The promenade of the palace square is lit up everywhere.

Lanterns hang under the corridor and eaves, and the red pillars are reflected in a line. There are low stone lampposts carved into the shape of pavilions in the square ahead, and they are also lit with lamps, like stars all over the ground, and from time to time there are palace maids and guards carrying palace lamps walking by, and their steps are very light.

This is the palace in the eyes of a cat.

She looked back at the threshold—

The people behind him were almost full, they all put down their chopsticks, stopped touching their wine glasses, and sat and talked.

"I'm still troubled."

The emperor on the throne leaned forward again, squinting slightly at the Taoist, with a gesture of asking for advice.

"Your Majesty has nothing to worry about?" The Taoist also turned his head to look at him and paused, "Could it be that I can answer for Your Majesty?" ”

"I've been bothered by this for a long time."

"The matter of the establishment of the reserve."

"Exactly." The emperor was not surprised that he could guess, but sighed, "It's a pity that there are countless people around me, but in this matter, they are just a group of insiders, each with their own positions, arguing non-stop, as soon as they open their mouths, they are full of their own careful thoughts, only Mr. is a real outsider, so I want to ask Mr. to see what Mr. thinks." ”

"Talk about the banquet, don't talk about asking for advice."

"Okay." The emperor clapped his hands, "The matter of the establishment of the prince, the dispute in the court, even the pawns of the Changjing dealer are known, Mr. must have heard about it a long time ago, right?" ”

"I've heard of it."

Song You said truthfully as always.

"What did those small businessmen and officials discuss in the market? Does it mean that it should be established but not established, but I prefer the concubine and the second child, so I dragged it for a long time? ”

"Almost."

Song You is not shy about it at all.

"Haha......"

The old emperor leaned back slightly and laughed twice.

"Your Majesty has His Majesty's own considerations, just like those people in the court, no matter which side they stand on, they are not their own considerations." The prime minister sitting opposite Song You said, "It's a pity, Fuyang Zhenren, who helped Taizu open the dynasty, once said that Taizu is the dragon and phoenix among the people, and the emperors of the dynasty throughout the ages are unsurpassed, and Da Yan will also become the most powerful dynasty in history, so whether it is Da Yan or Taizu bloodline, they will suffer from heavenly jealousy and continue to be difficult, sure enough, for more than 200 years, the royal descendants have not been prosperous. ”

"Who is the dragon and phoenix and suffers from the jealousy of heaven? It means that my royal blood is not pure, so I have always had few heirs, and it is very easy to die. ”

The emperor said casually.

When he reached his position, at this age, with such merits, he was naturally fearless, just like Fuyang Zhenren and Song You, he dared to say anything, but when the prime minister heard it, he was frightened.

"I see."

Song You couldn't help but nodded.

The Da Yan royal family does have few descendants, easy to die, and inheritance is very problematic, didn't the first emperor give birth to three sons, all of them died, and the throne fell into the hands of the emperor in front of him? In the past, there were two or three times when the emperor had no heirs and could only pass on, including the previous rebellion of Princess Changping, and even the previous empress, which was fundamentally caused by this reason.

The so-called impurity of the blood should be some genetic disease.

"It's true that I really like the concubine, and I do like the second one more than the third one. But I also feel that it is enough to have a Martial Emperor of I, and it is not necessarily a good thing for Da Yan to fight for decades, and then another Martial Emperor. The emperor paused, "However, counting the ancestors of the past dynasties, all those who died in infancy and short-lived were all lying on their stomachs, although the second and third children have successfully come of age, I don't know what will happen in the future, but just look at the present, the second child is strong, brave and aggressive, and although the third child is not sick, he is also weak." The most important thing is that the second child already has an heir, and although the third child has already been married, there has been no movement until now. ”

"I see."

The second eldest in the emperor's mouth is the eldest prince as the folk say, but in fact, it should be the second prince.

The third is the little prince.

Because there was another one before, and he died.

Song You couldn't help but feel a little helpless, "Your Majesty, this is counting me as the ancestor that day." ”

"I'm also entangled, sometimes I really want to ignore it, and let them share the result." The emperor said casually, and frightened the prime minister and the chamberlain, and then said, "This is the case on the left and right, so it is better to listen to the opinion of the gentleman, I thought, the gentleman is a person from the outside, maybe he can think of places that I can't imagine." ”

"I don't know which prince is more beneficial to the people, and I don't know if the little prince will die short-lived in the future and what the heirs will be. I don't know how to use medical techniques and medical methods, although there are some small means, but since the Fuyang Patriarch and the Tiansuan Patriarch have no way to take the genetic diseases of the royal family, they can't solve it in the next place. Song You said truthfully, "It's just that sometimes, although there are disadvantages and advantages to the choice, the difference between the pros and cons may not be as good as a long delay." ”

"Oh? Is the gentleman trying to persuade me to make a decision as soon as possible? ”

"Today, if you talk about the ability to speculate and calculate, the national teacher will definitely be in the forefront, if you talk about strategy, Your Majesty is also first-class, if the national teacher and Your Majesty can't make this decision, it will be really difficult. Rather than be entangled and delayed for a long time, Your Majesty should make a decision as soon as possible. If you choose a better one, it is naturally good, even if God makes people choose the other side, there is more time to make up for it. Song You paused for a moment, "Especially recently, the court is unstable, the undercurrent is surging, I am most afraid of delay, and if it drags on, I am afraid that there will be changes and cause chaos, so hesitation is the worst way." ”

“……”

"Peace in the prosperous world is not easy to come by, it must be cherished, Your Majesty has been vigorous and resolute all his life, why is he indecisive at this time?"

“……”

The Emperor remained silent.

It seems that he is really difficult to decide.

It is also said that the two princes, just by the analysis of others, do not benefit because of who wins, and do not suffer because of who loses, and they can't see which choice is better, let alone him, the person in the middle of the chess game?

After a while, the Emperor spoke:

"These days, I have set up some questions for them to do, but everything related to the people's livelihood, the third child has done better, but if you need courage, the third child is not as good as the second child."

"What questions is Your Majesty setting?"

"The prime minister will talk to the gentleman."

The Emperor waved his hand and sat down on the spot, his eyes flickering, as if he was lost in thought.

The prime minister took the order and said to Song You:

"For example, a few days ago, because of the previous incident with the princess, there was some turmoil in the court, and there were rumors outside the palace, and it didn't matter if the people talked about it casually, but if it was deliberately made up, and some news was deliberately put to cause political turmoil, it would not work. Wu Desi found out that the rumors came from the ghost market outside the city, so His Majesty ordered the two princes to investigate, but ordered Wu Desi not to listen to the orders of the two princes, and wanted to see what the two princes could do. ”

The prime minister paused:

"The little prince racked his brains and begged people everywhere, but it had some effect, but after all, it was not as vigorous as the second prince."

"Oh?" Song You became curious, "How did the second prince do it?" ”

"The second prince slashed the captain of Wu Desi with a sword, a few words of reprimand, mentioned His Majesty, and quickly calmed the scene, Wu Desi did not dare to disobey, and he took people to the ghost market that night and arrested all the thieves." The prime minister couldn't help but praise when he said this, "It is quite the style of His Majesty back then." ”

“……”

Song You couldn't help but be stunned for a moment when he heard this.

Then he raised his eyes to look at the prime minister.

The emperor called the prime minister to talk about it, and Xu wanted to see the prime minister's tendency.

Song You thought at first that the prime minister saw his temperament, so he first told a thing that was unfavorable to the second prince, wanting to let himself know that the second prince was cruel and didn't take human life seriously, but after a closer look, he realized that the prime minister didn't think so much at all, he was just talking about the courage and decisiveness of the second prince, as for the captain who was ordered by the emperor not to respect the order and was cut down by the second prince, in this story, it is just a background board that is not worth caring about at all.

Song You turned his head again and looked at the emperor.

Naturally, the emperor thought the same way.

And I feel that it is justified and deserved.

"Mr. Song? Mr. Song? ”

"Huh?"

"Why doesn't the gentleman speak?"

"Nothing."

"Sir is a practitioner and has a benevolent heart, which is a great good. However, Mr. also knows that the Son of Heaven is the master of the world, and every move is related to the livelihood of the people in the world. The prime minister tactfully admonished, "The second prince is indeed young and vigorous, that captain is really a pity, this is also something we didn't expect, but everything has a lot of importance and dignity, compared to the people in the world, a school captain is just a captain...... What's more, the imperial court has already buried him generously and treated his family well, and in desperation, it can be regarded as compensation. ”

"Yes......"

Song You heard it.

It's probably the meaning of life.

But he is right, the emperor of this era does control the life and death of countless people, above the common people, in addition to having no divine power and no immortality, maybe some places are more like gods than gods.

If the wrong emperor is chosen, there may be more dead, so in the eyes of the prime minister and the emperor, it is really nothing for a captain of the Wude Division to die in such a way.

Different eras have different rules and concepts, Song You doesn't evaluate, and he doesn't argue about right and wrong, but before he went down the mountain, this is indeed one of the reasons why he doesn't like this world. Now that I heard about it on the spot, I didn't get angry on the spot, but I couldn't listen to the prime minister's words later.

"It's getting late, and I'm a little tired, so it's better to say goodbye to Your Majesty."

"Sir, this is leaving?"

"Your Majesty has prepared a song and dance for Mr., and there is a song and dance troupe from the Western Regions."

"I won't watch it."

"But where did I make Mr. unhappy?"

"I'm just tired."

"Then I won't stay long." The old emperor stood up and hesitated, "In a few days it will be my seventy-second birthday, I am going to feast on civil and military, and Mr. has free ......."

"Below is the Taoist, and the Taoist loves to be quiet."

"Okay." The emperor nodded, still not embarrassed, "Just ask when Mr. will leave Beijing again?" ”

"I will leave Beijing at the beginning of spring."

"Where is the gentleman going when he leaves Beijing this time?"

"Undecided for now."

"The next time I come back, I'm afraid it will be a few years away."

"yes."

"Sir, you may be able to see how much longevity I still have?"

"As far as I can see, if Your Majesty takes good care of your body, drinks less and works less, at least one year, and at most three years."

When the prime minister heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned.

In his impression, even if this kind of question is a national teacher, even if the emperor dares to ask, the national teacher will not dare to answer. Unexpectedly, this person not only answered, but also answered without hesitation.

Looking at His Majesty again, there was no anger, only a face full of regret.

"Then if I can see Mr. again next time, I'm afraid I have passed away, and I am a wisp of ghost."

“……”

Song You looked at him indifferently.

I suddenly had a feeling in my heart that the next time I saw him, he might really be dead, and he was already a ghost.

What about the emperor at that time?

The Taoist replied for a long time:

"yes."

Then he thanked him and said goodbye, and left the palace.

Her own cat had already run out, and she felt bored when she listened to the conversation, and she didn't know where she had gone.

(End of chapter)