Everything starts from Menghualu

Chapter 406: Conquering the States
Emperor Xining finally issued an imperial decree, in which he conferred the titles of Five-Pearl Princes on his three sons and Seven-Pearl Prince on Liu Changfeng. The ministers did not react much to this reward.

But the prince couldn't sit still anymore. He started to get a little restless.
But Liu Changyuan and his brothers didn't care about these at this time. They were already on their way back to Beijing.

"Fifth brother, do you think we can rest for a few days after we return this time?" Liu Changyuan asked

"Brother, if you want to ask me this, then you are asking the wrong person. How would I know what my father is thinking? I want to go back quickly to see my wife and children." Liu Changfeng said

"Fifth brother, you, you really are... Never mind, that's all. It's true. If you hadn't said it, I wouldn't have thought about it that way. Now that you said it, I really miss my son." Liu Changyuan said

"That's right, let alone you, my second brother. I miss my son a little too." Liu Changyuan said

Time passed quickly, and half a month later Liu Changyuan and his companions returned to the capital. Emperor Xining personally led all the officials to welcome them at the city gate.

Seeing this, the brothers naturally dismounted and saluted. Emperor Xining said quickly, "Hahaha, okay, don't be so polite. Get up quickly and let me take a good look."

After the brothers got up, they stood there obediently. The Emperor Xining was satisfied no matter how he looked at them, and the smile on his face never stopped.

Finally, everyone returned to the palace together, and the imperial edict was read out. Then Emperor Xining issued an order, saying that a family banquet would be prepared tomorrow and that all families should come with them.

As soon as Liu Changfeng entered his palace, he saw his three beauties waiting there. Liu Changfeng smiled and walked up to them and said, "Why are you all here? It's getting cold, so be careful."

"My dear, since you have returned victoriously this time, we will of course welcome you here. If Zhao'er hadn't fallen asleep, I would have brought him here with me." Ye Yun said with a smile

"Haha, alright, alright Madam, stop talking for now, let's go in and talk. You don't know how much I miss you out there." Liu Changfeng laughed.

After hearing this, the three girls naturally laughed, and then the four of them went to have dinner together. There was constant laughter during the meal, and finally Liu Changfeng had an unexpected gain.

That is, although he stayed in Yu Ru's room that night, there were three people resting there, so the feeling was naturally indescribable.

Because of their great victory, Emperor Xining granted them permission not to attend court tomorrow. However, as there was a family banquet in the palace today, they naturally had to get up early to prepare.

But Liu Changfeng could get up, but Yuru and Xifeng couldn't. Fortunately, they didn't have to go with him today, which saved him a lot of trouble.

The couple sat in the carriage heading to the palace, and Yun'er suddenly asked, "My husband, now that Zhao'er has settled down, isn't it time for you to have other children?"

"Hmm? Madam, what do you mean? Can't you bear it now and give me another child? No, it's not good for your health." Liu Changfeng said

"Oh, husband, I'm not kidding you. Yuru and Xifeng, it's time for them to make some moves. Husband, our family is still too small."

"Besides, if they don't get pregnant for a long time, how will people outside look at me? How will people behind the scenes look at me? Husband, please consider this as a request from me, okay?" Ye Yun said
"Okay, okay, Madam, don't get excited. I promise you. But this kind of thing, it's not something I can get pregnant with just because I want it. It still depends on the opportunity." Liu Changfeng said with a smile

"You don't have to worry about this husband. As long as you agree, I will arrange for the imperial physician to prescribe a prescription for them tomorrow. I guarantee that there will be no problem." Ye Yun said happily.

"Okay, okay, Madam, as long as you are happy, I have no objection. Okay, Madam, let's not talk about this anymore. We are here, let's get off the car quickly?" Liu Changfeng said with a smile

After hearing this, Ye Yun knew that she couldn't say anything more, so she said directly, "Okay, okay, I won't say anything more."

After hearing this, Liu Changfeng smiled, and then the couple got off the carriage. The family dinner that followed was actually just a performance, and no one was eating at all.

This scene was like the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea. Liu Changfeng didn't like it, but he still pretended to be very happy and toasted with them.

This family dinner was actually quite boring. Emperor Xining could naturally see through his sons' disguise. On the surface, he pretended to be ignorant, but in fact, he still felt a little uncomfortable.

So in the end the family banquet ended quickly. Watching his sons leave, Emperor Xining went straight back to Funing Palace with the empress. At this time, the empress also realized that something was wrong with her majesty.

So as soon as I sat down, I said, "Your Majesty, today is such a happy day, why do I look at you and you don't seem happy?"

"Wan'er, you have seen what happened today. They are so close in appearance but so far apart in spirit. How can they be brothers? How can I be happy about this?" Emperor Xining said.

"Your Majesty, there is nothing we can do about this. The Royal Family has been like this throughout the dynasties. If they can't solve it, then naturally we can't either."

"But your majesty, I have to say something inappropriate. You must pay more attention to the crown prince. In this situation, he is under the greatest pressure."

"Several brothers have caught up with me, and Feng'er has even been promoted directly to the Prince of Seven Pearls. Your Majesty, how are we going to increase our status in the future? I disagreed before, but you still...?" the Queen said
"Wan'er, I know what you want to say, but have you ever thought about why I conferred the title of Seventh Pearl Prince to Changfeng? What do you think would happen if they were both Five Pearl Princes?"

"Wan'er, I know that doing this is a bit unfair to Changfeng, but under the current circumstances, I have no choice but to do this. I can only let Changfeng down for now." Emperor Xining said

After hearing this, Liang Wan was silent for a while. After all, she was still very uncomfortable with her Majesty treating her son like this, but she responded quickly.

"Your Majesty, it is impossible to say that I have no thoughts, but I can understand your difficulties. However, you really need to pay attention to it, Prince."

"Sometimes when you think too much, suspicion arises, and then it will be difficult to redeem the relationship." Liang Wan said in a serious tone.

"Well, Wan'er, you are right. I will talk to the prince tomorrow. I hope he will be fine." Emperor Xining said with a smile

Liang Wan stopped talking after hearing this. After all, she had said enough today and could not say any more.

Time quickly came to the next day. After the morning court session, the prince quickly received the news that his father wanted to summon him. Naturally, he hurriedly followed the eunuch into the imperial study.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, Father." The prince bowed and said
"Okay, okay, there is no outsider between you and me, father and son, so there is no need to do this. Sit down, let's have a good chat." After hearing this, the prince sat down obediently, and Emperor Xining nodded.

"Changsheng, tell me the truth, what do you think of this reward?" Emperor Xining said

"Father, I think this reward is very good, and my brothers are indeed worthy of it." After hearing this, the prince subconsciously spoke directly.
"Okay, I just said it, I want to hear the truth." Emperor Xining said

"Father, I am telling the truth. In fact, I was a little worried at the beginning, but I got over it later."

"After all, I am the crown prince, and I am different from my brothers. So for me, many things cannot be compared with them. I have my own things to do." The crown prince said in a deep voice.
"Okay, okay, well said, Changsheng, you must always remember that you are the crown prince. There are some things you cannot do, but at the same time you don't need to worry. Do you understand?" Emperor Xining said

After hearing this, the prince naturally hurried to pay his respects. Looking at his son's departing back, Emperor Xining was very satisfied. He knew that his son must still be unable to get over the matter.

But he didn't care about these things. He believed that his son would come to terms with it in the future, and he still had time to slowly deal with the relationship between the brothers.

In fact, the prince was already feeling extremely distressed at this moment. He understood why his father wanted him to go on his own, but he just couldn't help it.

He knew he shouldn't think like this, but it was no use, he couldn't control his thoughts.

But these have nothing to do with Liu Changfeng. At this moment, he is busy following his wife's instructions to work hard to expand his family.
Time passed slowly, and his efforts were not in vain. First Yu Ru, and then Xi Feng, they both became pregnant one after another. Liu Changfeng was naturally very happy about this.

Ye Yun was also very satisfied with this. Since this incident happened, she has entered the palace twice, and came back happily every time, which shows that the queen must have praised him a lot.

During this period, Emperor Xining was not idle. One month after Liu Changfeng and his men returned, he again considered sending troops.

However, before he could take any action, other states sent surrender letters, expressing their willingness to surrender. Some of them were sincere while others were false.

But for Emperor Xining, no matter whether it was true or false, there was no reason to continue, so he was still in a bad mood.

Under such circumstances, no one in the court dared to make him angry, for fear that His Majesty would vent his anger on them, which would be too unfair.

Emperor Xining had been experienced for many years, so he quickly came up with a countermeasure. He first issued an order to agree to their surrender, and then sent officials.

Then came the transfers to other places, with the Jiedushi of various states being exchanged with each other. After these two moves, some people suddenly became restless, and Emperor Xining was waiting for this moment.

So the war broke out again, and it was the same as last time. Everything was the same as last time. The only difference was that last time the prince cooperated very well, but this time he did not cooperate.

On Liu Changfeng's side, except for the first batch of food and grass that he got very quickly, the other times were delayed for a long time each time. Liu Changfeng naturally could not turn a blind eye to this.

So he went straight back to the capital, led his troops into the Ministry of Revenue, killed the Minister of Revenue, and personally took charge of the Ministry of Revenue, managing the allocation of grain and fodder.

This move was beyond everyone's imagination. You know, those were the three chief officials of the Ministry of Revenue. How could they be killed just like that? The ministers naturally could not agree to it.

So they submitted memorials one after another, but Emperor Xining had no time to deal with them at this time, because he was busy questioning the crown prince.

"Changsheng, you really disappoint me. Do you remember what you said to me last time? What did you do this time? Are you worthy of my trust?" Emperor Xining said.

"Father, your trust? Your trust means that you will let my brothers make meritorious deeds, then confer titles on them, and then finally choose one of them to replace me, right?" the prince said loudly.
"Changsheng, don't you know why I did this? Those prefectures and cities pretended to obey the imperial decree but secretly disobeyed it. Have you forgotten that?"

"Why did I let all your brothers go? Can't you see? Why did the three people from the Ministry of Revenue die? They all died at your hands!"

"Go back to the East Palace now and reflect on the past. Do not come out without my permission!" Emperor Xining said.

The news that the prince was under house arrest quickly spread throughout the court and the country. Now the ministers were silent. After all, the prince was under house arrest, which showed the attitude of His Majesty.

In other words, no matter what they did, they could not do anything to the King of Chuan. At least they had no chance before the war was over. After realizing this, they immediately became obedient.

After the food and grass supply was solved, other problems naturally followed. Liu Changyuan won victory after victory in the front, and Emperor Xining was relieved.

After all, he was under a lot of pressure to fight this battle. If he lost, all the prestige he had accumulated with great difficulty would be completely consumed. Fortunately, what he worried about did not happen.

What was giving him a headache at this time was Liu Changfeng. After all, he had killed three ministers of the Ministry of Revenue, and he must give an explanation for this matter.

After all, to be honest, this incident was entirely caused by the internal strife within their royal family. If he didn't punish Chang Feng, then the fault this time would be the prince's.

The prince cannot make any mistakes, because if he does anything wrong, he will be deposed, a result he absolutely does not want, so in the end he can only let his own Wulang suffer.

But that was a matter for the future. Now the most important thing was to fight the war. One day a year later, all the hesitant prefectures were conquered one by one by Liu Changyuan.

They returned to the capital in high spirits, but the subsequent imperial edict of reward surprised them a little. The three Liu Changyuan brothers were fine and were given the title of Prince Qizhu.

But Liu Changfeng's reward was based on his merits and demerits. That's right, Liu Changfeng had nothing to do with this reward, so it was just a waste of his time.

Liu Changyuan, who knew the whole story, felt a little guilty, but at the same time he thought this was a good opportunity, so he took his two younger brothers and went to the palace to appeal for his fifth brother.

"Father, this reward is too unfair to my fifth brother. Those officials in the Ministry of Revenue really deserve to be killed. My fifth brother did nothing wrong, so if you reward me like this, I will not accept it." Liu Changyuan said directly.

(End of this chapter)