Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 497
"Ziliang, sit down." Xiang Zhuang raised his hand in silence.

Bai Lixian tossed his robe and knelt down to the other end of the low couch.

After pondering for a while, Xiang Zhuang finally said, "Ziliang, Concubine Ying is dead."

Facing Bailixian, Xiang Zhuang didn't want to hide anything, the one who gave death was the one who gave death.

Bai Lixian was shocked, and then turned into a sigh. Uncles and grandsons colluded with officials from Gyeonggi and Wujun to ask the crown prince Xiang Zhi to obstruct the transfer of the capital to Luoyang. It was not as simple as it seemed. This Bai Lixian knew Yes, he can also guess that Concubine Ying of Shiman Palace must have participated in this matter.

Although the king didn't say how Concubine Ying died, she was probably bestowed to death by the king.

Bai Lixian had expected Concubine Ying's end today, because this woman's desire for power was too strong, although she tried her best to conceal it, how could she hide this little trick from the king?As a monarch, the most taboo thing is collusion with the inside and outside. Concubine Ying secretly colluded with her uncle, grandson, father and son, how can the king spare her?

"How is Wang'er's studies recently?" Xiang Zhuang suddenly asked, "How's his calligraphy?"

As Xiang Zhuang's harem grew more and more favored, the number of his children continued to increase. So far, Xiang Zhuang has 29 sons and [-] daughters. They were born just a few days ago, out of consideration for protecting the prince, Xiang Zhuang seldom asked these children.

There is a good saying, the most ruthless emperor's family, Xiang Zhuang does not want to be a ruthless emperor, but he really can't give his children enough fatherly love like an ordinary person, because he is a king, his every move , every word and deed, even an inadvertent word may cause serious repercussions.

For example, if Xiang Zhuang loves a certain son too much, the mother of the son will be more expensive according to the son, and the concubine's father's family will gain power, and then the ministers will scramble to figure out what they want, and then compete with each other. Get married to this prince, and over time, a large force will gather around this prince, which will seriously threaten the status of the prince.

At that time, even if the crown prince has no desire for power, even if he does not want to be the crown prince, the officials and relatives gathered around the crown prince will coerce him and force him to pull the crown prince down and replace him. , is the source of disaster!
Therefore, in order to prevent the erroneous progress, Xiang Zhuang can only alienate his children and try his best to play a ruthless father. The pain and loneliness in it, I am afraid only Xiang Zhuang himself can know.

But this time Yingzhen was bestowed with death, but Xiang Zhuang felt a strong sense of guilt towards Xiang Wang.

Bai Lixian hurriedly replied: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Gong Ziwang's calligraphy has already achieved some success."

Bai Lixian only said that Xiang Wang's calligraphy was successful in a small way, but never mentioned his studies. Xiang Zhuang knew that Xiang Wang still didn't like reading, but was just addicted to calligraphy. But when he thought about Xiang Zhuang, he was relieved. With his own sons and grandchildren, Xiang Wang is obsessed with calligraphy and does not like military and political affairs. It is not a blessing, at least the prince will not taboo him.

Baili Xian suddenly thought of another matter, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, Tian Fang is still in Liaodong."

Xiang Zhuang's pupils shrank slightly when he heard the words, of course he could hear Bailixian's implication, Meng Ji has always regarded himself as the guardian of the Ying family, and in Jiuyuan back then, the reason why the three thousand old Qin cavalry joined the Chu State was also because of the win Zhen, if he knew that Concubine Ying had been bestowed to death by Xiang Zhuang, Meng Ji didn't know how he would react.

And this is exactly what Xiang Zhuang is worried about.

Xiang Zhuang was not worried that the Xiaocavalry Army would rebel against Meng Ke. In fact, the main body of the Xiaocavalry Army was Jiangdong's children. The three thousand old Qin children who followed Xiangzhuang from Jiuyuan back then, dead and disabled, were among the Xiaocai Army. There are less than a hundred people left, so even if the Meng family and his son want to rebel, the Xiaocai army will definitely not follow them.

Meng Jie will not rebel, and the Meng family has passed on their loyalty and integrity for generations, and their integrity is by no means fake.

You must know that the children of the Meng family have always abided by the ancestral precepts of loyalty and righteousness. From Meng Ao to Meng Wu, and then from Meng Tian to Meng Ji, they are all loyal, righteous, and upright people. In Jiuyuan in the past, Meng Ji had sworn allegiance to win Shi and Xiang Shi, then today, he has absolutely no possibility of betraying Xiang Chu.

Xiang Zhuang's only worry is that Meng Ji will develop a will to die because of Ying Zhen's death.

Because in any case, Meng Ji is considered a survivor of the pre-Qin period. Although he had sworn allegiance to the Xiang family, the blood of the Ying family is his real object of protection. It's done. According to the ancestral precepts of Montessori's loyalty to the family, the possibility of committing suicide is still quite high.

Xiang Zhuang was really unwilling to lose such a general because of his loyalty, courage, righteousness, courage and strategy.

Of course, Bai Lixian also knew what Xiang Zhuang was worried about, and said immediately: "Your Majesty, you can't hide this matter after all. Tian Fang will know sooner or later, why don't you go to Liaodong?"

"Alright." Xiang Zhuang nodded and said, "You take Wang'er with you, you should know what to do when you arrive in Liaodong."

"I know." Bai Lixian nodded lightly, and the king asked him to bring Young Master Wang with him. It is conceivable that he wanted to let Meng Jie know that although Concubine Ying died, the blood of Ying's family did not die. After all, Wang's body is flowing with the blood of the Ying family. After careful calculation, Young Master Wang has at least half of the blood of the old Qin.

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"Second brother, how has your riding and shooting improved a lot recently?"

"Brother, don't laugh at the younger brother, how can the younger brother's riding and shooting compare with yours?"

"Hey, when it comes to riding and archery skills, you and my brother have few opponents among the younger generation of Dachu, even Gao Lang and Pang Zheng, you and my brother are not afraid, but with that Sirius In comparison, it is still far behind, but I heard that You Hou's riding and shooting skills are still higher than that of the sky wolf, I don't know if it is true."

"It should be true. Back then in Jishui, You Hou shot King Qi almost two hundred paces away with an arrow."

"That's right, even though he failed to kill King Qi that time, he also shot King Qi seriously, and since then he has suffered from the root cause of his illness. As a result, in the second Huaisi battle, he died of arrow sores bursting on the battlefield." After Meng Yuan said this, he clenched his iron fist and said loudly, "In the future, my brother will also shoot and kill the king of the enemy country on the battlefield, and he must not lose to Youhou."

Meng Liao also said: "You and my brother have to work hard, first win the Sirius."

Meng Yuan nodded, and suddenly said: "By the way, what is father looking for us this time?"

"Who knows?" Meng Liao shook his head, then pointed to the front and said, "If you go in and ask, you will know."

Immediately, the two brothers strode into Mengji's residence. As soon as they entered the door, they saw smoke and clouds in the lobby. Father Mengji and uncle Mengkeng faced north and knelt down. Looking closely, it is the tablets of Gaozu Meng Ao, great-grandfather Meng Wu, grandfather Meng Tian, ​​and uncle Meng Yi.

"Still kneeling down!" Meng Ji snorted and scolded loudly.

Meng Yuan and Meng Liao looked at each other, then knelt down behind Meng Chu and Meng Keng.

Holding the letter incense in his hand, Meng Jing respectfully kowtowed nine times according to the four tablets. Meng Keng, Meng Yuan and Meng Liao also kowtowed one after another. Then he said: "The ancestors and the ancestors are above, the unfilial children and grandchildren invite your heroic spirits today, but it is because my Meng family has reached a critical moment."

Meng Yuan and Meng Liao looked at each other in dismay, the Meng family has reached a critical moment?What does this say?

Meng Keng sighed softly, and said: "The military adviser has arrived in Liaodong, and just learned that Concubine Ying has been bestowed to death by the king."

"Concubine Ying was bestowed to death?" Meng Yuan and Meng Liao were astonished when they heard the words, but they were just astonished. Unlike their father, Meng Ji, who had a deep memory of Lao Qin that could not be erased, the younger brothers were born in Jiangdong. , and grew up in Jiangdong, since he was a child, he has been in contact with the personnel of Chu State, and he has no feelings for the Ying family in the pre-Qin period.

Meng Yu turned around and signaled Meng Keng, Meng Yuan, and Meng Liao to get up, and then said earnestly: "Yuan'er, Liao'er, my Meng family has passed on loyalty and righteousness for generations, and your great-grandfather, great-grandfather and grandfather are all the ministers of the old Qin, and they have all done it." He died for Qin, and the reason why he lived in Jiuyuan for his father is also to protect the last Ying's blood."

Meng Keng added: "You should know that Concubine Ying is the last of Ying's bloodline."

Meng Chu sighed and said: "Ah, now Concubine Ying has been bestowed to death by King Bai Ling, the last bloodline of Ying family has been cut off, and the mission of being a father has been completed."

Meng Yuan and Meng Liao's countenance changed suddenly, and they said anxiously: "Father, what do you think?"

Meng Chu waved his hand, smiled lightly and said, "My son, don't panic, first listen to what Father has to say."

When Meng Yuan and Meng Liao calmed down a bit, Meng Ji continued: "My father is a survivor of the pre-Qin period, so it is my father's destiny to protect Ying's bloodline, but you are different, because Concubine Ying married King Xiang, and I The Great Wall Legion has also returned to Chu, so you are born as subjects of Great Chu, and what you have to protect is the Xiang family, not the Ying family."

Meng Yuan said solemnly: "Father, my son will definitely protect Xiang family just like his parents protected Ying family."

Meng Liao also nodded with a serious expression, and said in a deep voice: "Father, the same is true for children."

"Okay, you are indeed the descendants of my Meng family." Meng Chu nodded happily, and said, "However, as a father, you still need to swear in front of your ancestors."

Meng Yuan and Meng Liao immediately raised their right hands and said in unison: "My child swears in the name of our ancestors..."

Meng Yu said solemnly: "My Meng family swears to protect the Xiang family as my destiny, and I will never betray my righteousness because of changes in time. If you violate this oath, you will be expelled from the clan when you live, and you will not be allowed to enter the ancestral grave and ancestral hall if you die."

Meng Yuan and Meng Liao look at each other, this is a poisonous oath!

Chinese people have always worshiped their ancestors, and they place great importance on their blood status. Therefore, expulsion from the clan and not being allowed to enter the ancestor's grave and ancestral hall can be said to be the most serious punishment.

The two brothers looked at each other, and continued to read with a serious expression: "My Meng family swears to protect Xiangzhuang as its own responsibility, and will never be betrayed because of changes in time..."

(End of this chapter)