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  Holding the tea tray, she slowly walked into the house, looking around at the chairs where people were seated, but it was a quiet scene. Without glancing sideways, she approached the table, gently placed down the teacups, then lowered her head and slowly backed out.

  Out of the curtain, he finally let out the breath he had been holding. He asked in a low voice the eunuch beside him, "Who's inside?" The little eunuch replied in a hushed tone, "Fourth prince, Eighth prince, Ninth prince, Thirteenth prince, Fourteenth prince." I thought to myself that it was unprecedented for all of them to be present, apparently Kangxi wanted to ask for their opinions. Hurriedly, he went down and instructed Yuxiang and Yutan to prepare tea.

  The tea is already prepared! As soon as you left, Wang Xi came to say that the princes had arrived, so I hurriedly prepared it in advance." I nodded my head in approval and walked over to take a look. Just then, Yutan continued to speak quickly: "Remembering all the rules! The fourth prince likes Taiping Houkui, the eighth prince likes Ri Zhuxue, the ninth prince likes Mingqian Longjing, the tenth prince is random, the thirteenth prince likes..." I hurriedly laughed and waved my hand: "Enough, enough! Knowing that you remember is fine!" Yuxiang smiled and said: "No wonder the people in the palace say that the young lady is meticulous! In the past, those who served tea before the emperor only needed to remember the emperor's preferences, but now the young lady actually wants us to memorize the princes' as well." As I arranged the teacups, I thought to myself that I had my own reasons, it was just absolutely impossible to say them out loud.

  Yingxiang carried the tea tray behind me, just walking to the outside of the silk curtain, I heard Kangxi ask: "What do you think about the memorial from the Ministry of Rites today?" I couldn't help but stop, thinking that the Crown Prince's misdeeds were many, what was he up to this time? The eunuch who lifted the curtain looked at me in surprise when I stopped. I quickly stepped forward.

  He slowly walked to the side of the Fourth Prince, gently placing the Fourth Prince's tea on the table. He then turned around and went to the Eighth Prince's desk, lowering his head to put down the tea. Only then did he hear the Fourth Prince respond in a slow voice: "According to my observations, Second Brother has always been very lenient towards people of lower status. However, there are those who do not know their place and secretly embezzle goods behind Second Brother's back, using his name as cover." Kangxi listened intently, nodding his head slowly. I also thought to myself that it seemed this was about the Crown Prince privately intercepting the tributes meant for Kangxi. Although this incident had made Kangxi extremely angry in history, in the end he did not punish the Crown Prince, only dealing with the other people involved. It seems that this time, Kangxi's emotions would still prevail.

  I was serving tea to Ninth Brother, and Fourth Brother's words had just fallen. Tenth Brother then said: "A slave dare to have such great audacity, if no one supports him from behind, would he dare to intercept the tribute meant for the Emperor?" I sighed in my heart, this old Tenth is always unable to hold back.

  He walked to the table beside Tenth Brother, turned around and picked up the tea that Yún Xiāng was holding on the tea tray for Tenth Brother. Just as he was about to put it down on the table, he heard Tenth Brother continue to say: "Fourth Brother's words are indeed strange. However, Fourth Brother has always been close to Second Brother, and I'm afraid that in this matter, Fourth Brother also..." Before he could finish speaking, a loud cry of surprise rang out, and he hastily jumped up from his chair.

  I accidentally spilled the hot tea on his arm while serving it. A small eunuch immediately came over to help wipe it clean and check if he was scalded. I quickly knelt down and said, "This servant deserves death! This servant deserves death!" Meanwhile, I thought to myself, offending the crown prince is nothing, anyway, he will be deposed sooner or later, but offending the fourth prince would have dire consequences. Although I already knew that the outcome was irreversible, at least I absolutely could not bear to watch this process unfold before my eyes. Sighing inwardly, every bit of prevention counts.

  The tenth brother saw me, with a fire that couldn't be released, and was afraid of making a big deal out of it, I would suffer, so he said: "It's nothing serious!" The chief eunuch Li Dequan, who stood beside Kangxi, came over to scold him, saying: "You're still clumsy, get back!" Kangxi seemed to have been quietly pondering the whole time, not paying much attention to this commotion.

  I got up and withdrew, when I reached the outside of the curtain, I heard Kangxi say: "I'm a bit tired today, you all go back!" I thought it seemed to have attracted attention. So I returned to the tea house with peace of mind.

  Just after I came back, Yun Xiang walked in with a tray, her face full of surprise and said: "What's wrong with you today? You scared me to death!" I sat silently with my head down. Thinking to myself, firstly, as the benevolent Emperor Kangxi, he would be lenient towards his subordinates unless it was a serious mistake. Secondly, since I am the tenth prince, he will definitely plead for mercy on my behalf. So although I was also very nervous, I thought that at most I would just be dragged out and beaten with a stick, there wouldn't be any danger to my life. Moreover, at that moment, I was in such a rush that I didn't have time to think about the consequences, I just wanted to resolve the situation at hand first.

  Just sitting in silence, Wang Xi came in, walked up to the front, saluted and said: "Sister, my master is calling you!" Yun Xiang and Yu Tan heard it, both a bit flustered, stood up. I didn't pay attention to them, got up and followed Wang Xi out of the side hall.

  Wang Xi led the way for a while, and in front of him, Li Dequan was standing under a tree. As they approached, Wang Xi retreated, and I made a bow, standing silently there. After a moment, Li Dequan cleared his throat and said, "I've always thought you were a cautious person, so why are you being so reckless today?" I replied, "Please punish me according to the rules!" He sighed and said, "Next month's silver allowance will be deducted in full." I quickly knelt down and said, "Thank you, Li Dequan!" He ignored me and turned to leave, muttering under his breath, "The palace can't accommodate so many kind-hearted people!"

  After he left, I remained standing still, a thread of sorrow mixed with fear slowly emerging from my heart, flowing through my entire body inch by inch, gradually devouring my strength. I felt like I couldn't stand at all, stumbled two steps, and finally sat down on the ground. My hands clasped my head, resting on my legs, biting my lower lip tightly, tears swirling in my eye sockets, but were ultimately forced back by me.