On the couch in the inner hall of Ganlu Hall, Emperor Wei slowly opened his eyes and asked feebly.
Seeing this scene, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth a few times, and looked at his father on the couch with a blank expression, but didn't say anything.
Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, the eunuch Tong Xian who was standing next to the dragon bed quickly stood up to smooth things over: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince Su is back."
"Okay, okay, help me up."
Emperor Wei waved his hand and signaled Tong Xian to help him sit up so that he could lie back on the couch.
At this time, Emperor Wei turned to look at Zhao Hongrun, beckoning him to come forward: "Hongrun, how is the rebellion in the city...?"
Zhao Hongrun looked at his father with an expressionless face and said calmly: "Under my father's wise leadership, the thief's conspiracy has been stopped."
Listening to his son's somewhat suggestive words, Emperor Wei's brows twitched slightly, but he returned to normal in an instant, shook his head and said: "Hongrun, please don't put gold on my face...Thanks to me for this time
If not, I really don’t know how to explain to my ancestors.” After that, he sighed sadly, smiled bitterly and said to Tong Xian: “Tong Xian, am I really old?”
"..." Tong Xian glanced at Zhao Hongrun calmly, lowered his head and did not dare to reply.
However, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but sneered and said with a hint of sarcasm: "Father, what are you talking about? I'm so happy to see my father... I just heard that there is a person who looks exactly like my father.
Carrying a sharp sword, I personally participated in the battle on the other side of the palace gate..."
When Emperor Wei heard this, he was calm and pretended to be thoughtful. He blinked and said, "Probably Li Zheng used my name and deliberately asked people to pretend to be me in order to boost the morale of the army and frighten the thieves."
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun chuckled and said in a pretense of fuss: "Master Li Zheng is using the name of his father? This is the crime of perverting the imperial edict..."
"Ahem." Emperor Wei coughed and said with a hint of sarcasm: "If the matter is urgent, I will pardon him." After that, he was afraid that Zhao Hongrun would continue to entangle the matter, so he quickly changed the subject.
.
In fact, when it comes to this matter, Emperor Wei has long understood: the son in front of him has long been aware of the things he concealed.
But having said that, Emperor Wei refused to admit it, and Zhao Hongrun couldn't do anything about this rogue approach unless he could get Li Zheng and the guards of the Gongwei Division to testify. But when Li Zheng and the guards of the Gongwei Division confronted each other,
His father is loyal and will definitely not testify; secondly, it is not worth it to mobilize troops and mobilize a large number of people for such a small thing...
"...I got fooled by him again, you bastard old man."
Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but murmur secretly in his heart.
At this time, Emperor Wei had shifted the topic to the aftermath of the rebellion. He said to Zhao Hongrun: "Hongrun, although the rebellion has been put down, the people in the city must be in panic at this moment.
Someone needs to step in to stabilize the overall situation to avoid repeating the same situation as before
The disaster of the "Five Parties Crusade"..." After that, he sighed slightly, and then said seriously: "I know that my son has never liked this kind of trouble, but you have also seen that I am old, and now my heart is in trouble.
Powerless. Only you can take on this important responsibility right now..."
Hearing Emperor Wei's sincere words, Zhao Hongrun felt that if he had not seen through the entire game, he might have fallen into the trap again.
Thinking of this, he opened his mouth and said: "Isn't there still too..."
Just as he said this, his voice stopped suddenly.
He originally wanted to say, "Isn't there still a prince?", but for some reason, he couldn't say it.
I don’t know whether he was disappointed that Prince Hongyu’s temperament changed drastically, or because it was the former’s aggressive attitude towards Prince Hongxin that triggered the rebellion, or because Zhao Hongrun himself had already become dissatisfied with Prince Hongxin.
Disappointed.
At this moment, there was a noise outside Ganlu Palace, and someone could still be vaguely heard shouting: "I have something urgent to report to His Highness King Su, why do you stop me from entering?... Your Highness? Your Highness? Are you there?"
Inside?"
Seeing Zhao Hongrun's face showing some embarrassment, Tong Xian waved to a young eunuch and gave the latter a few instructions.
The little eunuch nodded and ran out of the palace.
After a while, he left and returned again, bringing with him several Shang Shui soldiers. The leader was none other than one of the mighty generals of the Shang Shui Army, especially the thousand-man general Xiang Li.
Seeing Xiang Li rushing into the palace in a hurry, Zhao Hongrun coughed and scolded: "This is the place where my father rests, so don't be arrogant!"
Xiang Li shrank his head and quickly saluted Emperor Wei with clasped fists and called him "Your Majesty" while he was lying on the couch.
Emperor Wei smiled and waved his hand, indicating that he would not blame him.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun asked: "What's the matter?"
Xiang Li clasped his fists and said seriously: "Your Highness, there is a palace on fire..."
Emperor Wei frowned when he heard this, and even Zhao Hongrun had a bad feeling. He frowned and asked, "That palace?"
"It seems to be called..." Xiang Li scratched his head and said hesitantly: "Jin...Jin what palace? Jinse Palace? No..."
Zhao Hongrun's eyes changed slightly when he heard this, he frowned and asked: "Splendid Palace?"
"Yes, yes!" Xiang Li nodded repeatedly and said: "This is the Jinxiu Palace. When the general and Ran Teng led the troops to that palace, the palace was already a sea of fire. At that time, the general and Ran Teng wanted to put out the fire, but they couldn't.
I thought that there were a few people outside the Jinxiu Palace who stopped me... those people were the Zongwei who claimed to be the prince."
"..." Zhao Hongrun opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
How could he not have guessed that most likely out of shame or resentment, Prince Hongyu did not want to meet him, so he simply committed suicide and set a fire in the Jinxiu Palace where his mother, Concubine Shi, lived during her lifetime.
Upon hearing this news, Emperor Wei felt sad in his heart.
To be fair, Prince Hongyu has done well in the past year. The only shortcoming is his tolerance - this tolerance does not mean that Prince Hongyu cannot tolerate others, but that he is too suspicious and lacks the ability to treat others.
of trust.
Let’s not mention Qing Wang Hongxin for the time being. The wise ministers in the court at that time were Xu Guan, the former Minister of the Ministry of War, and Li Liang, the former Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. These were the pillars of the court. However, precisely because Prince Hongyu did not trust them, he simply dismissed those former ministers.
The important ministers of the imperial court were left idle and replaced by people he trusted - in a sense, this can also be said to be nepotism.
In the final analysis, it can only be said that Prince Hongyu lacks confidence in himself. In this regard, this Crown Prince is far inferior to Emperor Wei Zhao Yuanxi and Prince Su Zhao Hongrun.
Why did Emperor Wei dare to let Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, take over the military power? Because he thought that as long as he was around, Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, would not be able to do anything!
And why did Su Wang Zhao Hongrun dare to write a letter handing over the military power of the three armies of Yanling Army, Shangshui Army and Youma Army to Prince Hongyu? Because Zhao Hongrun was confident that even if he handed over military power to Prince Hongyu, as long as he escaped and said
After giving the order, these three armies will still not escape his control.
This is confidence! This is confidence!
But it is a pity that Prince Hongyu lacks self-confidence in this regard, otherwise, he would not have hurriedly tried to take back the power of his brothers before he was firmly on the throne.
Now that he had vaguely guessed that Prince Hongyu had committed suicide in the Jinxiu Palace, Emperor Wei was sighing in his heart.
Because in his opinion, although Prince Hongyu still lacks some of the magnanimity of a king, if he serves as the prime minister and assists a brother, it is more than enough. However, Emperor Wei also knows that based on Prince Hongyu's self-esteem,
This is simply impossible.
"The prince's move...is this to make way for Hongrun?"
Emperor Wei secretly sighed, and he couldn't help but regret that he had spoken too harshly when speaking to Prince Hongyu on the audience platform.
As the saying goes, a tiger's poison cannot eat its own children. Even though the Emperor of Wei thought that the crown prince's reputation was still lacking and was not enough to lead the Wei State, he hoped to take this opportunity to put his eighth son Zhao Hongrun on the throne, but he never thought of forcing him to death.
Prince Hongyu.
But it turned out that Prince Hongyu's self-esteem was stronger than he had guessed. After realizing that he was about to lose everything, he simply chose to end his life in a decent way while he was still the crown prince.
.
He even used his own death to complain to their father: Don’t you want Lao Ba to take over? Okay, I’ll give it to him, are you satisfied?!
Thinking deeply about it, Emperor Wei couldn't help but feel a little sad.
You must know that among the several sons, Prince Hongyu is the most similar to him. Regardless of the tactics and scheming, the only difference is that Emperor Wei trusted Zhao Yuandai, the king of Yu, as his right-hand man, while Prince Hongyu, even
There is some suspicion and fear towards Zhao Hongrun, let alone other brothers.
It is no exaggeration to say that without Zhao Hongrun, Emperor Wei would definitely choose Prince Hongyu as his successor. However, there is no so-called "if" in reality.
After thinking about it, Emperor Wei suddenly felt a little sleepy - if he was pretending to be tired just now to show Zhao Hongrun, then now, after learning that Prince Hongyu had committed suicide in Jinxiu Palace, he really felt tired.
.
Because in a sense, he indirectly forced Prince Hongyu, his talented son, to death. After all, when Prince Hongyu made mistakes, he did not come forward to remind or stop him. Instead, he took advantage of Prince Hongyu's mistakes.
As an inducement to achieve the goal in his mind.
Thinking of this, Emperor Wei sighed and said softly: "Hongrun, I'll leave the aftermath to you..."
Zhao Hongrun nodded silently.
In the next two days, Zhao Hongrun ordered the entire city to be cordoned off and searched for Xiao Luan. Unfortunately, trying to find a person in such a huge beam was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
During this period, anyone involved in the "King Qing's rebellion" was ordered to be arrested by Zhao Hongrun, such as Zhao Hongxin, King of Qing, Zhao Yuanzuo, King of Nanliang, Zhao Hongyin, King of Yi, and Wei Feng of the Wei family in Tianshui, etc.
After being deceived, King Huan Zhao Hongxuan and King Yan Zhao Hongjiang and Zhao Hongrun showed no mercy and asked the clan to take the two brothers away and let them go to the meditation room of the clan to calm down and think about it.
In addition, Zhao Hongrun temporarily took over the military power of the imperial guards, King Qing's army, anti-rebellion army, etc., and ordered the three to "stop their troops and reorganize."
As for the final verdict on this rebellion, the court has not yet made a decision.
Because before that, there is another more important matter, which is the candidate for the crown prince.
As the saying goes, a country cannot be without a king for a day, and the position of crown prince and crown prince cannot be left vacant. After all, as we all know, the physical condition of Emperor Wei is getting worse day by day, and God knows when he will pass away. Since the prince Hongyu is no longer here, then the court must
The new prince must be identified first, and then other matters can be dealt with in an orderly manner.
As for the prince's chance of becoming the crown prince, this matter is already a certainty in the eyes of some discerning people in Daliang City.
The whereabouts of the eldest prince Zhao Hongli are still unknown, the second prince and prince Hongyu unfortunately died in the battle at the palace gate (acclaimed by the court), the whereabouts of the third prince Zhao Hongjing, king of Yangzhai, are unknown, the whereabouts of the fourth prince Zhao Hongjiang, king of Yan, the seventh prince Zhao Hongyin, and the ninth prince Huan
Both Wang Zhao Hongxuan and Wang Zhao Hongxuan were involved in the rebellion. They are currently imprisoned in the clan mansion and thinking about their mistakes. Except for the sixth prince Zhao Hongzhao who went to Qi State to be the prime minister, only the eighth prince Zhao Hongrun, the eighth prince, was not involved in the rebellion. Moreover,
He also led his troops to stop the rebellion. More importantly, almost all the soldiers in Daliang are currently under the control of His Highness King Su.
What else is there to say?
Even those who don't like Zhao Hongrun can only shake their heads and sigh in this situation, secretly reminding themselves that they have to behave honestly with their tail between their legs in the future.
But the strange thing is that after waiting for three days, there was still no movement from the court.
On February 19, Du You, the Minister of Rites, once again went to Ganlu Hall to ask for instructions from Emperor Wei about the appointment of the crown prince and crown prince.
After all, this rebellion was so serious that not only several princes were involved, but also the crown prince Hongyu died in the incident, causing people in Daliang City to panic.
Under this situation, Du You, the Minister of Rites, believed that the Emperor of Wei must appoint a crown prince as soon as possible in order to stabilize people's hearts.
It may be that the current situation no longer requires him to think about it. Therefore, Du You, the Minister of Rites, said very directly when asking for instructions from Emperor Wei: "...It would be better for your Majesty to appoint King Su as soon as possible. Otherwise, the court will not be able to operate and the people's hearts will not be stable.
.”
After hearing this, Emperor Wei smiled bitterly and said nothing.
He wanted to immediately appoint Zhao Hongrun as the crown prince, but the problem was that this son had always had his own way of life since he was a child. How could he settle it with just an edict?
If this son disobeys orders and regards the position of "prince" as nothing, then as the king of Wei, won't Zhao Yuansi lose his face and lose his life?
So when it comes to this kind of thing, it depends on the attitude of the docile donkey.
Anyway, Emperor Wei is not in a hurry at all. He has been waiting for eight or nine years. How can he still be anxious about the last few days?
As for the imperial court being temporarily unable to operate, if it cannot operate, then it cannot operate. Anyway, Prince Su Zhao Hongrun has hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Daliang. Who else dares to make a mistake?
Under the secret attention of countless pairs of eyes, Zhao Hongrun did not say anything. He took his concubines Zhao Que, Wei Jiao, Lu Mu and other Zongwei who immediately abandoned their troops and came to Daliang after hearing that the rebellion in Daliang was over.
Under the strict protection of the navy soldiers, he left the city and came to the hills northeast of the city, and came to the tomb of his uncle Zhao Yuanli, the sixth king.
"You wait here."
"yes!"
After instructing Ran Teng, Xiang Li, and Zhang Ming, three brave generals of the merchant navy to guard the periphery of the temple, Zhao Hongrun took his concubine Zhao Que and the clan guards into the temple.
While Zhao Hongrun was looking at the grave of Uncle Sixth Prince, the clan guards quickly arranged the tables, wine cups, dishes and other items they had brought with them, and then left quietly.
Even Zhao Que, after inspecting the temple inside and out, withdrew from the temple. At this time, only Zhao Hongrun was left in the temple.
"Uncle Six, I came to see you. Unfortunately, I haven't brought Xiao Luan's head yet..."
Arriving at the shrine enshrining the tomb of Sixth Uncle Zhao Yuanli, Zhao Hongrun stared at the tomb of Sixth Uncle Wang. Then he picked up the tomb and placed it on the table.
Then, he sat on the seat on the other side and filled the wine glasses on both sides of the table with wine.
"Do it first to show respect."
Raising his glass towards the spiritual throne, Zhao Hongrun drank it all in one gulp.
Drinking one cup after another, Zhao Hongrun murmured to himself about the events of the Wei Kingdom over the years, including his own family affairs, to the memorial tablet of Liu Wangshu. For example, he already had a son, a daughter, etc.
In his drunken haze, Zhao Hongrun vaguely seemed to see Sixth Prince Zhao Yuanli sitting down next to him and looking at him with a smile.
"Congratulations, why don't you bring those two little guys to see Uncle Six so that Uncle Six can have a look at them?" Zhao Yuanli, the king of Yi, who was sitting opposite Zhao Hongrun, asked with a smile.
"This time I came to Daliang to quell the rebellion. What are I going to do with those two little guys? What's more, Ajiang and Ran'er are very precious to those two little guys, how can they put them in danger? Next time,
After the situation stabilizes, I will take them to visit Uncle Six." Zhao Hongrun said with a smile.
Yi Wang Zhao Yuanli smiled, said no more, and chatted with Zhao Hongrun all over the place.
While chatting, the uncle and nephew inevitably talked about the issue of "Prince and Crown Prince".
When talking about this topic, Zhao Hongrun's heart became much heavier.
To be fair, he never thought about seizing the throne and becoming the king of Wei because he was too tired and didn't want to be tied to the corner of Chui Gong Hall like his father for decades.
Therefore, he initially supported Yong Wang Hongyu.
Unexpectedly, after Yong Wang Hongyu became the crown prince and experienced the death of Concubine Shi, his temperament changed drastically. Not only did he become headstrong and arrogant, he actually wanted to take back the power of his brothers without any expectation.
Even after encountering strong resistance from Qing Wang Hongxin, he did not hesitate to use his Wei State's heritage as a bet and provoked a civil war.
Of course, now that Prince Hongyu has burned himself in Jinxiu Palace, it is meaningless to talk about this.
But as a result, Zhao Hongrun also faced a problem, that is, he no longer had a brother he paid attention to.
"Isn't there still you?" Uncle Liu Wang, who was sitting across from him, said with a smile.
"Me?" Zhao Hongrun shook his head and said with a wry smile: "But I have never had this idea... I have always wanted to be like Uncle Liu, free and easy, and be a peaceful and happy person in the powerful Wei Dynasty.
Dandy..."
"Free and easy?" Uncle Liu sighed melancholy, looked at Zhao Hongrun and asked sincerely: "Hongrun, do you really think Uncle Six can live a free and easy life?"
"..." Zhao Hongrun was speechless.
Because he knew that once upon a time, he mistakenly thought that the uncle Liu Wang in front of him was the most carefree and unrestrained person in the world, but it was not until later that he understood that the so-called cynicism of Uncle Liu Wang was just to numb himself, just like
There is a reason to get rid of troubles by getting drunk.
It can be seen from the fact that Uncle Liu Wang has never married and had children in his life. He has always been obsessed with Xiao Shuai, and therefore, he regrets for the rest of his life for having indirectly killed Xiao Shuai. In this case, how can this Uncle Liu Wang be called
Free and easy?
"... I could indulge back then because the Wei Dynasty had four brothers, your father, and you had to take on this responsibility yourself... Do you still remember your ambition? King Xian in the prosperous age, sir
There must be a "prosperous age", and then you can take some time off, and at present, I, the Wei Dynasty, cannot bear the word "prosperous age"... Just do what you should do, Hongrun."
Lifting the wine cup on the table, Uncle Liu Wang said with a smile.
Unknowingly, Zhao Hongrun got drunk.
The next day, when he opened his eyes and came to his senses, he realized that the glass of wine opposite was still full and had not been touched at all.
After taking a look at the sky outside the temple, Zhao Hongrun stood up and placed Liu Wangshu's spiritual tablet back on the shrine.
"The prosperous age...?" He smiled faintly.
Immediately, he took a deep breath, stared at Uncle Liu Wang's spiritual tablet, and said seriously: "Goodbye, Uncle Six..."
After saying that, he suddenly turned around and walked towards the outside of the temple.
"Go back to Daliang!"
"yes!"
The people who had been waiting outside the temple all night responded.
An hour later, after Zhao Hongrun returned to Daliang, he went straight to the palace and asked to see his father in the Ganlu Hall.
Perhaps due to the death of Prince Hongyu, Emperor Wei's complexion was indeed not very good these past two days.
When he saw Zhao Hongrun, he saw that the folds of his robe were somewhat dirty and even smelled of pungent wine. Emperor Wei asked curiously: "Where have you been?"
"I went to pay homage to Uncle Liu Wang." Zhao Hongrun replied calmly.
"Oh?" After hearing this, Emperor Wei's brows trembled slightly, and he couldn't help but sit up for a moment, looking at Zhao Hongrun up and down with a solemn expression.
After a while, he relaxed his body again and said solemnly: "It seems that you have made a decision."
"Yes, Father." Zhao Hongrun nodded.
Seeing this, Emperor Wei's eyes flashed with gleams, and he asked with great interest: "Tell me about it?"
Unexpectedly, Zhao Hongrun, who had been sullen just now, suddenly changed his attitude after hearing these words, and said angrily: "What does it have to do with you?"
Emperor Wei was stunned for a while, then asked with a strange expression: "My son came here specially to see me, isn't it just to tell me your decision?"
"Of course not." Zhao Hongrun curled his lips and said to himself: "I just came here to see my father... Didn't my father say that he would not live long a few days ago? I came to see when my father would kick his legs.
.”
"This bastard!"
Emperor Wei was so angry that he finally understood that his son must have something wrong with him and came here to trouble him.
Thinking of this, he cursed: "Get out!"
Zhao Hongrun shrugged, turned and walked out of the palace. When he reached the door of the inner palace, he suddenly stopped and said to Emperor Wei with an unhappy expression: "You win."
Emperor Wei was stunned for a moment, and when he subconsciously looked at the entrance to the inner hall, he found that Zhao Hongrun had already left.
"This bastard boy really refuses to give in at all..."
Muttering to himself, the pretended anger on Emperor Wei's face was gradually replaced by a happy smile.
After a while, he took a deep breath and turned to look at the eunuch Tong Xian who was also smiling next to him.
"Tong Xian, issued an edict to appoint the eighth son Zhao Run as the crown prince!"