"His Royal Highness the Prince, just received the report, the King of Hejian and the King of Jiaoxi arrived at the mansion of the King of Linjiang and talked secretly for several hours before leaving!"

Gongsun He put away his cynical posture in Pingyue, and bowed down with a serious face to report the information from Yulin's secret agents to Liu Che. Since half a month ago, Liu Che asked him to send the best people from Yulin to monitor the princes who entered Beijing, the strings in his heart were tight, and he was even ready to attack and kill the nine princes, just waiting for the prince to give an order.

Liu Che leaned on the wide and comfortable office chair, his eyes slightly closed, his lips were pursed, he did not speak, and the two fingers of his right hand rhythmically tapped the desktop in front of him. The whole study fell into a solemn silence, Gongsun He suddenly felt that his five senses had become extremely sharp, and every time the prince knocked on the table, it was like a heavy hammer, beating his heart again and again, and he was so uncomfortable that he almost wanted to spurt blood.

Within half a month, Liu Che's nine brothers arrived in the capital one after another. Liu Che did not rush to discuss his plans with them, but after each of them gave them a few special VIP cards, he never contacted them again. According to Yu Lin's report, they had all gone to the various industries of the Tian Business Group to see it, and they were all amazed by such a terrifying income, and it is estimated that most of them had guessed Liu Che's intentions.

Liu De, the king of Hejian, and Liu Yan, the king of Jiaoxi, are the siblings of Liu Rong, the king of Linjiang, the abolished prince, both born to Jia Ji, and are also the three eldest princes of Emperor Jing. Now that Jia Ji in the cold palace has been tortured to death by the queen Wang Huan, the hatred between these three people and Liu Che may not be dissolved. Although Emperor Jing in history was ruthless and forced Liu Rong to death, if Liu Che killed the three brothers at once, I am afraid that not only Emperor Jing and the Queen Mother would be angry, but the courtiers would also use this as an excuse to demand the abolition of such a violent prince.

Liu Che thought for a long time, and then said quietly: "Well, I know, let Yulin continue to investigate, don't be in a hurry, don't seek merit but no fault, don't startle the snake." ”

"No!" Gongsun He promised in a low voice, thought about it, and reported: "Today, Mrs. Cheng summoned King Lu, King Jiangdu and King Jiaodong into the palace......

"Oh?!" Liu Che opened his eyes suddenly, and confirmed to Li Fu, the personal attendant who had been standing beside him: "Yesterday, when the Lone King went to the Jiaofang Palace to ask for peace, did the queen mother say that she went to the North Palace to see Mrs. Cheng a few days ago?" ”

Li Fu bowed and said, "The queen mother did talk about it. ”

"Yes!" Liu Che waved his hand and signaled that Gongsun He could go, then closed his eyes again, leaned on the office chair and sighed in a low voice: "I hope they can listen......

In the Changning Hall of the North Palace, Mrs. Cheng looked at the three sons in front of her and sighed slightly.

The eldest son, Liu Yu, King Lu, suffers from stuttering, does not like to talk to people, and is addicted to dog walking and cockfighting, and does not do business;

The second son, Liu Fei, the king of Jiangdu, is talented, but he is arrogant and extravagant, and he is afraid that all kinds of utensils are not refined, and he is afraid that he is not extravagant in building palaces;

The youngest son, Liu Duan, the king of Jiaodong, is the most troublesome, because he was born with a disability and cannot get close to women, resulting in a ruthless and violent surname.

It can be said that if her three sons become emperors, they will each be models of mediocre soldiers, faint monarchs, and tyrants. Emperor Jing can see this clearly, the Queen Mother can see it clearly, the ministers can see it clearly, and Mrs. Cheng, a mother, can see it more clearly. Therefore, she never fought for the throne of the prince for them, but just hoped that they could be idle princes in peace and prosperity.

However, the trees want to be quiet and the wind does not stop. Miyagi is so big, a lot of news can't be hidden. Ever since she learned of the attack on the prince's spring hunt, Mrs. Cheng has had a faint feeling that the mountain rain is coming. A few days ago, the queen mother came to this small Changning Hall in person, although she didn't say much, but the meaning of forcing her to express her position was already obvious.

Mrs. Cheng shook her head, scattered the thoughts in her mind, waved her hand and retreated from all the subordinates in the hall, and then said quietly: "I came to you today for my mother, I want to ask you to promise to do one thing for my mother." ”

"Where did Mother say this? Don't say one thing, it's a thousand things, and the child will definitely answer. ”

The three princes were shocked when they heard this, and knelt down together, and Liu Fei quickly agreed. The Han Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety, and if people knew that their mother used the word "ask", the son would be scolded by everyone. Even Emperor Jing would never dare to disobey the Empress Dowager Dou.

Mrs. Cheng's eyes were full of relief, even if her son was not in every way, he was always extremely filial. She stepped forward, helped the three of them up, and said softly: "It is for your own good to be a mother, remember that no matter what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asks, you just have to agree, and you must not be embarrassed by it." ”

As soon as Mrs. Cheng spoke, she looked directly at her three sons and took in their reactions.

I saw that Liu Yu was shocked, Liu Fei nodded slightly expressionlessly, but Liu Duan had a gloomy and cruel expression.

Eh, Mrs. Cheng sighed deeply, and sure enough, it was no different from her guess, Liu Yu didn't have any opinions at all, and completely listened to the old lady; Liu Fei is very smart and knowledgeable about current affairs, as long as the prince comes up with enough money, he will cooperate; What worries her the most is her youngest son Liu Duan.

Mrs. Cheng asked with a sad face: "Duan'er, are you unwilling to agree to be a mother?" ”

Liu Duan's face changed, and he said quietly: "If Liu Che wants to take my surname......

"Presumptuous! There is a difference between respect and inferiority, how can you call the prince by his name! Mrs. Cheng interrupted him sharply and threatened, "If you refuse to agree, your mother will die in front of you today!" ”

After speaking, Mrs. Cheng was ruthless and slammed into the pillar in the hall, Liu Yu and Liu Fei on the side hurriedly stopped, Liu Yu was even more angry, raised his hand and pointed at Liu Duan and scolded: "Old ...... The third child, Ah ...... Mother is usually the most ...... The most ...... Hurt you, you ...... You...... You are not filial! ”

In a fit of rage, his stuttering became even more severe, and his face suddenly turned red.

Liu Duan was also frightened, and knelt on the ground with a plop, and said with a helpless and aggrieved face: "The child promised his mother, why should his mother be like this?" ”

Mrs. Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, motioned to Liu Yu and Liu Fei to let her go, slowly walked to her youngest son, touched his head with pity, and said softly: "Li Ji is dead, but Your Majesty and the Queen Mother are silent, this is a warning, and it is also the last chance Your Majesty gave us." ”

Mrs. Cheng has been with Emperor Jing for decades, so of course she understands his thoughts. Once the emperor is ruthless, he will not consider the so-called family affection at all. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in history killed all his concubines in order to pave the way for the crown prince before he died. This time, all the nine princes of the country have been recalled to the capital, and the intention is already obvious, that is, to pave the way for the crown prince Liu Che.

"How could my father be reluctant?" Liu Duan's face was full of incredulity, although he was gloomy, but after all, he was still young, and he couldn't fully understand what his mother meant.

Without waiting for Mrs. Cheng to answer, Liu Fei on the side sneered: "There is nothing to be reluctant to, I'm afraid that the eldest brother will die soon." ”

Everyone was shocked when they heard this, but they stopped talking, and the whole hall fell silent as if they were dead.

Half a day later, the three princes left the Changning Palace, each returned to the mansion in the capital, closed the door to thank guests, and no longer had contact with anyone. After Liu Che received Yulin's report, he breathed a long sigh of relief, smiled slightly and said to Zhang Qian behind him: "I can't give them more benefits." ”

The next day, Mrs. Jia of the Huicao Palace of the Beigong Palace, who heard the rumors, hurriedly took Liu Sheng, the king of Zhongshan, and Liu Pengzu, the king of Zhao, to the Jiaofang Hall of Weiyang Palace to greet the queen. Liu Pengzu is a sycophant with no ambitions, and his kind words made the queen Wang Wan is eyebrows fly, and praised him for being a sensible and filial child. And Liu Sheng, who is still young, is a gentleman who can only have fun, and he was fooled by some exquisite gadgets taken out by the queen so that he couldn't find the north.

Mrs. Jia's family has little power in the court, and the two sons are young and unsuccessful, so they have no thoughts about the position of the crown prince. Now that Mrs. Cheng has already expressed her position, she is still ignorant, so she is really looking for death. Only then did she hurry up, and the queen was happy to accept her surrender, and happily rewarded a lot of good things, and for a while she was a guest and host.

As for Liu Fa, the king of Changsha, he was in the mansion at this time, looking helplessly at the princess Chen Jie and a large pile of jewelry and perfume on the couch, and he slandered her for spending a lot of money in his heart. Liu Fa's mother, Tang Ji, was originally a little palace maid with an ordinary appearance, Liu Fa was just a product of Emperor Jing's drunkenness, and the two were usually not favored. When Liu Fa grew up, he was sealed to the damp and poor Changsha country. For Liu Fa, who has an annual income of no more than 1,000 gold, Chen Jie, who is from a famous family, spends money like flowing water, which really makes him dare to be angry and dare not speak, who called someone to have an uncle who ranks in Jiuqing.

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