The vassal kings who entered Beijing to congratulate the Empress Dowager Qin on her birthday marched towards the capital from different directions.

After walking for more than half a month, several other vassal kings arrived at the gate of the capital one after another, leaving only Shen Che, the king of Yi, and Shen Xun, the king of Jing, who were a little farther away, had not yet come.

The other five vassal kings did not rush into the city, but chose to settle outside the city, waiting for Shen Che and Shen Xun to arrive before entering together.

And their actions have already been reported to the Empress Dowager Qin by the people who are secretly monitoring.

On July 18, King Jing Shen Xun arrived in the capital, and on July 20, King Yi Shen Che arrived last.

Since then, these seven people who have never gathered so together since the death of the first emperor gathered at the gate of the capital of Daning, together in the capital, to meet the queen mother and the emperor, and to congratulate the queen mother on her birthday.

Of course, the person who was ordered to come to receive the Seven Kings was Xuanyang Hou Rongyan, the concubine of Princess Qin Zhen'er of Ningyuan, the father of the queen mother, and the prince of the dynasty.

Counting up, he should be a member of the Qin family, and he can also be regarded as the confidant of the Empress Dowager Qin.

"The seven highnesses came from afar, and Weichen came to greet them on the order of the Queen Mother. If there is any neglect, please forgive the seven highnesses. Rong Yan bowed his hand, bowed slightly, and was thoughtful.

Rong Yan has always looked like a Confucian crown with a thin belt, which is very different from the arrogant and domineering Qin family in everyone's impression, so even if these Shen clan relatives are dissatisfied with the Empress Dowager Qin and the Qin family, they are not much embarrassed by Rong Yan.

"Master Hou doesn't have to be polite, I rarely come to the capital, if there is any rudeness, I have to ask Lord Hou to take care of it. "Hao King Shen Yan is the eldest brother of the first emperor, and he has the highest rank among the seven kings, and no one has any objection to him speaking on behalf of the seven kings.

"King Hao is polite. Rong Yan returned the salute, then turned sideways slightly, stretched out his hand and made a "please" gesture, and welcomed the seven feudal kings into the city.

The Seven Kings did not have their own mansion in the capital, because after going to the fief for many years, the mansion in the capital had long been ordered by the Empress Dowager Qin to be taken back and used for other purposes. Therefore, Rong Yan was ordered by the Empress Dowager Qin to bring the Seven Kings to the royal palace in the capital and settle down.

This royal palace has always been used to entertain envoys from neighboring countries, and the seven kings belong to the sub-feudal king of Ningguo, and are subordinate to the central dynasty.

On the surface, this is a kind of elevation of their status by the Empress Dowager Qin, and it is also because there is really no other place to settle them, but in fact, they have other plans.

Arrange them in the other courtyard at the same time, the kings of the seven kingdoms monitor each other and contain each other, no one dares to make any trouble, once there is any abnormal movement, the people in the other courtyard will know, then the people of the Empress Dowager Qin will also know.

The Seven Kings knew it, but on the face of it, they had to be grateful to the Empress Dowager Qin for her arrangement, saying that they were very satisfied.

According to the queen mother's explanation, Rong Yan arranged a residence for the seven kings, which belonged to different courtyards in other courtyards. And the courtyard for Shen Che was the worst and most humble in the entire courtyard.

Someone asked the reason, but Rong Yan only said that this was what the Queen Mother meant, and did not say much else.

"Seventh brother, this Empress Dowager Qin is too unkind, there are so many vacant courtyards in the other courtyards, all of them are stronger than your courtyard, why are you alone with such a dilapidated courtyard?"

Shen Chi's original intention should have been to provoke the relationship between the Empress Dowager Qin and Shen Che, to arouse Shen Che's anger, and let Shen Che and the Empress Dowager Qin work against each other. But unexpectedly, he used the wrong way to say something disrespectful to the Empress Dowager Qin.

For his fifth brother, Shen Che has never taken it seriously. Impulsive and brainless, reckless, with empty ambitions but no strategy. It's been like this since I was a child, and even after being a vassal king for so many years, it still hasn't changed.

Thinking of this, Shen Che smiled and waved his hand, and said, "The fifth brother thinks about me so much, which makes the younger brother feel very ashamed. However, the Queen Mother's old man's arrangement must have her own reasons. In terms of generation, among our seven vassal kings, except for Uncle Hao Wang and Uncle Cheng Wang, the others are all juniors, and in terms of age, I am the youngest among the juniors. Of course, I have to respect my elders and brothers, so there is nothing wrong with living in this courtyard. ”

"His Royal Highness King Yi can think like this, presumably the Queen Mother will be very happy. Hearing this, Rong Yan nodded involuntarily in his heart, and said, "Since Your Highnesses have no objections, then the lower officials will leave first." ”

After saying this, Rong Yan bowed to everyone again, then turned around and left, and went back to the palace to return to the Empress Dowager Qin.

The seven vassal kings in the courtyard glanced at each other, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then dispersed and returned to their own courtyards.

There was no expression on Shen Che's face, no one knew what he was thinking, and even Jiang Yi, who had been following him, felt that Shen Che's behavior was a little strange.

Entering the courtyard, Jiang Yi couldn't wait to ask: "Your Highness, how can you say such a thing in front of the Marquis of Xuanyang? Is it because the Empress Dowager Qin doesn't pay enough attention to you?"

"What do you know? This king does this, naturally there is his intention. Shen Che didn't plan to explain more, but just took out some silver tickets and silver from his sleeve and handed them to Jiang Yi's hands, "You take these silver, early tomorrow morning, I and a few other vassal kings will enter the palace to meet the Queen Mother, you let Yuanbao accompany you to the capital to go shopping, and then buy some things and come back." ”

"What to buy?" Jiang Yi was puzzled.

"If you see what we lack in this yard, you will buy it. Shen Che said coldly, "And you must buy the best and most expensive ones, and you must make it known to everyone." ”

Jiang Yi wanted to ask why, but she looked at Shen Che's already cold face, but she couldn't say anything when the words came to her mouth.

Shen Che glanced at Jiang Yi with some annoyance, turned around and walked to the room to rest, he was indeed a little tired after driving for so long, he needed to rest well and be fully prepared to deal with the upcoming confrontation.

At this moment, Shen Che began to miss Lu Yingquan and Yun Yao like never before. He believed that if it was Lu Yingquan who was standing by his side today, he would definitely not spend so much time explaining what he was going to do. Because Yun Yao can always see his purpose at a glance, and Lu Yingquan will always use his own way to help him do what he wants to do.

Saying those words in front of Rong Yan was to express his willingness to surrender to the Empress Dowager Qin. What he meant was that as long as it was the Queen Mother's orders, he would live in even the most broken courtyard, and he would have no objections at all.

And let Jiang Yi go to buy things in order to tell the Empress Dowager Qin that he, Shen Che, was used to living a pampered life in Yiguo, and although he lived in such a dilapidated courtyard, he was not used to it, and he did not dare to disobey the Empress Dowager's wishes, so he could only pay out of his own pocket to subsidize it and make his life more comfortable.

In this way, he not only expressed his loyalty to the Empress Dowager, but also created a false impression for the Empress Dowager Qin that he was undisciplined and lascivious all year round, so that the Empress Dowager Qin relaxed her vigilance against him.

However, with such a mind, how can a person like Jiang Yi who can only play a little trick understand?

Anyway, when he was in Yiguo, he also used his idleness as a way to use his amulet as his talisman, including the meticulous works that the Empress Dowager Qin placed in the Yiwang Palace, and he couldn't see his flaws. And all the sources of the Empress Dowager Qin are known from Xi Zuo, and they have never seen it with their own eyes, so Shen Che's trick can be regarded as clever, which can lower the vigilance of the Empress Dowager Qin.

Sure enough, in the Jianzhang Palace at this time, when the Queen Mother listened to Rong Yan's reply, she also had some basic judgments about Shen Che's personality in her heart.

"Did King Yi really say that? It seems that he really has the heart of the mourning family. The Queen Mother sighed with a smile and said to Rong Yan, "Okay, anyway, the affairs of the seven vassal kings will be handed over to you, tomorrow the mourning family will summon them in Jianzhang Palace, and before the emperor comes back, you have to take care of them." ”

"Wechen obeyed. Rong Yan still had that expression that was neither salty nor light, and he accepted it calmly, and then retreated.

After Rong Yan left, the smile on the Queen Mother's face disappeared and turned into a sneer. This sudden change made Aunt Jinxiu feel a little surprised before she had time to adapt.

"Queen Mother, but what do you think is wrong with His Royal Highness King Yi?" Jinxiu thought for a while and asked.

"Of course not. The Queen Mother said, "That King Rui, there is nothing to be afraid of, he speaks without brains, and dares to offend the mourning family so blatantly, which shows that he is a person with no brains." On the contrary, it is Shen Che, what kind of person his mother is, I know very well in my heart. The more low-key he is and the more submissive he is, the more calculations he has in his heart. ”

"The Queen Mother is wise, and she can't hide anything from your eyes. Jinxiu bowed down and said, "However, His Royal Highness King Yi has never made any mistakes in the past ten years, and our fine work in King Yi Palace has not spread any valuable news, could it be that you think too much?"

"What you say is not impossible. However, it remains to be seen whether Shen Che will sincerely surrender or taste his courage on his back. The Queen Mother said, "All in all, those people in the other courtyard have to be watched by the mourning family one by one, and the mourning family doesn't want anything uncontrollable to happen during this time." ”

"The slave obeys. Jinxiu nodded in agreement, and secretly sighed that the Queen Mother was too suspicious and cautious, no matter whether King Yi really surrendered or pretended, it is likely that this time when he enters Beijing, he is a real sheep into the tiger's mouth.

On July 21, the Empress Dowager Qin summoned the vassal king in Jianzhang Palace and held a banquet at the Fenglai Water Pavilion. During the banquet, the monarchs and ministers enjoyed themselves, which can be regarded as a joy. Shen Ze's absence just gave the Empress Dowager Qin a chance, and such a scene made her feel that she was the empress who controlled the world, not just a queen mother.

At the same time, Gu Qingming and Yun Yao and the other four arrived at the capital of Haoguo after a long journey of more than half a month. And after staying in the inn, he received a letter from afar, which was sent by Shen Che.