The prince is very fierce

The Prince is Fierce. Chapter 45 of Hidden Dragon Scale Shadow. The palace lanterns swayed in the wind and snow, and there was complete silence in the Hanyuan Hall.

The maid stood outside the hall with her head down, her eyes showing a trace of fatigue. The eunuch came to the desk in the hall with a tea tray and bowed to persuade him:

"Your Majesty, it's getting late, it's time to go to bed."

The light of the candlelight illuminated the spacious study, and a few smokes burned in the tortoise-longevity copper incense burner.

On the wall hung maps of the two countries, with the main deployments of the east and west fronts marked on them. On the spacious desk, memorials and files piled up into a mountain, even blocking the eunuch's sight.

Behind the neatly arranged files, the gray-haired Qi Emperor Jiang Lin, wearing a nightgown, was still looking at the files in his hand by candlelight, as if he had not heard the eunuch's words.

The eunuch sighed in his heart, and did not dare to persuade him again, but just stood outside the desk and bowed and waited.

The case file in Jiang Lin's hand was just sent by the Eastern Front. It was about one thing:

After a winter of silence, Su Wang Xu You began to dispatch warships to Chu. According to the rough estimate of the secret agents, there were no less than 300 ships, of which 20 were fully loaded with "Wukui Cannons", no less than 200.

"Wukui Cannon" is the name given by the Four Eastern Kings and Northern Qi. It refers to the 3,000-jin cannon of the Western Liang Army. One shot can reach nearly 5 to 8 miles. No matter the people, horses, or houses, it will be torn into pieces. Its killing power is comparable to that of contemporary Wukui.

In the battle formation of the heavy cavalry group charging, this thing, let alone 200 guns, even if there are only two guns, can break up the "Iron Luosha" that Northern Qi is proud of. The Four Eastern Kings can't stop it at all. It is conceivable how much pressure Jiang Lin was under at this time.

The metallurgical technology of Northern Qi is excellent. As soon as Jiang Lin learned about this battle formation killer, he secretly arranged for the military equipment supervisor to imitate it.

But the Xu family kept the weapons workshop too tight. On the battlefield, no one except the Xiliang army was allowed to get close to the artillery. It was too difficult to imitate it just by watching it from a distance. So far, we can only hear the sound. It will take at least two years to equip the army and generate a certain combat power.

The Xu family will definitely not give Northern Qi two years, hoping that the four kings of the East will delay. Let alone delaying for two years, Jiang Lin can praise it for two months and say "honor in defeat".

After the Xu family destroys the four kings of the East and points the spearhead at Northern Qi, what will happen? Although Jiang Lin did not go to the frontline battlefield, he can fully imagine it.

What should be thought about now is not how to attack Chang'an to regain the lost land of ancestors, but how to preserve the current foundation of the Jiang family.

Although the situation is critical and the future is almost predictable, it is not a dead end.

The advantage of Northern Qi is that it has great depth, and it is half nomadic and half agricultural. If it cannot defeat them, it can migrate northward. As long as the Xu family shows the courage to endure hardships in Mobei, it will be difficult for them to wipe out Northern Qi.

Dayue is not rich enough to do whatever it wants. First, there were floods in Jiangnan and droughts in Shu, then there was the rebellion of the four kings, and the Xu family entered Chang'an. There were wars everywhere in the southeast, northwest, and northeast. In one or two years, they almost exhausted decades of accumulation. If it were not for the great advantage of the Western Liang army, they would have rebelled and the court would have fallen apart.

As long as Northern Qi is not in chaos when Dayue comes, and advances and retreats step by step, it can also drag it out until Dayue can no longer afford it.

After all, there are no rivers on the grassland. Jiang Lin does not believe that the Western Liang army can chase the cavalry with a 3,000-jin heavy artillery on the flat grassland.

But it is easy to rally the people when you are in a great victory, but it is more difficult than climbing to the sky to get the whole country to move forward and retreat together to turn the tide when you are defeated; this is a severe test of the prestige and ruling power of the person in power, and the slightest mistake will lead to eternal damnation.

Jiang Lin has been in power for decades and has enough confidence to deal with this situation, but God does not give him this opportunity.

"Ahem"

Jiang Lin, who has been diligent in government for many years and has become ill due to overwork, coughed twice while covering his mouth, put the file on the seat, and sighed deeply.

Jiang Lin knows his body very well. It is not surprising that he is dying and dying. He will definitely not last until the day of the head-on battle with Dayue.

As for Jiang Du, the only heir under his knees, Jiang Lin knows him even better. He has no courage and courage to look ahead and behind, and can only do things step by step. After he succeeds to the throne, he will inevitably be unable to stabilize the court internally and suppress the vassal kings externally. The emperor who cannot issue orders from Guiyuan Hall, what can he use to rally the people?

Jiang Lin wanted to abolish his only son and pass the throne to the Jiang clan prince, but he could say this, but he couldn't do it in reality, because if this word got out, the first ones to fight would definitely be the left and right princes, and the Xu family wouldn't have to do it.

So Jiang Lin had no choice at all.

"Go and call the prince."

"Yes."

The eunuch who had been waiting for a long time bowed and accepted the order--

Under the same night, in the East Palace, Prince Jiang Du paced anxiously in the bedroom, waiting for possible news from outside.

Since the ambush and killing of Liu Wuye failed, Jiang Du has been worried, fearing that his father would ask how the matter was handled.

Wang Jin secretly patrolled the city and found no whereabouts, so he might have fled far away.

Jiang Du wanted to make up a reason and say that Liu Wuye was dead, but without a head as evidence, he would definitely not be able to deceive his father, who was experienced, and if Liu Wuye showed up again after lying, the consequences would be even more unimaginable.

Now Jiang Du has regretted why he didn't go to see Liu Wuye in person that day. If he had sincerely explained his current situation and asked Liu Wuye to help him one last time, he might have a better chance than being in a dead end like now.

"Your Highness!"

As Jiang Du paced back and forth, he suddenly heard the voice of the eunuch outside. He trembled violently, knowing that what was coming had finally come.

"Father wants to see me?"

"Yes, His Majesty just read the memorial sent from the east and is in a bad mood. Your Highness should go there as soon as possible."

Jiang Du's face turned pale, he gritted his teeth, and dared not delay at all, and walked quickly to the Hanyuan Hall where the emperor slept.

On the way, Jiang Du kept asking Jiang Lin about his words and deeds tonight, trying to prepare for the answer in advance, but it was a pity that Jiang Lin didn't say a word tonight, just reading the memorial.

Jiang Du was confused, and could only secretly analyze the situation of the front-line battle to avoid being unable to answer when asked later.

Hanyuan Hall was some distance away from the East Palace. Jiang Du and the eunuch walked quickly through the corridor, and they were sweating a little when they arrived outside the hall.

Jiang Du carefully arranged his clothes outside the palace gate. After calming down his breath, he walked into the palace with a smile and bowed respectfully to the desk:

"Your son, I pay my respects to your father!"

Jiang Lin stood behind the desk, his back to Jiang Du, looking up at the map on the wall, his voice flat and without any emotion:

"Knowing that I would come today, why did I call you here?"

Jiang Du looked down at the ground and hesitated:

"Your son heard that the news from the east today must be that there was movement from the Xu family of Prince Su..."

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Lin interrupted Jiang Du's words:

"Last year, when the Chu army stopped fighting, everyone knew that Prince Su was short of ships to transport troops and would not cross the river until the spring. Now there is movement from the Xu family. Who in the court doesn't know? Do you need to remind me again?"

The scolding was loud, and he looked old but full of energy.

The eunuchs and maids outside the palace lowered their heads and tiptoed away from the Hanyuan Palace. Otherwise, if they heard the emperor scolding the prince, when the prince came to power, he would basically have to be buried with the late emperor.

Jiang Du was frightened by Jiang Lin's scolding and knelt down in the study:

"Your son... Your son will punish you. I have sent people to deal with Liu Wuye a few days ago..."

Hearing this, Jiang Lin was even more furious. He turned around and glared at Jiang Du with a pair of tiger eyes:

"Such a trivial matter requires the king of a country and the prince to discuss behind closed doors in the middle of the night? I really want to split your brain open to see if it is filled with paste!"

"..."

Jiang Du was stunned and opened his mouth, speechless. Nothing he said was right. He felt that his father was deliberately picking on him, but he didn't dare to say it out loud.

Jiang Lin stared at Jiang Lin for a long time without seeing his answer, and his face became more angry:

"If you had done it, with your temper, you would have come to me in the middle of the night to claim credit after taking Liu Wuye's head. You haven't come for so many days. Do you think I'm stupid and can't guess the result?"

Jiang Du lowered his head a few times and said nervously:

"Father, I have never been negligent. I arranged for someone to handle this matter on the same day, but Liu Wuye was too cunning..."

Pah

The teacup fell to the ground, and the cold tea splashed all over Jiang Du.

Jiang Lin's hair and beard stood up. He walked to the desk and pointed at his son kneeling on the ground:

"A nobody was ambushed and killed by the prince of a country without knowing it. You said the other party was cunning? He was Xu Buling? Could he come and go like the wind in front of thousands of troops?"

"No, it's just that the person you arranged went wrong..."

"Who did you arrange?"

Jiang Lin was so angry that he laughed and pointed to Guiyan City outside the hall:

"There are civil and military officials outside the court, who can't be used? You are the prince, and you sent a message to Zuo Qingqiu. Does he dare to say no? Can he let a merchant's son run away under his nose?"

Jiang Du was sweating profusely and gritted his teeth and said, "The national teacher is busy with all kinds of affairs. A few days ago, The son is in Ma Zongling again..."

"What does this have to do with you?"

Jiang Lin paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, furious:

"You are the king, he is the minister! He eats the court salary, and he is loyal to the country even if he dies of exhaustion outside. Do you need to worry about his safety? Even if you don't mention Zuo Qingqiu, you can just find an official who can go to court to arrange this matter. He dares to mess it up for you?"

Jiang Du opened his mouth, hesitated for a long time, and lowered his head and said:

"My son, I have known Liu Wuye for a long time, and we have a deep friendship. If I let the court take action, he will definitely guess that it was my son who ordered it..."

Pa

Jiang Lin raised his hand and slapped Jiang Du in the face, making Jiang Du stagger.

"A dead man, are you afraid that he will know that you ordered him to do it? What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that he will turn into a ghost and come to settle accounts with you?"

Jiang Du quickly stood up and knelt down, gritting his teeth and said:

"I have been taught by saints since I was young. Doing such ungrateful things is really against the conscience of heaven and earth..."

"You still know how to be ungrateful?"

Jiang Lin's eyes were bloodshot with anger, and he cursed directly:

"Since you know that it is against your conscience, why do you still do it?"? ?

Jiang Du was stunned for a moment, raised his head, and there was a hint of anger in his eyes:

"My father asked me to do it..."

"Whatever I told you to do, you did it? I told you to die, will you go?"

"..."

Jiang Du clenched his fists, looked at Jiang Lin who was 'making excuses', and said in a hard voice:

"I obeyed my father's orders, and there was nothing wrong with that! A real man should not be soft-hearted, and I have no complaints about killing Liu Wuye..."

"Then did you do it? Did you kill him?"

"..."

Jiang Du was speechless again.

Jiang Lin raised his hand and pointed at Jiang Du, cursing:

"You still know that a real man should not be soft-hearted? Can he run away if you are so cruel? If you don't want to kill, just tell me directly, what can I do to you?"

Faced with this kind of "unreasonable" scolding, Jiang Du gradually became angry. After all, Jiang Lin was not the first to say that he wanted to abolish him. What if he didn't do it and was abolished?

But he didn't dare to say these words to his face.

Jiang Du just gritted his teeth and said: "Father, I have been obedient to you since I was a child, and I have never failed in my duties. It was just that I accidentally killed Liu Wuye this time, but I didn't do it. I don't know where I am wrong. Why does father always dislike me?"

"Think about it yourself!"

Jiang Lin flicked his sleeves and said coldly: "You don't even know where you are wrong. What's the point of me telling you?"

Jiang Du's body trembled slightly, his breathing fluctuated sharply, and he gritted his teeth and said:

"I am not wrong, I can't think of it! I have never done anything wrong since I was a child, and it is related to Liu Wuye. System, there have been monarchs like me in ancient times. Just talking about my Jiang family’s ancestors, there is Qi Xuanzong…”

Jiang Lin said coldly: “Did I ever say that you were wrong about this?”

Jiang Du raised his head, his face red and white:

“Since father thinks it is not wrong, why did he instruct Liu Shanpu to kill his son? Why did he let his son kill the person he cherishes most?”

“Can’t you stop him? The fifth-rank censors in the court dared to stop my edict. You, the prince of a country, can’t protect an unknown person with deep feelings and loyalty?”

Jiang Lin asked angrily, his eyes full of anger.

He only has one son, Jiang Du. He doesn’t understand what Jiang Du is afraid of?

He has no choice at all, no other heirs.

Not to mention an insignificant soldier, even if Jiang Du caused a huge disaster, he can only swallow his anger and help Jiang Du clean up his ass.

This was a situation that anyone with a little bit of brains could figure out. He didn't understand why Jiang Du was so cowardly that he didn't even dare to say "no" when his "opponent" had no way out.

Jiang Du lowered his head, his eyes twitched slightly, and he almost gritted his teeth as he said word by word:

"Father is the king of a country, and he controls the life and death of all people in the world, including me, and I cannot disobey..."

"You don't dare! You are stupid! If you had a little sense of the overall situation, a little ambition, or even a little greed, you wouldn't kneel here today."

Jiang Lin was so angry that his eyebrows jumped. He was too lazy to look at Jiang Du again, and turned around and cursed:

"Think about where you are wrong today. If you can't think of it, you will go to Beihai to herd sheep for the rest of your life tomorrow.

I'd rather hand this world over to a dog than to you. Dogs know how to bite when they are angry..."

Bang

In the empty hall filled with scolding, a muffled sound suddenly sounded, and the angry words stopped abruptly.

Jiang Lin's body shook, and he felt heat flowing down his forehead. He raised his hand and touched it, but his hand was blood red.

Jiang Lin turned around and saw Jiang Du, who was kneeling on the ground, standing up behind him, holding a candlestick in his hand. His weak cheeks were almost twisted, and veins on his forehead bulged, staring at him like a hungry wolf.

"I'm not wrong! I'm not wrong! I've been right since I was a child! You just don't like me!"

Jiang Du's knuckles turned white when he held the candlestick, his body trembled uncontrollably, his eyes were red as blood, and he said hysterically:

"You never treated me as a son, you just can't stand me liking men, you're afraid that the Jiang family will die out, and you want to pass the throne to other princes. You are the emperor, how dare I disobey you? I'm not wrong, you just want to abolish me, you force me!"

Bang

Another one, hit the forehead.

Jiang Lin, the Qi Emperor who had dominated the Northern Qi for decades and had forced the Northern Qi to compete with Dayue, was bleeding. Looking at his biological son in front of him, his sharp eagle-like eyes showed no fear or surprise, but rather some abnormal surprise.

"Uh..."

Jiang Kai wiped the blood in front of his eyes with his sleeves, stepped back a few steps, sat on the desk, bumped into the pile of case files, stared at his son with fierce eyes, and nodded:

"Right, now it's right, as a monarch, it's not the turn of outsiders to point out right and wrong..."

"I was right! I just want to be the emperor. If you don't let me, I'll take it myself. What can you do to me!? There are no palace servants here, no one sees it, so what if they see it? From now on, I am the emperor, and what I say is what it means!"

Jiang Du was almost crazy, raised his hand again, and hit the shaky Jiang Kai.

Jiang Kai could no longer hold on and fell into the pile of files on the ground. His head was bloody, but his eyes were still clear and sharp. He looked straight at his son. It might be the first time in his life that he looked at his son.

After all, the crazy young man in front of him, although not like a human being, at least looked like a wolf.

It's good to know that he is the sky. How can a monarch be without his own opinion? Even if he makes a stupid move and kills Jiang, he can't let the ministers put pressure on him and make decisions.

It's good to be selfish and cruel. He dared to kill his biological father for the throne. After he came to power, he would not trust any vassal king or court official.

An ungrateful wolf is better than a coward with human nature but no animal nature! If he can do this, there is no one in the world that he is afraid of.

This is called "tyranny".

The so-called kingly way is "being upright and acting without orders". Stick to your own opinion and think that Liu Wuye should not be killed. No one can say it. Rule the world with benevolence.

The so-called hegemony is "I would rather let the world betray me than let the world betray me". To achieve the goal, I will do whatever it takes, and I can abandon my parents and brothers.

No matter which one, it is the way of the emperor. The most feared thing is to take the way of hegemony and still think about the reputation of the kingly way, but end up with neither.

Now I am finally stronger.

Jiang Lin's eyes became weaker and weaker, his hands fell down weakly, and his breathing gradually slowed down until there was no movement.

"You forced me to do this, I never did anything wrong, you forced me to do this..."

Jiang Du held the lamp, staring at the man on the ground with his scarlet eyes, breathing rapidly, and venting his dissatisfaction and resentment that had been suppressed for many years incoherently.

Jiang Lin's consciousness gradually faded, and his eyes never closed. It was not that he would not close his eyes in death, but he simply wanted to see his son a few more times.

After all, this was his heir, his only biological son. How could he not like and love his son when he was old?

But being born in an imperial family, the burden on his shoulders was too heavy. Jiang Lin could not let his son grow up under the protection of his wings. He had to let his son walk on thin ice, full of crisis and animality, because he was the future emperor of Da Qi.

Since giving birth to this son, what Jiang Lin wanted to see most was the daunting tyranny in those eyes now, the tyranny that dared to trample everything in the world under his feet.

Now that he had seen it, there was no need to speak out the deep love he had for his son.

He had to be ruthless to the end, and he could not leave his son with any meaningless guilt or regret.

Jiang Lin's eyes never changed, staring straight at Jiang Du, like two sharp swords without emotion, until there was no more brilliance...

The empty hall gradually became silent.

With a long period of silence, Jiang Du's breathing gradually calmed down, but his body trembled more and more.

"Father... Father?"

After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Du, who had been angry, gradually woke up, his face turned from angry livid to pale, the lamp in his hand fell to the ground, he took a step back, until he sat on the ground, and shrank back a few steps.

There was no sound in the hall, only dark red blood, flowing from under the case file and spreading to Jiang Du's feet.

Boom boom boom

My heart beat like a drum.

Jiang Du didn't dare to look at the eyes that were no different from when he was alive. He stayed for a moment, then hurriedly got up and wanted to run out to call the imperial physician. He stopped before he reached the door.

This matter must not be spread!

Jiang Du breathed quickly, looked around, and quickly ran to the bookshelf where the books and files were placed. He took out the papers and sprinkled them on the body next to the desk, then picked up the candle and wanted to light it.

As long as the fire was lit, it would be said to the outside world that "the late emperor was dealing with memorials at night, and he was weak and fainted and accidentally knocked over the candlestick." Then the eunuchs and palace maids on duty were killed, and no one in the world would know about it.

As for whether the outside world believed it or not, he would be the emperor of Northern Qi soon. Who dared not to believe it?

Jiang Du's face was pale, and he might not even realize that his current state was the most decisive in his life.

If he had this ruthlessness, courage, and skill in his early years, Jiang Lin would not have ended up like this?

It's a pity that it's still too late to understand what "the way of the emperor" is now.

The candle flame fell, but the candle did not fall to the ground.

While Jiang Du was still frantically thinking about countermeasures, his head suddenly felt dizzy, and then he fell into darkness and fell into a pool of blood on the ground.

Plop

After a slight muffled sound, the hall became quiet again, leaving only a shadow in the pool of blood.

Xu Buling was wearing a nightgown, holding a candle in his black gloves, with a little sigh in his heroic peach blossom eyes, and two little snakes coiled on his arms, also looking at the slightly messy ground strangely.

"It's a pity that he was beaten to death by a coward as the lord of the Northern Qi Dynasty."

Xu Buling looked at Jiang Lin who was buried in the paper. Although it was the first time he met this Northern Qi monarch, the "teaching" just now was enough to make people feel terrible.

With clear thinking and vicious words, every sentence was hinting and waking up Jiang Du, forcing a waste to become a wolf who dared to eat meat.

With Song Ji's ruthlessness, but without Song Ji's arrogance and suspicion, if Jiang Lin was released in Chang'an City, there would probably not be the current situation, because Jiang Lin would never do the thing of reducing the vassal state before the foreign invasion was resolved.

Not a pity, a tiger father and a dog son.

Even if Jiang Lin scolded Jiang Du hard, with Jiang Du's level, Xu Buling could still break his wings in the future. The gap between father and son is too big.

Xu Buling sneaked into the palace, originally planning to steal agarwood and find an opportunity to kill Jiang Lin. Now that Jiang Du came out with "fatherly love and filial piety", he didn't have to do it himself.

After a few glances, Xu Buling picked up the agarwood paperweight on the desk, ignored everything, and went directly to the bedroom next door, ignited the cloth and scrolls, and then blocked the doors and windows. After confirming that Jiang Du could not be burned to death in a short time, he turned and disappeared into the darkness...