The happy life of the devil and the devil

In the paddock, wild horses hissed one after another.

Yuan Shao jumped off the back of the newly tamed horse, stroked the fiery red mane on the horse's neck that almost reached his knees, and then handed over the harness pole in his hand to the guard who was rushing over.After sitting under the canopy of Huang Luo for a while, drinking half a jug of kumiss, the prince also galloped over on a wild horse, got off the horse two feet away, and knelt down on the ground.

"My son-in-law pays respects to his father!"

"Get up.—Is this your horse?"

"It was the son who tamed it with his own hands, and specially brought it to the father!"

"Well... this horse is also very good." Yuan Shao raised his hand to signal his heir to get up, stepped forward to pat the horse's neck, and nodded with satisfaction.Complimentary words from both sides immediately rolled in. The prince stood on the side with a bow, his face full of respect, but he still couldn't hide the flash of complacency.

Looking down from the hillside, on the endless grassland, several streams meander like belts, shining like satin silver.Several large herds of wild horses are rushing left and right on this pasture, and there are countless sergeants dressed in brocade or neat clothes, showing their skills and subduing the wild horses they fancy.Some people triumphed and returned home triumphantly, some competed with the horses with flushed faces, some were blown up by a bare-backed wild horse, and of course, there were also many who screamed and were thrown off the horse’s back, and then stepped on seven or eight marks on the horse’s hooves... …

This is an inevitable scene of great hunting every year. In the royal family, it is tantamount to spreading generous gifts on the grassland, and letting the ministers take it according to their own ability; among the courtiers, it is also to show off their bravery in front of the emperor and superior officials.

"It's far worse than my father's horse."

"You are not a horse king, of course you can't compare to it." Yuan Shao glanced at it with a smile, turned and walked towards his mount, and the crown prince quickly followed.This pair of supreme father and son galloped at a bridle, and the guards behind did not dare to get too close, they followed at a distance, seeing Yuan Shao reining in the horse on a small hill, they formed a circle at the foot of the hill.

"Speaking of the horse king... the wild horses on the grassland, every year, there will be young and strong stallions challenging the old horse king, one after another, until the old king is driven off the throne. Not only the wild horses, but also the wild wolves Similarly, only the strongest male wolf can become the wolf king."

"However, whether it's horses or wolves, even when they are unbearably hungry, they will not attack the cubs in the pack."

"Father?"

"Little Eleven contracted smallpox, doesn't it have anything to do with you?"

"Father! My son was wronged——"

"You don't have to suspect that someone else hurt you. I sent Yu Jien back to investigate. He is an old man who my father ordered me to order. He will not speak to anyone!"

After receiving Ling Yucheng's first reply letter, Yuan Shao also sent back the most trustworthy inner court chief around him.

Little Eleven's acne went well, and he will be able to recover safely in ten days and a half months, which is undoubtedly something to be happy about; however, there is no outbreak of the epidemic in the capital, but the little prince who is under heavy protection is infected with smallpox, and the companions around him are almost Getting sick successively at the same time... The possibility of being deliberately framed is so high that he can't even pretend to turn a blind eye.

The speed at which the old eunuch galloped back was definitely incomparable to Ling Yucheng who traveled day and night.However, when it comes to thoroughly investigating Xiao Shiyi's smallpox, the head of the inner court can use more means than Ling Yucheng... well, much more than Ling Yucheng's subordinates.

Xia Bai generously shared some information with the old eunuch, such as the meals of His Majesty the Eleventh Highness and his companions were handled by the Xuanjia Guards, and there were at least two people watching each pass.For example, they have checked the food and utensils and found no problems.For example, they may have come into contact with the Xuanjia guards of Little Eleven, and no one has been infected with smallpox these days...

Therefore, as soon as he arrived in the capital, Yu Ji'en invited the principal, left and right judges of the imperial hospital, and the imperial doctor who treated the eleventh prince into the palace.

Why did you send that imperial physician to treat the prince? ... There are quite a few people in Tai Hospital, but not everyone is qualified to serve the master.There are only a few imperial physicians who are good at pediatrics, the little grandson of the prince's east palace occupies one all the year round, a new princess has been added to Kang Wang's mansion, and several other nobles also invite people to see a doctor from time to time, and the imperial physician himself will also have a doctor. With a headache, the range of choices is very small.

The first three were asked politely and then put back.As for the imperial physician who treated the eleventh prince, Yu Ji'en was only short of execution.

"A month ago, the imperial doctor's family disappeared. According to the neighbors, he went back to visit relatives... But his hometown is only two hundred miles away from the capital, and no one in his hometown has seen his family!"

"Also, Yu Jien tortured all the servants in the washing room. Do you want to hear what they recruited?"

The laundry room is almost one of the most bitter and tiring places in the palace, but even this kind of place is strictly hierarchical.Those in charge of washing, ironing, darning, and delivery of clothes... Each master's clothes are washed by a dedicated person, which is an easy job, and the laundry is exhausted.As for the identities of the accompanying readers, who were neither high nor low, they were also accused of being the only one who washed their clothes, and it was this court lady who was silenced a few days ago!

"Why do people from your concubine's natal family buy clothes for smallpox patients?"

From Yuan Shao's first questioning, the crown prince couldn't sit on the saddle any longer, and jumped down reflexively.Holding the rein in one hand, he stared blankly at his father's furious face, his face pale.

The red sun was gradually sinking to the west, and the afterglow of the setting sun was projected from behind, casting a golden halo on Yuan Shao's body.Looking up from below, the whole face looks darker and darker, like the dark clouds hovering over the grassland in the afternoon, accumulating heavy rain and thunder that may fall at any time.

"Father," a gust of wind blew, and he shivered violently. He felt chills in the back of his chest, from his neck to the soles of his feet. Let's attack him!"

"Why? You understand for yourself!"

Speaking of this, thinking of the conversation that day, Yuan Shao became more angry.At that time, the crown prince determined wholeheartedly that Ling Yucheng was behind the assassination of him. During the dispute, the crown prince's blurted retort still ringing in his ears:

"...Or do you think that if he kills you, he still has other ways to survive?"

"Why is there no way out? He still has Little Eleven!"

He also thought that the crown prince was speaking indiscriminately in anger, so he scolded him and saw him admitting his mistakes again and again, so he didn't take it too seriously.Who knows that in less than a month—calculating the time, it should be less than half a month before he murdered his own younger brother!

"Bastard! Do you think that with Xiao Shiyi here, you are uneasy? What about me, if one day you feel that I am blocking your way, do you want my life too!"

"Father!"

The prince was breathing rapidly, sweat was densely covered on the forehead and back.Under Yuan Shao's rage, even if it wasn't intentional, the fierce momentum still crushed him down, making it difficult for him to even stand there. He tried his best to raise his internal strength to support his body, but he still felt his knees creaking, as if he was falling. It's about to break in an instant—it's not that he doesn't want to kneel down and beg for mercy, but if he just kneels like this, he doubts very much that his knee will be smashed to pieces on the ground!

"Father!" He struggled to make a sound, "If Father hadn't checked the facts, I wouldn't know that the Crown Princess would do such a thing, I... I really didn't expect..." As he spoke, his voice He sank down, with a bit of resentment on his face, he gritted his teeth:

"Jing'er is not Erchen's only son..."

Yuan Shao was silent for a while.

Unlike himself, who was born as the empress of the Yuan Dynasty and was born with gold and jade, his eldest son did not get too many expectations before he was canonized as the crown prince, and even the status of the princess he originally wanted to show him was not too high—— Therefore, after the death of the first prince and the eldest son of the emperor was registered as the prince, he chose another concubine for his son who came from a high family, and he even chose a concubine from the niece and grandniece of the head of the country, Na Muyan, from his natal family after the Yuan Dynasty. As a side concubine of the prince.

Even so, the prince has only one son since his marriage.Except for the child born to the concubine, the rest of the bastards were either lost in the mother's womb, or died shortly after birth. None of them lived for more than half a year.Over the years, the prince and concubine have quarreled and quarreled, and the concubine has also promoted seven or eight concubines, and the concubine of the prince who was connected with the prince and the mother's family of the empress Yuan also passed away at the end of last year. .

All this, Yuan Shao watched silently and coldly.Watching his eldest son bored in the study after losing his first son, drinking bowl after bowl of wine; watching him promote the clansmen of the crown princess, but neglecting his own concubine; watching him go from room to room Carrying people to the East Palace...

How to get along with the wives, how to teach and protect their children, how to balance the relationship between the former court and the harem, how to control their power and not be controlled by them, these are the lessons for a future king to learn.With his father sitting on it, even if he fell a few times, the prince would still have room to get up, and this is not something that a father can just replace if he wants to.

And in the past few years, the chaos in the inner house of the East Palace, he has also seen it one by one...

Thinking of what happened to Xiao Shiyi, maybe it was just because he missed the auxiliary car, Yuan Shao felt relieved.Seeing that his expression was loose, the prince immediately knelt down, raised his face mournfully, and defended repeatedly:

"I am indeed envious of Xiao Shiyi's father's favor. In private, I have complained... When I was young, my father never taught me to practice calligraphy. The emperor personally enlightened... Before the age of ten, the son had never eaten at the same table with the emperor, and he had never even sat on the emperor's lap..."

The more Yuan Shao listened, the softer his expression became.Before the age of ten?Before the child was ten years old, he hadn't ascended the throne. Relying on his father's favor, he could travel around incognito for half a year, so he really didn't worry about the child.In those years, children were not an heir to him, but a way for concubines to please him...

Thinking about it is getting off the horse.As soon as his feet landed on the ground, the prince immediately took two steps on his knees and reached out to grab the corner of his robe:

"That day, Erchen came in to see Father, and seeing Father and Eleventh brother eating together, Erchen had only one thought in his mind, that is, he wanted to sit in that seat, and let Father look at Erchen with the same eyes as Little Eleven. ...But father, son-in-law was also brought up by the emperor's ancestor and father-in-law, Xiao Shiyi is also son-in-law's younger brother, envy is envy, how could son-in-law attack his younger brother!"

Every word, every sentence hit the softest part of his heart.Yuan Shao pondered silently, no wonder the child felt uneasy.The effort and love he puts into Lang'er now is much more than what he gave to his eldest son back then.

——Besides, he really didn't want to believe that his eldest son, whom he had personally taught for seven or eight years, would be so vicious that he wanted his younger brother's life!

"...you!"