Chapter 150: Suspicion (Myna)

The Ninth Prince smiled as he refuted the Eighth Prince's words. The Eighth Prince did not take offense, merely shrugging. "If Ninth Brother is happy, that is all that matters. If there is anything you need my help with, just say the word."

The Ninth Prince chuckled. "That won't be necessary. As long as Eighth Brother stands by my side when I go head-to-head with Prince Jian and the others, that will be enough." The Eighth Prince smiled and picked up his wine cup. "That goes without saying. We brothers always stand together."

The Ninth Prince picked up the cup of water before him. "Then I shall substitute water for wine and thank you, Eighth Brother." The Tenth Prince, sitting to the side, raised an eyebrow and hurriedly picked up his own cup to join in. Yet all three men could sense a subtle awkwardness hanging in the air. Though their moods seemed unchanged on the surface, something else had undeniably shifted.

By evening, after Yan Yan had bathed the three little ones and changed their clothes, she returned wearily to the main room of the Qimeng Courtyard. Seeing the Ninth Prince lounging on the bed and seemingly engrossed in something, she smiled and said, "Can Your Highness not properly rest for once? What pressing matter could possibly require your attention right now?"

The Ninth Prince patted the space beside him. "Come here. Have you looked over the ledgers from Beiwu Village? I reckon they've been sitting here with you for days, practically gathering dust." Surprised, Yan Yan walked over and saw that it was indeed the harvest report sent by the village chief of Beiwu. She took it with a puzzled expression and suddenly burst into laughter. "This was definitely guided by He Gui; it looks identical to the revenue reports of the Jiuling Restaurant."

The Ninth Prince looked at her in astonishment and smiled. "You've even looked through the ledgers of the Jiuling Restaurant?" Yan Yan was startled for a moment, playfully sticking her tongue out at him and coaxing, "They were sent over together, so naturally I glanced at them. But I didn't retain anything—not a single bit."

Watching her playful expression, the Ninth Prince felt a sudden surge of heat pooling in his lower abdomen. Without another word, he captured her lips in a kiss. Taken aback, Yan Yan hurriedly pushed him away, scolding playfully, "Your Highness hasn't even fully recovered yet! Can't you behave for a little while?"

The Ninth Prince wore a wicked smile as he pressed his entire weight onto her, his voice husky. "We'll just pull the quilt over our heads and talk. Where on earth did your mind wander?" Yan Yan's face flushed even brighter. She gave his chest a light tap before settling contentedly beside him.

"Your Highness, there is something I am not sure whether I should tell you or not," Yan Yan murmured after a long silence. She felt she ought to tell him that he had not contracted an epidemic at all, but had been poisoned. Yet she could not bear to do so just yet, thinking that since he had only recently recovered, it would be better to wait a little longer.

"Out with it. Since when are you so formal with me?" The Ninth Prince twirled a strand of her hair, a blissful smile lingering on his face. Hearing this, Yan Yan bit her lip and lowered her voice. "Actually, this time... Your Highness developed a fever because you were poisoned. However, none of us could figure out what kind of poison it was, nor do we know how it was eventually neutralized."

The smile vanished abruptly from the Ninth Prince's face. After a long moment, he curved his lips upward once more. "I know about this. You don't need to worry yourself over it." Yan Yan snapped her head up to look at him, asking in shock, "Your Highness already knows?"

The Ninth Prince nodded, lightly nipping at her lips before murmuring with a low laugh, "Don't look at me with those eyes, or I won't..." Yan Yan immediately retreated back into his embrace, giving him a gentle smack. "I am talking to you about serious matters, really."

He patted her back and whispered, "All right, go to sleep now. You've been worn out these past few days." Yan Yan uttered a soft assent, finding a comfortable spot in his arms. Yes, she was exhausted, but being able to nestle like this in his embrace made all the fatigue worthwhile.

Yan Yan quickly drifted off to sleep. Listening to the steady rhythm of her breathing, the Ninth Prince let out a low chuckle. But instantly, a layer of gloom clouded his smile. Yes, he already knew he had been poisoned; a matter of such magnitude had long since been reported to him by Wang Quan. The Ninth Prince sneered inwardly, secretly admiring the poisoner's ability to strike a fatal blow in such a brief span of time.

Furthermore, it was a blow struck right inside his primary consort's chambers. Although from the bottom of his heart he was reluctant to associate this with Lady Donggiya, deep down, he sensed that everything was somehow connected.

What he had not told Yan Yan was that he had actually regained consciousness the moment the Eighth Princess and Lady Donggiya entered the outer room. Thus, every strange action of the Eighth Princess had reached his ears. Though his mind had been somewhat foggy at the time and he hadn't fully pieced things together, thinking back now, anomalies were everywhere.

The Ninth Prince pressed his lips together. He was even more unwilling to believe the Eighth Princess was entangled in this, because she represented not only his mother, but also his Eighth Brother. He heaved a deep sigh, gently brushing a stray lock of hair from Yan Yan's forehead, and whispered, "You must always stay by my side from now on, understand?"

Seeming to catch the sound of his voice, Yan Yan mumbled as she turned over, letting out a clear syllable of agreement. The Ninth Prince widened his eyes in mild surprise, but seeing that she was clearly still fast asleep, he smiled again. Wrapping his arms around her, he too drifted into a deep sleep.

...

Though the Ninth Prince had recovered, the Kangxi Emperor did not order him to return to work immediately. Instead, an endless stream of restorative tonics poured into the Beile Mansion. Prompted by the Emperor's lead, the Empress Dowager and Consort Yi sent fine herbs to the Ninth Beile's residence as if money were no object.

However, the attitude of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager failed to set a positive example for the court officials; instead, it provoked a backlash from a small faction of censors. Over the past few days, Kangxi's desk had mysteriously accumulated a stack of memorial indictments against the Ninth Prince.

The pretexts cited in these memorials were bizarre enough to make Kangxi suspect that the Ninth Prince had not been recuperating at home at all, but had instead been sneaking out to moonlight as a common thief. Just look at the accusations: one household missing a chicken, another missing a steelyard—somehow, every trivial mishap was supposedly linked to the Ninth Prince. Upon closer inspection, all these fingers pointed to a single location: the new village of Beiwu.

Kangxi raised an eyebrow, deciding that since the Beiwu new village was, after all, a project into which he had poured considerable effort, it was time for an inspection tour. Naturally, the Emperor could not initiate such a trip amidst the current controversy. After pondering for half a day, Kangxi picked up his brush and decreed that the private gardens previously distributed among his sons must be thoroughly renovated, announcing that he would inspect them in November.

Thus, one should never try to second-guess the Emperor's mind, for endless guessing yields no clarity. Upon receiving the imperial edict, the Third Prince first mourned for his purse—especially since he had just paid off a debt of one hundred and fifty thousand taels. Yet grief aside, he was promptly swept into the renovation frenzy; after all, who could predict if the Emperor's fancy might land on his own estate, especially when his garden sat separated from the Changchun Garden by merely a single wall?