Chapter 417: Little Thoughts
Five days later, it was time for Xuanyuan Ling to host a banquet for the ministers.
Xuanyuan Ling had said before that the princes would also go this time, so the princes made some preparations, saying that it was a banquet to entertain meritorious ministers, but it was more than that. The ones who made Xuanyuan Ling think of inviting at this time were naturally his loyal ministers, including some cabinet ministers. The princes went to show up as well, so it was not a very important meeting, but it could not be said to be unimportant.
Prince Huai would naturally come, and the other princes were fine, but this matter was not good for the Fourth Prince.
The Fourth Prince didn't like to talk when he was young. Later, he experienced the incident with Li. After he knew that Li was gone, he refused to talk for a long time. At one point, Xuanyuan Ling thought that the child would never be able to speak. But at least he was not born unable to speak. The people around him took good care of him, and he gradually got better and was finally back on track. However, compared with other princes, he seemed a little withdrawn. He also liked such occasions very much.
He didn't say it, but Fuchun couldn't see it.
Fuchun could really understand why the Fourth Prince didn't like it. He was just an ordinary child who found out that he was different from others and he couldn't accept it, let alone in the royal family.
But the Emperor had spoken, and he had no say in the matter. He could only persuade him more, but he could not persuade him too hard. Fuchun really loved the Fourth Prince, and to be disrespectful, he had really raised the Fourth Prince like his own child over the years and served him very carefully.
The Fourth Prince could still listen to Fuchun's words to some extent. In fact, he only felt better after listening to Fuchun's words. Although he was a slow learner when he was young, he was not a fool. He also knew that he could not disobey his father's words. If his father said he had to go, then he had to go. Fuchun's persuasion was just a step. Even if he didn't persuade him, he knew he had to go.
Fuchun watched the palace maids help the Fourth Prince change his clothes and comb his hair.
He looked at the Fourth Prince and sighed in his heart.
Fuchun was not the only one who felt this way when she looked at the child she had raised. The Fourth Prince was no worse than the other princes in appearance. The Emperor was handsome, and the concubines in the palace were not ugly, so the children born would naturally be good-looking. Although the Fourth Prince's mother, Li, had a disposition that was not flattering, she was not bad-looking after all.
The Fourth Prince looks a bit like Xuanyuan Ling, but not completely. His lips are a bit like Xuanyuan Ling, and his eyebrows and eyes have some of Li's shadow, but not much. Most of the time, he looks like himself, and he looks very good.
The Fourth Prince arrived earlier, also because of his legs, but he still met the Third Prince on the way. The Third Prince took the initiative to greet the Fourth Prince when he saw him: "Fourth brother, are you going to the banquet as well? Let's go together."
"Hello, Third Brother." The Fourth Prince said this and stopped there.
The Third Prince had no intention of forcing a word with him, and the two of them indeed met and walked away together.
The Fourth Prince glanced at the Third Prince. If he knew who was praised the most by Xuanyuan Ling, it was still the Third Prince. Xiaoliu was younger than them after all, and some things he learned were different from them. Most of the time, the Fourth Prince was asked about his homework together with the Third Prince, but Xuanyuan Ling always took him into consideration and always asked the Third Prince first and then asked him after the Third Prince left, in order to save face for him in front of his brothers.
Of course, the Fourth Prince simply felt that Xuanyuan Ling's behavior made him more capable of facing the Third Prince.
He was very resistant to schoolwork for a while because the Queen had forced him to learn things too early, but now he was learning it anyway. Xuanyuan Ling's requirements for him were not too high, but not too low either. He always let the teacher keep an eye on him within the range he could accept.
I have gone too far. The Fourth Prince has already understood what excellence is. A prince like the Third Prince is probably an excellent prince, with a good temper, good grades, and he does not seem as timid as him in front of his father. He is very much liked by his father.
The Fourth Prince soon discovered that the Third Prince deliberately slowed down his pace to match his slow walking speed.
He was very sensitive to these places, and he quickened his pace after discovering them.
The Third Prince indeed cooperated with the Fourth Prince in walking. Since his younger brother had a limp, he naturally had to take care of him. Later, when he noticed that he had quickened his pace, he did not remind him and just walked along with him.
When they arrived, the Sixth and Seventh Princes had also arrived, and they all attended the banquet at about the same time.
The sixth and seventh princes wanted to greet the third and fourth princes, but the crown prince was not there, otherwise they would have to perform salutes. Then King Huai also arrived.
King Huai remained silent for two days after being beaten by Xuanyuan Ling. Fortunately, his father did not ask him not to come at this time, otherwise it would be obvious at a glance that he was questioned by his father. Now, looking at his younger brothers, the brothers also went in together after greeting each other.
King Huai sat in the front. After all, he was a person related to disaster relief, and anyone who had made contributions in this incident would be seated in the front.
The one who was closer to him was King Cheng. King Cheng took in all the princes at a glance.
Although as the emperor's uncle he could always see her during festivals, but meeting her during festivals was nothing like being brought out to see the ministers like today. During festivals, those who were close to her were all concubines and relatives, but now most of them are ministers.
The emperor asked all the princes to come out at this time. Maybe it was unintentional, or maybe it was to let the ministers take a look? It's hard to say. After all, when the emperor said that he would appoint a crown prince or a virtuous person, didn't he let the ministers decide for themselves?
Thinking of this, he actually glanced at the prince a few more times. Those present who were not of his status would not dare to do so. Even if they felt that the emperor had such intentions, how could he look at the prince openly? He was the emperor's uncle, and no one dared to say anything until he looked at his nephews.
King Cheng knew how King Huai's mission ended. In fact, among the smart people in the court, who didn't know?
How could you not see that Shen Zhizhuo's punishment was so light? Although many people criticized that the emperor punished him because of Concubine Xian, after watching for so many years, if you really want to make a fuss, those ministers who said it was because of Concubine Xian were just bored.
The emperor has favored Concubine Xian over the years, even openly, but has he neglected state affairs because of her beauty? No!
Did he make an exception to promote the Shen family? Although the father and son of the Shen family entered the court as officials, the emperor did not promote Shen's father. Shen Zhizhuo himself was really capable, and anyone with a discerning eye could see it. What happened to the emperor favoring a minister, and that person happened to be the younger brother of the virtuous concubine?
In short, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the emperor did not deliberately give a light punishment to Shen Zhizhuo because of Concubine Xian, and he did not know about Prince Huai's affairs in Jinzhou at first, so he had intentions. He would have known about it after more investigation. Although the disaster relief was done very well on the surface, it was because Shen Zhizhuo was demoted back to Jinzhou that it was obvious that Prince Huai had messed up this matter.
In fact, it's nothing that King Huai messed up. He was young, and it was his first time on duty. He encountered an emergency, so some omissions were not so bad that people would not look down on him. But it was too embarrassing that he involved Shen Zhizhuo. It made people think that King Huai was afraid that he was related to Concubine Xian, right? Thinking about it this way, it seemed that King Huai had too many little thoughts.
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