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◎If we could just pull one person back, we might be able to avoid a disaster◎

Eagle Peak.

Emperor Xingwu walked in front with several important ministers, while young people such as Qingyang followed behind, keeping a distance of more than a hundred stone steps.

Emperor Xingwu wanted to let the younger ones go up first, but Deng Kun, who was 35 years old this year and was reckless and eager to go first, had long lost interest in climbing the Feiying Peak, which he had climbed more than a dozen times. He would rather walk obediently behind the emperor.

The young people were divided into two groups, the front and the back. Qingyang, his three royal brothers, Qin Liang, and the two princes-in-law were walking in front, while Deng Kun and other sons of noble families were a little behind.

Qingyang stood side by side with her elder brother. The brother and sister kept their eyes on their father in front of them and said almost nothing.

Qin Bing teased his third brother beside him in a low voice: "We're all walking slowly this time, so you don't have to worry about being left behind."

Qin Ren: “…”

Looking up at his father with a head full of white hair, Qin Ren felt very uncomfortable. He would rather his father could still scold him for being lazy and a waste like before.

After climbing halfway, Emperor Xingwu was panting heavily. Prince Yong held his elder brother's arm without saying a word, walked to the nearest pavilion and helped his elder brother in to rest.

Emperor Xingwu was sweating profusely. He sat down and saw that Lu Zan, Zhang Jie and others had stopped outside. He smiled and waved his hand, signaling them to continue going up. Yang Zhimin had just opened his mouth to say "minister" when Emperor Xingwu scolded him back, telling them to stop talking nonsense.

After the old ministers left, it was the turn of the younger generation. Emperor Xingwu only called in his four children and his nephew Qin Liang, and asked Zhang Su, Fu Kui, Deng Kun and others to go up as well.

The pavilion was lined with beauties on three sides. Emperor Xingwu supported his left leg with one hand, wiped the sweat from his forehead and ears with a handkerchief, and told the five siblings, "Sit down, everyone. There are no outsiders here."

Qingyang sat on the left side of his father. Seeing that his second and third brothers were sitting together, Qin Hong took Qin Liang to sit next to the beauty opposite.

Emperor Xingwu looked around at the younger generation, his eyes settling on the face of the twenty-six-year-old Qin Bing. He said with nostalgia, "When I started the rebellion, I was only the second oldest, and now, in the blink of an eye, he's already a father."

Qingyang didn't like hearing his father talk about old age, and neither did Qin Bing. He deliberately asked Uncle Wang, who was sitting to his father's right and had snatched his third brother's folding fan to help his father fan, "Uncle Wang, tell me, am I more majestic, or was father more majestic when he was my age?"

Prince Yong scoffed at him and said, "You are not even worthy of being your father's gatekeeper."

Qin Bing: "That's impossible. Wasn't our Qin family poor at that time? Father couldn't even get enough to eat..."

Prince Yong: "Your father's majesty is innate. It has nothing to do with whether he is well fed or not."

Qin Bing was blocked, and Qin Ren asked with a playful smile: "We have long known about the bravery of the emperor. When the emperor started the rebellion, the uncle was about the same age as my sister, right? How does the uncle compare to my sister?"

Prince Yong: “…”

Emperor Xingwu was amused and told the children one by one about the stupid things his younger brother had done over the years, such as stealing meat buns from the kitchen in the middle of the night, which violated military orders and he was whipped ten times; drinking in the military camp, which violated military orders and he was whipped ten times again; and even when his younger brother made his first military achievement and while waiting for the reward, he went to slaughter a pig from a rich family and he was whipped twenty times.

Qin Bing gritted his teeth and gloated, "Father, you used to whip me a lot, didn't you?"

Listen, he didn’t make as many mistakes as Uncle Wang, he is just better than Uncle Wang!

Prince Yong didn't dare to tell his eldest brother to shut up. Upon hearing this, he gestured to his second nephew and slapped him: "Stop talking nonsense! You've come at a good time. If you had grown up in the village like me, you would have been whipped more often than me. At least I haven't been whipped for teasing crickets."

Qin Bing and Qin Ren: "..."

Qingyang smiled and said, "Father, could you also tell us about Uncle Wang's military achievements?"

Prince Yong looked at his niece happily and said, "Lin'er is the best. She has her uncle in her heart."

Emperor Xingwu patted his daughter's hand and counted his brother's military achievements. This reckless brother was a good fighter and a brave general who charged into battle. He had also made many military achievements, and Emperor Xingwu remembered them all clearly.

King Yong was so excited when he heard this that he couldn't help but recall the thrill of fighting with the Donghu cavalry during the Northern Expedition.

Emperor Xingwu listened with a smile. After his younger brother finished speaking, he looked at his eldest, second, and nephew in turn and said, "The Eastern and Western Hu are now pacified, but in another twenty years, they might come and challenge Great Qi again. When that happens, I hope that you three brothers will assist Lin'er just as Prince Yong assisted me, defending her from foreign enemies and expanding her territory."

Qin Hong, Qin Bing and Qin Liang knelt on one knee at the same time and promised to be loyal to the Crown Princess.

Qin Ren, who had not received his father's instructions and was sitting alone next to the beauty, said: "..."

Emperor Xingwu didn't bother to look at him and continued speaking to the three kneeling men, "The court is supposedly full of talented people, and there's no shortage of generals capable of leading troops in battle. However, this is our Qin family's kingdom. If something were to happen, who would be more concerned than us, the Qin family? So, as long as you master the skills on the battlefield, Lin'er will definitely use you brothers first."

Qin Bing felt warm in his chest: "Don't worry, father. I won't be reckless again."

He just can't control his temper, not that he is unaware of his own shortcomings.

Emperor Xingwu snorted, "With just a few words from me, you've changed your bad temper of over twenty years. Your uncle wouldn't still be like this at fifty. Of the three of you, you have the most problems. Hong'er is a decent fighter and has decent intelligence, but I'm afraid he'll get scared in times of danger. As for generals and commanders, Liang'er is the one I trust the most. If it weren't for Lin'er's confidence during the Northern Expedition, I would definitely have sent Liang'er and Bing'er would have stayed in Beijing."

Qin Bing glared at Qin Liang in dissatisfaction, and King Yong broke out in a sweat with a guilty conscience. If his elder brother had only praised his son's talent as a general, King Yong would have smiled happily, but fortunately his elder brother had left his son in Beijing during the Northern Expedition last year, otherwise this kid might have deliberately done something bad when he arrived at the grassland.

The more his elder brother trusted his son, the more ashamed Prince Yong felt. He secretly decided to slap his son again when he got home so that he would remember the lesson thoroughly.

Qin Liang didn't know what his father was thinking, so he was humble at the right time. Knowing that his uncle was just praising him casually, he didn't take it to heart.

After resting enough, Emperor Xingwu continued to move forward with his younger brother and nephews.

Finally reaching the top of Feiying Peak, Qingyang helped her father walk to the cliff, and together they looked out at the Yellow River to the north.

The summer sun is bright and dazzling, but the breeze blowing in your face is cool.

Emperor Xingwu looked at his daughter, who was now taller than his shoulders, and recalled the time when he held his nine-year-old daughter in his arms while standing here. Emperor Xingwu whispered to his daughter, "How is it? Father kept his promise, didn't he?"

He had promised to take his daughter on a tour of the country, a northern tour and a southern tour, which together would be...

Qingyang: "I didn't go to Liaozhou during the Northern Tour, and I didn't go to Yunzhou during the Southern Tour. When will father take me there?"

Emperor Xingwu: “…”

.

Perhaps it was because of his old age, or because the world was peaceful and there were fewer worries about the border, but Emperor Xingwu had quite some leisure time when he came to the Western Garden to escape the summer heat, so he took a group of ministers to climb Feiying Peak. A few days later, Emperor Xingwu held another Cuju competition, and let Qingyang, Qin Hong, Qin Bing, Qin Ren, Qin Liang, Fu Kui and Zhang Su form one group, and Deng Kun, Deng Tai, Lu Chaoguang, Fan Huaizhong, Meng Changhe, Xue Yanzheng and Li Fuyuan, seven sons of nobles, form one group.

Deng Kun was disgusted with Li Fuyuan, who was almost as fat as a ball, and asked: "Your Majesty, can we change people?"

Ignoring Fan Huaian and Lu Chaoliang's eagerness to try, Emperor Xingwu glanced at his third son and said, "No, one person will be a drag in each group. It's fair."

Qin Ren: “…”

Although his martial arts skills are not that good and he rarely plays Cuju, he is still better than Li Fu, right?

After a while, the Cuju game began.

Qingyang had come prepared, wearing a long robe today, her long hair tied back with a simple crown. She had been practicing martial arts since childhood, and although she only took classes three times a week, her skills were no less than those of an ordinary soldier. While she couldn't out-charge these tall and strong brothers and military sons, she could still evade obstacles with her nimble footwork.

Qin Ren knew that his basketball skills were not as good as his sister's, so he only focused on Li Fuyuan, thinking that as long as he blocked more balls than Li Fuyuan, he would win.

Although Li Fuyuan was fat, he was a fat playboy. When he was young, he often played Cuju with other playboys, so he was actually very good at Cuju. Li Fuyuan was not happy about being arranged by Deng Kun to be the goalkeeper. Seeing Qin Bing kicking a powerful ball towards him, Li Fuyuan suddenly jumped into the air and directly used his fat left shoulder to kick the ball back.

Qin Ren: “…”

Emperor Xingwu and a group of ministers watched with great interest.

The two teams were evenly matched, but with the Crown Princess and three princes present, everyone only gave 70% of their effort, and there were jokes from time to time. For example, when Qin Liang and Deng Tai were fighting for the ball, Qin Liang and Qin Bing and Deng Tai and Fan Huaizhong hugged each other and wrestled. For example, Qin Ren, who jumped to block the ball, retracted his head halfway. For example, Deng Kun wanted to grab the ball from the Crown Princess but was afraid of hurting her with too much force, so he held his hands and feet. In the end, the Crown Princess hit him in the chest with an elbow, and the pain made him hold his chest and gasp.

After three consecutive games, the Royal team won by three points.

During the two-month summer vacation in Xiyuan, Emperor Xingwu held a total of five such Cuju competitions.

Seeing that he would be returning to Beijing in a few days, after the last Cuju match, Yan Xizheng suddenly came to the imperial study that afternoon to ask for an audience with Emperor Xingwu.

Emperor Xingwu summoned him in, and when he saw Yan Xi looking at He Yuanjing who was waiting on the side, Emperor Xingwu asked He Yuanjing to leave.

"Come, sit here and talk."

Emperor Xingwu walked to the side of the Arhat bed and asked Yan Xizheng to sit at the other end of the low table.

Yan Xizheng saw the emperor setting up the chessboard and sat down as ordered. When he started to play chess, Yan Xizheng looked at the emperor across from him and asked with a frown, "Why does the emperor frequently order the princess and others to play Cuju?"

Emperor Xingwu said to the chessboard, "Since you're here, you should have guessed it."

Yan Xi guessed exactly what he was thinking, but he couldn't figure it out: "Is the Emperor afraid that Qin Liang, Deng Kun, and Deng Tai might not be convinced by the Crown Princess? If that's the case, the Emperor could just send them all out of state."

One was sent to Yunzhou to be supervised by Zhang Jian, one was sent to Liaozhou to be supervised by Meng Ji, and one was sent to the Fuzhou Navy. As long as these three people could not get together, it would be difficult for each of them to cause any trouble with a guard. If they were all in the capital, each of them would lead more than 5,000 soldiers and have prestige, which would easily pose a threat to the Crown Princess.

Yan Xizheng was unable to stop Emperor Xingwu from aging, and could only try his best to share his worries.

Emperor Xingwu smiled bitterly, "Isn't this sending them out clearly telling them that neither I nor Lin'er trust them?"

Yan Xizheng said without hesitation: "Compared to the peace and stability of the capital, what's the concern of the three Hans? They were the ones who were dissatisfied with the Crown Princess in the first place."

The Crown Princess was appointed by Emperor Xingwu. Prince Yong and his brother Deng Kun were dissatisfied and should have been dealt with. However, Prince Yong was too successful to be dealt with, so his son was exiled.

Yan Xizheng understands the emperor's reluctance, but ensuring a smooth transfer of the throne is more important.

Emperor Xingwu understood the reason, but the problem was that his younger brother and Deng Kun and Deng Tai had only spoken out against the enthronement of the Crown Princess, and had not made any open remarks of disobedience or secretly planned any actions since then. He was unwilling to send his nephew and Deng Kun, who were like nephews to him, out of the country based on his speculation and concerns, and it was difficult for him to convince the people.

Emperor Xingwu did not expect that a few games of Cuju would be able to change the stubborn ideas of his younger brother and Deng Kun. He just wanted to give it a try. If he could just bring one of them back, perhaps a conflict could be avoided.

【Author’s words】

There are emperors who are able to cruelly kill all their meritorious officials, and there are also emperors who are more loyal and righteous. No one is perfect, and everyone has their own choices.

100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow~