Linzhi

"Xiang Zhuang's sword dance is aimed at Peigong. The crown prince wants to strike at Peigong, and those who sit next to Peigong will inevitably be affected." Li Kuan said leisurely, "I think His Majesty will agree to this matter sooner or later, rather than wait until His Majesty So, why don't you take the initiative to ask His Majesty to go to the fief earlier, because His Majesty's disposition will definitely feel that you are owed something, and I will give you another good fief."

"Furthermore," Li Kuan took a sip of his tea and continued, "Now the crown prince and King Ji are fighting each other. If you stay here, sooner or later you will be involved in the vortex. You can't help yourself. Think about it. In the last years of the late emperor, you can survive the struggle for the throne among the kings of Qi, but it makes no sense to end up in the affairs of your nephews, right?"

King Wei smiled wryly: "Cousin, I know you have been blaming me in your heart for thinking too much back then and refusing to make a quick decision, so that today..."

Li Kuan raised his hand, signaling King Wei not to speak any further.

"The past is over. If His Highness continues, it will only increase troubles and be of no benefit to the matter. Now that King Ji is so proud and unwilling to give in, the crown prince is aggressive and wants to completely eliminate hidden dangers. It is no longer the situation when the late emperor was here. One moment, another moment, you must understand this truth."

King Wei showed a trace of unwillingness, but in the end he could only nod his head.

"I understand, in the final analysis, it's my fault, but now that my cousin is paying homage to the prime minister, his power has risen to a higher level, and he has become closer to Prince Ji, so in the future he will be very impressive."

Li Kuan shook his head with a smile: "Now I have no military power, and half of the prime minister's power has been taken away. I have people watching me to do everything. What do you think I can do? Besides, His Royal Highness Ji Wang will also go to fief the land." , it will be difficult for me to see my daughter in the future, this right-hand man, I don't care."

"That's true." King Wei once again remembered that in the Taimiao, if he had been more decisive and resolute, he would have taken advantage of the chaos to solve King Lu, and later declared that he was King Qi. Kill King Lu, then today...

He felt that what Li Kuan said was absolutely right, there were no chances in the world, and he made a wrong step, so today he had to bow his head and drive out of the capital step by step.

"To this day, I still feel that I feel sorry for you, cousin. At the beginning, you took the trouble to plan for me, but I didn't cherish that opportunity. Now we can only sigh at each other here."

Li Kuan waved his hand: "Don't be so pessimistic. As I said, leaving Chang'an may not be a bad thing. The capital is in a storm, and the two dragons are fighting. Could it be that other people don't think about it at all?"

King Wei's heart skipped a beat: "You mean, King Xing...?"

Li Kuan smiled: "King Xing has military merits and has the same mother as King Ji. Although he ranks lower, since King Ji also has thoughts, why can't he have thoughts? King Xing has made contributions, and King An has made more contributions. He came out The Tujue sent out to the southern barbarians, resourceful and resourceful, in terms of merit, he should be the leader among the princes of your majesty, do you think he will have any thoughts?"

King Wei hesitated: "That's all for King Xing, but King An has a leg and foot problem, so it's impossible?"

Li Kuan: "Because of his legs and feet, how many people despised him and neglected him, and even His Majesty treated him differently. Do you think he would be reconciled to it? A situation that was not favored by everyone at the time, In order to kill a bloody road, a person who would not hesitate to risk his life and go to Turkic, in your opinion, his heart will be a pool of stagnant water, would he be willing to be a wedding dress for others?"

King Wei shook his head: "If it were me, I'm afraid it would be difficult for me to have no complaints or regrets. Pacifying the Nanyi is the same as killing the Turks. Although King Xing has not returned yet, King An is also the deputy commander after all. The merits cannot be underestimated, but His Majesty bestowed marriage to King Ji, gave him another villa, and increased the fiefs, but only added a hundred fiefs to King An. Compared with the two, how unfair it is, the same is a son, how can your majesty do it? Heart, is it like this?"

Li Kuan said: "Your Majesty relies on King An as his right and left arm, but he has not forgotten that he indirectly killed his own son, and he has not forgotten the crime of King An's birth mother, so it is human nature to have a grudge."

"I want the horse to run, and I want the horse not to eat grass. If I were King An, I would feel unhappy!" Wei Wang said depressedly, but he knew that Li Kuan would definitely not say such a thing for no reason, so he thought about it , King Wei seemed to have thought of something.

"You mean, now it seems that it's just a dispute between the crown prince and King Ji, but sooner or later, King An and King Xing will also join in?" Wei Wang suddenly said, "By the way, there is also the son of Queen Pei! The dignified queen My son, but he has to be inferior to others since he was born, I don't believe that Empress Pei is so extraordinary, she doesn't even fight for her son!"

Li Kuan lowered his head to appreciate the slightly rippling patterns on the bottom of the cup with the tea.

"Having figured this out, do you think that leaving Chang'an doesn't look so bad anymore?"

King Wei: "It seems that my cousin has already foreseen these things, no wonder you are so indifferent, you are ready to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight."

"Hey, you're wrong about that." Li Kuan shook his head, "As the prime minister, I have responsibilities that I cannot avoid, and I can't do nothing if I want to, but the future battle between these princes is not something I can control. , I am just suggesting to you, leave the land of right and wrong as soon as possible, and be at ease."

King Wei laughed: "Yes, yes, after your guidance, I immediately became enlightened, and my depression was swept away! But I don't know where His Majesty will seal me in the future. After all, I am far away from the capital. If there is any trouble, cousin Lai has to let me know!"

Li Kuan nodded: "Don't worry."

……

"After the court was over, my elder brother told me that he just wanted to force my second elder brother to leave Chang'an voluntarily, and had no other intentions, but once this matter happened, other brothers would inevitably be implicated, so he would find an opportunity to speak to His Majesty so that I can continue to stay in Chang'an." In Chang'an."

Not long after arriving in the capital, Yang Jun opened a rouge shop in the capital, and the business was good. Later, it became a place where He Rong, Xue Tan and others often gather in private.

Although the imperial court did not expressly prohibit officials from interacting with the prince in private, Xue Tan and the others are six ministers after all, and they always go to Prince An's mansion, which is easy to attract attention. Yang Jun's rouge shop is hidden in the city, and there is no need to worry about it It's perfect to be watched.

Yang Jun now often runs around, his business is getting bigger and bigger, rouge and gouache is not the only business he is doing, but he still comes to this shop occasionally, just because He Rong comes here often, friends are always there, and he has something in his heart Even if time changes and personnel changes, for Yang Jun, it is a treasure that cannot be exchanged for a thousand dollars.

"At the court meeting at that time, I felt that the atmosphere was not right." Xue Tan shook his head, "This is clearly an innocent disaster! It's so good, you did the crown prince a favor, and he rewarded you like this? Even King Ji is going to the fief. Even if the crown prince speaks for you, you won’t be able to stay. On the contrary, it will make people think that you are proud of your achievements and lawless. Why should he implicate you when he fights with King Ji? go in!"

Ji Ling coughed lightly: "Your Highness, I have to remind you that Zhang Song and Fan Yi are happy to see this matter succeed, and they may not interfere."

He is the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and like Zhang Song and Fan Yi, he was born in a noble family, so he can always inquire and learn more.

Xue Tan pouted: "They definitely won't interfere, and this matter has no effect on them!"

"Actually, I've been thinking about this for the past two days."

As soon as He Rong spoke, the other two fell silent.

"The dispute between the crown prince and King Ji has gradually surfaced. I used to try to persuade him, but now I know that persuasion is useless. It is better to save some effort. If this is the case, if you stay in the capital, sooner or later you will have to face the two dragons. In such a situation, the crown prince will definitely ask me to be his helper to deal with Li Kuan and King Ji. Instead of doing this, it is better for me to go far ahead of time, even if I go to a relatively barren fiefdom, it will be better than being in a dilemma here."

Xue Tan paid attention to He Rong's expression, but there was no resentment on the other's face, just calm, and he stated the problem in a straightforward manner.

Ji Ling asked: "I heard that His Royal Highness Ji Wang stopped you outside the Xuanzheng Hall, misunderstood that you were giving the prince advice, and wanted to drive him out of the capital?"

He Rong did not deny it, and said lightly: "If I continue to stay in the capital, such misunderstandings will only increase in the future."

Sang Lin sat on the side, quietly listening to what they said, some of them half understood, but they listened very seriously.

Xue Tan stood up suddenly, cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, I have something to say!"

He Rong: "No need to say, I know what you want to say."

Xue Tan ignored him and said, "Why is His Royal Highness Ji Wang dissatisfied with the crown prince? On the surface, it is because his wife and children died in the palace rebellion, complaining about angering the crown prince, but in fact, it was because when he was in Fangzhou, the crown prince was angry. He is the eldest brother, but it is Ji Wang and Xing Wang who often go hunting in the mountains and support the family. It is said that after the crown prince was appointed to the East Palace, Ji Wang once said in private that in terms of status, the queen's son is still alive, and in terms of merit, The eldest son has done more than him, not less than him. Although it is impossible to test whether this statement is true or not, but now, all kinds of clues show that King Ji is not a whim, and the prince is not in trouble. But since King Ji can fight , why can't you fight? If you really want to talk about merit, who is worse than you among the princes?"

These outrageous words were enough to make anyone turn pale with shock, but the few people present in the room, be it He Rong or Ji Ling Sanglin, didn't show the slightest look of surprise.

He Rong was silent for a long time, and said aloud: "I just thought you didn't say what I said today."

Xue Tan didn't intend to end it here, he said loudly: "Looking at the world, there are dangers everywhere. There are Turks and Xiaoyu outside, and land mergers inside. There are many families. In this eventful autumn, the crown prince and King Ji, regardless of the national economy and the people's livelihood, but Entangled in the trivial matter of power and conspiracy, put the cart before the horse, and talk about He Xianliang!"

He Rong raised his eyes and looked directly at Xue Tan, as if he wanted to see the bottom of his heart.

"Yushen, if I raise the flag now to compete with Prince Ji, then what is the difference between me and them?"

Xue Tan was dumbfounded for a moment, then paused and said, "I'm afraid that if you are really exiled to the fiefdom, you won't even have a chance to stand up in the future, and you can only be mermaid and slaughtered!"

He Rong smiled, suddenly like ice and snow melting, willow leaves turning into spring.

"If I only have such a little ability, how can I make you willingly follow me? Besides," he paused, raised his hand and brushed the letter paper on the table with his wide sleeve.

"I don't want to see that Goro has high hopes for him, and the respected third brother is disappointed."