually.

Bu Xi took his four brothers and left Changchun Garden.

In the duty room, the Fourth Prince and the Ninth Prince were standing in front of the window and saw it all.

The Ninth Prince commented: "They all look ugly, but the outstanding ones are the ones who get to take advantage of them. They are the first-class Cheng En Dukes..."

Tong Guowei did not die, his title was just suspended.

When it comes to his son, the title will be returned to him without the need for him to surrender.

The Fourth Prince glanced at him and said, "It's none of your business, why do you worry about it?"

The Ninth Prince said with a gloating tone: "Yes, I'm just saying something interesting. It's you, Fourth Brother, who are fighting with the Tong family. Haha!"

The Fourth Prince felt like slapping someone.

The Ninth Prince urged, "Go and see the Emperor quickly. When you finish your business, it will be my turn."

The Fourth Prince snorted coldly, left the duty room, and asked someone to pass the message.

For some reason, the Ninth Prince thought of Shun Anyan.

He boasted of being the eldest son and grandson since he was a child and was extremely arrogant. But in fact, when the Tong family planned to make him the princess's husband, they did not consider letting him inherit the title.

Sure enough, when Tong Guowei grew old, Longkodo was chosen as the head of the Tong family.

This time Longkodo is gone, but the Tong family’s title no longer has the final say in the Tong family’s affairs.

Shun Anyan is still not a candidate.

"Ha ha……"

The Ninth Prince couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Live it!

Tsk tsk, even if Shun Anyan is blessed in the future and can return to the capital, he will have to rely on his half brother or half nephew to live...

After an estimated 25 minutes, the Fourth Prince came out of Qingxi Study and came directly to the duty room and said, "Come in, Khan Ama knows you are here and has summoned you."

The Ninth Prince smiled and said, "Okay, I'll go right away. It's almost noon and I'm still thinking about going home early."

The Fourth Prince was speechless.

It's not even the Si hour yet, how come it's already noon?

The Ninth Prince had already carried the brocade box and was heading towards the entrance of Qingxi Study.

When he entered the house, the Ninth Prince saw Kangxi rubbing his eyebrows, looking tired.

The Ninth Prince unceremoniously handed Jinxiu to Wei Zhu, who was standing beside him, and then bowed neatly, "Son greets Khan Ama..."

Kangxi raised his head, glared at the Ninth Prince, and said, "How long has it been since you last went to the Lifanyuan?"

The Ninth Prince said awkwardly, "My son is not idle either. Isn't he on duty in the garden?"

Kangxi said unhappily, "Others take turns every five days or ten days, but you are so polite and take turns every day, right?"

The Ninth Prince cried out in injustice, "My son has not delayed his work. He has done all the work that needs to be done. My son is a real person, not someone who likes to pretend. Even though there is obviously not much work to do, he still spends all day in the government office to show how diligent he is."

Kangxi laughed in anger after hearing this and said, "In your case, other people's diligence is fake, right?"

The Ninth Prince nodded and said shamelessly, "It's just drinking tea to kill time. How can there be so many errands to be busy with? My son has been to the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Revenue and the Lifanyuan. The Ministry of Justice is famous for being idle for half a year a year, not to mention the Lifanyuan, which is less than half a month when it is busy. At the end of September, the princes and magistrates who came to Beijing for the year arrived and started to get busy. At the beginning of February, they left and it was completely idle..."