On May 20th, the day of the Zhonggong Banquet, after brothers Zhao Hongrun and Zhao Hongxuan returned to Zhongyang Hunting Palace, they immediately reported to their mother, Concubine Shen Shu, that they were safe.
Taking advantage of this moment, the eunuch Tong Xian came to Emperor Wei and whispered to the latter about the movements of the surveillance target.
During this half-month period, there were four subjects under surveillance by the eunuchs, namely the Yangwu Army, the Imperial Guards, and the civilian transport team that had transported supplies to the Zhongyang Palace a month ago.
There is another one, who is surprisingly the chambermaid himself.
Yes, even the great eunuch Tong Xian, who was in charge of the internal eunuchs, could not fully trust the huge internal eunuchs under his command. Therefore, he specifically asked the two generals Li Ji and Cao Jie of the Jun Shui Army to ask Jun to
The naval forces monitored the eunuchs of all sizes.
It is worth mentioning that during the surveillance process, the eunuch Tong Xian also noticed some green crows wandering in Zhongyang Hunting Ground.
However, Tong Xian chose to turn a blind eye to this group of people. After all, the Green Crows, a group of hidden thieves under Su Wang Zhao Hongrun, had their own strict screening and monitoring system. It was almost impossible for the remnants of the Xiao family to be among them. Who could let them
Why does Ying Kang, the leader of the Green Crows, like to choose people from Shangshui? In fact, most of the people from Shangshui are Chu people.
Therefore, in a sense, in the current unclear situation, the Green Crows are one of the few allies that the Internal Affairs Supervisor can trust.
According to the information reported by Tong Xian, Emperor Wei was most suspicious of the caravan of civilians who transported supplies to Zhongyang Palace a month ago. After all, civilians recruited temporarily by the imperial court were the easiest to be infiltrated by the remnants of the Xiao family.
Next is the Yang Wu Army. This army was praised as being able to catch up with the Wei Wu Army during the era of King Zhao Kang of Wei decades ago. After decades, it has been completely reduced to a guard who takes care of the Zhongyang Palace and Zhongyang Hunting Grounds.
, Emperor Wei's trust in him was almost zero.
Next is the Imperial Guard. There are various signs that even the Imperial Guard stationed at the gates of the palace have had some problems over the years.
And finally, there is the chamberlain supervisor himself.
Emperor Wei and the eunuch Tong Xian only made a guess about the accomplices of the remnants of the Xiao family in the inner chamber. They have not obtained any definite evidence so far, but it is undeniable that if there are accomplices of the remnants of the Xiao family in the inner chamber,
Party, then the threat caused by this is more serious than the first three combined.
"Is there any movement from the King of Nanliang?" Emperor Wei asked Tong Xiandao.
Tong Xian shook his head and whispered: "Not yet."
The Second Northern Army of the Southern Liang King Zhao Yuanzuo is currently stationed at "Jianshan" to the west of Zhongyang and south of Xingyang. It is about seventy or eighty miles away from the Zhongyang hunting ground, which is similar to the distance of the Southern Yan Army stationed in Yuanyang.
To be cautious, Emperor Wei secretly ordered General Zhu Hai of the Chenggao Army to dispatch an army of 5,000 men to station in Xingyang in the name of "assisting in the construction of the track carriage from Sanchuan to Daliang", and sent spies to monitor the Second Army of the North.
every move.
If the Second Northern Army makes any unusual moves, the Chenggao Army in Xingyang and Chenggao Pass will dispatch immediately.
"Where's Lao Liu?" Emperor Wei asked after thinking for a while.
"These days, Prince Yi is busy preparing for the banquet in the palace and has no contact with anyone." Tong Xian said in a low voice.
"Hmm." Emperor Wei nodded and exhaled, perhaps feeling a bit relieved.
At this time, Concubine Shen Shu had finished scolding her two sons and led them back to Emperor Wei.
Seeing Zhao Hongrun and Zhao Hongxuan winking, Emperor Wei seemed to have temporarily forgotten the troubles in his heart and couldn't help laughing. It was obvious that Zhao Hongrun and Zhao Hongxuan did not take their mother's reprimand to heart.
Hearing Emperor Wei's laughter, Concubine Shen Shu was also a little annoyed. After all, her two sons were getting older and older, and as a mother, her words were indeed not as effective as before.
Fortunately, the two sons were still filial. Although the dangerous act of going hunting alone was not in Concubine Shen Shu's liking, when the two brothers came back, one presented a fox skin and the other a bear paw and bear bile, which made Concubine Shen feel very happy.
My heart feels warm and I finally feel relieved.
What made her feel funny was that the eldest son gave her a valuable white fox fur and said, "The mother and concubine are not in good health and need to pay attention to sudden changes in the climate." This made her feel warm in her heart. But for Emperor Wei, this son did not
He handed over two rabbits with an expressionless face, which made Emperor Wei gnash his teeth in anger - this disparity is too big, right?!
Seeing Emperor Wei pretending to be angry and driving Zhao Hongrun away, Concubine Shen Shu shook her head and laughed.
Sometimes she really couldn't understand the way the father and son got along. Although they had a good relationship, they deliberately wanted to tease each other and refused to reveal their inner feelings.
After bidding farewell to Emperor Wei and Concubine Shen Shu, brothers Zhao Hongrun and Zhao Hongxuan returned to Zhen Palace.
It was already Shen Shi in the afternoon, and some impatient nobles were already heading to the Central Palace in groups to prepare for the feast that night.
By the time the two brothers returned to Zhen Palace, the female family members such as Princess Yulong, Mi Jiang, and Oona had already taken off their hunting clothes and put on their skirts. Zhao Hongxuan was so excited to see them.
"How about it, you don't need to be that flirtatious fox, right?" Oona deliberately came to Zhao Hongrun and circled around.
Seeing Zhao Hongrun's embarrassed look, Zhao Hongxuan and the other sect guards snickered. They all knew that the coquettish fox in Oona's mouth was referring to Ying'er.
Amid everyone's joking laughter, Zhao Hongrun coughed and changed the subject: "Well, it's almost time. Let's leave for the Central Palace."
Perhaps because she didn't get a definite answer from Zhao Hongrun, Oona angrily dragged Princess Yulong and Mi Jiang away.
Zhao Hongrun shrugged helplessly and rushed forward with his younger brother Zhao Hongxuan and the Zongwei.
When Zhao Hongrun and his entourage arrived at the Central Palace, it was already overcrowded. No wonder, after all, the noble children participating in the imperial hunt this time were almost all accompanied by their families, and together with the close guards, there were probably thousands of them.
So many.
No, near the Zhong Palace, Zhao Hongrun saw Chengling King Zhao Shen, who was followed by five young people. Through conversation, Zhao Hongrun learned that three of the four or five young people were the sons of Chengling King Zhao Shen, and two others
The other is his nephew who is relatively close to him, and was specially brought to see the world by Chengling King Zhao Shen. After all, the imperial hunt is indeed one of the most important events in the Wei Kingdom.
Due to seating constraints, Zhao Hongrun and Zhao Hongxuan's clan guards were not lucky enough to attend today's banquet. Zhao Hongrun only brought Wei Jiao, Gao Kuo, and Lu Mu, while Zhao Hongxuan only brought Li Meng and three other clan guards.
, after all, according to the statistics of the Internal Attendant, there were no less than two thousand people attending the banquet this time. Therefore, there will inevitably be a limit on the number of attendants for each place.
Of course, even those who did not have the opportunity to attend the banquet in the central palace hall could still go to the side hall to eat and drink. No, after saying hello to Zhao Hongrun, Mu Qing disappeared with the rest of the clan guards.
, it is said that I went to grab a seat.
Walking into the main hall of the middle palace with Chengling King Zhao Shen and others, Zhao Hongrun truly realized the majesty and hugeness of this palace. It was bigger than the Zichen Hall where guests were held in the palace. The pillars in the hall were all made by two people.
The huge pillars that cannot be hugged, and the top of the palace are more than ten feet high, which makes Zhao Hongrun secretly stunned: I wonder how much money was spent to build this palace.
After walking into the main hall of the middle palace, a waiter from the chamberlain came over to lead the way and guide each guest to their respective seats.
The seats of Zhao Hongrun and his party are on the east side. Starting from the first seat of the east seat, they are Zongfu Zongzheng Zhao Yuanyan and his son, Nanliang King Zhao Yuanzuo, Sixth Prince Zhao Yuanli, Xiang Wang Zhao Hongjing, and Zhao Hongrun is ranked fifth.
Later, Princess Yulong sat alone, and King Huan Zhao Hongxuan sat alone.
It was said to be one seat, but in fact those long tables could accommodate three people. Therefore, after Zhao Hongrun sat down, he extended his hand to invite Mi Jiang and Oona.
However, Oona seemed to still have some anger in her heart, so at Princess Yulong's invitation, she sat at the latter's seat. Fortunately, Mi Jiang was given the honor and knelt down on the right side of Zhao Hongrun.
Otherwise, if even the future Princess Su sits with Princess Yulong, then Zhao Hongrun will be embarrassed.
Seeing this scene, Zhao Hongxuan couldn't help but joked: "Brother, I hugged you on both sides at night a few days ago, didn't you feel good?"
After a while, after all the guests sat down in their respective seats according to the instructions of the chamberlain, a group of young and beautiful women walked out of the side doors on both sides of the main hall. I saw these women, each wearing thin clothes.
The inner skin is vaguely revealed, which is very eye-catching.
"These...are not palace maids, are they?"
Zhao Hongrun thought with some surprise, because he saw that each of those women was wearing heavy makeup, with spring eyes, and graceful walking. They really did not look like those palace maids who had been taught strict palace etiquette.
After a while, Zhao Hongrun understood that these women were specifically responsible for picking up food, pouring wine, and serving the wine.
"How does it feel to hug each other?" Zhao Hongrun teased his younger brother Zhao Hongxuan.
Perhaps because he saw King Huan Zhao Hongxuan sitting alone, two enchanting and graceful women came to Zhao Hongxuan, one on the left and one on the left. They were seen wearing low-cut skirts, and the skin under their thin clothes was looming, as if it had been pulled away.
Bone-like and greasy around Zhao Hongxuan, who had no experience in this area, made Zhao Hongxuan blush with shame and feel at a loss.
Seeing his younger brother Zhao Hongxuan tense up, his face flushed, and his eyes not squinting, Zhao Hongrun laughed maliciously.
And just when he was making fun of Zhao Hongxuan, from the corner of his eye, he saw a figure flashing past his left back. Then, a gentle body leaned against him, and someone whispered in his ear affectionately: "Your Highness, have you ever...
Do you miss your slave family?"
Zhao Hongrun was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously turned around to look, only to realize that the person leaning against him at the moment was actually Yinger, whom he had not seen for a long time.
"You..." Zhao Hongrun was stunned, looked around, and then saw Ying'er's sister Que'er also sitting down next to Mi Jiang's right hand.
"..." Mi Jiang glanced at Que'er. Neither of these two taciturn women spoke.
Seeing Zhao Hongrun's actions, Ying'er gently bit Zhao Hongrun's earlobe and said with a sneer: "Compared with the slave family, His Highness seems to care more about Que'er... Is the slave family not as good as Que'er's service?"
"It's nothing." Zhao Hongrun said vaguely because he noticed Oona at the next table with her mouth pouting and eyes full of resentment.
"Why are you here?" he asked, changing the subject.