Kangxi had already had the shadow guards investigate, and though he’d been angry once before, he was still furious on the court.
He ordered Minister of Justice Chen Tingjing and Prince Yong, Yinzhen, to conduct a joint investigation.
Very soon, a total of sixty-four Ministry of Revenue officials, including the Left Vice Minister and Silver Hall supervisors, were dismissed and investigated, uncovering nearly a million taels in embezzled funds.
Minister Zhang Penghe, although not corrupt himself, had a family who once solicited bribes from that merchant surnamed Jin, and was thus also dismissed and sent to serve in Jiangnan.
Due to the wide involvement, Yinzhen was even assigned to the Ministry of Revenue to personally supervise.
Yin Hui submitted a memorial pleading for leniency, proposing that those who returned embezzled silver would be spared from having their families executed and exiled, but stripped of their ranks and never employed again.
If the silver was not returned, their families would be executed to set an example for all officials.
Kangxi approved Yin Hui’s proposal, greatly enhancing his reputation for being principled yet gentle, and winning the hearts of all civil and military officials.
Others didn’t know who truly deserved the credit, but Kangxi and Yin Hui did.
They specially summoned Yin Yu and Yinshi to the Qianqing Palace.
Kangxi told the brothers, “Since you don’t want to attend court, I’ll let you relax for another two years—as your reward. But you mustn’t put yourselves at risk again.”
Yin Hui added, “Later I’ll have Tahun send a few good men to go with you, so when you go out, always bring people with you—never leave the palace alone again.”
Yin Yu and Yinshi immediately panicked.
Yin Yu pleaded to Kangxi, “No, Father, please give us another reward! We’d be happy to go to court!”
Yinshi turned to Yin Hui, “No need for bodyguards, right? We promise not to take risks again. If we have to bring guards everywhere, we might as well just hang around with our brothers every day.”
Kangxi and Yin Hui exchanged glances, puzzled by the brothers’ attitude.
But Yin Hui, newly a father himself and full of brotherly love, remembered how these two grew up tugging at his trousers.
He wanted to grant their wishes.
“So what reward do you want? Which brother do you want to be with?”
Yin Yu: “I pick the Third Brother! I can help him gather material for the Jibao Office!”
Yinshi: “I pick Fourth Brother! The Ministry of Revenue turned up a big pile of officials with unpaid debts, right? I’ll help Fourth Brother collect the money!”
As for the reward… again, the brothers spoke in unison, “Just give us silver!”
Kangxi and Yin Hui were both dumbfounded—Fang He’s children, greedy for money…
Well, that was par for the course.
Neither father nor son was surprised.
But these two lazybones, who never wanted to go to court, were now asking for jobs?
What, was the capital especially dull lately, and there was no excitement to be had?
Still, since the two were willing to take on duties, Kangxi and Yin Hui were simply pleased.
Kangxi said crisply, “You each already have a hundred thousand taels of settling-in silver. When you get married, I’ll personally add twenty thousand taels more for each of you!”
Given that more than four hundred thousand taels had been recovered from the embezzled funds, giving away forty thousand was nothing.
Yin Hui, worried the brothers would regret it, hurriedly added, “I’ll talk to Third Brother and Fourth Brother, but you have to do your jobs well. You know what they’re like…”
Kangxi, thinking of the headaches caused by his third and fourth sons, fell silent.
These two definitely didn’t take after him!
Yin Yu and Yinshi accepted with good grace, showing no regret and answering cheerfully.
When Prince Cheng, Yin Xi, heard that Yin Yu would be helping him, he didn’t refuse, but made it clear up front.
“You’re welcome to work with me, but if you only mess around, you’ll be sent right back after a few days—I have no time to babysit.”
Prince Yong, Yinzhen, had a bigger reaction, frowning deeply as he asked Yin Hui, “Has Yinshi memorized all the Great Qing statutes? If he’s collecting debts with me, will he be able to save face? Will he cry if he’s cursed at? I don’t—”
Yin Hui hurriedly interjected, “Brother! Fourth Brother! At least give our little brother a chance. If it doesn’t work out, you won’t even need to scold him, I’ll just haul them back to the palace myself.”
“Oh, and the Fourth Sister-in-law really wanted a riding outfit made by my wife, right? I’ll have my wife make one and send it over as a gift to your household.”
Yinzhen understood.
If that outfit was delivered, the next time his wife started making a scene, he wouldn’t have to worry about how to coax her.
He replied tersely, “He has three days!”
Yin Hui calculated the cost of having his wife make the outfit, gritting his teeth as he agreed.
His own wife was not one for romance—last time he hinted he wanted a birthday gift, she said even married couples had to keep accounts clear.
For a fifteen-hundred-tael outfit, at most she’d knock off the small change, and just charge him the full price.
And where was the small change?
It was deducted for him cutting in line, which cost her other earnings.
He decided to treat it as spending fifteen hundred taels in thanks for his brothers’ help enhancing his prestige at court.
Feeling like an anxious parent sending his children off to kindergarten, Yin Hui personally escorted his brothers to their assigned posts.
Back at home, seeing his wife Muhua gently coaxing a child—never afraid it would cut into her earnings—Yin Hui finally felt he had some common ground with her.
“Being a parent is not easy. Now that Yin Yu and Yinshi are out working, I worry more than they do. If they get sent back… how will they keep face!”
Muhua took a moment to give him a polite smile, saying nothing.
Yin Hui pressed her, “What’s with that look? Don’t you believe I have the heart of both a brother and a father?”
Muhua replied delicately, “The first time I was served tea by the Side Consort, you fussed just as much.”
“And what was the result?”
She smiled as she handed tea to Yin Yi, “Where did you have lunch today, Master? The outer court, or with the Side Consort?”
Yin Hui, confused, drank his tea, then felt oddly pleased—could his wife finally be jealous?
He smiled lightly, “I had lunch with Third and Fourth Brothers at the Tianya Inn.”
Muhua nodded, “Alright, I’ll tell Liang Aunty to have the kitchen use less salt.”
So he’d stop being so [salty] meddlesome.
Yin Hui: “…”
He really shouldn’t have tried to find common ground with his wife!
For the first time, Yin Hui couldn’t maintain his calm demeanor.
Annoyed, he gave Muhua a slap on the rear and went off to his work.
Counting on this woman to learn what jealousy means?
He might as well hope his brothers could amaze Third and Fourth Brother into speechlessness!
***
Sure enough, half a month later, Prince Cheng Yin Xi and Prince Yong Yinzhen invited Yin Hui to the Tianya Inn, insisting on treating him to a grand banquet.
Yin Hui had a foreboding feeling—could his brothers have caused trouble?
Once he entered the private room, there was no need for him to ask.
Yin Xi and Yinzhen both had plenty to say.
Yin Xi, in particular, was a torrent of words.
“Yin Hui, you scoundrel, why didn’t you tell me earlier how capable little Sixteen is? How much juicy news have I missed all these years!”
“The Jibao Office has run out of fresh topics lately. I can’t just keep targeting those few uncles and the Duke Niu’s family—they see each other every day, and the common folk are getting bored.”
“But goodness, the moment Yin Yu entered the Hanlin Academy, he brought me several of the juiciest scoops imaginable. Did you know that Vice Censor Xu Yuanmeng likes to run naked in his study?”
“Did you know that Longkodo actually likes to kneel… cough, anyway, Yin Yu is such a pleasant surprise. From now on, this little brother is under my protection. No one else gets to snatch him! I’m letting you know early, so you don’t waste his talents!”
Yin Hui was dumbstruck.
He hadn’t known that Longkodo liked to… kneel… cough, how did Yin Yu know that?
No, why was Yin Yu snooping out this kind of gossip?
Was this really the kind of excitement worth watching?
If these tidbits made it into the Jibao, wouldn’t Xu Yuanmeng and Longkodo come after Yin Yu with swords?
He hurriedly downed a cup of wine to calm himself.
Thinking it over, if his little brother’s scoops ended up in the Jibao… he might not be able to stop it.
Yin Xi went on, “And the kid’s smart, too! He revised my drafts, left out the names, and started a Jibao News Competition to have the common folk guess the identities for a prize! Soon our Jibao Office will be swamped with readers again!”
Yin Hui: “…”
‘Fine, if nothing else, there would be more assassins coming after them.’
While Yin Hui was still in shock, Yinzhen also raised his cup, toasted Yin Hui, and downed it in one go.
His words were much simpler than Yin Xi’s, “It was my fault for misjudging Yinshi. Both the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Justice are better for having him. From now on, Yinshi is mine to look after. Don’t worry, I won’t let his talents go to waste.”
Yin Hui asked feebly, “May I ask, Fourth Brother… can I know what exactly he did?”
“Oh, nothing much.” Yinzhen thought of Yinshi and smiled with a rare warmth in his voice.
“When I went to collect debts, he helped me count the expenses of several households, forcing them to plead and scrape together the silver to pay back.”
“He even made a few hard-headed officials at the Ministry of Justice cry in conversation, so they confessed everything and exposed a few big fish. Minister Chen also praised little Seventeen highly.”
Yin Hui: “…”
‘Great, now there were even more open and hidden enemies.’
Those two rascals had followed him for more than a decade—how had he never noticed they were so competent?
And now, thinking of the fifteen hundred taels he’d paid his wife, his heart ached.
Wasn’t that just paying for his own trouble?
After finishing the meal—he hadn’t even drunk much, yet felt clouded—Yin Hui unconsciously took a few steps toward the main courtyard.
Seeing the lanterns already out, he couldn’t hold it in any longer.
Wiping his face, he looked at Zheng Yusheng with a world-weary gaze.
“Tell me, am I blind?”
He’d always prided himself on recognizing talent, after all.
He’d chosen a wife who ran the household perfectly, but Yin Yu and Yinshi made even Third and Fourth Brother… and himself dumbfounded, and his wife never learned to be jealous—making him pine for this wooden woman even more.
Sending his brothers to “gild themselves” had made him worry, but those two brothers, who’d never shown any particular ability, had done so well his jaw nearly dropped.
Zheng Yusheng stifled a laugh as he tried to comfort his master, “Don’t say that, sir. If it weren’t for your keen eye, they wouldn’t all say you have insight. The household is more peaceful than any other, all thanks to your choice of Fuqin.”
“Third and Fourth Masters only invited you to drink because of your talent for employing people! In the end, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Lords were raised by you too—they definitely take after you!”
Yin Hui: “…No, no, I can’t take that.”
He just thought maybe he should spend more time talking to Minbao.
All he could hope now was that his only sister wouldn’t turn out to be hiding her talents, ready to shock him out of his wits one day.
He’d really had enough surprises!