Emperor: When will the Seventh Prince rebel? I will open the city gates to welcome him.

"Everyone loves you!"

The position of the crown prince has been settled. The three princes who are eligible to compete for the position of the crown prince have finally come to an end after years of open and secret fighting.

But Hong Li couldn't accept this result.

When he heard the imperial edict read out by the eunuch in front of the emperor, his heart was broken.

Hong Li's eyes were red, and his back teeth were clenching when he saw the third prince Hongze who became the crown prince at such a proud moment.

Even if he were to be gifted with intelligence, upright character, benevolent, filial, fraternal, and righteous, he should be well-versed in the Five Classics, well-read, have the ability to govern the country, and be concerned about the people. However, he had none of these qualities.

But, at this point, Hongli knew that there was no way to save the situation.

He looked at Hongxuan, who looked calm and composed, and in his heart he screamed, "You bastard Hongxuan! You are so bad, Hongxuan! It's all your fault! This prince will definitely skin you alive and pull out your tendons, just wait! I will make you live a life worse than death!"

Hongxiong seemed to have known the result long ago, his eyes were shining coldly as he looked at Hongxuan. He thought that he was just knocked unconscious by Hongxuan with one punch, and he had not had the chance to avenge himself. He never expected that Hongxuan would actually interfere in the selection for the crown prince position and directly kick him out of the selection.

This irreconcilable hatred made Hongxiong regret not sending his assassins to kill him at night in Qingyouyuan.

Hong Xuan clasped his hands together and kowtowed: "Father! I have something to report!"

Emperor Dingwen looked at Hongxuan with a smile on his face: "Xuan'er! What do you want to report?"

Hong Xuan said respectfully: "Father! I will leave Kyoto today and set out for Zhenbei, the northern border." He is not stupid. He has no roots in the imperial capital. The longer he stays here, the more danger he will face. The most important thing is that he can finally take this opportunity to ask for his personal guards. As the King of Zhenbei, he can have a thousand personal guards.

As long as there are these one thousand personal guards, Hongxuan's safety will be completely guaranteed.

"Father, you can't do that!"

"Father, you must not do this!"

"Hongxuan! I have just succeeded to the throne of Crown Prince, so naturally I have to invite you to a banquet. Why are you leaving today?"

The eldest prince Hongli spoke first, Hongxiong also reacted greatly, and the crown prince Hongze also said that he wanted to host a banquet for Hongxuan.

None of the three of them wanted Hongxuan to leave at this time.

Emperor Dingwen Hongjing narrowed his eyes and said, "My son! Why are you leaving now? The Northern Merchants' envoys will soon enter the capital, and I am still waiting for you to use your wisdom to defeat the Northern Merchants' Imperial Master Yun Yi!"

Hong Xuan said respectfully: "Father! The Beishang Imperial Master Yun Yi will not come. If I am not mistaken, the person who came is just disguised as him. The real Yun Yi is on his way back to Beishang!"

When Hongxuan said this, all the civil and military officials in the court were shocked.

Even Emperor Dingwen looked unhappy. His original plan was to imprison all the Northern Merchants' delegation after they arrived in Kyoto.

Emperor Dingwen did not kill the envoys from Northern Merchants, but he did not say that he would really let them go. Since they chose to fight, he could imprison them instead of killing them.

Hong Xuan continued, "Now everyone in the court knows that our Dafeng Kingdom advocates war! The Imperial Master of Beishang is such a smart person, he will definitely not go into the tiger's den."

Both countries have plates, and all the officials in the court know that they are in favor of war, so the fact that they are in favor of war cannot be concealed.

What's more, Hongxuan didn't care whether Yun Yi, the national teacher of the Northern Kingdom, came for real or fake. He had to leave Kyoto now.

And this is the last chance,

Hong Li stepped forward and said, "Father! This is just my seventh brother's inference. Since Beishang State has sent the Imperial Master Yun Yi to Kyoto, how could he have said something wrong? I thought that the Imperial Master of Beishang would definitely come to Kyoto. What my seventh brother said about the Imperial Master of Beishang not coming is just an excuse for him to leave. Father, you must not believe it!"

Hong Li's eyes were cold. He would send his assassins to the Zhenbei Palace tonight to kill Hong Xuan.

Hong Xiong also kowtowed and said, "Yes, Father! My seventh brother is so smart, he will definitely shine after the Northern Merchants' delegation arrives. How can you leave now?"

Hong Xuan smiled slightly. He already had an idea in his mind: "Father! What the eldest and second brothers said is inappropriate."

"What's wrong with us?" Hong Li said with gritted teeth.

"The problem is that the eldest and second brothers don't take the crown prince seriously!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the officials in the court fell silent.

Holding the imperial edict in his hand, Hongze looked at Hongli and Hongxiong with a cold gaze: "Seventh brother! Why don't the two of them take me seriously?"

Emperor Dingwen, sitting high on the dragon throne, also listened quietly without saying a word.

Hong Xuan said to Hong Ze, "Prince! Since you are already the crown prince of Dafeng, no matter whether Yun Yi from Beishang comes or not, you must shine at the literary gathering of the envoys to show your authority. If I continue to steal the show, it will embarrass you and even make the Beishang envoys think you are just a puppet."

"What? Puppet!" These are the two words that Hongze hates to hear the most now.

His face changed drastically, and he became even more furious when he heard the word "puppet". "How dare you! I am the crown prince! I am the will of heaven, how can I let my glory be overshadowed in front of the envoys! If this is true, then I have really become a puppet crown prince?"

After hearing this, Crown Prince Hongze certainly didn't want other princes to steal his limelight.

One wrong step! Wrong step!

Hongze’s goal now is no longer to be the crown prince. He is already the crown prince, and his goal now is to become the emperor.

The Northern Merchants' delegation is coming to Beijing, and there is a literary gathering held by the court. Prince Hongze must make good use of such occasions.

"Father! I think what my seventh brother said makes a lot of sense. The Beishang State Master has always been cautious and insidious. He would definitely not come to Kyoto knowing that Dafeng advocates war rather than peace. If he wanted to come, he would just send someone to disguise himself."

"I second the proposal!"

"I second the proposal!"

The lineage of the Third Prince, no! Now it is not the lineage of the Third Prince, but the lineage of the Crown Prince. The princes and ministers all knelt on the ground and shouted. The Crown Prince was originally a legitimate son, and his mother was Empress Zhu, who had a deep-rooted and huge network of relationships in the court.

"I second the motion! The Crown Prince is wise and brave! We must also let the Northern Shang Kingdom's envoys know that the Crown Prince is the chosen one of Dafeng."

Since the third prince has been made the crown prince, the ministers of the crown prince's party naturally do not want to see the famous Hongxuan stay in the capital.

Hong Xuan knew that he was only one step away from success, so he knelt on the ground and said, "Father! Ever since I was named the King of Zhenbei, I have been obsessed with the crisis at the northern border and have been unable to sleep at night! I beg you to allocate 3,000 personal guards to go to the northern border today."

Hong Jing, sitting high on the dragon throne, looked at his son.

He knew all the princes well, but it was the wisdom and strategy of the Seventh Prince that shocked him.

"Your Majesty, you must not do this! I think that my seventh brother has the intention of rebelling! He is very cunning and outsiders cannot see into his heart. Your Majesty, you once banished Hongxuan's mother to the cold palace and she died. There is no guarantee that he will not rebel in the future!" Hong Li is now like a gambler who has lost everything. He can't care about anything else and dares to say anything.

But the moment he uttered these irrational words, Emperor Dingwen Hongxuan's pupils shrank.

The temperature in the Hall of Supreme Harmony seemed to drop suddenly.

The whole hall felt like it had fallen into an ice cellar.

Hongxuan was shocked, "Oh no!" He had a very dangerous premonition in his mind.

Hongxuan vaguely felt why Emperor Dingwen kept him in Kyoto after he was named King of Zhenbei and did not immediately let him go to the northern border. That was because there was a shadow in Emperor Dingwen's heart, and Hongxuan's scheming and wisdom were beyond the control of this emperor.

As an emperor, Emperor Dingwen hated this feeling the most. He still smiled at the Seventh Prince Hongxuan and said:

"Hongxuan! Your mother was banished to the cold palace by me and died! You don't hate me, do you?"