20. To add or not to add ?

  In the morning court today, although the ministers did not quarrel like yesterday, they were still arguing about whether to add the pearl to the King of Dai. However. Today is a little different from yesterday.

  Yesterday, in the morning court, the ministers who supported the King of Dai to add the pearl were only those from the King of Dai's party. However, today, there are many more ministers who support the King of Dai to add the pearl. To be precise, except for those from the Crown Prince's party who opposed the King of Dai to add the pearl, everyone else is in favor of the King of Dai to add the pearl. The King of Dai to

  add the pearl is not a good thing for the Crown Prince, but it is a good thing for other princes. The prince's pearl will not only make his status more noble, but also improve the specifications around him, such as the increase of fiefdoms and guards.

  In the court today, almost everyone is in favor of the King of Dai to add the pearl. The emperor was not surprised at all by this development

  . The emperor let the ministers quarrel, and still did not say whether he agreed with the King of Dai to add the pearl.

  Today, the ministers did not quarrel like yesterday, and the emperor felt very boring, so he patted his butt and left. Seeing this, Sun Kui hurriedly shouted "Resign".

  After the ministers sent the emperor away, they "surrounded" Prime Minister He.

  "Prime Minister He, what do you think the emperor means?"

  "Prime Minister He, please give us your opinion on the matter of adding a pearl to the King of Dai."

  "Prime Minister He, do you support the King of Dai adding a pearl or not?"

  "Prime Minister He, now all the ministers in the court support the King of Dai adding a pearl, what do you think?"

  "Prime Minister He..."

  Being surrounded and unable to leave, Prime Minister He could only say helplessly: "Everyone, whether the King of Dai adds a pearl or not is not something I can influence."

  "Prime Minister He, as the prime minister, your opinion is very important."

  "The emperor has always valued you and listened to your suggestions. If you support the King of Dai adding a pearl, the emperor will definitely agree."

  Prime Minister He waved his hand and said with a smile: "The emperor knows whether the King of Dai adds a pearl or not."

  "Then in your opinion, does the emperor agree or not?"

  Prime Minister He smiled calmly and said: "I dare not guess the emperor's intention." After speaking, he turned and walked away.

  "Prime Minister He..."

  Although Prime Minister He was in his fifties or sixties, he was in good health and walked briskly. He disappeared in a short while. Prime Minister

  He hurriedly got on the carriage parked at the palace gate and urged the coachman to leave quickly. When he got home, he asked people to close the door tightly and repeatedly told no one to see him.

  In the past two days, many people came to visit him because of the matter of whether the King of Dai would add beads or not, which annoyed him a lot.

  Seeing that they could not get any words from Prime Minister He, the ministers set their sights on another person - Liu Taishi.

  Facing the ministers' inquiries, Liu Taishi had a cold face and said impatiently that he didn't know and didn't want to ask him.

  Prime Minister He and Liu Taishi were too tight-lipped and could not find out any information, so the ministers set their sights on the emperor's confidants.

  The confidants were not the eunuchs around the emperor, but the generals who followed the emperor to fight everywhere - Song Dekang and Shen Hu.

  Song Dekang and Shen Hu were not only the emperor's favorite generals, but also relatives of the emperor. However, these two people were only loyal to the emperor and did not support any prince. The ministers were wrong to ask them whether the King of Dai would add pearls.

  Although they knew that they could not get any useful information from Song Dekang and Shen Hu, many ministers still wanted to try. The two of them were also very annoyed, so they asked their family members to close the door and not see anyone.

  In the mansion of Xuanping Marquis, some important ministers who supported the King of Dai gathered together to continue discussing how to make the emperor agree to let the King of Dai add pearls.

  "My lord, at the morning court today, except for the people of the crown prince's faction who opposed giving the crown prince a pearl, everyone else supported giving the crown prince a pearl, but the emperor has been slow to express his opinion. Does the emperor agree or not?"

  "The emperor has always loved and valued His Royal Highness the crown prince. This time, the crown prince made a great contribution in pacifying Liangzhou. Logically, the emperor should reward His Royal Highness the crown prince generously. Our proposal to give the crown prince a pearl is exactly what the emperor wants, but why is the emperor slow to agree?"

  "I think the emperor wants to agree to give the crown prince a pearl, but considering the crown prince, he did not agree immediately."

  "I also think that the emperor is just pretending. In a few days, the emperor will agree to give the crown prince a pearl."

  "Perhaps when His Royal Highness the crown prince returns to the capital in triumph, the emperor will give the crown prince a pearl."

  "My lord, we have to be on guard against the Duke of Zhenguo."

  Marquis Xuanping frowned and said, "The matter of giving the crown prince a pearl cannot be delayed until the day the crown prince returns to the capital in triumph. It must be determined before the crown prince returns to the capital."

  "My lord, what you mean is..."   

  At this moment, in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, a group of important ministers who supported the Crown Prince also gathered together to discuss opposing the addition of beads to the King of Dai.

  "Duke, now all the ministers in the court support the addition of beads to the King of Dai, what should we do?"

  "Once the emperor agrees to add beads to the King of Dai, the King of Dai will definitely climb over the head of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

  "The King of Dai has already made great military achievements. If he adds beads, his arrogance will become even more arrogant, and he will not take His Royal Highness the Crown Prince seriously at that time."

  "Duke, this matter must be resolved before the King of Dai returns to the capital, otherwise, when the King of Dai returns to the capital, there will be no room for maneuver on this matter."

  "The emperor's attitude is unclear, which is not a good thing for us."

  "The emperor is usually a decisive person, but this time he has been slow to express his position on the matter of adding beads to the King of Dai. I think the emperor is afraid that he also wants to add beads to the King of Dai."

  "The emperor will not want to add beads to the King of Dai on the day the King of Dai returns to the capital?"

  "It's not impossible."

  "Duke, we must make the Emperor give up the idea of ​​giving the Prince of Dai a pearl before he returns to the capital."

  Compared to the anxious and worried ministers, the Duke of Zhenguo seemed very calm and composed: "I will never let the Prince of Dai have a pearl."

  "Duke, do you have any ideas?"

  In the East Palace, the tutor was lecturing the prince, but the prince was obviously a little uneasy.

  The tutor heard what happened in the morning court today and knew why the prince was distracted. "Your Highness..."

  The prince did not hear the tutor calling him.

  The tutor called him several times before the prince came back to his senses.

  The prince looked apologetic and stood up to apologize to the tutor: "Sir, I'm sorry, I was distracted."

  The tutor raised his hand to signal the prince to sit down, and said to him lovingly: "Your Highness, the more it is at this time, the more you can't mess up."

  "What do you mean, sir?"

  "Your Highness, you must always remember your identity." The tutor said to the prince with a deep meaning, "You are the crown prince of the Great Zhou. No matter what happens, your identity will not change!"

  The prince didn't quite understand what the tutor meant, and said blankly: "Sir, I naturally remember my identity." "

  In this case, your Highness don't have to worry." The tutor emphasized again, "Your Highness, the more it is at this time, the more you must stay calm!"

  The prince nodded as if he understood: "I listen to you, sir."

  The tutor smiled kindly: "Then let's continue."

  "Yes, sir." The prince didn't dare to be distracted anymore and listened to the tutor's explanation seriously. In

  the imperial study of Chengguang Hall, the emperor threw down the memorial in his hand. With a snap, Sun Kui, who was waiting on the side, trembled.

  "Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?" Sun Kui hurriedly picked up the memorial that was thrown on the ground by the emperor.

  The emperor cursed with a cold face: "A bunch of trash."

  When Sun Kui picked up the memorial, he accidentally saw the content inside, which was about the rebellion in Yangzhou.

  "Your Majesty, please calm down. It's not worth it to make your body angry." He hurriedly glanced at the young eunuch standing beside him. The young eunuch understood and quickly brought a cup of hot tea.

  Sun Kui took the teacup from the young eunuch and handed it to the emperor respectfully, "Your Majesty, please drink some tea to calm down."

  The emperor took the teacup and drank it in big gulps without any image. After drinking, the anger in his heart suddenly subsided a little, but his face was still ugly.

  "Your Majesty, if you are not satisfied with the affairs of Yangzhou, just send someone else to deal with it. Why make yourself angry?"

  "Go and call Liu Tongwen, Song Dekang and Shen Hu." The affairs of Yangzhou can't be delayed any longer. If it is delayed any further, something will change.

  (End of this chapter)