Chapter 70: The ground is dry and cracked and the seedlings are crooked

The old lame man squinted his eyes and waited for Fang Jie's answer, with more or less expectation in his eyes. He became more and more interested in this teenager who looked like a mess, because if he looked carefully in this teenager, he would always find a lot of things that people like.

Fang Jie is an interesting person. He understands better than anyone else when he should understand. When he should be confused, he will not deliberately pretend to be an idiot to show weakness. Maybe he is disdainful, or maybe he is a person like him who pretends to be idiots and doesn't look like him. Or maybe he feels that he doesn't have the qualifications yet.

Maybe some people like to pretend to be a pig and eat tiger, but this young man deeply understands that he is not a pig, so he can't eat a tiger. In this world, pretending to be a pig and eating tiger is a game that only people who are so fierce that they can play, and they can't be considered a strong man and have no capital to pretend to be a pig and eat tiger.

Fang Jie pinched a piece of cooked meat and put it in his mouth, pondered for a while and sorted out his words in his heart.

"If you analyze it according to common sense, this matter is not difficult to guess."

He rinsed the meat in his mouth with a bite of northwest, savoring the hotness of northwest.

"That person was the only prince who had been standing by His Majesty the Emperor among the seven sons who had fought for the throne. Perhaps he was also the only prince who had never coveted that chair. This is something that everyone in the Sui Dynasty knew. If you ask an old man on the roadside, he could clearly tell the past."

"When His Majesty was still the fourth prince, he was not favored by the late emperor. At that time, the one who had the most hope of receiving the jade seal was the third prince. The third prince Yang Ji was good at socializing and could argue. Not to mention that there were many heroes in the court who were willing to die for him. He was righteous and never stingy to use his own privileges to help others. Therefore, in the court and among the people, Yang Ji's reputation has always been very good and very high."

"The other hot prince who can compete for the throne with Yang Ji is the eldest son Yang Xiong. He was the eldest son of the Empress of the Palace, and the Empress loved him very much at that time. With the support of the Empress, his subordinates naturally had no choice but to assist him. The Empress had great prestige in the army, so the eldest son Yang Xiong was more confident in inheriting the throne than Yang Ji, who had a wide connection."

"But Yang Xiong is very arrogant and he is a little unrestrained by the support of the descendants. So later, the emperor gradually became more and more disgusted with the eldest son who had been bullying men and women behind his back. It was the queen who struggled to hold on to him that Yang Xiong had completely fallen."

"Because of the emperor's disgust of Yang Xiong, the third prince Yang Ji became more and more outstanding."

Fang Jie took a sip of wine and smiled and said, "Even the people of Fangu, the people in the border town of Fangu, know this story. But no one can tell how many of them are true or how many are false. But it is undeniable that the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty never concealed the election of the prince. He prefers his children to fight for it with their true abilities. Therefore, there are many stories that have been circulated, unlike the previous dynasty, where everything was done secretly."

The old lame man smiled and said, "Most of these things are true, as you said just now. The biggest difference between the royal family of the Great Sui Dynasty and the royal family of the previous dynasty is that they will not speak out for benevolence, righteousness and morality but do some dark and cruel things behind their backs. The emperors of the Great Sui Dynasty chose the crown princes and chose the best offspring. The emperor even encouraged the princes to fight, but only for the struggles based on their true abilities on the surface."

Fang Jie nodded and said, "There is no doubt that no one was optimistic that the current emperor could sit on that chair. The late emperor was seriously ill and had not chosen who the prince was before his death. Yang Xiong, the eldest prince who was leading troops to negotiate and plan the national border between Dongjiang and Dongchu, learned that the late emperor was critically ill, and he rushed back from Dongjiang with five thousand soldiers at night."

"At that time, the third prince was already sure to win, and even the most favored old ministers in front of the late emperor's bed were standing on his side. When he learned that the eldest prince had returned, the third prince sent His Majesty, who was also standing on his side, to intercept him. His Majesty rushed straight into the Taiji Hall of the Forbidden Palace and took away the Tiger Talisman of the Tube. The elite troops of the Left Wu Guard who transferred the Sixth Army of the Emperor came out of the city to intercept the Grand Prince. He was caught up by the seventh prince Yang Qi on the way. No one knew what Yang Qi said to His Majesty at that time, but His Majesty might have made up his mind at that time."

"Your Majesty and the elite soldiers of the Left Wu Guard intercepted the eldest prince halfway, and detained the eldest prince on the grounds of disobeying the emperor's order to lead troops back to Beijing without authorization. Then he immediately led his troops back to the imperial capital. The third prince ordered all the gates of the imperial capital to be closed. The seventh prince brought 260 slaves to guard a city gate and continued to fight bloody battles until His Majesty returned. In that battle, only 19 people survived. The seventh prince was seriously injured and thirteen of them were seriously injured, three of which were transparent from front to back."

"Your Majesty leads troops straight into the Taiji Hall, trapping all the ministers. Lao Nayan Su Wei asked in front of the sickbed of the late emperor, who will inherit the throne. At that time, His Majesty happened to be bringing armor into the door. The late Emperor glanced at the third prince and looked at His Majesty again, and then pointed his hand at His Majesty."

"Although those old ministers were more willing to let the third prince succeed to the throne, the last emperor's order should not be violated. So His Majesty ascended the throne, the third prince was demoted to a commoner, and was sent to Ning'an Tower to guard the border. The eldest prince was demoted to a disobedience, and he was forever stationed in Xinshui City in southern Xinjiang and could not leave the city. Luo Yao has been guarding the southern Xinjiang, and may not have no mission to monitor the eldest prince."

"The Seventh Prince Yang Qi... is Hongxiuzhao's boss, right?"

After saying this, Fang Jie glanced at the old lame man.

The old lame man sighed and said, "These things are definitely not something that any old man on the roadside can say... Fang Ming, how do you know?"

...

...

Fang Jie knew all these things that Li Xiaozong had mentioned to him. In Fangu, the only one who could sit down with Li Xiaozong and drink, chat and talk freely in the border town of Fangu. Although Li Xiaozong was only a child of the Li family, it was not too difficult to know these inside stories. At that time, the seven sons were fighting for the throne so much, which aristocratic family could stay out of the matter?

In fact, to put it bluntly, the prince is fighting for the throne, and he is fighting for his own strength.

The reason why Li Xiaozong knew so much was that Li Lun, the general of the Left Guard, was one of the few people standing next to the Fourth Prince Yang Yi.

If this were not the case, it would be difficult for Li Luan to bring the Li family into the ranks of first-class families with his military achievements.

Your Majesty has always been a person who repays kindness with kindness and will repay revenge.

When Li Xiaozong talked about these to Fang Jie, he did not expect that one day he would become a mortal enemy with Fang Jie. At that time, he was determined to make Fang Jie cultivate his own confidant. Li Xiaozong was a man with great ambitions, and although Fang Jie was young, he definitely had the ability to move him.

So this is no secret that is no longer considered a secret, and he can still make him trust his understanding when he speaks it.

Fang Jie explained to the old lame man, and then said with a smile: "To be honest, the greatest contribution of Your Majesty to be the chosen person of the late emperor at the last moment is undisputed to the seventh prince Yang Qi. If Yang Qi had not run away and died and chased His Majesty with two war horses, if he had not led his slaves to guard the city gate, Your Majesty... It was not Your Majesty."

He said this very low and dared not let others hear it.

If someone hears this kind of thing, who knows if it will cause any trouble?

The old lame man said hushed: "After Your Majesty ascended the throne, the first thing he did was to grant the seventh prince the Prince Zhong, the first of all princes and ministers, the salary was three times that of other princes, the fiefdom was ten times that of other princes, and even three thousand soldiers who obeyed Prince Zhong completely. This grace was so grand that it was the only one in the century that the Great Sui Dynasty established the country. Even the nineteen family slaves who survived the city gates and fought hard and survived were all granted titles to the county! The descendants will never serve in the military service and will not pay taxes!"

He paused for a moment and continued, "But no one expected that on the third day after His Majesty ascended the throne, Prince Zhong resigned from all military positions, did not enter the court to participate in politics, and did not return to his fiefdom, but opened a singing and dancing ceremony called Hongxiuzhao in Chang'an City. The emperor issued seven decrees in a row to let him enter the court, but he refused to respect the order. The queen even personally served wine and persuaded him. The queen toasted him and drank sixteen cups. He even drank sixteen cups, half drunk and half awake, but refused to go to the palace again."

Fang Jie sighed: "There is no better person with great wisdom in the world."

"But his influence was too great. During the late emperor's period, Prince Zhong led his troops to fight several times, and won many battles and was unmatched. Moreover... he was the eldest prince's younger brother. After the eldest prince lost power, the descendants could only place all their hopes on him. Therefore... they would inevitably attract suspicion, even if the decision he made had already shown his attitude."

Fang Jie said: "So, on the surface, Prince Zhong left Chang'an ten years ago and disappeared without a trace. Hong Xiuzhao was expelled by another prince. This matter is no longer related to His Majesty. If His Majesty was in love, how could he not ask about Hong Xiuzhao's matter?"

When the old lame man heard this, he couldn't help but frown and asked, "What do you mean is that this is just something that seems on the surface?"

"As I have heard over the years, Your Majesty is the gentlest among the emperors of the Sui Dynasty, he is definitely not a person without courage. If he wants to attack Prince Zhong, he will not be so naive with this trick of missing people, and then he can't wait to drive Prince Zhong's property out of the imperial capital. Don't you think this is too obvious?"

Fang Xie thought of the scene where the red robe priest of Daozong was caught in a town outside the imperial capital, and he was even more sure that his idea was right. How could an emperor who had made such a low-level mistake in the first place?

"If he wants to get rid of Prince Zhong, he will definitely get rid of the root... and he will not use such a poor method."

The old lame man was stunned and thought for a while and said, "Prince Zhong's family has been living a good life and the fiefdom has not moved. Every year, His Majesty will give a lot of rewards, although there are only a group of old slaves left in Prince Zhong's fiefdom. I always thought that this is the emperor's guilt..."

"Guilty?"

Fang Jie laughed and said, "How can anyone who can do such a thing feel guilty?"

The old lame man nodded, his face looking a little ugly.

Fang Jie pondered for a while and said, "When Hongxiuzhao was forced to leave the imperial capital, it was done by another prince. The emperor did not stop it, maybe the emperor had no time to stop it. The prince was suppressed by Prince Zhong. Even if Prince Zhong did not go to court or participate in politics, it would not be his turn to stand up. So after Prince Zhong disappeared, he thought he had seized the opportunity. It was too late for the emperor to take care of it again, and in order to protect the face of his other brother, the emperor could not invite Hongxiuzhao, who was expelled from the imperial capital, to come back."

After he thought about it carefully, he said, "Maybe this is the truth. Hongxiuzhao was dismissed. It was just an idiot that an idiot prince did to show his loyalty and gain the title. He thought that if Prince Zhong was gone, the emperor would take the opportunity to get rid of Prince Zhong's strength, but he didn't expect... the flattery was not done well."

The old lame man's face changed and hesitated for a moment and said, "It seems that... the prince who drove Hongxiuzhao out of the imperial capital has never used him over the years. Although he is still ranked as the prince, he is actually a idle person without power."

"As long as you are willing to see everything with your heart, you should be able to see clearly."

Fang Jie summarized a very bad sentence.

When I said this, I drank the wine and finished the meat, and I finished the words, just right.

"You will come to Hongxiuzhao backyard tomorrow morning, and I will pass on your knife."

The old lame man stood up and was slightly drunk, so he was a little shaky when walking.

Fang Jie got up, but was not drunk, and he was still walking steadily.

But the slightly drunk person is actually not drunk, and the one who looks not drunk is really drunk.

For that knife, Fang Jie has not only spent some time. He has never been a person who can drink, and such a big wine gourd is empty.

Xihuamei looked at Fang Jie who was walking away, and then looked at the old lame man who was burping.

"Want to help him?"

She asked.

The old lame man chuckled: "Fitness, to temper... He is a waste of cultivation. He can't be beaten into a pig's head casually when he enters the Martial Arts Academy competition? After all, he came from Fan Gu, and lost one game and was beaten to become disabled. I was also embarrassed... A knife, it took a long time to not use it, and it's time to see the light."

"This gift is so heavy."

Xihuamei said seriously.

The old lame man waved his hand indifferently, leaned against the door frame and fell asleep quickly. He murmured for a few words, his voice was very light. I don’t know if it was a drunken conversation or a sleep conversation, but it was a bit intriguing.
Chapter completed!