Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 41 The Day of Consecration
When they arrived at the gate of the mansion, they saw a carriage parked at the door. A middle-aged man dressed as a butler and two servants carrying things were blocked by the imperial guards at the gate and were arguing about something.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Shiquan asked.

The middle-aged man who looked like a butler was delighted to see Zhu Shiquan and said, "Master Zhu, my master ordered me to bring you some gifts, but they said they wanted to open everything and inspect it."

Zhu Shiquan looked at one of the soldiers and frowned, "Your Highness sent you to stand guard, so you should just stand guard. Why are you so rude to the guests who came?"

"grown ups!"

The soldier bowed and said, "Your Highness has instructed that in order to ensure your safety, the belongings of visitors must not only be checked, but also registered and recorded. I am only following orders."

"This is my guest. There is no danger. No need to check." Zhu Shiquan said.

"It's our duty. Please forgive me, sir!" the soldier bowed.

Zhu Shiquan also reacted at this time. His nephew sent the imperial guards to stand guard, not to give him face, but to supervise him.

"Okay, you guys go back and tell your master that he doesn't need to send anyone with gifts in the future." Zhu Shiquan waved his hand and said.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, the butler responded, bowed, and was about to leave.

However, he was stopped by the soldiers, who said that they had been ordered to check, and if he refused, they would have to arrest him.

"presumptuous!"

Zhu Shiquan said angrily: "You are so reckless, do you take me seriously?"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers simply said that they were following orders, leaving Zhu Shiquan completely helpless.

In the end, the person who gave the gift could only leave after the imperial guards checked and recorded the gift.

Zhu Shiquan walked into the house angrily.

……

During the whole morning, the imperial guards guarding the gate stopped more than a dozen people who had sent gifts and checked and recorded all the gifts they sent.

It wasn't until the news spread that people stopped coming to give gifts.

Zhu Shiquan was so angry that he kept drinking during lunch.

Sun did not try to persuade him. After she finished eating with her sons and daughters, she left him alone to drink.

In Sun's view, what Zhao Xing did was a good thing for the Zhu family.

She was also worried that Zhu Shiquan would not be able to resist temptation and bring disaster to the family.

……

When Zhao Xing returned to Renming Palace after school in the evening, he received the list of people who had given gifts to his uncle's house that morning.

It records in great detail who sent the person and what gifts they brought.

After taking a quick look, Zhao Xing sneered.

Most of those who gave gifts were officials of the fourth or fifth rank, and the highest-ranking official among them was actually the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

You should know that the Minister of Rites is a third-rank official, which is higher than Zhu Shiquan's.

Moreover, the gifts given by these officials were not small. Converted into silver, the minimum was one or two thousand taels, and the maximum was several thousand taels.

You have to know that these gifts are at most gifts for meeting each other, just to curry favor with Zhu Shiquan.

The Song Dynasty paid high salaries to its officials. Considering the status of these people, this amount of money was only a few months' salary.

But each of these people has a large family to support.

He is so generous, he must be very rich.

……

The next day, Zhao Xing arrived at Zishan Hall early.

When he arrived, only a few of his study companions had arrived. They were surprised to see Zhao Xing coming so early, and immediately stopped chatting and saluted Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing waved his hand, walked to his seat, sat down, picked up the book and started reading.

Those people didn't dare to chat anymore. They just sat in their seats and read books.

The accompanying students arrived one after another, and were puzzled to see that Zhao Xing had already arrived.

Although there were no clocks in this era, they dared not be late when they were studying in the palace, so it was impossible that they were late. Since they entered the palace to study, Zhao Xing was always the last to arrive.

Although they couldn't understand why Zhao Xing came so early today, they didn't dare to ask too much. They bowed and sat down in their seats.

Meng Xianfei and two close friends walked into the courtyard of Zishan Hall, chatting and laughing all the way.

After entering the yard, Meng Xianfei found it very quiet. He told his two companions that they were the first to arrive today.

While chatting and laughing, the three of them walked into the Zishan Hall. As soon as they came in, they saw that most of the seats were occupied by people reading books, and they were stunned.

Then they saw Zhao Xing sitting there, and the three of them understood why the school was so quiet.

Without thinking too much, the three of them hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness!"

Zhao Xing moved his gaze away from the book, looked up at the three people, and finally stopped at Meng Xianfei.

"Your name is Meng Xianfei, and your father is the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, right?" Zhao Xing said indifferently.

Meng Xianfei didn't know why Zhao Xing suddenly asked this, but he still responded: "Your Highness, my father is the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites."

"I heard that your Meng family is quite rich?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Your Highness, my family depends entirely on my father's salary for support, but because we are a large family, our financial resources are average," Meng Xianfei replied.

Zhao Xing smiled and said, "Really? Then why were you so generous when giving gifts to my uncle? You gave him a gift worth five or six thousand taels?"

Meng Xianfei broke out in a cold sweat when he heard this. When he returned home from school yesterday, he overheard his parents' conversation and learned that Zhao Xing had sent someone to the Zhu family to record the identities of all the gift-givers and the gifts they sent.

His mother was still a little worried, but his father said that Zhao Xing did this to warn those who gave gifts to the Zhu family, and that nothing would happen.

After all, it is no secret that officials directly give gifts and make arrangements for promotions.

But now Zhao Xing obviously wants to pursue the matter.

"Why don't you speak?" Zhao Xing looked at Meng Xianfei and smiled.

Meng Xianfei said in a panic, "Your Highness, I don't know about this either."

"Look, I'm just asking, why are you so nervous? You've been sweating so much, wipe it off quickly." Zhao Xing said in a gentle tone and with a concerned look on his face.

"I feel a little hot. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness." Meng Xianfei thanked him and did not even bother to take out his handkerchief. He raised his arm and wiped it with his sleeve.

"My father has always been frugal, and as a prince I don't get much monthly allowance. Go back and ask Minister Meng if he can give me some gifts as well." Zhao Xing said with a smile.

"Yes, I will tell my father when I get back." Meng Xianfei said hurriedly.

"Well, it's getting late. The teacher should be here soon. Go ahead." Zhao Xing waved his hand and said.

"Yes!" Meng Xianfei felt as if he had been pardoned. He bowed and left with his two companions.

Everyone heard the conversation between Zhao Xing and Meng Xianfei, and some were glad that they did not send any gifts to the Zhu family.

In fact, those who were chosen as Zhao Xing's companions all came from families with high official positions.

These people are old foxes and will not do anything when the situation is unclear.

When school was over in the evening and the companions went home, the matter had spread completely.

Now no one dared to send gifts to the Zhu family.

……

As March arrives, the grass grows and the birds sing, and the weather gradually warms up.

This also indicates that the day when Zhao Xing will be enthroned as the crown prince is not far away.

After the official announcement of the enthronement, preparations began in full swing.

Now everything that needs to be prepared has already been prepared.

Zhao Xing began fasting and bathing every day half a month in advance in preparation for the enthronement.

Fasting was fine at first, but after eating vegetarian food for several days in a row, Zhao Xing couldn't stand it anymore.

He asked Sanshui to secretly prepare some meat for him. Naturally, this matter could not be hidden from Empress Cao and the Emperor, but they also felt sorry for Zhao Xing, so they simply turned a blind eye and pretended not to know.

In a blink of an eye, it was the eighth day of March, the day of enthronement.

Early in the morning, before dawn, Zhao Xing got up, and with the help of a group of palace maids, he changed into heavy and luxurious crown and robes and went to the Taimiao.

(End of this chapter)