This time, Kangxi patrolled to Jiangning and stationed in the "Grand View Garden", which coincided with the mourning of Cao Yin's deceased family, so there was less extravagance and pomp in the past. The fifty-four-year-old Cao Gong, the mourning hall has not been removed, Kangxi ordered Fang Bao to prepare a sacrifice on behalf of the emperor, and Zhang Tingyu sacrificed in front of Cao Yin's spirit on behalf of the emperor. Because Tingyu's father and Cao Yin had a good relationship, and Fang Bao was a generation of writers, the sacrificial texts written were full of emotion and lyricism, and Zhang Hengchen was embarrassed and tearful.

The sacrificial text says:

The ancestral residence of the Cao family is Fengrun, Hebei, originally a Han Chinese, Cao Xi Gong became a full citizen, and was a slave of the Shunzhi Dynasty's royal family with a white flag, serving the emperor diligently. Mrs. Cao Xi, my nurse. When Yin was young, he often frolicked and played with me, which was for "reading". I bow the world, Yin has served as a political envoy, Jiangnan weaving, and was ordered to collect the people of Jiangnan, supervise officials, and fulfill their duties, which is my "clairvoyance". I made six southern tours, six times in the Cao Mansion Palace, or knee-long talks, or in the garden. Reminiscing about childhood anecdotes, visiting famous mountains and rivers, and putting wine in the wind, its joyful people. Zhang Yingzhishi, His Majesty saw Jiang Ning, lived in the same garden, the old friends of the monarch and ministers, sat and discussed, and wrote poems. There are children and grandchildren around the knees, and there are children who welcome the door. I live in the forbidden world, and enjoy the joy of family for a while! Taihu Lake was shocked, and Erqing was affected. Joy and fear, the voice of the public, still vivid, pity! Wen Duangong left first, and then passed away, and a group of old ministers were mostly gone. The sky is separated by a road, the water is far away, the spleen sighs, and I am stunned. Woohoo, Shang Fang!

After Zhang Tingyu made a sacrifice on behalf of Kangxi, Kangxi met Cao Yin's two sons Cao Yin and Cao Fu in the middle hall of Daxing Palace, as well as his grandson's Cao Xueqin and others. The Jiangnan weaving was succeeded by Cao Fu, and gave the royal pen "morning breeze and evening dew, step willow garden flower" plaque, gave platinum 1,000 taels, and 20 silk horses. When he returned to Luan, he brought Cao Yin's grandson Xueqin, who was only seven years old, back to the capital, and "sitting" with the imperial grandson of the palace Hongshi. Kangxi's kindness to the Cao family can be described as deep and wide.

Cao Xueqin came to Beijing and lived in her aunt Fuping Palace. This King Fuping is the son of Prince Yuxian Fuquan, Fuquan is the son of Lord Shunzhi and the brother of Kangxi, so King Fuping is Kangxi's nephew and a cousin of the Yinzhen generation. This palace is also a heavenly home, a wealthy house, which is naturally better than Jiangning's weaving office, and it is not the same day. Xiao Xueqin is well-behaved and cute, and is favored by her aunt Fuping Wang Fujin in every way, plus it was Kangxi who personally brought the Forbidden City and passed the decree to "read" with the emperor and grandson. The palace naturally treats him as a little brother, with an elderly mother waiting for food, drink, and housing, and more than a dozen little girls follow him. Every day I go to the palace with my cousins to serve the emperor and grandson, and I have a maid to pick me up. Xiao Xueqin soon became friends with Hongshi of Yongwang's Mansion, and during the New Year's Festival, Hongshi also invited this child from Jiangnan to play in Yongwangfu.

Cao Xueqin followed her two cousins for the first time and took a car to Prince Yong's mansion, which was really eye-opening. King Yong's Mansion is in the east of the Forbidden City, which was originally the official residence of the former Ming Dynasty officials and eunuchs, and is now the residence of the fourth elder brother Yinzhen of Prince Heshuo Yong. At that time, Yinzhen was thirty-five years old, more than a year younger than Cao Xueqin's father Cao Fu, because the Cao family and the royal family have aunts and cousins, and Xueqin's grandmother is Kangxi's nursing mother.

Cao Xueqin and her cousin entered the archway courtyard of Yongwangfu, only to see the east, north and west three archways, towering, resplendent and brilliant, which is unremarkable. Passing through the Zhaotai Gate decorated with glass carving, came to the Yongyou Palace, when the cousin met Prince Yong, he was called "Uncle Huang", when Xueqin kowtowed, he was not called "Uncle Huang", and he painted a gourd according to his cousin, and shouted:

"Imperial Uncle Jin'an!"

Yinzhen's eyes lit up, and he asked gently: "Hmm, whose child is this, so well-behaved!" ”

The cousin replied: "It's our family's little cousin, Xueqin, the little young master of the Cao family in Jiangning Weaving Mansion." ”

"I know, I know," Yinzhen nodded again and again, "It was Cao Xueqin who was brought back from Jiangning by Huang Ama and was a 'waiter' for Ah Shi's group of imperial grandsons." Come here, come here-" Xueqin got up and walked over, Yinzhen stroked Xueqin's head, "I heard that your grandfather died, are your parents okay?" ”

"Good!" Xue Qin replied politely, "Thank you, Uncle Huang, for your inquiry." ”

"Master didn't talk about the scriptures today?"

"Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival."

"Hmm, yes." Yinzhen thought for a while, probably remembered the farce of the Mid-Autumn Festival with his father, who once said that there was a little Xueqin in the Cao family in Jiangning, who could memorize a lot of Tang poems at the age of three, so he smiled and said, "I heard that you study hard and are quite talented." But I was only naughty and not good at reading. You help Ah Shi a little more when you are studying. ”

"Uncle Huang has rewarded his little nephew," Xue Qin said like a little adult, "Brother Shi is talented and intelligent, and he will become a great weapon when he grows up, how can he be compared to a foolish nephew." ”

"Haha, you little man, that's interesting!" Yinzhen sighed and raised his hand to Xueqin and the two nephews of the Pingwang Mansion, "Go to the back to find some time to play, don't go outside to make trouble." ”

"Yes." Xueqin and her cousin were happy and bounced away. Walk through the man's verandah to Hirotoki's residence. Under the hug of a large group of old mothers, maids, and domestic servants, Hongshi walked out. When I saw Xueqin and her two cousins, I was so excited that I jumped three feet high, and called again and again:

"Yesterday I said I would come today, I've been waiting, hey, where are we going?"

Hongshi is four years older than Xueqin, an eleven-year-old fat boy, and the two cousins are older and younger than Hongshi, and the difference is only one or two years old. These four children, from seven to thirteen years old, make do with each other, but it is the best combination of play. The two children of Pingwangfu are thin and elegant, without this young master of Yongwangfu, he is naughty and mischievous, and his uncle told him not to go out to play just now, so it is inconvenient for them to squeak. But Xueqin is quite thoughtful:

"Brother Shi, just now Uncle Huang ordered us not to go out, so you can take us to look around the courtyard of the mansion."

"Well, that's fine!" Hongshi's little eyes blinked, and he felt that in front of the hillbilly brother from Jiangning, he could greatly show off the spirit of the palace. Moreover, in the courtyard of the palace, there is a ** hall of the Yama Palace, which usually only dares to peek outside, and does not dare to enter. Now there are four friends who go together to break into the mysterious world, which is enough to satisfy his curiosity. So, he led the way in front, passing through the courtyard and the main hall one after another, and walked towards the ghost world in Hongshi's mind.

Yongwang's mansion has a total of seven courtyards and five palaces. The buildings on the north-south central axis are from low to high, layer upon layer, Cui E is magnificent, magnificent and deep. There are countless side halls, side buildings, glazed tile roofs, warped cornices, complementing each other. After the living area of the palace is the temple area, there are famous buildings such as the Tianwang Palace, the Lama Temple, the ** Hall and the Wanfu Pavilion. Walking into the ** hall in the courtyard, Xiao Xueqin was simply stunned. The wide and deep temple, the yellow tile glaze, the top of the mountain. There are five small pavilions abruptly at the top of the middle, a lama tower is built on the pavilion respectively, towering in the sky, all decorated with the relief carvings and patterns of Tibetan Buddhism, magnificent and magnificent, mysterious and unpredictable. The main hall is seven bays, the east and west sides are built on each stacked floor, the east is called the pharmacist altar, the west is called the ring altar. Coupled with the five-room east and west side hall, its scale is grand and gloomy, which makes Xiao Xueqin prohibitive.

"Brother Qin'er, why don't you dare to leave?" Hongshi slapped Cao Xueqin, who was standing in a daze, and said sarcastically, "You recite the four books and five classics in front of the master, what's the first to know." Zhizhi is in Gewu', what 'knowledge, benevolence, and courage are the three of them, and the world's Dade is also', you are back in the south wind. How? I want you to go to 'Gewu' and 'Yong', but you are like a coward of your mother-in-law? Let's go—"

Cao Xueqin was pushed into the ** hall with one palm, facing a fifteen-meter-high bronze statue of Tsongkhapa, and the five hundred arhats behind him were so frightened that he covered his mouth with his hands and almost let out a scream. His legs were weak, and he looked up at a pair of eyes staring ahead, like Tsongkhapa with two burns of green ghost fire. The tents and prayer towers on top of Tsongkhapa's head and on both sides, **, fluttered and shook in the wind, as if he had been pressed down by the Yama dynasty.

"Hey-" Xiao Xueqin still couldn't help but scream, covering her eyes with her hands.

"Hey—"

"Hey......, hey......"

The scream echoed through the dead hall one after another, and the echoes grew deeper and thinner. In the end, like a person who has died frequently, he sighed slightly, which was creepy.

"Let's go! The best is yet to come! "Hiroshi came to look for excitement, how could he let go of this person's opportunity to be powerful.

"Brother Huang, let's go back!" Cousin, who was two years younger, also hesitated and didn't dare to move forward.

"Useless soft eggs!" Hongshi pushed his cousin and Xueqin, and walked forward disappreciatively, saying as he walked, "In the future, I will rely on a few of you to protect me, the crown prince, and protect the society. ”

Xiao Xueqin thought in her heart, Brother Shi is so bold, can he guarantee that his father, Prince Yong, can succeed to the throne, and King Yong is the emperor, and he will definitely crown you the crown prince? I only dared to think about it in my heart, but I was too scared to squeak.

The demon who appeared in front of him, the gods and ghosts, was really incredible. There are beheaded ghosts, drenched in blood; A monster with a human face and a beast body, hideous and terrifying; There are also perverts, lewd ghosts, bull heads, horse faces, basilisks, impermanence...... The eighteen layers of hell, the dead river, and the sea of blood are presented in front of him.

Cao Xueqin has had nightmares for several nights since she went through this experience in Yongwang's Mansion. As long as you close your eyes, those blue-faced and fanged gods and demons will appear in front of you. When he opened his eyelids, he lay on the warm kang with palpitations on his chest, and suddenly remembered the stories and jokes he had told when he listened to the adults chatting in the Fuping Palace. These stories and jokes, if you want to tell them to the people below, you will inevitably have the crime of killing your head. And in the same royal family, the same heavenly family, just because Shunzhi Ye favored the Fuping royal family who did not become the emperor for a while, all of them became family stories, and they became easy after-dinner conversations.

It is said that Kangxi Ye is afraid of the foolish people in the grass field, and he has not yet deeply felt the kindness of the imperial court, and the emperor's grace is vast, so he has visited the south of the Yangtze River one after another. At this time, the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager had passed away one after another, and it could no longer be said that they were serving and supporting themselves. It can only be said that he inspected the river workers and asked the people about their suffering. First, we will inspect the people's feelings, so that we can use the means of killing and punishing the people. Second, do some small favors and small favors, so as to make friends with the people, so along the way, everywhere you go, here you will be free of a few percent of money and grain, and there will be a few years of rent, which is exactly the wisdom of Kangxi's grace and power.

Who knew that Kangxi Ye only wanted to turn his back on the hearts of the people, and he repeatedly patrolled the south and the north to hunt, but he forgot the fundamental events inherited by the palace and the year he had become a sixtieth year. Later, it was inevitable that the princes would compete for the East Palace. Once the emperor had just returned from his tour, and the crown prince Yinren in the capital had already been manipulated by his brothers and went crazy. He kicked his uncle and uncle again, and cursed the minister in the court, but he was lustful and hooked up with the palace people.

The emperor was furious when he heard this, so he performed a farce of abolishing the prince in the Rehe Palace and making the princes secretly happy.

It turned out that among the princes, the eldest son, Yinchu, was born by Concubine Hui. Only the second son, Yinren, was born to the queen He Sheli, and the queen died after giving birth to Yinren. Kangxi and his wife were deeply in love, so they took Yinren as their son-in-law and became the national prince. The eighth son of the emperor Yinyu and the ninth son of the emperor Yinyu were born the most well-behaved, and Kangxi loved them a little more since they were young. The rest of them, such as Yinzhi, Yinqi, Yinyou, Yinxiang, etc., are all mediocre, neither hated by their father, nor loved by their father. When the fourteenth son Yinyu grew up, he showed a rare style of a general, familiar with the art of war, proficient in martial arts, and the northwest was not quiet, so he often sent him to lead the troops to the battle, and was known as the general king for a while.

Speaking of Yinzhen, the fourth son of Prince Yong, it is much more complicated, and Cao Xueqin is dumbfounded every time she listens to it.

It is said that Yinzhen is Kangxi's most cherished young nobleman - the sister of the famous general Nian Qianyao, who entered the palace with a pregnancy and gave birth. This is not a dragon son and a dragon root, he has a yin temperament since he was a child, and he is fierce in his work. But Kangxi didn't know that there was a festival here, just to pamper the nobles, love the house and Wu, so he liked Yinzhen very much.

How did the nobles do that year, they connected Princess Gulun, Concubine Wei, and Kong Sizhen, and often praised Zhen'er's talent in front of Kangxi, not because of his talent, but because of how to be decisive. The emperor also thought about passing on the throne to him because he was born with a dignified appearance and a loud voice, like a blessed billet. Although he had this in mind, he refused to export it easily.

When Yinzhen was a teenager, there was an envoy from Siam who sent a tribute, and there were 300 white rats, which was a rarity at that time. Kangxi gave Yinzhen 300 white rats and a cage woven with gold wire, asking him to train these white rats well, but wanted to see how much talent he had. Yinzhen thanked him, carried the white rat back to the domain, divided the white rat into three teams, and held a Yingjisha knife paid tribute by the king of Kashgar in Xinjiang, and forced the white rat to fight and kill each other every day. Some of them did not follow him, and they stabbed one by one, and killed many of them. In less than three days, three points actually killed two points. The remaining hundred or so white rats, under his obscenity, trembled and forbidden, and were very frightened, and did not dare to disobey his orders.

So, he called his little buddies over to watch his white rat hundred regiment battle, and sure enough, all the white rats were bitten bloody and bloody, which was very tragic. Yinzhen clapped his hands and laughed on the side.

When this matter reached Kangxi's ears, he decided that the fourth elder brother liked to kill since he was a child, and he must be a cruel person when he grew up, so he completely broke off the idea of handing over the country to the fourth brother, and thought that the prince Yinren could fight for power. Therefore, every time he patrols the south and the north, he asks the prince to be in power, and wants to train the prince to become a generation of monarchs.

Why did Kangxi abolish the prince, there were disputes in the courts, and there were even more street discussions, but they didn't get to the point. Cao Xueqin heard the real reason from her aunt Fuping Wang Fujin: it was the crown prince Yinren**, who raped his mother Liu Guiren. This is what my aunt heard from an old eunuch, saying that Liu Guiren was later hanged on the palace willow.

Little Xueqin has heard these anecdotes about the palace, and thinks a lot, and sometimes she can't sleep all night. Besides, since the establishment of the crown prince Yinren, there are only three people, Yinzhen, Yinyu and Yinzhen, who are disappointed and indignant, and want to secretly murder the prince and seize the storage position. So Yinyu and Yinyu merged into one road, and often gathered in the mansion to discuss the strategy of subverting the prince. Yinzhen had another idea, and he didn't show any traces, but only contacted him in secret, and won over a group of civil and military ministers who could afford to go in the court. In the list of ministers he wants to woo, there are Long Keduo, Zhang Tingyu, Fang Bao, Nian Qianyao, Chen Shiqi and others.

Zhang Tingyu has more than ten years of career in the sea, and he has become more and more mature, round, and spicy in front of Kangxi. He doesn't know how to accompany the king like a tiger, and he doesn't know how to climb higher and fall worse. Since the last time he was on the southern tour, he helped Kangxi collect Fang Bao, the prime minister of cloth, and Fang Bao was inseparable from Kangxi. Fang Bao is a person who knows kindness and gratitude, not to mention that he was rescued by him in prison, and he is a poet friend of Wenduangong, protecting him everywhere and speaking of him in front of the emperor. His position in Banzai's mind was unbreakable, and now he wanted to think like his father and retreat bravely, which was completely impossible. But Kangxi, who is close to the age of sixties, is not as good as a year in his body, and the "ten thousand limits" will surely come, which is a powerless thing to return to the sky. Now that the crown prince is abolished and the situation is shaking, he can't help but think about who the future master is. If you follow the wrong person, your head will fall to the ground!