I am a prince in Zhutian Films

Chapter 44 Not going
Upstairs, in the private room.

Li Chengze took a sip of wine and said with a faint smile: "Third brother, they have come to you for help, why don't you meet them?"

"I don't want to see him lately."

As a carnivore, Li Chengzong picked up a piece of beef with chopsticks and put it into the boiling soup pot while speaking, boiling it up and down to achieve the best flavor.

"Since you are interested in him, you might as well go downstairs. They are on the second floor."

Li Chengze shook his head and said slowly: "As for me, I want to wait and see."

Seeing Li Chengze's hint of something, Li Chengping was a little confused. He always felt that he was a little stupid compared to his brothers. He often couldn't understand what they were saying. He simply asked directly: "Third brother, what is the second brother waiting for?"

"Your second brother, he is waiting for the crown prince to take action to see if he can win over Fan Xian. If not..."

Li Chengzong did not continue. After all, his little brother was still a child, and it was not good for him to know too much about blood and gore. It was better for children to be more naive.

"Why did His Royal Highness the Crown Prince attack Fan Xian?"

This kid has a very poor political sense, even asking about something that is obvious. Li Chengzong was too lazy to explain to him and said unhappily, "Go back and ask your mother."

Just then, there was a commotion downstairs. Li Chengping, who had originally wanted to ask what would happen if it didn't work, ran directly to the corridor outside to watch the fun.

Li Chengze poured a glass of wine and asked curiously, "If I can't win over Fan Xian, what do you think I will do, Third Brother?"

"Kill him."

Others may not know, but Li Chengzong knows.

Li Yunrui supports the crown prince on the surface, but secretly supports the second brother and smuggles to Northern Qi together with the second brother, so the second brother wants to keep the financial power of the inner treasury more than the crown prince.

If Fan Xian does not accept the enticement, in order to keep his secret, Li Chengze will definitely find an opportunity to kill Fan Xian.

"Third brother is joking."

"Then second brother, just treat it as a joke."

Li Chengze was silent for a long time before he sighed and said tentatively, "It seems that my third brother knows."

"Don't refute?"

"You are the only one who doesn't want the power of the inner treasury. With your intelligence, I think you have guessed that the eldest princess is supporting the prince and me in secret. Although I know that the eldest princess supports me and the prince for her own sake, it is better to have support than not, right? So I can't tolerate someone who is not being wooed to take over the power of the inner treasury. I'm just curious how you knew that, third brother?"

This statement is half clear, but more importantly, it does not mention smuggling.

Li Chengzong was not surprised, and didn't care. He smiled and said, "Brother, have you heard that you can't put all your eggs in one basket?"

"I have never heard of it. Please tell me in detail, Third Brother."

"The financial power in Li Yunrui's hands is like the eggs, and you and the prince are the basket. Now either you or the prince could take the old man's position. If the prince loses in the end, she will be completely offended by you, and both the eggs and the chicken will be gone. Her best solution is to support both sides. Anyway, no matter who takes the position, she can get the credit of following the dragon. Her support for the prince on the surface is just for the prince to take the upper hand. This is not difficult to guess."

Isn't this easy to guess?
Well, after listening to the analysis, it seems that it is not difficult to guess.

But if it were really that easy, there would definitely be many people in the court who would know about it.

Li Chengze was stunned. "Third brother is really smart. Fortunately, his mind is not in the court, otherwise I, the second brother, would definitely not fight for that position."

Just listen to this, anyone who believes it is a fool.

As a prince, and one who has participated in politics for many years and has tasted the power, how could he give it up easily?

"The prince came to test you last night, and you tested him again today. You two really are worthy of being rivals."

Li Chengzong shook his head and said, "I'll reiterate to you one last time, I have no interest in the throne. We are all brothers, and I won't side with any of you. You fight for your own rights, and I'll just watch the show."

"Then Third Brother, just watch the show and see how Second Brother defeats the Crown Prince."

Li Chengze smiled confidently and lowered his voice, "If... I mean, if I end up in that position, I will never treat my third brother unfairly."

Um...is it possible that both you and the prince lost?
Forget it. Since the child is so confident, I won’t undermine his confidence.

Li Chengzong thought so and said with a smile: "It's good that you have the heart, second brother."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Chengping's excited shout rang out from the corridor outside.

"Second brother, third brother, come and see, a fight is about to start."

"Go and take a look?" Li Chengze asked.

Li Chengzong nodded, and the three of them walked out of the private room and headed towards the corridor outside.

When he looked down, he saw the Guo family guards preparing to hit Fan Sizhe.

Looking at his younger brother who was looking forward to the show with excitement, Li Chengzong was a little absent-minded: "No, Xiao Si, isn't Fan Sizhe your cousin? Your cousin is about to be beaten, why are you so happy?"

"Oh, that's right." Li Chengping suddenly realized and was about to rush downstairs.

Li Chengzong grabbed him and said with a smile, "Alright, it's okay. Fan Xian will not watch his younger brother get beaten. Just watch the show and don't make any noise."

"I didn't expect it to be Guo Baokun. That's boring."

The second brother felt a little depressed when watching the scene below. Although he had been sending people to keep an eye on Fan Xian, he had never met him and did not understand his temper, so he was not prepared to act so quickly.

He wanted the prince to test Fan Xian's background first, and then consider how to win him over or deal with him. However, he did not expect that he sent Guo Baokun to cause trouble for Fan Xian. Can this help him find out Fan Xian's background?
Li Chengzong could guess what the second brother was thinking, so he shook his head and said with a smile: "Maybe not."

"Ok?"

Just when Li Chengze was confused, Fan Xian made a move, causing him to focus his eyes instantly.

"Your Highness, Fan Xian's martial arts skills are not weak."

"Can you tell what grade it is?"

Xie Bian shook his head: "The Guo family's guards are too weak to detect Fan Xian's strength."

"Eighth Rank. Although he has just entered the eighth rank, his true energy is very domineering and his combat power is not weak. At least Xie Bian will not be able to defeat him for a while."

After all, he was a ninth-rank swordsman, and Xie Bian also had his own pride. He said unconvincedly, "The Third Prince is indeed powerful. I am not his opponent, but it is not difficult to defeat Fan Xian."

When Fan Xian first entered Kyoto, he was almost killed by Cheng Jushu, an eighth-rank master. However, that was because he was ambushed first and did not think of abandoning Teng Zijing and escaping, and fighting to the death with Chen Jushu, an eighth-rank master of horizontal training.

If I ran away, it wouldn't be that tragic.

After all, Fan Xian's martial arts skills were taught by Wu Zhu, and when it comes to escaping skills, few people in the world can match him.

It would be natural for Xie Bian, who is of the ninth rank, to win against Fan Xian, who is of the eighth rank, but it would definitely not be easy.

Li Chengzong laughed and said, "Why don't you go down and try it?"

Xie Bian was silent.

He also knew that Li Chengze would never let him go down and try, so he could only give up the opportunity to prove himself. Li Chengze, who heard the conversation between the two, was shocked. While he was shocked by Li Chengzong's strength, he also raised Fan Xian's danger level by several levels. On the surface, he smiled calmly and said, "It seems that the rumors in Kyoto are correct. Third brother is really a ninth-grade master, and a master among ninth-grade masters."

"Not bad, better than Xie Bian, so second brother, don't try to plot against me, or I will really beat you up."

Li Chengze was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "If Second Brother plots against you, Second Brother will let you beat me."

"Second brother, your people are here."

Li Chengze glanced down and said with a smile: "Hongcheng is just on good terms with me, but he is not my man."

Li Chengzong did not comment and continued watching the show.

Watching Li Hongcheng appear and then seeing Fan Xian hugging Li Hongcheng and whispering to him without any respect, Li Chengzong suddenly felt unhappy.

Realizing his own state of mind, he couldn't help but be stunned.

Something is wrong. Why do I have this mentality? Am I evolving into a villain?!
No, no, Fan Xian is right, he is in line with the behavior of modern people, I am a modern person, a modern person...

After reciting it silently several times, he looked at Fan Xian again and found that he really liked it a lot more.

As Li Hongcheng invited everyone to attend the poetry reading, the farce below also dissipated.

"No more shows to watch, let's eat."

Li Chengzong was the first to leave the corridor, followed closely by his younger brother.

Li Chengze, who was originally sitting at the back, walked out instead, winked at Li Hongcheng below, and then walked into the private room with Xie Bian.

After a while, Li Hongcheng knocked on the door of the private room and walked in.

"I didn't expect that my third and fourth brothers would be here too."

Li Hongcheng greeted him and asked with a smile, "There will be a poetry gathering tomorrow, Third Brother, do you want to go and take a look?"

"No, I don't want to see Fan Xian recently."

"Oh, why?"

Li Hongcheng was not surprised that Li Chengzong did not attend the poetry meeting, but he was surprised that Li Chengzong would know that Fan Xian did not attend the poetry meeting.

"I think Fan Xian is quite straightforward, and I thought Third Brother would have a good impression of him."

"It's OK, but I don't want to see him."

Thinking about what my mother said that she would rely on Fan Xian's care in the future, Li Chengzong got angry.

He was really afraid that he would not be able to help but scold Fan Xian. When his mother knew about it, she would definitely scold him. It would be better to meet him when he was in a better mood.

"Where's the second brother?"

"If my third brother doesn't want to go, I will. This Fan Xian is quite interesting and unusual."

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements tomorrow. Speaking of which, among all the scholars in Kyoto, it's rare to receive such a compliment from you. I guess Fan Xian is indeed extraordinary, but it's a pity that I didn't see it."

Li Hongcheng smiled to himself and sat next to Li Chengping.

"No, cousin, why don't you ask me?"

Li Chengping felt that he was treated differently. Why were only his two brothers asked and not him?

"you want to go?"

"I won't go. Poetry readings are too boring."

"That's it. I know you won't go, so why am I asking you?"

Li Chengping: "..."

It was a rare occasion for the four brothers to get together. They had dinner and played in the restaurant for a while before dispersing.

When they parted, Li Chengzong suddenly thought of something.

"By the way, second brother, your sister-in-law is very curious about Fan Xian and wants to meet him. We can arrange it when the time comes."

"Brothers and sisters?"

Li Chengze asked in confusion: "Where did my brother-in-law come from?"

After asking, I suddenly realized.

"Oh, you mean Miss Si Lili, but why is she my brother's wife? She is not worthy of you."

"I like it if I deserve it."

Li Hongcheng smiled and said, "It seems that Third Brother really fell in love with Miss Si Lili at first sight."

Li Chengzong shook his head: "There is a saying that all love at first sight is just lust. I was also lustful at the beginning. I just wanted to sleep with her and not take responsibility. I don't know how we ended up talking about marrying her."

Li Chengze was stunned for a moment, then he said with a smile: "It seems that you really fell in love with her at first sight, but I'm afraid that the emperor will not agree."

"The old man has no objection."

"what?!"

Li Chengze exclaimed, and then said enviously: "You don't object to this. As expected, among the brothers, the emperor favors you the most. It's just that your matter is not easy to handle."

"Why, you want more money?" Li Chengzong joked.

"What extra money?"

Sometimes it's boring when other people don't understand what you're saying.

"Nothing, just tell me what's the problem?"

"Fan Xian is already engaged, so he probably won't go to a brothel and ruin his reputation. Besides, it's not appropriate. If it gets out, it will be bad for Miss Si Lili's reputation."

"Second brother will find a chance to arrange it. Now that I have lifted the confinement, I will naturally not let her reputation be damaged because of a man again."

Speaking of which, Li Chengzong was actually very unhappy about the fact that Si Lili had taken advantage of his martial arts training to secretly look for Li Hongcheng, which subsequently caused a sensation in Kyoto. However, when he thought of Si Lili's situation, he didn't know how to get angry.

Firstly, Si Lili is a spy from Northern Qi, and Qing Kingdom needs her to pass false information to Northern Qi.

Besides, Si Lili's brother was a hostage in Northern Qi, and she herself was under surveillance, so she dared not make any unusual moves.

If Si Lili made any unusual move, Li Chengzong would be able to protect her, but he would not be able to protect his brother-in-law who was far away in Northern Qi.

That was why Li Chengzong had been refraining from bringing her back to the palace, and had tried his best to understand her difficulties, waiting for her identity as a secret agent of Northern Qi to be revealed.

(End of this chapter)