I am a prince in Zhutian Films

Chapter 74: Banquet at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests

Just as Li Chengzong and Zhuang Mohan said.

After Northern Qi proposed exchanging hostages and asked Qing to reduce the negotiation conditions, Emperor Qing was angry but still said that except for the occupied state, all other conditions could be discussed.

In this way, with Emperor Qing taking the initiative to give in, the negotiations between Northern Qi and Qing quickly reached a consensus.

The State of Qing did not have to return the conquered state, and Northern Qi had to compensate Qing for some military expenses, as well as some other conditions.

In short, Qing Kingdom still holds a dominant position and has gained a lot of benefits.

Unlike the Song Dynasty in history, which clearly won the war but acted like a defeated country.

Shame!
In addition, the two sides exchanged hostages.

The Kingdom of Qing needs to send an envoy to Shangjing, taking Sean to Shangjing City in Northern Qi to exchange for Yan Bingyun.

The two sides negotiated the terms and signed the contract, and the peace talks that lasted for more than half a month finally came to an end.

The peace talks ended smoothly, and the results exceeded Emperor Qing's expectations, so he specially set up a banquet in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests to celebrate, reward the meritorious ministers of the two countries in the negotiations, and invited the envoys from Northern Qi and Dongyi City to participate.

Although there was no hard and fast rule to attend the banquet in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, Li Chengzong still wanted to witness such a famous scene of Fan Xian getting drunk and writing poetry in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, so he sent someone to notify Eunuch Hou who arranged the banquet.

In a blink of an eye, it was the day of the evening banquet in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

Li Chengzong was having dinner with Si Lili when the second son Li Chengze came with Xie Bian.

"I heard that my third brother is also going to the banquet tonight, why are you eating now?"

"Second brother, it's pointless to ask questions when you already know the answer."

Li Chengzong pointed to the seat next to him and said with a smile, "Sit down and eat together."

"Then I won't be polite to you and your sister-in-law."

The second prince sat down and started eating and drinking voraciously, which made Xie Bian, who was standing beside him, look puzzled. "Your Highness, the evening banquet at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests begins at twilight hour. How can you and the third prince eat at the banquet if you are eating and drinking like this now?"

Li Chengzong served chicken soup to Si Lili but didn't say anything.

Li Chengze said casually: "A banquet like the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is nothing more than drinking and singing praises, and all they serve is cold rice and cold dishes. How can we possibly be full? We naturally have to eat our fill in advance."

"Yes, this kind of banquet is just a formality."

Xie Bian nodded and said, "Besides, this time it is only for the Honglu Temple and the Ministry of Rites. It is not a big deal. Your Highness, there is actually no need for you to go there specially."

"Fan Xian has completed his first mission, so naturally I should congratulate him in person."

"Isn't Fan Xian already a disciple of the Crown Prince?" Xie Bian was puzzled.

Li Chengze chuckled, "Who told you that?"

"Otherwise, why would the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Lin recommend him to negotiate with the Northern Qi delegation?" Xie Bian asked in return.

"The prince cannot subdue a man like Fan Xian. Although I have not met Fan Xian very often, I feel like I have met a bosom friend. Fan Xian has a similar personality to mine and is not willing to be inferior to others."

Li Chengze smiled, turned to look at Li Chengzong, and asked, "Third brother, what do you think?"

"Since Second Brother clearly knew that Fan Xian was not the type to be content with being subordinate to others, why did he want to subdue him?"

Li Chengze was stunned and said with a smile: "You may not believe me, but I never thought of conquering him. I just wanted to be friends with him."

"In my opinion, he won't be friends with you, because your style of doing things is not liked by Fan Xian."

"From what Third Brother said, it seems that I am destined to become his enemy?"

Li Chengzong nodded and said nothing.

"I still want to give it a try. Fan Xian is a talented person." Li Chengze is a smart man. Smart people are often more paranoid. They always think they are right and will not listen to advice.

"Third brother, you never like to join in the fun, why are you attending the banquet this time?"

"Zhuang Mohan came to my house a few days ago, did you know?"

Li Chengze nodded.

"I had a chat with Zhuang Mohan that day. It seems that he has teamed up with the princess and is preparing to attack Fan Xian at the banquet. I plan to go and see how Fan Xian handles it."

He hadn't thought about it before, but after hearing what Li Chengzong said, and thinking about the assassination on Niulan Street, and how it was the people from Prince Ding's Mansion who rescued Fan Xian, Li Chengze suddenly felt that it might not have been just a coincidence.

"Third brother seems to be paying special attention to Fan Xian?"

"It's not that I care about you, so you don't have to care about me no matter what tricks you use on Fan Xian. But I hope you won't involve ordinary people. I have a message for you. A monarch should care about the people. Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. If you don't even care about your people, you will be a tyrant even if you become an emperor, and you won't be able to stay in power for long."

Li Chengze was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Third brother, I will definitely keep your words in mind, but third brother, please don't say such things carelessly. If it gets out, the prince will probably hold a grudge against you."

"I have already told the prince what I told you."

The smile on Li Chengze's face froze. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Li Chengzong sigh, "It's a pity that the prince didn't take my words to heart, so second brother, you'd better take my words to heart. I still have some weight in the old man's eyes. Second brother, please don't let me choose between the eldest brother and the fourth child."

It's more than just a little bit of weight, it's very weighty.

Regardless of His Majesty's favor for the third brother, the Qin family behind the third brother alone is not comparable to him and the prince.

You know, although he and the prince have many followers, they don’t even have a senior official from one of the six ministries, while the Qin family stands firmly behind the third brother.

There is also the Liu family. For some unknown reason, they suddenly became friends with the third brother.

In addition, the Ye family seems to be planning to make friends with the third brother.

That is to say, he would compete with the crown prince for the throne because he knew that his younger brother had no interest in the throne and His Majesty had no intention of supporting him.

Li Chengze said solemnly: "Don't worry, third brother, second brother understands."

"I hope my second brother can really understand."

Li Chengzong smiled faintly, stood up and said, "It's getting late now, has Second Brother finished his meal?"

"That's almost it. Let's go."

There are many people attending the night banquet today, including envoys from Northern Qi and Dongyi City. The personnel are complex and security is extremely strict.

In the corridor in front of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, there is a team of imperial guards who are specifically responsible for interrogating and checking people entering the hall, and no one entering is allowed to bring any sharp weapons.

When Li Chengzong and the second brother arrived, they did not meet Fan Xian, but instead met the father and son of the Guo family who were being interrogated. He even greeted Guo Baokun on purpose before walking towards the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests with the second brother.

The imperial guards in charge of interrogating and checking naturally said nothing. After all, interrogation and inspection had to be carried out according to the subjects. There was no need to interrogate the crown prince and the princes.

He walked up the stairs, step by step, chatting with the second brother, and entered the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

At this time, there were already quite a few people sitting in the hall. When they saw the Second Brother and Li Chengzong come in together, they all stood up and greeted them.

Regarding the Third Prince who had no interest in the court, all the civil and military officials in the court had almost the same attitude: even if they couldn't make friends with him, they couldn't offend him either.

Li Chengzong's character has always been that he would not hit someone who smiled at him. Unless he really disliked someone, he would not frown if someone greeted him with a smile and would respond to them one by one.

Li Chengzong sat down in the third seat on the right. He glanced at the people in the hall and found that no important figures had appeared. He said to himself, "It seems that I have arrived too early."

"The banquet will start at 5 pm. Others will be here soon."

As Li Chengze finished speaking, important characters began to appear one after another...

(End of this chapter)