The royal family's family banquet tonight was held in a hurry and ended in a hurry. After the small episode in the middle, it finally seemed to break up on bad terms.
King Duan and King Kang were originally brothers, but due to the struggle for the throne, one is now superior and the other is a frightened bird, which also serves as a warning to others.
Given how ruthless King Duan was to King Kang, he had to think about how he would treat his other brothers, including the concubines in the palace, and even Emperor Chen himself when he inherited the throne in the future.
After the banquet, everyone left. Emperor Chen looked ugly, and anyone could tell that he was in a bad mood.
He scowled and said in a deep voice: "You treat your brother like this before you become the emperor. When he succeeds to the throne, are you going to get rid of me too?"
No one answered him, and no one dared to answer him. Chen Huang thought for a while with a sullen face, and then said: "Inform Shangshu Sheng that this civil examination will be mainly conducted by the Ministry of Personnel, supplemented by the Ministry of Rites, and supervised by King Huai..."
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that these arrangements are a blow to Prince Duan and the Tang family. Wei Jian sighed softly and whispered: "I obey the decree..."
…
The imperial examination in the Gyeonggi region is about to start in a few days, but at this juncture, His Majesty has reversed the main and auxiliary departments responsible for the imperial examination, changing it to the Ministry of Personnel as the main one and the Ministry of Rites as the auxiliary. This is by no means a random act by His Majesty.
The meaning is obvious.
Prince Duan had just eliminated the biggest threat and had almost secured his position as Crown Prince.
But this position is not easy to sit in. At least before he became the emperor, he had to keep a low profile. King Duan used military force to win over important ministers in the court, which made his majesty dissatisfied and gave up the errands that originally belonged to him.
King Huai and even the Tang family of the Ministry of Rites were affected.
This was His Majesty's beating on him, and it was a very severe beating.
The purpose is to remind and warn him that he is not the emperor yet. If he is still so unscrupulous, it may not be his turn to sit on the throne.
…
Prince Duan's Mansion.
King Duan's expression looked very depressed. He thought that without King Kang, he would no longer have any obstacles in his work in the court. Who would have thought that even the credit he had finally won would have to be given away, and he would be taking advantage of King Huai in vain.
.
Tang Qi took a sip of tea and said: "King Kang has become the heir, so it is impossible to argue with His Highness. Your Highness can continue to be the same as before. If you don't do well, isn't this how King Kang failed?"
"What did I do?" King Duan said with a depressed look on his face: "I didn't do anything. He spilled the wine himself and he knelt down himself. What does the father blame me for?"
Tang Qi looked at him and asked: "Prince Kang is really afraid that His Highness will be like that?"
"Can I still lie to you?" Thinking of King Kang's frightened look yesterday, King Duan still felt a little relieved, but the consequences after the relief were hard to accept.
Tang Qi thought for a moment and said: "It was unexpected that he sought death and forced himself to stay in the capital that day. What happened last night was also a bit excessive..."
He looked at Prince Duan and said, "If His Highness is not really frightened to death, or he is still evil-minded and coveting that position..."
"Based on what he is now?" King Duan smiled and said, "Uncle, do you think he still has a chance?"
King Kang has become the heir, and there is not much power around him anymore, and there are major stains on him that cannot be erased. It is a fact that there is no hope of succeeding to the throne.
"After all, you have to be careful." Tang Qi looked at him and said: "Your Highness still doesn't understand some things in the court, and you can't understand His Majesty's thoughts, so don't do anything else. We don't seek merit, but nothing."
If you pass, there won’t be any big mistakes.”
"I understand." Prince Duan nodded, and then he realized something was wrong.
He obviously didn't do anything last night, but he was still warned by his father. Even if he didn't do anything, some people would still take the initiative to provoke him...
…
After Prince Kang was deposed, all the counselors in the palace also left. After he failed to commit suicide, he dismissed most of the servants in the palace and stayed in the palace all day, never leaving the gate. It seemed that
He was really frustrated and planned to be an idle prince with no sense of presence in the capital.
Prince Kang's Mansion.
King Kang, with gauze wrapped around his head, stood in the courtyard, listening to a servant's report.
The man stood behind King Kang, bowed down, and said respectfully: "Back to Your Highness, my subordinates have already inquired clearly. Your Majesty has handed over all the military examinations to King Huai. The civil examinations have also taken away the power of the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Personnel has taken over.
When we went up, everyone said that His Majesty was beating Prince Duan and the Tang family..."
King Kang's expression was neither happy nor sad, but he said with some regret: "Li Rui is actually much cheaper..."
He looked at the servant and asked, "Where is Mr. Xu?"
The servant said: "Sir has gone out."
King Kang looked at the sky outside the wall and murmured: "Sir, what you expected is indeed good..."
Capital, above the main street.
A middle-aged scribe in Tsing Yi walked through the crowd, pacing slowly, occasionally stopping at a street stall to look at the goods and chat with the stall owner.
When he walked to a calligraphy and painting stall, he picked up a fan and looked at it.
The stall owner was a young man in shabby clothes. He looked at him with a smile and asked, "Which one do you like, sir?"
The middle-aged scribe looked at him and asked, "How can I sell this one?"
The stall owner said: "A handful of three coins."
The middle-aged scribe continued to ask: "Will three pieces of ten pieces of literature be sold?"
There was a trace of hesitation on the stall owner's face, and he said: "Because Mr. is an old customer, I sold it at a loss..."
The middle-aged scribe took out ten coins from his sleeve, put it on the table, and said, "Take three handfuls."
The stall owner took three fans, wrapped them up, and handed them to him. He whispered: "What's going on with King Kang?"
The middle-aged scribe said calmly: "I don't know."
The young man said solemnly: "You are the only counselor left in Prince Kang's palace. Don't you know what he wants to do?"
The middle-aged scribe said: "He doesn't trust me yet."
The young man said: "Do you think I will believe it, or do you think adults will believe it?"
The middle-aged scribe said calmly: "Since you don't believe it, I will just leave Prince Kang's Mansion."
The young man's expression changed and he immediately said: "That's not what we meant. If you continue to stay in Prince Kang's Mansion, if anything happens, report it immediately..."
The middle-aged scribe put away his fan, glanced at him, and said, "Tell you, sir, if King Duan commits suicide and pushes out the throne with his own hands, he can't blame anyone else..."
The counselors in Prince Duan's palace have complicated expressions. Prince Duan has been a little complacent these days. He only relies on himself to do things without asking their counselors. That's why His Majesty suppressed him today.
He glanced at the middle-aged scribe and whispered: "Thank you, Mr. Xu, for reminding..."
…
Tang Ning learned about Prince Duan being beaten from Zhao Man the next morning.
Yesterday, King Kang knelt down to King Duan at the family banquet. The banquet broke up unhappy, and those things happened later.
Zhao Man's expression was a little complicated and she said: "Is Brother Duan Wang really that scary? Yesterday, Brother Kang Wang just accidentally spilled wine on his shoes, and he was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and used his sleeves to protect him.
He wiped it, begged his father to spare him, and smashed his head..."
Tangning shook her head and said, "He was not scared."
"Ah?" Zhao Man looked at him doubtfully and asked, "Why is that?"
"Although it was Prince Kang who was frightened yesterday, it was Prince Duan who suffered in the end." Tang Ning looked at her and said, "After what happened yesterday, your father handed over the martial arts test that he was supposed to be responsible for to Prince Huai.
, this is a knock on him.”
Zhao Man looked at him and said in disbelief: "Did Brother Kang Wang do this on purpose?"
Tang Ning nodded and said, "Not only yesterday, but also the last time he hanged himself, he was probably just pretending to stay in the capital and cause trouble..."
Zhao Man looked in disbelief and murmured: "How is this possible? Are people so scheming?"
"You don't know, those who are playing conspiracy have dirty hearts..." Tangning held her in his arms and said, "The outside world is very dangerous. Just stay by my side and I will protect you..."
