Chapter 389 Peace Talks and Establishment of the Crown Prince
While the Queen Mother was worrying about the emperor's health, Xiao Hu had already gone out thirty miles outside the city to pick up Zhao Chengji and the envoys from other countries.
Just after arranging envoys from foreign countries at the capital post station, he received a secret order from the Queen Mother in the palace.
"Da Xiaohou, what happened?"
Zhao Chengji was about to bring the envoys into the palace to meet the emperor, but was stopped by Xiao Hu.
"The emperor has given orders that the envoys have traveled a thousand miles. Let them settle down and rest first, and then come to the court to see them in ten days."
"Ten days later?" Zhao Chengji was stunned.
Since the founding of Tangling, when the DPRK and China receive foreign envoys, there has never been such a rule that they wait ten days to see each other again after their arrival.
Seeing Zhao Chengji's confusion, Xiao Hu smiled and said, "With the intelligence of the eighteenth prince, he shouldn't have guessed why this is happening, right?"
Zhao Chengji wanted to win over Xiao Hu, but even though he thought of it, he pretended not to think of it and said, "Please give me some advice from Lord Xiao."
Xiao Hu said proudly, "This secret order was actually issued by the Queen Mother."
"This country has embarrassed the emperor before. I think the emperor must have been unwilling to even meet their envoys. It was probably the Queen Mother who found out about it and negotiated with them for a long time before finally having this meeting ten days later."
Ten days were enough for the emperor to calm down and think clearly.
Zhao Chengji suddenly realized, "That's it. Thank you so much, Marquis Xiao, for the tip!"
Xiao Hu said, "What does this mean? The Eighteenth Prince saved Xiao Lei, and you are the benefactor of our Xiaohou Mansion. Xiao Hu will tell the truth whatever he knows."
Zhao Chengji understood that this was Xiao Hu's way of surrendering to him.
Naturally, he accepted it with pleasure, "From now on, Cheng Ji will have to rely more on Xiao Hou for advice when he is in court."
"Easy to say, easy to say."
"By the way," Xiao Hu continued, "In order to thank the Eighteenth Prince for saving my Xiao Lei, I am hosting a banquet in the mansion tonight. I wonder if the Eighteenth Prince is willing to come?"
Zhao Chengji nodded, "It's disrespectful."
Ten days later, Zhao Yan's condition was relieved and he went to court like a normal person. Envoys from other countries came to the court with letters of surrender and peace talks.
Zhao Yan was sitting in the high hall with a serious face.
After the envoy finished reading the letter of surrender and presented the peace money, he had a smile on his face.
"You are so brave and good at fighting. You are defeated by my youngest son this time. Are you not willing to accept it?"
The envoy hurriedly knelt down, "It's not that he is unwilling, but he is sincerely convinced!"
After hearing what the envoy said, Zhao Yan laughed heartily.
"Okay, I'm just kidding. It's normal for the two countries to have wars. It's normal to lose and win, but it's always the people on the border who suffer..."
"I hope the two countries can permanently repair each other in the future..."
"Emperor Dongling is wise!" The envoys from other countries praised loudly.
A real smile appeared on Zhao Yan's face.
After waiting for the peace talks between the two countries to end and the Fan Bang people to leave the capital, Zhao Yan finally couldn't hold on anymore and fell completely ill.
As the saying goes, sickness comes like a mountain.
Suddenly, the competition among the princes for the crown prince became more fierce.
While several princes were fighting with each other in the court, the eighteenth prince, who had just returned from a victorious battle, was silent in the crowd and had almost no sense of presence.
Several princes who regarded him as their enemy at first, saw him like this, and once again excluded him from the battle for the crown prince.
Obviously, it was not enough for this man to have only Xiao Hu's support. Although he defeated Fan Bang, he still had no time to develop his power in the court, and the emperor's illness progressed extremely quickly.
Little did they know that while the princes were fighting fiercely in the previous dynasty, Zhao Chengji began to wait silently in the emperor's chamber.
"Now, they are trying to gain influence in the capital. Why don't you go and instead stay here to take care of me, the dying emperor."
Zhao Yan was lying on the bed, looking at the eighteenth son who was serving him carefully.
"Father, my sons and ministers have no one to rely on. They consider themselves no better than any of their elder brothers. Therefore, the position of the prince has never been worthy of expectation."
"I have lost my mother since I was a child. My father is my only relative in the world. My father's health and long life are my greatest wishes!"
After hearing what Zhao Chengji said, Zhao Yan was moved.
In the past, he pinned the experience of this feeling of family affection between father and son on Concubine Li's children.
It was a great regret in his life that Concubine Li did not escape all kinds of assassinations from Empress Jiang.
He originally thought that he would never have the chance to experience the feeling of a loving father and a filial son. He didn't expect that the child who had been the most neglected by him would give him the most sincere care in the world.
This kind of care is not mixed with any conflicts of interest, it is just a son's concern for his father.
"Good boy," Zhao Yan stroked Zhao Chengji's hand, "you are my good son."
"Since you volunteered to go to Mobei battlefield, I can see that you are a good person. You are better than your brothers."
"Father, please don't say that. I am just lucky. Let other royal brothers lead troops on the battlefield. They will do better than me."
"Better?" Zhao Yan smiled, "You don't have much contact with them, so it's normal not to know. I'm afraid they are not at Xiao Lei's level!"
Speaking of Xiao Lei, Zhao Yan didn't know why Xiao Hu originally asked for the throne to be General Zuo for this prince?
He just wanted his son to receive military honors in Mobei as a matter of course and come back with more scenery.
However, the Xiao family father and son finally learned a lesson and were subdued by Zhao Chengji, which is a good thing.
As long as Xiao Hu doesn't go against Zhao Chengji, then from now on...
Thinking of this, Zhao Yan looked at Zhao Chengji with even more satisfaction.
No one expected that the emperor's illness would be violent when it came, but it would go away quickly.
Without waiting for the outcome of the battle between several equally matched princes in the court, the emperor went to court again in full swing.
Seeing that their father was safe and sound, several princes looked disappointed.
After going to court, the emperor called several powerful officials to go to the imperial study alone.
As for what will be discussed, everyone has a pretty good guess.
Sure enough, on the second day of court, the eunuch took the imperial edict and announced it loudly.
What about the 18th prince who is brave enough to conquer all three armies, has self-denial and restoration of etiquette, is unparalleled in resourcefulness, can take on big responsibilities, etc...
When these beautiful words are superimposed together, everyone already understands what the imperial edict is about.
On the spot, the hearts of several princes became cold.
Zhao Chengji became the prince unexpectedly.
When the news reached the capital, compared with the shock among the princes, the common people clapped their hands and applauded.
They didn't know how Zhao Chengji was filial to the emperor and served them in front of the royal bed. They only knew that Zhao Chengji led the Dongling Army to defeat Fan Bang and won the surrender of Fan Bang never to do it again.
For this alone, everyone agrees that Zhao Chengji is worthy of a great responsibility and will inherit the great power in the future.
When he learned that Zhao Chengji had become the crown prince without any surprise, Su Nianyun entrusted Fu Ming to send him a banknote worth 200,000 taels to celebrate.
But this time, Zhao Chengji did not accept the gift silently, but took the initiative to make an appointment with her at Jinming Tower.
"From now on, if you want to give me something, you don't have to go through Fu Ming, just come to me directly."
"Also," Zhao Chengji said, "I hope that there is more than just interest between you and me..."