Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 253 The country will no longer be a country!

Inside the private room, the sound of stringed instruments and wind instruments rang out, and several dancers stretched their graceful bodies on the dance floor.

Ji Wuchang sat at the top seat, with one leg bent, one hand holding a wine bottle, the other hand on his knee, watching the dancers on the dance floor with great interest.

In the two seats below him, on the left sat the obese Ji Haoyu, and on the other sat the beautiful foreign girl that Ji Wuchang brought into Kyoto.

In addition, there were the civil officials from the court accompanying Ji Haoyu. Although they were all wearing casual clothes, many of them were high-ranking officials standing in the front row at the court meeting.

When the dance was over and the dancer left, Ji Wuchang brought the cup of fine wine to his lips. But as soon as the wine in the cup wet his lips, he looked down in confusion and said, "It is said that there is a peerless wine in this Zhaixing Tower, called Zuixian Wine. After tasting it today, it seems to be unworthy of its name."

"I'm sorry, my brother."

Ji Haoyu wiped the sweat from his forehead, stood up, bowed his hands and apologized: "Tomorrow is my father's birthday. This Zuixian wine is a tribute wine designated by the emperor. Now most of the wine in Zhaixing Tower has been transported to the palace. There is really no stock left."

"I see."

Ji Wuchang shook the wine glass and chuckled, "It's okay, I can drink it tomorrow."

Although he had no intention of blaming anyone, he had obviously lost interest in the wine in the glass. He put the bottle on the table in front of him and didn't touch it again.

Ji Haoyu noticed this scene, but could only smile bitterly.

He had gone to great lengths today to host a banquet for his eldest brother before the third brother did, in order to hear an answer from his eldest brother.

But who would have thought that after the eldest royal brother attended the banquet as promised, he seemed to be there only to drink and enjoy the singing and dancing, and did not mention anything else.

Ji Haoyu didn't know how to start for a moment and could only look at the accompanying officials below the seats.

One of them immediately understood what he meant, and suddenly stood up at the table and threw his wine glass to the ground.

"Clang!"

The bronze wine vessel made a loud noise when it hit the ground, which immediately stopped the band.

For a moment, the hall was silent, and everyone's eyes were on the man who stood up.

Ji Haoyu knew what was going on. After a few seconds, he pretended to be panicked and stood up, shouting, "Minister Li is drunk. Someone help him down."

The person who just smashed the wine glass was the current Minister of Revenue in the court, Li Xuanzhang.

This person is ranked among the six ministers of the Ministry of Personnel. He is second only to Wu Yong in the Wu Party and is also the most powerful official in the Second Prince's faction.

Li Xuanzhang pushed away two colleagues who were trying to support him and said excitedly, "Your Highness, I am not drunk! I just looked at the delicacies on the table and the beauty in the pool, and I felt angry and had to vent!"

Ji Haoyu pretended to be angry and said, "You are such a good fellow, Li Xuanzhang. I treated you with good wine and good food without losing any courtesy. Why are you still angry? You might as well tell me in front of so many people."

Li Xuanzhang walked out of his seat and came to the middle, bowing to the two princes sitting on the upper seats: "Now that your highnesses are here, I have something to ask you!"

"Say!"

"Your Highnesses, do you know how much silver and grain are left in the national treasury?"

Li Xuanzhang's eyes turned red, and he gritted his teeth and said, "For this birthday banquet, there are only 120,000 taels of silver and 1.2 million dan of grain left in the treasury!"

Listening to it, it seems like quite a lot.

But this is the Daqian treasury!

This amount of money and grain is not even as much as the silver and grain stored in the bank and grain shop of Zhao's Trading Company.

Everyone present was a high-ranking official. Ordinary people did not understand what these numbers meant, but they did understand, so naturally they were shocked.

Li Xuanzhang sighed and said, "The national treasury is so empty. How can I swallow all the delicacies and fine wines on the table?"

He lifted up his robe and knelt down: "Your Highnesses, our country is on the verge of collapse. I beg you to save the country and turn the tide!"

……

Zhao Qi'an watched them go upstairs, then turned around and asked, "What's the matter?" Behind him, the shopkeeper of Zhaixing Tower came hurriedly and knelt down in front of him with an anxious look on his face: "Boss, the third prince is downstairs. He wants to force his way into Zhaixing Tower. What should we do?"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a noise downstairs.

The third prince Ji Yunrui, who usually looked sick, was now striding up the stairs, followed by several burly generals.

There were naturally guards in the Zhaixing Tower, but when the guards saw the military robes worn by the generals, they did not dare to come forward for a moment.

As soon as Ji Yunrui came up, he saw Zhao Qi'an standing with the owner of Zhaixing Tower.

He frowned and shouted, "Get out of the way!"

A hint of surprise flashed across Zhao Qi'an's eyes.

He had met Ji Yunrui several times. Although the third prince was surrounded by military officers and he himself was from the Zhou family of Western Desert, Ji Yunrui seemed more elegant than most civil officials.

Elegant, quiet, frail... these are the labels given to the third prince in Kyoto.

But at this moment, Ji Yunrui was like an enraged lion, with murderous aura all over his body and his eyes were extremely sharp.

The surprise in Zhao Qi'an's eyes disappeared in an instant. He turned sideways but did not block Ji Yunrui's way.

This time, it was Ji Yunrui's turn to be a little surprised.

He looked at Zhao Qi'an carefully. He thought that Ji Haoyu was hosting a banquet for his eldest brother here, and Zhao Qi'an, the boss behind the scenes, was also a contributor.

But now it seems that this may not be the case.

It seems that the rift between my second brother and Zhao Qi'an is not groundless.

Ji Yunrui retracted his gaze and said calmly: "The hatred between you and me is not that great. If Second Brother can't promise you anything, you might as well try to cooperate with me. At least, I dare to do what Second Brother dares not do!"

Zhao Qi'an bowed and said, "I will consider it."

Ji Yunrui said nothing more and rushed into the corridor on the third floor with his men.

Zhao Qi'an stood up and looked at Ji Yunrui who left in a hurry. The shopkeeper beside him said cautiously: "Boss, this is against the rules."

"you're right."

Zhao Qi'an did not object to the shopkeeper's words. He nodded and then instructed the shopkeeper, "Since this is against the rules, send a few bottles of Drunken Immortal Wine to the guests as a token of our apology."

The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, then gave a wry smile and retreated.

……

In the private room on the third floor, Li Xuanzhang was still in high spirits and said loudly:
"The court is extravagant and decadent. This is due to the wrong leadership. Your Majesty..."

The next sentence should be to denounce the mistakes of His Majesty, and then mention the matter of appointing a crown prince.

Ji Haoyu was silently thinking about what Li Xuanzhang would say next.

All of this was arranged in advance and had a plan in mind.

The purpose is to ask the emperor's brother to express his support for himself to become the crown prince.

Ji Haoyu silently straightened his clothes, waiting to write his inspiring words.

But just when Li Xuanzhang was in high spirits, the door was pushed open with a "bang".

A steady voice came from outside the house.

"You said...what happened to His Majesty?"

(End of this chapter)