Chapter 56

Chapter 55

"His Majesty has arrived."

Around the hour of Wei, as the grand eunuch Tong Xian entered the hall with a high-pitched announcement, the empress, concubines, princes, and princesses who were already in the Wende Hall, led by Empress Wang, all bowed to welcome the emperor.

"Everyone may rise."

Emperor Da Wei Zhao Yuansi waved his hand with a smile, walking toward his seat while gesturing for everyone to rise and take their seats. However, according to the rules, only after the emperor was seated could the others take their seats.

Finally, the emperor sat down in the position facing the princes and the front hall. Only then did the concubines, princes, and princesses take their seats.

To be honest, Zhao Hongrun did not like attending such so-called family banquets. In his mind, the members of a family banquet should be close relatives, such as Concubine Shen, Prince Hongxuan, and, well, Miss Su could also be invited, and Prince Zhao Hongzhao. As for the emperor, he could come if he wanted to.

The family banquet before him was filled with too many strangers, lacking any sense of "family." Zhao Hongrun did not like it at all.

Look, Concubine Shen and Prince Hongxuan, the two most important family members in Zhao Hongrun's heart, were seated far away from him. Concubine Shen's seat was among the other concubines behind the emperor, while Prince Hongxuan was seated on the other side of the princes, making it impossible for Zhao Hongrun to have a word with his younger brother.

On the contrary, the three men accompanying Zhao Hongrun—Wei Jiao, Gao Kuo, and Zhou Pu—were visibly excited.

How could they not be excited? This was a family banquet hosted by the emperor of Da Wei, and many nobles in the capital dreamed of attending but lacked the opportunity.

At such moments, they could not help but secretly rejoice in their status as imperial guards, as they were almost always invited to such occasions due to their relationship with the princes, though the number of spots was limited, and they had to draw lots to decide who would attend.

After the emperor was seated, he said a few words of reflection, expressing his hope for family harmony and other words of encouragement. During this time, Zhao Hongrun finally understood what Prince Yong Wang Hongyu meant by "time is running out."

It turned out that the Crown Prince's consort, Lady Li, was leading a six- or seven-year-old child to greet the emperor. The little boy recited a poem in a clear, crisp voice, making the emperor laugh heartily and express great joy.

"Brother, how old is Yonglv?"

Zhao Hongrun whispered to Prince Hongzhao, who was seated to his left. "Yonglv" was the little boy by the emperor's side, the son of Crown Prince Hongli, the heir apparent, and Zhao Hongrun's nephew.

Since Da Wei placed great importance on the issue of direct descendants, Crown Princes often had children before they reached the age of 20 to ensure the continuity of the royal lineage, while other princes did not have this strict requirement.

"Yonglv?" Prince Hongzhao calculated and whispered back, "Six or seven years old? Seven... yes, seven."

"Seven... that means he will be eight next year and can enter the palace school..."

Zhao Hongrun thought to himself.

In the palace, princes and grandsons who were eight years old were considered "little adults." At this age, the risk of early death was minimal, and they could be educated and trained, with young imperial guards assigned to them.

Both Zhao Hongrun and the other princes had gone through this process.

In other words, once the young nephew turned eight and entered the palace school, the pressure on princes like Prince Yong Wang Hongyu, who had ambitions for the throne, would increase. Their opponents would not only be Crown Prince Hongli but also his eldest son, the heir apparent, Yonglv.

There was no guarantee that the emperor would not pass the throne to the heir apparent due to his affection for him.

Thinking this way, the time for Prince Yong Wang and others was indeed running out. As the heir apparent gained more favor from the emperor, their situation would become increasingly difficult.

Indeed, the emperor was now smiling and holding the heir apparent, Yonglv, in his arms, inviting him to sit with him. While Crown Prince Hongli smiled, the other four princes with ambitions for the throne had forced smiles on their faces.

At this point, under the direction of the grand eunuch Tong Xian, the young eunuchs from the Imperial Kitchen were serving the dishes. Zhao Hongrun was more interested in the fragrant dishes than in observing the princes.

In his eyes, today's so-called family banquet was just a free meal.

During the meal, the emperor began to converse with his sons. Although the ancients had the rule of "no talking while eating," this meant not speaking while chewing, as it was impolite. It did not mean that one could not speak during the meal.

On the contrary, speaking and interacting during meals was a long-standing tradition, especially for families that rarely gathered.

If there was nothing to talk about even during meals, it was likely that the family had little communication at other times.

For example, Zhao Hongrun was focused on eating meat, fish, and pig's trotters, occasionally chatting with Prince Hongzhao to his left, but he had no interest in joining the emperor's game.

The emperor's game involved the three ministers of the Zhongshu Province creating riddles, which Tong Xian would read out for the princes and princesses to guess. Correct answers would earn small prizes.

The prizes for the princes were jade belt hooks and pendants, while the princesses received jade bracelets and hairpins.

It was purely a game to liven up the atmosphere.

However, the princes and princesses were quite enthusiastic. The princesses were likely more interested in the exquisite jade items, while the ambitious princes were more concerned with impressing their father and winning his favor.

Among them, only Zhao Hongrun seemed out of place, eating and drinking fruit wine as if he had nothing to do with the others.

Since the riddles were simple and had to be easy enough for the princesses, most were relatively easy, with only a few being more challenging.

For example, "On the left, less than a thousand; on the right, more than ten thousand."

Almost as soon as Tong Xian finished reading it, Zhao Hongrun had guessed the answer.

"Imitation." Prince Hongzhao guessed the first riddle correctly.

After guessing the first riddle, he received a jade pendant as a reward and then drank wine, not participating in the subsequent riddles.

After all, he couldn't solve all the riddles himself.

Zhao Hongrun, however, did not even bother to guess any riddles. The rewards were clearly from the palace, and he couldn't sell them for money. So why bother?

"Parting words to end past grievances."

"Modesty."

"Unique in style."

"Lu."

"Bad harvest for the farmer."

"Second."

"Pointing east and talking west."

"Visit."

"Striving to be first in Sichuan."

"Color."

With Zhao Hongrun and Prince Hongzhao letting others take the lead, the other princes and princesses had many opportunities to win prizes and receive praise from the emperor, and many of them showed signs of joy.

Only Zhao Hongrun stood out, unlike Prince Hongzhao, who smiled and drank wine, clearly letting his brothers and sisters have their moment. Zhao Hongrun just ate, seemingly uninterested in the riddles.

Seeing this, the emperor was both amused and annoyed. He knew that these simple riddles were no challenge for the intelligent Prince Hongrun, but his lack of participation was somewhat disrespectful.

"Hongrun, why don't you guess?"

The emperor raised his hand to signal Tong Xian to pause and asked Zhao Hongrun.

Upon hearing this, many of the concubines, princes, and princesses in the hall turned to look at Zhao Hongrun.

In previous years, Zhao Hongrun had always been out of place, but the emperor had never asked. Today, the emperor's question implied something significant.

It meant that the emperor was beginning to take this prince more seriously.

"Hongrun, try it... don't spoil the fun."

Prince Hongzhao signaled to his younger brother, Prince Hongrun, with his eyes. He knew that if the riddles were not difficult for him, they would not be difficult for his younger brother, but he was concerned about his brother's unpredictable nature.

Perhaps because of his previous defeat at the hands of the emperor, Zhao Hongrun had some respect for his father. He did not say anything but gestured to Tong Xian to continue.

Tong Xian understood and smiled, "Stand aside and do not speak."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Hongrun gave the answer: "Jing."

"Answered so quickly..."

The people in the hall were surprised, and even Prince Hongzhao showed a look of surprise. Zhao Hongrun's speed in solving the riddle was no less than his own, demonstrating his quick thinking.

"Congratulations, Eighth Prince."

Tong Xian used the same phrase and signaled a young eunuch to present a jade hook to Zhao Hongrun.

Zhao Hongrun examined the jade hook and, seeing its excellent quality, pulled the young eunuch aside and whispered, "Go, get me a bracelet instead."

The young eunuch looked at the Eighth Prince in confusion but did not dare to say anything, quickly exchanging the jade hook for a bracelet and presenting it to Zhao Hongrun.

"Planning to give it to Concubine Shen?" Prince Hongzhao asked curiously in a low voice.

"Ah... uh, yes." Zhao Hongrun was taken aback, feeling somewhat embarrassed because he had been thinking of Miss Su, not his mother.

Prince Hongzhao looked at Zhao Hongrun's expression with surprise, feeling puzzled but not thinking too much about it.

The emperor, seeing his son's considerate behavior, was pleased and did not criticize him. However, his active questioning of Zhao Hongrun had not gone unnoticed by some.

For example, Crown Prince Hongli was not happy.

After all, in his view, his younger brother, Prince Hongrun, was getting closer to Prince Yong Wang Hongyu and had ruined his plans in the previous examination.

This was a grudge the Crown Prince could not swallow.

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