Xizhengwang Palace.
Except for a few middle-ranking officials who often carry food boxes or clean up outside the palace, they have nothing to do. Ever since Emperor Quan entered the Western Expedition Palace a few years ago, it seems that everyone in the palace has forgotten this. There is still the eldest son of the emperor who can justifiably take over the great cause of Emperor Quan. The green trees outside the palace are lush and green. It has been a long time since a craftsman came to cut them. The neat green trees and gilded sculptures on the screen in the same large palace are very out of place, but they are. It's just right, full of vitality. Although the green trees have never been cut, it is also very pleasing to the eye.
After all, there are rules and regulations everywhere, and it must be a solemn and majestic realm. It can make people very happy even if their hair is bare and barefoot.
No outsiders have ever set foot in the Xizheng Palace. Today, when it was time to welcome guests, no servant maid opened the door. Instead, a middle-aged man with a beard came in person and slowly opened the door. He opened the door without looking to see who was coming. He moved two round stones to cushion the two doors, then took two deep breaths and closed his eyes with contentment, completely ignoring who was in front of him.
"Your majestic eldest prince, why bother opening the door by yourself? Besides, I haven't knocked on the door yet."
The middle-aged man with a beard was wearing a plain robe. He didn't care about it at all. He didn't even open his eyes. He smiled and said, "You didn't knock on the door, and I didn't open the door for you. There is no one in the palace at noon." When you walk around, you have to ask the summer breeze to pass through the hall. You are a practitioner. The small temple is small and cannot accommodate the big Buddha. How can I be willing to open the door to you? Don’t think too much, lest people think that I am deliberately Winning over party members and forces."
Almost everyone knows that the eldest prince had a temperament a few years ago. He spared no effort in doing things and was very ambitious and sharp. Even Chao Rongan didn't want to pay much attention to the court affairs and only followed Emperor Quan to protect Zhou Quan and serve for him. When saints work, they have heard a lot of these words, and many of them were heard from the mouths of today's saints. Even when the master of the Xizheng Palace was killed, Chao Rong'an did not After thinking too much, I never cared about the so-called settlement of accounts after the fall, but now I saw the eldest prince again. The latter was full of aura and sharpness, and he was almost buried in the palace of the Western Government that no one cared about. Just like everyone in this palace behaves well, just like the well-cut green trees, but everyone is a master at concealing their thoughts. No one knows how deep the roots of the green trees go. But the green trees in front of the Xizheng Palace have not been cut for a long time, but the eldest prince is now completely quiet, as if he wants nothing.
Chao Rongan didn't know how to be polite, so he followed the eldest prince whose temperament suddenly changed and stepped into the palace. The two were neither far nor close. They were neither monarchs nor ministers, nor old friends, but they were always only ten feet away from each other.
But the eldest prince who liked to make friends with the ministers the most at that time seemed not to know the meaning of politeness now. He walked back to the back hall on his own, picked up a cup of mellow and transparent tea soup, took two small sips, and walked on the study bed. In front of the book shelf, he casually pulled out the book and unfolded it to look at it. He seemed to have completely forgotten that there was Chao Rong'an behind him, and he never mentioned giving the latter a cup of tea. He was busy with his own business, but he was leisurely and contented.
When the Xizheng Palace was originally being renovated, the palace occupied an extremely large area, but now most of the land was converted into buildings by the eldest prince to house bookshelves and ancient bookshelves. The scent of incense is quite distinct when you enter, and it is probably bamboo slips that contain books. Being thoroughly suffused by this incense, even though Chao Rong'an had never known good or bad incense, now that he stepped into this place, he immediately felt refreshed and knew that it was naturally the best incense, more valuable than gold and silver.
"My father sent you here this time, most likely to beat me up. It's nothing more than a cliché, and the purpose of your visit is very obvious." The middle-aged man didn't have much nobility in his body. He held the book and said calmly, "There is a wind in the morning. I'm here." I didn't hear much about it. I only heard a few words from the two middle-ranking officials who came to deliver food boxes. They said that my father was probably in poor health, and he didn't dare to take a step out of the Xizheng Palace. This was also attributed to Brother Chao. This attack was really shocking, so I suppressed all my thoughts and studied hard with my second brother. For several years, I didn’t hear about the affairs of the court or see the emperor’s family. On the contrary, my friendship with my second brother became stronger and stronger. Getting better is a good thing after all."
It was clear that there was no hint of beating, but Chao Rongan could still hear some dissatisfaction in the words, so he was even more surprised.
Based on the eldest prince's character and scheming, he would never have spoken like this a few years ago. Even though he knew clearly that Chao Rong'an had dealt with him decisively and had an old grudge of killing his close associates face to face. When Rong An comes to visit, he must be treated with great courtesy and get close to the most favored valet around the emperor. Even if he says a few nice words in front of the emperor, the eldest prince will definitely not reveal the slightest bit. The resentment meant that he was being treated more favorably. Now after these words were spoken, Chao Rongan felt very strange.
The middle-aged eldest prince seemed to have already guessed what Chao Rongan was thinking at this moment. He put the scroll back to its original place, took another sip of tea, and then turned around to speak.
"It's okay not to mention the old things. It's a good thing for a brother to be loyal to his father. What's more, he did have evil intentions back then. After all, he saw that his hair was turning gray and he was already in his late teens. Of course, he was impatient and even coveted the dragon chair. Beyond the etiquette of a monarch and his ministers and even the etiquette of a father and a son, he still has a life after what happened that day. He should express his gratitude to his father and brother and not to kill him. Let’s put aside the old things and come here this time. You might as well say what you are talking about directly, there is no need to beat around the bush and make insinuations. I haven’t heard much of these words in recent years, so I guess I won’t be too tired to deal with it.”
There was a sense of impatience in every word, and there was a hint of expectation in Daowu. Instead, he blamed Chao Rong'an's arrival for disturbing his enjoyment of reading books. He was very depressed for a while, and urged Chao Rong'an to explain his intentions quickly. Deal with it and continue reading, and see off guests as soon as possible.
Chao Rongan was not polite and walked up to the table with the tea soup. He didn't say a word, but kept staring at the teapot. After a while, he seemed to be talking to himself, "I went out with the Holy Spirit back then." During the season, I have tasted Cha Tangjun's good tea, and the taste has always lingered around me, but I didn't expect to see it in His Highness's house today. I am really full of emotions, but I don't know how to talk about it."
"The fire is rolling outside at noon. No matter how good a person is in cultivating his mind or practicing martial arts, his tongue and teeth are almost dry from the heat. No matter how eloquent he is, he is afraid that he will not be able to convey the holy meaning."
The eldest prince did not move, and Chao Rongan could afford to wait. He looked at the tea for a while, and then looked up at the surrounding furnishings. He was even more leisurely, and he simply leaned his body on the back of the gilded chair, and immediately felt very comfortable.
The middle-aged man was still flipping through books, pacing from one ancient shelf to another, while the young waiter was even more at ease. In this house that was shielded from the summer sun, when the breeze came, he couldn't bear it. I kept humming the music, but after only listening to two or three lines, I felt that my ears had been tortured a lot. Not only the tune was weird, but the accent was also lacking.
In the end, even with the eldest prince's qi-nurturing skills, he really couldn't handle such a torment. He quickly walked to the side to get a tea cup, filled up the tea soup and pushed it in front of Chao Rongan.
"Brother, your accent is really rare in the world. You might as well take away your magical powers."
"But there are many people like His Highness in the world." Chao Rongan also smiled and was not in a hurry to drink tea, but was in a daze, "Your Highness has read more books than me, so he must have known about it and passed it down from the previous dynasty. In a word, most wise kings are judged to have mixed merits and demerits by later generations just because they live too long. Often wise kings who were wise, martial, civilized, and military in their youth are the most likely to be confused in the end. For this If so, Your Highness might as well make some comments."
"Other countries don't know, but Yizhang has never existed before."
The eldest prince smiled slightly.
However, Chao Rongan did not continue what he said. He raised his head and asked again, "There has been a strong wind in the court recently. I know that His Highness must know something about it, but he remains dormant. This shows that his character is even better than it was a few years ago." Well, today I am here not only to speak out, but also to ask questions on behalf of the Holy Spirit. Regarding the matter of establishing the crown prince, if the person appointed is the second prince, I wonder if His Highness can be content with himself, or to add a helping hand, or to settle in a corner, if so If you have evil intentions, Your Highness will not be able to stay."
The hall suddenly fell silent.
The eldest prince drank most of the tea with an expressionless expression, and after a long while he hung his armored finger toward the wall of the house not far away.
The iron armor had been left unused for a long time. It was extremely dusty and damaged in several places. There were six or seven injuries on the chest and side ribs alone. The most damaged area seemed to have been pierced by a spear, which was about 30 meters away from the heart. With only two fingers, the entire armor was extremely tattered. There were few safe spots, and a few spots were darkened with blood. They had peeled off over the years, but the armor was still almost completely covered. "I have not yet passed the age of 18, and I have already gone on many expeditions with the army. Although the alliance was established at that time, there was chaos on the border. I think the surrounding countries were always watching with eager eyes, intending to test Yizhang's national strength. At that time, my father only had It was a personal expedition for six degrees. I was in the front of the army and charged into battle. This heavy mysterious armor had been repaired many times by craftsmen, so I could clean up the chaos around me and enjoy peace. It has always been a rare thing for a prince to go into battle. , when my second brother was in the palace, I relied on this armor and the gun and shield in my hand to withstand the arrows one after another. I don’t know how many people around me were penetrated by swords and spears even though they wore heavy armor. Entering the throat, or the crossbow arrows piercing the gaps in the armor, the wails are everywhere, and even now you can still vaguely hear them in your dreams at night."
"Actually, what I want is not just the throne, but that I have spent countless efforts over the years to be able to impress my father."
"Some people say that the world belongs to the people of the world, but people are often like this. They think that they have the ability to take care of the country, and they are not trustworthy in anyone else's hands. They insist on thinking that they are the destiny. I am no exception. , is the inevitable result of being born in an imperial family and being too close to the powerful."
"The tea has cooled down. It's inconvenient, so I won't go out to see you off."
The eldest prince, who already had two or three white hairs on his forehead, stood up and walked back into the sea of books.
