My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 300: Conferring the Title of First-Rank Imperial Lady, Emperor Yongzheng Teaches Emperor Hongli the Art of Rule!
Before long, Su Peisheng arrived at Qianqing Gate with the imperial guards.

When Fu De, the Manchu minister kneeling at the Qianqing Gate, saw this scene, he froze on the spot.

He knew that he had angered Emperor Yongzheng, otherwise Su Peisheng would not have brought the imperial guards.

But he never expected that Emperor Yongzheng would pay so much attention to this seemingly small matter of Yin Jishan requesting an official title for his birth mother.

He originally thought that Yongzheng would not be in a hurry or care about such ordinary memorials that followed public procedures and were not official court business.

It should be noted that emperors are always busy with countless affairs of state, especially diligent emperors like Yongzheng who actively created many tasks for themselves.

Therefore, in his habitual thinking, Yin Jishan's request for a title for his birth mother was not even a priority among the many affairs of the court.

That's why he took it home first and showed it to his friend Yin Tai, who was the same age as him, feeling it was necessary to remind his friend.

Because this involved the face of his friend, a Confucian official.

After all, for a son born out of wedlock to petition for an imperial decree for his mother, who was born a slave, was clearly using the emperor's power to challenge the father's authority!
Patriarchal authority is the foundation upon which the power of the male lineage is maintained within the family.

That's why Fu De secretly let Yin Tai know about this.

Even so, Fu De did not intend to delay for too long. He knew that Yongzheng was a diligent emperor and did not like lazy officials, so he planned to submit the document to the cabinet tomorrow to avoid delaying for too long and arousing Yongzheng's suspicion.

But he didn't expect that Yongzheng would come to ask for it now, so he could only answer truthfully to avoid getting involved in a bigger crime.

Yongzheng's ministers all knew that he was harsh, and Fu De was no exception. So when Su Peisheng came to ask for a memorial, he told him everything, including why he had leaked it to Yin Tai.

But, to everyone's surprise, Su Peisheng still brought his guards to arrest him.

This forced Fu De to ask in a trembling voice, "Master Su, what does the master intend to do with me?"

"My master ordered me to take you home with men and hand over the memorial from Yin Jishan requesting an official title for his birth mother."

Su Peisheng did not mention that he would take him to the Infantry Commander's Office.

But Fu De didn't dare to ask any more questions and had no choice but to be escorted home by the guards.

It turned out that when Yongzheng issued the decree to execute Fu De, Hongli came to him and reminded him: "Father, I think it would be better to get the memorial first and quickly issue an imperial edict to Xu, so as to prevent Yin Tai from becoming even more ruthless."

Emperor Yongzheng then changed his mind and ordered Su Peisheng to take Fu De to retrieve Yin Jishan's memorial before sending Fu De to the Infantry Commander's office to face execution.

However, the residence of officials like Fu De, who were not princes or nobles, was not close to the palace, and it was quite a distance to travel back and forth.

It is estimated that by the time Yongzheng receives Yin Jishan's memorial and grants his request, it will be no later than tomorrow.

Therefore, Hongli bid farewell to Yongzheng and left.

But then Yongzheng stopped him: "After you leave the palace, spread the news that Fu De will be executed."

Hongli was taken aback upon hearing this.

Yongzheng said coldly, "Didn't you hear me?"

"Your subject has heard clearly."

"Your subject will do as you say!"

Hongli's heart skipped a beat, and then he immediately cupped his hands in response, thinking to himself, "Perhaps this is what an emperor is like!"
Next, after returning to the palace, Hongli instructed Li Yu to do this.

At this time, Yin Tai was unaware that Fu De was to be executed, and even less aware that Yongzheng already knew about his caning of Xu Shi.

After being reprimanded by Hongli, Yin Tai returned and berated Yin Jishan, saying, "You unfilial son! It turns out your filial piety was all a lie. You even tried to use the Fourth Prince to intimidate this old man. I've raised you for nothing!"

Yin Jishan had no choice but to kneel down immediately: "Father, please allow me to report!"

"It is because when the Fourth Prince asked why I looked displeased, I dared not lie and answered truthfully that I felt ashamed to see my concubine kneeling before me. I really did not expect that the Fourth Prince would summon you because of this!"

"You know she's just a concubine!"

Yin Tai chuckled coldly.

then.

Yin Tai pointed at Yin Jishan with an icy tone and said, "Then you should know who's in charge in this family!"

Yin Jishan could only lower his head and say, "Naturally, Father is the master."

Not long after, Yin Tai did indeed learn from Fu De about Yin Jishan's request for a title for his birth mother.

This enraged Yin Tai again, and he found a pretext, just as the official in charge of the imperial guards had reported to Yongzheng, to have Xu Shi flogged in front of Yin Jishan:
"I never expected you to be so resourceful, to take advantage of an old man like me to such an extent! You even went so far as to submit a memorial to the emperor behind my back to request an official title for your aunt!"

"Father, please calm down!" "This is because your son dared not do anything disloyal, so apart from his direct superior who was obligated to inform him, he did not inform anyone else, and he did not dare to tell you in advance."

Yin Jishan knelt down again to explain.

Yin Tai's eyes widened upon hearing this, then he took a deep breath and touched his chest: "You really are very loyal, aren't you, daring not to do anything disloyal!"

"Do you believe I'll sell the Xu family or even give it away?"

suddenly!

Yin Tai gritted his teeth and said this to Yin Jishan, seemingly intending to threaten him.

Yin Jishan was slightly taken aback, and his face turned ashen in an instant, his muscles contracting violently.

Then, he still kowtowed and pleaded with Yin Tailai: "Father, please calm down and don't sell Aunt! Our Yin family only buys people, we never sell or give people away. This would damage our family's reputation, and besides, it wouldn't be good if the master found out."

Upon hearing this, Yin Tai chuckled and shouted, "So you know it's damaging to our family's reputation? Didn't it damage our family's reputation when you requested an imperial title for the Xu family?! How will the upright officials of the world view a family like ours if you do this?"

"But there is no rule in this dynasty that concubines cannot be promoted to noble titles. Even among the imperial family, concubines from bondservant backgrounds can be promoted to secondary consorts."

“My son didn’t think that doing this would bring any shame to a family like ours.”

Yin Jishan answered neither humbly nor arrogantly, still kneeling, showing the respect a son should have.

Yin Tai's lips trembled, but he had nothing to say. He could only remind himself that he could not say that the Qing Dynasty had not completely eradicated the barbarians. That would not be appropriate for a Manchu nobleman like himself.

But the more he tried to stop himself from saying it, the stronger the thought became in his heart, even giving rise to feelings of inferiority, wondering why he was a Manchu and not a Han Chinese.

When Yin Tai learned from his friend Wang Tingyang, the Vice Minister of the Imperial Clan Court, that Fu De had been taken to the Infantry Commander's Office to be executed, this thought became even stronger. He couldn't help but sigh to himself, "Confucian officials can exile and kill at will. Barbarians are truly barbarians. Our Great Qing is really going backwards!"

After making this remark, Yin Tai asked Wang Tingyang, "Is the news reliable?"

"The reliable source is Eunuch Li, who serves Fourth Master."

Wang Tingyang replied.

Upon hearing this, Yin Tai said, "Would Eunuch Li spread such news in private?"

"Naturally, it was only because the Fourth Prince ordered him to pass it on that he dared to do so, which shows that the Fourth Prince still didn't want to treat the Confucian officials this way."

Wang Tingyang said.

Yin Tai nodded.

Afterwards, he summoned Xu Shi upon returning home and, with a livid face, berated her: "You have a fine son! Because he wanted to oppose this old man and use his master to oppress me, he caused me, a great Confucian scholar among the Manchus whose academic achievements surpassed his, to be executed by the master!"

"Because of your son, the reputation of the Manchu people will be greatly damaged!"

"Because of you, son, the master's virtue will be damaged once again!"

Madam Xu looked bewildered and flustered, and could only kneel down and kowtow: "Master, please calm down! If Jishan has done anything wrong, please punish him, but please don't hurt yourself!"

Yin Tai chuckled coldly.

"How could I dare to punish him?"

“He takes advantage of being a favorite of his masters and has long since stopped taking me, an old man, seriously.”

"I don't take them seriously!"

Bang!
As Yin Tai spoke, he suddenly slammed his hand on the table and stood up, his white eyebrows raised and his face contorted with rage, as if he wanted to devour Xu Shi alive.

Xu's body trembled suddenly.

"By imperial decree!"

Just then.

Hongli arrived at the Yin family with the imperial edict.

The entire Yin family rushed out of the main gate to greet them.

"At the request of Yin Jishan, the prospective Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and Minister of the Imperial Academy, his birth mother, Lady Xu, was granted the title of First-Rank Lady."

"Yin Tai is to first pay his respects and express his gratitude to Madam Xu before receiving the imperial decree. You should know that your family has long been in decline since you were not born to Madam Xu. You, Yin Tai, would not have become the Left Censor-in-Chief and Prefect of Fengtian Prefecture. You were appointed only because of your son's commendable loyalty and intelligence. As for you yourself, you are a gentleman on the surface, but in reality, you are a hypocrite..."

(End of this chapter)