"Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, the fourth brother has grown up." The prince walked out of the Xifu Palace with a heavy heart, and saw the chamberlain following behind him, for no reason, he waved it back to the distance with his sleeves, and walked alone on the lonely palace road, thinking with mixed feelings, "I remember that when he was born, he was only a little big, and he was held in his hands by his father, looking at the little soft - at that time, the emperor's grandmother and father both said that it was Lone's brother-in-law, and he should treat Gu well in the future." ”

He is a whole round older than King Zhao, and when King Zhao landed, he had been the prince for seven or eight years, and he was a half-grown teenager, and he was about to get married.

Speaking of which, his father, Emperor Xianjia, acted in most cases very much in line with the requirements of Ming Jun: for example, he has always spared no effort in the cultivation of his eldest son, but he does not have much love for Concubine Cui.

Among the three palaces and six courts, the emperor always respects the original wife Empress Su, so the news that the middle palace is happy with the son-in-law came out, and the former harem was not without discussion - the prince at that time was not very clear about the birth of this younger brother and what it meant to him, and he didn't have time to savor this, and Emperor Xianjia expressed his attitude before and after, hoping that the prince would take good care of his young brother in the future, and the discussion quickly subsided.

The emperor's decisiveness made the prince not have the slightest sense of crisis at all, so that about the birth of King Zhao, the prince only remembered one thing in his heart: he should be better to King Zhao than to King Wei, King Shu, and even his younger brother King Liang, because this is the preferential treatment that the son should have, and the point is that it means his respect for his mother-in-law and etiquette - related to his future evaluation in the history books.

But whether it is preferential treatment or respect, first of all, he is the prince and the future master of Darui.

So he never thought that one day he would prostrate at the feet of King Zhao, begging this younger brother to give his wife and children a way to live.

This kind of psychological gap can't be experienced without the head - after all, King Zhao is not only his younger brother, but it can be said that he grew up!

The prince is not narrow-minded or vicious, but every time he thinks of this, he still feels that his mood is chaotic and indescribable.

He knew that what Concubine Cui said was right, the grievances between Concubine Cui and the princess of the acting country could not be eliminated, his little aunt was narrow-minded and ruthless, and it was impossible for him to read any aunt and nephew affection, if he could not keep the position of the prince, it would be better for King Zhao to succeed to the throne than King Wei to ascend the throne.

But when he thought about it, he thought that if he kept this position, the prince couldn't help but smile to himself, "It seems that Lone is not really disheartened!" ”

In the past two days, he has always thought that he has accepted his fate, but today Concubine Cui proposed to let him support King Zhao, and he realized how unwilling he was in his heart!

He was unwilling to bow his head to King Zhao, not only King Zhao, but any younger brother, including his younger brother King Zhao, he didn't want to bow down to his subordinates - nearly twenty years of teaching by the prince, even if he only learned the skin of Emperor Xianjia, his condescending mentality has been deeply rooted in the bone marrow.

It is easy to go from thrift to luxury, and it is difficult to go from luxury to thrift.

The courage and price required to fall into the dust is not something that everyone can afford.

Even in the name of father's kindness and filial piety, even if he puts the bargaining chips on the future of his wife and children, he is unwilling!

"At least my father hasn't said anything yet." The prince stood still, his hand in his sleeve clenched and loosened, and then clenched again, and after a few times, he thought to himself and disgusted, "Gu is only grounded in disguise now...... The mother's proposal is too eager, let's talk about it slowly! ”

He was really disgusted with being under the wing of Emperor Xianjia again and again, and after being helpless again and again, he hoped for Emperor Xianjia's move. After all, he is no longer a child, and the preference from his father made him feel so at ease when he was a child, and at this moment it seems how incompetent he is.

But the truth is that at the moment he does not see any hope except for counting on Emperor Xianjia.

It is true that Gu Shao has brought down a lot of people from the second king of Wei and Zhao during this time, and in just three days, there are as many as a dozen officials who have come forward to impeach and fall from power - but these two people are powerless in the Jianling bloody case, as long as this bloody case has been detained on the head of the East Palace, the ministers can justifiably ask for the abolition of the prince.

What's more, there is the queen mother behind the scenes!

"I don't know when my father was disappointed in Lone? Or has he been disappointed? When the prince thought of this, he suddenly saw the bushes not far away swaying, and at first he only said that there were some birds among them, and he glanced at them carelessly, and was about to leave, but the next moment, a person came out of the bushes!

This person's temples are half scattered, there is a distinct fingerprint on one cheek, and the palace clothes on her body are also a little messy - when she came out, she obviously thought that there was no one outside, and when she saw the prince, she was so shocked that she almost rushed back into the bushes, and when the prince called out in a flat tone, "Nuan Mother", Nuan Mei showed an obviously relieved expression, and said timidly: "His Royal Highness the Prince!" ”

When the prince saw her embarrassed appearance, he suddenly thought of the scene where she was bullied by Fu Chongrong last time, and knew that this time it was estimated that it would fall into the hands of a jealous palace concubine, but he was not easy to ask about this kind of thing, so he only nodded and planned to leave.

After all, although Nuan Meiren is nominally his mother-in-law, she is younger than him, and she is born with a country and a city, if people see the two of them together, they will inevitably gossip - he is now in a crumbling position, how can he not be careful?

It's just that the prince walked out not far away, but he happened to meet Fu Chongrong.

She led three or five waiters, folded a stick of cinnamon in her hand, sniffed lightly as she walked, and when she saw the prince, she stopped with a smile and said, "Your Highness has a lot of opportunities, do you have time to come to the palace today?" ”

"Concubine Fu!" The prince heard the sarcasm in her tone - now who in the harem doesn't know that the prince has been asked by the ministers to think about it behind closed doors? But she just mentioned what the day is all about, and the meaning of ridicule is overflowing.

However, even if the prince didn't like this, he didn't bother to deal with a female streamer, and only made a family salute coldly when he heard the words, and said, "The mother concubine is sick, and she came to visit the palace alone, so she quit the Xifu Palace, worried about the illness of the mother, so she went alone." ”

"Yo! Sister Cui is sick? Fu Chongrong let out a fuss and snorted, his eyes rolled, and he didn't know what he thought, Gege laughed, and said, "Then the palace is going to see her later-by the way, His Royal Highness just came over there, can you see a warm beauty?" Today, the palace told her that she wanted to go to the imperial garden to visit the lake, and now that she plans to visit Sister Cui, of course she has to call her! ”

She put the cinnamon to her lips and smiled a little charmingly, "Presumably the warm beauty will not refuse the proposal of this palace, heh!" ”

The prince said calmly: "I disappointed Concubine Fu, and I didn't see anyone alone." ”

In fact, he said this not only to help the warm beauty, but also to guard against Fu Chongrong - after all, Fu Chongrong's filling was what the Queen Mother asked her for the queen, and this can be said to be the Queen Mother who has crossed the Ming Road. Now that the queen mother is thinking about Yi Chu in order to protect the princess, how can Fu Chongrong have good intentions towards him, the crown prince?

You must know that he saw the warm beauty just now, maybe he will beat the snake with the stick, and go out and talk nonsense about what he has to do with the warm beauty?

So after denying it, the prince didn't say much, dusted off his clothes and retired-Fu Chongrong dared to rely on the identity of his concubine and the backer of the queen mother, and said a few sour words to him, but there was no reason to stop him from leaving, seeing this, he pursed the corners of his mouth and said: "Your Highness, go slowly!" ”

In the end, I chose another direction to find a warm beauty.

As for whether she can find someone over there, the prince will naturally not be in the mood to care.

He returned to the East Palace, and when he entered the door, he heard that Jian Xubai had been here for a while, and he knew that there was probably something, so he hurriedly hurried to the study: "Ah Xu, why are you here now?" ”

"Your Highness." Jian Xubai got up and saluted, and after being waved by the prince, he waited for the prince to sit down first, and then sat down with his robe, and said with a solemn expression, "I just went to Mingren Palace to ask to see the emperor's grandmother, although it still didn't work out, but I saw a little waiter in Xuanming Palace entering in a panic, as if there was something important to say!" ”

He is the one who voted for the prince a long time ago, and now the prince is in a critical situation, and it is impossible for him to sit idly by. So during this time, I have been trying to see the Queen Mother and intercede for the prince - the problem is that although he was raised by the Queen Mother herself and is the most favored among the Queen Mother's grandchildren, but like the Prince, in the end, people who are separated by a generation, usually love each other, at the critical moment, after all, they are not as good as the acting princess born by the Queen Mother!

So to this day, the Queen Mother has also found various reasons to refuse him outside the Mingren Palace.

It's just that if you run too many times, there will be unexpected gains occasionally, such as what you just saw.

Hearing this, the prince's face changed slightly, and he said, "The little chamberlain of Xuanming Palace?!" Are you sure?! ”

"At the beginning of the year, when the imperial uncle only began to recuperate, I went to the palace with Cousin Xu to serve for one night." Jian Xubai nodded affirmatively, and said, "The tea I used with Cousin Xu that night was served by the little waiter, and I went to see the imperial uncle a few times later, and I met a few times, but it was the righteous son of Feng Mulin, the henchman of the imperial uncle, who was in charge of the tea in the Xuanming Palace, and occasionally helped run errands." ”

"Feng Mulin is an old man who serves his father, he is also a little decent in front of the emperor's grandmother, and he can be accepted as a righteous son by him, this little waiter always has something extraordinary." The crown prince pondered for a moment, and seemed to say to himself, "He actually ran to Mingren Palace in a panic, could it be that he ...... Father's illness?! ”

There are strict rules in the palace, even if it is an ordinary palace person, the scene must be dignified and dignified, not to mention that the emperor is waiting in front of him? That little chamberlain should be more clever than ordinary palace people, but he was so panicked that it was revealed on the surface, if there was no calculation, it must have been a big incident!

And Xuanming Palace is currently in the palace, apart from Emperor Xianjia's body, what other major events can there be?!

Thinking of this, the crown prince subconsciously wanted to go to Xuanming Palace to see what was going on - only to stand up, but he remembered that the queen mother clearly forbade him to go to Emperor Xianjia!

"Your Highness doesn't have to worry!" Jian Xubai saw his embarrassment and anxiety, and hurriedly comforted, "Before I came to the East Palace, I sent someone to say hello to my mother, presumably this mother is already on her way to the palace." ”

He also said, "Although my mother won't help us bring anything to the imperial uncle, but after she looked back, she went to ask the imperial uncle if he was safe, and I thought that my mother would not refuse to reveal it." After all, as younger generations, it is human nature to care about the well-being of our elders. ”

The crown prince has always respected and trusted the eldest princess of the Jin Kingdom, but Emperor Xianjia is his own father in the end, and his father is suspected of a change in his condition, and it may be a bad change, but he, the eldest son, can't even look at it or say it, and even have to go through the only aunt who is good to talk about the news, the prince himself doesn't know what it will be like in his heart, and he was silent for a while before saying: "I just went to see my mother." ”

He paused and replied, "My mother persuaded me, if it can't be done, it's better to support King Zhao, what do you think?" ”