"Ladies and gentlemen, among my sons, the candidate for the crown prince, you should have some ideas, today in the court, I hope you can speak freely. I will carefully consider the choice of the crown prince. ”

The emperor sat on the dragon chair, glanced at the expressions of the ministers, took in the hesitation and expectation that flashed in their eyes, and said in a light tone about the establishment of the crown prince.

As he spoke, a pair of cold eyes swept over the princes lightly, focusing on Wei Zeyin's body.

"Since ancient times, the establishment of a prince has paid attention to the establishment of a successor." The Ministry of Rites Shangshu was the first to stand up, he said calmly, but his tone was a little excited, "The minister thinks that the second prince should be the candidate for the crown prince." ”

The second prince, who was named by name, faced the eyes of some ministers, and his face suddenly changed.

He didn't care that the emperor was also there, and the matter of appointing the crown prince was brought up by the emperor himself.

He hurriedly spoke: "Lord Shangshu, don't be joking, what kind of person am I?" The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty know very well, if I am the crown prince, will I not live up to my father's expectations? Don't mention me, even if I'm older, it doesn't mean that I can really be qualified for the position of prince, choose another one. ”

Speaking of this, he immediately thought of Wei Zeyin, and his eyes immediately lit up, "If you want me to say, the position of the crown prince is still given to the third child, after all, the third brother is between our brothers, and he has excellent ability and is quite trusted by his father." After becoming the crown prince, he was able to create a prosperous world according to his father's thoughts. ”

As soon as his words came out, he was immediately echoed by other princes.

Some princes even bluntly expressed that they did not have the heart to be a prince, and also said that even if they really pushed themselves to the position of prince, it was impossible to be qualified for the crown prince at all.

Among the civil and military officials, who are old and old, which one is not old and fine, and which one is not the intrigue of experience, read the history books.

It is precisely because of this that when the Ministry of Rites Shangshu mentioned the candidate for the crown prince, he directly mentioned the second prince, the purpose of which was to occupy the etiquette law.

But he didn't want the second prince to have any idea about the crown prince, and he didn't even have other princes, so he couldn't get on the table at this time, so he had to set his eyes on Wei Zeyin.

Seeing that he was not happy at all because of the election of his brothers, he also said in front of all the ministers that he did not want to be the crown prince.

The Ministry of Rites Shangshu immediately had a good impression of him, and at the same time recalled some of the things Wei Zeyin did in the court, and his ability was indeed outstanding as several princes said.

He opened his mouth again: "Your Majesty, what the princes said, the minister thought about it carefully, it is indeed this truth, for the sake of Pingjiangshan Sheji, the minister thinks that His Royal Highness King Qin should be the candidate for the crown prince." ”

As soon as he spoke, many ministers echoed him.

The emperor was silent, and the courtiers from the very beginning of the excited discussion, now they all shut up one by one, waiting for the emperor to speak.

At the same time, there are also some timid ministers who think that the emperor proposed the establishment of the crown prince, and it may be that he wants to find out from among them those who tend to be inflammatory.

This thought also took a foothold in my heart, and soon, like a vine, it continued to grow madly in my heart.

The timid minister soon broke out in a fine cold sweat on his forehead, and even his face turned pale.

At this time, the emperor seemed to have finished admiring the changes in the faces of these ministers, and said to Jiang Yan in an extremely brisk tone: "The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty elected the King of Qin as the crown prince, Jiang Aiqing, as the father-in-law of the King of Qin, what do you think?" Or, like these ministers, you elected the king of Qin to become the crown prince. ”

When Jiang Yan heard this, he raised his eyes and glanced at the emperor, and saw that his expression did not change at all, as if the matter of establishing a prince was just a normal thing for him, and it would not touch his interests at all, and he would not doubt that the son who was about to become the prince would make him look old.

With this idea, Jiang Yan said boldly: "Your Majesty, the ministers and the Ministry of Rites have the same idea."

The emperor's eyes flashed slightly, and his fingers tapped on the armrests of the dragon chair, one by one, although many ministers who were far away could not hear it, but the emperor remained silent for a long time, as if he did not agree with the candidates they recommended at all, and they couldn't help but tighten their heartstrings.

After a long time, the emperor seemed to have admired the faces of the civil and military officials, and showed a gentle smile, "The third child is indeed the crown prince." ”

As soon as these words came out, the ministers who had long been slowly holding their breath, for fear that as soon as the emperor opened his mouth, he would set off a bloody storm, and they were all stunned.

Except for a few ministers who figured out the emperor's mind properly, it was not surprising at all, many ministers widened their eyes, and then, their breathing became heavy.

Because what is the relationship between the emperor and the crown prince, they all understand that the prince and the emperor are not only father and son, but more likely to be monarchs and ministers.

There are some emperors who value the desire for power and do not allow the prince to share his power at all.

And the emperor has not set up a prince for so many years, and many ministers believe that he attaches more importance to power, and today he proposed to set up a prince, and some ministers are naturally willing to set up the prince as soon as possible for the sake of the country.

However, there are also many ministers who think that the emperor is deliberately testing them, just to see if they are forming parties in private.

But now that the emperor has said it himself, even if the emperor really has other meanings, but the person has already decided, no matter what, the civil and military officials will only show a sincere smile on the surface.

Wei Zeyin was a little uneasy in this group of people, and he stood up and wanted to say that he was not qualified for the crown prince's shortcomings.

The emperor seemed to know what he was going to do, so he interrupted him directly, "Establish the prince's ceremony, the Ministry of Rites will get out the regulations as soon as possible, and after a month, the ceremony will be attended, and the prince will enter the East Palace and start to build his own East Palace team." ”

After saying that, the emperor seemed to have lost all interest and retreated directly.

Wei Zeyin was silent for a moment, and went directly to the imperial study to wait for the emperor.

"Erchen doesn't think he can be qualified for the position of prince, and he hopes that his father will take back his will."

"Every word the emperor said has never been retracted, third child, you came to the imperial study today to let me take back my will, have you forgotten the words of Jun Wu joke?"

The emperor's face was gloomy, and the emotions in his eyes were very complicated, which made Wei Zeyin, who raised his eyes to look at it, change his face slightly, and finally fell silent.

Because of his silence, there seemed to be an eerie silence in the air in the entire imperial study, but after a while, this silence became a dead silence that spread throughout the imperial study.

"You just don't want to be the crown prince." The Emperor broke the silence and said in a very cold tone, "Do you know what the crown prince means? ”