At the age of fourteen, Kangxi managed to take down Oboi when not a single person believed in him, demonstrating how deeply scheming and patient he could be.

Even when he learned about the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, Kangxi only wore a stern face and didn't show much anger.

It had been a very long time since anyone in the palace had seen Kangxi this furious.

His face was twisted into a ferocious grimace, and even the veins on his forehead bulged. He smashed everything within reach down onto the floor, and even pulled the precious sabre from the wall to chop a table in two.

After he vented his rage, Kangxi sat down on the cold palace floor. He pressed his throbbing temples and stared out grimly at the sky beyond the gates of Qianqing Palace.

Right now, Kangxi wanted to kill.

He wanted to kill many people.

Those in the palace who had contracted smallpox, and those who had driven Yinreng to such exhaustion.

Even the Empress Dowager and the concubines, who, with the Grand Empress Dowager bedridden, should have managed palace affairs but failed to do so, were hated by Kangxi.

That irrational hatred quickly subsided, but the anger in his heart couldn't be extinguished.

In the end, he soaked in a long, hot bath until he was dizzy and lightheaded, before he could just barely manage to regain his composure.

Kangxi brought Yinreng back to Qianqing Palace to live with him, while the other princes remained in Cining Palace.

Yinreng's fever broke for a day and then came back. He'd wake briefly and quickly fall back to sleep. The imperial physicians all said that his life was in no danger, but Kangxi couldn't stop worrying.

With Wu Sangui dead, no government affair was particularly urgent. Kangxi continued the suspension of court audiences and devoted himself to watching over Yinreng.

Once Yinreng saw that Kangxi had returned, his nerves finally went slack, and he stopped concerning himself with anything.

The moment he woke, he'd whimper and burrow into Kangxi's arms. Once full of food and drink, he would play with the jade pendant at Kangxi's waist for a while and then go right back to sleep.

Unlike other children, Yinreng didn't cry or fuss no matter how badly he was sick, and he didn't refuse the bitter medicine. He was very easy to take care of.

The minute he had even a bit of energy, Yinreng would start rolling around, crawling, and trying to harass Kangxi as he reviewed memorials.

Kangxi, torn between exasperation and amusement at Yinreng's antics, couldn't help but pinch his little nose: "Take care of yourself and stop wriggling around."

Yinreng grumbled, "Moving around more makes you get well faster. Father, play with me."

Kangxi tossed his memorial down on the writing table: "Play what?"

Yinreng thought for a moment, then said, "Let's play xiangqi."

Kangxi asked, "Why xiangqi instead of Go?"

Yinreng said, "Go requires calculation. It's hard on the brain. I don't want to use my brain."

Kangxi tapped Yinreng's forehead: "Xiangqi needs brains too. Forget it, come on then, I will let you win."

Wrapped in a small blanket and propped up on a soft pillow under his chin, Yinreng lay across the chessboard like a caterpillar and played xiangqi with Kangxi.

Although Kangxi went easy on him, Yinreng still lost more games than he won. But win or lose, he remained cheerful, and his interest never faded.

Yinreng had never enjoyed playing chess this much before. Kangxi quickly realized that Yinreng noticed his anger and worry, and was deliberately using chess to comfort him.

After they finished another game, Yinreng yawned. As he tidied up the pieces, he was suddenly pulled into Kangxi's embrace.

Yinreng's face was buried against Kangxi's hard chest, and his nose was a little sore from the bump. "Father, what's wrong?"

"You should focus on getting better. There's no need for you to do extra work to comfort your father. Your father doesn't need your comfort," Kangxi said as he tightened his hold.

Yinreng gripped the front of Kangxi's robe and said into his chest: "Father is sad because of me, of course, I want to make Father happy. Father, don't worry, I just need a few more bowls of meat and a few more bowls of milk. I'll be fine soon."

"Little glutton." Kangxi rubbed his chin against the little braid on top of Yinreng's head and forced out a smile. "Eat, eat. As long as you don't burst, eat all you want."

After Kangxi let him go, Yinreng arrogantly nestled himself into a comfortable little spot in Kangxi's arms and leaned against him at ease.

He looked up: "Father, you haven't praised me yet."

Kangxi pulled a stern face: "Praised you for what? Praised you for getting sick?"

Yinreng said in dissatisfaction: "Hmph! I'm so amazing, why aren't you praising me?"

Kangxi was silent for a moment, then said, "The Grand Empress Dowager said your Grandpa took possession of your body?"

Yinreng's eyes flew open: "What?"

Kangxi asked: "These things, were they done by Grandpa, with him in possession of your body?"

Yinreng got angry: "Slander! I did them myself! I really am that capable!"

I only acted in character for a tiny bit of the time! Most of it was just me being myself, nothing like Grandpa at all! Grand Empress Dowager, just because you favor Grandpa, you can't just give Grandpa all my credit!

If Father believed all of it had been done by Grandpa, then what about my contribution? What about the credit I racked up to trade for an immunity charm and a hot-springs estate? Has Grandpa swallowed it all?

Furious, Yinreng slapped Kangxi's arm over and over: "I did it! The credit is mine! I did it! What Grandpa! There IS no Grandpa!"

Seeing that the tiny dumpling was so angry that he was about to bounce up off his lap, Kangxi smiled and soothed him: "All right, all right, you did it. So what was the Grand Empress Dowager talking about? She wouldn't mistake your Grandpa."

Yinreng tilted his head. What was he supposed to say?

Kangxi assumed Yinreng didn't quite remember it all, and so guided him through it step by step.

Wherever Yinreng could explain things clearly, he did. Wherever he couldn't, he covered his head and put on a Psyduck-emoji face, leaving Kangxi, a man with a hugely vivid imagination, to fill in the rest himself.

Based on Yinreng's words, the result Kangxi imagined was the following:

Shunzhi might have possessed Yinreng's body for a brief moment, but most of the time, it was Yinreng doing the work himself, with Shunzhi offering plans and strategy. It was only when the Grand Empress Dowager called out Shunzhi's name that he briefly came out.

In that moment, Yinreng's memory was a little hazy, but the rest of the time, his memory was very clear.

Even though Shunzhi was Kangxi's own Khan-Father, Kangxi could not accept the fact that Shunzhi could possess Yinreng's body. Especially since Yinreng's illness this time had been so serious, it was very likely linked to Shunzhi's possession.

A deceased father who hadn't loved him much, versus the precious son he had raised single-handedly, was that even a question?

Once he had a preliminary guess, Kangxi immediately summoned Daoist Zhang and Master Dehai.

Ever since they'd been dragged in by Yinreng's spirit-and-supernatural performances, Daoist Zhang and Master Dehai had been residing in the capital.

As the only two religious figures who had been able to see something about Yinreng, they were on Kangxi's radar. Although he wouldn't appoint them as Imperial Preceptors, he still provided them with financial support and provisions and would summon them as needed.

When Daoist Zhang and Master Dehai entered the palace, they exchanged a glance, both wearing rather bitter expressions.

See, the time of need has come.

When Kangxi met the two of them, he didn't directly explain Yinreng's situation. He went around in circles to gain answers indirectly.

All emperors are suspicious by nature. What you tell them outright, they don't believe, but what they coax out of you, they do.

As if out of mere curiosity, Kangxi asked the two whether they possessed any spiritual abilities.

The two were religious figures, not con men.

After careful thought, Daoist Zhang answered first: "This humble Daoist has never personally witnessed it, but has heard of people being possessed by ghosts. From what this humble Daoist has gathered through observation, ghosts can only enter the bodies of those whose yang energy is weak. If the body is not sickly or weak, then even if some unclean thing tries to enter, it will be flushed away by the yang energy already inside."

Unclean things... The image of Shunzhi flashed through Kangxi's mind.

Ahem. Ignorance is not a crime. I won't blame Daoist Zhang.

Master Dehai pondered for a long while, then answered, "Even if such a thing occurs among the common people, Your Majesty's body is wreathed in dragon aura, and your shoulders are draped in purple aura. The instant Your Majesty comes into contact with a spirit, the spirit would be shattered into pieces. It is unlikely that your majesty would ever witness such a thing."

Kangxi thought to himself, No wonder Khan-Father waited until I had left the palace before coming out.

Kangxi then asked, "The Crown Prince is a hidden dragon. Is he also protected by dragon aura and purple aura?"

Daoist Zhang and Master Dehai said in unison, "He should be. But the Crown Prince is young, and the yang energy in his body is still insufficient. Caution is still required."

After a long silence, Kangxi asked bluntly, "If the Crown Prince is plagued by a curse for an extended time, would that increase the chances of him being possessed by a ghost?"

It was the dead of winter, but Daoist Zhang's and Master Dehai's backs were drenched in cold sweat in an instant.

Is this a question we can answer?! Your Imperial Majesty, please don't make things difficult for us!

Seeing the cold sweat pouring off Daoist Zhang and Master Dehai, Kangxi sighed once and then sharply commanded, "Answer me!"

Daoist Zhang and Master Dehai's legs gave way under them as they dropped to their knees with a thud and said, "His Highness the Crown Prince is under His Imperial Majesty's protection. The chance is not very high!"

Kangxi lowered his gaze and tapped his knuckles lightly against the back of his chair.

After a long while, by the time Daoist Zhang's and Master Dehai's knees were sore from kneeling, he asked: "What if it is not an evil spirit, but the spirit of an ancestor? What if it stems from some cause within the prince himself? How great would the harm to the prince be?"

Daoist Zhang and Master Dehai exchanged a glance, both struck by the same misconception.

Could the emperor be eyeing the Crown Prince's extraordinary gifts, wanting to use the Crown Prince as a sacrifice to summon the spirits of his ancestors?

They say there's no real father-son bond in imperial families, but this would be too cruel!

Truly barbarians.

Master Dehai sighed inwardly, then stiffened his neck and said, "A person's yang energy is a finite quantity. For every measure of yin that enters, a measure of yang is lost. The two will always wax and wane against each other, and the only question is by how much. This act would not only damage the Crown Prince's body, but it would damage the spirits of the ancestors as well. It absolutely must not be done!"

After Master Dehai had finished, he kowtowed to Kangxi several times.

He was going all out.

To save a single life is more meritorious than building a seven-storey pagoda. He was prepared to die for it!

Daoist Zhang had been hesitating, but seeing Master Dehai's resolute expression, he closed his eyes briefly and made up his mind too.

If you can't even hold to your own true self, what is there left to cultivate the Dao for?

If today I help the emperor sacrifice the Crown Prince, then in the days ahead, my hands will only be stained with more innocent blood.

"This humble Daoist agrees," Daoist Zhang said, prostrating himself. "Humans and ghosts walk separate paths. Humans have the human realm; ghosts have the gates of the underworld; and the spirits of ancestors may ascend to the heavenly realm. The three realms are distinct and must not be mingled, for mingling does harm to both the living and the dead. There are folk tales of ancestors possessing their descendants to help them, but at most, these are only dreams. If an ancestor were truly to enter a descendant's body, both the ancestor's spirit and the descendant's body would be worn down."

Kangxi let the two of them stay kneeling on the floor. Only after a long while did he say coldly, "Both of you really dare to say it."

Master Dehai and Daoist Zhang answered, each in their own form: "This humble monk / this humble Daoist would not dare deceive Your Majesty."

Kangxi closed his eyes, his voice trembling: "What a fine 'would not dare deceive Your Majesty.'"

He hurled the teacup beside him hard onto the floor.

Master Dehai and Daoist Zhang shuddered violently, but they gritted their teeth and held their ground.

After another long stretch, Kangxi regained his composure.

"Rise." Kangxi provided seats for them again. Zhao Chang, the only attendant in the hall, cleaned up the floor and exchanged Kangxi's cup for a perfectly warm cup of tea.

Master Dehai and Daoist Zhang let out a quiet breath of relief. Thank goodness, did the emperor finally have a change of heart?

Kangxi said, "I will rebuild the temples and Daoist monasteries on Xiangshan, and entrust the supervision of them to the two of you."

So they were being placed under house arrest, then? Master Dehai and Daoist Zhang immediately knelt to give thanks for the favor, but their hearts were utterly bitter.

Kangxi had the two rise once more and then asked, "If this matter already happened, how can we protect both the Crown Prince and the spirits of our ancestors?"

Master Dehai and Daoist Zhang: "..."

The two were stunned.

Already happened? No way, surely not?? Could such a thing actually happen? Was it really that bizarre?

But when they thought of that mysterious little Crown Prince, they were no longer so sure.

Children don't lie, unless adults lead them into it.

The late empress had passed away, and the Crown Prince had been raised at the emperor's side from infancy. There was no way he could have been led astray by anyone else, so the Crown Prince wouldn't lie.

Was the Crown Prince really possessed by the late emperor?

The two realized that to cover a lie, they needed to tell more lies, and panic set in.

Master Dehai, being older and more experienced, was the first to patch the lie: "Loss of yang energy is an illness itself. No special remedies are needed. Have the imperial physicians treat the illness as such. But unless the underlying matter is stopped, the body will fall ill again and again."

Daoist Zhang had also worked out a way to pass through it: "The spirits of ancestors are sustained by incense-offerings and sacrifices. As long as they return to their proper place and rest for a time, they will recover. But if they descend frequently to the mortal realm, no amount of incense or prayer can sustain them. Your Majesty is wise and mighty, and the Qing dynasty is flourishing. There is no need for ancestors to manifest and offer guidance. Your Majesty can let the ancestors return in peace."

Kangxi sighed.

I would like to, but with that stubborn temperament of Khan-Father's, he doesn't even listen to the Grand Empress Dowager, so how is he going to listen to me, his son?

Kangxi finally understood. Shunzhi had contracted smallpox just at the moment when his great ambitions had been about to be unleashed. He was unwilling to accept it, and he had to do something.

It wasn't that Shunzhi deliberately set out to torment Yinreng. But in that situation, if he hadn't stepped in to guide the young Yinreng, the smallpox outbreak would have thrown the palace into chaos, and even though Yinreng had already had smallpox, he might still have run into other troubles.

What's more, in Shunzhi's eyes, Yinreng might not even be the most important person.

All of Kangxi's sons were Shunzhi's grandsons, and the Grand Empress Dowager, Shunzhi's own mother, was also in the palace. Together, they outweighed Yinreng many times over.

The more Kangxi thought about it, the angrier he got, the sadder he felt, and the more tenderly he loved Yinreng.

Yinreng has no mother left. He only has his father. Everyone else in the palace has someone more important to them, and they would be willing to sacrifice Yinreng for the sake of that someone. Only he, Kangxi, was left to protect Yinreng.

I am all Baocheng has left now. Kangxi sighed inwardly, his eyes reddening slightly.

Kangxi waved his hand, dismissing the two, who were capable but ultimately of no use.

After sitting alone for a while, Kangxi said, "Should I call in more people to consult? Those two are utterly useless."

Zhao Chang lowered his head and said nothing.

After a long pause, Kangxi answered his own question: "It's precisely because those two could see the problem and had no solution that I trust them. If they had thumped their chests and claimed they could solve this matter, then they would have been the frauds."

Then Kangxi remarked, "No wonder con men have crept into the palace and made trouble in every dynasty. Only con men would claim to have abilities that could pierce heaven and earth. Hmph, if they truly had such abilities, why don't they make themselves emperors instead of grovelling at my feet?"

Zhao Chang didn't dare speak. He just kept on playing mute.

Once Kangxi vented, it was hard to tell whether his mood was better or worse.

When he returned to the warm chamber and saw the fast asleep Yinreng sprawled spread-eagled across the bed, his stern expression eased a little.

Kangxi poked Yinreng's soft little belly: "Baocheng, you're really giving me a headache."

Yinreng: "Hooo... hooo... hoo... burp... delicious!"

Kangxi was speechless.

This little chubby thing, even his dreams are about eating. Looks like he'll get well soon.

Kangxi reached out and poked at Yinreng's slightly parted mouth.

Yinreng went "ah-ang!" and bit down on Kangxi's finger.

Kangxi: "...Ouch!"

Yinreng let go and glared: "Ouch!"

Zhao Chang's head almost reached his chest.

Don't laugh, don't laugh! Laugh and you'll lose your head.