mountain and river oath

The sun had just risen from the horizon, and Zhao Jing was practicing sword in the mansion. After a few bouts, a thin layer of sweat oozed from his smooth forehead. Wang Lu, who was waiting on the side, handed over a sweat towel, and Zhao Jing reached out to take it. , wipe off the sweat.

"Your Highness," Zhang Jun walked in with two invitation cards.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Jing asked.

"The East Palace and Prince Yu's Mansion have sent invitations, Your Highness, please go and explain," Zhang Jun said.

"Oh" Zhao Jing said with great interest.

"Your Highness, how do you choose?" Zhang Jun asked anxiously.

"What's the rush?" Zhao Jing said calmly.

"Wang Lu, you go to the East Palace and Prince Yu's Mansion respectively to answer the questions, and tell me that I have a cold recently and feel unwell, so I may not be able to participate," Zhao Jing said slowly.

"Your Highness, how can you not participate? You will offend both Donggong and King Yu," Zhang Jun said anxiously.

"Silly boy, what do you know?" a deep voice said.

"Mr. Li" Zhang Jun respectfully said.

"Sir is back," Zhao Jing said happily.

The person who came was a middle-aged man in his 40s, wearing a Confucian uniform, with a bookish atmosphere, a rare smile on his serious face, and said, "I'm back."

"Have you dealt with the matter in the south?" Zhao Jing said.

"Fortunately, life is not disgraceful," Li Ru said with eyebrows.

"As long as Mr. is here, there will be nothing difficult to deal with," Zhao Jing said happily.

"Your Highness is overrated," Li Rumei said modestly.

"Sir, it's a coincidence that there happened to be an interesting thing," Zhao Jing said.

"Your Highness has become a sought-after sweet pastry," Li Ru said with eyebrows.

"Sir, you can see clearly," Zhao Jing said.

"We will let the two fight for the time being, and His Highness must not agree to either party," Li Rumei mused.

"Sir's words are very suitable for me," Zhao Jing said.

"It seems His Highness has made up his mind," Li Ru said with eyebrows.

"Sir, you always know what I'm thinking," Zhao Jing said with a smile.

Li Rumei smiled and said nothing.

"Mr. Li, I don't understand a single word you said to Your Highness," Zhang Jun said stupidly.

"It's right if you don't understand." Zhao Jing smiled and looked at Zhang Jun's silly look.

Zhang Jun didn't pursue it either. His duty was to protect Zhao Jing's safety. He couldn't understand things that were too complicated.

"Sir, this way please," Zhao Jing said.

Li Rumei followed, the two walked into the study, Zhao Jun guarded the door.

"What do you think of today's events, sir?" Zhao Jing asked.

"It seems that the battle between the crown prince and King Yu is far more intense than you and I imagined," Li Rumei pondered.

"Yes, the invitation came so soon," Zhao Jing said.

"Both of them want to fight for His Highness, which side does His Highness prefer?" Li Ru asked with eyebrows.

"Prince Yu" Zhao Jing said, "The prince's methods are cruel and he has offended too many people. Sooner or later, something will happen. At that time, those who take refuge in the prince will not end well."

"His Highness' analysis is that King Yu is just suspicious, he won't trust you," Li Ru said with eyebrows.

"I don't need his trust, I just need to take refuge temporarily. Now Prince Yu is fighting fiercely. If neither of us takes refuge, maybe they will join forces to deal with us. We can only choose one side in order to secure ourselves. However, we need to be cautious in everything we do. Don't let King Yu suspect you, as long as he can't catch me, we will live in peace with each other," said Zhao Jing.

"That's all we can do now." Li Rumei said in a deep voice, "But now His Highness is evading the prince and King Yu's wooing, you must grasp the scale and be careful not to burn yourself."

"I understand that I did this to show King Yu my importance. Otherwise, if I join King Yu easily, I will be despised. When the time is right, I will choose to join King Yu," said Zhao Jing.

"What if someone in Prince Yu's mansion sees through this situation and doesn't compete with the prince? What should we do?" Li Rumei said worriedly.

"Now we can only go step by step, and respond to all changes with the same. If King Yu sees it through, we can only passively rely on King Yu, and there is less room for bargaining." Zhao Jing said, "I hope they don't have such people."

Yuwang Mansion

"This old sixth, I didn't expect him to have such a scheming plan, and he also said that he had a cold as an excuse," Zhao Chong said angrily.

Shu Zilan sat on a chair and watched Zhao Chong walk around, and said after a long time, "The current sixth prince is like a commodity that is up for grabs. The more people vying for it, the more expensive he is."

"You mean that I don't want to win him over and let him join the crown prince," Zhao Chong said dissatisfied.

"Your Highness, the more precious the item is, the more people will fight for it, but it is a commodity after all, and the one with the highest price will get it," said the man sitting on the side.

Shu Zilan looked at the man who spoke, and the man looked at Shu Zilan proudly, and said, "If Your Highness really wants to win over the Sixth Prince, this subordinate thinks we might as well send someone to visit, and please send the hundred-year-old ginseng in the mansion to you." Bring it over to show our sincerity"

"Absurd, Your Highness, I think that the sixth prince will only seek refuge with His Highness, and never the Crown Prince. At this time, we must not add fuel to the flames and raise his worth. We might as well leave him alone and let him find it himself." Your Highness, Your Highness can take this opportunity to suppress his aura and make the Wang family work for us," Shu Zilan said.

Zhao Chong was silent.

"Your Highness" Shu Zilan said.

Zhao Chong looked at Sun Yi beside him.

"Your Highness, you must not trust your highness. Your Highness has always valued talents and is thirsty for talents. He often visits people in person for a person who is available. No one in the world admires His Highness. Now, the sixth prince represents the royal family and represents 30 people in the Northwest. Dajun, if His Highness ignores it, how can the Wang family be willing to take refuge in His Highness, if he takes refuge in the Crown Prince, we will lose in the struggle against the Crown Prince," Sun Yi said.

"Sun Yi, you" Shu Zilan said dissatisfied.

"Rong Qing, let's just listen to Mr. Sun's arrangement," Zhao Chong said.

"Your Highness" Shu Zilan said dissatisfied.

Zhao Chong waved his hand, Shu Zilan was silent, Sun Yi looked at Shu Zilan proudly, and smiled.

"Mr. Sun is in charge of arranging this matter. As for the hundred-year-old ginseng, you can just take it from the warehouse," Zhao Chong said.

"Your subordinate will do it now." Sun Yi turned and walked out.

Shu Zilan turned to leave, Zhao Chong got up to stop Shu Zilan,

"Unhappy?" Zhao Chong said.

"No." Shu Zilan wanted to leave.

"Okay, don't be angry. Although Mr. Sun is my confidant, in my heart, you have been with me since childhood, and our bond is naturally incomparable to him," Zhao Chongdao.

"I'm not competing with him for favor," Shu Zilan dissatisfied.

"Okay, I know" Zhao Chong said.

"What do you know?" Shu Zilan said irritably, "Didn't we agree the other day? The only person Zhao Jing can turn to now is you. Now that he refuses your invitation, it's clear that he's just putting on a pose and putting himself up. How come you can't understand how to bargain for a foothold in Prince Yu's Mansion in the future?"

"I understand, I understand," Zhao Chong said.

"What do you understand? You're just trying to fool me," Shu Zilan said.

"Rong Qing" Zhao Chong knew that Shu Zilan was really angry, but he would not give in on some things.

"Let go of me." Shu Zilan pushed Zhao Chong away.

"If Zhao Jing seeks refuge with the prince, what should we do?" Zhao Chong said.

"He won't, the queen killed his own mother, how could he join the crown prince?" Shu Zilan said.

"How old was he at that time, six years old, what can a six-year-old child remember? What's more, behind this matter, the Wang family is in the final analysis, and he, Zhao Jing, has no ability to promote the whole situation. Do you understand? I Now it's just lowering our stance, as long as we can win over the Wang family and control the 30 troops in the northwest of the Wang family, what do these count?" Zhao Chong said.

"Okay, since that's the case, I have nothing to say, I'll go first" Shu Zilan pushed Zhao Chong away, Zhao Chong let go, watching Shu Zilan walk out, he realized for the first time that he and Shu Zilan There are differences between them, many things, two people's views are different.

"It seems that although King Yu claims to be thirsty for talents, all the talents in the world belong to King Yu. I can't see it." Zhao Jing leaned on the couch, playing with a century-old ginseng in his hand.

"Your Highness, don't be arrogant. We won this round, but we still have to rely on King Yu in the future," Li Ru said with eyebrows.

"I know." Zhao Jing handed the old ginseng in his hand to Wang Lu who was waiting at the side, and said, "Prince Yu's mansion is really rich, and such good things can be given away. Century-old ginseng, this is a life-saving good thing, Wang Lu. Lu, put it away carefully"

Wang Lu carefully held it in his hand and stepped back.

Li Rumei stood aside and hesitated to speak.

"Sir, what do you want to say, just say it?" Zhao Jing said.

"According to our informant's report, there are also people in Prince Yu's Mansion who have seen through His Highness's plan," Li Ru said with eyebrows.

"Oh, who is it?" Zhao Jing asked curiously.

"Shu Zilan" Li Ru said with an eyebrow.

Zhao Jing's eyebrows tightened, he remained silent, and said for a long time, "Shu Zilan was born in a wealthy family, but she has such vision and strategy. It's a pity that she is beside King Yu. King Yu claims to be thirsty for talents, but he is too suspicious and self-willed. It's a pity." up"

"That's right, Shu Zilan is extremely beautiful and has a great character. The common people call him the number one son of the capital. Unfortunately, he is troubled by his appearance, so people can't see his literary talents." Li Ru said with a feeling between his eyebrows.

"Forget it, what's the use of us sighing here, I hope he's just a handsome young man with a shell and no head, so I have to be wary of him everywhere in the future," Zhao Jing said.

"I heard that he is His Highness's benefactor," Li Ru said with eyebrows.

Zhao Jing remained silent.

Li Rumei realized that she touched something that Zhao Jing didn't want to show, so she turned and walked out.