In the past half month, Su Yu and his subordinate Ma Zai inspected the entire Qingtan Monster Forest several times, and spent money to send away the people who settled in the surrounding area, asking them to wait until the summer hunting was over before returning.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
It was another early morning, and densely packed camps were located on the outer edge of the Qingtan Monster Forest. The smoke from the campsites was already rising.
When the sun rose, the civil and military officials who had had breakfast had already gathered on the temporarily widened grassland on the outer edge.
Emperors Wei and Jin led civil and military officials to burn incense and pray on a temporary high platform, praying for good weather and good weather in the coming year, and peace for the country and the people.
As for Su Yu, Liang Yuxuan, and Sun Xicui, they were riding on tall horses and led their men to stand on the outer edge of the pasture, acting as guards to maintain the order of the summer hunt.
"Brother Su, look at those seven people, they are the seven members of the cabinet. Apart from Your Majesty, these seven cabinet members are the most powerful people in the court."
Seeing Wei and Jin leading civil and military officials to hold complicated blessing ceremonies, Liang Yuxuan couldn't help but introduce to Su Yu the intricate relationships in the court.
"The man standing on the right side of His Majesty is the current Chief Minister of the Cabinet, Wang Jinghui!"
"The two people behind him are Shen Xiaohan, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Qi Xikun, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. Shen Xiaohan concurrently serves as the bachelor of Wenyuange, and Qi Xikun concurrently serves as the bachelor of Dongge."
"The two of them were single-handedly supported by Wang Jinghui, and they are also in the same lineage as the eldest prince."
"As for the man standing on the left side of His Majesty, he is Huo Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who also serves as the Grand Bachelor of Zhonghe Palace."
"There are three people behind him, namely Kong Jingyi, the Minister of Rites, Yan Zhongrong, the Minister of Hubu, and Wu Zexing, the Minister of War."
"Kong Jingyi concurrently serves as the bachelor of Baohe Palace, Yan Zhongrong concurrently serves as the bachelor of Wenhua Palace, and Wu Zexing concurrently serves as the bachelor of Wuying Palace."
"The four of them are on the second prince's side."
"Kong Jingyi, Yan Zhongrong, and Wu Zexing were all cultivated by Huo Yu, so the four of them are united. Although Huo Yu is weaker than Wang Jinghui in terms of position, he has the support of three ministers. In fact, his power is not weaker than Wang Jinghui's. Wang Jinghui.”
"These are the two biggest factions in the court."
"During this period, there are rumors in Tai'an City that His Majesty is very likely to establish a crown prince during this year's summer hunt. I don't know if it is true."
After listening to Liang Yuxuan's introduction, Su Yu had a general understanding of the distribution of forces in the court.
However, the Zhenwu Division was separated from the court and was only responsible to the emperor. It was far away from the disputes between right and wrong in the court.
Whoever succeeds as emperor will naturally control the largest martial arts organization in Kyushu.
This battle for the crown prince has long been a topic of conversation for everyone across Kyushu.
The Wei and Jin Dynasties had never planned to establish a prince, and the remonstrances from civil and military officials had already been piled up in the palace.
As time goes by, the Wei and Jin Dynasties will be unable to withstand this trend, and will have to elect a prince to quell the crown prince dispute.
Liang Yuxuan continued: "Tell me, between the eldest prince and the second prince, who will have the last laugh in this battle for the prince?"
Sun Xicui, who was on the side, thought for a moment, and then said: "It's hard to say. Both the eldest prince and the second prince seem to have a chance. If your majesty doesn't express his position, there will be suspense."
Liang Yuxuan couldn't help but sigh: "Yes, I don't know what your Majesty is thinking."
Su Yu raised his eyebrows and chuckled: "Do you think it is possible that His Majesty will appoint Mr. Wei as the crown prince?"
Hearing Su Yu's words, Liang Yuxuan and Sun Xicui were frightened, and their faces turned pale.
"Brother Su, you can eat randomly, but you can't talk nonsense."
Liang Yuxuan looked around, then lowered his voice and said: "Since the founding of the Wei Dynasty, there has never been a case of a woman succeeding to the throne. How could your Majesty risk the disapproval of the world to do such a thing?"
Sun Xicui couldn't help but echoed: "Brother Liang is right. Your Majesty wants to appoint Mr. Wei as the crown prince, which is equivalent to making it difficult to ascend to heaven."
"Brother Su, just think about it, if His Majesty really makes Mr. Wei the crown prince, can all the civil and military officials agree to this? Can the people of the world agree to this?"
"If His Majesty doesn't have a prince, there might be a chance of doing this, but since His Majesty has two princes, the eldest prince and the second prince, it is impossible for him to appoint Mr. Wei as the prince anyway."
Seeing the two people refuting him, Su Yu chuckled and said, "Didn't a woman succeed the throne in the Western Zhou Dynasty?"
He had a vague guess that the reason why Wei Jin did not make the eldest prince and the second prince the prince was because they most likely wanted Wei Lianyi to become the prince!
Otherwise, at Wei Lianyi's current age, she would have already reached the age of marriage.
However, Wei Jin did not find anyone to marry her, and even taught her the heaven-level martial arts of conquering the world.
Isn't this enough to explain one thing?
In particular, Wei Lianyi had been ambushed several times, all by the forces behind the eldest prince and the second prince.
It can be seen that they also guessed Wei Jin's plan and planned to work together to kill Wei Lianyi, and then fight with each other.
But what they didn't expect was that the several ambushes launched against Wei Lianyi were finally resolved safely by Wei Lianyi.
Su Yu glanced at the two of them and chuckled: "Didn't there happen to be princesses succeeding to the throne in the Western Zhou Dynasty?"
"Brother Su, the situation was different that time."
Liang Yuxuan laughed and said: "The reason why Zhou Xuan, the female emperor of the Western Zhou Dynasty, succeeded to the throne is simply because the previous emperor only gave birth to her."
"We had no choice but to lift her up to the throne."
"But you also saw what happened later. Zhou Xuan succeeded to the throne and married Nangong Longting, the then national preceptor."
"What's the final result?"
"Now the royal family of the Western Zhou Dynasty all have the surname Nangong."
"Although half of the blood of the Western Zhou royal family is still Zhou's, what do you want the people of Western Zhou to think?"
"They will only recognize the current surname. Since the Western Zhou royal family's surname is Nangong, they will think that the Western Zhou Dynasty has been stolen by the Nangong family, even if the subsequent Western Zhou emperors still have the blood of the Zhou family."
"good."
Sun Xicui nodded and agreed: "Just like us men, who would choose to marry into a wife unless it is absolutely necessary?"
"Although the child still bleeds your blood, he takes the woman's surname. This is still considered to be the end of the family."
After listening to Sun Xicui and Liang Yuxuan's refutation of their reasons, Su Yu couldn't help but sigh.
In this era of extremely strong traditional concepts, when a man gets married, he is looked down upon like a dog whose backbone has been broken and can only wag its tail and beg for mercy.
Because people of this era have an extremely firm idea that even if they die of poverty, starvation, or death outside the country, they will not be able to get married, which will lead to the family's inheritance being cut off in their own generation.
Su Yu didn't have any worries in this regard.
Because he is immortal, he does not have to worry about the possibility of losing his descendants.
As long as you live, you don't need to worry about continuing your bloodline.
Because the child he gave birth to only lived a short life of a hundred years and would not survive him.
"I really don't know what the benefits of being an emperor are."
Su Yu looked at Wei Jin who was leading the civil and military officials to pray in the distance. In the procession of princes behind him, Wei Lianyi attended the prayer event dressed in smart clothes.
She will also participate in today's summer hunt.
Liang Yuxuan chuckled and said: "Brother Su, you are wrong. What are the benefits of being an emperor? You should ask, what are the disadvantages of being an emperor?"
"With the rise and fall of this world, who doesn't want to be the emperor? One word can determine life or death!"
"For a man, power is often the most important thing in a man's life."
"Having power, wealth and beauty is just an added bonus."
Sun Xicui nodded in approval and said with a smile: "Brother Liang is right. In Sun's view, the charm of power goes far beyond wealth and beauty."
"Just like us, as Master Qianhu of the Zhenwu Division, we can already control the life and death of many people."
"Power can also allow you to control the destiny of others, let others become your hands, and do things that you want to do but don't have time to do. Your words will be the Tianxian in other people's minds!"
"Brother Su, think about it, if you were not Lord Qianhu of the Zhenwu Division, but just an ordinary Zhenwu Guard, would the four oiran girls from the Jiaofang Division have given you favors last night?"
"With power, you have everything!"
"And there are only three people with the most power in the world, namely the emperors of Northern Qi, Western Zhou, and Wei!"
Su Yu chuckled and said: "Power is just an extension of force. As long as force is high enough, power will have to give way to you!"
When Sun Xicui and Liang Yuxuan heard this, they both smiled bitterly and shook their heads.
"Brother Su, think about it for yourself. If the force is high enough, how high is it?"
Liang Yuxuan laughed and said: "Just say that in the Wei Dynasty, who's military force is high enough to overthrow the imperial court?"
"But you are right. When a person's military force reaches a certain level, it is enough to overturn the rule of the imperial power and even unify the three kingdoms."
"But Brother Su, you should know how difficult it is to have the situation you mentioned happen, right?"
"The entire Wei Dynasty has been established for more than five hundred years, and no one can overthrow the imperial family's rule over the Wei Dynasty, right?"
"The main reason is that even if a martial artist in the world has access to an ocean of training resources, it will be difficult for him to reach the level of a martial saint."
"As long as he cannot be promoted to Martial Saint, he will still end up with his longevity cut off in a hundred years."
"In contrast to the royal family, his power can be passed down from generation to generation."
"And in this world, as long as there is no strong Martial Saint, it will be almost difficult for the royal family's rule to be overturned."
"In comparison, is it easier to become a Martial Saint, or is it easier to gain power?"
"We are just ordinary people with relatively good luck, but it has taken us most of our lives to get to this point."
"If you are unlucky, Brother He's fate will serve as a lesson for us."
"Force can indeed subvert power, and even gain power by relying on force, but it is difficult for such a person to appear."
"Even the ancestor emperor of the Wei Dynasty unified the nine states and established the Wei Dynasty under the favorable circumstances of the time, place and people."
Liang Yuxuan's words made Su Yu fall into deep thought.
yes.
For ordinary people, the little force they obtain is not enough to have any impact on the rulers in power.
On the other hand, the rulers in power can use their power to influence the life and death of these ordinary people at will.
If we see that you have the potential to subvert the rule, we can strangle you in the cradle before you grow up.
Under such restrictions, power often cannot be subverted.
Because that little force is far from subverting the order derived from power.
This is why after everyone saw the reality clearly, they chose to join if they couldn't defeat it, using their own force to exchange for a certain amount of power.
While the three of them were chatting, the blessing ceremony headed by Wei Jin finally came to an end.
"I just don't know what your Majesty will come up with to reward the leader of Xia Shou this year."
Seeing Wei Jin talking to the civil and military officials, Liang Yuxuan couldn't help but sigh.
At this moment, a father-in-law, holding a tray in his hand, quickly walked onto the temporary high platform and came to Wei Jin.
Wei Jin raised an extremely gorgeous sword from the tray in his hand.
When they saw the sword, Sun Xicui and Liang Yuxuan's pupils shrank, and they said in unison: "It's the Emperor's Sword!"
Seeing the two people being so out of sorts, Su Yu asked in confusion: "Brother Liang, Brother Sun, does this Emperor's Sword have any extraordinary origins?"
"Brother Su, you don't know something."
Liang Yuxuan said with a solemn expression: "Generally speaking, the Emperor's Sword is the emperor's token, and it is also an important token passed from the emperor to the prince."
"It can be seen that the rumors circulating in Tai'an City are probably true. Your Majesty will use this summer hunt to select a candidate for the crown prince!"
"oh?"
Su Yu raised his eyebrows and couldn't help but said in surprise: "Is it such a big deal?"
The appearance of the Emperor's Sword also caused quite an uproar among civil and military officials.
It seems that they never expected that Wei Jin would take out the Emperor's Sword as a reward for the leader.
"In this summer hunt, I will give this emperor's sword to the leader who kills the largest number and grade of monsters!"
Facing the faces of the civil and military officials, Wei Jin held the Emperor's Sword and spoke loudly.
Wow!
When Wei Jin said these words, the expressions of all the civil and military officials all changed, as if they did not expect that Wei Jin's plan to establish a prince would be such a child's play, and would use a summer hunt as the standard.
However, as the seven members of the cabinet, they were calm and calm at the moment, looking at their noses and their hearts, as if they had already known Wei Jin's plan.
After everyone came to their senses, Wei Jin looked around and said with a chuckle: "The summer hunts held in previous years were all the same and there was nothing new."
"This year's summer hunting, I am going to change the rules of the game."
"Those who participate in this summer hunt can choose a companion to help each other in the next half hour and participate in this summer hunt together!"
"Which team hunts the highest grade and quantity of monsters will be the leader of this summer hunt!"
"Dear ladies, what do you think of my proposal?"
All civil and military officials bowed and saluted, saying in unison: "Your Majesty is wise!"
All civil and military officials who can stand here will probably be empty if they pull out their hair.
They naturally understood that the protagonists of today's summer hunt were the eldest prince and the second prince.
What exactly the Emperor's Sword symbolizes is known to everyone present better than anyone else.
Since they were here to serve as a foil and the seven cabinet members had acquiesced in this matter, they naturally had nothing to say.
"In that case."
Wei Jinmu looked around the Xia Hunting team and said loudly: "I announce that this summer hunting will be held as scheduled in half an hour. Those who participate in this summer hunting can use this half hour to find companions to participate in this summer hunting together. Xia Shou!"
"yes!"
Everyone responded in unison.
Wei Zongyuan and Wei Zongyue looked at each other, with strong fighting intent surging in their eyes.
The battle for the crown prince is finally coming to a close.
At the same time, Wei Lianyi, who was standing aside, frowned slightly and fell into deep thought.
Wei Jin's proposal was undoubtedly beyond her expectation.
She originally wanted to use this summer hunt to let Wei Zongyuan and Wei Zongyue die in an unexpected way in the Qingtan Monster Forest.
But because of Wei Jin's proposal, Wei Zongyuan and Wei Zongyue could find warriors from the Hidden Dragon Realm to help them hunt down the monsters in the monster forest.
With the Hidden Dragon Realm warriors guarding them, the possibility of an 'accident' happening to the two of them is greatly reduced.
This calculation against the two of them has also been transformed into the battle for the crown prince.
"I have tolerated it three times before, but this time, I won't give in again."
Wei Lianyi's eyes flashed, then he looked at his personal guard and ordered: "Go and call Mr. Su over."
The guard was startled for a moment, then immediately responded: "Yes!"
Seeing the personal guards running towards Su Yu in the distance, Wei Lianyi finally made a decision in her heart.
She planned to use this summer hunt to expose the relationship between the two, and then ask Su Yu to help her fight for the leader of this summer hunt!
"Master Su, Master Wei asked you to come over."
The personal guard came to Su Yu and said respectfully.
Su Yu and the others who were chatting couldn't help but be startled.
Su Yu frowned slightly and asked in confusion: "Does Mr. Wei have something to do with me?"
"have no idea."
The guard shook his head.
Su Yu nodded, and then said: "Then you lead the way."
"yes!"
Immediately, under the leadership of his personal guards, Su Yu rode his horse all the way to where Wei Lianyi was. (End of chapter)
