Chapter 64: The Fifth Princess Consort

Chapter 64: The Fifth Princess Consort

An Qing stood silently, finally understanding the whole situation.

It turned out that the eunuch was from the Imperial Household Department. He had mistakenly delivered the wrong type of red radish charcoal to Zhaoxiang, sending lower-quality charcoal instead of the superior grade. This mistake gave Ninth Prince Yin Tang the leverage he needed, leading to the current predicament.

"You give me fifty taels of silver, and I'll let you off. What do you say?" Yin Tang said, grabbing the little eunuch by the collar, feeling quite pleased with himself.

The little eunuch begged for mercy, "Ninth Prince, spare my life! I really don't have that much silver."

Yin Tang sneered and glared at the eunuch, "Don't try to fool me. Do you think I don't know that all of you in the Imperial Household Department are lining your pockets? Crying poor won't work on me!"

The little eunuch was almost in tears, "Ninth Prince, please understand. I'm just a lowly eunuch who runs errands in the Imperial Household Department. I really don't have..."

An Qing couldn't help but sigh, rubbing her forehead. At this moment, she suddenly felt a sense of reality about the infamous Ninth Prince from history.

Since she arrived in the Forbidden City, among all the princes, she had seen Ninth Prince Yin Tang and Tenth Prince Yin'e the most. She interacted with Yin Tang the most, as he was Yinqi's younger brother, and they often met when paying respects to Concubine Yi in Yikun Palace.

But she always found them to be like two little kids, unable to connect their behavior with historical records. She also subconsciously overlooked that they were two of the nine princes vying for the throne, core members of the powerful Eighth Prince faction.

Yin'e was born into great nobility; his mother was Noble Consort Wenxi, a sister of Empress Xiaozhao Ren. Behind him stood the entire Niohulü clan, an important force within the Eighth Prince faction.

If Yin'e relied on his strong maternal family to secure a position within the Eighth Prince faction, Yin Tang relied on money.

Anyone familiar with this period knew that Yin Tang was the undisputed financier of the Eighth Prince faction. Throughout his bid for the throne, he first supported the Eighth Prince and later the Fourteenth Prince. His actions were more political speculation than a genuine attempt to seize power.

However, his methods were simple and crude: throwing money around.

Where did his wealth come from? It was shameful to admit, but mainly through extortion and smuggling. Neither method was legitimate.

According to early records, Yin Tang once extorted eight hundred taels of silver from Manpi, the commander of the Zhenglan Banner. He even extorted 120 taels from the governor of Henan, Li Yanchen. This was hard to justify, showing no regard for royal dignity.

He also extorted six hundred taels from Chen Rubi, a known honest official and upright man. Bullying honest officials made him even more despised.

Most absurdly, during Emperor Kangxi's later years, Yin Tang's daughter married Yongfu, the grandson of Mingzhu. As a father-in-law, he coerced and tricked his son-in-law into giving him three million taels of silver. This was truly outrageous.

Thus, both Han Chinese and Manchu officials viewed Yin Tang poorly.

This was why officials generally looked down on him. Despite his attempts to buy loyalty with money, few responded positively due to his tarnished reputation.

As for smuggling, he exploited his father Emperor Kangxi's resources.

In the Great Qing, especially in the northeast, products like ginseng were managed by the Imperial Household Department, with profits going to the emperor's personal treasury. But Yin Tang set up what could be called a triangular trade within the Great Qing.

He took advantage of his maternal grandfather Sanguanbao's (Concubine Yi's father) position in Shengjing to send people to dig ginseng in northeastern Manchuria. They then sold the ginseng in Jiangnan for high prices, exchanged it for silk, and transported the silk back north for profit.

While this showed some business acumen, it was illegal in the Qing dynasty. Moreover, he was undermining his own father's interests, which explained why Emperor Kangxi increasingly disliked him.

Returning to the present, An Qing watched as Yin Tang still clung to the little eunuch over fifty taels of silver. So his extortion began so early.

"Xiao Jiu, what are you doing? Let him go!" An Qing couldn't hold back any longer and stepped forward to stop him.

Yin Tang and Yin'e seemed surprised to see someone there. When they saw it was An Qing, Yin Tang's face flashed with guilt.

Seeing this, An Qing felt a silent relief.

At least he knew what he was doing was wrong, not yet completely shameless.

"Fifth Sister-in-Law," Tenth Prince bowed respectfully.

Yin Tang's eyes darted away, "F-Fifth Sister-in-Law, why are you here?"

He chose this secluded spot to avoid being seen. Who would have thought he'd run into An Qing on such a snowy day? He felt frustrated.

An Qing nodded slightly at Tenth Prince and then looked at Yin Tang, "Xiao Jiu, I saw everything. Why are you demanding silver from a little eunuch? This is unacceptable!"

Yin Tang, seeing An Qing expose his actions, became angry, "They disrespected me. Can't I punish them?"

He puffed out his chest, his face saying, 'I'm not wrong.'

An Qing tried to calm herself and reasoned with him, "If he failed in his duties, you should punish him according to the palace rules. Just inform the Imperial Household Department, and they will handle it accordingly."

The little eunuch, hearing An Qing's words, hurriedly kowtowed, "Thank you, Fifth Princess Consort. I am willing to accept punishment."

Eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department were ranked. A lowly eunuch like him, responsible only for running errands, had a fixed monthly stipend and rarely received rewards. Fifty taels of silver was beyond his means.

An Qing understood the basic situation of the palace servants and gestured for the eunuch to leave, "Go report honestly to your supervisor. Don't hide anything. I will send someone to the Imperial Household Department to inquire."

The little eunuch quickly agreed, knowing he deserved punishment for his mistake. He bowed and rushed away, fearing further trouble.

But Yin Tang was displeased. He glanced at the eunuch's retreating figure and then at An Qing, "Fifth Sister-in-Law, what are you doing? Don't I have the right to punish a servant?"

An Qing looked at him calmly, "Xiao Jiu, if you truly believe you're right, why did you choose such a secluded place to punish the servant?"

Yin Tang was speechless, unable to respond.

After a moment, he angrily said, "...Because I want to!"

He huffed and dragged Tenth Prince away, glaring at An Qing before leaving.

An Qing sighed, and if Perilla hadn't held her back, she might have rolled up her sleeves.

In her opinion, this troublesome child needed a lesson.

An Qing looked in the direction they had left and pondered for a while.

No!

She needed to find a way to deal with Xiao Jiu.

Without even mentioning other reasons, just for Concubine Yi's sake, she couldn't let him act recklessly as he did historically, ultimately dragging her beautiful mother-in-law into trouble.

So, An Qing stopped looking at the snow and turned around, heading back to the princes' residence with Perilla.

Once back in the courtyard, she immediately called Chunxiao and started ordering food: one portion each of fried chicken, hamburgers, and French fries, plus a warm cup of milk tea.

On this snowy day, having such warm, high-calorie foods was simply too delightful.

Chunxiao looked puzzled. Didn't her mistress go out to enjoy the snow? Why did she come back so soon and order these things?

It wasn't surprising that Chunxiao was confused. Ever since returning from the frontier, An Qing had officially started her weight loss plan and completely banned these oily, high-calorie foods.

An Qing didn't explain much, only gesturing for Chunxiao to prepare the food as requested.

Chunxiao didn't dare delay and immediately sent someone to fetch ingredients from the imperial kitchen.

She worked quickly, and since her mistress used to love these foods, it didn't take long to prepare them according to the instructions.

Looking at the neatly packed food on the table, An Qing called Little Xizi and began assigning tasks.

There were five portions to be delivered to Zhaoxiang Residence: one each for Princess Eighth, Tenth Prince, Twelfth Prince, and Thirteenth Prince, and even Fourteenth Prince, who rarely received any, got one. But she deliberately didn't send any to Yin Tang.

"Master, aren't we sending anything to Ninth Prince?" Little Xizi asked.

An Qing gritted her teeth. "No!"

Little Xizi was somewhat bewildered. This wasn't normal; usually, whenever they sent food, Ninth Prince always got some, and the others were included because they lived nearby.

Perilla, knowing the reason, worriedly said, "Master, is this okay?"

Sending food to all the princes living nearby but deliberately skipping Ninth Prince, who was also the master's brother, would clearly look like intentional targeting, which wouldn't be reasonable.

But An Qing waved her hand, smiling sarcastically. "What's not okay? I'm specifically leaving him out!"

Inside Zhaoxiang Residence.

Yin Tang had been sulking for a long time after An Qing exposed his actions. When he came to his senses, he realized he was hungry, but it wasn't yet mealtime, so he had some dry pastries to tide him over.

As he ate the dry pastries, he suddenly caught a strong, enticing aroma.

"What's that smell? Go check where it's coming from."

Hearing this, the little eunuch serving Yin Tang didn't dare delay and rushed out of the room. But soon, he hurried back.

"Master, it seems to be coming from Tenth Prince's courtyard."

Yin Tang frowned. "Tenth Brother's place?"

He and Tenth Prince lived next door, so without further thought, he got up to investigate.

When Yin Tang arrived, Tenth Prince was happily eating a fried chicken leg dipped in ketchup.

"What are you eating?"

Tenth Prince was surprised by his ninth brother's sudden visit but answered honestly, "Fifth Sister-in-Law's people said it's called fried chicken."

Then he pointed to the other items on the table. "These two are called hamburgers and French fries, and this is tomato sauce, which can be used for dipping."

Yin Tang looked at the food on the table, swallowed unconsciously, and then asked, "Did Fifth Sister-in-Law send this?"

Tenth Prince nodded. "Yes, Ninth Brother, didn't Fifth Sister-in-Law send anything to you?"

Yin Tang choked. He didn't believe it and turned to the little eunuch. "Go back and see if anyone came by when we were here."

The little eunuch hurriedly agreed and ran out.

Tenth Prince wasn't stupid and quickly understood the situation. Seeing his ninth brother's gloomy face, he held the fried chicken, unsure whether to eat or not.

Fortunately, the little eunuch returned quickly. "Master, Fifth Princess Consort didn't send anyone to our place, and..."

Yin Tang, already in a bad mood, snapped, "And what? Can't you speak properly? If you can't speak clearly, I'll send you back to the Imperial Household Department tomorrow. I don't need people who can't even talk properly around me."

The little eunuch hurriedly apologized. "Master, please calm down. When I went out, I saw someone from Fifth Princess Consort's courtyard leaving Fourteenth Prince's place."

"What?" Yin Tang looked incredulous. "Where else did they deliver?"

The little eunuch replied, "To Twelfth Prince and Thirteenth Prince, apparently."

Yin Tang stood up abruptly. So everyone got something except him.

He wasn't stupid and immediately connected it to the events earlier that morning. An Qing was definitely doing this on purpose!

Tenth Prince also understood but didn't know what to say. He scratched his head and said, "Ninth Brother, don't be angry. I have plenty here; let's eat together."

Though he said this, the amount An Qing sent wasn't much, and at their age, they had big appetites and got hungry easily. The food seemed enough for just one person.

Yin Tang seemed even angrier. "Who wants to eat her food? Do you think I've never seen such things before? She's doing this on purpose, with ill intentions!"

Tenth Prince frowned and, unusually, contradicted Ninth Prince. "Ninth Brother, you shouldn't say that about Fifth Sister-in-Law. She's always been kind to us. It's not fair to say that."

Yin Tang, still furious, couldn't bear to hear any more. "Hmph! A bit of food and you're bought off. Pathetic!"

With that, he stormed out of Tenth Prince's place.

Just as she returned to the room, Yin Tang grew angrier the more he thought about it. Looking at the leftover pastries on the table, he couldn't help but think of the fried chicken burgers and fries at the Tenth Prince's place, which made him even angrier.

No way!

This matter absolutely could not be left alone; he had to retaliate.

As for how to retaliate, Yin Tang clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, deciding that he would go to the Yikun Palace.

He was going to find his mother and complain!

At the Agege Residence, An Qing was leisurely drinking milk tea and eating a burger. It had been a while since she had eaten this, and it really was delicious.

Just then, Little Xizi rushed in anxiously, "Fujin, it's bad! The Ninth Prince is heading towards the Yikun Palace."

After delivering the items earlier, An Qing had asked him to keep someone there to watch, specifically to monitor the Ninth Prince's movements.

Hearing this, Perilla also became worried. What was the Ninth Prince doing at the Yikun Palace at this critical moment? He must be going to complain.

The thing she feared the most had happened.

An Qing responded with an "Oh," showing no surprise on her face, as if everything was going according to plan.

She stood up, clapped her hands, and declared, "Well, let's go then. We should go take a look."

Then, An Qing suddenly turned to Cui Liu, "Did you finish breaking those willow branches?"

Cui Liu nodded, "I found them, my lady. What do you need them for?"

In this cold winter, what use were these bare willow branches?

An Qing smiled slightly. What else could they be used for? Of course, to discipline naughty children.

Inside the Yikun Palace.

When An Qing arrived, Yin Tang was still complaining to Concubine Yi. However, despite his efforts, Concubine Yi looked at him disbelievingly.

"Mother, am I still your son? Why don't you believe me!" Yinqi said angrily.

Concubine Yi slowly picked up her teacup, took a sip, and calmly replied, "If anyone else told me this, I would believe them."

But he was talking about An Qing, which made it impossible for her to believe him.

Yin Tang was almost exasperated: "Mother, you still don't believe me? Send someone to Zhaoxiang Residence to check if what I said is true, whether everyone else received gifts except for me!"

Concubine Yi waved her hand, "No need to check. Even if it's true, you should explain why you offended your Fifth Sister-in-Law. Otherwise, there's no reason for her to do this."

Yin Tang instantly felt guilty: "Well, how would I know? Maybe she just doesn't like me."

Concubine Yi knew her son well. Seeing his reaction, she suspected something was off and was about to ask more when An Qing walked in.

"Mother, let me explain."

Seeing An Qing, a hint of panic flashed across Yin Tang's face, "What are you doing here?"

An Qing rolled her eyes, "Why can't I come?"

Yin Tang licked his lips and insisted, "This is my mother's palace."

An Qing smiled, "Also my mother."

Yin Tang: "..."

Concubine Yi watched the two glaring at each other like fighting roosters and couldn't help but hold her forehead, "How old are you both? How childish can you get? Why are you fighting over your mother?"

She had been a mother for nearly twenty years and had never experienced being fought over. Today, she finally did.

"It was Fifth Sister-in-Law who started it; she's the childish one," Yin Tang insisted.

An Qing didn't back down, "I'm just correcting you; you're the childish one!"

"Enough, enough," Concubine Yi, annoyed by their bickering, looked at An Qing and said, "What were you going to say?"

Yin Tang immediately tensed up upon hearing this.

An Qing ignored him and explained the whole situation without any concealment.

After listening, Concubine Yi slammed her hand on the table and glared at Yin Tang, saying, "You've truly disgraced me. As an Agege, you extorted servants. Aren't you afraid others will laugh at you?"

An Qing nodded vigorously; it was indeed disgraceful.

She added fuel to the fire, "Indeed, it's good no one saw it."

Yin Tang glared at her and couldn't help but defend himself, "Mother, don't make it sound so bad. It wasn't extortion; it was punishment."

Concubine Yi sneered, "Do you think everyone is stupid?"

How did she end up with such a troublesome child!

Yin Tang fell silent.

Concubine Yi took a deep breath and said, "If you needed money, why didn't you come to me? And what have you been doing? You spend all day in the palace; why would you need money?"

Yin Tang mumbled, "Mother, I haven't done anything, and I don't need money."

He simply liked money.

Besides, why should the servants in the Imperial Household Department be richer than him, the master!

Not needing money yet extorting servants—was he out of his mind? Concubine Yi was even more furious upon hearing this and scolded him thoroughly.

An Qing saw that Concubine Yi had nearly finished her scolding and spoke softly, "Mother, just scolding him won't do any good. Look at him; he's probably not listening anyway. If this were my brother, my mother would definitely give him a proper lesson. Otherwise, how will he ever learn?"

Concubine Yi already had a good impression of Naren, and thinking about how An Qing’s three brothers had all turned out well, she asked, "How would your mother teach them?"

An Qing cleared her throat and called out to the outside. Then Cui Liu came in holding a willow branch.

Concubine Yi: "???"

"Mother, as the saying goes, 'Spare the rod, spoil the child.' I think there's some truth to it," said An Qing. "We don’t need to use anything too heavy like a stick, but this willow branch is just right. After all, it won’t hurt anyone if you hit their bottom."

She added, "None of my three brothers escaped the willow branch. My mother says they learned their lesson after one beating and promised never to repeat their mistakes."

Concubine Yi hesitated, looking uncertainly at An Qing.

Really hit him? Xiao Jiu isn’t a child anymore; that wouldn’t be appropriate.

Yin Tang stared wide-eyed at An Qing, gasping, "You, you..."

An Qing gave him a forced smile, "What is it!"

Then she exaggerated, "Mother, look, he doesn’t even call me Fifth Sister-in-Law anymore. How can this be allowed to continue?"

Yin Tang truly didn’t expect her to encourage his mother to hit him with a willow branch, talking about hitting his bottom. How outrageous!

He suddenly stood up, pointing at An Qing, "You’re too cruel! I’ll tell my Fifth Brother and have him divorce you..."

Concubine Yi was already getting a headache from listening to their argument and had been hoping to mediate, but before she could say anything, she heard Yin Tang’s words.

In the next moment, she got up and grabbed the willow branch from Cui Liu, striking Yin Tang’s bottom swiftly and scolding him.

"How dare you speak so disrespectfully! This is your Fifth Sister-in-Law, and you dare to be disrespectful to her! I’ll beat some sense into you today!"