Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 362: The Night Banquet of a Rich Family (Part )

The eldest of Ji Ge's descendants was called Li Cong, and he was named King Qing. Because when he was young, he was scratched on the face by some kind of "monkey" while hunting, which disfigured him, so he withdrew from the battle for the crown prince early.

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that Li Cong lived to this day. Although everyone knew that he could not succeed to the throne, he saved his life.

The other adult princes who are still alive include: the sixth son Rong Wang Li Wan; the twelfth son Yi Wang Li Sui; the thirteenth son Ying Wang Li Yan (originally named Li Min); the sixteenth son Yong Wang Li Lin, the eighteenth son, namely The current crown prince Li Xuan (former King Shou); the 20th son King Yan Li Bin; the 21st son King Sheng Li Qi; the 22nd son King Ji Li Huan, the 23rd son King Xin Li Yi and so on.

They are all over twenty years old, and even Li Cong is over forty.

In addition to Li Xuan, there are at least seven or eight princes who can theoretically become emperor. If you include the surviving teenage children, there are definitely more than ten people, and the competition is still quite fierce.

Don't say it's impossible. When it comes to the succession of the throne, I can only say that everything is possible!
Just after noon that day, in the stables outside Huaqing Palace, one tall horse after another was led in. The eunuchs stationed in the Huaqing Palace took care of these horses as if they were their fathers, not daring to show any slightest care.

The kings' entourage were all waiting by the river at the foot of the mountain and were not allowed to go up the mountain and enter the Huaqing Palace. A long row of houses was built at the foot of the mountain to accommodate these followers. They lived there for a year without any problem!

There are also thousands of Shence soldiers, divided into ten battalions, stationed in various places inside and outside the huge Huaqing Palace, with tight defense.

The emperor strictly ordered that only the prince himself was allowed to enter the Huaqing Palace, but none of the courtiers were invited.

After a while, the musicians from the Liyuan, under the conductor of Lei Haiqing, began to play "The Song of Colorful Feather Clothes". The dancers also walked into the middle of the hall and started dancing to the dance music.

All the adult princes present looked solemn and serious. On the other hand, some underage princes looked around, but did not dare to move around at will.

That was Li Ying, the crown prince at the time, who asked to borrow 2,000 pieces of armor from him, but Li Xuan didn't borrow it, and then reported Li Ying back.

The scale of this year's birthday banquet is naturally not the same as in the past, but it is much more lively than that of ordinary wealthy families.

The one who rides the horse is indeed watertight!

Apart from the two of them, a dozen other princes have already taken their seats.

Outside the palace gate at the foot of the mountain, Yong Wang Li Lin, who was full of worries, happened to see Ying Wang Li Xuan who arrived at Huaqing Palace at almost the same time as him. The two met by chance and looked at each other speechlessly.

Li Xuan suffered a loss and felt aggrieved and didn't know who to talk to.

"By the way, Brother Huang, I was at the door just now. Why didn't I see the prince's car? We came not too early. The prince hasn't come yet. Isn't it a bit rude?"

The princes listened to the music and watched the dancers dancing. They waited and waited. They waited for two hours in a row, but Brother Ji didn't show up!
The cold dishes on the table were removed and replaced with new dishes. The hot dishes were never served. Every prince held his breath, waiting for Brother Ji to appear.

Li Lin complained in his heart, but showed a "sudden realization" expression on his face, and said with some sadness: "So that's it! I wrongly blamed the prince! Alas, I must go to the East Palace to apologize someday!"

By the way, King Ying was still called Li Min at that time.

At this moment, Gao Lishi walked in from the front door and shouted to everyone: "The saint is busy with state affairs and has no time to attend the birthday banquet. Princes, please help yourself. The banquet has begun, let's serve the food. The dancing and music are not allowed to stop!" "

Li Xuan urged with a calm face, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

Li Lin secretly screamed that something was wrong and quickly calmed down.

He seemed to have said it, but he seemed to have said nothing. Even if an outsider heard it, they wouldn't be able to explain why.

This incident is full of doubts now that I think about it. Because even the prince didn't control many armor soldiers, how could a prince like Li Yan conjure two thousand armors?

But then Brother Ji probably forgot about the promise he made back then, and then... there was nothing more.

"We are already late. The saint should be impatient, so we should go faster."

"The Song of Colorful Feathers" has a total of thirty-six sections, divided into three parts: the preface (six sections), the middle preface (eighteen sections) and the end of the song (twelve sections), which integrates singing, dancing and instrumental music.

Li Lin felt the "green tea" rank gap between herself and Li Xuan, and immediately fell silent. When the two came to the front hall of Huaqing Palace, they saw that the banquet venue had been decorated.

Li Xuan, this bitch, indeed gave a note to every prince who went to express his condolences to the Crown Princess, for fear that others would not know.

Li Lin showed a sense of "brothers, friends and brothers". As for whether others believed it or not, he didn't care. Anyway, he was performing.

Li Lin pretended to be a fool and asked bluntly.

I wonder if Li Xuan still feels that the position of prince should belong to him?
Li Lin was thinking about something in her mind, so she stepped forward to say hello to Li Xuan and exchanged a few casual greetings.

When King Longevity Li Xuan got angry, he gave a very logical answer: Brother Ji asked Li Xuan to do this, and promised to make him the prince afterwards.

Li Xuan remained calm and pushed back Li Lin's words.

Li Lin scolded Li Xuan in her heart, but she also knew that this person must already know something. And he did not shy away from informing himself, who was also the prince.

Before Li Xuan could answer, Yu Chaoen, who was leading the way, replied: "The princess died suddenly and the prince was in mourning. It was not convenient for him to attend the saint's banquet in mourning clothes, so the saint sympathized with him and did not invite him."

After saying that, he left without looking back, without stopping at all!

At this moment, the dancer from the Liyuan appeared in the center of the main hall, and Mrs. Gongsun also came to give instructions. Musicians from the Liyuan also came in one after another, and all kinds of musical instruments were brought in.

And this song can be played repeatedly at banquets.

But there is still a big difference, that is, Brother Ji himself was not present at all!

Li Lin and Li Xuan immediately sat down in front of the table with their names written on them, kneeling down and looking intently.

I think the saint wanted to kill Li Chen when he saw him, right? Not letting him come is out of sight!

Among Ji Ge's many sons, Li Lin is a little afraid of Li Yan, because this is a very insidious little coin!
When Ji Ge killed three sons in one day, Li Lu "reported" Ji Ge and provided a very crucial piece of evidence.

They were almost reaching the front hall of Huaqing Palace when Li Lin suddenly asked loudly, causing all the servants around to hear.

Many princes present looked at each other in confusion. They were invited by the saint's invitation, but in the end the saint did not show up at all. What does this mean?
There are no fathers and sons under the imperial power. It goes against the moral principles of the father not to show up at his father's birthday party.

After the useless politeness, while the followers were far away, Li Lin lowered his voice and asked: "Brother Emperor, have you heard of anything strange recently, such as the saint getting sick? Should we ask later? Ask, show your filial piety?”

"Recently, I did hear some rumors about the saint being ill. I believe these are all nonsense. I will know when I see the saint later."

Everything is Ji Ge's daily habit.

But the emperor himself did not appear at the emperor's birthday banquet, which was the willfulness of the imperial power. The emperor just won't come out, what can you do?
More importantly, the princes lost the opportunity to observe whether Brother Ji was infected at close range. This is a big loss!
Li Lin looked around and found that everyone was still calm, but he couldn't bear it and wanted to "visit the patient", so he had to suppress his anxiety and refused to be the first person.

Dishes of delicious color and aroma were placed on everyone's table, and no one touched their chopsticks at all. No one appreciated the enchanting figures of the dancers in the hall. The ethereal and beautiful "Song of Colorful Feathers" is even more upsetting, but cannot drive away the musicians.

After night fell, this indescribable "birthday banquet" finally came to an end. The princes were ordered to return to their respective residences immediately and were not allowed to stay near Huaqing Palace.

A silent "farce" came to an end like this, leaving many people with endless reveries.

……

In the "Nine Dragon Soup" of Huaqing Palace, Brother Ji was lying lazily in the hot spring, and Gao Lishi was holding a note in his hand, which turned out to be the same one as Li Lin.

There are also sixteen words on it: The saint has a hidden illness, and there is no cure; time is running out, so you can do as you please.

"That bastard is so courageous!"

Brother Ji in the soup pool opened his eyes and said something meaningless in a serious tone. "Back to the saint, I estimate that every prince should have one in his hand now. It just depends on whether they admit it or not. Do you want me to send someone to ask?"

Gao Lishi asked cautiously.

"That's all, Li Chen was betting that I wouldn't dare to kill him. I have to say, he was right."

Brother Ji snorted coldly, and then his tone became a little helpless.

Killing Li Chen is like squeezing a flea to death. There can be countless reasons, just like killing three sons in one day.

However, Li Chen cannot die now. Once he is dead, the contents of this note will be confirmed.

This time, Brother Ji is throwing a tantrum into a trap, and he feels extremely aggrieved!
Li Xuan is now going back and forth with one move: As long as I lie flat, you can't cut my leeks. As long as I don't want to win, I'm invincible.

Li Chen didn't cultivate his own power at all, so he was the weakest among the many princes.

On the other hand, Brother Ji must fully support Li Long, otherwise, he will fall too easily. If Li Chen falls, the balance of the court will be broken!

Li Chen saw through this and faced Brother Ji.

"Sage, it's impossible to kill Li Chen, but it's not difficult to send someone to beat him up.

Now I will take a team of soldiers and horses to beat Li Xuan and vent his anger on the saint. "

Gao Lishi suggested in a low voice. Hearing this, Brother Ji didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He waved his hand and said: "This kind of thing will only make you laugh, so what's the point! Alas! Thanks to this evil beast, things are in trouble now."

Brother Ji couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. He felt that the fact that he had a strange disease should have aroused speculation among many princes.

This is also the most important reason why he deliberately did not attend the birthday banquet today.

Brother Ji and Li Chen were fighting in the distance. Neither of them showed up at the birthday banquet, but they profoundly affected the scene at the birthday banquet.

Originally, Brother Ji did not allow the prince to attend the birthday banquet because he wanted to hint to the princes: I am very dissatisfied with the prince and you all have a chance.

He prepared a lot of words to stir up the aggressiveness among the princes.

But this move was disrupted by the sudden "note", which made Brother Ji dare not attend the birthday banquet at all.

He was really afraid of being caught out.

As an emperor, the most important deterrent is actually the "unknown".

If the punishment cannot be known, the power cannot be measured.

He doesn't let his "big boys" know about his condition. Even if they have speculations, they can't confirm it. Just get to this point.

As for other things, Brother Ji has already settled for the next best thing and doesn't dare to think about it.

“It’s impossible not to deal with this scourge like Li Chen at all.”

Brother Ji suddenly thought of a good idea.

"Let's do this. In a few days, I will go to the East Palace to convey the decree. I will say that the prince is kind and filial, which is an example for all the princes. Let him go to Huashan to pray for me.

My natal mountain is Huashan, so it should be useful for him to pray for me. "

Brother Ji suddenly said with a smile.

If the prince Li Xuan is in Chang'an, he will always be dishonest. Bedbugs don't bite, they just disgust people. Brother Ji decided to arrange a "good place" for Li Chen.

"Sage, what about the other princes? They all got Li Fan's note!"

Gao Lishi asked doubtfully.

I have to say that Li Chen's move really disgusted Brother Ji, but Brother Ji couldn't depose the prince yet.

In other words, Li Long hopes that Brother Ji will depose the crown prince. In that case, the fact that Brother Ji has an incurable disease will be completely confirmed.

I can’t imagine the consequences!
"I am going to lure the snake out of its hole in the near future and put on a show so that they will be honest."

Brother Ji said with a cold snort.

"What the saint said is...pretending to be too ill to do anything?"

Gao Lishi was a little confused, but suddenly he remembered what happened that year, and he suddenly understood.

During the Kaiyuan period of that year, Brother Ji was in the prime of life but suddenly fell ill. At that time, many powerful people were ready to make a move, including the prince-in-law!

As a result, Brother Ji "miraculously" recovered soon after, and he also dealt with those who had evil intentions.

Exile after exile, beheading after beheading, nip the danger in the bud.

Now, is the story of that year going to happen again?

"Yes, just imitate the skill I used to lure snakes out of their holes."

Brother Ji said with a cold snort.

Gao Lishi disagreed with Brother Ji's bad idea.

Brother Ji was in the prime of his life back then, so after bringing order to the chaos, it was easy to calm down the situation.

But now, Brother Ji is already over sixty! Now that there are rumors that he is seriously ill, people outside really think that he has died!
The situation will definitely be out of control by then!

Gao Lishi quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed and begged: "Sage, you can take care of this matter slowly, but you must not take risks! Please think twice, saint, please think twice!"

"Don't you think it's okay?"

Brother Ji asked with a slight frown, feeling a little shaken in his heart.

Gao Lishi is not a particularly smart person. If even Gao Lishi says it can’t be done, then it really can’t be done!

"That's all, I will listen to you. The other kings can hold off for a while. Li Xuan must be transferred to Huashan to pray for me!"

Brother Ji clenched his fist fiercely and said.

He said forget it, but he was still thinking in his heart that he had to play "play hard to get" to be safe. Otherwise, his big boys will definitely think of ways to cause trouble, and they must use a bloody defeat to scare these people.

"Rikishi, please step back. I want to be alone for a while."

Brother Ji waved his hands tiredly and said.

(End of this chapter)