faced Guo Xu, who was at a loss and incoherent. Lu Zhongtian sighed, stepped forward and patted Guo Xu's shoulder, and said in a deep voice: "Guo Xu, don't panic. This is already the case, and regret is useless. The old man doesn't blame you anymore, the old man understands your feelings. Maybe it's not that bad. With the old man's understanding of the emperor, the emperor should not punish you for this matter. After all...... He tolerated Concubine Rong's incident. The emperor will not make a big deal out of it. ”

Guo Xu shouted: "But after he found out, wouldn't he be even more indifferent to me?" He...... He still doesn't know how to look at me in his heart. ”

Lu Zhongtian said softly: "Yes, in this way, he will be even more dissatisfied with you and alienate you." So the old man keeps saying that your actions are not well considered, why don't you come and ask the old man? Ay. ”

Guo Xu shouted: "Grandfather, I was wrong, I will listen to you in the future." But how do I deal with the current situation? If my father summoned me and asked me about this, what should I say? ”

Lu Zhongtian looked at Guo Xu and said: "Guo Xu, you must have an ordinary heart for gains and losses, even if you can't be the prince and can't become the emperor of the Great Zhou, it's nothing." You have to be mentally prepared. Nothing in the world is guaranteed to succeed, and you have to learn to accept failure. You can't mess around. ”

Guo Xu's eyes widened and he shouted, "Grandfather, how can you say such a thing?" Didn't you say that the crown prince was bound to win? If we lose the position of crown prince, then we are not a dead end? Guo Mian became the emperor, how could he tolerate me? I understand...... My grandfather is deeply rooted, and the branches and leaves are spreading, even if Guo Mian becomes the emperor, you are the same as your prime minister, Guo Mian will not dare to do anything to you. So, are you looking for a change of course? Do you want to be loyal to Guo Mian? Hahaha, it's okay, the one who knows the times is Junjie, and his grandfather is of course the one who knows how to stand up and hold steady is the best. I kind of understood, I was a loner, an outcast. That's it, that's it, I'll be the one who dies then, and you'll all be fine. ”

"Shut up!" Lu Zhongtian scolded angrily: "Guo Xu, do you know what you are talking about? Confused? I am already so an enemy of Guo Mian, can he still tolerate the old man after he ascends the throne? You are my own grandson, does the old man have any choice but to help you? Guo Mian becomes the emperor, Lin Jue, Guo Bing and others will gain power, do you think they can bypass the old man? You're afraid you're really crazy, and you can say this kind of thing? Bastard, did the old man misread you, why did you get so dazed? ”

Guo Xu also realized that his words were too much, and he was really dizzy. So he hurriedly apologized: "Grandfather, don't be annoyed, it's me talking nonsense, I'm dizzy." How could I say such a thing? But...... What my grandfather said, does it mean that I can't give up? Aren't we all going to be finished? How can this be given up? Is my grandfather willing to let people eat meat? ”

Lu Zhongtian pondered for a moment, glared at Guo Xu and said, "Guo Xu, the old man asked you a word, and you answered me truthfully." ”

Guo Xu saw the fierceness and decisiveness in Lu Zhongtian's eyes that made him feel frightened, and his heart was awe-inspiring, and he said in a deep voice: "Grandfather, please speak." ”

Lu Zhongtian said: "I only ask you one word." In order to become the lord of the Great Zhou, do you dare to risk the world's condemnation? Do you have the guts to do everything? ”

Guo Xu was stunned for a moment, goosebumps appeared on his body, and finally said in a deep voice: "I dare to do anything, as long as I can win the throne." That's everything. ”

Lu Zhongtian's eyes flickered with coldness, and he laughed. Suddenly got up from his seat and said, "The old man has returned to the yamen, and he still has official business to deal with." ”

Guo Xu was stunned and said, "Grandfather, you haven't finished your words yet." ”

Lu Zhongtian smiled: "I have said everything that should be said, what else to say?" Since you have such determination, the Lord of this Great Zhou is yours. Wait for the right moment. The emperor won't ask you to question, and you don't have to worry about it. Even if you ask, can you still admit it? I'm going, don't go out these days, cultivate yourself, and live a quiet life for a few days. I'm afraid you won't have such a quiet life in the future. ”

Guo Xu was confused, as if he understood or not. Seeing that Lu Zhongtian was leaving, he had to get up and send him off.

The two came to the porch, and the sun was shining brightly. A few pots of flowers under the porch are blooming. A servant was carrying clean water to wash the bluestone ground under the corridor, and when Zheng Zhixue was killed by the cane, he left a lot of blood stains, and the water flushed, and the ground was bright red.

"The color of blood is the color of flowers. The flower keeper in the old man's house said that if the flowers are watered with blood, the flowers will bloom more gorgeous and beautiful, but I don't know if it's true. Lu Zhongtian seemed to be talking to Guo Chong, and seemed to be talking to himself, so he flicked the sleeves of his robe and walked away quickly.

……

On the fifth day of the fifth month of May, the Dragon Boat Festival. The Dragon Boat Festival of the Great Zhou is one of the three major festivals of the year, so it is more grand. The customs of the Dragon Boat Festival are nothing more than eating zongzi, salted duck eggs, rowing dragon boats, drinking realgar wine, taking a bath, and so on.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the customs in the north and south are similar, and in the eyes of Lin Jue, a southerner, the subtle difference is that the zongzi are sweet and salty, and the difference in the taste of realgar wine. For some people, this may be important and will lead to a debate about which is more delicious, sweet or salty. But in Lin Jue's opinion, this is all full of food, because he loves to eat.

The capital has been lively since the past few days. A large number of cattails filled the streets, which was a must for making zongzi. The scent of wormwood permeated the city, diluting the smell of powder on the women on the street and the smell of sweat on the men. On the Bianhe River, the river channel for dragon boat racing is also divided with pontoons. A few days earlier, many colorful dragon boats began to practice in the river to the beat of drums.

The people of the city are looking forward to the lively program of the Dragon Boat Festival, and the people's homes were originally hard-working, and they are naturally extremely happy to have an excuse to rest for a day to eat, drink and play. People are talking happily about which dragon boat team will win the championship this year. One said that the dragon boat team of the Gu family in the east of the city will defend the title, because they were the first last year, and they are the ancestral family business of making dragon boats, and the level of their boat building is even the Great Zhou army asked them to help build water army warships. Some people don't think so, they are optimistic about the Li family's fleet, which was defeated last year. The Li family's fleet was born last year and almost won the championship, but unfortunately it was defeated by the Gu family in the end. But their potential is known. After a year of hard training, they should be the best this year. In contrast, the support rate of the Li family this year is extremely high, and almost seventy percent of the people believe that the Li family will become the leader of this year's dragon boat race.

It's like a sweet or salty zongzi dispute, the outcome is not important, what matters is the process of this debate. People have to have something to do, don't they? Otherwise, there is nothing to do when you are full and roll your eyes, but it is not interesting. Noisy and strife, this is the essence of life.

It's a pity that in such a lively festival, the Lin family has no chance to have fun with the people. The recent attack once again sounded the alarm, making the Lin family realize that danger could happen at any time. The price paid that time was extremely great, so many people died, and almost all the people in the Lin family were killed, so it can no longer be taken lightly. Without Lin Jue's explanation, everyone in the Lin family decided that no family members of the Lin family would be allowed to go out to play during the Dragon Boat Festival. The more crowded and noisy the occasion, the more dangerous it is. There is no more confusion.

Besides, Lin Jue didn't have time to go to this Dragon Boat Festival. for he was going up to the court early in the morning. Although the imperial court has an official Dragon Boat Festival holiday, this year's Dragon Boat Festival holiday has been canceled. Because on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Guo Chong wanted to hold an extremely important court meeting to decide a major event related to the future of the Great Zhou.

Early in the morning, Lin Jue went into the palace hall. The daughters of the Lin family got up on the morning, bathed in mugwort water, and put wormwood on their heads and gathered in the flower hall of the back house. Breakfast is naturally the main dish of zongzi, supplemented by millet porridge and salted duck eggs. After breakfast, he hung a purse for Lin Zhan, wore the five poison clothes sent by Liang Wangfu, and the whole family went to the back garden to play together. Although there is no fun of watching the dragon boat, but you can fight the grass and enjoy the flowers, and the maids take Lin Zhan to chase in the garden, but they are also happy.

More than an hour later, Lin Hu brought back the results of the dragon boat race on the Bianhe River, and the Gu family still came out on top this year, winning a bounty of five hundred taels of silver and a large number of cloth rewards. The Li family lost again and won second. The women of the Lin family support the Li family, and they hope that the dominance of the Gu family, who has dominated the leadership for many years, will be broken this year. After learning the news of the Li family's defeat, the women sighed and regretted, but they didn't pay much attention to it. Maybe life is like this, again and again, again and again, again and again. You think you're going to succeed this time, but you're greeted with another failure. Nothing is guaranteed to happen, even if you are prepared and coped with everything you think will happen as expected, but the reality will make you discouraged.

Just when the results of the Bianhe Dragon Boat Race were available, a more important news spread throughout the city, instantly making the results of the Dragon Boat Race less important.

At the end of the day, hundreds of forbidden army horses galloped to the major yamen and various intersection notices in the inner and outer cities of the capital, and posted the latest holy decree notices of the imperial court on the major yamen and billboards. Soon, the people of the city knew the news that this morning, the crown prince of the Great Zhou was born. Guo Mian, the king of Jin, became the crown prince of the Great Zhou and became the future lord of the Great Zhou who succeeded the current saint in charge of the Great Zhou.

The news came suddenly and in shock. In the folk rumors, Guo Xu, the king of Huai, was the most powerful contender for the crown prince, and people were even ready for Guo Xu to become the prince. However, the reality is quite the opposite. The reputation is not good, and Guo Xu, who is known as the son of a gentleman, became the prince. Guo Xu, who has a good reputation and a good reputation, was defeated. Many people were surprised and couldn't help but sigh at the injustice of fate. Guo Mian is the son of the queen and the eldest son, perhaps it is for this reason that he won the crown prince's throne. And although Guo Xu is virtuous and capable, he lost the position of the prince with a slightly worse background, how unfair it is.

The people are ignorant people, and they are easily swayed by some false news. Just like the reputation of Guo Xu Xianliang and Guo Mian, they have never even met Guo Xu and Guo Mian in person, but somehow they accept such an idea and it is deeply rooted, thinking that they have understood the whole thing and think that they are absolutely right. In fact, many things are like this, people are often subtly influenced by invisible things without knowing it, and being used by others without realizing it. The sorrow of ordinary people is sometimes nothing more than this, they don't even know that they are just a bunch of stupid pigs whose bodies and minds have been enslaved.