After becoming a widow, I raised my traitor brother

Facing such a father, Zhou Xianji had no respect or admiration in his heart.

After learning that progeria may be curable, Zhou Shuo's face was full of energy, adding a bit of high-spiritedness.

He leaned forward, restrainedly pressing the armrest of the dragon chair with one hand, and twisting the Buddhist beads with the other hand. There was a bit of ambition in his eyes: "Hua Aiqing, when can you donate this elixir to me?!"

"Reporting to your Majesty, the alchemists from Dongchang said that after observing His Highness the Second Highness for a while, they can make some additions or deletions to the prescription before giving it to you."

Zhou Shuo was immediately overjoyed: "Okay, okay, okay!"

"So about the matter of establishing the crown prince..." Hua Yannong hesitated, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking frankly. The current turmoil in the court is all related to the matter of establishing the crown prince. I also ask your majesty to establish the second highness as the crown prince as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary suspicions and disputes.”

"What the Director of the Flower Factory said is wrong!" Murong Tao stood up, "Although His Highness is older than His Highness King Rui, His Highness's biological mother is a grassland woman, and he has half of the grassland blood. If there is an imperial heir in the future , then I have to hand over the king of the grassland and call him my great-grandfather. As the saying goes, 'Those who are not from my race will have different hearts.' Do we, the country of the Great Zhou Dynasty, have to be handed over to the hands of the grassland people from now on?!"

These words aroused the approval of many veterans.

Zhou Xianyang secretly showed a sarcastic smile.

He didn't come to compete for the position of prince without any preparation.

Behind him stood Little Fan, the eldest princess, and the countless courtiers they had won over for him.

He is bound to win the position of prince!

Seeing that the situation in the court was turning one side, a eunuch suddenly rushed into the palace with a fly whisk: "Your Majesty, several great scholars from Qilu have entered the palace, and are now waiting outside the palace. It seems they have something important to meet with Your Majesty!"

Great Confucians emerged in large numbers in Qilu.

Nowadays, almost four-fifths of the civil servants and scholars of the Zhou Kingdom came from their disciples, and either worshiped them as their teachers, or worshiped their students as their teachers. Therefore, even in the temples, these great Confucian scholars had a considerable say.

Now that I heard that they were coming to Beijing in person, even a noble person like Zhou Shuo didn't dare to show off.

He said: "Why don't you come in?"

More than a dozen old people with gray hair and gray faces and bright spirits, all dressed in elegant clothes, filed into the hall.

Many civil servants rushed to watch and couldn't help but whisper:

"That is my mentor. He is eighty years old and still so energetic! After the dynasty is over, I will definitely invite him to the Jinyu Mantang in Beijing to have two pots of hot wine! I am also sixty years old this year, and I don't know Is there any chance to reunite with my mentor in the future?"

"That was my mentor's mentor. My teacher's family was poor back then. If it weren't for his kindheartedness, he exempted Shu Xiu from accepting him as his student. My teacher would still be farming in his hometown right now!"

"Yeah, that's my master. Twenty years ago, my mentor offended the emperor and his family fell into ruin. His wife, children, and children were displaced. It was he who helped me and gave him a place to stay. Once a teacher, he will always be a father!"

"..."

Some of these civil servants are still in their youth, and some are very old. Seeing this group of great scholars sitting in the land of Qilu, they can't help but feel a lot. Their faces are full of admiration and their eyes are red, as if they are back to the past again. The down-and-out young man who came from a humble background and studied everywhere.

Zhou Shuo raised his hand to signal to the palace attendants to grant him a seat.

His tone was rare and respectful: "I wonder why you old gentlemen came to Beijing?"

The leader of the old man's voice was rich and resonant: "A country cannot be without a king for a day, nor can it be without a prince for a day. Caomin and others came to Beijing this time just to establish a prince."

Zhou Shuo did not expect that the establishment of a crown prince would alarm these old people.

He said: "Please speak."

"Since ancient times, it has been said that 'a son should be established by direct descendants but not by elders, and a son by elders should not be virtuous'. There is no such thing in the world as bypassing the eldest son and appointing the younger son as the heir apparent. The only dynasty in history that has done this has fallen into chaos. It will lead to brother-in-law feuding and brother-in-law fighting. What's worse, it will also lead to invasion by enemy invaders, resulting in the loss of life and the loss of peace in the country."

Although these great scholars did not directly state that they supported Zhou Xianji as the crown prince, their attitude was already quite clear.

With them taking the lead, other civil servants no longer dared to agree with Murong Tao on matters of blood.

The courtiers knelt down and shouted: "Your Majesty, please appoint the second prince as the crown prince!"

Zhou Shuo narrowed his eyes. The fingertips twisting the jade beads were almost white. After a long silence, he said in a deep voice: "Yes."

More than a dozen great scholars stood up, rolled up their sleeves, and bowed down to Zhou Xianji: "Common people, please see His Highness the Crown Prince!"

The courtiers quickly followed suit.

For a moment, He Bai's voice spread far away.

Zhou Xianyang stood among the officials, his hands hanging at his legs clenched into fists.

He stared at Zhou Xianji in disbelief. Facing this seemingly brilliant brother, he couldn't help but feel the murderous intent in his eyes.

What happened in the previous dynasty quickly spread to the harem.

Qing Ju ran into the waterside pavilion with great joy and saluted Wei Zifu: "Your Majesty, I am very happy. Your Highness has been awarded the title of Crown Prince, and the conferment ceremony will be held soon! I heard that the officials were arguing endlessly over who should be appointed as the Crown Prince, but unexpectedly they suddenly came from Qilu More than a dozen old men with white beards came here. I don’t know their origins. They are very talkative. It is the rule of our ancestors to call the second prince the crown prince. The emperor did not dare to talk back!"

The old man from Qilu...

Wei Zi twisted the chess piece, feeling clear in her heart.

I think His Highness asked Hua Yannong for help and traveled to Qilu to pick up those great scholars through wind and rain.

In his hand were two wolf hairs given by His Royal Highness, which were tokens left by the imperial masters of the three dynasties. When the great scholars saw this, they would naturally help him.

Murong Jiuli smiled with crooked eyebrows and looked particularly harmless.

She threw away the peanut shell in her hand and said crisply: "I see, this is not a happy event."

Qingju was puzzled: "What does Miss Murong mean by this?"

Murong Jiuli glanced at Wei Zi meaningfully: "I'm afraid that after the great joy, there will be great tragedy."

After watching the excitement, she hummed a little tune and left.

Wei Zi was thoughtful.

Twilight Quadruple.

As the night gets darker, palace lanterns are lit in all the pavilions and palaces in the palace, and the lanterns become more and more towering.

It is already the season of autumn, and the sweet fragrance of cinnamon wafts from outside and inside the palace walls.

Wei Zi stood on the tall building of Jibei Palace with a lantern. She just took a shower and wore a simple high bun with a golden osmanthus and jasper leaf hairpin on the side of the bun. She had light blue wide sleeves and The skirt fluttered gently in the wind, and the moonlight fell on her cheeks, showing a white jade-like luster, just like the Yaotai fairy Chang'e in the moon palace.

When Zhou Xianji came back from the previous court, he saw such a scene.

He raised his head, with a trace of infatuation in his clear and warm eyes.

When Wei Zi came out of the tall building and hurried up to him along the flower path, the emotion in his eyes was replaced by indifference.

He said warmly: "The night is getting colder, and you are more exposed. If you are not staying in the dormitory, why did you come out?"

Wei Zi's brows furrowed slightly: "I'm worried about you. This time you took away Zhou Xianyang's crown prince position, and I'm afraid the eldest princess and the others won't let you go. By the way, what did you do outside, and why are you back now?"

Zhou Xianji was touched in his heart.

This situation is more like a wife worried about her husband coming home late.

It's a pity that Xiao Zi is not his wife.

He lowered his eyelashes, untied the moon-white satin cloak tied around him, and draped it on Wei Zi's shoulders. (End of chapter)