Zhao Defang's road to the virtuous king

"...my son... thank you for the reward, my son will live up to my father's high expectations..." Defang kowtowed on the ground, but the ministers around were still silent. At this time, the cry of the baby broke the silence in the hall .

"Look, look, Weixu is not happy, thinking that his father won this award, but no one congratulates him." Taizu patted Weixu and continued: "Does Weixu also want to be awarded?"

Hearing this, King Jin stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty loves Emperor Defang's nephew, and the officials and others will not be congratulated. It's just that the ministers and others have not seen such a generous reward. I am short of words at the moment. Please don't blame your Majesty." The King of Jin turned to Defang. Fang said, "The emperor's nephew is benevolent and filial. It's really rare for His Majesty to give you such a reward. Uncle Wang congratulates the emperor's nephew."

Guangmei also cupped her hands and said, "Defang, Uncle Wang also congratulates you."

"Defang thank you two uncles" Defang bowed in return

"Congratulations, Your Highness, Congratulations, Your Highness" the officials congratulated

"Thank you, thank you" Defang bowed back one by one.

Di Jixun also returned to the capital in the evening to pay respects to Emperor Taizu. After the banquet, Jixun followed Defang to his residence.

"I pay my respects to Your Highness," Jixun said, about to kneel down

"Father-in-law" Defang stepped forward to support her, "There is no need to be polite in my house, please take a seat."

"Congratulations, Your Highness, happy to have Lin'er." Di Jixun smiled all over his eyes

"Thank you, father-in-law, and congratulations to father-in-law for becoming a grandfather." Defang said happily, "Madame is still resting in the inner room. I will ask her to bring her children to visit father-in-law."

"No, no, let her have a good rest. I'll go see her when she feels better," Jixun said distressedly.

"Everything is in accordance with father-in-law's wishes, let's stay in the palace today"

"Your Highness" Jixun held Defang's hand, pulled him aside, and said softly, "Outsiders are not allowed to stay overnight in the forbidden area of ​​the palace. Although they are relatives of the emperor, but their identities are different, I am afraid that it will cause criticism, and it will be harmful to Your Highness." "

"What my father-in-law said, Defang will keep in mind"

"Besides..." Jixun looked at the room, no one else was there, and said, "Your Highness must think about everything in the palace, don't do things recklessly, and speak less."

"Father-in-law, is there something wrong?" Defang looked at Di Jixun puzzled

"Your Highness, don't ask, remember what I said, no matter what happens, first protect yourself, only in this way can you protect the people around you."

"Defang has kept it in mind, and will definitely do what his father-in-law said." Defang nodded in response

Di Jixun was thinking: "The palace has begun to brew, and Jin's cronies are gradually replacing the guards of the inner palace. Those who are vassals of Jin have shown their advantages in the temple. Embracing each other, although the emperor is in good health and has started to mobilize generals, but the crown prince has not mentioned it for a long time, as long as the decree does not appear, based on the few letters of His Majesty, something may happen at any time..."

"Father-in-law...my father-in-law" Defang saw Jixun in a daze, and called out softly

"Oh! Oh... I'm sorry, Your Highness, the old minister is a little tired, so I'll go back first, remember, if you need help with anything in the future, you must tell me." Jixun was a little excited

"Yes, father-in-law, Defang remembers, father-in-law looks very tired, must have a good rest after going back, tomorrow I will prepare a sedan chair to pick up father-in-law to come to see your wife and Wei Xu"

"Okay, okay..." Jixun said slowly while holding Defang's hand

【Inside Jinwang Mansion】

"My lord, who do you think His Majesty will appoint as the crown prince?" A voice said

"What do you think? This king can't see through it, I think His Majesty is also thinking about it," King Jin said slowly

"At the beginning of last year, His Majesty made more tours and interacted more frequently with the prince. This year, he made a big move to reward Di Jixun. There are few veterans like him. Now he is given the military power to guard Xijing again. If the prince didn't dissuade him , It may have been decided to move the capital to Luoyang long ago, and I heard that a few days ago, His Majesty summoned His Highness the Little Prince, and handed him an object, like a book, but I don’t know what it records, and His Majesty gave the Little Prince The Nanqing Palace is half the size of the imperial palace, and now the emperor bestows a golden mace, His Majesty's intentions have been revealed, maybe the position of the crown prince is as rumored..."

King Jin raised his hand to prevent him from continuing, "The book? Could it be that..."

"My lord, I also found out that His Majesty has secretly sent fast horses to the residences of Xiang Gong, Gao Huaide, Feng Jiye, Zhang Mei and others in the past few months, and the prince said that after the banquet was over, His Majesty stepped back and handed over A letter from General Di, what else did he say, my lord, do you think there will be anything wrong?"

"Well..." King Jin looked at the bows and arrows hanging on the wall, "It seems that we can't wait any longer..."