Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 89 Attending the Banquet
"Just remembered something."

"What's the matter?"

"Since the Duke of Ying is the Second Prince's man, how could he not know that the Third Prince was manipulating the Gao family to occupy the imperial land? Why didn't he do anything about it?"

After Zhao Qi'an's suggestion, Gou Xiangxi immediately understood.

Although the accounts of the Zongzheng Temple had been tampered with, Gou Xiangxi and his men were able to figure out the clues in one day. There was no reason why the Duke of Yingguo had served as the Minister of the Zongzheng Temple for so many years but nothing had been resolved.

It was originally because of this reason that Gou Xiangxi initially thought that the Duke of England was the Third Prince's man.

Now that the Duke of England has revealed his position in front of Zhao Qi'an, he is naturally cleared of suspicion, but since he is the Second Prince's man, there is no reason why the Second Prince would not know about it.

Knowing, but doing nothing?

This is very strange.

Gou Xiangxi thought carefully and replied, "The two princes who have the best chance of winning the crown prince position in the court today are these two princes, but there is only one crown prince after all, and there is no room for maneuver between the second and third princes."

"Since the Second Prince is well aware of the tricks in Zongzheng Temple, he is not taking any action. Either he is not completely sure. Or... he is waiting for the right opportunity."

At this point, he suddenly realized: "A birthday banquet?"

After the Wanshou Banquet, please establish the Crown Prince.

This was an unspoken signal among all officials in the court.

Now that the two princes have stopped their overt and covert fights and are each resting and recuperating, it seems to confirm the accuracy of this signal.

Zhao Qi'an added: "Perhaps the Second Prince himself is not clean either, so no one wants to uncover this 'lid'. If it is uncovered, both sides will suffer."

All three situations are possible.

As for which one it is... you'll know when you meet the second prince.

"In addition, it is said throughout the court and the public that the Second Prince has the legacy of the Holy Emperor and will be the ruler of the Great Qian Dynasty's revival."

Zhao Qi'an came to the front of the courtyard, put his hand on the gate, and said softly: "I also want to see if Ji Haoyu is really the wise ruler praised by the world."

These words seemed to be spoken to himself.

It also seemed like he was talking to Gou Xiangxi.

……

After Zhao Qi'an changed out of his official uniform and put on a set of gorgeous casual clothes, he quickly left the princess's mansion with the Duke of England to attend the dinner party hosted by the second prince.

The two of them rode in the same carriage, and there were only Zhao Qi'an and Duke of England Ji Liyuan in the carriage.

Ji Liyuan looked up at the carriage. He thought that the little god of wealth of the Zhao family would travel in a grand manner, but he didn't expect that he didn't bring anyone with him except an old servant driving the carriage. The carriage was not as carved with carved beams and painted with painted buildings as he had imagined, but rather plain and simple.

He felt a little regretful, as he had originally wanted to show off by riding on Zhao Qi'an's travel procession.

"My dear nephew, why can't I see Mr. Gou accompanying you?"

Ji Liyuan noticed that Zhao Qi'an didn't bring anyone with him on this trip, and couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

He thought that Gou Xiangxi was an aide and guest official arranged by the Zhao family for Zhao Qi'an, who was specifically responsible for giving him advice. Calling him "Sir" was considered a great honor for him.

In an occasion like tonight, is it really possible for Zhao Qianan to go to the banquet alone without bringing the aide named "Gou"?

Zhao Qi'an explained, "Mr. Gou offended some people in the capital a few years ago. He didn't want to go to the banquet tonight, fearing that he would spoil the host's mood." Ji Liyuan smiled and said, "Mr. Gou is overthinking. The Second Prince has always been approachable, and the guests are all elegant scholars. Even if there are some unpleasantness, for the sake of the Second Prince, nothing unexpected will happen."

Zhao Qi'an looked at Ji Liyuan in surprise, and seeing that the old Duke did not look false when he said this, he realized that he really did not know Gou Xiangxi, the "Iron-Tongue" and "Hyena Official".

This is strange. Although the Zongzheng Temple is on the edge of the court and does not touch the center of power, the Duke of Yingguo is a duke after all, and has the official status of a third-rank temple minister. At least he can attend court meetings.

He asked, "My Lord, do our colleagues from the Zongzheng Temple need to attend the court meeting?"

Ji Liyuan thought Zhao Qi'an was new to the officialdom and was curious about this, so he smiled and explained, "To attend the court meeting, you need to be an official of the fifth rank or above. My dear nephew can't go now."

"But there's nothing fun about this court meeting. I did go there in the first few years after I returned to Kyoto, but I might not see His Majesty once even if I went there ten times. I have no say in any decision made by the court. Every day I go to the court meeting and just stand there for a few hours. How can my old arms and legs bear it?"

"Fortunately, at that time, Your Majesty had not yet gone to the 'Immortal Mountain' to practice Taoism and seek immortality. I submitted several memorials to Your Majesty, and Your Majesty sympathized with my old age and graciously allowed me to be exempted from the court meetings, so that I would not have to suffer that punishment."

There was a hint of pride on his face when he said this.

Who in this court can be like him, able to deliver memorials directly to His Majesty without going through Prime Minister Wu's hands?

Zhao Qinan suddenly realized and stopped talking.

Counting the dates, Duke Yingguo was recalled to Kyoto in the 20th year of Tenmu, and Gou Xiangxi was the top scholar in the imperial examination in the 36th year of Tenmu.

No wonder I didn’t know him.

……

At dusk, the lights come on.

On the inner city river that runs through most of Kyoto, several pleasure boats are slowly sailing on the river.

The melodious singing of the singer on the pleasure boat reached the shore, making people unable to help but indulge in it.

And on the street adjacent to the inner city river stands a tall building.

Tonight, carriages passed by from time to time, and people in luxurious clothes got off the carriages one after another. With the attentive response of the servants, they entered the tall building.

When a plain carriage stopped in front of the building, the servant who had just welcomed the distinguished guest with a smile immediately changed his expression and said, "Sorry, the Star Picking Tower has been reserved by a distinguished guest tonight, so we are sorry that we cannot receive any outside guests."

"Wait, wait, we were invited too."

Ji Liyuan hurriedly got off the carriage, took out the invitation and handed it over.

The servant read the invitation and looked at Ji Liyuan, who was dressed shabbily, with suspicion.

Ji Liyuan was not wearing official uniform, and his casual clothes were even more ordinary. Although they were clean, they were faded due to washing. There was also a patch on the hem. He looked like an ordinary old man. It was really hard to associate him with the word "Duke".

Just at this moment, Zhao Qi'an, who was in the carriage, also got off.

The servant originally wanted to take the invitation in and ask, but when he saw Zhao Qian'an, he was startled and his attitude changed 180 degrees.

"So you are a distinguished guest. It is a great honor for our humble inn to have such a noble presence here. Please come in, distinguished guest."

His attitude was so enthusiastic, as if he was meeting his real father.

Ji Liyuan was a little surprised at the boy's rudeness at first but then his respectfulness, but he thought that he recognized his Duke.

He immediately became proud, straightened his back, glanced at Zhao Qian, who was looking up at the restaurant sign, and said with a smile, "Is this your first time here at Zhaixing Tower, my dear nephew?"

(End of this chapter)