(a)

At this time, the crown prince, who had not spoken, began to speak.

The crown prince said, "Brother." The younger brothers and sisters came here today, because they were reluctant to let you go, so I asked for the permission of my father and queen mother to come and see you off. And I'm here today to ask you for your guilt and for your advice. ”

"You? To me? Guilty of petitioning? Cui Chengzhi couldn't hide the surprise in his heart. He looked at the crown prince in disbelief, wondering in his heart whether he was saying the opposite to satirize himself, and secretly blamed himself for why he didn't go to the prince's mansion to take the blame.

However, he looked into the eyes of the crown prince and felt that his expression was solemn and serious, not like he was talking back.

Cui Chengzhi said: "The crown prince is here to ask me, why don't you go to the crown prince's mansion to ask for your forgiveness?" He said: "The crown prince can rest assured, the time to move today is urgent, and he is in a hurry, and the guilty ministers will definitely go to the palace to apologize in person another day, and let the crown prince teach him a lesson." ”

The crown prince shook his head and said, "No." Brother. I'm the one who should have come first to ask for sin. ”

He said: "After the incident of Changping Hou, I was very shocked. Introspection, review the reasons, I feel that we brothers have the same father and mother, grew up together since childhood, brotherhood, and rarely conflict. Although in recent times, there have been differences of opinion from time to time because of different views on the government, but this is all a public matter, and the expression of opinions is also encouraged by the emperor, and there should be no personal enmity between brothers. The reason why my younger brother listened to the advice of the Marquis of Changping and wanted to fight for the position of crown prince must not be because of the personal enmity between brothers and greed for power, but because since I became the crown prince, I have been immoral and have acted in a disorderly manner, so that my younger brother will feel that I cannot be allowed to occupy a high position and become the cause of disaster for the country in the future, so he will make up his mind and must try to replace him. I thought about it again and again, and I felt very ashamed and frightened. If my virtue, even my compatriots and siblings, cannot agree with and support it, how can I convince all the people of the world and the officials of the court and the central government to support it wholeheartedly? With such virtue, to inherit the inheritance of the father, how can the father and the queen rest assured? I am in the position of the crown prince, and I will be the king of the future, and where I lose my morality and words, and where I do wrong, many of my subordinates may not dare to speak up, and I may not hear much pertinent criticism. Therefore, today, I have made a special trip to ask my brother to forgive me for my immorality and disorderly behavior, which caused my brother to lose harmony, which made my parents worried, and caused my brother's family to leave the palace and cut off their siblings; If there is something wrong in this matter, the root of the mistake is first of all in me, as an elder brother, and I should first reflect on myself and blame myself; Second, I want to implore my younger brother, and I also implore all my brothers and sisters, to give me advice on what I have not done well as the crown prince, where I can't convince my brothers, and where I can't reassure the world, so that I can have the opportunity to sincerely change my ways. If I really don't have the virtue and can't bear the supreme trust of the happiness and well-being of the people in the world, I am very willing to go to my father and ask my father on behalf of all my brothers, not necessarily to follow the ancestral system and establish a long line, but to select and appoint the best among the brothers, so as to take the well-being of all the people as the yardstick and the long-term development of the society as the goal. ”

The crown prince said frankly: "After the incident of the Marquis of Changping, I have also entered the palace to ask for my father to apologize, what I said to my brother today, I have also explained to my father and the emperor one by one, I have also told my father and queen mother, before you leave the palace, I will come to your house, please forgive, please advise, my father and queen mother all said to me, go, as the saying goes, the gap between brothers, do not stay overnight, some knots, if not untied at the right time, the knot will become deeper and deeper in the future, and it will be difficult to solve." Between you brothers, if you have something to say, you might as well talk about it in person, as an elder brother and a prince, you should have taken the initiative and should have taken the lead for your brothers. ”

The crown prince said: "My father told me that it is a pity that my father was arrogant when he was young, refused to bow his head in front of the former queen mother, refused to go to his younger brother to sincerely introspect, and did not have such a spiritual cultivation. This is my father's lifelong regret. Father, I sincerely hope that your brothers, learn from the lessons of your father, and do better than your father, so that the people of the world can see our Liu family, and there are successors, who are more virtuous and progressive from generation to generation, and also let the ancestors and ancestors see that we have lived up to their ardent expectations. Father hopes that you can use practical actions to consolidate the stability and happiness of the world, and make up for the wounds of war and chaos caused by the loss of harmony between our Liu family brothers and the people of the world. ”

The eldest princess also took over the crown prince's words and said, "Yes, the queen mother also told us that she has deeply understood from her own life experience that the mistakes of others also include her own actions in the final analysis. Therefore, before condemning others, you must first think about yourself, whether you have done anything wrong. The Queen Mother also encouraged our brothers and sisters to come together, open our hearts, speak all our words, and discern and explain all the truths. ”

(b)

Choi Seung-zhi never expected that the crown prince would consider the problem from this perspective, and there would be such a selfless argument that upholds the public heart. Between the words, the crown prince not only did not have any condemnation and resentment towards his own harm, but also introspected himself, blaming his own moral deficit and not being able to convince the public, and even said that he was willing to take the initiative to let Xian Yili Sheji, Cui Chengzhi heard it from the bottom of his heart shocked, moved, ashamed, and emotional, and the tears of grievance that had been in his eyes for a long time have now become tears of shame and self-blame, and they can't help but flow down his cheeks.

He listened to the words of his parents relayed by the crown prince and the eldest princess, and was silent for a long time, and then realized with pleasure and sincerity that his father's vision of choosing people was indeed very accurate, and the crown prince selected by his father was indeed the best candidate for the most qualified prince among our brothers and sisters so far. It's really a shame for my father and queen mother.

Thinking of this, he couldn't hang up any longer, faced the crown prince, and fell to his knees with remorse.

He sincerely said to the crown prince: "The crown prince's words are really beyond the expectations of the ministers. Weichen was rebellious, originally thinking that many things could be done without losing to the crown prince, and even in terms of decisive action and good judgment, he could do better, and he could completely replace him and glorify his father's country. Now, Weichen really knows what is called the virtue of a benevolent monarch, what is called the strength and mind of a king, and only then does he really understand the criteria and reasons for the emperor's selection of the crown prince. Wechen now knows that compared with the crown prince's pattern and bearing, Wechen's mind is too dark and dirty, and Wechen's strength is too humble and insignificant. The emperor's choice is indeed extremely wise, and the crimes of Weichen are really unforgivable. The emperor and empress, as well as the crown prince's forgiveness and generosity to the guilty ministers, the guilty ministers deeply realized that the guilty ministers were ashamed and unforgettable. The guilty minister wants to usurp the crown prince's throne, although it cannot be said that he did not think about the future of the world, but most of them are out of personal ambition, out of ignorance and arrogance of his own virtues, and the criminal minister does not dare to pretend to be an upright man, a hot-blooded minister, and a criminal minister for his villainous heart and dark thoughts, and hereby sincerely confesses to the crown prince, apologizes, pleads guilty, and prays for the crown prince's whipping and punishment. May the crown prince exercise the family law on behalf of his parents on the day when the guilty minister leaves the palace, today, in front of all his brothers and sisters, punish the guilty minister, leave a deep impression on the other young brothers and sisters, so that they will always remember the lessons of the guilty minister, and never be used and instigated by outsiders in the future, be confused and deceived by delusions, and never go astray like me again, harm others and myself. ”

So saying, he turned back to ask the housekeeper to fetch the whip, and wanted to present it to the crown prince with both hands.

(c)

The crown prince hurried to stop it. The crown prince walked a few steps forward and personally picked up the tearful Cui Chengzhi with both hands.

The crown prince said, "Why do you have to do this, why do you have to do this. Since our brothers have spoken openly and honestly today, the knots of the past have been completely dissolved today. I, swear to the heavens, I will never take this matter to heart, just like when we were young, I will never have a grudge against my brother because of this matter, not at this time, and never in the future. Today, I also solemnly ask my younger brother, after all, my younger brother and I are brothers and sisters of the same father and mother, we are closely related, we share joys and sorrows, and I hope that my younger brother will supervise my conduct and work more in the future, and I must be blunt about my immorality and disorderly behavior, mention it in time, and criticize it, and urge me to correct it. ”

The crown prince also said to his brothers and sisters, "This is also what I expect from you as the eldest brother. Whether it is today or in the future, no matter when, our brothers and sisters must work together to maintain the peace of the people in the world. What I can't do alone, we all work together, and we will definitely be able to do it for the people of the world. If I can't do it alone, we will all work together to do it right for the people of the world. ”

Cui Chengzhi was moved: "The criminal also swears to heaven that he will reflect bitterly and sincerely make amends, and will never have any inferior thoughts or any bad intentions because of this matter." The criminal minister is willing to obey the prince's orders for life, and be a loyal minister, a good minister, and a direct minister of our dynasty. ”

He stretched out his hand and broke off a branch from the flower branch of the vestibule, and broke it in two, and said, "If a minister loses his word, there will be such a branch, and everyone in the world will be punished." ”

Moved by the sincerity of the brothers, the sons of the concubines of Rong Xian and Tubo also reflected on themselves: "Speaking of this, we, as the eldest princes, have also made mistakes. We obviously saw that the fourth brother and the crown prince had repeated verbal conflicts because of political differences, but we didn't think that we should share the worries of the eldest brother, to untie the knot in the younger brother's heart, to bridge the small rift that existed between the brothers, but felt that it was none of our business, and did not ask about it. ”

As a result, the brothers and sisters reflected on their own mistakes in this incident. Some people said that they had heard the rebellious remarks of the Marquis of Changping, but felt that more things were better than less, and they did not remind the crown prince and report to their father and queen mother in time; Some people said that they did not take the initiative to create opportunities for the crown prince and the fourth prince to communicate more; Some people said that after the incident, they didn't go to comfort their father and queen mother, and they knelt down to make their parents happy.

For a while, everyone blamed themselves, apologized to each other, and the scene of sincere friendship made the attendants feel very moved and couldn't help crying.

The housekeeper, who grew up serving the fourth son of the emperor, couldn't help but cry and thanked God in his heart: they are all the benevolence of the emperor and the virtuousness of the queen, and they have inspired the love and mercy of God, so that the princes and princesses are so polite and so friendly, this is really a blessing for the people of the world, and a blessing for the country.

The crown prince then ordered the wine to be served, and the younger siblings replaced the wine with white water, and led the brothers and sisters to pledge together that they would take today's events as a profound lesson, and from now on, the brothers and sisters will unite as one, take care of the peace of the world, and work together for the prosperity of the world.

Everyone raised a glass and swore together, wishing together: "Brothers work together, and their benefits are gold." ”

In the children's youthful enthusiasm and heartfelt oath, the Changping Hou incident came to an end, and it finally had an ending that could explain the past to the people of the world.

(iv)

The news that the crown prince led his younger siblings to voluntarily pledge to love and help each other reached Liu Shen, and Liu Shen was in a good mood, and the whole person was immediately radiant. Because I was in a good mood, my illness was relieved. Liu Shen recovered quickly and quickly recovered his health. With Liu Shen's return to the court, everything in the country has returned to the normal track.

In the past, some courtiers thought that Liu Shen's punishment for his son was a little lighter, but at this moment, they were also convinced, and they had nothing to say about the outcome of the matter, and they celebrated together.

After bidding farewell to his brothers and sisters and shedding tears, Cui Chengzhi, the new generation of Lingnan kings, left his residence in the palace and rode to the Lingnan palace accompanied by officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

When passing by the streets of the capital, although there were onlookers from time to time, and there were all kinds of wordless comments in their eyes, Cui Chengzhi no longer felt embarrassed and sad. At this moment, his heart is surging with pride, and he is no longer pessimistic and disappointed about his future, but full of confidence.

He decided to use his life to add glory to his biological father Liu Shen, his titular father Cui Jinglong, and his mother, and he was determined to continue the reputation and legend of the Lingnan Palace.

Although he lost his status as a prince, he has since found the meaning of life and the right path.

In this way, he was full of faith in life, and passed through the mistakes of his youth and walked towards a new life. (To be continued.) )