Chapter 216: Prince Long is here, the troublesome autumn is coming

On September 16th, the autumn is clear and the sun is shining brightly. Apart from the few ripples of black smoke rising in the city and the burning smell of wood spreading in the air, it is simply a perfect outing weather.

The busy and noisy Fengbu Wharf is still lively today, but the woven merchant and cargo ships are gone in short dress, and are replaced by teams of distinctly armored imperial guards and vicious officials.

Under the strict guarding of these officers and soldiers, flags roamed on the pier, and the crown was covered with clouds. The civil and military officials, royal relatives and nobles of Zhongdu City gathered here to welcome His Royal Highness, Prince Long, who returned in triumphant return.

However, these people were obviously absent-minded, gathered together in groups of three or five and whispered, and discussed. The contents of the discussion were also different. Some were talking about the fire in Zhongdu City for two consecutive nights, some talked about the final conclusion of the case of the Fourth Prince, some talked about the death of Li Yijiang, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War, some talked about the humiliation of Wen Mingyi in the south, and some talked about the future candidates for governors of the two southern provinces.

At the front of the pier, the crown prince, wearing eight claws and eight dragon bright yellow robe, looked helplessly at the whispering officials and ministers, sighing to the sad Prince Zhe, who was on the side, and said, "It's really a troublesome."

The third brother was still wearing his purple prince's costume, but he was not as energetic as before. He heard this and said depressedly: "Yes, I don't know if the fifth brother comes back or not."

The prince could understand the ingenious sentence. The third prince and the fourth brother were twin brothers. The bloodlines were connected, and there were more unexplainable connections. Since he knew that the fourth brother might be sentenced to death, he became like this, but it also made people sigh at their deep brotherhood.

Qin Zhen, who was on the side, comforted the third brother with certainty and said: "Don't worry, third brother, fifth brother must have a way, and he will definitely rescue the fourth brother."

When the third brother heard this, his heart warmed up. He smiled and wanted to touch his sixth brother's head. He stretched out his hand and realized that his sixth brother was no longer much shorter than him. He had to pat Qin Zhen's shoulder awkwardly and said in a warm voice: "Xiao Liu, how do you know?" He is willing to listen to the fourth brother's words, such as saving him, even the words of a fourteen-year-old child are no exception.

"You can sing in the play, haven't you read the latest 'Dingxiangyang'? Even I know, right?" The next sentence is about Qin Xiao, the youngest.

Qin Xiao nodded seriously and sang softly: "Nothing...can't...Long County Prince..." He shook his head, swaying, and obviously putting in hard work.

When the prince heard this, he smiled, touched Lao Qi's head in a doting way, and smiled at Lao San, "You are also in a hurry to seek medical treatment. Why do you ask the two little drama fans about it?"

The third brother disagreed and said, "You can write it in the play, so Xiao Wu's ability is definitely not bad."

The prince's face stagnated and he said, "I hope this is the case."

Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi were not happy and said to the prince seriously: "Second brother, I can't make a mistake in the play."

The prince felt powerless and thought, how did the boss teach these two little things, and he didn't believe in people's words and nonsense. Fortunately, at this time, an imperial guard came to report: "His Royal Highness's fleet has reached the intersection of Xiaoqing River and Yudai River." He was spared from his verbal talk.

The officials and nobles who heard the news hurriedly ended the conversation, returned to their respective seats, stood up, raised their heads, raised their chests, raised their abdomen, raised their buttocks, bent their eyes slightly, and raised their mouths slightly upturned. They all took out the most standard standing posture and the most humble smiles, and waited for the arrival of His Highness Prince Long.

This is not the first time they have welcomed His Highness Prince Long. Although the last time was even more grand than this time, they all dealt with it with a formality mentality. Anyway, that silly boy couldn't see it.

But the fifth prince, who was still a proton a year ago, is no longer the same as before. He played with the Southern officials and gentry in the clapping with his hands, and easily wiped out the rebellion of the Maitreya Cult, which had become a prairie fire. Marshal Zhennan called him brothers and the four governors were willing to be his lackeys, and the entire South became his loyal fans. All of this had to be admired by the nobles of the Beijing-Li Da.

But if this is the case, it can only be seen with admiration. It will never be so cautious and humble. Although these humble and respectful respects will not come from the heart like the Southern Barbarians, the only ones who can enjoy this treatment in the entire Qin Dynasty are His Majesty Emperor Zhaowu and Grand Marshal Li, and even the Prime Minister who is known as them cannot.

The reason is nothing special, power! It is the power he showed that makes everyone surrender and makes everyone tremble.

Power cannot be questioned, provoked, or violated! Those who dare to doubt, those who dare to provoke, and those who dare to violate will be eliminated!

Therefore, the characteristic of power is violence! Although this kind of violence is often hidden under the veil of fairness and morality, if it occasionally shows its strengths, it will make people shudder and bow their heads.

This point can never be achieved by relying solely on Prime Minister Wen's power to suppress others and using power to force others.

Let’s not mention the thundering methods that Qin Lei showed in pacifying the south, which is too far away for these adults. Just say that when facing the provocations of the two giants, Qin Lei is not afraid and can fight back with force without any disadvantage, so that everyone can put away their arrogance and disrespect and lower their "noble" heads obediently.

After being assassinated, he destroyed the bloody murder, assassinated the eldest son of the Li family, Li Yijiang, and humiliated and expelled the eldest son of the Wen family, Wen Mingyi.

That was the fierce madman who burned the large Taiwei Mansion to white ground after the Kyoto forces were retaliated against by the Li family in just one day after the Kyoto forces burned the Li family's twenty-one properties.

A madman is not scary, what is scary is a tough madman. Who dares to disobey before such a person loses his power? Who dares to be disrespectful? It has nothing to do with the camp, has nothing to do with official positions, but only with fear.

So when the big ship docked and the board was put down, no one needed to command it, thousands of officials and nobles knelt down neatly and shouted in unison: "Welcome Your Highness to return to the capital, Your Highness will be thousands of years old and thousands of years old!"

This scene made His Highness, who had just complained about the uneven team, feel ache in his heart, and his expression was stagnant for a moment. Fortunately, he had first-class cultivation skills and he returned to his excited face in a blink of an eye. No one could notice his flash of jealousy.

The black guards wearing black armor and scarlet cloak lined up on the deck. They were carrying a refined Tang sword around their waists and a hideous protective face on their faces. They had no words or movements, and they had already overwhelmed the audience.

Even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was slightly trembling and thought to himself: Why do you do such a big show? It can be seen that once you have emotions about someone or something, you will not like it anyway.

But his three younger brothers obviously had different opinions. Qin Xiao and Qin Zhan's eyes were completely straightened, and they opened their mouths slightly. One murmured: "It's so handsome, ten thousand times more handsome than on the stage!" One swears secretly: "I want to be a black guard!" In the blink of an eye, his future life goal was reduced from the general who fought in the south and north to Qin Lei's personal soldiers.

Even the third brother was slightly excited. When he saw these majestic guys, he was full of expectations for Xiao Wu who was about to appear for no reason. He should be like a golden armored war god. The third brother thought to himself that there would be more hope of saving the fourth brother.

The facts were beyond his expectations. A creaking sound came from the ship. The expected golden armored war god did not appear. Instead, a young patient sitting in a wheelchair came into his eyes. The sound just now was made by his wheelchair rubbing against the deck.

The black-clad guard carefully pushed Qin Lei off the boat. Qin Lei in the wheelchair smiled and glanced across the dock, and the expressions of the people in the field were clearly visible. He saw the respect and awe of all civil and military officials, he saw Li Qing and Li Erhe's gritting teeth, he saw the face of the second son of the Wen family ashen, he saw the admiration of his two younger brothers, and the expectation of the third son... and the discomfort on the face of His Royal Highness the Prince.

Although except for Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi, these people thought they were well concealed, Qin Lei, who had already cultivated to the spirit, easily captured this information from their behavior and expression.

In the end, his gaze was frozen on the prince who was forced to smile. If it were a year ago, he would have been moved by the prince's sincere smile, but now, he only pays attention to the information occasionally leaked from his eyes and behavior, and he is completely indifferent to the joy he pretended to be.

The two most noble brothers of Daqin looked at each other with a smile on their faces. Qin Lei clearly remembered that last time he came back, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince took his brothers to cross the team and greet him. But this time, he was sitting in a wheelchair, but he stood there motionlessly, just smiling noblely and kindly, waiting for him to come forward to worship.

Qin Lei was not at all displeased. He knew that the prince began to really care about him, just like he cared about the boss. The most perfect smile appeared on the corner of his mouth and hurriedly ordered Xu Tian who was pushing the cart behind him: "Hurry up, push me to pay homage to the prince!"

Xu Tian responded quickly, but his steps were still slow, as if he was pushing a cart of more than a thousand kilograms of charcoal. The consequence of this was that Li Qing and Li Erhe Wen Mingli and others knelt for a while.

When Qin Lei caught Lu and sat down, he said weakly: "Please get up, please forgive me for being sick and weak, so I can't return the gift."

"Thank you, Your Highness, take care of yourselves." All the officials and nobles responded in unison, and they were getting up. After getting up, the officials saw that the strong Prince Long, who was really strong, was indeed... sick. He changed his color, his eyes were deep, his cheekbones were protruding, his chin was sharp, and his clothes seemed a little empty.

He didn't care about the gaze of all officials. The fifth highman, who was very sick, nodded to the prince again and said in a weaker voice: "Your Highman is above, please bow to me." As he said that, he was about to struggle to get up, but his movements were surprisingly slow.

The prince looked at him coldly and cursed in his heart: Just kneel down quickly, and do it if you don’t. What are you doing? Don’t you just want me to help you?

But all the officials looked at the prince, who had always been famous for his good reputation, could not watch Qin Lei kneel down, strode forward, and said with regret: "Fifth brother, stay here quickly, don't move around and hurt your body." Then he went to help Qin Lei.

As soon as his hand touched Qin Lei, Qin Lei sat down with the flow, looking particularly weak and powerless. The prince cursed in his heart, but still replaced Xu Tian and pushed Qin Lei forward slowly. The third brother also came over and pushed the car with the prince. Xiao Liu and Xiao Qi followed both sides of the wheelchair with a look of distress. Qin Xiao Xiao also touched Qin Lei's back with his fleshy little hands from time to time, as if this could relieve his pain.

Anyone who sees the appearance of these five brothers will praise the family they love each other.

The prince pushed Qin Lei through the middle of the officials. When the wheelchair passed by Li Qing and Li Erhe, Qin Lei smiled and waved his hands at the two of them. They had to lower their heads so that they could not lower their heads, pretending that they had not seen them.

Because Prince Long was sick and all the rituals were exempted, he was sent directly to the largest royal car, and he carried it up with a wheelchair. The prince naturally followed him, and the remaining three wanted to follow him, but he stared at him, so he had to let him go to the next car with a grievance.

In addition to being luxurious, the king's car was also very comfortable. Qin Lei was carried from the wheelchair to the huge soft couch, and a beautiful palace maid came forward to feed the water. Qin Lei shook his head slightly and whispered: "Don't drink."

The prince waved his hand to repel the palace maid and locked the car door with his own hands. Then he turned around and sat next to Qin Lei, looking at him with a playful look. Qin Lei liked the soft feeling of the mattress under his body, and put on a comfortable position, closed his eyes as if he was asleep.

The prince looked at Qin Lei like this. He asked suddenly, "Are you afraid that the water will be poisonous?"

Qin Lei was surprised and didn't open his eyes, and said calmly: "Isn't this the second brother's style?"

"What style should I do?" the prince asked with a smile.

"I'm asking about my well-being, kind and friendly, and I'm going to swallow my teeth." Qin Lei commented on the prince.

"That's the past. I had hope before, so I could bear it." The prince's voice was still as gentle as the spring breeze.

After hearing the prince's words, Qin Lei slowly opened his eyes, stared at him, and said word by word: "Second brother, you are too pessimistic."

The prince looked at him and turned his gaze elsewhere, saying self-deprecatingly: "I am pessimistic, but if you sit in my seat, there is a brother who wishes you to die, and a younger brother who is eyeing you below. You can't be cruel to these two people. How can you not be pessimistic? Can you not be depressed?"

If he didn't pursue him, he would replace 'can't deal with' with 'no mind' with'ruthlessness'. Qin Lei smiled and said, "I don't know how big brother is, but I'm definitely not the younger brother who is eyeing him."

"Oh?" the prince whispered, "Then why are you doing such a big mess in the south? Don't tell me that you are bored and looking for something to do."

Qin Lei smiled slightly, but did not answer his question, but said a little Xiao Suo: "We brothers have always had a deep relationship. Now we meet again after half a year of separation. I am sick and weak again. Unexpectedly, my second brother did not say goodbye, and he did not ask about his sick body. He was questioning his head and every word was heartbroken." He said, "Have we really reached this point?"

Qin Lei knew that the prince was a very emotional person, but he was much more effective in communicating with such people than using reason.

Sure enough, the prince was a little sad when he said it. His decisive and ruthless spirit became weaker and sighed: "We are seven brothers, you are the one you can talk to me the best, and your relationship is the best. If you don't do too much, how can I be cruel to you?"

Qin Lei was silent. He admitted that it was good for the prince to be an emperor. The prince was tolerant and decisive, put the overall situation first in everything, and never did anything, leaving only three points of room for freedom. Moreover, he was a warm person, and such a person would not kill his brothers. If he sat on the dragon throne, he would be the prince of Taiping the most. Qin Lei said to himself.

But the problem is that the main contradiction in Qin State is not the dispute between the throne among the various philosophers, but the opposition between the imperial power, military power and ministers. As long as this situation lasts for a day, there is no value for discussion on who is the crown prince. I am afraid that in Emperor Zhaowu's mind, whoever can take back the power for the royal family will be his heir.

The prince's vision is too narrow, or his personality is too weak. He always puts his eyes on his brothers and dares not face the tyranny of the Grand Marshal and the Prime Minister. Qin Lei does not think that Emperor Zhaowu would pass the position to him. Such people are only suitable for being the founding king in a peaceful and prosperous era. He cannot do a difficult job such as sweeping away the demon atmosphere and unifying the eight desolates.
Chapter completed!