King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 317
On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, thirty miles east of Shendu, a group of people and horses were on their way to the capital.

There is a guard of honor in front of the team, accompanied by hundreds of guards, and there are more than 20 carriages before and after.

And looking at his rank of guard of honor, it is definitely not something that ordinary officials can enjoy. Only first- and second-rank senior members of the court are eligible for this.

And on the guard of honor and the flag, the identity of the team leader has been named, because the words "Beijing" are written on them.

In a carriage in the middle of the team, Wang Shuirong of Beijing was sitting upright, his heart was like an arrow.

This time he has been ordered to go north for half a year, and he is far away in a bitter cold place on business, so he misses all the people and things in Shendu.

Fortunately, this mission was not disgraceful, and the few errands assigned by the emperor have been completed. After entering the palace in Beijing today to deliver the order, they can return home to reunite with their families.

Although he has inherited the county king, Shui Rong is only 20 years old now, and still has some youthful temperament that has not dissipated.

Just as he was looking forward to returning to the mansion to be reunited with all his beautiful wives and concubines, and when he heard the child calling his father, he heard the voice of his companions outside.

"My lord, Eunuch Zhang from the East Palace is here!"

Eunuch Zhang of the East Palace, Shui Rong naturally knew who it was, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the incarnation of the prince.

Even though the other party was just an eunuch, Shui Rong didn't dare to be negligent at the moment, and immediately ordered to stop and got off the carriage.

Outside the carriage, Zhang Xin, the chief eunuch of the East Palace, was already waiting on the side of the official road with a few eunuchs and a dozen bodyguards.

"Eunuch Zhang, why are you here, how is His Highness the Crown Prince?" Shui Rong hurriedly went forward.

I saw Zhang Xin showing a slight smile, put his hands in front of him and replied very calmly: "Your Highness is well these days. When I heard that the prince is back, I sent special servants to come to greet me!"

The crown prince of the crown prince ordered people to come out of the city to welcome him, a little county king. This kind of courtesy is too much.

This made Shui Rong extremely terrified, for fear that he would be involved in the battle for the heir apparent. The tragic experience of the previous generation made him really not want to get involved again.

"How dare Xiao Wang be treated so courteously by the crown prince, he is really terrified!" Shui Rong said it a bit bluntly, which was also an indirect expression of his attitude.

"The crown prince said that the lineage of King Beijing is the pillar of the country, and now that the emperor's mission has been completed, it should be praised more!"

Hearing Zhang Xin's eloquent talk, although Shui Rong had a smile on his face, he was already crying in his heart.

No matter who the prince and Prince Rui get entangled with, in his opinion, it is a huge trouble, and it is the kind that cannot be shaken off.

At this moment, Shui Rong couldn't help but feel a little regretful, he shouldn't have come out to mess around, honestly, he could just hang out in the palace and wait until he died.

But these words are just thinking about it, if he really waits to die, his palace will be defeated, or he will have to get rid of the noble and become the people in a few generations.

Next, Shui Rong heard a lot of nonsense from Zhang Xin, and he himself had to answer a few sentences from time to time, so as not to let the scene cool down.

After about a few minutes, Zhang Xin finally got to the point.

"I heard that the lord went north this time, and found a batch of good horses among the vassals of the various ministries in the north?"

This is true, what makes Shui Rong curious is why the prince pays attention to this matter, or does the eunuch in front of him have ideas.

"I bought a few good horses. Is it possible that Eunuch Zhang is short of horses to ride? I'll give you one then!"

These words were of course a temptation. If Zhang Xin, the eunuch, wanted something, Shui Rong would not refuse, but would just give him a horse.

Zhang Xin immediately explained: "It's not the slave who wants it, but the prince likes it, so I specially ordered the old slave to come... Please send two horses evenly!"

After agreeing to find good horses for Zhu Jinghong, Zhu Jingyuan specially asked someone to discuss the matter, and only learned that Shui Rong had acquired a batch of good horses in the past two days.

In order to prevent the sixth child from attacking first, Zhu Jingyuan sent people out of the city to meet him, in order to get the horse.

But he didn't expect that Lao Liu would do it a few days earlier, and even gave a gift to Princess Beijing.

But unfortunately, although Princess Beijing agreed to this matter, she forgot to send a message to her husband, so Shui Rong is still kept in the dark.

In other words, Shui Rong was focused on staying away from the struggle for succession, but he didn't know that he was being targeted by Prince Rui at the same time, and became the core of the struggle between the two.

At this moment, Shui Rong was completely unaware of the seriousness of the problem, and instead smiled and said to Zhang Xin: "This is a simple matter, and since His Royal Highness likes it, I will deliver it to my door in a few days!"

The crown prince specially sent someone here, even if Shui Rong loved this batch of horses, he still couldn't think of rejecting them.

Apparently Zhang Xin also felt that this should be the case, so he asked rather puzzled: "How many days?"

How many days will you have to wait to give what the prince wants?What does this mean?
Afraid of Zhang Xin's misunderstanding, Shui Rong hurriedly explained: "The horses need to be taken care of carefully, so they didn't go with the group, so it will take two days to arrive!"

"Oh……"

It can be heard that Zhang Xin is a little disappointed. He expected to take the horse back now.

"I'm really sorry, I hope Eunuch Zhang will explain it to the prince for me!"

Speaking of this, Shui Rong flirted with the attendant, and the latter took out the bank note knowingly, and then handed it to the little eunuch behind Zhang Xin.

"This..." Zhang Xin looked puzzled, obviously pretending to be confused.

No need for water-soluble explanations, his entourage replied: "Father-in-laws have worked hard all the way, and this little money is used to buy tea on the way!"

"Why is this so embarrassing?" Zhang Xin looked at Shui Rong.

"Eunuch Zhang doesn't need to refuse, explaining the matter to the crown prince...you will have to trouble me!"

"Small things... just small things!"

Zhang Xin fully agreed, and after some chatter, he left with his subordinates.

After watching him leave, Shui Rong returned to the carriage with a sad expression on his face.

It was not because of those horses, but because he was worried that he would be involved in the whirlpool, and that would be a disaster.

"My lord, have you set off yet? No matter how late you are, you won't be able to enter the palace!"

Hearing the reminder from his followers, Shui Rong heaved a long sigh before ordering the team to move on.

Anything can be delayed, but seeing the emperor today is the only thing that cannot be delayed. This is ten thousand times more important than his reunion at home.

The team continued on their way, and entered the city after more than an hour, Shui Rong only let some guards escort him into the palace, and the rest returned directly to the palace.

When he came back this time, Shui Rong was originally in high spirits, but the fact that the crown prince sent someone to look for him made him disappear without a trace.

So after entering the palace, Shui Rong tried to keep a low profile as much as possible, and only walked in places with few people, for fear of being bumped into again.

Fortunately, there was nothing wrong along the way, so he was able to get outside the Qianqing Palace smoothly, and entered the Qianqing Gate under the guidance of the eunuch.

Normally, the emperor is relatively free in the afternoon, so civil and military officials usually choose this time for their audience.

"Dare to ask my father-in-law, how many people are there today? Can you report to the Holy One for me in advance?"

When entering the palace gate just now, there were more than a dozen people waiting outside, obviously there are many people who came to see today.

As long as it wasn't for the cabinet ministers, the six ministers, and the governors of the five armies' governor's mansion, it would be easy for him to "jump the queue".

After entering the palace gate, there were no such people waiting outside the hall, so Shui Rong asked.

"Only the dozen or so people outside are mostly counselors who came to speak out, the prince don't need to pay attention to them!"

It is normal for officials to impeach civil and military officials, but it is unusual to appear in the Qing Dynasty like this today.

Since the ancestors, from the founding of Taizu to the present 300 years, the officials of Ming Dynasty have attacked their colleagues hard, and they have always been honest in front of the emperor.

"Are they so bold?"

Hearing Shui Rong's question, the eunuch who led the way couldn't help laughing and said: "Their admonishment this time is to ask the Lord to add an honorary title!"

(End of this chapter)