History can only remember the winners, and the losers are just the embellishments on the road to success. While the Yan Wangfu was in full swing preparing for the opening of the ghost market, another frustrated vassal king seemed to have been forgotten by everyone.

King Zhao is the younger brother of the first emperor, known as a virtuous name, is the first emperor's extremely powerful arm, but this situation has changed since the new emperor ascended the throne, the first emperor divided the kings to defend the frontier of the empire, but the new emperor only wanted to take all the rights into his own hands. As the loyal team of the first emperor, his position was particularly awkward at this time, and after some weighing, King Zhao had no choice but to put away his claws and be a hedonistic prince in the fief with peace of mind. But even so, disaster came to the door.

King Zhao originally wanted to use the power of Liaodong to balance King Yan, so as to protect the foundation of this ghost city, but he never thought that the crossing of Liaodong Iron Cavalry turned out to be a blackmail with heavy thunder and small rains.

Even if there is no ghost market, it is enough to defeat two generations by relying on years of accumulation, but what is even more heart-wrenching is that the sister-in-law was intercepted and killed on the way back to the house to escort the treasures, and there are many masters around his children to protect him, and the only one who can do this is the formed army. In this way, King Yan, who has the right to command the army, is naturally the biggest suspect, and he has taken the foundation of people for nothing, which is already tearing his face, even if he sends troops to intercept and kill, it is just another hatred.

But for some reason, King Zhao always felt that something was not right, the hatred of killing his son was not shared, and he and King Yan were tied to a dead knot that could not be untied, which could be described as endless. But if the two sides really fight to the death, the real benefit is their nephew who sits on the dragon chair and overlooks the world.

After many years of ups and downs in the sea, King Zhao has cultivated a mind far beyond ordinary people, and he must explore the essence through the obstacles of phenomena. counted the gains and losses, lost the ghost market, and his favors in the army were exhausted, and even took the lives of a sister-in-law and many good hands, leaving only the family business accumulated over the years. Having lost the power to support himself, he has now become a fat pig, and everyone wants to bite a few pieces of meat from him.

King Zhao smiled bitterly, this is exactly in line with the mind of his nephew who owns the world, the so-called emperor's mind, isn't it that many forces are fighting openly and secretly, and the emperor mediates? If many forces in the world work together, the emperor will beat the drum in his heart, if you mutter one day, don't you want to change the emperor of me?

The situation is stronger than people, and the first thing now is not to avenge his son, but how to make his family continue.

"Someone, go and summon the eldest son, the second son, the ninth son, and the seventeenth son here. ”

Prince Zhao has many heirs, among which these four plus the dead three sons are the most outstanding. The eldest and the third are all sons-in-law, and the more than 20 sons in the back are all concubines.

Soon these five people gathered in the study, and the core team of Zhao Wangfu was here. Outside the study, it is guarded by King Zhao's henchmen.

"Father, I don't know why you have called your sons here, but you want to attack King Yan and avenge the third brother?" the eldest son took the lead in speaking, and among the brothers, he was also the most valued by King Zhao.

King Zhao's expression was solemn, and he said: "I want revenge, but I am not in a hurry, I summoned you here this time to discuss the separation of the family." ”

"Father, why do you want to divide the family, it is good to divide the family, it is just to separate the goods and goods, but after the separation, it is difficult to gather. When the family is divided, the heart is scattered. ”

"Bastard!" King Zhao slapped his eldest son in the face, "Now it's a critical time for the survival of the family, and I'm still thinking about some useless thoughts!"

The eldest son was silent, if the family is not separated, all the power of this family can be put into his own hands, and when the time comes, whether it is dependent on others to exist, or still like this to protect himself, the chips in his hands are far greater than after the family.

The other three sons were also taken aback by their father's sudden outburst, his father had always paid attention to appearance and posture, and he was also a well-known beautiful man in the royal family, and he didn't know how long it had been since he had seen his father so out of shape.

The second son hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Father is angry, and my brother is also for the family inheritance." At first hearing the father's words of separation, the child was also suddenly shocked, the child was dull, and hoped that the father could talk in detail. ”

King Zhao's face eased at this time, "On weekdays, I only care about being a prince of peace for my father, but I ignore your feelings, and now the situation is imminent, and I can't wait for any more hesitation." ”

"Isn't it the one in the palace who is eyeing our Zhao Wangfu?"

"Little Seventeen is smart, the ghost market seems to be a confrontation between the two kings of Yan and Zhao, but in fact it is the emperor who is plotting behind his back, this brother of yours is generous and benevolent on the surface, but he is extremely ruthless behind his back. ”

Sighing, King Zhao continued: "The battle of the ghost market, even if it was stopped in time for his father, he still lost a lot of money, and the forces in the army that he had painstakingly accumulated over the years were vulnerable in front of King Yan. Now what is left of our Zhao Wangfu is the wealth accumulated over the years. The defeat of the ghost market to King Yan will give a hint to the other vassal kings, the Zhao Wangfu is weak and can be bullied, don't look at the uncle who shouts affectionately on weekdays, at this time, no one will be polite. That's why I said that the catastrophe is imminent. ”

The eldest son looked ashamed, bowed down and said, "The child is short-sighted, please punish the father." ”

"It doesn't hurt to be a father, it's easy to go from thrift to luxury, and it's difficult to go from luxury to thrift. If there is no such thing, the family business of Zhao Wangfu is not all yours. It's just that now it's critical, and I can only wronged you. ”

The eldest son replied: "As an elder brother, the child naturally has the responsibility he deserves, even if the child is asked to die in the father's arrangement, the child will never complain. ”

"Well, the father really didn't see the wrong person. ”

The ninth son, who had never spoken, said in his heart: The father and the eldest brother sang a good double reed, what is the identity of the eldest son, that is the façade of the family, how can he be sent to death, this kind of thing will definitely be spread on the head of our concubine.

"After a while, when you have left, go and tell all the brothers to come back and divide the family, and that all the land, the estate, and the tribes should be of the same value. Although the royal palace can be called rich, the father has more than 20 sons, and each person's share is not enough to arouse the greed of these vassal kings. ”

These words were just for the ninth and seventeenth princes, to show that they were absolutely impartial.

The more this gives, the more it will have to be taken from elsewhere in the future, and the ninth and seventeenth princes also know it very well in their hearts.

"The eldest stayed in the mansion to inherit the throne, the second entered the court as an official, Xiao Jiu went to King Ning, Xiao Seventeen went to King Yan, and as for the other children, follow them to find their own way out. ”

"Father, why do you want your son to go to King Ning? It is rumored that the affairs in King Ning's mansion have been taken care of by the long history sent by His Majesty, and King Yan and his wife just eat fast and chant Buddha every day. Yu has no influence in the court, and he really wants to defect to him, regardless of whether he takes him in or not, the child is afraid that he will no longer be able to help his father. ”

"Don't worry, Xiao Jiu, have you heard of King Ning's deeds before believing in Buddhism?"

"King Ning was divided into Jiangxi, where there were local disasters, and were suppressed by King Ning with thunder, and even said that several native tribes were wiped out by the dead tribes killed by him. Therefore, it is said that King Ning lost Yin Virtue, and the retribution was on his descendants, and the first two sons died before they grew up, until the third son, who was sent to Longhu Mountain shortly after birth, so that he could grow up safely. ”

King Zhao smiled, "The so-called karma is all nonsense from others, and Prince Ning's heir is not good, just because Princess Ning is a peerless sick beauty." King Ning is a seed of infatuation, even if the two sons in law died, there is still only one wife, Princess Ning. After the pacification of Jiangxi, King Ning handed over the military power in his hands and worshiped the Buddha every day, only asking for the health of his wife. ”

"Father is saying that King Ning is still very powerful in the army?"

"The vassal kings of the world, Yan Ning and Yan Ning have the highest prestige in the army, both of them are people with outstanding military achievements, but King Yan is powerful, and King Ning is hidden. One day the situation is turbulent, in this world, if the emperor can't keep it, it will either go to King Yan or King Ning. Xiao Jiu, do you still have any questions?"

"The child did as his father had arranged. ”

As soon as the words fell, I heard the seventeenth prince ask, "Didn't my father want me to go to the enemy who killed my brother?"

"Little Seventeen, you have to remember that your brother was not intercepted and killed by King Yan, but by the emperor, King Yan and us, except for the ghost market foundation that took away us, there will be no grudges. ”

The four sons who said this were all stunned, and when did the father confirm that it was His Majesty's hand, but we had not heard of it. But after thinking about it, the four of them already understood, whether it was His Majesty or King Yan, Xiao Seventeen had to grit his teeth and say that it was His Majesty's hand when facing King Yan. King Yan has been against it for a long time, and now as long as he saves money through the ghost market, he will be sure of the incident.

"My father was thoughtful, and Little Seventeen was willing to go. ”

"Good. ”

"It's because of my father's incompetence that we have today's predicament. The hope of Zhao Wangfu is pinned on a few of you, and in the future, the world will change, and I hope you can support each other and tide over the difficulties together. After speaking, King Zhao bowed deeply to the four sons.

Seeing that the white-haired old father no longer had the grace and bearing of the past, the four sons also felt sad in their hearts. The four of them returned the salute one after another and walked out of the study in turn.

King Zhao went up to the table and talked about the current situation in his house. The three sons died innocently, and during the burial period, the sons were speechless, competing for the property, and the family was divided in anger. So far, only the eldest son and the second son of the sons in the house remain. The heart is miserable, beyond words, but seeking the same as the royal family, Your Majesty can lend a helping hand, support the palace, and get through the difficulties, the minister must be grateful to Dade, Your Majesty is driven again, even if it is a sea of swords and fires, the minister can also go. I was silent for a long time.

For a time, the royal family shook, and the prosperous pavilions fell day by day, which made people cry out in vain. Old friends have sent letters one after another, wanting to help King Zhao tide over the difficulties.