Gonggong Hai put the scroll into the brocade box and was placed by Emperor Xia's side.

This scene made everyone's eyes red, and they had never seen His Majesty attach so much importance to things outside his body. Xiao Rui's gift was really sent to my heart.

It also cost a small amount of silver, and you say that you are not angry.

Then, everyone's eyes in the hall moved to Xiao Feng, Xiao Yuan, and Xiao Ming.

The mother concubine of the three of them wanted to ask for mercy, but when she saw Emperor Xia's expression, she was afraid that it would be self-defeating, so she didn't dare to speak.

"Get up." Emperor Xia looked at the three of them and spoke in a calm tone.

Xiao Feng's hearts went up and down, and they knelt down honestly, and said, "Erchen doesn't dare." ”

Emperor Xia said: "On my birthday, I won't punish you, since you like to kneel, go to the imperial tomb to kneel from tomorrow." ”

The hearts of the three of them tightened, and they instantly became myocardial infarctions.

Kneeling? What time do you start kneeling? What hour do you kneel to? How many days do you kneel?

They didn't dare to ask, nor did they dare to say, so they could only get up in a hurry, and thanked the order: "The son obeys the order." ”

Xiao Rui smiled secretly, this punishment is big enough, enough for three people to drink a pot, don't think about it on your knees.

Subsequently, the eighth prince Xiao Jing presented a birthday gift.

He ingeniously prepared a "Agricultural Story", which is a new book on agricultural science under his organization, which has a good guide to farming, but after Emperor Xia opened it, he found that the content was mostly the same as that of other existing books, and the natural value was not as good as the portrait sent by Xiao Rui.

Finally, there is Xiao Yan, the ninth prince, whose calligraphy is decent.

Subsequently, the birthday banquet was opened and the dishes were served.

Ten hot dishes, ten cold dishes, four soup dishes, four side dishes, four fresh fruits, melons and fruits, candied fruits, snacks, cakes, cakes and other pasta.

After eating, the table was removed, and instead of serving wine, tea was served. According to the previous rules, after drinking tea, the family banquet ended.

But this time, Emperor Xia had something to say.

"Today, I will be thirty in my fifties, and I have been on the throne for almost twenty years. The country cannot be without a king for a day, and in the same way, the delay in the establishment of the crown prince will also cause the country to be in turmoil. ”

In an instant, the whole hall was silent, as if the sound could be heard from the fall of a thin needle to the ground.

Everyone was short of breath.

Some people think again, could it be that Your Majesty wants to take advantage of this to make a candidate for the crown prince?

Some people also guess, who is the candidate for the crown prince in His Majesty's mind?

At this moment, everyone's hearts seem to have a kitten, scratching constantly.

Emperor Xia said again: "The Seventh Prince Xiao Rui, the Eighth Prince Xiao Jing, and the Ninth Prince Xiao Yan, you are of the same age, and you have not yet opened the mansion. I intend that in three months, I will allow you to open the mansion at the same time. After the opening of the mansion, all nine of you princes are considered adults. ”

"I have given you plenty of time to be at ease, but after three months, you will fulfill your responsibilities as princes, and I will put a burden on you to manage the court and beyond."

"I believe that the future prince must be witty and intelligent, superior, have both ability and political integrity, and become a martial artist, so as to make the future of Great Xia more brilliant. Princes, do your best. ”

This is the first time that Emperor Xia has mentioned the position of the prince so thoroughly, and this is straightforward enough.

Who is capable! Who is the prince!

From three months later, the competition for the crown prince kicked off.

Some princes are already ready to move, and their flickering eyes show their inner ambitions.

Xiao Rui exhaled a breath and secretly shouted, "Sure enough", just as Jia Xu guessed, Emperor Xia was like raising Gu, he wanted to raise a suitable prince, who could lead Great Xia to a more brilliant glory, rather than the master of success.

After the three-month waiting period, the capital will be completely plunged into an undercurrent, and all forces will have to choose a camp, even if no one will help, they will have to put up a big banner to stand out of the matter. And where do you go from here? Xiao Rui fell into deep thought, and decided to discuss it with Jia Xu after going back.

Emperor Xia drank a cup of tea and finally got up: "Let's disperse, I still have official business to do." ”

After that, let Gonggong Hai pick up the brocade box and leave the Baohe Hall with it.

As soon as Emperor Xia left, the concubines returned to the harem.

The princes didn't have the heart to quarrel, so they went back to their homes and went back to digest Emperor Xia's words.

Xiao Rui also went home and invited Jia Xu to discuss.

After Jia Xu understood everything, he pondered Emperor Xia's words.

After a long time, Jia Xu was shocked and said: "It seems that Emperor Xia has already laid out today's affairs. ”

"Sir, why do you say that?" Xiao Rui asked.

Jia Xu said: "Emperor Xia said: The future prince must be witty and intelligent, superior, have both ability and political integrity, and become a martial artist!" This is Emperor Xia's assessment criteria for the crown prince. The first is wit and intelligence, that is, you nine princes will do everything to compete for the throne, and only wit and intelligence can win. Moreover, the criterion for winning is superiority. In addition, passing others does not mean the final victory, but also having talent, morality, and both civil and military. It seems that Emperor Xia often tests the prince's schoolwork, which is a part of the test. ”

"Witty and intelligent, superior, both ability and political integrity, Wencheng and martial arts ......" Xiao Rui had a strange face: "Among the princes now, who has this ability?" ”

Jia Xu smiled: "I think His Highness has it." ”

"Uh..."Xiao Rui said embarrassedly: "Sir, don't make fun of me." ”

Jia Xu said: "It's not a joke, but a real idea." What's more, just because you don't have these qualities now doesn't mean you won't have them in the future. Martial arts can be practiced, and literature can be learned. ”

Xiao Rui nodded and asked, "But why did Your Majesty wait three months for us to open the mansion?" ”

Jia Xu also shook his head and said, "I don't know, but I believe that Your Majesty must have a plan, and very people can guess it." ”

thought that his advent value was only 10, and he brought down Xu Xianyang with a full 80 advent value. If you get together the advent value, what kind of characters will come?

"Sir, what should Xu Xianyang do? Are we still touching him? Xiao Rui asked.

Jia Xu said: "I originally thought that Emperor Xia would move him, but now it seems that Emperor Xia will wait for others to make a move." If it was before, we could bring down Xu Xianyang and behave well in front of Emperor Xia, but now that His Royal Highness is about to open the mansion and the crown prince is about to begin, it is inconvenient to come out. But it would be a shame to waste this opportunity. Therefore, we need to find someone to help, and we have to let Your Majesty know that His Highness is contributing to the trouble. ”

Xiao Rui was happy when he heard it. This is borrowing chickens to lay eggs.

"I'll think about the specific method, Your Highness..."Before Jia Xu finished speaking, Gao Quan hurriedly came.

"Your Highness, Your Majesty's reward has come." Gao Quan said.

Xiao Rui and Jia Xu looked at each other and hurriedly went out to receive the reward.

To Xiao Rui's surprise, Gonggong Hai came in person, and the things that Emperor Xia rewarded were 10,000 taels of gold, ten pieces of jade, a red rabbit BMW, a strong bow, a set of four treasures in the study, and a number of Huanhua paper used in the palace.

"Father-in-law Lao Hai has come in person." Xiao Rui smiled and stuffed him with a thousand taels of silver tickets.

Gonggong Hai accepted it with peace of mind: "Your Royal Highness is benevolent, filial and kind, and has a sacred heart, so the slave naturally wants to come in person." His Royal Highness stayed, and the servants wanted to enter the palace to reply to the decree. ”

Seeing Father-in-law Hai leave, Xiao Rui looked at the reward that his subordinates were carrying, and was a little puzzled: "What does Father mean?" ”

Jia Xu said solemnly: "The Chitu BMW strengthens the bow and reminds His Highness to practice martial arts diligently." The four treasures of the study room and the Huanhua paper admonished His Highness to study hard. In order to become a martial artist! Your Highness, it seems that Your Majesty has great expectations for you. ”

When Xiao Rui heard this, he immediately felt a little proud.