Song Hongshen and Su Yuanzhou were both dressed in dark black python robes, with square jade belts around their waists. They wore jade crowns and tied their hair in ribbons, and looked very imposing.
Looking closely, Song Hongshen looks even more noble than Su Yuanzhou.
After the two came in, they first saluted the prince.
Song Hongshen then said to Shen Zhixiu, "Third Uncle Shen said he would invite Yuanzhou and me to eat fish, and he even invited His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I wonder if there are enough fish in Third Uncle Shen's pond for us to share."
Shen Zhixiu said with a smile: "You can eat whatever you want today, but I'm afraid you have big eyes and a small stomach."
The prince looked at them suspiciously. These two people came just as he entered the door. Isn't it too much of a coincidence?
But listening to what they said, it seemed like they had agreed on it yesterday, and I couldn't tell they were lying.
After the ceremony, Song Hongshen and Su Yuanzhou restrained their smiles and looked at Rong Yi together.
Su Yuanzhou snorted coldly, "Who did Prince Rong just say would accompany the guests? My two sisters?"
Song Hongshen then pressed the issue, "Don't you know, Prince Rong? The fifth daughter of the Su family is my future princess. Are you trying to humiliate the Song family, or me?"
When Rong Yi saw Song Hongshen, he subconsciously shuddered.
He wasn't afraid of Shen Zhixiu; his fear of him was purely out of consideration for his family. Even if he provoked Shen Zhixiu, his father would take the blame.
But he was afraid of Song Hongshen because Song Hongshen really beat him.
He was two years younger than Song Hongshen, and the two of them had grown up together. However, he had been beaten by Song Hongshen many times, and he wanted to fight back but couldn't.
He had been the legitimate son of a prince, while Song Hongshen was the illegitimate son of a marquis. Whenever he was beaten, he consoled himself and refused to argue with Song Hongshen. His status was low, and his talent was poor.
But who would have thought that Song Hongshen was made a king directly because of his military achievements. He wanted to comfort himself, but he had no words to say.
"Brother... that's not what I meant."
Song Hongshen stared at him coldly, "Really? What do you mean? If you don't explain clearly today, I'll let you know what I mean."
Rong Yi had already stood up and said to Song Hongshen with an apologetic smile, "Your Highness, you misunderstood. What I meant was that these girls could just give a performance for the two young ladies."
With Song Hongshen's presence, Shen Zhixiu was also happy and comfortable, sitting in the chair as if watching a play.
The prince's face looked a little unhappy. After all, Rong Yi was brought here by him. You have to look at the owner before you beat the dog.
How come Song Hongshen is even more impressive when he comes in?
The prince coughed lightly and said, "Prince Zhongyong, this is just a misunderstanding. There is no need to make a big fuss."
Song Hongshen glanced at the Crown Prince with a puzzled expression. "Your Highness is magnanimous, and I admire you. Why not invite a few concubines from the Eastern Palace to accompany us at the next palace banquet? I don't think it's a big deal."
The prince didn't expect Song Hongshen to not give him any face at all, and angrily shouted, "Song Hongshen, you are so presumptuous."
Song Hongshen flicked his robe and sat down on the chair. "I dare not. I just said it casually. Your Highness, please don't misunderstand me."
With just one sentence, the prince was choked back.
Rong Yi saw that the Crown Prince was also unhappy because of his words, so he hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
"I heard that Lord Shen has a lot of fish on his farm? Your Highness the Crown Prince is in for a treat today."
He had a good idea and tried to smooth things over and change the subject.
But with his status, he couldn't get along with Shen Zhixiu and the others. After a while, no one responded, and Rong Yi felt embarrassed and wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
The prince finally remembered the important matter and, after regaining his composure, asked Shen Zhixiu, "Did Lord Shen come here last night?"
Shen Zhixiu nodded. "Yes, my wife came to the farm to pick grapes yesterday. I missed her, so I left the city tonight."
The words "I miss my wife" came out of Elder Shen's mouth without any sense of incongruity.
The prince asked again, "It rained heavily yesterday, but Lord Shen didn't get wet, did he?"
Shen Zhixiu replied, "The rain started just as my carriage arrived at the farm yesterday, so it's perfect timing."
This round of probing might have been due to the Crown Prince's limited abilities, or perhaps Shen Zhixiu's hidden talents. In short, after those few words back and forth, the Crown Prince didn't notice anything unusual.
The Crown Prince looked at Song Hongshen again and said, "I heard that about fifty people were burned to death in a dilapidated temple at the foot of a mountain outside the capital yesterday. Did the King of Loyalty and Bravery notice anything unusual during his military training at the West Mountain Camp yesterday?"
Song Hongshen had never looked down on the Crown Prince, and it wasn't entirely because of the bad relations between the Song family and Consort Xian. Perhaps some people were born to dislike each other, like him and the Crown Prince.
When the prince asked about what happened yesterday, he said nonchalantly, "I didn't see it, I don't know."
The prince had never heard such perfunctory words before. If someone else said this, he would definitely be angry.
But when he thought about winning over the Song family, the prince suppressed his anger.
He asked with a forced smile, "When does the Loyal and Brave Prince plan to go south to Fujian?"
Song Hongshen casually replied, "It hasn't been decided yet."
It seemed like he said something, but he also said nothing.
The Crown Prince knew that Song Hongshen was waiting for the Ministry of Works to produce blueprints for new warships. He would then take the money to Fujian to build the ships and train the navy.
He hadn't thought about this before, but with Song Hongshen's attitude today, don't blame him for being rude.
In an instant, the prince had thought of a way to trip up Song Hongshen.
The more he wanted to trip him up, the more casual he became when talking to Song Hongshen.
While the few of them were greeting each other, the prince looked outside the door again.
At this time, there were many guards standing outside the hall, some brought by him, and some brought by Song Hongshen and Su Yuanzhou.
According to his original plan, he was going to stage an assassination plot, and his men would then investigate the Shen family's manor under the pretext of searching for the assassin.
But according to the current number of guards on the farm, no matter how many assassins come, they may not be enough to feed them.
Especially those who followed Song Hongshen, who had returned to the capital from the border, were so idle that they were almost looking for trouble. If an assassin was sent out at this time, his head would become a trophy before he could even get close to him.
The prince thought about it for a long time and wanted to try a different approach, but after thinking for a long time, he couldn't come up with a better idea.
After thinking for a while, an idea suddenly came to his mind.
He said to Shen Zhixiu, "I heard that there is a pond on Lord Shen's farm. Why don't we go fishing?"
The prince spoke, and Shen Zhixiu had no reason to refute.
He ordered people to prepare fishing rods and bait, and to build a shade shed by the pond.
Fruits, tea, snacks and candied fruits are also ready.
After the steward of the manor came to report, Shen Zhixiu stood up and asked the prince to move to the pond behind.
As he stood up, the prince whispered to the guards around him, "Find a way to pass the message. Tell them that I'm at the pond in the back and ask them to shoot an arrow in."
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