That night.
In a posthouse dozens of miles away from the capital, King Dai burned the letter he had just read by candlelight.
The warm candlelight did not drive away the chill on Dai Wang's face. Fuzhong spoke cautiously: "Your Highness, what happened in the capital?"
Dai Wang had a cold face and said in a serious tone: "There has been a change in my adding beads." He will arrive in Beijing tomorrow, but the matter of adding beads to him has not been finalized for a long time. He originally thought he could add beads before he returned to Beijing.
"Your Majesty, don't you agree?" During this period, Fuzhong knew in his heart that this matter was probably going to come to nothing, as he had not waited for the Emperor's imperial edict to add beads to His Highness, so he did not dare to mention it in the past few days. I am afraid of angering His Highness.
The king's eyes were gloomy and his face was very ugly: "Except for the prince's party, all the ministers in the court supported me. During this period, my uncle and others have been putting pressure on my father, but my father did not relent and agreed. What on earth is the emperor thinking?"
Seeing that King Dai was in a rage, Fuzhong shrank in fear. He bit the bullet and comforted him: "Your Highness, maybe the emperor wants to give you a surprise. When you come to the palace tomorrow to report on your duties, the emperor will give you a gift."
When Dai Wang heard Fuzhong's words, his ugly face softened a little.
"Father, do you want to give me a surprise?"
"Your Highness, this kind of thing has happened before. Have you forgotten that three years ago, when you came back from Qingzhou to quell the chaos, the Emperor gave you a big surprise and rewarded you with the sword he wore when he was young. Didn't you always keep it with you? Around you?"
When King Dai heard this, his eyes turned to the sword placed on the shelf aside, and his expression instantly became much better.
"You are right, my father likes to surprise me."
Seeing that King Dai's expression returned to normal, Fuzhong breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He continued: "Your Highness, you have made such a great contribution this time. It is impossible for the emperor not to reward you generously. The emperor has not relented and agreed to add beads to you. He must want to surprise you."
Dai Wang felt that what Fuzhong said was right. An expectant smile appeared on his face: "It must be like this." In fact, Dai Wang hoped in his heart that it would be like what Fuzhong said.
"The emperor likes to make fun of you the most, and this time it must be the same." The more Fuzhong said, the more he felt that he was right. "The emperor first pretended not to agree to add beads to you, so that you are disappointed and sad. When you enter the palace, The emperor suddenly adds beads to you, you will definitely be pleasantly surprised when the time comes."
"Father can really do such a thing." Father likes to joke the most, and he has been deceived by him more than once.
"Your Highness, you should still pretend you don't know anything. When you enter the palace tomorrow and the emperor adds beads to you, you have to pretend to be more presentable."
"This is natural." Dai Wang's bad mood these days was swept away by Fuzhong's words.
"Your Highness, after your victory this time and your return to Beijing, the Emperor will probably not send you to other places to quell the chaos for the time being. You can take this opportunity to have a good rest." Fuzhong said, "In the past few months, you have been trying to quell the chaos in Liangzhou. Jun, you haven't had a good rest, and you have lost weight twice. When you return to Beijing, the imperial concubine will be very distressed when she sees you."
"I plan to go to Yangzhou."
"Going to Yangzhou?" Fuzhong said in dismay, "What are you going to Yangzhou for?"
"Quiet the chaos."
Fuzhong then remembered that the rebellion in Yangzhou had not yet been put down. He then remembered that the person who went to Yangzhou to quell the chaos this time was the prince's uncle. He instantly understood Dai Wang’s intention.
"Your Highness, do you want to..."
"This is a good opportunity to humiliate the Xie family and embarrass the prince. How could I miss it?" King Dai smiled maliciously, "Xie Shi went to quell the rebellion in Yangzhou, but failed to do so for several months. Father The emperor is already very dissatisfied. When I return to Beijing, I will take the initiative to ask Ying to put down the rebellion in Yangzhou. With my ability, I can put down the rebellion in Yangzhou in less than a month, and then I will be able to slap the prince and the Xie family hard in the face. , and can make me famous again."
"Kill two birds with one stone!" Fuzhong said with admiration, "Your Highness is wise!"
King Dai smiled and said: "This is an opportunity given to me by the Xie family and the prince to humiliate them. If I miss it, God will not stand it."
"Your great victory this time has allowed the ministers and the people to see what you are capable of. If you put down the Yangzhou rebellion that the Xie family has been unable to put down, the ministers and the people will think you are more powerful and support you even more , will also think that the prince is inferior to you."
"This is the effect I want."
"Then you have worked too hard." Fuzhong said with distressed eyes, "You just came back from Liangzhou, and you didn't even get a good rest, and you went to Yangzhou non-stop to quell the chaos."
"This little hard work is nothing." King Dai said, with a meaningful smile on his lips, "The ministers and people will see my hard work."
"Your Highness is still wise."
"I want to go to Yangzhou to put down the rebellion for another purpose."
"What purpose?"
"Yangzhou has been a prosperous place since ancient times. Even though it has experienced many wars, it is still the richest place among the nine states." In fact, Dai Wang wanted to go to Yangzhou to quell the chaos more than Liangzhou. "The most important thing is that there are many famous literati in Yangzhou."
Dai Wang believed that he was no worse than the prince, and even better than the prince. In recent years, he has won the support of most military commanders through his meritorious service, but there are very few literati.
These literati scholars pay attention to the establishment of direct descendants and elders. Because Zhao Xuan was the eldest son, he was canonized as the crown prince since he was a child. And because he was a concubine and the second son, even if he made great military exploits for the great Zhou Dynasty, the scholars were not willing to support him to become the crown prince.
In the past, he had never taken these literati students seriously, thinking that they were just a bunch of weak people who could only talk about big principles. However, in the past two years, his father had placed more emphasis on these scholars, making him understand that if he wanted to replace the prince, he would have to gain the support of these scholars.
I heard that there are many great Confucians in Yangzhou who have escaped from the world. These great Confucian scholars were highly respected by literati and students, and were also respected by famous families. Even emperors respected them very much. His father once told him that the world-famous scholar had more status and influence than the emperor.
If he can gain the support of the literati and scholars in Yangzhou, or the support of a great Confucian, then he can legitimately replace Zhao Xuan and become the prince in the future.
"Your Highness, don't you despise those literati the most?"
"It is true that I look down upon them, but if I want to legitimately become the prince, I need their support." King Dai saw it very clearly, "I also need a good reputation. What these scholars are best at is To gain fame. Furthermore, Zhao Xuan was able to become the crown prince and has not been deposed because of these literati."
"Your Highness is right," Fuzhong said, "Your Highness, did you go to Yangzhou to win over these literati?"
"When it's time to win over, you still have to win over." King Dai said with a deep smile, "I want to be a courteous person to the virtuous corporal, so that the literati and students in Yangzhou can join me and help me make suggestions."
"Your Highness, your move is really good, I admire you."
"Zhao Xuan can treat virtuous corporals, so naturally I can too."
"Your Highness, you have always been better than the prince." Fuzhong always replaced the king, unwilling to accept the grievance. "If the emperor did not marry the Xie family back then, the imperial concubine would be the queen and you would be the prince."
This incident has always been a thorn in the hearts of Concubine Rong and Prince Dai. Every time they think of it, their hearts are filled with deep reluctance.
"Soon, I will make everything return to its rightful place." The mother-in-law took back the position of queen that originally belonged to her, and he also took back the position of prince that originally belonged to him.
At this time, the prince in the East Palace was acting uncharacteristically, expecting the king to return to Beijing tomorrow.
Previously, the words of Duke Zhen had completely reassured the prince. He no longer worried that he would be raped when he returned to Beijing on behalf of the king. He hoped that King Dai's return would be stronger this time, and it would be best to crush him as the crown prince under his feet.
Tomorrow morning, he would propose to his father that he would personally go out of the city to welcome the King in triumph.
