Standing in front of King Qi, Wen Xunpeng, who was reporting the matter, looked pale and his body was trembling slightly. He was obviously afraid that King Qi would be angry with him in this situation.
But what needs to be said still needs to be said.
"Your Highness, this matter is not simple now. The emperor is like this. I am afraid that he attaches great importance to Su Zi's status. He is the son of the prince himself, and now he wants to be admitted to the clan. He has great righteousness, and the emperor also chose a clan name for him.
I'm afraid there will be many ministers in the court who will be biased towards him."
How could the King of Qi not know what his staff said?
He said coldly: "Father, I'm afraid you are old and confused. You just demoted me and the King of Shu's people before, and now you immediately expelled Su Zi."
"If we continue to arrange it and give our ginseng to him, we will definitely not allow him to be naturalized safely. Even if it is disgusting, I will disgust him."
King Qi slapped him hard, and the staff on the side wanted to persuade him, but for a moment they did not dare to speak out when King Qi was furious.
In fact, according to their thinking, in this case, it was obvious that the emperor wanted to let Su Ziji enter the court to achieve a balance with the kings. This showed that the emperor had already established some control over his two most powerful sons, King Qi and King Shu.
Only when we are vigilant can we have this countermeasure to check and balance.
The emperor is obviously wary of it, but if he insists on making trouble again at this time, won't this arouse the emperor's suspicion and displeasure even more?
But was the emperor vigilant? Secondly, they persuaded the prince when he was furious, fearing that he would be attacked on the spot.
Everyone looked at me, and I looked at you, all looking at their eyes, nose, mouth, and heart, but no one said anything.
Prince Shu's Mansion
Like the Prince of Qi's Mansion, a meeting was also being held in the Prince of Shu's Mansion after receiving the news.
The staff of the King of Shu were sitting at the bottom, and the young prince sitting above was unfolding a secret letter in his hand. He was asked to pass it to the staff below to read it one by one. When it was sent back, he put it on the candle and lit it.
The burn disappeared little by little.
"I wonder how angry my brother will be when he learns this news?"
King Shu seemed very easy-going and relaxed. Thinking about what King Qi might look like at this time, he smiled dumbly.
The staff below all looked at the King of Shu and felt strange. They didn't know why the King of Shu was not angry, but had a smile on his face.
Now in the court, although the King of Qi's camp has indeed suffered setbacks many times, it is not the King of Shu's party that has benefited.
The dirty water that was poured on the King of Shu's body has not yet been washed away. Apart from anything else, Luo Pei is still in the prison and has not been rescued.
No matter how you look at it, he is the same as King Qi, who was feared and suppressed by the emperor.
Su Zi was urgently recalled, and now he will be officially naturalized. Once naturalized, he will definitely be the son of the prince. So what if the prince is dead?
As the crown prince, the emperor's eldest son and the crown prince's only surviving son, he was recognized and naturalized. Isn't the prince worried about the advantages of this status?
Raising tigers is prone to disasters, and allowing Su Ziji to develop like this will be even more harmful!
A staff member named Min Quyi had a sparse beard. Worried about this, he almost tore off the few remaining beards. At this time, he couldn't bear it anymore. He stood up and boldly saluted the King of Shu: "Your Highness,
I don’t know why you are so calm?”
"The last time the embankment broke, it was said that our people were responsible for it, which caused us a lot of trouble. Now the court is still investigating, and His Majesty has demoted the people involved. We have already lost several people. If the charges are proven, I'm afraid we will lose more than 100,000 people."
There will be more people.”
"The naturalization of Su Zi has made our situation even worse."
This is true.
The atmosphere in the court has been tense recently. King Qi was alerted by the emperor, and King Shu was questioned by the emperor in front of all the ministers about the collapse of Shun'an Mansion's embankment. Although he did not say anything excessive, dirty water was thrown at him.
It's easy to get it on your body, but it's difficult to shake it off cleanly.
The incident of the embankment collapse has long been over. The person responsible at that time was indeed a member of the King of Shu. Tracing back to the source, no matter how you investigate, it is all related to the King of Shu. Even the people in the King of Shu's party know that they were not responsible for this matter. But
Will people outside believe it? Will the person on the throne believe it?
Not believing is a sin.
The most important thing is that maybe the emperor knows what he knows, but the public opinion in the officialdom is very unfavorable to the King of Shu. There is no conviction or scolding, but it is still under investigation. Is the prince really not worried about this matter? Nor is he worried about Su Ziji's naturalization?
, is it the prelude that the emperor wants to take action against the kings?
"Humph!" When his staff mentioned this matter, King Shu naturally showed a hint of coldness on his face.
How could he not know this?
And there is no need to think about who did it, it was probably his good brother who did it 80% of the time!
His older brother was very familiar with this kind of frame-up. When we were young, we all studied together in the palace. This good brother had a bad temper, but he was never soft-hearted in using such conspiracy methods, and his heart and hands were evil.
It's a pity that I have been vigilant for many years, but I still fell into the trap and was deceived again.
But there is also a trace of happiness. The person hiding around me has been able to get enough of him to trust him. If he hadn't been exposed when the embankment broke this time, he would have stabbed him even more severely at the critical moment. That would have been a real trap.
!
His eyes fell on Min Quyi who was asking questions below. King Shu shook his head: "What do you know? Even if this happens, is it possible that my father will demote me?"
The words of the King of Shu not only shocked Min Quyi, but other staff also fell into deep thought.
In fact, the King of Shu's eyebrows are very similar to those of the young emperor. He has two thick eyebrows, and his eyes are like paint. He wears a piece of sky-blue Ning silk. He is young and handsome. His descendants surnamed Ji often have good looks. Even the mediocre-looking clan members can usually have facial features.
Upright or comely.
He looks elegant, but when he raises his eyes, he seems to be awe-inspiring and intimidating.
In fact, the King of Shu was not angry with the staff, but he held his breath and took advantage of this opportunity to say everything.
He sneered: "The reason why my father wants to enroll my little nephew in this clan is just to suppress me and King Qi, huh!"
"In this world, we are always father and son. Even if I kill someone, what will happen? Even if the embankment breaks, what will happen? I am always the prince. As long as I don't give the direct order, I have reasons to shirk and be dismissed.
Do you want me to let the King of Qi become big alone?"
Just think about it and you'll know it's impossible.
Why did the emperor rush to summon Su Ziji to Beijing? Was it because he wanted to check and balance himself and the King of Qi?
Why should Su Ziji be used to check and balance him and the King of Qi? Of course, it is because the father is old, and the old lion is worried about being ousted by the young lion, so he wants the young lion to fight among himself in order to sit firmly on the Diaoyutai.
But even so, the princes and grandsons are still princes and grandsons. It is not like a batch of Jinshi can be produced every three years. He and the King of Qi, to put it in a self-deprecating way, are wasting "scarce resources" where one is missing.
.
The emperor would not feel bad if he used officials as chess pieces and destroyed a few, but there were only three adult princes. His younger brother, King Lu, was far less powerful than himself and King Qi, and the adult grandson was only Su Zi.
If there is one less person, the situation will change. If there is one more person, the situation will also change. He does not believe that his father will let him out for such a trivial matter.
When two tigers fight, one of them will be injured. It is safest to stand on three legs.