Chapter 144

Emperor Chongzhao cleared his throat and said, "Let's serve the food first."

The palace servants then came in carrying the plates.

The dishes placed in front of each person are different, but they are all dishes that the prince likes to eat.

The eldest prince looked much more haggard, with dark circles under his eyes and an air of unspeakable fatigue. He had been very silent since he came in, as if he didn't even have the energy to say hello.

As for the Second Prince, nothing could be seen; he remained the same as usual.

The Sixth Prince stared at the table in a daze, as if there was something special about the dishes on it.

The fifth prince had a calm expression and sat upright.

Qu Dubian looked around, and seeing that no one said anything, he also kept silent, just acting like an invisible person.

Emperor Chongzhao: "Today's dinner is mainly for Xiaoqi, to congratulate him on his success in suppressing the bandits. Come, let me toast you. You have suppressed the banditry in Jizhou and Qingzhou of the Great Zhou. This contribution is far from enough for me to reward you."

Qu Dubian poured a fruit drink, raised his glass, and lied without blinking: "Thank you, father. Suddenly, I found that I have some talent in military affairs. It is my duty to contribute to the Great Zhou."

The Third Prince: “…”

That was quite sudden.

Emperor Chong Zhao finished drinking, "Eat, don't be hungry."

He took the lead in congratulating, and the other princes naturally followed suit. No matter if they were sincere or not, they had to save their face.

The Sixth Prince sighed, "I didn't expect that you have a talent for martial arts. It's normal that your academic performance is a little poor. But it's dangerous outside. Xiaoqi should go out less in the future."

"Don't pour cold water on me," said the second prince, "It's a good thing that Seventh Brother has found a place to show his talents. Come, I will toast you. You have worked hard, Seventh Brother."

"You're welcome, brother."

The eldest prince barely pulled himself together and said only two words: "Congratulations."

"Thank you, brother."

After drinking seven cups in a row, Qu Dubian put down the cup and secretly rubbed his cheeks which were sore from laughing.

At this moment, he sincerely admired Eunuch Yu. How did he keep smiling all the time when facing people? Wouldn't his face twitch?

After drinking a round, Emperor Chong Zhao said, "Well, leave him alone. I think he is already starving. He has been greedy since he was a child. Eat quickly."

OK.

He was used as an opening remark to liven up the atmosphere, but now that Lao Deng has said this, it means that he will have no part to play in the rest of the show.

Qu Dubian picked up the small bowl and scooped out a piece of sour taro paste ball dessert.

Eunuch Yu stepped forward and refilled the wine glass next to Emperor Chongzhao. "It's rare for us to sit together for dinner. The third brother is here too. We are a family, so we should be harmonious."

The Third Prince: "Yes."

Emperor Chongzhao: "I heard that you came here because you gave up an invitation to play chess with a friend?"

The Third Prince: "It's just a game of chess. If you give it up, then give it up."

"That's right," Emperor Chongzhao said with a smile, "However, you have to sacrifice to gain. I sacrificed a chess game, but gained a harmonious dinner with brothers tonight."

"The word 'willing to give up' is very clever, Boss, don't you think so?"

The eldest prince was stunned.

Qu Dubian slowed down his rice-eating movements, biting his chopsticks and secretly looking up.

Willing to give up.

The imperial edict to imprison the Shu family has not been issued yet. After all, the eldest brother is also involved in the embezzlement of disaster relief funds and grain.

What Lao Deng meant by this was that if his elder brother gave up the Shu family and cut off one of his arms, he himself could still survive in the court.

Things have gotten to this point, with the people and scholars of the three counties all watching, Lao Deng must give a reasonable explanation. It is obvious that he wants to abandon the Shu family and get his eldest brother out of this mess.

It's a lot of roundabout ways, can you understand me, brother?

The eldest prince: "When I was in school, I knew the subtlety of these two words."

Qu Dubian picked up a piece of fish. From what his elder brother said, he should have understood what Lao Deng meant.

Emperor Chongzhao looked at Ersiliu who was sitting on the right and said, "Well, being willing to give up is the golden mean. Neither doing nothing nor going too far is good. The golden mean is the best."

The second prince lowered his eyebrows, thought for a few seconds, and said with a smile: "There are gains and losses, the moon is full and then it wanes, just grasp the word just right, I understand. Sixth brother, what do you think?"

The Sixth Prince was called out of the blue. He was stunned for a few seconds and met the gaze of his father.

The fifth prince shifted his posture and poked him from below.

The Sixth Prince: "Ah, yes, my second brother and I have the same idea."

Emperor Chongzhao said with satisfaction: "Very good."

"My sons are all very sensible."

"Your Majesty, you are too kind."

Everyone reached a consensus on the matter of the Shu family, and the atmosphere gradually became harmonious.

The Fourth Prince helped Qu Dubian pick up a piece of meat and said, "This is delicious." The matter was probably over and it was time to have a good meal.

Qu Dubian had a big appetite, and after finishing the dish in front of him, he went to take the Fourth Prince's.

He was enjoying his meal, and no one else noticed that the eldest prince's face was becoming increasingly gloomy, and that his movements of putting rice into his mouth were becoming slower and slower.

Finally, he put down his bowl and chopsticks, changed his posture from sitting to kneeling, and kowtowed heavily to Emperor Chongzhao: "Father!"

"The Shu family is innocent. My father-in-law has worked diligently over the past two years and has not slacked off in transporting relief grain and relief funds to various places. How could he have embezzled money? He has worked in the Ministry of Revenue for so many years. His character and morals are trustworthy. He would never do such a thing!"

The hall fell silent instantly.

It was as if the cold wind outside blew into the hall in an instant.

All the princes looked at the eldest prince in astonishment.

The eldest prince kowtowed again, and his head hit the ground with a thud.

"The eldest prince's wife has been crying all day, and my two children are worried day and night, crying and panicking. As a father and a husband, I really can't bear it! I hope your Majesty will understand!"

There was no trace of smile on Emperor Chongzhao's face anymore.

He glanced at the eldest prince: "How do you want me to see clearly?"

The eldest prince: "I also ask the emperor to be merciful and investigate all the officials in the three counties and the states and counties who handled the relief grain and relief funds along the way. I am willing to..."

Emperor Chongzhao put down his wine glass heavily: "Qu Ducang, I have been kind enough to you!"

He stood up and said, "I can pretend that I didn't hear what you just said. But don't let me hear it a second time."

After saying this, he turned away.

Not long after Emperor Chongzhao left, the Second Prince smiled and stood up to say goodbye: "Brother, brothers, I'm going back first."

The eldest prince stood up in a daze, and after the second prince left, he also left the side hall of Wo Lin Palace.

"I have to go too," the Sixth Prince pulled the Fifth Prince up, "Xiao Qi, the meal tonight was not good. I will have dinner with you alone later."

Qu Watanabe: “Okay.”

The Fourth Prince: "Will you go together?"

Qu Watanabe: "I'll eat two more bites. Fourth brother, you go first."

"OK."

Qu Dubian was really hungry. After finishing two plates of food, he burped quietly.

He was probably the only one at the table who was eating seriously.

After eating and drinking, I also took a plate of crispy water chestnuts.

When they reached the Qianbu Corridor outside the palace, Qu Dubian saw the eldest prince standing on the bridge. He: "..."

Big brother, are you going to jump into the river?!

He walked over quickly, "Brother!"

The eldest prince turned his head and said, "Xiao Qi."

Qu Watanabe: "Why haven't you left yet?"

The eldest prince was silent for a moment: "I don't know how to get home. It's useless to beg father in front of you in the palace today."

A question mark popped up in Qu Dubian's mind, "Brother, didn't you understand what His Majesty meant by 'willing to give up'?"

The eldest prince looked tired with a hint of embarrassment: "I didn't understand. But your sister-in-law said that if you meet someone you don't understand, you should pretend to understand in important occasions and say something vague."

"I even learned how to speak in a confusing way, and I fooled a lot of people."

Then he would write down everything he didn't understand and ask her or his staff when he got home.

Qu Watanabe: “…”

The eldest prince: "Can you understand?"

Qu Dubian explained it to him again: "Your Majesty said you are willing to give it up because the embezzlement of disaster relief grain and relief funds has been linked to you. As long as you give up the Shu family, you can be safe.

When His Majesty spoke of moderation later, he was reminding the second and sixth brothers not to go too far in targeting you in the court. You can fight, but you have to be moderate.

"My second and sixth brothers both agree, so let's just call it a day."

The eldest prince abandoned the Shu family, and the followers of the second and sixth princes stopped attacking the eldest prince, and the court maintained a balance.

As a result, when everyone had finally reached a consensus and were happily eating, the eldest prince suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to ask Lao Deng, who was in charge of the reconciliation, to investigate the matter.

Lao Deng got angry and ran away.

They thought that the eldest prince had changed his mind and wanted to overturn the table in front of Lao Deng, but it turned out that Lao Deng didn't understand at all and was totally at a loss the whole time.

This reconciliation under the guise of celebrating success was wasted.

A group of real Riddlers met the fake Riddlers.

Finally, Lao Deng said that he could pretend that he didn't hear what his eldest brother said, and the hidden meaning was that tonight's dinner still counted, and as long as he gave up the Shu family, he would still be the eldest prince.

The eldest prince thought about it carefully and said, "So that's how it is."

He placed his hands on the bridge and was silent for a long time. "Xiao Qi, I seem to be born with a missing string in my brain. Wen Xin said I was stupid, but I still didn't admit it. But now... I can't understand things that you all can understand."

Qu Duan thought: "Sixth brother may not understand it either."

After all, when eating, he was always a beat slow to react, and Fifth Brother was always poking him hard from below, and he could see it very clearly.

The eldest prince was confused: "Should I give up the Shu family... Seventh brother, if it were you, what would you choose?"

"Everyone has a different personality, so their choices are different," Qu Duan handed the eldest prince a piece of crispy water chestnut. The eldest prince refused to eat it, so he stuffed it into his mouth, "Brother, what are you thinking?"

He looked at the flowing water under the bridge. The thin ice looked dark in the night. Occasionally, it was illuminated by the light, and the flowing water swayed, revealing a shimmering silver corner.

Your life is your own, and no one can really make decisions for anyone else.

“Choose a path, know the price you have to pay, and keep going.”

The eldest prince looked at the profile of his younger brother.

"Then are you aware of the price you will have to pay for the path you have chosen now?"

Qu Watanabe: "Me?"

The eldest prince: "Wen Xin said that you are fighting for power not for the throne, but for Zhiyi."

Qu Dubian gave a thumbs up and said, "Brother, it is your blessing to marry my sister-in-law. It's not all for my sister, I have a lot of selfish motives too."

The eldest prince looked deeply into his eyes and said, "But once you start fighting, there is no turning back."

"Who said there isn't?" Qu Dubian said, "As long as you want it, as long as you dare, there must be one. The Great Zhou Law, Chapter 6, "Officials", Article 134."

The eldest prince was silent for a while and didn't respond. Finally, he pinched him a piece of crispy horse hoof and said, "Let's go."

Qu Dubian also returned home.

He murmured, "Brother, brother, I can only remind you so much. It's up to you to choose."