novelhk Chapter 208 The Crown Prince is a man of few talents, only a name
Chapter 208 The Crown Prince is a man of few talents, only a name
My second sister-in-law has never received any posts from anyone and has always been looked down upon!
The enlightenment teacher that the Marquis' Mansion took a fancy to turned around and went to the Duke of Rong's Mansion!
Now, it has even affected the marriage plans of the children in the Marquis' Mansion. Several children who have reached the age of marriage have not even had a matchmaker come to their door!
Even though their mansion was so high, and even though she was the emperor's favorite concubine, no one wanted to marry into the mansion!
As long as people from the Duke's Mansion are here, the Marquis' Mansion will never be able to hold its head up!
Is this called no hatred, no resentment?
She didn't believe that the reputation of the Luo Mansion could never be restored without the intervention of the Duke's Mansion!
When the queen saw Concubine Luo's forbearing expression, she knew that with Concubine Luo's brain, she would never be able to comprehend the emperor's true intentions, and she thought that the emperor really wanted to reconcile the Rong and Luo families.
So, she has to add fuel to the fire.
"The Emperor summoned the Crown Prince to the palace today and is planning to hold a horseback archery competition. After the court session, he will probably go to the royal parade ground. Your Majesty and Princess Huaiyang should accompany me to the parade ground to watch the competition." The Queen spoke slowly.
This is the highlight of today.
"Yes!" Princess Huaiyang responded immediately.
Concubine Luo also nodded and replied, "Yes."
When they arrived at the royal parade ground, the emperor had already arrived. There were many people on the parade ground. It seemed that there were not only the prince and Xiao Yan'an, but also some children of powerful officials.
The queen first took them to pay their respects, and then they each sat down in their own seats.
Ji Chuhe and the princess sat at the same table.
The seats formed a semicircle, which allowed for a clear view of the parade grounds.
Ji Chuhe saw Xiao Yanan in the crowd.
Xiao Yan'an happened to look in her direction, and the two smiled at each other.
Not far away, Luo Jixun was holding a horsewhip, staring at Xiao Yan'an with a gloomy look.
Through Shen Chengjing's description, he already had a good understanding of Xiao Yan'an's abilities.
Today, he will make Xiao Yan'an embarrassed in public!
Let Xiao Yanan become the laughing stock of everyone!
"The one wearing dark brown clothes is from the Luo family. I guess he should be the son of the second young master Luo." The princess pointed Ji Chuhe to look in that direction.
"Mother, how do you recognize her?"
"The jade on his body was given to me by the Luo family, and I returned it to him."
"Mother, I feel that the situation today is not good. Will something happen to the prince alone?" Ji Chuhe was full of worry.
Before the princess could answer, she saw a man in official uniform riding a horse up to the emperor.
"emperor!"
The person who came was the eldest son of the Rong family.
"My dear Rong, you will decide the winner of today's competition."
"Yes." Young Master Rong turned his horse around and walked towards the training ground.
Ji Chuhe felt relieved when he saw the eldest son of the Rong family.
At the edge of the training ground, gongs and drums sounded.
The people in the training ground immediately walked over here.
They are all young men of similar age, and they are all full of vigor and vitality.
However, at first glance, Xiao Yan'an's appearance is the most outstanding. He has an upright posture and is taller than the people around him. He also has royal blood, so naturally he has a natural nobility.
The Fourth Prince is slightly inferior to him, not to mention Luo Jixun.
The emperor was also observing these young men with a deep gaze.
The divine will is unpredictable.
The late emperor was obsessed with alchemy and wanted to live forever. Even when his health was very poor, he never thought of appointing a crown prince. He believed that he would be able to master the art of immortality and enjoy the throne forever.
The sudden death of the previous emperor directly led to a turmoil in the fight for the throne.
For three months, the imperial capital was shrouded in blood and gore.
In the end, the emperor became the final winner and inherited the throne.
This involves both strength and luck.
Everyone thought that the emperor's uncle, Prince Ping, would win the fight for the throne.
After all, there was a precedent of passing the throne to brothers in the Great Xia Dynasty.
However, King Ping was badly defeated and is still under house arrest in the palace in the imperial capital.
All of King Ping's descendants were executed, leaving only King Ping, who was not allowed to leave the palace for the rest of his life.
Prince Huaiyang and those princes who did not participate in the fight for the throne all survived, obtained fiefs, and left the imperial capital safely.
If it were according to the emperor's thoughts at that time.
None of these people can leave the imperial capital alive.
Especially Prince Huaiyang.
In his hand, he holds a jade pendant given to him by the previous emperor. In the absence of an imperial edict of succession, there are many things that can be done with this jade pendant.
However, Prince Huaiyang married into the Rongguo Mansion!
The emperor is afraid of the Rongguo Mansion.
If the emperor insisted on getting rid of Prince Huaiyang, he might not be the one sitting on the throne in the end. There was no need for him to take the risk after the dust had settled.
Over the years, the emperor has not been able to sit firmly on the throne.
These old ministers who had been entrenched in the court for many years made him feel restrained in every way and often influenced important affairs of the court.
There are foreign enemies in the north who harass the border from time to time, and the war has never stopped.
His idea of abolishing the feudal system was out of reach.
So he could not allow the vassal kings to become powerful.
Whoever is strong, he will cut off his retreat first!
The sound of gongs and drums suddenly stopped.
Young Master Rong looked at the young men in front of him and began to introduce the rules of today's competition.
"Today's competition has three rounds. The first round is archery; the second round is horse racing; the third round is horseback archery."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone pulled arrow targets made of straw onto the training ground and lined them up in a row.
Everyone also started to get bows and arrows.
Back then, the second son of the Luo family was a famous archer who could shoot through the target every time!
Later, relying on a special bow and arrow, he took the life of the enemy general, defeated the enemy army, and became famous in one battle!
That is, when he returned victorious from that war, he brought back a woman with him and insisted on marrying her.
"Prince, I heard that you are proficient in all six arts of a gentleman. I wonder how good your archery skills are?" Luo Jixun suddenly walked towards Xiao Yan'an and took the initiative to speak.
"Excuse me, who are you?" Xiao Yan'an asked with a smile.
"Luo Jixun." Luo Jixun gave his name.
When Xiao Yan'an heard the last name Luo, he became a little defensive.
"Prince, my cousin's riding and archery were all taught by his father. You will meet an opponent today." The Fourth Prince also came over and said.
"Then I have to cheer up and compete with Master Luo today! After all, no one in Huaiyang can defeat me." Xiao Yan'an said confidently, pulling the bowstring and shooting at the air.
The look on his face showed that he didn't take Master Luo seriously.
Luo Jixun said nothing more and turned back to his seat.
"Everyone has ten arrows, and the number of arrows that hit the center of the bull's eye will be counted! Everyone get ready!" Young Master Rong gave the order.
The young men drew their bows and arrows and aimed at the bull's eye.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!" The arrow shot towards the target in front with a whistle.
Luo Jixun, hit the bull’s eye.
Among the remaining people, one also hit the bull's eye, but not in the correct position as Luo Jixun.
Even the Fourth Prince hit the target within a palm's distance of the bull's eye.
Everyone knew that he was weak and seldom practiced riding and archery.
Everyone looked at Xiao Yanan's target at the same time.
I didn't notice it just now, Xiao Yan'an's arrow flew past his own target and hit Luo Jixun's target!