Chapter 39

The next day, the Emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty once again summoned his nine sons to the Wende Hall.

Apart from the Seventh Prince Hong Yin and the Ninth Prince Hong Xuan, the other princes had already guessed the purpose of their father's summons this time.

It was about the unprecedented "prince supervision" in this year's imperial examinations.

Although the supervising prince had no significant authority, it was merely to oversee the entire process of the imperial examinations, it could not be denied that the imperial examinations were a major national event concerning the Great Wei's bureaucracy, and it was also an excellent opportunity to reasonably interact with the officials of the Ministry of Personnel.

Therefore, any prince who was enthusiastic about the throne was eagerly looking forward to this opportunity, hoping to use it to win over some officials from the Ministry of Personnel, such as the Crown Prince Hong Li, the Second Prince "Yong Wang" Hong Yu, the Third Prince "Xiang Wang" Hong Jing, the Fourth Prince "Yan Wang" Hong Jiang, and the Fifth Prince "Qing Wang" Hong Xin.

These princes originally thought that their father would decide the supervising prince after consulting with the ministers, so in recent days, they had not spared any effort to build relationships with influential court officials. After all, these princes were already of age, and as long as they did not openly form factions, the Great Wei Emperor generally turned a blind eye to their attempts to win over court officials.

After all, this was the "game rule" for the Great Wei princes to compete for the throne: to use any means within the rules.

However, no one expected that the Great Wei Emperor would ultimately decide to choose the supervising prince by drawing lots, which left the five princes who had been running around to build relationships feeling quite frustrated.

But they could accept this situation, except for the Crown Prince Hong Li, who was currently the heir apparent.

After all, under normal circumstances, the Crown Prince Hong Li had the highest chance of being appointed as the supervising prince. If there were no special circumstances, the other four princes who had already been enfeoffed would have almost no chance of getting this opportunity, unless the Great Wei Emperor intended to replace the heir apparent and chose one from the other four.

The only thing they couldn't understand was why the Emperor suddenly changed his mind, even though the princes had clearly heard that the supervising prince would not include the Seventh Prince Hong Yin, the Eighth Prince Hong Run, and the Ninth Prince Hong Xuan.

At this moment, the Great Wei Emperor revealed the reason, and they learned that it was because the Eighth Prince Zhao Hong Run had been acting stubbornly,纠缠不休 (constantly pestering) their father, which made the Great Wei Emperor, who was tired of it, change his mind.

"Little Eight?"

It was clear that all the princes were surprised, especially the Sixth Prince Zhao Hong Zhao.

Because in their impression, their eighth brother was purely a pleasure-seeker who never did anything serious, so how could he suddenly change?

"Rumor has it that Little Eight was confined to the Zongfu for some reason a few days ago and was only released after seven days... Could it be related to this?"

The Second Prince "Yong Wang" Hong Yu looked at Zhao Hong Run with a thoughtful expression.

A few days ago, Zhao Hong Run was framed by the Ministry of Personnel's Langzhong Luo Wenzhong and spent the night in a pavilion with a lady, and was eventually taken away by the Zongfu. The Zongfu did not reveal this, nor did the Great Wei Emperor, so the princes only knew that their eighth brother was confined to the Zongfu for some reason, but they did not know the reason.

"Does it seem that Little Eight is determined to get this position this time?"

The Third Prince "Xiang Wang" Hong Jing also looked at his eighth brother thoughtfully, pondering in his heart.

As one of the princes competing for the throne with the Crown Prince Hong Li, the Second Prince "Yong Wang" Hong Yu and the Third Prince "Xiang Wang" Hong Jing were considered the most likely to replace the Crown Prince, which was a well-known fact in the court.

They did not particularly care about their eighth brother's involvement in this matter, after all, the chaotic poem Zhao Hong Run recited in the Chui Gong Hall that day made it clear to even a fool that he had no interest in the throne, just like the Sixth Prince Zhao Hong Zhao, who also did not care much. Therefore, he was not considered an enemy to the four princes who had already been enfeoffed.

In contrast, the Crown Prince Hong Li's expression was not good.

It was no wonder, after all, if Zhao Hong Run had not intervened, he would have had the highest chance of being chosen as the supervising prince. Now, his chances were reduced to less than ten percent, which made the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace somewhat unhappy, staring at Zhao Hong Run with displeasure.

At this moment, Zhao Hong Run's attention was focused on the drawing of lots, and he did not notice that his actions had made the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace unhappy, but the Second Prince "Yong Wang" Hong Yu and the Third Prince "Xiang Wang" Hong Jing saw it clearly.

"..."

The two princes exchanged a meaningful glance.

At this moment, the Great Wei Emperor had personally written the names of the nine princes on nine pieces of paper. Meanwhile, the Grand Eunuch Tong Xian folded the nine pieces of paper, shuffled them, and laid them out on the imperial desk.

Seeing the Emperor about to reach out to pick one of the papers, the princes who were eager for the supervising position immediately tensed up, silently praying to be chosen.

But at this moment, Zhao Hong Run suddenly interrupted the Emperor, "Father, this is unfair."

The princes looked at Zhao Hong Run in surprise, amazed that he would say such a thing. However, they recalled that he had once engaged in two rounds of struggle with their father to go out for fun, which had become a topic of discussion in the palace, so they were somewhat relieved.

Under the surprised gazes of the princes, the Great Wei Emperor did not show any anger, but only a look of impatience.

"How is it unfair? Didn't you say you wanted to draw lots?"

Zhao Hong Run took a few steps toward the imperial desk and explained with a bow, "Your son is not saying that drawing lots is unfair. Your son means that drawing lots this way is unfair... How can your son know if Father has secretly marked the paper with your son's name and deliberately not chosen it?"

"Is this... questioning Father?"

The princes' expressions changed slightly, thinking that this brother was truly bold and presumptuous, daring to question their father.

However, to their surprise, the Great Wei Emperor did not get angry. He frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Your son humbly requests that Father place these nine papers in a box that cannot be seen, mix them up, and then draw. ... This way it will be fair, right, Father?"

"..." The Emperor frowned and looked at Zhao Hong Run, saying impatiently, "Fine, to make you give up, I will do as you say."

Saying this, the Emperor glanced at the Grand Eunuch Tong Xian.

Tong Xian understood and bowed, stepping away from the imperial desk.

He looked around the wooden shelves in the Wende Hall and saw a black-purple box on one of the shelves. He carefully picked it up and placed it on the imperial desk.

Seeing this, Zhao Hong Run felt a great relief, as this box was the one he had ordered the Ministry of Works to make the previous day.

He knew that the place where the Great Wei Emperor would meet them would not be the Chui Gong Hall where the three chancellors handled state affairs, but the Wende Hall where the Emperor rested.

Therefore, he had asked the Zongwei Mu Qing to sneak into the Wende Hall and place the box there when no one was paying attention the previous night.

For this, Zhao Hong Run had even spent over a hundred taels of silver to bribe the guards outside the Wende Hall, ordering them not to reveal this matter.

Do not think this is an ordinary box. In fact, it is a wooden box with a mechanism.

At first glance, it may not seem special, but in fact, it is intricately made. It has a hidden compartment, and inside the compartment are nine papers that Zhao Hong Run had prepared in advance, neatly folded, with his name, "Hong Run," written on each.

The reason he did not write "Zhao Hong Run" was that it was customary not to include the surname when addressing members of the royal family.

At this moment, Tong Xian had already placed the nine papers in the wooden box, closed the lid, and gently shook the box a few times.

"Are you satisfied?" the Emperor asked.

Zhao Hong Run smiled slightly and said with a bow, "Can your son draw the lot?"

The Emperor looked at Zhao Hong Run with an unfathomable expression and made a gesture inviting him to proceed.

Seeing this, Zhao Hong Run stepped forward.

To be honest, he was a bit worried that his father would not let him draw, because at this moment, the box actually contained eighteen papers, nine written by the Emperor and the other nine forged by Zhao Hong Run to look like the Emperor's handwriting. To switch the two sets, he needed to press a hidden mechanism at the bottom of the box.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhao Hong Run pretended to shake the box again, ostensibly to mix the papers, but in reality, to activate the mechanism and replace the Emperor's nine papers.

After the preparations were complete, Zhao Hong Run placed the box on the table, opened the lid, and reached in to draw a paper.

"Ah? It seems that fate is on your son's side, tsk tsk, truly lucky."

Unfolding the paper, it clearly read "Hong Run."

"Isn't this too coincidental?"

The princes looked at each other, thinking that if they had known, they would have gone up to draw as well.

However, a few of the more observant princes had already begun to doubt the fairness of the drawing, but since the box was taken from the Wende Hall, they did not dare to question it outright.

However, although they did not say anything, the Emperor's face showed a strange smile, "Draw another one."

Instantly, Zhao Hong Run's smile became somewhat unnatural.

"What's wrong? Draw another one." The Emperor looked at Zhao Hong Run and said calmly, "Are you afraid of drawing another paper with your name on it?"

"..." Zhao Hong Run said awkwardly, "Father, what are you saying? The papers are written by Father, how could they all be your son's name?"

"Ha! Not necessarily." The Emperor smiled faintly and reached into the box, "Since you won't draw, I'll draw another one for you."

Saying this, the Emperor drew another paper from the box and unfolded it, and sure enough, it read "Hong Run."

The princes finally realized: This kid cheated!

Looking at Zhao Hong Run, who was standing there with a stern face, the Emperor took out all the papers from the box and unfolded them one by one, and indeed, they all read "Hong Run."

"You didn't look like you were good at imitating my handwriting... How long did you practice?" the Emperor said sarcastically.

Seeing his trick exposed, Zhao Hong Run shrugged and said, "Do I need to practice? Father's handwriting isn't that great, I just need to look at it a couple of times to get it."

"This brat, still trying to provoke me even now!"

The Emperor exhaled angrily.

"Redraw the lots!"

"PS: This book has been A-signed, and is published on Qidian. I hope the readers of this book can take a minute to vote for it on Qidian. Thank you very much."