Chapter 247 Wonderful Performance
Seeing that the three princes who fell into the water had all reached the shore and the sailors in the water had also been rescued, the people on the shore all breathed a sigh of relief.
Imperial Concubine Jiang said with a smile: "Ze'er lived up to the emperor's expectations and won the first prize."
The Queen Mother also breathed a sigh of relief: "After all, Ze'er is older and has been with the Emperor for a long time, so it's normal for him to be more stable and sensible."
The emperor had a dull expression and did not comment.
Prince Ping An glanced at the court officials who were surrounding him to congratulate him, and they all joined in congratulating the eldest prince.
"The eldest prince is truly a rare talent, with great martial arts skills.
Zuo Fengtian suddenly said, "Winning and losing are common in the military. If you want to win a battle, you can use all your Yin Chaoqun."
"Look at him standing proudly on the bow just now, his posture is vigorous, just like a tiger emerging from the mountains, unstoppable. He has the style of the emperor leading the army in the past."
Waves of praise came one after another, and there were simply no words to praise him.
Some court officials remained silent.
Zuo Fengtian suddenly spoke up: "Victory and defeat are common in the military. If you want to win a game on the battlefield, you have to use all kinds of schemes and plots to prevent it. Moreover, the right time, right place, and right people can help. Therefore, winning one game does not mean you will win the second game, let alone win forever."
Someone takes the lead, and others will follow immediately.
Li Guitian, the Minister of Works, said, "I think so too. A wise ruler must be benevolent and kind, and the princes must be friendly and respectful to each other in order to achieve long-term success. If you only care about winning or losing, and ignore the people of the world, and disregard the brotherhood, how can you care about the world and make the people live and work in peace and contentment?"
Everyone saw that the fourth prince of his daughter Concubine De was pulled out of the water and onto the boat by the second prince.
The third prince was pulled onto the boat by the sixth prince.
Waves of seconding voices arose one after another, and the ministers who had just praised the eldest prince realized that they might have praised the wrong thing, and immediately fell silent.
Prince Ping An was so angry that his face turned blue: "A competition is a competition. Crashing the boats means you are not as skilled as your opponent! Does that mean that the emperor ordered people to lead the troops to fight, and that it is right to lose because of benevolence?"
Concubine Jiang noticed that the emperor's expression was not right, and hurriedly said in a tender voice: "Your Majesty, Ze'er is only concerned with completing the emperor's order. There are so many guards and ship escorts here, so there is no need to give up the result that the emperor wants to see in order to save people."
Gu Huan suddenly spoke up: "It seems that the Second Prince's boat is leaking."
The Queen hurriedly said, "I feel the same way."
Li Guitian immediately said, "I have seen it too. I will go check it out with the Ministry of Rites."
He turned around and grabbed the Minister of Rites: "Let's go."
The Minister of Rites looked at Prince Ping An in panic.
King Ping An frowned and glared at him.
The Minister of Rites was about to refuse, but the newly promoted Minister of Works, Jin Guyong, also took the Minister of Rites' hand and said, "Come on, come on. If there are mistakes in shipbuilding, it must be our fault. If the Ministry of Rites did not conduct a strict inspection, it is your fault. The responsibilities must be clearly divided."
Cao Liyu, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, also said, "We need to check whether someone has tampered with this."
As soon as these words came out, there was silence for a moment.
If this is true, then the eldest prince, the only one who reached the finish line, is the most suspicious.
Concubine Jiang was anxious and said sternly, "Master Cao, don't lie!"
The Left Counselor, Lord Yan, immediately responded: "My Lady, how can you conclude that Lord Cao is lying without any investigation?"
Concubine Jiang was so stunned that she couldn't utter a word.
The emperor said slowly: "The Minister of the Ministry of Defense and the Minister of the Ministry of Justice should go with you to check it out."
The Minister of Weiwei Temple responded quickly and followed Li Guitian and the others.
Concubine Jiang's face suddenly turned pale.
The Minister of Weiwei Temple is in charge of this matter, and the Minister of Dali Temple is in charge of investigating the case.
The emperor asked them to investigate, so naturally he was suspicious.
The Emperor and the Empress Dowager sat on the throne, and a group of ministers and their wives sat on both sides. But things got out of hand and the dishes got cold. The Emperor and the Empress Dowager looked extremely unhappy, and no one dared to even breathe, let alone pick up their chopsticks.
Everyone knew something big was going to happen.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Li Guitian and his friends returned.
Each expression is colorful.
The Emperor ordered the Minister of the Imperial Guards and the Minister of the Supreme Court to investigate, so naturally they were the ones to report.
The Minister of the Imperial Guards stole a glance at Prince Ping'an.
The Dali Temple official spoke first: "Reporting to the emperor, someone maliciously tampered with the second prince's boat. Several holes were drilled in the bottom of the boat, and wood was glued with rice paste, and then painted so that no one could tell at a glance. But after being in the water for a while, it dissolved in the water and caused the boat to leak."
The emperor's face was gloomy. "Is it only the second brother's ship that was tampered with?"
"Yes. The other princes' ships are all normal."
The emperor sneered: "Ha, well, all the conspiracies and plots have been directed at my prince."
The emperor looked at the queen mother and said, "Mother, who do you think will win or lose in this game?"
The Queen Mother froze.
How did the ball get kicked to her?
But, at this moment, she had to bite the bullet and protect Zhao Yuze, otherwise, the Jiang family would lose completely!
Besides, she is a woman, and women do not interfere in politics. Even if she expresses her ideas and the emperor disagrees, it cannot be blamed on her.
The Queen Mother smiled and said, "It's just a game for children, don't take it too seriously. But since the Emperor has set the rules, we have to follow them. Otherwise, who will take the Emperor's rules seriously in the future? Is that right, Emperor?"
The emperor smiled and nodded: "My mother is right. My mother is indeed worthy of being the one who once assisted me and ruled the country from behind the curtain. She really values rules."
The Queen Mother's smile froze.
What does this mean?
Should we settle the score with her for the time when she controlled the government and was unwilling to give up?
The emperor smiled and looked around: "According to the Queen Mother's opinion, the rules are the rules. No matter what means are used, the winner is the winner. The loser can only blame himself for not being as smart as others."
As soon as these words were spoken, Prince Ping'an, Concubine Jiang, and the Queen Mother's faces changed.
There was no one in the court who didn't understand.
The queen suppressed her smile and agreed, "Mother is wise, and I must learn from her."
The emperor nodded: "That's right, you should go back and discipline the second and sixth sons strictly. The queen should also abide by her duties and know what to do and what not to do. Don't always delegate matters in the harem to others."
The last sentence was a slap in the face of the Empress Dowager.
The Queen immediately stood up and bowed respectfully: "Your Majesty is right. I will definitely abide by my duties and do my best to manage all the affairs in the harem. I dare not let my sister, the Imperial Concubine, suffer."
Imperial Concubine Jiang, who had been assisting in the management of the six palaces, was so angry that she almost twisted the handkerchief in her hand.
The Queen Mother was also very angry.
This means that she should not interfere in state affairs.
The emperor continued, "The second and sixth princes are kind-hearted. Their boat was leaking and was hit by someone maliciously many times, but they still helped save people regardless of their status as princes. They also helped the third prince who deliberately hit the boat. They should be rewarded heavily."
"emperor!"
The virtuous concubine stood up in shock: "Dragon boats are difficult to control, the third brother didn't hit them on purpose!"
The emperor looked at her coldly: "Do you think I and all the ministers are blind?"
The virtuous concubine's face turned pale.
Gu Huan lowered her head to hide the smile in her eyes.
As early as a month ago, the Second Prince and the Sixth Prince, who were already familiar with water, took their crew members to spend an hour every day practicing swimming in the cold water.
I have long since adapted to the icy water in March.
The Fourth Prince only led the navy in rowing training.
If you fall into freezing water, you will quickly become hypothermic, and even people who can swim will find it difficult to control themselves.
So once they fall into the water, the strongest people on the two boats are naturally the second and sixth.
As for the fact that the second brother's boat had been tampered with, Mu Junyan and his people had already discovered it, so they just took advantage of the situation.
The hole was also reinforced to ensure enough time for a realistic chase show with the Crown Prince's ship.
A few more holes were also added so that when there was a leak, water would flow in faster and people on the shore could see it more clearly.
From the beginning to the end, Mu Junyan and the others had no intention of letting the Second Prince Zhao Yuxuan and the Sixth Prince Zhao Yuwen win the championship.
The two princes and the fourth prince just need to perform well in this scene.
This scene was indeed performed brilliantly.
Honor in defeat.
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