Chapter 1232: The Ridiculous Prince and the Face-obsessed Heroine

Busy for several days in a row.

As the floods receded, under the guidance of the government, the displaced people gradually returned home.

After completing the imperial mission, Su Mingzhe wrote a memorial according to the rules. He asked the crown prince to read it first and confirm that it was correct. Then he stamped it and sent someone to deliver it to Kangxi who had already fled to the northwest.

When everything was ready, the prince looked at the 'cold-faced king' who had always been respectful to him, and couldn't help but sigh:
"Fourth brother, I called you back so that you could have a good rest, but in the end, you had to travel so much and work so hard. As your elder brother, I really feel sorry for you!"

Seeing that the prince was sincere in his words, Su Mingzhe also used some real emotion when he spoke:
"I will always remember your concern for me, brother! However, I have only been running around for a few days, which is nothing. When there is a chance in the future, brother will compensate me..."

The prince understood the meaning of Su Mingzhe's words, which was to hint that he would confer an official title on him after he ascended the throne. He immediately laughed and said:

"Fourth brother is my right-hand man, so I'll be generous to others, but when the time comes, I will definitely not be stingy with Fourth brother!"

Looking at the prince who spoke without restraint, Su Mingzhe sighed inwardly and chatted for a while. Just as he was about to find an excuse to leave, an eunuch ran in panicked:

"My Lord, there is urgent news from eight hundred miles away!"

"Send it up!"

The prince took the letter and read it, his brows furrowed.

After a while, he saw Su Mingzhe lowering his eyebrows and eyes, looking indifferent. After thinking for a while, he asked the eunuch to pass the letter to him:

"Fourth brother, there is news that those guys on the plateau are colluding and preparing to rebel! What do you think about this?"

Su Mingzhe took the letter, read it once, and then said indifferently:

"Second brother, in recent years, the climate has warmed up, and the weather has been good everywhere. Grain production has continued to increase. Some people's warehouses are full, their strength has increased, and their arms have become stronger, so naturally they have begun to lift their tails to the sky."

"In a situation like this, I think we only need to send a capable minister over to win over a group of people, suppress them, or even eliminate a group of people, so that they can know who is the boss of this world again!"

After hearing the analysis, the prince nodded and agreed:
"Fourth brother, what you said is very true, but who should we send?"

There were quite a lot of famous officials during the Kangxi period.

However, famous officials such as Soetu, Zhou Peigong, and Yu Chenglong have all passed away, and Nalan Mingzhu, Tong Guowei, Zhang Ying and others have now retired and are enjoying their retirement at home for various reasons.

Su Mingzhe thought for a moment and recommended a candidate:
"Second brother, what do you think of Zhang Tingyu, the son of Teacher Zhang Ying?"

In the 16th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Zhang Ying joined the Nanshufang and served as a teacher to Crown Prince Yinreng and the fourth prince Yinzhen.

Now that Su Mingzhe recommended Zhang Ying's son Zhang Tingyu, the prince saw it as an opportunity to promote one of his own.

However, the prince was a soft-tempered person who wanted to nod directly, but he was afraid that Zhang Tingyu would not be able to help. After thinking for a moment, he questioned:

"Fourth brother, Zhang Tingyu is now working in the Southern Study, following the emperor's father, as a fifth-rank official. Isn't it too much of a joke to ask him to take on such an important task?"

"Brother, the plateau is very high. If you are not young and strong, you can't climb up there."

Seeing the prince being so indecisive, Su Mingzhe had no choice but to explain:
"Among the young people, Zhang Tingyu has followed Teacher Zhang Ying for many years and has a deep family background. The incident on the plateau has not yet erupted, so letting him go is mainly for appeasement... Of course, we can't just recommend Zhang Tingyu. I suggest adding... the names of a few others as well, and let the emperor make the decision himself!"

Under Su Mingzhe's guidance, the prince quickly wrote a memorial and ordered someone to send it to Kangxi.

The urgent information, which was sent over a distance of eight hundred miles, was delivered to the camp outside the Great Wall in just a few days.

After reading the prince's memorial, Kangxi chose Zhang Tingyu among several candidates, just as Su Mingzhe had expected.

Afterwards, Kangxi no longer had the heart to continue touring the frontier, and ordered his men to set off and prepare to return to Beijing.

Early July.

When the news came that Kangxi was returning to Beijing, the Crown Prince summoned the civil and military officials in Beijing, as well as the princes, to prepare to welcome him.

There is no doubt that as the prince's right-hand man, Su Mingzhe took charge of all matters.

Before the emperor's carriage passed by, all roads had to be paved with yellow soil and sprinkled with clean water.

In addition, in order to prevent assassins from attacking, all houses along the street must be strictly inspected and monitored. At the same time, in order to prevent danger, the Nine Gates Admiral must cooperate with the Imperial Guards to conduct a "drill".

After several days of continuous efforts, as the news came that Kangxi's carriage was about to return to the capital, the frequency of street parades increased from once a day to four times a day.

Under such circumstances, even if someone wanted to assassinate Kangxi, they would not be able to figure out the exact time when Kangxi would enter Beijing.

This method reached the ears of Kangxi. Without a doubt, Kangxi gave a higher evaluation of himself, the fourth prince.

Compared to Su Mingzhe and the other princes who were working hard, the Crown Prince's performance was relatively lackluster.

I don’t know what the prince is thinking.

Seeing that Kangxi was about to come back, everyone else pretended to be busy, even if they were just pretending.

Only the crown prince gave up handling state affairs and spent every day playing with women like crazy.

It seemed as if he would become an ascetic monk after Kangxi returned.

This day.

Su Mingzhe came to the Eastern Palace to look for the prince and report on his street patrol. He saw the chief eunuch of the Eastern Palace, Li Quanyou, coming towards him with a bitter face and asking him to persuade the prince to take care of his health.

After being asked, Li Quanyou confessed honestly: The prince drinks a bowl of deer blood and takes a magic medicine almost every day.

After leaving the palace, Su Mingzhe couldn't help but start to plot in his mind:

"If the prince continues to be so greedy for wine and lustful, even if Kangxi doesn't depose him, he won't live longer than Kangxi, right?"

You know, Kangxi lived to be nearly seventy years old, while Yinreng in history died of illness in the second year of Yongzheng's reign.

If Kangxi had not deposed the crown prince and allowed him to continue his absurd and lustful behavior, I'm afraid he would really end up dying before him.

In this situation, if Su Mingzhe continues to be a loyal prince's party member, and even tries his best to prevent the prince from being deposed, he will definitely win the favor of some court officials.

"Forget it! It's okay to do this kind of work of cleaning up other people's butts occasionally, but if you force yourself to do it frequently, you will probably be so frustrated that you will die!"

Su Mingzhe was riding on the horse, thinking about his temper and personality, and realized that sooner or later he would come into conflict with the prince. He immediately shook his head and smiled.

Suddenly, a scream brought Su Mingzhe, whose mind was wandering, back to his senses. He saw a girl in a pink skirt, about fourteen or fifteen years old, standing on the street that should have been unobstructed, arguing with the eunuch in charge of cleaning the street.

When he saw the pretty face of the girl in the pink skirt, Su Mingzhe couldn't help but think of a thousand gramps:
"The heroine threw a tantrum in public twice in a row. This plot is so wicked!"

Although his mind was full of mixed thoughts, Su Mingzhe was agile. Just when the horse's head was about to hit the heroine, a man hid himself in the stirrups. His arm had already passed over the horse's head and hugged the still dazed heroine directly in his arms, laying her sideways on the horse's back!
"Uu——"

After stopping his mount, Su Mingzhe finally had the heart to look down at Maertai Ruoxi in his arms.

The two looked at each other instantly.

Different from the man's cold temperament, the girl's eyes seem to contain stars and moon, bright and clear, making people want to get closer.

"Miss!"

"Damn slave!"

The shouts of a maid and a eunuch brought Su Mingzhe and the girl back to their senses.

The maid saw that Su Mingzhe was still hugging her mistress tightly and would not let go, so she could only plop down on the ground and beg for mercy:
"Fourth Master, please spare us. We are from the Eighth Prince's Mansion..."

"You are the Fourth Master? The Fourth Prince?"

When the heroine heard the maid addressing the man, she was not afraid, but her eyes flickered with various small questions:
"It turns out that the future Emperor Yongzheng is so handsome - many times more handsome than that venomous snake Old Nine and that straw bag Old Ten!"

"Besides, these four princes are so strong in their boyfriend power!"

"When he hugged me, I didn't even have the thought of resisting..."

(End of this chapter)