The wooden box with the mechanism inside was also abandoned aside. The great eunuch Tong Xian ordered an accompanying young eunuch to fetch a wooden box specially used for drawing lots to avoid being tricked again.
Within half a stick of incense, the young eunuch brought over a wooden box. Tong Xian checked it carefully and confirmed that it was just an ordinary box. Then he placed it on the Dragon Case and placed it on the table.
The nine pieces of paper written by the Emperor of Wei were put back in.
"How about it, do you still want to smoke?"
Glancing at the unhappy Zhao Hongrun, the Emperor of Wei was so happy that he smiled a little and teased: "You try to take out another piece of paper with your name on it?"
Zhao Hongrun frowned and glanced at his father, and said angrily: "Just slap him!"
As he spoke, he raised his hand and reached into the wooden box.
Although his face looked indignant after being provoked, in fact, he was secretly happy in his heart.
Yes, that wooden box with a mechanism was just a false move.
Because not only did he know it, but even the Emperor of Wei also knew that he would definitely try his best to trick the lot when drawing lots. In order not to make the emperor suspicious, Zhao Hongrun deliberately showed his flaws.
Think about it, with Zhao Hongrun's intelligence, would he naively think that the emperor really couldn't see through his tricks?
Only after failing once, and going with the flow to create a "last-ditch" atmosphere, can you have a chance to deceive the Emperor of Wei.
As for how to deceive this time, it is actually very simple. Zhao Hongrun has hidden a piece of paper with his name in his sleeve. As long as he touches a piece of paper, while his hand is still in the wooden box, he can quickly remove it.
Just swap it with the piece of paper in your sleeve.
Although this trick may seem simple, the simpler the trick, the more likely it is to achieve the goal.
"What's wrong? Are you pumping?" Seeing that Zhao Hongrun's hand was in the box without any movement for a while, the emperor urged impatiently.
"Father, why are you so anxious? Why don't I hesitate?" While grumbling, Zhao Hongrun quickly unpacked the paper he touched and the paper hidden in his sleeves, and then still pretended to be unhappy, and then put the piece of paper away.
The paper was pulled out.
It has to be said that Zhao Hongrun pretended to be very similar. He clearly knew that the name written on the paper in his hand was his, but he deliberately pretended to be hesitant, as if he was worried that the name on the paper was not his.
After a long time, he sighed, turned around and handed the piece of paper to Tong Xian: "Eunuch Tong, please read it for me."
Tong Xian did not doubt that he was there. He took the paper and carefully spread it out: "This is His Highness the Eighth Prince."
As he said that, he spread the piece of paper towards everyone, and sure enough, the word "Hongrun" was written on it.
"Really me?"
Zhao Hongrun pretended to have an expression of surprise and patted his chest repeatedly.
Seeing his expression, the princes felt a little puzzled, but they didn't think so. After all, it was because of the mechanism hidden in the wooden box just now, and this time, Tong Xian had already removed the wooden box one after another.
The box was checked and there was no mechanism. Zhao Hongrun was still able to pull out the piece of paper that represented him. It can only be said that it was God's protection.
It's a pity that only the Emperor of Wei didn't think much of it.
"Haha, one is false and the other is true, it does have some skills. It's a pity..."
Smiling, the Emperor of Wei grabbed the hand Zhao Hongrun used to draw lots, reached out and groped in the sleeve of that hand for a while.
Sure enough, he took out the real lottery paper from Zhao Hongrun's sleeve.
Holding the piece of paper between his two fingers, the emperor deliberately mocked Zhao Hongrun: "Hongrun, what do you think this is?"
"..."
Although Zhao Hongrun's expression remained unchanged, he was already secretly complaining in his heart.
He had long known that ordinary tricks could not deceive this wise father, so he thought of a false and true method, deliberately exposing the trap of the wooden box, and at the same time pretending to be at his wits' end, in order to make this wise father
Father can reduce defensiveness.
But I didn't expect that my father would see through it in the end.
"Does my father really want to kill everyone?" Zhao Hongrun said in a low voice.
"Hehehe." The Emperor of Wei felt amused in his heart when he heard this, and said calmly: "It's your dirty tricks, who can blame you?... Go down, I have already given you a chance."
"It seems that my father intends to prevent me from participating in the imperial examination..."
Zhao Hongrun looked at the emperor angrily, and finally walked back to his original position in frustration.
Even this was seen through by the emperor, and he had no other options. Now he could only gamble on luck and see if he could be drawn from those nine cards.
Seeing Zhao Hongrun's unhappy look, all the princes felt a little amused. Some even secretly muttered: Why on earth does this son think he can deceive their father?
"Eighth brother, why do you want to participate in the scientific examination and accompany the prison?"
Seeing Zhao Hongrun walking back to him, the sixth prince Zhao Hongzhao, who had a good relationship with him, asked curiously.
From the side, the ninth son of the emperor, Hongxuan, also looked at his brother in confusion, wondering why his brother did not hesitate to use tricks to win the spot of the prince's companion in prison.
"It's hard to explain this matter." Zhao Hongrun sighed slightly and looked up to see Tong Xian checking the papers and preparing to draw lots again for the third time. He was not in the mood to explain.
At this time, he had prepared for the worst. Even if he couldn't get the spot for the prince to accompany the prisoner this time, he would still find a way to sneak into the scientific examination.
This time, the lot was drawn by the Emperor of Wei himself.
Under the close attention of the princes, the emperor slowly opened the folded paper.
Not to mention, even Zhao Hongrun was inevitably a little nervous at this moment.
Suddenly, Zhao Hongrun noticed that the emperor frowned.
"Could it be that..."
Zhao Hongrun's heartbeat accelerated slightly.
Because he found that his father not only frowned, but also slightly turned his head and glanced.
"Is it true..."
Zhao Hongrun had a look of worry on his face. At this moment, he was really worried that his father was deliberately playing tricks on him.
But it turned out that the Emperor of Wei did not seem to mean to make fun of him. After taking a look, he reluctantly called out his name.
"The candidate to accompany this scientific examination...Hongrun."
"yeah!"
Seeing the unwillingness of the Wei Emperor, Zhao Hongrun clenched his fists excitedly.
"No way?"
"Real or fake?"
The princes who had already left the cabinet looked at each other, and they thought to themselves, could cheating still attract God's help?
"pity……"
Yongwang Hongyu said it was a pity and shook his head.
Beside him, Xiang Wang Hongjing also sighed with regret.
But after looking at each other, they smiled in unison.
Because in their eyes, or in other words, in the eyes of the four princes who have resigned from the imperial court except the Prince of the East Palace, as long as the quota of accompanying the prisoner for the scientific examination this time does not fall into the hands of the Prince of the East Palace, they can accept it no matter who it is given to.
What's more, the person who got this spot was the eighth among their brothers, a brother who had no intention of competing for the throne.
Only the Crown Prince of the East Palace, Hongli, looked unhappy. He frowned at the proud Zhao Hongrun, but he didn't say anything.
"Hahaha, indeed God is still on the side of the emperor... If I had known this, there would be no need for the emperor to waste so much effort."
The so-called being obedient despite getting a bargain probably refers to Zhao Hongrun at the moment.
Seeing his father expose his tricks twice in succession, but in the end he was the one to accompany him to prison. Zhao Hongrun felt so happy, especially when he saw his father's helpless expression with a frown on his face.
"Good boy!" The emperor seemed to be very angry at his son's behavior of taking advantage of him and acting like a good boy. He snorted loudly, threw the paper in his hand back into the wooden box, and said with a straight face: "Since it belongs to you according to God's will,
I will just follow the destiny... But I have something to say first. You are just going to supervise the examination this time. If you mess up this year's examination, hey, let's see how I deal with you!"
"Threat? Hey!"
"Father, don't worry, the emperor will definitely fulfill his obligation to accompany the prisoner."
Zhao Hongrun didn't take his father's threats to heart at all. After all, he was just planning to seize Luo Wenzhong's handle this time to avenge the previous frame-up. He was not really planning to cause trouble in the scientific examination.
"Father, please take your leave and prepare."
Arching his hands towards the emperor, Zhao Hongrun left the Hall of Wende almost humming a tune happily.
Seeing the eighth prince Zhao Hongrun's cheerful appearance when he left, and then looking at the unswerving look on the emperor's face, the eunuch Tong Xian lowered his head.
He would never have the guts to tell the truth.
Yes, because he was standing next to the Emperor of Wei at that time, he could clearly see that the word "Hongzhao" was clearly written on the piece of paper the Emperor took out.
Yes, the one who was really drawn was the sixth prince Hongzhao, not the eighth prince Hongrun!
However, out of a certain thought, the Emperor of Wei opened his eyes and told lies, and called Zhao Hongrun's name out of nowhere.
To be more precise, no matter which prince the Emperor of Wei wins this time, he will call out Zhao Hongrun's name.
"Father, let's take our leave first."
"Father, the emperor and others will leave first."
Perhaps seeing the perseverance on the Emperor's face, the princes all left one after another. Although they all hoped that the chosen one would be them, the matter was at this point and they could not do anything else. After all, they still cared about the throne.
Therefore, he could never be as free and easy as Zhao Hongrun in front of the Emperor of Wei Dynasty.
The princes all bid farewell to the emperor one after another, including Hongli, the prince of the East Palace who also looked unhappy.
Seeing that there was no one around in the palace at this moment, Tong Xian wisely took care of the consequences for the emperor: he lit the pieces of paper on the candlestick and burned them, destroying the evidence.
"Did you see it?" the emperor asked quietly.
Tong Xian's hands shook slightly when he heard this, and he whispered: "Yes."
"It's rotten in my heart." The emperor said lightly, but his tone was like an unquestionable command.
"Yes." Tong Xian secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Only those who always accompany the king will understand what it means to accompany the king like a tiger.
Being able to sit in his current position, Tong Xian naturally knows that there are some things that must be buried in his heart, and no one can reveal them, not to mention that the emperor has spoken in advance.
"Let's go to the Chuigong Palace." The Emperor of Wei said.