Fan Fiction |
by in the clouds
"That San ge had hired assassin Si ge(Hongli)."
"Hongshi wants to get rid of Hongli?" Yinlu shook his head, the power struggle of his generation had passed down to the next.
"It was not all San ge's fault..."
"How could you say that its not Hongshi's fault?!" Yinlu interrupted Yinlu's words harshly.
"Because eighth uncle's the one behind San ge. San ge is only hisa puppet." Yishang shook her head sadly. She knew her third brother and he was not capable of that.
"Him again...Why does it always have to be him?" Suddenly a thought came to him, "Is your fourteenth uncle involved in this as well, do you know?"
"I don't know, but I don't think that he's involved. He is cut off fromthe world in the imperial mausoleum and you would know of any move he makes, given the number of 'eyes' and 'ears' you have planted there." Yishang pointed out.
"Hongshi's trying to silence you... I take that you haven't told the emperor yet then."
"How could I?" Yishang leaned back into her chair,"It will break his heart to learn that his sons are fighting among themselves."
"In the event Hongshi succeeds in getting rid of Hongli, the throne would fall into his hands. THAT would surely break the emperor's soul, not only his heart."
"That will not happen, Wu ge (Hongzhou) and I will not let it happen. Even if it did, there's still Wu ge to inherit the throne." Yishang said confidently.
"Humph! Hongzhou?" Yinlu grunted, "I know that rascal, he's not interested."
"That's exactly why Wu ge will make doubly sure that San ge would not succeed in killing off Si ge." Yishang laughed.
"And Hongli? Does he know?"
"No, it would only put San ge on guard when Si ge's attitude towards him changes."
"Hongshi is an idiot to allow himself to be made use of by number eight." Yinlu thumped the table in frustration.
At this outcry, Yishang simply smiled and held her tongue.
"Aiy...Can we have no peace?" Yinlu sighed and pressed the balls of his palme against his eyes.
"Its the price we pay for being born in the imperial family. We cannot escape it." Yishang let her shoulders slump.
"To get rid of weeds, we have to do it with the roots. Destroying the assassin group do not solve matters."
"I know, but we won't be the ones to remove the roots. Leave it to Ah Ma. All we have to do is to male sure that no harm comes to Si ge."
"How could the emperor handle the matter when he doesn't even know what is going on?"
"Oh, he'll know." Came the flippant reply. "Gosh, look at the time! I'll have to take a bath , change of clothes, then I have to meet with my iformant. You still coming with me?" Yishang looked at Yinlu expectantly.
"But of course."
"Good, see you back here in two hours time." With that, Yishang left Yinlu alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After listening to her informant's story, Yishang wore a frown upon her brows. It was indeed Lian Qing Wang (Yinsi)who had spread those vicious rumours about Yongzheng.
"A drunkard, lecherous and a spendthrift..." Yishang muttered under her breath over and over again. That was the knidest runours that YInsi had sent people to spread all over the country. There even others that claimed that Yongzheng had usurp the throne from his fourteenth brother, Yinti, and that Yongzheng had caused the death of his father, Kangxi and had forced his own mother to commit suicide.
"That dirty rat." Yinlu cursed under his breath, not wanting Yishang to hear him.
In truth, Yongzheng had devoted himself to the running of the empire and spent long hours working. His day often starts at four in the morning and ends at midnight. He never took extravagant tours of his empire nor did he organized expensive hunts. In fact, his most expensive hobby was that of his beautiying and up-grading of his garden, Yuan Ming Yuan, which he received from Kangxi when he was still a prince.