Chapter 933 The Prince of the West Enters the Capital

"Four servings of lard rice."

"Oh, guest, have you been here before?" the stall owner asked with a smile.

"Yes, I have. I just returned to the capital and was craving this." Zheng Fan said with a smile.

"Then you're really giving us face. Everyone else who comes to the capital talks about Quande Restaurant's roast duck, but you're thinking about our pork lard cracklings."

"It's fragrant."

Zheng Fan said with a smile.

"Wait a moment, I'll add a plate of mixed vegetables for you, on the house."

"You're generous, landlady."

"You're too kind."

Zheng Fan sat there, with Si Niang to his left and Tiantian to his right, and the Sword Saint across from him.

This time, Zheng Fan brought Tiantian with him to the capital.

The Tian family's ancestral home is in Tiancheng Prefecture, which is within the capital region.

Actually, Zheng Fan had hesitated whether to bring Tiantian or not. Some things can be left in the past, just pretend they didn't happen. But in the end, Zheng Fan still brought Tiantian along.

He has to face his past sooner or later, and deliberately hiding it would be a poor choice.

Tiantian is grown now, and he should be the one to judge for himself.

Most importantly, in this life, Tiantian has me, his "dad," by his side. He won't be plagued by so-called inner demons and go down that path again.

The landlady was very efficient, partly because lard rice is simple to make.

But the mixed vegetables she gave were actually wild vegetables mixed with pig's head meat, which was quite generous.

The landlady put down the bowls, handed over chopsticks, and said to Tiantian, "Here, little one, eat up."

Tiantian is always polite.

"Thank you, Auntie."

"Heh."

The landlady smiled and went back to her work.

Everyone began to eat, and Tiantian ate with gusto.

"Son, is it good?" Zheng Fan put a piece of snout meat into the child's bowl.

"Very fragrant, Dad."

Tiantian has already started practicing martial arts seriously. Growing boys eat their parents out of house and home, and coupled with the martial arts training, his appetite is truly astonishing. Besides his special love for sachima, he's not picky about food.

"Here, eat Dad's bowl too."

Zheng Fan pushed his large bowl of lard rice in front of Tiantian.

Tiantian looked up and said, "Dad, aren't you eating?"

"I want my son to have his fill."

Zheng Fan showed a loving father's smile.

"Thank you, Dad."

Although Tiantian knows that his family certainly doesn't lack the money for this lard rice, he enjoys the warmth of his father offering his food to his son.

Of course,

The real reason is that Prince of the West's stomach is delicate and simply can't handle such greasy food.

And the landlady who's busy greeting customers in front of the shop, her name is Bihe.

Strictly speaking, she can also be considered a relative of the imperial family; her husband's sister is the current Empress.

Ji Laoliu chose a butcher's daughter as his wife, and Zheng Fan believes that they are in love, but if you want to say that Ji Laoliu didn't have a plan beforehand and deliberately found a commoner girl purely because true love came too suddenly, Zheng Fan doesn't believe it.

The destruction of the Min and Tian families was already an extremely clear political signal from the late Emperor.

In the future, the Empress must be selected from the common people;

This is quite similar to the old Zhu family in another time and space, and the effect is indeed very good, minimizing the possibility of interference by the Empress's family in politics.

At this moment,

Old He Tou walked over.

He stopped in front of Zheng Fan's table for a moment and looked at Zheng Fan.

The clothes of the four people at Zheng Fan's table are not extravagant, but they give people a very comfortable feeling. Few of the contemporary officials and nobles can reach a truly high level of aesthetics; wearing gold and silver ostentatiously is still considered real fashion, while being able to wear an elegant and restrained feeling means that the owner of the clothes has reached a certain level.

Old He Tou has often been taken into the palace to see his grandson in recent years, and the level of contact has become higher, so naturally, he has a feeling.

Or rather,

Old He Tou saw the same feeling from Zheng Fan that he saw from his son-in-law.

Old He Tou didn't remember Zheng Fan, nor did he go up to talk to him, but he cupped his fist towards Zheng Fan as a greeting.

Zheng Fan also nodded slightly in response.

"Haha, not late, not late!"

Another old man walked over, it was Old Guang Tou.

The two old men are in-laws, and usually when the weather is good, they would sit at a small table in this small shop, with a little wine and two dishes, drinking and chatting away the afternoon.

Old Guang Tou's eldest son was already promising, and the second son is now the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Palace, not wealthy, but barely squeezed into the ranks of a minor official family. Without pressure, he can take it easy and live a free and easy life for the rest of his life.

Old He Tou is more carefree than Old Guang Tou.

His own daughter is the Empress, his own grandson is the Crown Prince, and now his son has long been married, and his grandson can walk and call him grandpa, so he is also very free.

The two old men sat down, and Bihe brought wine and side dishes.

Old Guang Tou first toasted Old He Tou, took a sip of wine,

and said;

"I thought you wouldn't come today, brother. Many people went to the east of the city to see the Prince of the West enter the capital. His Majesty asked the Crown Prince to replace the imperial carriage to welcome him in the west of the city."

Old He Tou smiled and said; "I won't join in the fun."

"Yes, it's better not to join in the fun. Anyway, you can't squeeze in, it's better to sit here and drink small wine freely."

"Well, but, brother, why do you say that the Prince of the West suddenly wants to enter the capital?"

"This is hard to say, hard to say." Old Guang Tou pondered.

Old He Tou asked; "I heard that this time he entered the capital, the Prince of the West did not bring any soldiers. When the Prince of the West entered the capital two years ago, he had 10,000 Jingnan Army iron cavalry by his side."

"Ha, brother, you don't understand this, right? The Prince of the West has more than 100,000 iron cavalry under his command in Jidong, and these 100,000 soldiers are truly elite.

Whether it is in Jidong or under the capital city, what's the difference?

As long as it's there, it's the best amulet for the Prince of the West!"

The common people of the capital like to talk about such major military and national affairs, and they analyze them in a coherent manner.

"Oh, so that's how it is." Old He Tou suddenly understood.

He accepted most of this information from Old Guang Tou, after all, he couldn't possibly ask his son-in-law about national affairs.

"Alas, some people say that the Prince of the West came to the capital this time to repay the favor of His Majesty's eastern tour last year, and that the Prince of the West is sensible and bowed his head to the imperial court."

"That's good, the Prince is still our Dayan's Prince, with the Prince there, we feel confident in our hearts." Old He Tou said.

"That's right, nowadays, the Prince of the West is our Dayan's stabilizing anchor. Our Dayan has many famous generals, but you really can't find a second one like the Prince of the West, who can immediately stabilize the hearts of the people and the army just by sitting there."

"That's right, that's right."

"But I also heard that a group of students from the Imperial College have submitted letters, probably meaning that they want to take this opportunity to make the Prince of the West..."

Old Guang Tou waved his hand gently as he spoke.

"What!"

Old He Tou was startled,

"To kill the Prince?"

Old Guang Tou realized that his actions were too much,

and immediately waved his hand,

"How could that be, how could that be, those students collectively petitioned, meaning that they hoped that the Prince of the West could move his palace to the capital and enter the cabinet.

They also said that the Prince of the West is talented and is a literary genius praised by the literary saint of the Qian Kingdom. They are willing to invite the Prince of the West to be their shanzhang (head of the academy)."

This matter is not a secret, because the students of the Imperial College have begun to collude and gather in recent days, and the supervisor of the Imperial College has even actively put forward this suggestion, he will retire and give way, in short, the noise is very big.

However, there must be a higher level of instruction behind this.

Although many ministers in the imperial court believe that the existence of Jidong, especially this one country two systems, will inevitably lead to the division of Dayan in the long run, which is really not a blessing for the country.

But they are not stupid, and will not try to do such extreme things. Not to mention the more than 100,000 iron cavalry in Jidong who are loyal to the Prince of the West, if a meritorious prince who came from the common people and made great contributions to Dayan is led to the capital and killed, what will the Dayan military think?

Even if they want to impose a charge, it shouldn't be so extreme;

There is a ready-made example, the tattooed chancellor of the Qian Kingdom, the founder of the Western Army, who held military power and the hearts of the people, was also promoted to the Privy Council and became the current chancellor before being imprisoned. There must be this buffer and process.

As for the Prince of the West... these ministers who are loyal to Dayan did not think about killing the donkey after it ground the mill. They are not as short-sighted as the Qian people. As long as the Prince of the West can leave his fief and live in the capital, they are even willing to give up their power to the Prince.

The late Emperor had purged the court many times,

The new Emperor has also promoted many officials in the past two years,

So at this time, the Dayan court is still relatively clear, in the words of the Qian people, it is really "full of righteous people in the court."

Everyone is also thinking about the country, and hopes that the Prince of the West can be sensible and solve the potential dangers that may arise in the future of the country in a harmonious manner.

Even if the Prince of the West directly becomes the chief minister of the cabinet, everyone agrees.

"There are many things that adults consider." Old Guang Tou could only say this, "But logically speaking, the barbarians have also been tamed, and the Chu people dare not act rashly. I think the Prince of the West, he can come to the capital to live.

If there is a war in the future, he can come out again."

Old Guang Tou is a member of the imperial family, and his position is naturally to maintain the stability of the Ji family's world. He also understands the harm of powerful vassal states. Perhaps, it is beneficial for Dayan for the Prince of the West to continue to guard Jidong, but it is a big hidden danger for the Ji family.

Old He Tou was noncommittal. He thought that the Prince was doing well in Jidong. With him there, Jidong could be stable. If he came back, what if something went wrong?

A person's name is like the shadow of a tree;

But Old He Tou was too lazy to say these rebuttals to Old Guang Tou.

At this time, Old Guang Tou suddenly pointed to the back and said:

"Brother, your son-in-law is here."

The one who came was Ji Chengjue, with Eunuch Wei following behind.

Ji Chengjue nodded towards them;

Old He Tou immediately lifted his butt off the stool, responding.

Old Guang Tou was used to Old He Tou's appearance of "not having the majesty of a father-in-law". He had said it before, but it didn't work.

Then,

Old He Tou saw his son-in-law sitting next to that table, sitting on the same bench with that man in white brocade clothes.

That man was a little disgusted and didn't want to sit;

As a result, his son-in-law took the initiative to bump into him and insisted on sitting.

"......" Old He Tou.

Old He Tou was already a little petrified.

His son-in-law is the Emperor of Dayan, the most noble existence in the world, able to treat his son-in-law like this...

Thanks to the fact that the late Emperor often came to visit when he first entered the capital, Old He Tou now has no other skills, but he has developed a pair of sharp eyes to discover big people;

For a time, he had some guesses about the identity of that man.

It was obvious,

At this moment, his grandson was welcoming the Prince of the West into the city in the west of the city,

But his son-in-law ran here to sit on the same bench with him,

Only that one could have this qualification.

...

"Haha, I knew you wouldn't be used to this." Ji Chengjue laughed immediately when he saw that there was no lard rice in front of Zheng Fan.

He had learned that the surname Zheng's was never tired of fine food;

Saying that, Ji Chengjue reached out and touched Tiantian's head next to him.

"It's been half a year, you've grown taller again, eat more."

"Okay, Brother."

"..." Ji Chengjue.

Ji Chengjue knew that this was definitely intentional, but he couldn't argue about the address. He could only blame the surname Zheng's for being impolite and not teaching his child to call him by his seniority.

"Surname Zheng's, I've arranged everything." Ji Chengjue picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of pig's head meat and put it in his mouth, chewing as he said, "It's arranged in the back garden, meaning that I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you in the back garden for half a month for the future of Dayan.

The affairs of the court will be left to the cabinet to manage with the ministers.

What do you think?

Anyway, my father once lived alone in the back garden with Li Liangting like this."

Zheng Fan said with some disgust: "I'm afraid of my reputation being ruined."

"I'm not afraid of being the Emperor, what are you afraid of? Besides, you don't know what your reputation is, rest assured, thousands of years later, those who read unofficial history will only know that you Zheng Fan likes other people's wives,

How can someone who likes other people's wives like the Jin style?

You are really far-sighted and have set the tone for yourself in advance."

Zheng Fan rolled his eyes at Ji Chengjue.

The relationship between the two has actually been very close after the Emperor's eastern tour half a year ago.

The Emperor abandoned the Imperial Army and took the Empress into the Prince of the West's mansion;

The Emperor learned from the Prince of the West that there was something growing in his head that would lead to his premature death. The Prince said it, and the Emperor believed it.

So, sometimes you really can't say that the old Ji family has a tradition of making people sell their lives, this is their ancestral craft.

Over here,

The Prince of the West and the Emperor are sitting on a small street shop in Yanjing City, eating and chatting;

On the east side of the city, the Crown Prince, leading hundreds of officials and a vast expanse of people, is welcoming the Prince of the West's team into the capital.

The Crown Prince solemnly announced the imperial decree,

The imperial decree allowed the Prince of the West to not get off the carriage to receive the decree.

After announcing the decree, the Crown Prince saluted the carriage with the etiquette of facing an uncle, and then personally got into the carriage. He would accompany the Prince of the West to enter the capital and enter the palace.

Many ministers around felt that it was too arrogant for the Prince of the West to really not get out of the carriage when announcing the decree;

And Crown Prince Ji Chuanye, who entered the carriage, looked at the empty carriage,

He had already expected it,

Found a seat and sat down,

Letting out a mature sigh:

"Alas."

...

Zheng Fan and Ji Chengjue also got into the carriage.

Inside the carriage,

Zheng Fan asked the Emperor:

"When are we going to the back garden?"

"We have to wait a few days, there are still some things to go through in the court."

"I don't have time."

Zheng Fan came to the capital this time to help the Emperor with the surgery.

On this point, the Blind Man had also urged him.

Because the Blind Man knew that with the cooperation level of the Demon Kings, the difficulty of the Emperor's surgery was not great, because the tumor was very cooperative;

But at most, it can be delayed for half a year, and if it is delayed for longer... if something changes, it will be difficult to say.

"Some things must be done well before I can free up time to go to the back garden for you to see a doctor."

"Come when you're done, I'll just live in the back garden."

"No, you have to walk around with me on the stage a few times. These things can't be done without you."

"What's the matter?" The Prince asked impatiently.

The Emperor smiled:

"In front of the officials,

In front of the people of the world,

Establish you, Zheng Fan,

As the... Uncle Regent of my Dayan Crown Prince."

"Are you sick?"

"Damn it, didn't you say I was sick?"

"You're still alive, what kind of regent am I? There's no such thing."

Regency, regency, is generally a situation that only young emperors face;

But the problem is that Ji Laoliu is an adult Emperor here, which is not in accordance with etiquette and rules.

"Rules are made by people."

Ji Chengjue reached out and placed his hand on the back of Zheng Fan's hand;

The Prince pulled his hand away;

The Emperor was a little helpless and grabbed the Prince's shoulder:

"Surname Zheng's, I only have this one request.

I will personally announce to the officials and the world that I am not feeling well and will go to the back garden for recuperation like my father did back then. Then I will establish the Crown Prince to supervise the country, and you, Zheng Fan, will be promoted from the Prince of the West of my Dayan to the Regent of my Dayan.

Only in this way,

In case something unexpected happens during the treatment in the back garden, the court will not be chaotic, and it will not be chaotic.

You hold down the situation,

Chuanye will be able to sit on the dragon chair safely.

To take a step back, if you want to sit on that chair, you can also make proper arrangements for Chuanye and my wife.

Don't worry,

I have left several secret decrees with Wei Zhonghe. Once the worst happens, these decrees will be sent to the general commanders of the various routes under the jurisdiction of the court. I will personally prove your legitimacy.

I didn't even call my eldest brother back!"

Zheng Fan甩开手臂,

骂道;

"Stop giving me this act. This is just a small hands... after half a year of preparation, the possibility of an accident is very low, very low."

"Surname Zheng's, if you don't agree, I won't go to the back garden. You just stay in the palace with me and drink and eat, and when you're done, you can continue to return to your Jidong, and I can continue to be my emperor. I'll accept my early death."

"Throughout the ages, you are the only Emperor who has used his own life to blackmail a prince."

Most of the powerful princes in the world probably wish that the Emperor would die directly.

"Dare to be the first in the world." The Emperor didn't care.

"You understand, I, Zheng Fan, hate being threatened the most in my life."

The Emperor looked at the Prince,

After a while,

The Prince sighed,

Said:

"Not to be taken as an example."