At dusk, Li Hong appeared on time at the specially set up dog fighting arena in Taiji Palace.

At this time, the princes and nobles who came to watch the dog fighting competition had already arrived, and they were chatting together in twos and threes, looking very relaxed and freehand. In addition, many ministers of the DPRK and China also came to join in the fun, wanting to see what new tricks there were in the dog fighting competition held by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Among them, they include the subordinate officials of the East Palace who are close to Li Hong, as well as Le Yanwei and Zhao Renji.

The dogfighting ring is brightly lit and bustling,

"Fifth brother, you're here, everyone is here, I'm waiting for you now." Just as Li Hong walked into the dog fighting ring, he saw a young man about thirteen years old and white and clean walked up to him and smiled.

Those who can appear here are the children of the royal family, they are their own brothers, Li Hong recognized the boy in front of him at a glance, he is Li Hong's own brother, the sixth son of Gaozong, and the second son of Empress Wu, Peiwang Li Xian.

Although Li Xian is one year younger than Li Hong, because he does not suffer from a stubborn disease like Li Hong, he has a strong figure and is one inch taller than Li Hong. The two stood together, and people who didn't know what they were doing thought thought that Li Xian was Li Hong's brother.

Li Xian is also accompanied by a **-year-old young man, he is Li Hong's seventh brother, Gaozong's seventh son, and the third Li Zhe (Li Xian) of the Empress Wu, who was later Tang Zhongzong. As for Li Dan, who is the son of Empress Wu, he is only three years old now, and he can't participate in such a banquet yet.

"I talked to the teacher for a while today, and I took a break when I was unwell, so I kept Rokuro and Shichiro waiting for a long time." Li Hong said apologetically. As the elder brother of Li Xian and Li Zhe, and the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, Li Hong should not have been so humble. But he did it anyway, because he regarded the two as brothers, and he didn't want to stand in front of them.

"Big brother said and laughed, you can come today, I'm very happy to talk to the sixth brother, what else to wait for? But today's dog fighting competition is not ordinary, you have to let us brothers go! Li Zhe also walked up to Li Hong and said.

He called Li Hong the eldest brother, which seemed very affectionate, and called Li Xian the sixth brother, both of whom were his elder brothers, but they had different titles, which made Li Xian frown slightly when he heard it. To put it bluntly, this is a manifestation of Li Zhe's arrogance and arrogance, because there are six elder brothers in front of him, and he only calls Li Hong the eldest brother, which means that he is the eldest among their brothers.

Li Hong saw Li Xian's reaction in his eyes, but he didn't say anything, but said to Li Zhe with a smile, "It's just a game, it's just fun, how can Shichiro take it seriously." ”

"Big brother, this time it's not as simple as having fun, my father knew about the dog fighting competition, so he specially rewarded a lot of precious things as a reward, and there are many precious objects in it... There are things that the younger brother likes, and the younger brother doesn't want to give it up. Li Zhe said with envy.

The tone of his voice was very firm, it can be seen that the prizes given by Gaozong and Empress Wu this time are very rich, and there are not many things that can make Li Zhe tempted! "And what's going on?" Li Hong was surprised.

He didn't expect that he was just holding a simple dog fighting competition, which would arouse the idea of Gaozong and Empress Wu, and also blinded the prize. This made her a little unexpected, but that's fine, the dog fighting competition has a lottery, so it can be more exciting...

"Yes! Doesn't the fifth brother know? Li Xian opened his mouth and asked, "You held this dog fighting competition." ”

Compared with Li Zhe's naivety, Li Xian's performance is very calm, and his maturity and calmness are beyond his age in Li Hong's opinion. The fact that a thirteen-year-old kid can be so calm and calm really makes Li Hong look at Li Xian with admiration.

Li Hong said embarrassedly, "This dog fighting competition, Lone is in charge of Yan Zhuang, and I really don't know about the prize, but with my father's prize, the competition is even more lively, which is a good thing." ”

Li Xian and Li Zhe nodded slightly, both showing a look of eagerness.

"See Your Highness!"

At this time, when the people in the dog arena saw Li Hong, they bowed to him and saluted.

Li Hong waved his hand to signal everyone not to be polite, but in the process, he moved his gaze to Li Xian, and faintly saw the jealousy that flashed in Li Xian's eyes.

Li Hong's mood suddenly became a little bad. Li Xian was jealous of the courtiers who gave him a salute, which showed that Li Xian cared about the identity between the two. So, does this mean that Li Xian really participated in the Huaxian tragedy and colluded with others to seek his position as the crown prince?

"The old minister has seen His Highness!" Immediately, I saw Xu Jingzong, Dou Dexuan, and Li Ji walking out of the crowd, and they walked up to Li Hong and bowed to Li Hong. Xu Jingzong has a closer relationship because of the cooperation in interests between him and Li Hong, and at this time, he is more easy-going with Li Hong. Dou Dexuan has never been against Li Hong, and he respects Li Hong very much, and he is a courtier who is very good at being a man. Although Li Ji has a grudge against Li Hong, on the bright side, he still has to respect Li Hong, the prince of the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, these three referees looked very relaxed in front of Li Hong.

"Xu Xiang, tonight's judgment task, Lone Ke will be handed over to you." Li Hong said to Xu Jingzong with a smile, and nodded slightly to Dou Dexuan and Li Ji.

"Your Highness, rest assured, the ministers will definitely rule impartially." Xu Jingzong assured.

"The three prime ministers are doing things, and Lone is very relieved." Li Hong smiled and said to Li Xian and Li Zhe, "Liulang, Qilang, let's go over and take a seat, don't waste any more time." ”

"Okay!" Li Xian said.

"Big brother, please." Li Zhe said excitedly.

Li Hong said goodbye and left Xu Jingzong, Dou Dexuan, and Li Ji, and came to a position specially set for him. In the dog fighting ring, Gaozong and Wuhou did not come in person, and now Li Hong is the biggest. Li Hong's position is naturally in the best position in the dog ring, and on either side of him is Li Xian and Li Zhe's position.

The dog ring is set up on a platform in the center, which is surrounded by an iron fence. There were already more than a dozen dogs waiting silently near the iron fence for the game.

As soon as Li Hong rang, the bell of the game rang, and everyone returned to their positions.

At this time, Li Hong saw clearly the people who came to watch the dog fighting competition today and the people who participated in the competition, in addition to the three brothers in the clan, there were also the grandson of Li Zhen, the king of Yue, the concubine of Li Yuanjia, the king of Han, the second son of Li Lingkui, the king of Lu, the eldest grandson of Li Yuanliang, the king of Huo, the third son of Li Ai, the king of Fanyang, and the eldest son of Li Xu, the king of Jiangdu. If you don't understand, you won't have any doubts when you see them, but Li Hong knows the inside story, and he knows very well that the fathers of these people are the vassal kings of the Li Tang clan who once rebelled against Empress Wu. It's no surprise that they're here now, and their parents may have formed an alliance long ago.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that there is a reason for Li Xian, and it is impossible to say that Li Xian prompted them to form an alliance.

In addition to the children of the clan, there are also many heirs of the founding princes, and there are many children of the twenty-four heroes of the Lingyan Pavilion. And Li Hong also saw Wei Chi Xunyan, Qin Zhan, Cheng Dazhi and Xue Yan in this group of people, and the four of them did not run to Li Hong to give salutes in order to avoid suspicion, but the four of them brought enough to participate in the competition, and the purpose was naturally to support Li Hong.

The rules of dog fighting are very simple, divide the participating dogs into two groups, and then divide the winning dogs into two groups after the winner is divided, until the last two duels are the main one.

This rule may be too cruel, after all, it is very difficult for a dog to win one game, and it is even more difficult to win several games in a row.

However, Li Hong's dog fighting competition wants this effect, the scene is not tragic, and it is not difficult to win the game, how can he achieve his purpose of holding a dog fighting competition?

Just as Li Hong was thinking like this, Yan Zhuang stepped forward and asked him, "Your Royal Highness the Prince, can the dog fighting competition start?" ”

"Let's get started!" Li Hong said lightly.

Yan Zhuang received the order, walked to the center of the dog fighting ring, and said loudly, "The dog fighting competition starts now, and the dog fighters of the participating dogs will first appear and draw their dogs' opponents in the field. ”

As soon as his words fell, the dog fighters of each dog all walked up to Yan Zhuang and took out a note from a jar.

The slip of paper is written with numbers in red and black, and if two of the same numbers match on the slip of paper drawn by the dog fighter, they are in a group.

Because of the on-site extraction, there will be no suspicion of being manipulated, not to mention the dog fighting competition held by Li Hong, who dares to operate it inside, and in front of Li Hong and the princes, the three prime ministers, and the sons and daughters of the founding countries, isn't this looking for death?

Soon the results of the draw came out.

It is very strange that Li Xian's dog is against Li Zhe's dog, Xue Yan's dog is against Cheng Dazhi's dog, Wei Chi Xunyan and Qin Zhan's dog is against the dog of Li Tang's family, and Li Hong's dog has a bye... Seeing this result, Li Zhe was envious, but if there is a bye, it means that the dog will have one less fight, so that the dog can get more rest, which is a big advantage!

Li Xian's face was very calm when he saw this result, and he was very calm. But only Li Hong saw that when Li Xian learned of this result, a trace of fierceness flashed in his eyes that could not be detected by outsiders, and at the same time, his fists were clenched tightly.

Li Hong is very clear that this shows that Li Xian attaches great importance to winning or losing this dog fighting competition. Also through this series of observations, Li Hong determined one thing, that is, Li Xian likes to compare with him very much, always wants to perform better than him, and always wants to press him.

Looking at it this way, it is certain that Li Xian's assumption that he is competing for the position of the crown prince is true.

Thinking of this, a cold light flashed in Li Hong's eyes.

He has never been willing to fight between his brothers, fight for something with his brothers, but the premise is that others don't rob him of his things, and now that Li Xian is sure to rob him of the crown prince, he doesn't want to endure it anymore, he wants to teach Li Xian a lesson, he wants Li Xian to know what it means to be incompetent...

He wants to tell Li Xian that Li Xian should not worry about his things...