Fourth Master still carefully stacked up the letters in his hand and put them into his bosom.

  Things have come to this, one foot has stepped in, how can shoes be clean?

  Nowadays, I envy Lao Wu, who is ignorant and carefree, with a sense of contentment.

  The horse carriage arrived at Donghua Gate.

  In front of them, the Crown Prince had already gotten off his carriage, and the Fourth Master and Fifth Master hurried over: "Your Highness."

  "Well, let's go into the palace first. I'm sure the Empress Dowager is waiting for us. Whatever it is, we can talk about it later." With that, he smiled and patted Fourth Master on the shoulder before walking off by himself.

  Fourth Master only felt that the hand on his shoulder was as heavy as a thousand catties. He could only force a smile and follow the Crown Prince into the palace.

  In the Qianqing Palace, upon hearing that they had returned, Kangxi was overjoyed: "Come, come, come! You must be exhausted from this trip. Fourth and Fifth Brothers, you have worked hard too."

  The three of them hurriedly said they did not dare, and then saw that Emperor Kangxi had already invited them to sit down.

  After sitting down, I heard footsteps outside, and Da Ge and San Ge arrived.

  Fourth Master and Fifth Master hurriedly stood up.

  The Third Prince is also a Beile, just like them. But the Eldest Prince was promoted to Junwang last year and is now second only to the Crown Prince among his brothers.

  Zhenguo Wang and San Ye came in, first to pay their respects, then burst out laughing: "This matter must have been settled, just look at the prince's face and you'll know."

  Kangxi smiled: "You brothers, are indeed deeply understanding of each other."

  The crown prince's eyes flashed, but the straight king still smiled: "Brothers should understand each other."

  "Alright, we're all tired today, let's call it a day and head back. Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother can also go back. Whatever it is, we'll talk about it tomorrow." The Kangxi Emperor suddenly stopped smiling, with only a faint smile lingering at the corner of his mouth.

  The princes could only nod in understanding, and the Crown Prince stood up: "I bid you farewell."

  He left, and others couldn't stay either.

  After leaving the Qianqing Palace, Da A Ge smiled and said: "Fourth Brother, come have a drink with Big Brother?"

  The fourth master hesitated for a moment and then responded.

  Sitting in the embroidered building, Fourth Master felt somewhat uneasy.

  "Fourth brother, did you gain anything from this trip? Zhao Wenhuan is a capable person, I suppose it's not easy for you to get a handle on him." The eldest brother said with a smile after taking a sip of wine.

  "Big brother said that little brother is not quite right in handling such matters. The prince's meaning is that the accounts cannot be checked out, and the problem may lie with the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing. So he came back first." Fourth Master smiled and said half of it.

  "Oh? Then, fourth brother, do you know... who made the mistake? This Tongzhou is a small place, not even considered wealthy. Even with taxes, there have been some discrepancies for several years, but not much silver..."

  The eldest brother asked tentatively.

  Fourth Master snorted, thinking "You already know so much, why bother coming after me?"

  "This younger brother doesn't know, after all, I can only move around in the Ministry of Revenue now and don't have any position. It's not good to talk about the affairs of the Ministry of Households." The fourth master smiled awkwardly.

  "Fourth brother, you know that Mao Wenzhong is the crown prince's person, right?" The eldest brother asked suddenly after taking a bite of food.

  Fourth Master's hand tightened: "This isn't a secret, is it?"

  Although, as a crown prince, it's not good to directly gather party wings like this, but doesn't the Emperor know?

  Besides, the prince will eventually have his own team anyway.

  The Qing dynasty did not entirely follow the previous dynasties; the crown prince only lived in the Yongqing Palace, rather than having his own Eastern Palace, and therefore did not have a true staff.

  However, as a crown prince, cultivating oneself is acceptable.

  "Does that old four know or not, Mao Wenzhong is in charge of the tax collection of several prefectures such as Tongzhou, Dingzhou and Hejian for these few years?" The big brother suddenly said.

  Fourth Master was stunned at first, but slowly calmed down.

  He also raised his wine glass, took a sip, and then said: "Although, Tongzhou has made a mistake. However... Brother, I think that Mao Wenzhong doesn't have such great abilities. The abilities of the Han people, brother knows, are not ordinary places in the Ministry of Revenue. Above Mao Wenzhong, there are still two Shangshu. Besides, even if he is formidable, it's impossible for one person to do everything."

  Either way, there was already a problem with this tax before it even entered Beijing.

  Either... it's the Ministry of Revenue, and not just one person, but someone from the Crown Prince's side.

  Since big brother is interested, let big brother dig it himself.

  This remark made Da Ge somewhat displeased.

  "The fourth brother is indeed worthy of being raised by the previous emperor's empress." After saying that, he stood up: "Alright, you also have days when you're not in the capital, go back to your estate."

  The two people parted ways with an air of discontent.

  Fourth Master nodded and left with a dark face without saying much.

  Even if Big Brother is formidable, he shouldn't be sarcastic like this. Fourth Master didn't want to bother with him and mounted his horse to return to the mansion.

  Outside, Wu Lan Nara led the women of the mansion to wait, but after a long time, there was still no news. It wasn't until someone came to deliver a message that they learned the Fourth Master and Da A Ge had gone out drinking and were told to return first.

  It's over now.

  As soon as they dispersed, Wu Lanala heard that the Fourth Master had returned.

  It's too late to gather people again, so I can only go forward by myself.

  When he arrived at the front yard, Su Peisheng smiled and said: "Greetings to the mistress, the master is not feeling well and is resting. He said that there's no need for a banquet tonight, and tonight the master will come to the main courtyard to see you."

  The concubine swallowed her words: "Is master all right? No need to call a doctor?"

  "It's all right, Master just wants to take a rest, he's tired. You know, Eldest Brother's capacity for wine is quite large." Su Peisheng said with a smile.

  The princess could only nod: "Then let's call it a rest, I'll go back first."

  Having said that, he walked away with three glances back.

  Fourth Master didn't sleep, he was just a bit annoyed.

  "Has he left?" Seeing Su Peisheng return, she asked a question.

  "Madam has returned," said Su Peisheng with a nod.

  "What's going on in the mansion?" Fourth Master asked, leaning against the soft couch.

  "Master Zizhu has nothing to worry about, Second Brother and Da Gege are both fine, and Li Cefu's wife's belly is also stable. The wife returned to her mother's house for a visit." Su Peisheng counted on his fingers.

  "Also, Ye Gu Niang from the Brocade Jade Pavilion sprained her foot the other day, but it's nothing serious. And then there's Xu Gu Niang who fell ill, Fu Jin called for the imperial physician and said she caught a chill, but it's nothing serious."

  Speaking of Ye alone is abrupt, but with Xu, isn't that just perfect?

  However, Fourth Master frowned: "Who is Miss Xu? Has Ye's family seen a doctor?"

  Although this is what was said, it was first asked of Mr. Xu, but the meaning behind it makes people feel amused.

  It was you who asked me first, but the key is I don't know who you are...

  What you asked later is what really matters!

  "Speaking of which, Miss Xu is actually Yu'ning, her original surname was Xu. As for Ye Miss, she didn't see a doctor, but the wet nurse in the mansion who is skilled in this area has taken a look and it's nothing serious, no bones were injured, just some pain."

  "Hmm, you go get a sedan chair... forget it, I'll just go myself." The Fourth Master said as he stood up.