Chapter 994 Domineering

In Zheng Fan's view, the culture of the Qian Kingdom is somewhat similar to a newly cultivated artistic style based on inheriting the traditional culture of Great Xia. This "artistic" aspect includes not only aesthetics but also a series of specific manifestations such as institutions.

And the Chu Kingdom did indeed inherit the "orthodoxy" of Great Xia.

Whether in terms of the political system or the social structure, it largely retained the flavor of Great Xia from back then.

The Three Marquis's Opening of the Border eight hundred years ago, the Marquis of Yan, the Marquis of Chu, and the Marquis of Jin,

can almost be equated with the Chu Emperor sending the Qu family, the Dugu family, and the Xie family to move their entire households, bringing their family's private soldiers to open up new territories.

Therefore, the Chu people, to a certain extent, like the Qian people, really looked down on the Yan people.

They always felt that the Yan people, who oversimplified everything, were at the very bottom of the Xia nations, to the point of being somewhat "self-deprecating."

But they just couldn't beat them, and not just once, but every time;

In the end,

the Chu people were like a young child who had been bullied badly, watching a bully snatch the candied fruit from their hand,

the bully licking it while looking at them,

"Are you convinced?"

The child sniffled their snot while their shoulders trembled slightly from sobbing,

and answered:

"Convinced..."

Followed by some curse words in their heart.

Just like now,

when the Regent of Great Yan walked onto the altar carrying his own little princess, the Chu ministers and nobles below, as well as the Chu people further down, were probably spewing out all sorts of curses in their hearts.

However, what most people don't realize is that from the perspective of a conqueror, he would be disgusted by those who dared to stand up at this time to assassinate or launch so-called uprisings, but he would not be disgusted by those who dared to be angry but dared not speak out;

the latter is more like a "reward" for the conqueror, a "praise" for the strong after a military conquest.

Da Niu looked around from time to time. She was actually a little scared, after all, there were so many people, and she had a natural and keen intuition, so she could feel the "malice" these people had towards her.

Fortunately, her father could bring her a great sense of security.

Jing Renli walked up to Zheng Fan, saluted first, and then whispered:

"Your Highness, some rituals require your cooperation to go through."

"Spare it."

"Ah?"

"I said, spare it."

"But Your Highness, that's not in accordance with etiquette..."

The Prince smiled,

and said:

"Say it again."

Jing Renli silently retreated, not daring to say it again.

Behind him, Zheng Lin silently watched all of this. The red mark on his forehead had been reinforced after A Ming and the Blind Man joined forces.

The reason why he was obediently appearing here at this time was because his biological mother, Si Niang, had returned to the marshal's tent after completing the basic production recovery work in Sansuo County.

Zheng Lin feared nothing, but he was afraid of his own mother;

His mother even threatened that if he wasn't good today, she would saw off one of his legs;

You're resistant to beatings, huh? Fine, I'll give you a hard one.

The mothers of ordinary families threaten their children: I'll break your legs!

This is mostly just an angry remark and will basically not happen, but here, Zheng Lin believed that his mother could do it.

At this moment,

Zheng Lin looked at his father, holding his sister, and didn't feel much "sense of glory." Instead, he found it very boring.

If his father was deliberately selectively trampling on etiquette to declare his position above the orthodoxy of Chu,

then,

in Zheng Lin's aesthetic,

everything should be transformed into reality in the world through iron hooves and nightmares, which would be more in line with his taste.

He didn't hate Fengxincheng, because he was born and raised there, especially after leaving Fengxincheng, he felt more and more that the orderliness of Fengxincheng should be the way the world should be.

All different places should be destroyed;

Uproot their villages,

destroy their ancestral halls,

burn down their palaces,

completely plow the Chu Kingdom again, and then re-cultivate new crops according to the Fengxincheng model.

This was the young man's understanding and view of the world;

Last night, he said it in front of his father and a group of demon king godfathers.

The demon king godfathers didn't care, and even felt that this was interesting, that this was one of their own.

But what surprised Zheng Lin was that,

his father, who had always suppressed and criticized him in these aspects,

actually showed a rare smile and gave his affirmation;

For a moment, Zheng Lin wanted to grab his father's python robe collar,

and ask:

Shouldn't you say I'm biased? Shouldn't you say I'm arbitrary? Shouldn't you say I have a heavy murderous aura!

In the past, this was almost his father's constant preaching.

He knew what kind of children his father liked: daughters, like his sister, were caring little cotton-padded jackets;

as for sons,

it was like Tian Tian.

Zheng Lin's anger last night was that he actually said something that suited his father's heart, how could he tolerate it!

After the banquet dispersed,

the Blind Man summoned Zheng Lin and also called a savage... Manton, who had been promoted from a servant soldier to a regular soldier and obtained the standard household qualification on the front line.

For the summoning of the Heir Apparent,

Manton was extremely excited and asked for greetings almost piously.

The Blind Man asked him to talk about his struggle history,

so Manton told everything from when he started building a team in the snowfield a few years ago to becoming a servant soldier after entering the pass.

During this period, the Blind Man would occasionally ask questions, asking him to tell more about the "local customs";

After the narration,

the Blind Man asked Manton to step down.

Afterward,

the Blind Man looked at Zheng Lin,

and asked:

"How is it?"

Zheng Lin didn't speak.

The Blind Man smiled,

and said:

"You think what you said was just an act of impulsiveness, irresponsible, just for pleasure, so you thought your father would blame you?

Now,

have you seen,

in the snowfield,

what your father is doing is even more extreme than what you said.

You are very smart and should have heard other meanings from Manton's narrative. In the entire snowfield, there are thousands of people who aspire to become Manton. Most of them are still elites among the savages, at least they are warriors.

Not only must they be shaped into the appearance you like,

the same cities,

the same streets,

the same etiquette, the same customs and eating habits,

these are actually secondary.

The most interesting thing

is even their souls,

must be allowed to follow your ideas and be... kneaded together."

When saying the word "knead,"

Zheng Lin saw the Blind Man extend his fingers and make a kneading motion.

Usually, this action would always have a hint of wretchedness, but last night, this action, combined with the Blind Man Godfather's tone and expression, seemed to have a great magic power, attracting people to master it.

"You are the Heir Apparent. In other words, if a country is established, you will be the Crown Prince.

Your mother has already warned you, so I won't bother to warn you again.

Tomorrow will be very tiring,

but you have to endure it,

don't feel troublesome, and don't feel burdensome.

Why are the Chu people treated differently from the savages?

It's not because your father deliberately released water for the sake of your second mother,

as a conqueror, as a plunderer,

the reason why they show a loving side in front of their prey

is not because of a discovery of conscience, nor is it an outburst of truth, goodness, and beauty,

it's purely because the thorns on the prey's body haven't been pulled out yet."

Thorns,

haven't been pulled out yet?

Zheng Lin's mind echoed the words the Blind Man said last night.

At this time, the Chu Emperor also learned of Zheng Fan's attitude. He didn't mind Zheng Fan making some small moves at this time or showing some willfulness;

However, correspondingly, the ceremony that should have been performed by Zheng Fan and himself together could only be shelved or skipped.

But the elders can slack off,

the younger generation has to do it on their behalf.

Otherwise, with so many eyes watching, making this ceremony too simple would not be slapping the Yan people in the face, but the Chu people.

The Crown Prince of Chu walked out of the line. The Crown Prince looked 70% like the Chu Emperor, but his temperament was very gentle. His every move revealed the etiquette of the ancient Chu nobles.

The Crown Prince of Chu held a tortoise shell and walked forward;

Next, according to etiquette, Zheng Lin, the Heir Apparent of the Prince's Mansion, should also come forward, and the two of them would hold up the tortoise shell together, place it on the charcoal to bake, and then have the shaman determine the good or bad fortune after cracks appeared.

Of course, it couldn't be an ominous sign;

It would only come to a divination result:

This combination of the Chu Kingdom and Jindong is in accordance with the will of heaven and will surely bring good luck to both sides!

Zheng Fan was still holding Da Niu. Da Niu rubbed her eyes and looked at her younger brother;

She knew how much her younger brother resisted this kind of thing. In the past few years, her younger brother's dream seemed to be to escape from the Prince's Mansion and become a savage in the Heavenly Mountains.

But later, after being beaten up by a group of uncles one after another, especially after being heavily "educated" by Mr. Bei,

the young boy had to give up this dream.

However, Da Niu immediately felt relieved after looking at her mother standing below in the distance.

Mother originally wanted to pull Aunt together, but Aunt refused.

Looking at her own mother again,

Da Niu felt that this should be the happiest day in her memory.

She was dressed in gorgeous attire, like a proud little deer.

Da Niu couldn't help but lean close to her father's ear and whispered:

"Dad, Mom's mouth is almost splitting from smiling."

Zheng Fan smiled and stroked his daughter's head, saying:

"Let your mother be happy."

Xiong Liqing took the initiative to kick Qu Peiluo away and followed him back then, and today's scene is a conclusion to her choice back then.

The man she chose defeated her motherland.

Personal honor and disgrace and feelings for one's country are sometimes contradictory, but that doesn't exist for Xiong Liqing. She abandoned all her knots early and lived for herself.

Therefore, when Zheng Fan won the battle on the front line, she was very happy, genuinely happy.

The Crown Prince of Chu had already walked up to Zheng Lin, gentle as jade.

In contrast,

the Heir Apparent of the Regent's Palace, standing in front of him, had a very obvious contrast.

"Younger Brother, let's do it together."

The Crown Prince said.

Xiong Liqing is one of the Regent's consorts, and also a primary wife. According to etiquette, the Crown Prince and the Heir Apparent are indeed cousins, although... there is no blood relationship.

But as soon as this "Younger Brother" was uttered,

the corner of Zheng Lin's mouth twitched;

As a being born at the ninth rank, he is arrogant. This arrogance mostly stems from his own innate strength;

Of course, with his father's unremitting efforts, leaving aside his personal struggle, he is still one of the most noble second generations in the world.

He acknowledges his sister calling him younger brother;

He also acknowledges Tian Tian calling him younger brother;

Family relationship is one aspect, mainly because the child prodigies are ranked according to seniority, so it's easy to say;

But this Crown Prince of Chu in front of him,

what are you, daring to call me "Younger Brother"?

Zheng Lin walked over,

Zheng Fan witnessed his son's actions. Fortunately, his son didn't directly throw a punch.

The Crown Prince of Great Chu was left in place, feeling a little embarrassed.

Zheng Lin didn't let this place completely cool down, but walked to the other princes of Chu. There, there was a prince of the same age as him, ranked third;

His face was stern, but you could still see the hatred in the depths of his eyes. Obviously, today's scene was a great humiliation for him.

"Are you the third son of the Xiong family?"

Zheng Lin asked.

The Third Prince looked at Zheng Lin and replied:

"I am."

"After this ceremony, you will be sent to my house as a hostage?"

The word "hostage" was really too much of a slap in the face.

The Third Prince took a deep breath,

and said:

"It's visiting relatives."

"Hehe."

Zheng Lin smiled, reached out, and grabbed the Third Prince.

The Third Prince exerted force on his shoulders, but it was useless. Even if he had been re-sealed, Zheng Lin's strength was still an absolute crush among his peers.

Just like that, the Third Prince was pulled over by Zheng Lin and said to the Crown Prince:

"I'll do the divination with him."

"This is not in accordance with etiquette," the Crown Prince replied.

Zheng Lin glanced at the Crown Prince, first letting go of the hand holding the Third Prince's shoulder, and then perfunctorily pulled at his clothes a few times,

and said:

"When he returns from my house, he will be the Crown Prince. You being here is not in accordance with the rules."

The Crown Prince's eyes turned red.

After hearing these words, the Third Prince's heart suddenly became complicated.

Zheng Lin reached out and snatched the tortoise shell from the Crown Prince's hand.

The Crown Prince wanted to resist, but Zheng Lin suddenly took a step forward, and the ferocity of the little demon king was completely released in his eyes. The Crown Prince was immediately frightened into a slump.

In the end, the reason why he was chosen as the Crown Prince was because he was the eldest son of the legal wife, which was justified, and because the Chu Emperor believed that he would live a long life, so he didn't need a strong Crown Prince to interfere with him;

He was originally one of the more docile of the Chu Emperor's sons, so of course, he was no match for Zheng Lin.

Zheng Lin threw the tortoise shell into the Third Prince's hand,

pointing to the charcoal basin in front,

and said:

"Go, throw it over."

The Third Prince froze in place;

"Throw it over!"

The Third Prince's body trembled. In the end, he still held the tortoise shell, walked to the charcoal basin;

He didn't dare to look at his Crown Prince brother, nor did he dare to look at his father the Emperor. He closed his eyes and threw the tortoise shell down.

A group of shamans knelt beside him, carefully observing the changes in the tortoise shell.

In the end, when the tortoise shell cracked, they shouted in unison:

"The will of heaven is auspicious! The will of heaven is auspicious!"

Below the altar, the Yan soldiers and generals cheered collectively;

And the Chu formation seemed much quieter.

The Blind Man was very happy and silently took out an orange and peeled it;

Xie Yu'an wanted to leave, but the Blind Man peeled the orange so fast that as soon as he turned around, a piece of orange pulp appeared in front of him.

"Where are you going? Keep me company and be happy, eat one."

Zheng Lin turned around. He didn't look at his father, but looked at the Chu Emperor standing opposite his father.

His eyes,

were provocative.

In the depths of the Chu Emperor's eyes, a fire phoenix seemed to cry out in the dark;

Zheng Lin stood there, unmoving.

The Chu Emperor smiled slightly,

and said to Zheng Fan:

"Extraordinary, extraordinary indeed."

Before Zheng Fan could speak, Da Niu, who was being held by Zheng Fan, preemptively said:

"Grand Uncle, my younger brother is very naughty and useless, useless."

But while saying useless, the smile on her face had already bloomed.

"Hehe." The Chu Emperor also laughed.

At this time, Jing Renli stepped forward to announce that his Majesty and the Prince could take their seats.

At the highest point of the altar, there were two chairs, both dragon chairs.

"Dad, let me down first," Da Niu said.

Zheng Fan put Da Niu down.

The Chu Emperor said: "Brother Zheng, sit with me."

Zheng Fan really didn't have any taboos and directly said:

"I've sat on the dragon chair of Great Yan before, it was bumpy and uncomfortable, I just don't know what it feels like to sit on this dragon chair of Chu."

"This chair, how could it be comfortable to sit on?" the Chu Emperor said.

"A chair is just a chair after all, the most important thing is to sit comfortably."

The two true power holders were verbally clashing before taking their seats.

As far as a chair is concerned, Zheng Fan didn't think that sitting here would make Ji Lao Liu, who was far away in Yanjing in the west, jealous.

The immediate task is to first appease the Chu Kingdom, then jointly break the Qian, and completely lay the foundation for a unified pattern, which is the most important thing.

In this regard, he Ji Lao Liu, oh no, the Ji family royal family for several generations, seemed to be more open-minded than anyone else.

His brother-in-law wants to use this method to force himself to become independent in fact...

Actually, he miscalculated a bit;

The Blind Man has done so many similar tricks over the years, but they have been "tolerated" by Ji Lao Liu again and again.

See,

Xie Yu'an, who was eating oranges over there, whispered:

"Sitting on the dragon chair."

The Blind Man "hehe" smiled, this was just the beginning.

"Are you happy?" Xie Yu'an asked.

At least it was meritorious service from the very beginning.

If this Regent of Great Yan really established a country, then this Blind Man would definitely be the only candidate for the founding prime minister.

"Happy."

The Blind Man replied,

"It's also okay, in the future, there will be one more person to help me give eye drops, okay, worth eating another orange."

"........" Xie Yu'an.

But at this moment,

Zheng Lin came over again, took his sister's hand, and walked up.

"Younger Brother, what are you doing?" Da Niu was a little puzzled.

In full view of the public,

the Heir Apparent of the Regent of Great Yan, took the hand of the Princess of the Prince of Yan, and walked up the highest steps.

"Younger Brother, this is not good,"

"Sister, you sit."

Zheng Lin pushed Da Niu to the dragon chair, and Da Niu sat on it.

Da Niu was a little anxious and wanted to stand up;

Zheng Lin reached out and pressed her down,

and said:

"Dad wants you to sit, don't be calculated by that bird uncle."

In the eyes of outsiders, this may be another act of arrogance and recklessness by the Heir Apparent;

But the Blind Man, who was feeding Xie Yu'an oranges,

didn't eat the orange, but his mouth turned sour,

and sighed:

"A hypocritical brat."

The children went up,

the adults, of course, couldn't follow.

At the same time, whether it was on the altar or below the altar, it suddenly became quiet.

The next moment,

the Regent of Great Yan put his hands on his waist,

facing upward,

and burst out laughing;

He laughed,

the Yan generals and civil officials standing on the altar also laughed together, and gradually the laughter began to spread from the army.

The Prince looked back,

and raised his hand at the same time,

cursing:

"What are you still doing standing there, pay homage!"

Up and down the altar, the Yan people collectively knelt down.

This scene caused many Chu people to kneel down as well, because the one sitting above was also of the Xiong clan's bloodline. Slowly, more and more Chu people knelt down, even most of the nobles knelt down;

For them, kneeling to Da Niu was easier for them to accept psychologically than kneeling to Zheng Fan.

Soon after,

the sound of paying homage resounded all around:

"Greetings to Her Royal Highness the Princess, may Her Highness live a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years!"

————

There was a power outage tonight, which delayed the coding. Everyone go to sleep first, I'll write another chapter, and everyone can read it tomorrow morning. Hug everyone!