The Struggle of the Reborn Prince

Chapter 16: Chatter in the Palace ()

It’s time to hold the lanterns, and the lights in the palace are brightly lit. Today is the birthday of the current emperor. During the day, the emperor held a banquet with ministers and entertained envoys from all over the world. In the evening, the queen held a family banquet in Funing Palace and led all the concubines to congratulate the emperor on his birthday. Say yes.

Not everyone can attend the family banquet. In addition to the Queen, there are the noble concubine Zheng Hongmei, the concubine Shu Wang Furong, the concubine Liu Lilian, Cui Yue'e, plus several Shujie who just gave birth to the prince, and several elders.

Pointed prince, princess.

Queen Wang and her concubines congratulated the emperor on his birthday and offered birthday wine. Zhao Ji spent the whole day banqueting with ministers and foreign envoys, and was already a little tired. Queen Wang had lived in seclusion since the post-abolition crisis, and her health was getting worse day by day.

He was getting weaker. Today, even though he applied a little makeup, he could not hide his sick look. After bowing, he sat next to the emperor.

"Congratulations to my father on his birthday. May your father be as blessed as the East Sea and live longer than the Southern Mountains!" Then the eldest prince Zhao Huan led his two older brothers and sisters to kneel down and congratulate Zhao Ji on his birthday. He has been growing up in the palace.

Under the guidance of his mother, Queen Wang, he behaved well at a young age, like a little old man.

"Haha, good!" Zhao Ji said with a laugh. Ever since he listened to the old Taoist Liu Hunkang and raised the northwest of the imperial city, sons and daughters were born one after another. Now he has nine sons, four daughters, and more than ten children.

, "What gifts did you bring to daddy?" Looking at the pile of children, he was in a good mood. With so many children, he would not be in the dilemma of not having an heir after his brother's death.

"Father, I wrote a poem today, describing today's grand event of birthday celebrations for hundreds of officials!" Zhao Huan said seriously.

"Father, I wrote a poem to wish my father a happy birthday!" As soon as Zhao Huan finished speaking, the third son Zhao Kai said with a smile. Although he was born a few months later than Zhao Tao, he still showed his talent in art.

talent.

"Father, my son cannot compose poems, so he copied a copy of the "Book of Filial Piety" and dedicated it to his father!" Zhao Ji, the fourth son, presented it respectfully.

"I embroidered a handkerchief for my father and pricked his hands several times!" the eldest daughter Zhao Yupan said impatiently. She and Zhao Tong are the same mother, but they have a naturally lively personality.

"I embroidered a sachet for my father," the second daughter Zhao Jinnu said eagerly, not wanting to lag behind.

"Okay, show them all to daddy, reward them all!" Zhao Ji said happily, and asked Xiao Huangmen who was standing by to watch the reward.

"Well, yes, this is not bad!" Concubine Zheng and Zhao Ji reviewed the children's gifts together, with smiles on their faces, but in their hearts, if Tong'er was in the palace, she should be standing here, but now she doesn't know where she is.

What to do.

"Guan Jian, look at how good the third prince's lyrics are. He has everyone's style. He will definitely be the number one scholar in the future!" Yang Jian, who was waiting on the side, said with a smile.

"Well, indeed, reward the gold belt from the inner treasury to Kai'er!" Zhao Ji nodded and said. Emperor Taizong made thirty gold belts after he ascended the throne, each worth hundreds of thousands of gold. One of them was for his own use, and he was rewarded

One was given to the founding general Cao Bin, and the rest has always been kept in the inner treasury. Zhao Ji once awarded one to Tong Guan, who was supervising the army in the northwest. Now he can give one to Zhao Kai, which is considered a great favor.

"Thank you, Father!" Zhao Kai saw Yang Jian's eyes and immediately kowtowed to express his gratitude.

"Hey, where is Erlang? Why haven't you seen Erlang?" Zhao Ji smiled, put down the things in his hands, and asked suddenly.

"Guan family, didn't the second prince leave the palace to take refuge?" Yang Jian said quickly.

"Oh! Erlang has been out of the palace for almost a year. He may have forgotten me as his father!" Zhao Ji remembered it and shook his head with a smile.

"Guan family, with so many children around, it's hard to forget!" At this time, Concubine Cui De came up, peeled an orange and brought it to Zhao Ji's mouth and said.

"Guan Jian, Erlang has not forgotten the Holy One, he also put on the congratulatory form!" Yang Jian said.

"Bring it to me quickly!" Zhao Ji said happily. Yang Jian quickly took out the congratulatory form from his sleeve and brought it to the front of the case. He secretly smiled at Concubine Zheng. Ordinary people have eight eyes, but Yang Jian has ten. He knows how to rely on it.

He has been trying his best to make money for the emperor until now. In the future, even Cai Jing admired his methods. He knew that the emperor looked down on the dull Queen Wang, but he loved Concubine Zheng very much, so he did not dare to hide it.

Zheng Hongmei was also extremely surprised. She took the folder from Yang Jian, opened it and was stunned. There was not a single word inside, so she drew several pictures: the first picture was of a child eating, with a bubble coming out of his head.

, there are two people painted in it, a man and a woman. From the appearance of their clothes, it can be vaguely seen that they are the emperor and himself; the second picture is a child lying on the bed sleeping, and the same bubble is the emperor and himself; the third picture is a

A child is sitting on the steps with his chin in his hands, watching a female dog playing with two puppies. His face is full of envy; the fourth picture shows a child running with a face full of panic, and a fierce-looking figure behind him.

He is chasing him with a knife, and in the floating bubbles is a man wearing a crown and holding a sword to protect him behind him; the fifth picture shows a child with a smile on his face, holding a big birthday peach and kneeling on the ground to offer it to the man wearing a crown.

The painting of the man in the royal robe is purely drawn with a brush stroke by stroke. The figures are very exaggerated, but the characteristics of each person's appearance are captured and the painting is very vivid.

"What did Erlang write?" Zhao Ji urged when he saw Zheng Hongmei silently dazed.

"The officials can read it themselves!" Zheng Hongmei handed the fold to Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji took it and took a look. He was surprised at first, and then burst out laughing. It took him a while to stop laughing, and he nodded at the fold and said, "Erlang, it's really interesting. I'm lucky he can think of it." After saying that, he couldn't help but laugh.

Laughed.

"The officials were so happy after seeing the book, let the concubines have a look, and they were so happy!" At this time, Cui Yue'e came over and said to the emperor.

"Let's pass it on to everyone!" Zhao Ji smiled and handed the fold to Cui Yue'e.

"Hey, what is this that Erlang drew? Sanlang was better at drawing than him when he was two years old." Cui Yue'e seemed to have seen a big joke, and said to everyone with a trembling smile.

The fold was passed around in the hands of everyone in the hall. Some people laughed, and some who were more reserved couldn't stop laughing. When it was passed to Zhao Huan, he looked at it but didn't laugh. Zhao Kai grabbed it and only took one look at it.

Disdainfully, he handed it to Zhao Ji, who was standing aside confused. Before he could take a closer look, Zhao Yupan snatched it away and refused to give it to anyone. She also understood that everyone was making fun of her brother.

Seeing the sneering expressions of the people in the palace and listening to their whispered discussions, Zheng Hongmei's face turned red and white for a while and became extremely embarrassed. "Guan family, Erlang is still young. Don't blame him for being ignorant!" She said softly to Zhao Ji.

.

"It's okay!" Zhao Ji waved his hand and said to several children: "Do you know what Erlang's painting means?"

"Second brother's paintings are purely graffiti. My son didn't see the meaning!" Zhao Kai said first.

"Hehe, the little man painted by my second brother looks like my father in royal robes!" Zhao Ji said with a silly smile.

"What did you see, Dalang?" Zhao Ji ignored the two younger ones and turned to ask Zhao Huan.

"Father, my son only understands a little bit, but he doesn't know if it's right or not!"

"Oh, tell me!" Zhao Ji leaned forward and said.

"Yes, the child in the painting should be the second brother, and the two adults should be the father and mother. The meaning of the first two paintings, my son thinks, is that the second brother wants to say that he misses his father and mother when he eats and sleeps, and the latter

My son is stupid and hasn’t figured it out yet!” Zhao Huan cupped his hands and said politely.

"Well, what Huan'er said is good!" Zhao Ji is an artistic genius. Anyone who can come up with such artistic conception questions as "an ancient temple hidden in a chaotic mountain" and "buy a few sentences by the bridge where I live" will never fail to understand Zhao Ji.

The meaning of the painting was that he just found the characters in Zhao Tong's paintings to be childish and childish, and the exaggerated painting techniques were very interesting.

At this time, Queen Wang took Zhao Tong's book and looked at it. She smiled politely, clicked on the third picture and said to Zheng Hongmei: "Sister, Erlang is such a thoughtful person!"

"Zheng'er" Zheng Hongmei is not stupid. She is just worried about her own child and is confused by the authorities. After listening to Zhao Huan's words and being reminded by Queen Wang, he already understood the meaning of the painting. He was envious of the fact that the puppy could have its mother accompanying him.

, and I was just alone, the meaning of the first two paintings was very clear, my nose felt sour, and I burst into tears.

"The meaning of Erlang's painting seems to be that he is in danger and wants me to protect him. Who dares to lay a finger on my son? It's just that he painted me like a door god!" Zhao Ji said, clicking on the fourth painting.

"Guan family, what Tong'er painted is true. Last month, a steward in the palace bribed a gardener in the garden and a young Taoist priest in the Taoist temple. He sneaked into the palace and tricked Tong'er into a secluded place and wanted to assassinate him. Fortunately,

The Xiaohuangmen who followed him tried their best to rescue him, but two people died before killing the assassin. Zhan'er almost died!" Zheng Hongmei said, wiping away her tears.

"These people have taken the courage of leopards and dared to assassinate the prince. They must confiscate their homes and exterminate their clans!" After hearing Zheng Hongmei's words, everyone was shocked, and Cui Yue'e suddenly said viciously.

"Humph, thank you for your concern, sister. The steward who assassinated Tong'er was recommended by someone from Cui Jiedushi's house. From now on, I won't bother my sister to worry about our affairs!" Zheng Hongmei glanced at Cui Yue'e and said with a sneer.

"How come Erlang still calls me empress? How can I not worry about it!" Cui Yue'e was already feeling guilty. Seeing that Zheng Hongmei exposed the matter, she sat down and said with a smile.

"Yang Jian, what are you doing? What kind of things have been sent to Erlang's house to cause such a big thing!" Zhao Ji's expression was not very good. It's amazing that someone dared to attack his own son.

"The officials should calm down!" Yang Jian promoted the Imperial City Secretary to be responsible for the security of the palace. Just like the current Central Security Director, he was in charge of the prince's security. He quickly knelt down and said: "The officials are not small.

It's an oversight. The second prince is far away in Xiangyi and has not yet opened a palace. There is no such rule for the palace to send a royal guard to protect the ancestors!"

"This" Zhao Ji was stunned after hearing this. Yang Jian was right. The princes lived in the palace when they were young. When they grow up, except for the princes who are divided into palaces, the palace will send direct guards to protect them. Zhao Jian left the palace before he was a minor.

Palace, this is really the first time, there is no precedent for this!