Wind rises time and space gate

Chapter 502: Making excuses
Lin Zhaoxia sent Lin Jingan and Li's mother and daughter away in a gentle manner.

After the man left, she was stunned for a long time.

She and Zhao Guangyuan were in their prime, but now countless people were staring at the palace behind them. This really meant that there was a throne to inherit.

It is estimated that the King of Chu is not the only one who is staring at it.

When Zhao Guangyuan came back, he was also stunned after hearing this. The King of Chu was staring at his title? The child in Aunt Lin's belly?

That's really thoughtful.

"I'm afraid Zhao Guanghan has forgotten what he has done to me." First he made him childless, and now he is worrying about what will happen after his death.

"Don't you still need them now? Don't tear your face off."

Now both sides have reached a tacit understanding to deal with the crown prince together, and the two sides have temporarily stopped fighting. But if this matter is not handled well, I am afraid there will be some trouble.

"We need the brothers to distract the prince." But that doesn't mean he has to agree to the King of Chu's request.

"So how are you going to handle this?"

"Let me think about it." He was not incapable of pretending to be nice. Everything was just to achieve his goal.

The next day, when discussing this matter with his staff, they were all silent. After looking at each other, Wei Zuo tried to speak: "I think this move is not impossible."

If the prince wants to ascend the throne, he must have an heir. Since he has to be adopted, it is better to choose a candidate early and bring him home to be raised as soon as he is born. That would be a different kind of affection. It is much better than adopting another prince's grown-up heir.

"Besides, it is not appropriate to fall out with the King of Chu and the King of Qin now."

"Yes, yes. For the time being, we will agree to the request of the King of Chu. Anyway, we will talk about the future later. The prince is in his prime, and the selection of the successor is a matter for the future. To put it bluntly, even if the prince changes his mind in the future, no one will dare to interfere."

By that time, the prince had already seized power.

If you want to change the heir, isn't it just a matter of words from the prince?

All the staff members talked at once, and all of them persuaded Zhao Guangyuan to accept the matter. Jiang Wentao and Fang Er, as the only two people who knew about it, secretly looked at the King of Yue's face.

The prince has his own children, but now he is unable to make them public and is forced to agree to the King of Chu's request.

The prince feels very sad.

Zhao Guangyuan remained silent and did not comment, just listening to his staff analyzing the benefits of this.

After a while, he stopped the crowd from talking more and more enthusiastically, "I will consider this matter." Then he changed the subject, "Has there been any news about the prince sending four million taels of silver to the nine borders?"

Jiang Wentao said solemnly, "News has been reported back one after another. The Crown Prince did send four million taels of silver to the nine frontiers. The accounts are correct."

"Is the account correct? The prince must have spent a lot of money this time."

After all, the reason why the water conservancy funds were withheld before was because there was a shortage of silver, and all the money had been embezzled elsewhere. Once the prince discovered it, they had no choice but to scrape together another 4 million taels of silver.

"There are still many people who are attached to the prince. It is not difficult for the prince to collect four million taels."

Everyone was silent.

Zhao Guangyuan was also silent. The crown prince had been the heir to the throne for nearly twelve years, his position was stable, and he had many followers. It would take time to change his position.

But Zhao Guangyuan felt that he had waited too long and became a little impatient.

"We still need to keep an eye on the Crown Prince. We need to send someone to find out where the four million taels went."

"Yes."

Private room in the reception building.

The King of Chu was drinking with a few of his trusted advisers. Thinking of what Aunt Lin had said, that the Princess of Yue seemed quite interested in adopting her son, the King of Chu felt somewhat complacent.

During this period, he had a vague intuition that Zhao Guangyuan was not as simple as he appeared. Several times in his dreams, he dreamed that Zhao Guangyuan sat high on the dragon throne in the Jiying Hall, holding court meetings with the civil and military officials of the hall.

He looked even more majestic than his father.

He was awakened by his dreams several times.

He was not trying to boost others' ambitions and destroy his own brother's prestige. But the third brother had been fighting with the crown prince for so many years and had not made any progress. On the contrary, the seventh brother's trip out of the capital not only made him famous in Luocheng and Linzhao, but also won the special treatment of the ministers in the capital.

This made the King of Chu feel more and more threatened.

At this time, the third brother decided to cooperate with the seventh brother, which was indeed a wise move. First, get rid of the prince. No matter whether it benefited the third brother or the seventh brother in the future, he could have the best of both worlds.

It was hard to say before, but now, if the seventh brother agrees to adopt his son, won’t the title of king belong to his son in the future?

Then in the future, if the seventh brother can make further progress, won't he be the emperor? Thinking about it, I couldn't help laughing out loud.

Anyway, no matter what, whoever gets that position will be the most honorable prince, and all of them will get his benefits.

"Prince? Prince?" Why did the prince start laughing to himself while drinking?

The King of Chu quickly came back to his senses, "Drink, drink, today I am happy, I need to drink three hundred cups!"

"Okay, we'll drink with you, my Lord, and we won't leave until we're drunk!"

There were three knocks on the door. The King of Chu and the others paused, then said, "Come in."

The door of the private room opened, and everyone put down their glasses and looked towards the door...

"King of Yue, please." The shopkeeper led Zhao Guangyuan to the door.

"King of Yue?" Everyone was stunned.

"Are you looking for me?" The King of Chu came back to his senses.

Zhao Guangyuan glanced at him and nodded. The rest of the people in the private room knew the opportunity, bowed to the King of Yue, and hurriedly retreated. The door was closed by the shopkeeper.

There were only King Chu and Zhao Guangyuan in the room.

"What's the matter?"

Zhao Guangyuan looked at him intently, "You want to adopt your concubine's son to me?"

The King of Chu didn't expect him to be so direct. After being stunned, he didn't hide it and nodded, "You don't like it?"

"I am a prince with a fief of ten thousand households, and I want to adopt a bastard?"

The King of Chu suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, "If you don't like him, I have another legitimate son for you to choose from."

"What makes you think I have to choose from your house?"

"Do you want to choose from Third Brother's house? Third Brother has only two legitimate sons. Not to mention Third Brother's opinion, I'm afraid Third Brother's wife will not agree." Why is she not willing? Does this need to be explained?

The Third Emperor's wife always held her head high in front of the Crown Princess. I'm afraid her legitimate son would not want to be adopted out.

For the sake of the great cause, the third brother should not refuse, but, "I thought the Princess of Yue preferred to be close to the Lin family."

Zhao Guangyuan pulled a chair over and sat down opposite him, pouring himself a glass of wine. "She is close to the Lin family, but being close is one thing. She won't make her own decision on such a big matter as adoption."

"So, you don't agree?" Zhao Guangyuan didn't say anything.

The King of Chu was a little anxious. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that adopting a son to the Seventh Brother was the right decision, with no disadvantages and only benefits. He wanted to make it happen. The Seventh Brother came today...

Since you came here to find him, I'm afraid it's not just to reject him.

If you just want to reject him, just ignore him or send someone to inform him.

The King of Chu felt some hope again.

"I know you like the boy named Lin who is raised in your house, but he is a child of a different surname. Father and the royal family will not agree to your adoption of him. If you adopt my son, I can agree to it. He will only inherit your title of king. We don't want the property you and the princess have earned. You can give it to whoever you want."

Zhao Guangyuan raised his eyebrows.

Being seen by the King of Chu added to his joy.

"If you don't believe me, I can prove it with a written document."

Zhao Guangyuan raised his head and drank the next glass, then poured himself another one without responding to him.

The King of Chu couldn't guess what he meant and just looked at him.

"Back then," Zhao Guangyuan suddenly spoke, "back then everyone thought that I was in poor health and couldn't have children. I was abused by those palace maids in the palace. I felt like I was living a life worse than death. I soaked in wine jars day and night, but the palace maids never tried to persuade me and even let me get drunk..."

The King of Chu clenched his hands tightly, not daring to look him in the eye.

Zhao Guangyuan just pretended not to see it.

"But I know it's not the case. No matter how brave the palace servants are, they dare not harm the heir to the throne."

The King of Chu felt a little guilty. "Maybe it's been so long that you can't remember clearly. I asked the imperial physician, and he said that your body was damaged by the alcohol."

"Yeah."

"That's right. But it doesn't matter. After a hundred years, everyone will be nothing but a handful of dirt. What difference does it make whether the heir is a biological child or an adopted child?"

"That's true. I don't believe in reincarnation. Once you die, dust returns to dust, and earth returns to earth."

"Yes, yes, you are right to think so. People are dead, why should we care so much?"

Zhao Guangyuan drank several cups in a row and seemed a little drunk. He looked at the King of Chu and said, "I had many misunderstandings about Fourth Brother before. I don't want to look at them again now. I actually think Fourth Brother is quite good at enlightening people."

The smile on the King of Chu's face grew even wider. "Let's put the previous misunderstanding behind us. We brothers should get closer to each other from now on. I remember when we were little, you liked playing with me and your third brother the most."

"is it?"

"That's right. You may not remember it, but I remember it clearly." Then he talked about a few things from his childhood. The two brothers recalled the past together, as if the brotherhood they had in the past was reappearing.

"Come, I'll toast to Fourth Brother. Everyone has been toasting me these days since I returned to Beijing, but I know they all look down on me, secretly saying that I'm not worthy of being a man and can't even give birth to an heir. Fourth Brother, I feel so miserable. As a man, when people say I'm not good enough, I wish I could just die!"

"I understand. Fourth brother understands."

At this moment, the King of Chu felt very sympathetic towards this brother and felt the same pain. For a man, it must be very painful to be secretly told that he cannot allow a woman to have children.

If it were him, he would wish he was dead.

She supported him very considerately, fearing that he would fall to the ground because he was drunk.

"You are still hello, Fourth Brother. Come, let's continue drinking!"

The two brothers clinked glasses and soon became drunk.

Zhao Guangyuan seemed to have finally met someone with whom he could whisper. The more he drank, the more excited he became. He kept urging others to drink more, and soon the two of them drank until they fell on the table.

The shopkeeper hurriedly asked the servants who served the two princes to help them both into the carriage.

The King of Chu was limp, and he didn't know how old he was, and he just kept yelling "hehe". Zhao Guangyuan was not much better than him, and he almost fell down at the door after leaving the reception building. The two guards tried to help him up for a long time but failed.

The shopkeeper looked at it and shook his head.

When the carriage left the reception building, Zhao Guangyuan, who was pretending to be drunk, sat up straight, and there was no trace of the drunken look in his eyes.

"Your Highness?" Cao Cuo leaned over and asked quietly.

Zhao Guangyuan turned his head and looked at him, "Why are you here to pick me up?" A chief steward of the inner court actually came to pick him up in person.

"I am worried about the prince." I am afraid that he will be coaxed away by the King of Chu.

"Don't worry. Even if there are ten more kings of Chu, they may not be able to get me drunk." In those years, he was almost immersed in the wine barrel and could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk.

Cao Cuo breathed a sigh of relief, "Then has the prince explained this matter to the King of Chu?"

Zhao Guangyuan sneered, "He thought he had concealed it well, thinking that the incident was wiped clean and I didn't know about it. He even wanted to adopt his son to me," he sneered, "You are just dreaming."

Cao Cuo knew that he had a plan in mind and was completely relieved.

The next day, the King of Chu woke up from his hangover and was in a very good mood. He even ran to the King of Qin and boasted, "The Seventh Brother agreed!"

"You really agreed?"

The King of Chu nodded happily, and suddenly thought that he was betting on both sides, which was a bit unfair to his brother, but he quickly put this idea aside, "The seventh brother said that when the child is born, he will take it over to the Princess of Yue to raise it personally."

The King of Qin was a little surprised. Did the Seventh Prince agree so easily?

This is not like the style of the seventh brother. Besides, he really doesn't know what the fourth brother did to him back then?
"Brother, what are you worried about? For the Seventh Old Man, what he wants to do most is to redress the injustice done to the late Crown Prince and his maternal grandfather's family. He has been sleeping on straw and enduring hardships for ten years, and has been persecuted by the palace people in the Imperial Mausoleum, all for this day?"

It's just adopting a son. It doesn't matter who you adopt.
Weighing the pros and cons, even he would choose to cooperate with them brothers.

"Now, getting rid of the prince is what he wants to do most." If the prince can't be removed, he will forever be a lonely ghost in the suburbs of Beijing.

The King of Qin seemed to remember this as well and nodded.

"The seventh elder was able to survive, probably to vindicate the late crown prince and his grandfather." After thinking for a while, "If I could take that position, I would certainly satisfy his wishes, vindicate them, and give them justice."

The King of Chu nodded, "So, the Seventh Brother is a smart man. He cannot defeat the Crown Prince by himself, so naturally he wants to win us over to join forces."

The last bit of doubt in the King of Qin disappeared. "What does the Seventh Master need us to do?"

The King of Chu thought about what happened yesterday. He only remembered that he mentioned how sad he was when he was secretly mocked. "We drank too much yesterday and didn't mention it."

King Qin sighed, "It's not easy for Old Seven either. Since he has chosen to join forces with us, we should be of the same mind. Send someone to contact him. Tell him everything he wants to know as long as we know it. Send someone to assist him in doing anything he wants to do secretly."

"Yes."

So in the following days, with the convenience provided by the King of Qin and the King of Chu, Zhao Guangyuan got more information. Although he also had his own channels, the King of Qin and the King of Chu had been operating in Beijing for many years after all, and had infiltrated more places.

Moreover, Defei was quite favored in the palace, and she had the support of Concubine De in the palace, and the help of Concubine De's family outside. It was much better than Zhao Guangyuan fighting alone.

The days quickly slipped into October.

On the fifth day of October, a war report suddenly arrived from Hangu Pass in the northwest, with an urgent message of 400,000 soldiers from the foreign tribes outside the pass. The war was imminent. Hangu Pass had only 300,000 soldiers, so they rushed to Beijing to request support.