Not long after, as the great eunuch Tong Xian walked into the palace and sang a report with a high-pitched voice, the concubines, princes, and princesses who were already in the Wende Palace, under the guidance of Queen Wang, saluted one after another to welcome the emperor.
"Let's all be flat."
The Emperor of the Wei Dynasty, Zhao Yuancai, waved his hand and smiled, walking towards the emperor's seat and beckoning everyone to get up and take their seats.
However, according to the rules, the rest of the people could only take their seats after the Emperor Wei took his seat.
Finally, the emperor sat down facing the princes and the front hall, and then the concubines, princes, and princesses took their seats one after another.
To be fair, Zhao Hongrun doesn't like to attend this kind of so-called family banquet. In his mind, the members of the family banquet should all be close relatives, such as Concubine Shen Shu, the ninth prince Hongxuan, well, Miss Su can also be invited, and the sixth prince Zhao
Hongzhao, as for the Emperor of Wei, will he love you or not?
The family dinner in front of him was filled with too many strangers and had no so-called "home" atmosphere. Zhao Hongrun didn't like it.
You see, Concubine Shen Shu and Ninth Prince Hongxuan, the two most important family members in Zhao Hongrun's mind, were seated far away from him. Concubine Shen Shu's seat was placed among the concubines after the emperor, and Ninth Prince Hongxuan,
He was even placed on the other side of the prince's seat, giving Zhao Hongrun no chance to say a word to his younger brother.
On the contrary, Wei Jiao, Gao Kuo and Zhou Pu, who were at the table behind Zhao Hongrun, looked excited.
Can you not be excited? This is a family banquet hosted by the Emperor of Wei Dynasty. How many dignitaries in the capital dream of attending the banquet but have no chance.
Whenever at this time, they can't help but secretly rejoice that they are Zongwei, because with their relationship with the prince, Zongwei will most likely be able to participate in such an occasion. Well, although there are not many places, it takes ten
Ming Zongwei decided by drawing lots.
After the emperor took his seat, he said a few words of emotion, generally wishing for peace in the family and other words of blessing and encouragement. During this period, Zhao Hongrun finally realized what Yong Wang Hongyu's phrase "time is running out" actually meant.
It turned out that it was Li Shi, the Crown Princess of the East Palace, who led a six or seven-year-old child to greet the emperor. The little boy also performed a poem reciting in front of the public, and the child's voice was crisp and clear, which made the emperor laugh and be extremely happy.
"Brother Emperor, how old is Yonglu?"
Zhao Hongrun asked in a low voice the sixth prince Zhao Hongzhao who was on his left. The "Yonglu" in his mouth was the little boy who was beside the emperor at the moment, the son of Hongli, the crown prince of the East Palace, the eldest grandson of the emperor, the youngest son of the princes of Zhao Hongrun's generation.
Nephew.
Since the Wei Dynasty paid more attention to the issue of direct heirs, the princes of the East Palace in the past often had heirs before they were crowned to ensure the orthodox inheritance concept of the royal family, while the other princes did not have this rigid requirement.
"Yonglu?" The sixth prince Hongzhao calculated and replied in a low voice: "You are six or seven years old, right? Seven years old... yes, seven years old."
"Seven years old...that is to say, after this year, you will be eight years old, and you can enter the palace to study..."
Zhao Hongrun thought silently.
In the palace, princes and grandsons who have reached the age of eight can be regarded as "little adults". Firstly, the possibility of early death is reduced to a minimum at this age. Secondly, their talents and learning can be cultivated according to the requirements and sent to them.
Cultivate young Zongwei.
Both the other princes and Zhao Hongrun came through this way.
In other words, when the little nephew reaches the age of eight and officially enters the palace school, the pressure on princes like Yong Wang Hongyu who have ambitions to compete for the throne will be even greater, because by then, their opponents will
It’s not just Prince Hongli, but also Prince Hongli’s eldest son, Emperor Sun Yonglu.
Because there is no guarantee that the emperor will favor the eldest emperor, Sun Yonglu, and pass the throne to the prince of the East Palace because of his love for him.
Thinking this way, the time of King Yong and others is indeed running out. As the emperor's eldest grandson gradually receives the attention of the emperor, their life will become increasingly difficult.
No, seeing the emperor smilingly holding the eldest emperor Sun Yonglu in his arms and asking him to sit at the same table, except for the prince Hongli who was smiling, the other four princes who were interested in vying for the throne had smiles on their faces.
Somewhat reluctantly.
At this time, under the signal of the great eunuch Tong Xian, the young eunuchs of the Shangshan Bureau had already brought dishes up one after another. It was undeniable that Zhao Hongrun was far more interested in those fragrant dishes than he was in observing the princes.
In his eyes, today's so-called family dinner is just a free meal.
While eating, the emperor began to communicate verbally with his sons. Although the ancients had the rule of "don't speak when you eat", the original meaning of this sentence is that you cannot talk while eating, that is, chewing and talking at the same time.
, this is impolite. It does not mean that you cannot talk while eating.
On the contrary, it is a long-standing tradition for the whole family to talk and communicate during meals, especially for families that cannot easily get together.
If there is nothing to talk about even during meals, I believe this family will have few opportunities to communicate at other times.
For example, Zhao Hongrun at the moment was focused on eating meat, fish, and pig trotters. Apart from occasionally chatting in a low voice with Zhao Hongzhao, the Sixth Emperor's brother on his left, he had no intention of getting involved in the emperor's games.
Oh, the so-called emperor's game is actually that the emperor asked the three ministers of Zhongshu Province to think up some riddles. At this time, he asked Tong Xian to read them out during the family banquet, and asked the princes and princesses to guess. If they guessed correctly, what would happen?
There are some nifty gadgets as a bonus.
The rewards for princes are jade belt hooks (for hanging jade pendants), jade pendants, etc., while the rewards for princesses are jade bracelets, jade hostas and the like.
It is purely a small game to liven up the atmosphere of the feast.
But it is undeniable that the princes and princesses are quite interested in this. Of course, perhaps what the princesses care about are the exquisitely crafted jades, but for some princes who are ambitious to aspire to the throne of the ninth emperor, they care more
What matters is whether he can frequently show his face in front of his father and the emperor to please the emperor.
After counting, I am afraid that only Zhao Hongrun is eating vegetables and drinking fruit wine by himself, as if he is out of tune with everyone else in the hall.
Because they were purely riddles to liven up the atmosphere of the banquet, and they also had to take care of the princesses who were relatively weak in literary talent, the riddles that the three ministers of Zhongshu Province came up with were relatively simple, and occasionally there would be one or two that were more difficult.
.
For example, "One thousand is insufficient on the left, but more than ten thousand on the right."
Almost as soon as Tong Xian finished reading, Zhao Hongrun guessed the answer to the riddle in his mind.
"Imitation." The sixth prince Hongzhao guessed the first riddle correctly.
After guessing the first riddle correctly and receiving a small reward of a jade pendant from a young eunuch, the Qilin'er just drank and stopped participating in the riddle guessing.
Rain and dew come together, he can't guess all the riddles by himself, can he?
Zhao Hongrun, on the other hand, didn't even bother to guess a riddle. After all, it was obvious at a glance that the reward gadgets came from the palace, and he couldn't sell them for money. In that case, what did he do with those gadgets?
"After saying goodbye, put aside the past grudges."
"Qian."
"The work is unique."
"Lu."
"The banker is short of harvest."
"Second."
"Point to the east and west."
"Yi."
"Be the first to enter Sichuan"
"color."
When the two princes Zhao Hongrun and Zhao Hongzhao took the initiative to give in, the other princes and princesses all gained a lot. They received small rewards and were praised by the emperor. Many people couldn't help but show joy on their faces.
Only Zhao Hongrun is out of place. Unlike the sixth prince Zhao Hongzhao, who just drinks slowly with a smile on his face, and it is obvious at a glance that he is giving way to the royal brothers and sisters, he just eats by himself, as if
Not even interested in listening to those riddles.
Seeing this, the emperor was angry and funny. Although he knew that these simple riddles could not trouble the eighth prince, whose intelligence was comparable to that of Qilin'er Zhao Hongzhao, Zhao Hongrun's disrespectful behavior made the emperor a little unhappy.
"Hongrun, why don't you guess?"
The emperor raised his hand to signal Tong Xian to stop asking questions for the time being, and asked Zhao Hongrun.
As soon as these words came out, many concubines, princes, and princesses in the palace looked at Zhao Hongrun subconsciously.
You must know that Zhao Hongrun was out of tune with everyone in the past, but the emperor never asked about it. But today, the emperor took the initiative to ask, what does this mean?
This means that the emperor is different from the past and has gradually begun to value this prince.
"Hongrun, you should try it too...don't let it spoil your fun."
The sixth prince, Zhao Hongzhao, gestured with his eyes to the eighth brother in the right-hand seat. Although he understood that since these riddles could not trouble him, they would naturally not be able to trouble the eighth brother next to him, but the problem was that his eighth brother had always had a bad temper.
Being eccentric, there is no guarantee that he will not do anything outrageous.
Maybe it was because he was defeated and speechless at the hands of the emperor last time. Zhao Hongrun already had some respect for his father. He didn't say anything. He just raised his hand and made a gesture to the eunuch Tong Xian.
Please” gesture.
Tong Xian understood the idea and asked with a smile: "Stand aside and please don't say anything."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Hongrun already gave the answer: "Jing."
"Answered so quickly..."
Everyone in the palace was a little surprised, and even the sixth prince Zhao Hongzhao had a look of surprise in his eyes. After all, Zhao Hongrun came up with the answer as fast as him, which can be said to be a quick thinker.
"Congratulations to His Highness the Eighth Prince."
Tong Xian still said the same thing as before, and at the same time, he motioned to the little eunuch behind him to deliver an exquisite jade hook to Zhao Hongrun.
Zhao Hongrun picked up the jade hook and took a look at it. Seeing that it was of excellent quality, he grabbed the little eunuch and whispered, "Go and change the bracelet for me."
The little eunuch glanced at the Eighth Prince in confusion, but did not dare to say anything. He quickly took the jade hook and exchanged it for a bracelet and sent it to Zhao Hongrun.
"Are you planning to give it to Concubine Shen Shu?" Sixth Prince Hong Zhao asked curiously in a low voice.
"Ah... uh, yes." Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this, and his expression couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, because what he was thinking about just now was Miss Su, who had had physical contact with him, and he really didn't think about his mother and concubine.
Zhao Hongzhao looked at the expression on Zhao Hongrun's face in surprise, and felt a little puzzled, but he didn't think about it in detail.
The emperor was happy to see that his son was so knowledgeable, and he did not raise any thorns. However, it was undeniable that some people had noticed that the emperor had just taken the initiative to ask about Zhao Hongrun.
For example, the prince of the East Palace, Hongli, was not very happy.
After all, in his opinion, his eighth brother seemed to be very close to Yong Wang Hongyu, and he had ruined his good deeds in the scientific examination last time.
The Prince of the East Palace could not swallow this breath.