June has just entered, and the weather is getting hotter day by day. The flowers and plants in the imperial garden are luxuriant, and they are taken care of by the palace maids and eunuchs to make them prosperous.
Today, His Majesty made a rare visit to Concubine Gu's palace. Concubine Gu was surprised and happy, only to think that Your Majesty had changed her mind and remembered her good deeds in the past.
Thinking of this, Concubine Gu was shy and timid, her shy face was like that of a young and ignorant girl, "Your Majesty, why do you have time to come to my concubine today? Why don't you go and see those new people entering the palace?"
At the end of the sentence, there was a sense of sourness inside and outside the words.
His Majesty was a little unhappy when he heard this. He came to Gu Guifei's palace today because someone in the court mentioned the matter of changing His Royal Highness Prince Yu to the crown prince. He suspected that Concubine Gu and the Gu family behind her were adding fuel to the fire, so he came here to investigate.
"The whereabouts of the prince have been unknown recently, and there has been no news from the border. I have entrusted him with important responsibilities, but he has not performed satisfactorily. I am really disappointed in him. On the contrary, His Highness Prince Yu has been cautious and diligent these days. , quite like Father Xiao."
As he spoke, His Majesty raised the teacup and took a sip, but his peripheral vision remained on Concubine Gu's face, observing her reaction, hoping to get some clues.
Perhaps it’s because His Majesty has favored Your Majesty for many years, or perhaps it’s because of the Queen’s concession and haggardness in recent days, perhaps it’s the Queen Mother’s silence, or perhaps His Majesty’s words and deeds today gave Concubine Gu a hint, and Concubine Gu was almost Joy went to his head.
Concubine Gu thought that Your Majesty was interested in changing His Royal Highness Prince Yu to the title of Crown Prince, so she came to Changchun Palace to ask her opinion. His Majesty has always done this during the many years that Concubine Gu was favored. So much so that some ministers who wanted to be promoted or sent abroad would try their best to follow Concubine Gu's path to get His Majesty's consent.
It's a pity that Concubine Gu is destined to be disappointed this time.
For the current His Majesty, he may be really wary of the prince, but at the same time he is even more wary of His Royal Highness Prince Yu becoming the next prince. A prince whose mother's family is not prominent enough has made him worry about the instability of the throne day and night. And His Royal Highness Prince Yu's maternal clan is so prominent. If His Highness Prince Yu really becomes the crown prince, I'm afraid His Majesty will be so worried that he can't sleep.
The only one who can reassure His Majesty now is the prince who is still young, preferably still learning to talk. It's a pity that Concubine Gu has not experienced many trials and hardships, and she cannot understand His Majesty's thoughts.
Concubine Gu looked at her husband in surprise. She bowed down, her posture as elegant and delicate as a spring willow. The joy and anticipation in his eyes could hardly be concealed.
"King Yu spends his days and nights thinking about how to relieve his father's worries. He just asks His Majesty to give him a chance."
But in His Majesty's eyes, he could not see her charm and joy. In His Majesty's eyes, he only saw Gu Guifei's desire to help his son seize power. His Majesty suppressed his disgust, raised his hand to help her up, and said in an evasive manner, "King Yu is a good boy, and thanks to your teachings, I will give him a good future."
After saying that, His Majesty could no longer continue the performance. He just said that he was busy with government affairs and ordered people to drive away.
As for His Highness the Prince, who is thousands of miles away, although most of the troops are still left behind on the border, he has already led the confidant soldiers closer to the capital step by step. Of course, His Highness the Prince will not forget that he was assigned by His Majesty. The messenger.
When the group of them was halfway through, His Royal Highness suddenly ordered the accompanying sergeants to stop.
Pei Jian was puzzled, "Your Highness, why did you stop suddenly? We will be able to enter the capital in about ten days." Wen Zheng was even more keen, "Could it be that Your Highness is worried that after we return to Beijing, we will be reprimanded for failing to report the military aircraft in time? Cause the military plane to be delayed and be punished by His Majesty?"
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince looked in the direction of the capital from a distance, and suddenly ordered someone to bring up the courier he had previously detained.
The torture in the dark these days has long since brought this originally strong-willed man into submission. His Majesty did not send any of his close subordinates to come, but this man has already joined the prince's side.
Thanks to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's image of being tolerant and benevolent over the years, His Majesty did not place too many eyes and ears among the three armies, but randomly assigned one person to deliver the news for him. But now this person is already a member of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
The strong man surnamed Qian was pushed forward, and he clasped his fists and saluted, "See His Highness the Crown Prince. His Highness the Crown Prince ordered his subordinates to go through fire and water, even to the death."
He was really frightened by those tortures in the dark. Who would have thought that His Royal Highness, who was rumored to be as gentle as jade and tolerant, could actually use such methods in private. There was no other way. If he had insisted on being tough, he would have been wrapped in a roll of straw mat and thrown into a mass grave by now. When the three armies are fighting, it is extremely common for a few people to die. So common that no one would be suspicious.
His Royal Highness, sitting on the saddle of the bloody horse that was brought as tribute from the Western Regions, looked awe-inspiring. This personal expedition seemed to have inspired the coldness and hostility in his bones.
The strong man named Qian didn't even dare to raise his head. He only dared to lie slightly on the ground and waited for His Highness the Crown Prince's order. Then, he heard a cold voice.
"Gu will give you a horse, and you will rush into the capital to deliver a message. Let's say that Gu won a great victory in the campaign against Hulu Khan. Now the morale of the three armies is high, and they are uniting with Beidi to move further north. Let’s set out and help our Ji Dynasty pacify many tribes in the north.”
As soon as this statement came out, the sergeants on the left and right were greatly puzzled.
Pei Jian, who was impatient, had subconsciously said, "Your Highness, aren't we already on our way back?" It was only he who had been reading companions to His Highness the Crown Prince for many years that he dared to refute.
Some of the many sergeants standing around seemed to realize something, while others were confused and didn't know why, but they all remained silent. When Pei Jian saw this, he didn't ask any more questions and just acted as ordered.
After His Highness the Prince said this, he remained silent. He seemed to have no doubt that the sergeants of the three armies would obey his inexplicable orders.
Just as he expected, the sergeants on the left and right had been impressed by His Highness the Crown Prince for a long time and immediately ordered the ban without any doubt.
It only takes three days to travel day and night from here to the capital. The strong man named Qian had planned various scenarios in his mind after meeting the emperor. He was worried day and night about how to avoid being discovered by His Majesty, and he had already taken refuge with His Highness the Crown Prince.
So much so that when he arrived in the capital, the strong man named Qian had lost a lot of weight. This is in line with what he said that he traveled day and night for more than ten days. As for the rest, the prince's confidants who stayed in the capital will take care of it.
The strong man named Qian waited uneasily, but found that His Majesty had no intention of summoning him at all, and only ordered a eunuch to inquire about the situation.
Afterwards, those who stayed behind under His Majesty the Crown received a thunderous order from His Majesty, ordering them to set off back to the capital without delay. A group of people, Monk Zhang Er, were confused and didn't know what His Highness the Crown Prince had done, so that His Majesty had such an order, so they could only muddle through and rectify the military affairs before setting off.
Under His Majesty's order, this group of sergeants from the three armies rushed to the capital day and night. However, their journey was not as smooth as that of His Royal Highness. They encountered several assassinations along the way.
It seemed that they were afraid of disturbing the Queen Mother, the Queen Regent of Beidi who was traveling with them. Every assassination attempt had a clear target, avoiding the Queen Mother's camp and going straight to the commander's camp.
After repeating it several times, even people who don't know much about government affairs can see the secret. Thanks to this, not many people in the army were injured, which is a good thing.
There was an occasional break during the march that day, and a few sergeants were chatting casually, "Tell me, who dares to be assassinated again and again? Our commander is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Another sergeant who was born slightly older sneered, seeming to be laughing at this man. "What do you know? The more people like His Highness the Crown Prince, the more people want to assassinate him. For people like us, others are only afraid of assassination and hate wasting money."
"Then tell me who has the courage. Could it be that His Royal Highness Prince Yu really wanted to replace His Highness the Crown Prince, so he took a dangerous move?" "In my opinion, Xu Zhaorong is also very suspicious. Isn't she very favored recently? ? And she also has a prince." "I see, what you said is wrong, it should be the emperor's brother." "I heard that it was a relative of the empress dowager who did it. She said she wanted her son to be the emperor. "
Everyone was talking about it until a more senior general was attracted.
The general frowned and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? You are so brave that you dare to gather people to discuss government affairs in public. Don't you even want to live?"
After being scolded by him, everyone left and dispersed.
His Royal Highness the Prince also knew about the frequent assassinations. He was not surprised. His father had long wanted to send him to death. This personal expedition was the best evidence. But what His Highness the Crown Prince did not expect was that his father would not even care about the Queen Mother, the regent of Beidi, and only wanted to kill him.
Malice surged in his heart, and he thought coldly, "Unexpectedly, Father, not only did I not die on the battlefield, but I also took this opportunity to win over people's hearts. You see, between you and me, I am the winner after all."
At this moment in the palace, Queen Wen was probably the only one who was happy, ever since the news of His Highness the Crown Prince's victory came. Queen Wen changed her usual haggard look and began to feel in the mood to go out to meet guests. When she met Gu Guifei, she was even more radiant, and she frequently used the affairs of His Highness Prince Yu to stimulate Gu Guifei.
In the end, Queen Wen's father, Lord Wen, sent a message after hearing about the incident, and Queen Wen restrained her behavior a little.
But His Highness the Crown Prince had never heard that the Queen was so happy, and he was still very worried. For these days, Wen Zheng and Pei Jian, who had been following him, noticed that His Highness the Crown Prince was emotionally tense. His Highness seemed to be on the verge of reaching the emotional limit.
However, no matter how long the journey is, there is still time to walk. Seven days later, the large army caught up with the small team led by His Royal Highness outside the capital.
