Chapter 1328: The Banquet at Prince Yong's Mansion
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As dusk approached on that day, Zhao Hongrun took Jie Ziu, Que'er, and Wei Jiao on a carriage ride to Prince Yong's Mansion.
When they came to the street where Prince Yong's Mansion was located, they saw that the street was full of cars and horses, and it was already crowded a few miles away.
"As expected of the current trend." Zong Wei Chief Wei Jiao couldn't help but sigh.
When Zhao Hongrun and Jie Ziyu heard this, they both said nothing, each thinking about their own thoughts.
It took half an hour for the carriage that Zhao Hongrun and others were riding in to arrive at the gate of Prince Yong's Mansion.
From a distance, the welcoming gatekeepers of King Yong's Mansion had noticed the car of King Su Zhao Run, and hurriedly informed the several royal guards of King Yong who were waiting in front of the mansion. After learning about this, the chief of the royal guards, Zhou Yue, sent someone to notify the people in the mansion.
Yong Wang Hongyu personally came to greet him, so that when Zhao Hongrun stepped out of the carriage, Zhou Yue was already waiting in front of the carriage.
"Your Highness Prince Su, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come to the banquet." Zhou Yue saluted respectfully.
"Zhou Zongwei's words are serious." Zhao Hongrun responded with a smile.
Although he still had some resistance to today's banquet in his heart, this matter had nothing to do with Zhou Yue in front of him. Since the other party greeted him with a smile, Zhao Hongrun would naturally not be rude.
"The king of Japan came to the banquet today. He didn't bring any expensive gifts, just a few small gifts. I hope you won't be surprised."
With that said, Zhao Hongrun turned his head and glanced at Zongwei Chief Wei Jiao. The latter understood and handed a wooden box he was holding to Zhou Yue with both hands.
"Your Highness, Prince Su, is so polite. I would like to thank you on behalf of my Highness." Zhou Yue took it as if he was flattered.
No wonder Zhou Yue was flattered. After all, looking at the entire Daliang and even the entire Wei Kingdom, there were only a few households that could receive official gifts from King Su Zhao Run.
I think back when King Qing Hongxin hosted a banquet, what did His Highness present to him? He just threw a pair of riding whips to the welcoming disciples.
Today, His Highness specially sent a gift, which was an act of great honor to Prince Yong's Mansion, even though the contents in the wooden box were not actually valuable.
He solemnly handed the wooden box in his hand to the man behind him. Zhou Yue, the chief of the imperial guards, raised his hand respectfully and said, "Your Highness, Prince Su, please."
"Hmm." Zhao Hongrun nodded. Before entering the mansion, he glanced at the many carriages outside the mansion. Not only did these carriages occupy the open space outside the mansion, they almost filled this section of the street. It is not difficult to guess.
, how many celebrities and nobles came to the banquet today.
At the same time, in the main hall of the front yard of Prince Yong's Mansion, many guests had been seated here under the arrangement of the mansion, and among these guests, there were actually the eldest prince Zhao Hongli and Prince Xiang Zhao Hongjing.
The two princes, while looking at the colorful guests, were communicating in low voices, with more or less solemn expressions on their faces.
On the contrary, the staff who accompanied them, Luo Yao and Liu Jie, were calm and composed, chatting and laughing, and when they listened in, they were actually discussing academic issues.
"The fifth brother was forced to leave, and you and I are the only ones left. The second brother held a banquet today, which may not be to put pressure on you and me... What do you think of this, the elder brother?"
Xiang Wang Hongjing asked Zhao Hongli in a low voice.
Zhao Hongli smiled and said nothing, keeping in mind Luo Yao's advice to him: try to avoid talking to Xiang Wang Hongjing, or being talked into by him.
"Brother Chang Huang has given up on the fight for the throne?" Xiang Wang Hongjing asked again in surprise.
Seeing that he could not escape, Zhao Hongli said ambiguously: "Brother Fool is just a middle-aged man. Only King Yong can beat me ten times. He is the king, so there is nothing wrong with him."
"..." Xiang Wang Hongjing looked at Zhao Hongli, showing a bit of surprise for the first time.
I remember that a few years ago, the eldest brother in front of me did not have such a character. At that time, Zhao Hongli had a higher vision. Although he was pretentious, his talents were mediocre. He just had a good family background as the "eldest son".
But now, after suffering setbacks, Zhao Hongli seems to have learned humility and forbearance. The former Donggong Party has now taken root in the party and is quietly accumulating strength. This is also inseparable from Zhao Hongli's low profile.
Having said that, Zhao Hongli and the former Donggong Party have indeed kept a low profile in the past two years. Except for Zhao Hongli, who is still more or less active in the court and consolidates his control over the officials, the rest of the former Donggong Party seems to have disappeared in the country. Even
This time in the "Battle of Song County Raiders", the former Donggong Party did not participate in it, so if we didn't deliberately think about it, we might really forget about this group of people.
Of course, he kept a low profile, but King Xiang Hongjing did not believe that the eldest prince Zhao Hongli was willing to give up the fight for the throne and give up that seat to him. Otherwise, why would Zhao Hongli transfer "Zheng Tu" and other capable officials from the former East Palace Party from the local areas?
Joining Daliang to hold an important position? Aren't you just paving the way for a 'comeback' in the future!
For Xiang Wang Hongjing, it would be very beneficial to him if the eldest prince Zhao Hongli "comes back" at this time.
After all, the current Yong Wang Hongyu's momentum is too great, and he has lost Qing Wang Hongxin as an ally, or simply a shield. Therefore, he is very worried that Yong Wang Hongyu will attack him next.
Don’t forget, Zhao Hongjing once betrayed Yong Wang Hongyu.
Therefore, if the eldest prince Zhao Hongli comes back at this time, then Zhao Hongjing can form an alliance with this eldest brother and hug each other for warmth. In this way, when Yong Wang Hongyu wants to deal with him in the future, he will have to make some considerations.
What I didn't expect was that Zhao Hongli's answer was ambiguous and really didn't have anything useful.
After repeated testing, Zhao Hongjing couldn't bear it any longer. He lowered his voice and asked Zhao Hongli directly: "Brother Changhuang, if the fifth child falls, I'm afraid it will be you and me. Over the years, you and I have been together with Yong.
There are some grievances in the capital. Now that he is in power, I believe life will be difficult for you and me... I think that you and I should join hands in adversity to tide over the difficulties in order to protect ourselves."
"..." After hearing Zhao Hongjing's words, Zhao Hongli suddenly smiled, and that smile made Xiang Wang Hongjing feel a little inexplicably uneasy.
It turned out that Luo Yao had already made similar speculations to Zhao Hongli, guessing that Xiang Wang Hongjing would probably take the initiative to show his kindness and invite him to join hands with him to resist the pressure of Yong Wang Hongyu - and Luo Yai guessed it.
However, Luo Yao reminded Zhao Hongli and refused the matter.
The reason is very simple, because Xiang Wang Hongjing is not an ordinary wallflower, this smiling tiger has always been balancing the strength among the brothers.
When Zhao Hongli was strong and powerful, Zhao Hongjing defected to Yongwang Hongyu; later when Yongwang Hongyu overthrew him, Zhao Hongjing immediately switched his allegiance to Qingwang Hongxin; even later, when Qingwang Hongxin was strong, there were rumors that Zhao Hongjing secretly had an affair with Yongwang Hongyu.
How can such a person be trusted? I don’t even know when I was betrayed by him.
Therefore, Luo Yao suggested that Zhao Hongli simply let Xiang Wang Hongjing out - rather than leaving this person to stir up trouble, it would be better to let him out directly, and Zhao Hongli fight against Yong Wang Hongyu alone.
Although Yong Wang Hongyu is now very popular, Zhao Hongli also has his advantages.
First of all, Zhao Hongli’s mother is Empress Wang. As long as Empress Wang is still alive, Zhao Hongli, as the eldest son, cannot completely fall. On the other hand, as long as Empress Wang, who never likes to fight for power, comes to help, the situation may be different.
Same look.
Secondly, Zhao Hongli had the support of his half-brother Zhao Hongxuan, King Huan. Although Zhao Hongli never thought about repaying a favor, he could not resist the fact that King Huan Zhao Hongxuan, his younger brother, had clear grievances and strongly supported him in his fight for the throne.
Huan Wang Zhao Hongxuan is now quite influential in the Wei State. He holds the "Northern First Army" composed of 100,000 people, and has Anyi as a fief. In a few days, he will even marry a Korean princess.
, even though the prestige and status are not as good as those of his brother Su Wang Zhao Run, he can still be regarded as a powerful help.
With all these advantages, Zhao Hongli may no longer be able to compete with Yong Wang Hongyu, so why keep Xiang Wang Hongjing as a troublemaker?
Although the household department controlled by Xiang Wang Hongjing is also a very critical bargaining chip, in the final analysis, kicking this brother out and trying to control the household department will actually lead to the same result.
So, Zhao Hongli interrupted with a smile: "Today we will only talk about the things at the banquet, nothing else."
"..." Prince Xiang Hongjing's expression changed slightly.
He doesn't have such a powerful trump card as "his mother is the queen". If Yong Wang Hongyu really settles accounts with his wife, he won't be able to resist it.
The best outcome would be to be sealed off to a local fiefdom, and you would only have the chance to return to Daliang in three to five years.
And it can be expected that if he is sealed off from the outside, he will definitely not be able to get big counties like Shangshui, Anyi, and Shanyang. There is a high probability that Yong Wang Hongyu will randomly pick a remote and barren small county as his
His fiefdom—how different could it be from exile?
Just when Zhao Hongjing wanted to say a few more words, a visitor's announcement came from outside the house: "His Royal Highness King Su has arrived!"
After hearing this, the originally chaotic hall suddenly became quiet.
Zhao Hongjing didn't know what he was thinking of, and looked at the door with his eyes slightly brightened.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhao Hongrun walked into the palace with Jie Ziu, Que'er, and Wei Jiao. After glancing at the guests with different expressions in the palace, he came to his seat under the guidance of the servants.
.
"Why is he here too?"
"Prince Su Zhao Run actually came to the banquet... Hey, is there something good to watch today?"
Seeing Zhao Hongrun take his seat, there were private discussions in the hall, and many guests looked at Zhao Hongrun in a strange way.
Because many people suddenly realized when they saw Zhao Hongrun: Even though King Zhao Xin of Qing was forced to leave Song County, there was still Zhao Run, King of Su in Daliang.
Moreover, the power of King Su Zhao Run was even greater than that of King Qing Zhao Xin.
After realizing this, many guests in the palace couldn't help but secretly guess Zhao Hongrun's purpose of coming: Is it to show weakness to King Yong Hongyu? Or is it a sign of war against King Yong Hongyu?
It's no wonder that when the rumor spread in Daliang that "King Su wanted to fight for the throne", Zhao Hongrun listened to the suggestion of Jie Ziu, who had hidden "selfishness", and did not express his attitude to resist the rumor.
Perhaps sensing that many guests in the hall were looking at him intentionally or unintentionally, Zhao Hongrun raised his head in confusion, only to find that those people quickly shifted their gazes.
"Huh? What are those people looking at me for?"
"..."
Jie Zizi lowered his head rather guiltily and fiddled with the wine cup on the table.