Surrounded by strong ministers

Xiao Zong hardly slept that night, Sima Xian left his bedroom before the guards changed their guards, he went to bed and slept for a while, and it was dawn.

If he didn't go to court today, he could lie down a little longer, but thinking about those annoying things, he couldn't sleep well while lying down, so he got up.

After getting up, he asked the imperial nephews if they were up, Wang Rongdao, except for the young prince who was still asleep, the other highnesses were already in their morning classes.Xiao Zong nodded, although the emperor's nephews were sometimes mischievous, they never needed him to worry about civil and martial arts.Just as someone passed on the word, after the morning class, he brought a few princes over to have breakfast with him.

About half an hour later, the servant led the four pieces of the emperor's heart to the emperor's bedroom.Xiao Jian saw that he had just been coaxed out of the bed. He stayed up too late at the imperial banquet last night, his small face was sleepy at the moment, his big black eyes were narrowed into slits, and when he saw his uncle , dazedly earned the support of the servant, floated to his uncle, embraced with both hands, grabbed Xiao Zong's leg, leaned on it, and said softly, "Uncle..."

Xiao Zong was sitting in the chair reading a book, put down the scroll with a smile, picked up his nephew, thought to himself, let the baby sleep after breakfast.Seeing that all the emperor's nephews had arrived, they were waiting for the meal to be delivered by the announcer, but Xiao Jun said that he didn't want to eat in the hall, because the hall was too stuffy, and he wanted to eat in the imperial garden.

It was raining outside, but fortunately the wind had stopped, Xiao Zong saw the nephew's insistence, and thought it would be good to have a meal outside to refresh his mind, so he complied with his nephew.

The uncles and nephews entered the imperial garden along the winding corridor and sat in a spacious bamboo pavilion.There are more than a dozen plates of small cakes of various colors and several kinds of thick porridge, which are full of fragrance.Xiao Jian was sobered up by the aroma of the porridge, and consciously crawled into his uncle's arms from the seat, waiting for the meal.Xiao Zong put down his porridge with minced fish, and picked up steamed quail eggs with whitebait specially prepared by the Imperial Dining Room for his little nephew.

Just as he took a mouthful and hadn't put it into his little nephew's wide-open mouth, he heard his elder nephew Xiao Heng coolly say, "You just let him get used to it."

Xiao Zong glanced over and saw his eldest nephew picking up the crispy cashew nuts on the plate in front of him, "I'm almost four years old, I don't know a lot of Chinese characters, and I can cry when I'm riding a little donkey. Don’t you really plan to raise him into a charming princess? My nephew was able to do a few sets of sword skills when I was four years old.”

Just as Xiao Zong was about to say something, he opened his mouth in his arms for a long time, and Xiao Jian, who still couldn't eat a mouthful of custard, said aggrievedly: "Uncle, I'm hungry..."

So Xiao Zong turned back to serve his little nephew's belly, and while serving, he said to Xiao Heng: "If you were two years younger, I would spoil you like this. Also, don't be too demanding on your younger brothers, not every child They are familiar so quickly like you, and they are capable of everything."

Xiao Zong fed his little nephew a few mouthfuls of egg custard, didn't hear the elder nephew's reply, and was wondering why the kid was so easily persuaded today, when he turned his head and saw Xiao Heng, who always looked like a little adult, made an awkward expression. She didn't know she was so beautiful by his words, but she seemed ashamed.

Xiao Zong glanced at his elder nephew in surprise. At this moment, Prince Kang's son Xiao Jun, who was sitting across from him and was chewing sweet-scented osmanthus cake, suddenly choked his throat for some reason, and coughed dryly, "Ahem... , gas, oil... be thin..." He beat his chest desperately several times.

"Eat slowly, no one will grab you." Xiao Zong said.

"The oil should... be thin..." "The oil... should be thin..."

Xiao Li, the eldest son of Prince Gong beside him, finally couldn't listen anymore, he stretched out his hand to pat his brother's back to calm down, and said to Xiao Zong who was puzzled, "He said he has a demon spirit." He looked behind Xiao Zong Looking at it, this baby has not recovered from the joy of pretending to be mature, still imitating Xiao Heng's usual appearance, and said calmly: "Uncle, remember, you must not be confused."

Holding the custard, Xiao Zong turned his head and glanced outside the Zhuxuan.

The rain was falling heavily, pattering, lightly hitting the green leaves and delicate flowers in the imperial garden.Sima Xian, dressed in a light white robe, turned out from behind a jasmine bush, holding the Qiuju Aoshuang nine-strand umbrella, and walked towards Zhuxuan on a pebble path.

"Didn't he leave the palace after the banquet last night? Why is he here?" Xiao Zong frowned.

"he's drunk."

Xiao Jun on the opposite side had already gasped for breath at this moment, and muttered: "No matter how you look at it, you are very sober." He buried his head in drinking the porridge.

Sima Xian arrived outside the bamboo pavilion, put away his umbrella, and respectfully saluted Xiao Zong, "I have seen the emperor, my little highnesses."

Xiao Zong said indifferently, "Excuse me. You made such a fuss last night, I know you haven't woken up yet."

Sima Xian laughed and said: "Staying in the emperor's inner palace, I am terrified and grateful. Even if I die of drunkenness, I will get up and say hello to the emperor." Not only did he not see a trace of embarrassment, but his lips curled into a thin smile, which actually showed a bit of amorous feelings.

Xiao Zong glanced at him, and said to Wang Rong who was accompanying him, "Give Sima Qing a seat."

Wang Rong moved an armchair to the bottom of Xiao Zong's table, and set a small table next to it, with a few plates of pastries on it.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Sima Xian entered the bamboo pavilion, lifted his clothes and sat in the armchair, watching the emperor's family having breakfast with interest.

The rain beats the flowers and branches outside the bamboo pavilion, except for the fine rain, no other sound can be heard, it is peaceful and peaceful.

After a while, the rain became more and more intense, and the pattering drops of water hit the ground with splashes of water.

Sima Xian was casually chewing a piece of shortbread, while the emperor in front of him was carefully taking care of the eating and drinking of several little children, meticulous and thoughtful, and it was a scene of happy and harmonious uncle and nephew loving brothers and friends.He looked at Xiao Zong's side face, and couldn't help but narrowed his slender phoenix eyes, as if he was a little absent-minded, the usual thin smile faded from his handsome face, and his face was expressionless.

After a long time, he regained his composure, raised his thin eyebrows, and raised his thin lips: "Since ancient times, the big nobles have been fighting for power and profit, and brothers have fought against the wall at least, and at worst, they have to fight each other, and almost no one can avoid this kind of fate. Today's intimacy, tomorrow's calculations, the gentry is still like this..." With a chuckle, he looked around Xiao Zong's nephews, "It's just raising people together? Which prince in the Tian family didn't raise them together , What was the result? What the emperor asked for was difficult."

Hearing this, Xiao Zong cast a glance at the second son of the King of Chu who was smiling briskly, and looked majestic and stern in his indifference.

Sima Xian was taken aback for a moment, then pouted mockingly, "Your majesty, don't think that the words of humble ministers are not pleasing to you, it's true." After a pause, he continued: "Actually, if your majesty doesn't want to see your little highnesses In order to fight for harm in the future, instead of putting them together and teaching them carefully, it is better to pick a top-notch one and teach them well, and let the rest be mediocre and playful." Slightly sneered, then sighed , "Isn't the emperor's brothers and sisters all too capable and unwilling to be subordinated to others, so they made such a fuss in the end?"

Regardless of the facts, the affairs of the Tian family cannot be criticized.

Xiao Zong's face darkened slightly, and just as he was about to speak, he heard Xiao Heng beside him say: "The king of Chu has two sons, he must be afraid of the rivalry between them, he must have picked a capable and good student to raise them, and let others A mediocre dude." Xiao Heng drank two mouthfuls of porridge and said to Sima Xian, "I don't know if you are the one who was chosen or the one who was abandoned."

Sima Xian's thin smile froze, and his lips froze.He just saw that the happy scene in front of him was not pleasing to the eye, and saw that the emperor was not very tempered, and he was easy to handle. He wanted to squeeze it on the spur of the moment, but he didn't expect to be blocked by a half-grown kid. Well, if you can't pinch someone, you will be pinched instead, and planted in the hands of a child, it's a gutter capsize, a miscalculation.

Xiao Heng shut the mouth of the second son of the King of Chu with a single sentence, and stopped saying anything, put away the bowls and chopsticks, took the handkerchief handed over by the servant, wiped his mouth, and said to Xiao Zong: "Uncle, the master left a topic today. , I have to discuss it in the morning class tomorrow, so I'll go back to the palace first."

Xiao Zong nodded.Xiao Heng just stood up, Xiao Jun took a few mouthfuls of porridge and stood up too, "Uncle, nephew has also gone back." Turning his eyes seriously, he looked at the prince of Chu whose smile was still stiff, and shook his head sympathetically , "Nephew doesn't want to be a dude, don't be abandoned."

Sima Xian's stunning face twitched suddenly.

After Xiao Zong escorted all the emperor's nephews back to Zhaoyang Palace under the care of his servants, he and Prince Chu were the only ones left in the bamboo pavilion, and Sima Xian smiled indifferently, "My lord, All the little princes are so born and powerful."

Xiao Zong said modestly: "At first, only one child matured a bit earlier, but now for some reason, one and two mature so quickly, I actually hope that they can be more dull, and not always be so sharp."

Sima Xian looked at the emperor's plain face, and sighed embarrassingly for a long while, "Your Majesty, I have been convicted of my crime, so please stop bullying me."

Xiao Zong held the teacup and took a sip of tea.

Sima Xianlue was silent for a moment, seeming to have put aside the little somersault he had just stumbled into, and then raised the usual thin smile that hangs in the corners of his eyes and brows, "Xiao Shizi is so smart, so attractive... ...Love, I know how to be sympathetic to the emperor at such a young age, so sensible, the emperor will definitely hold his hands and love him, and he will definitely... Pointing to them will be safe forever. Your majesty, the peaceful and prosperous world is like a picture, but the king of Qin is the one who can draw the world The sword of peace."

Xiao Zong put down the teacup, looked at the second son of the King of Chu who had a sharp smile on his face, and said nothing.

In the middle of the night last night, Sima Xian gave him an honest and generous speech. He said how the King of Qin threatened the country with a strong eye, which was extremely dangerous, and how the King of Chu worried about the king's worries. He said that he was very loyal. .He listened to his cousin talking about the loyal act of the king of Chu for him, so he really wanted to ask if he really looked like a fool.

"The King of Qin is the emperor's hidden danger." Sima Xian picked his eyes slightly, "The minister said on behalf of his father last night, but His Majesty doesn't seem to care..."

Xiao Zong pondered slightly, Sima Xian was so eager to ask, it seemed that his uncle really couldn't hold back.Thinking about it, the more power he holds, the less his uncle's dream of becoming an emperor will be.If you wait any longer, if my uncle wants to win the world, I'm afraid it will be even more difficult.

Just as he was thinking about it, he saw Sima Xian holding his slender beautiful eyes and looking at him for a long time, then suddenly smiled at him meaningfully: "The emperor has a lot of hesitation towards the King of Qin, and I have already seen it. The Palace of the Prince of Chu once heard that the King of Qin was seriously injured in order to save His Majesty from the claws of ferocious beasts, and later there were some rumors, but of course they were all just rumors." After a pause, he continued: "The emperor is wise and wise, and in the overall situation, should the King of Qin not There is no need to say more about it, the emperor must have something in his heart." He paused for a moment, and smiled even more intriguingly, "In fact, if the emperor cuts his power, when the time comes, whether he will be killed or cut, or he will be treated as a bull. Don’t you just rely on what the emperor says to make a horse?”

Xiao Zong looked at that smile and thought, what kind of rumors?It took me a long time to recover.