Xingqing Mansion, the summer capital, is located in the Hetao, east of Helan Mountain, called Lingzhou in ancient times, and after a thousand years, it is Yinchuan, the provincial capital of Ningxia.

Although the capital city that continued to flourish with the rise of Western Xia could not be compared with Bianjing of the Song Dynasty and Nanjing of Liao, its scale was also very large, not only around the city of a state is enough to be 18 miles long, and there is a moat more than 10 zhang wide outside the city wall. And the city wall is both high and thick, nearly ten zhang high enough to make many cloud ladders are expected to sigh, and its wall thickness of seven or eight zhang can be regarded as a moat for the siege methods at this time.

It is precisely because of such high and deep defense conditions that the Xia State will block the attacks of the Mongol army again and again in history, until the city was breached after the life and death of Temujin and the extremely heavy price paid by the Mongol iron cavalry......

It's just that in this way, it also brought a real catastrophe to the entire Western Xia Kingdom. After the Mongols destroyed their country, they carried out a brutal massacre, so that it was difficult to find traces of the Dangxiang people for hundreds of years, and it was not until the twentieth century that various documents and descendants belonging to the country were unearthed.

Of course, it was a disaster that would only happen a hundred years later, at this time everything in the Xia Kingdom was still thriving, and the people near the capital were even richer.

After all, Xingqing Mansion is located in the northwest, with the arrival of winter, the weather here has become very cold, far less warm than the south of the Yangtze River, a few days of heavy snowfall, has made the city outside a piece of silver, the roof street is a thick layer of snow, only along the city gate straight to the inside of the long street is still clean, can let people and horses pass.

Maybe it's because I've been here for many years, I've long been accustomed to the long cold winter, even if it's snowing hard today, there are still a lot of pedestrians and cars on the street, and some restaurants and shops along the street are also open as usual, and from time to time there are guests who come to buy some things, which looks much more lively than Nanjing City in Liaoguo.

At this time, it is close to noon, so the business in many restaurants in the city is excellent, among which a three-story restaurant near the south gate is full of guests, and it is very lively, at least one or two Zeng Lou is like this. Only the three floors with private rooms have been fully booked today, and only twenty or thirty guests are drinking and feasting here, which seems a little deserted.

But neither the drinkers nor the restaurant owner dared to neglect the guests on the third floor, because when a drunk guy wanted to go up to have a look, he was thrown downstairs directly, not back to the second floor, but directly thrown into the street outside the building, and was seriously injured and fainted at that time. Then someone went downstairs and flashed the token they were carrying, and everyone was stunned.

Because what that person showed was the Iron Harrier Order walking in the palace, which was a token that only the most trusted ministers of the emperor or the princes and nobles in the court could grasp, not to mention that such characters were embarrassed to go downstairs when someone provoked them, or no one dared to say no if they killed people at will on the street.

It was also from that time that at least the drinkers on the second floor had lowered their profile, and even the drunken shouts were much lighter than before, for fear of angering the nobles above their heads and throwing them out of the street.

At this moment, in an independent private seat on the third floor, there are various restaurants on the table, but the four people sitting at the table don't seem to have much interest, just take a sip of warm wine at random, and only focus on the conversation between them.

Sitting on the throne is a handsome young man in his thirties, if Sun Tu is here, he will definitely feel that this person's appearance looks a little familiar, and he is actually six or seven points similar to Li Renyou, the king of Yue. In fact, this person really has a deep relationship with King Yue, he is the brother of King Yue, and now Li Renai, the crown prince of Xia Kingdom.

Xia Guomin may still maintain many nomadic styles of the party, but the royal influence of the Han people has been quite far-reaching, which can be seen from the dress of several princes, as well as the names - the crown prince and the king of Yue are used to wearing Han wide robes and brocade clothes, and Li Renyou, Li Renai, plus Li Renxiao, who is also a brother, know that they are influenced by Confucianism (it is said that it sounds like it has a kind of characteristics of the name of the stick country now...... ）。

Of course, the Xia Kingdom is not a Han country like the Song Kingdom after all, and some things are not so particular. For example, if Li Renai, who is the crown prince, is replaced by the prince of Zhao Song, it will be difficult to leave the palace once, and it is impossible to meet with the courtiers in private so clearly.

At this time, the young man of the same age sitting at the head of the crown prince is the third brother of the fine seal Chang, and he is also a courtier in the court today, but his appearance is not too similar to the fine seal Chang, although he looks more resolute, but the beard is far less dense than his younger brother, and at the age of twenty-five, he only has a domineering eight-character beard.

In front of the prince, he was naturally not domineering, and even seemed a little restrained, and only when the prince asked him something, he would answer. At this moment, Li Renai said: "You said that your old man is really good, and he can easily bring down the fine feudalism, and he has a relationship with Yue Wang Pan?" ”

The jealousy in Xi Feng Yao's eyes flashed for a moment, and then he bowed his head and said: "As the prince said, the sixth child of my family really capsized in the gutter this time." I used to see him as a formidable opponent, but I didn't expect to be so completely defeated this time, and it seems that it will be impossible to compete with me for the position of patriarch in the future. ”

"So you value your eighth child more now...... Can a milky guy really pose any threat to Prince Ben? The prince still didn't seem to care. If it was replaced by a fine seal Ye Chang, he might still be wary, but what is coming today is only a fine seal, which is another matter.

"The prince forgives his sins, if he is just the eighth child in my family, he will naturally not pose any threat to the prince, and he will not dare to embarrass the prince. But his relationship with King Yue is so close, it's hard to say. I heard that he came to Xingqing Mansion this time and actually stayed in Dingzhou City for more than ten days, so the minister thought that this matter had to be prevented. It is said that the king of Yue is a virtuous king, and he is deeply loved by the local people in Dingzhou, once he returns to the capital, let the emperor appreciate him, I am afraid that he will ...... In addition, the eighth child of my family may support me on behalf of the Xifeng clan, which is another problem for the prince. ”

After decades of development, the Xia people gradually learned the Han people's methods of attacking each other. It's just that as party members, they are only novices in this after all, especially young people like Xi Feng Yao, and they can't do it like a veteran in the political arena to lift their weights lightly and stop at the point, but as soon as they say a few words, they will get to the bottom of their true intentions.

However, the prince did not feel unhappy because of this, but his face also changed at this time: "King Yue, does he really have such thoughts?" ”

"The position of the emperor, who doesn't want to sit on it?" Xi Feng Yao said another nonsense that if it was placed in the Han court, he would have been beaten to death, but it made the prince nod his head thoughtfully: "Yes, you must not guard against it." Now that my father is getting older, his attitude towards me is becoming more and more subtle. If King Yue really has the support of the Xifeng clan, it will be really difficult to deal with in the future. ”

Xi Feng Yao seized the opportunity and hurriedly said: "So the minister's meaning is to take advantage of the current situation to suppress them, and at the same time think of making them suspicious." ”

"That's why you've invited me here today?" The prince glanced at him and asked with a smile, "What's the point of just drinking here for what it has to do with that?" ”

"The prince doesn't know, according to the news that the minister got yesterday, they will enter the city through the south gate around noon today, we can take advantage of their first arrival to let them eat first!" Hosophobhara replied with a smile.

"You asked the crown prince to come forward against a courtier who had not even been granted an official position? This must not be! One of the people sitting at the bottom had been in a state of deafness before, and only then could not help but speak out against it: "Prince, if you really do this and spread it, I am afraid that you will be laughed at by the people of the court, they will not say that King Changyue is timid, but will only say that the prince you behaved like Meng Lang and lost your virtue!" "As the prince's confidant, it is impossible for this person to let Xifeng Yao bewitch the master at this time.

When the prince heard this, his eyes narrowed, and he stared at Xi Feng Yao with some unhappiness: "What do you mean by this?" ”

This made Xi Feng Yao suddenly startled, and his body trembled for a moment, and then he quickly got up and bowed down: "The prince forgives the sin, the minister really has no intention of harming you......" Saying, his mind moved, and he had already said something, and said urgently: "Actually, the minister didn't really mean to let the prince come forward, as long as the prince allowed the minister to come forward in your name." ”

"Well, that's okay, but this prince will only give you this one chance, and whether you succeed or not depends on your creation and ability." After glancing at his henchmen and seeing the other party nodding, the prince responded to the matter.

Even so, it still made Xi Feng Yao break out in a cold sweat. And just as he got up and wanted to return to his seat, there was a knock on the closed door: "Prince, son, someone has arrived!" "It was the people who were watching the gates from outside that sent the news!

This made Xi Feng Yao's spirit suddenly lifted, and then he saluted the prince and said, "Prince, the minister is going." ”

He did not leave the door until the prince agreed. At this time, the appearance of Xi Feng Yao, who was originally humble, suddenly changed, and a terrifying momentum was already born, and with a wave of his hand, he took three entourages and quickly went downstairs and went straight to the city gate!

Sun Tu would never have thought that when he arrived in the summer capital, a new round of brotherly rivalry was about to begin, and this time it was doubled!