Chapter 139: Troubles

The Ninth Prince felt that he was having a streak of truly bad luck. He had caught a cold on his very first night back in the capital, leaving him with a nose full of mucus and eyes full of tears. To make matters worse, while ill, he had to hide alone in his study, pretending he didn't care about receiving any expressions of concern, though the person he actually longed to care simply hadn't come.

The Ninth Prince was somewhat out of sorts and strictly forbade Wang Quan'er from carrying any messages to Yan Yan. He wanted to see just how long it would be before Yan Yan remembered him. Of course, even more miserable than catching a cold was the fact that the Ninth Prince had to wake up at the crack of dawn to attend the morning court session. He had no choice; his precious Tenth Brother had been fuming ever since he received that demand letter for the repayment of two hundred thousand taels, and there was no telling how much trouble he would stir up in court today.

Naturally, even more tragic than attending the morning court session was the fact that today happened to be the Ninth Prince's twenty-fourth birthday. He reminded himself over and over again that once court was dismissed, he must remember to pay his respects to Imperial Noble Consort Yi. A child's birthday was a bitter day for his mother, and he could not forget that.

When the Eighth Prince saw the Ninth Prince arrive, he hurried over. Just as he was about to ask the Ninth Prince to talk some sense into the Tenth Prince, he noticed the Ninth Prince sneeze twice in a row, prompting him to change his tune into one of concern: "What is wrong? If you are ill, why aren't you resting at your estate? Have you seen the imperial physician?" The Eighth Prince asked affectionately while pulling out a handkerchief to hand to the Ninth Prince.

The Ninth Prince stood on no ceremony, took it, and wiped his face directly. Just as he was about to speak, the crisp sound of the ceremonial whip rang out. The Eighth Prince had no choice but to swallow the words he wanted to say, patted the Ninth Prince's shoulder, and headed toward the grand hall. Meanwhile, the Tenth Prince arrived at court right on the dot.

Although the Ninth Prince had already reported to the Kangxi Emperor the previous day, according to the rules, he still needed to brief the court on the affairs concerning the British Empire today. Therefore, the Kangxi Emperor was not surprised by the Ninth Prince's attendance. However, the Tenth Prince stood solemnly right behind the Ninth Prince. His face, which was usually incapable of hiding his emotions, was now plastered with the words: "I am in a bad mood, and nobody better mess with me."

The Kangxi Emperor sighed helplessly, feeling that his decision today was truly a blunder; he should have feigned illness and skipped the morning court session. When this thought crossed his mind, it really wasn't because the Emperor wanted to slack off, but rather because the court had recently completely lost its normal function, revolving around a single topic: repaying debts. Of course, while this topic had been initiated by the Emperor himself, it had now genuinely become a headache for him.

Sure enough, as soon as the officials finished shouting "Long live the Emperor," a minister immediately stepped forward to impeach the Tenth Prince for beating the imperial officials who had gone to his estate to collect the debt, begging the Emperor to uphold justice for them. The Kangxi Emperor slammed his desk and roared angrily, "Yin'e, is this matter true?!"

The Tenth Prince immediately took a step forward, stiffened his neck, and replied, "Responding to Royal Father, this son did not beat them. Instead, I generously let them look at whatever was good in my estate and allowed them to haul whatever they pleased away. Who could have expected that those stubborn old fossils would insist that this son explain every single detail? In my impatience, I pulled away with a bit too much force, which caused them to tumble over."

The Kangxi Emperor was deeply exasperated, but still glared at the Tenth Prince and scolded, "I grant you a stipend and bestow upon you an estate, yet you still dare to borrow silver from the imperial treasury. Tell me, what did you use those two hundred thousand taels for?"

The Tenth Prince seemed to have been waiting for the Emperor to ask this very question. He hurriedly dropped to his knees and spoke in a ringing voice, "This son has something to present to Royal Father, and requests Royal Father's permission to bring it before the hall." The Kangxi Emperor waved his hand, harboring no high hopes for whatever the Tenth Prince was about to present. He merely wanted to resolve the matter of the debt recovery as quickly as possible, since the court could not spend every single waking hour locked in battle over these arrears.

Who would have thought that the Tenth Prince would actually have a large chest carried up? When it was opened, the chest was completely filled with firearms. The Kangxi Emperor's eyes narrowed instantly, and everyone else in the court widened their eyes as well. Only the Ninth Prince stood drowsily to one side, watching as the Tenth Prince escaped punishment for the moment, while deeply regretting his decision to attend court today.

The Kangxi Emperor looked at the chest in the grand hall and asked the Tenth Prince suspiciously, "What is this?"

The Tenth Prince looked up at the Emperor with a proud expression and proclaimed loudly, "Responding to Royal Father, these are firearms I purchased from British merchants. Although these firearms look very similar to the ones of our Great Qing, their firing range is much greater than ours, and reloading the gunpowder is also much simpler."

As soon as the Tenth Prince's voice trailed off, the Crown Prince stepped forward and said, "Tenth Brother, leaving aside what these firearms have to do with those two hundred thousand taels, what good are these foreign, eccentric gadgets to our Great Qing anyway? Our Great Qing conquered the realm on horseback, and archery and horsemanship remain paramount."

As soon as the Crown Prince uttered these words, the Tenth Prince retorted sarcastically, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, as the crown prince of a nation, to speak such words is enough to make your younger brother laugh his teeth out. Even a dull-witted person like me who always finished at the bottom of the class in the Imperial Study knows the principle of 'learning the superior skills of the barbarians in order to control them.' Is it really wise for Your Highness to remain so narrow-minded and complacent?"

After the Tenth Prince spoke these words, the entire court was left in shock. Even the Kangxi Emperor looked at the Tenth Prince in astonishment, wondering how this usually dense tenth son had suddenly become so philosophical. "Learning the superior skills of the barbarians in order to control them" was indeed an exceedingly profound and correct principle. The Crown Prince's gaze toward the Tenth Prince grew increasingly grave. Meanwhile, several military generals in the court began to take an interest in the firearms brought by the Tenth Prince, bombarding him with questions all at once.

On the other hand, the conservative pedants in the court began denouncing the Tenth Prince for worshiping things foreign and currying favor with outsiders, claiming his intentions were punishable by death. The Kangxi Emperor still did not fully understand the function of these firearms, so he allowed the court discussion to veer wildly off course. The Emperor could not help thinking with a sense of helplessness: *Splendid! Whenever anything involves that pair of mischievous troublemakers, the Ninth and Tenth Princes, things always veer in bizarre directions. This time, they've even dragged debt collection into military logistics.*

Chaos reigned in the grand hall, while the Ninth Prince remained completely detached, thinking in a daze that the words spoken by the Tenth Prince sounded like something Yan Yan had mentioned a few days ago, even though she had used it as a metaphor for how foreigners conducted business back then. He never imagined that the Tenth Prince would actually learn and apply it flexibly, bringing it right into the imperial court. At this thought, the Ninth Prince inevitably found his mind drifting back to Yan Yan. Wondering how she was faring under house arrest in the Qimeng Garden, and whether she was used to it yet.

Of course, the Kangxi Emperor had no idea that the Ninth Prince was currently spacing out and thinking about his beloved. Seeing that the court discussion was about to drift to the ends of the earth, the Emperor finally remembered the visit of the British Empire and said in a deep voice, "Yingtang, are the Englishmen properly settled at the Bureau for Tribute Affairs?"

The Ninth Prince's consciousness was somewhat hazy, and he failed to catch the Emperor's question. The Eighth Prince hurriedly gave him a nudge. Who would have thought that with this gentle push, the Ninth Prince would lose his footing and tumble straight down.

"Ninth Brother!" cried the Tenth Prince.

"Ninth Brother!" shouted the Eighth, Fourth, and Third Princes in unison.

The Kangxi Emperor also sprang to his feet, took a few forward strides, and shouted loudly, "Summon the imperial physician!" Of course, right after shouting for the physician, the Kangxi Emperor immediately followed up with, "Court dismissed," successfully surviving yet another contentious morning court session.