My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 189 Prince Yi's expression changes, and Emperor Yongzheng is criticized!
Hongli did not expect that Yongzheng would ask him to go and see the Eighth Prince.

This made Hongli realize that Yongzheng might really care about the Eighth Prince, because even though he had imprisoned the Eighth Prince, he would still think of him.

However, his father was probably too proud to go and see for himself whether the eighth prince regretted his decision, so he sent his nephew instead.

"Whoo!"

Hongli naturally couldn't refuse, so he asked Yongzheng, "What should I say to my Eighth Uncle when I go to see him?"

"You have to figure it out yourself."

Yongzheng replied.

Hongli then refrained from asking any further questions.

But he was speechless about it.

Emperor Yongzheng did not give a clear answer.

He could only rely on his understanding of Yongzheng to talk to the Eighth Prince.

When Hongli met the Eighth Prince at the Imperial Clan Court, he found that the Eighth Prince had gained a lot of weight and looked radiant, perhaps because he no longer had to see Yongzheng and his mental pressure had been greatly reduced.

This made Hongli shake his head, and he recalled an old story about the Eighth Prince that Yongzheng cared about a lot.

The story is that when Consort Liang, the birth mother of the Eighth Prince, passed away, Emperor Yongzheng was worried that the Eighth Prince would be too heartbroken. However, because the Eighth Prince was disliked by Emperor Kangxi at the time, and Emperor Kangxi suspected that he was a member of the Eighth Prince's faction, Emperor Yongzheng could not directly show concern for the Eighth Prince and risk being labeled as a member of the "Eighth Prince's faction." So he could only show concern for the Eighth Prince secretly.

Therefore, Yongzheng was afraid that the overly heartbroken Eighth Prince would become even more dejected and unable to eat or sleep because he had not shown him any concern.

However, Yongzheng later discovered that after the mourning period for Consort Liang ended, the Eighth Prince had actually gained weight under the care of his brothers who were not afraid of being labeled as "Eighth Prince Party". Yongzheng's original words in history were: "He has actually become quite plump, which is very puzzling!"

This situation has always bothered Yongzheng, who has brought it up in front of Hongli more than once, feeling that the Eighth Prince really doesn't care whether he cares about him or not. That's why the Eighth Prince can still eat well and even gain weight when Yongzheng doesn't care about him.

Hongli could only sigh inwardly, realizing that Yongzheng was truly insecure and sensitive, and that the shift in his impression of the Eighth Prince from good to bad was related to this personality trait.

Therefore, Hongli thought that if Yongzheng knew that the Eighth Prince not only showed no remorse or fear after being imprisoned by him, but was even more energetic, he would probably be very upset: "Does not having to see me again make you so happy?"

When Lao Ba saw Hongli shake his head, he smiled as well.

He seemed to have already guessed why Hongli shook his head.

At this point, Hongli asked the Eighth Prince directly, "Eighth Uncle, why are you so at ease being imprisoned?"

Old Ba said, "Because of you, Uncle Ba, I can finally watch the sunrise and sunset every day in peace."

Speaking of it.

The eighth prince sighed and said, "But as expected, the emperor, my fourth brother, will not put my mind at ease. Even though I have been imprisoned, and he no longer needs to see me, and I will never appear in front of him again, he still cannot forget me and will not truly let me go."

"But you know very well what Khan needs?"

“But your nephew knows that you are deliberately trying to anger my father and make him want to kill you, which is why you act as if you don’t care about being imprisoned and are even more at ease because of it.”

“You are so malicious! You are clearly terrified and remorseful inside, but you deliberately act like this so that your father won’t see that you are terrified and remorseful.”

Hongli knew that if he wanted to get past Yongzheng, he had to be harsh with the Eighth Prince, criticizing him in various ways and directly accusing him of having malicious intentions.

Because what Yongzheng was most worried about was that his brothers and nephews would get too close to the Eighth Prince, like him, submit to him, listen to him, and be at his beck and call.

If Hongshi hadn't been so close to and obedient to the Eighth Prince, even to the point of blindly following the Eighth Prince's wishes and shifting his own mistakes onto the Eighth Prince, Yongzheng wouldn't have allowed him to be adopted by the Eighth Prince.

Therefore, Hongli spoke to the Eighth Prince in this manner.

But the eighth prince was not angry. Instead, he laughed and said, "Hongli, you really won't disappoint your eighth uncle. It is an honor for the emperor to have a son like you, and it is also an honor for your eighth uncle to have a nephew like you."

贤！
So virtuous!

This is Hongli's true feeling towards the Eighth Prince.

Even though he spoke so harshly, Lao Ba still said that it was his honor to have such a nephew.

But Hongli was not happy about this.

Because the more the Eighth Prince remained unfazed by his harsh words, the more the proud Yongzheng Emperor would be swayed by his Eighth Prince's indifference!
“But Uncle Ba, I am very disappointed in you. You shouldn’t be putting on this sanctimonious act at this time! You should know very well that Khan needs you to sincerely apologize to him and be willing to help him fight against those evil spirits for the sake of the new policies.”

"Just like how Third Uncle dared to expose Manduhu."

Hongli responded to the Eighth Prince, and his words remained impolite.

Because he was deliberately waiting for Lao Ba to get angry.

When the Eighth Prince heard Hongli say that he was hypocritical, he was indeed a little angry and his face darkened: "If your Third Uncle is as shameless as you, do you think your Father would let your Eighth Uncle off the hook?"

"That's absolutely impossible!"

Lao Ba waved his hand and then said, "In that case, your father will simply say that I am indeed treacherous and cunning!"

"As for the new policies, I can't be a lone minister protecting them. I don't want to lose my life because of them and not even have anyone to sympathize with me." "Hongli, I know you mean well, but I have no other choice."

Old Eight looked up at the sky as he finished speaking.

Hongli didn't say anything more and took his leave.

Later, when Hongli came to report to Yongzheng, Yongzheng asked him, "What is the current situation of your eighth uncle?"

“Stubborn and wicked, he keeps trying to make me think that you are the one making things difficult for him, not the other way around.”

Having learned about Yongzheng, Hongli spoke to Yongzheng in a tone that showed great resentment towards the Eighth Prince, and also truthfully replied that the Eighth Prince had no remorse.

When Yongzheng heard Hongli say that the Eighth Prince showed no remorse, he was indeed burning with anger. However, because Hongli had criticized the Eighth Prince first, he felt somewhat better, thinking that Hongli had at least not been influenced by the Eighth Prince. So he advised Hongli instead:

"But he is still your eighth uncle. He may hate me to the bone, but he still cares about you. You don't need to hate him so much. On the occasions of festivals and birthdays, you should go to the Imperial Clan Court to express your feelings."

"Whoo!"

Hongli responded with a slight smile.

He knew that the more he showed that he was on Yongzheng's side and disliked the Eighth Prince even more than Yongzheng did, the more Yongzheng would trust him and the more he would actively encourage him to get closer to the Eighth Prince.

Hongshi suffered a great loss because he didn't understand this principle.

However, Yongzheng was still very angry that the Eighth Prince refused to submit to him and showed no remorse or intention to change his ways.

As he himself said, Lao Ba may have hated him to the core.

This made Yongzheng clench his fists. When the thirteenth prince came, he accused the eighth prince, saying, "Hongli went to see the eighth prince, but the eighth prince was unrepentant and even hinted to Hongli that I intended to kill him."

"Am I the kind of person who would treat my brothers like this?!"

Emperor Yongzheng inquired about the thirteenth prince.

The thirteenth prince, knowing Yongzheng's temperament, stood up irritably and complained to Yongzheng, "Fourth brother, why are you getting angry over this kind of person again! You even mentioned him in front of your humble brother. I don't even recognize him as my eighth brother anymore, yet you still can't forget him. This makes it seem like you, the emperor, don't have many brothers to support you. You need him, don't you know that?!"

Emperor Yongzheng was easily swayed by this kind of approach. Seeing that the thirteenth prince's expression changed because of the eighth prince, he nodded and said, "You are right. I should not have been angry with him, nor should I have mentioned him in front of you."

Then, Yongzheng waved his hand at the thirteenth prince and said, "Alright, I will not mention him again! Just pretend he's dead!"

After saying that, Yongzheng added, "Fortunately, Hongli, you, and the Sixteenth Prince all know how wicked his intentions are, so I am quite at ease!"

"Fourth Brother, you shouldn't have let Hongli go see him!"

The thirteenth prince continued to criticize Yongzheng, saying, "Fortunately, Hongli has always been intelligent and wise, and he understands your good intentions, so he was not misled by Yinsi. Otherwise, when Hongli becomes the second Hongshi, you will regret it!"

"I only let him go because I knew he understood."

Emperor Yongzheng offered an explanation.

The thirteenth prince shook his head: "Fourth brother, it's not that I'm being arrogant or trying to embarrass you, but sometimes you're just too kind. You care too much about people who don't care about you, and you don't care too much about people who do care about you. You know perfectly well that Hongli doesn't like Yinsi, yet you still want him to go. Aren't you making things difficult for him?"

"Only Hongli is filial and has no complaints about your arrangement, but from Hongli's perspective, don't you think you've hurt him too much?"

The thirteenth prince then asked Yongzheng a question in return.

After hearing this, Yongzheng nodded, a look of shame on his face. Just as the thirteenth prince was about to speak again, he said, "Alright, I won't let him go anymore. He can only send people to deliver gifts to the eighth and ninth princes for the three festivals and two birthdays. Is that alright? He is a nephew, and he will be the one to inherit the throne in the future. He has to behave properly!"

"You've thought of everything."

The thirteenth son replied.

Yongzheng smiled with satisfaction, and then said sincerely to his thirteenth brother, "Thirteenth brother, in this way, I can only rely on you, and Hongli will also have to rely on you in the future."

"Your subject will do his utmost."

The thirteenth prince immediately knelt down and kowtowed in response.

Afterwards, the thirteenth prince left Yongzheng's place, but while he was there, he happened to meet Hongli.

"Greetings to Uncle Thirteen."

The thirteenth prince smiled approvingly at Hongli.

Because he already knew from Yongzheng how Hongli behaved between Yongzheng and the Eighth Prince.

Therefore, the thirteenth prince patted Hongli on the shoulder and said, "Fourth brother, having a son like you is better than having ten sons like other people."

"Uncle Thirteen, you flatter me."

Hongli cupped his hands in reply, then took the initiative to ask the thirteenth uncle, "Thirteenth Uncle, have you heard that Third Uncle is planning to persuade Father Khan to put Eighth Uncle to death?"

(End of this chapter)