Emperor Jing's 40th birthday has been in the works for more than a year, and the grand celebration will last more than 10 days.

The activities cover a wide range, from the emperor's family, ministers, foreign ministers, gentry, people, etc., to foreign envoys have special activities, the location and layout of the venue is different according to the person who comes, there is a procedure agreed by the emperor in advance, all the guests meet the emperor and present the gift list, the emperor rewards are also arranged in advance, and the special master of ceremonies and protocols complete the activities. According to the emperor's attitude towards the guests, the guests were arranged to eat in different places, and the emperor could temporarily give wine or meals, which was also prepared in advance.

On his birthday, Emperor Jing accepted the congratulations and contributions of the princes and officials in the main hall of Weiyang Palace. The civil and military officials from all over the country who could not rush to the capital to face the saint also set up incense cases and saluted in the direction of the capital to congratulate the emperor on his long life.

Everything went on according to the etiquette, but the courtiers still felt a different atmosphere.

First of all, Liu Wu, the king of Liang, did not enter Beijing, it is said that as the younger brother of Emperor Jing's mother, the fief of Liang Guoli is only a few miles away, but King Liang did not come to congratulate him on his birthday this time, which is really a bit weird. Secondly, the emperor's princes did not participate in the subsequent state banquet held in Weiyang Palace, but went to the Queen Mother's Changle Palace to hold a family banquet alone.

In short, the only blood relative that the courtiers saw Emperor Jing at the state banquet was the current crown prince Liu Che. Looking at the emperor and the crown prince who were sitting on the hall, smiling, and drinking with the ministers, these old and refined court ministers still didn't know what the emperor meant, and it was clear that it was to warn some restless people that the crown prince Liu Che was the prince of the Han Empire, and he would definitely be the supreme emperor of the empire in the future, and there was no other possibility!

Liu Che looked at Captain Dou Ying on the side seat with interest, and admired his ability to be happy and angry. Dou Ying hid his emotions very well, but at the beginning, a trace of gloom flashed involuntarily in his eyes, but then he covered it up well. But he didn't know that Liu Che had already seen his reaction, and he sneered in his heart.

After three rounds of drinking, seeing that the goal of swearing sovereignty has been achieved, Liu Che didn't need to stay longer, and whispered to the emperor's father to retire. Emperor Jing sighed and said faintly: "Go, remember to keep some face, after all, they are all my sons and your brothers." ”

Liu Che smiled and nodded in agreement, signaling Emperor Jing to rest assured, and then toasted a glass of wine to the ministers before leaving.

In the Renxiao Hall of Changle Palace, the giant dining table in the banquet hall was full of delicious food, but the atmosphere was a little weird. Although it was nominally a family banquet, there was not a single female dependent, and even the four youngest princes of Emperor Jing, who was born to Mrs. Wang's wife Wang Erjiao (Liu Che's aunt), did not attend.

Looking at the queen mother who didn't say a word on the main seat and ate the dishes with relish, the princes couldn't help but feel apprehensive. It was Liu Pengzu, the eighth king of Zhao, who tasted the dishes without any scruples, and raised his head from time to time to compliment the queen mother, and finally made the queen mother smile and beckoned the princes to eat.

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly improved a lot, and the princes began to enjoy these delicacies that they had never seen before, and as for what it tasted like in their mouths, only everyone knew in their hearts.

The wine was hot, and the Queen Mother raised her head and praised: "Fei'er, the silk embroidery you sent last year is very gorgeous, and it is really difficult for you to be filial." ”

Liu Fei, the king of Jiangdu, hurriedly put down the ivory basket in his hand and replied: "As long as the imperial grandmother is satisfied, the grandson will let the craftsman embroider more next time and present it to the imperial grandmother." ”

The Queen Mother smiled and waved her hand, and said: "It's enough to have your filial piety, don't work the people and hurt the money, and it's not easy for the people." ”

Since the conversation started, the queen mother chatted with the princes about the situation of their respective feudal countries, and they were happy for a while. The Queen Mother was in high spirits, and asked with a smile: "Recently, a lot of novelties have been added to the capital, and you have been back in Beijing for more than a month, so you should be enjoying it, right?" ”

All the princes agreed one after another, and they all talked about the beautiful life in the near future, only Liu De, the king of Hejian, frowned and said nothing, with a faint look on his face.

Of course, this can't escape the eyes of the Queen Mother, her face sank, and she said quietly: "De'er, but what's the difficulty?" ”

The whole hall was already there, and all the princes looked at Liu De in surprise. Liu Rong, who was opposite Liu De, was even more desperate to look at him, but he underestimated the stubbornness of his younger brother and his stupidity. I saw Liu De's face flushed, and he suddenly stood up, bowed to the Queen Mother, and said loudly: "Ask the emperor's grandmother to be the master of her grandson!" Lieutenant Zhidu sent troops to surround the mansion of the eldest brother, me and the third brother half a month ago, and escorted all the subordinates in the mansion to the lieutenant's mansion. ”

When the Queen Mother heard this, she was not surprised at all, waved her hand and motioned for Liu De to sit down, and then said lightly: "The mourning family knows." ”

When the princes saw the queen mother's behavior, their hearts couldn't help but tighten, and they affirmed the original guess a little more, and then continued to eat and drink by themselves. Liu De opened his mouth to say something more, but in the end he didn't say anything, sat down weakly, just clenched his fists, trying his best to control the anger and fear in his heart.

Fortunately, the terrifying silent atmosphere in the banquet hall did not exist for long, and the crown prince Liu Che slowly walked into the hall.

"The grandson has seen the imperial grandmother."

"Che'er, you're here, hurry up and sit here."

The Queen Mother was very happy to see Liu Che, and beckoned him to sit with her on the golden couch of the main seat.

Liu Che was not polite, walked straight to the Queen Mother's side, and sat down steadily. When the princes saw this, their hearts tightened again, what is the situation, this is on an equal footing with the Queen Mother? But Liu Che is only nine years old, although he is taller, he is still a child, but he can't grasp the handle in this matter.

Liu Che didn't care about everyone's eyes at all, just ate the dishes served by the maids by himself, and chatted with the Queen Mother without a match. After three rounds of drinking, the Queen Mother got up slightly and said, "The mourning family is a little tired, go and rest for a while." You eat first, and you are not allowed to leave, and the mourning family will come back to have a good chat with you when the time comes. ”

After speaking, she didn't care about the reaction of the princes, and didn't wait for them to get up to send them off, and went straight to the inner hall with the support of her personal maid.

Liu Che sat alone on the throne at this time, looking at the princes on the table with great interest, with a warm smile on his face.

Seeing that the princes didn't seem to have the meaning to speak, Liu De, who had a hot surname, couldn't bear it anymore and said loudly: "Liu Che! Since you have worked so hard to keep us, if you have something to say, just say it! ”

"Presumptuous! How can you call the prince by his name? Don't hurry up and make amends to the prince! Liu Rong was shocked when he heard this, and before Liu Che could speak, he stood up abruptly and scolded loudly.

"The eldest brother doesn't have to be like this, the second brother thinks that he has some misunderstanding with Lone, and he is just in a hurry, Lone will not blame him." Liu Che smiled slightly, waved his hand and motioned for Liu Rong to sit down, ignoring Liu De on the side at all.

"That's it, the prince is a dragon and a phoenix among people, how can he be as knowledgeable as a reckless man." Liu Pengzu echoed continuously.

Liu De stared at Liu Pengzu viciously and shouted: "Old eight, who do you say is a reckless man!" ”

"Whoever says yes is whoever he says."

"You ......"

"What? Second brother still wants to beat me? Liu Pengzu pursed his lips with a look of disdain.

Liu Che looked at Liu Pengzu teasing Liu De with a smile, and didn't say anything to stop it, this old man is really a wonderful person, and he offended Liu De without any scruples, and it was clearly a vote. However, Liu Rong once again spoke out to stop Liu De, who was on the verge of breaking out, and this forbearance made Liu Che's mind to get rid of him a little firmer.

Knocking on the table, Liu Che signaled everyone to be quiet, and when he saw that Liu De was about to speak, he coughed, and there was a choking sound of a sword coming out of the sheath in the hall. The princes turned their heads in shock, and found that there were several guards standing behind them, and the horizontal swords in their hands were shining coldly.

"Prince, why is that?" Liu Rong was trembling and asked, he knew that what Liu Che wanted to kill most was himself.

"It's nothing, I just want the brothers to listen to the lonely king quietly."

Liu Che raised his eyebrows and said casually, although his voice was not loud, it echoed for a long time in the dead hall like Hong Zhong Dalu.

Seeing that all the princes were honestly sitting on their chairs and no longer talking, Liu Che waved his hand and motioned for the guards to return the knife to the sheath, and said with a joke on his face: "Since the brothers have nothing to say, let the lonely king put forward some ideas." ”

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