Chapter 150 - A Gift
“Your Highness, it's getting late, It's time for you to enter the Palace.” The butler had already prepared the horses and arranged the guards. He urged Crown Prince Zhao to leave the house. If they were late, they would not be able to catch up to the New Year's Eve feast.
Crown Prince Zhao wrapped the paper version of the Three Character Classic in red silk and placed it in a sandalwood box. He was going to present it to King of South Jin tonight.
All the officials would present their gifts to the king during the New Year's Eve feast. The princes were no exception. He was not allowed to return at the border in the past, and he would also have the butler send a backup gift to the palace.
It was said that every year, for the sake of this gift, his brothers would fight fiercely. There had even been cases where they would secretly give away their opponent's gifts.
“Your Highness, do we still need to bring the congratulatory gifts that we prepared?”
“No need. Just this one is enough!” Crown Prince Zhao threw the box to Wang Dingjun and took Tang Yue out of the room.
Time was of the essence, so they did not ride a carriage. Instead, they rode horses.
The weather was cold. Tang Yue did not want to ride on his own, so he stayed on Crown Prince Zhao's horse. He hid in Crown Prince Zhao's arms and felt the cold wind whistling past him.
When they entered the palace, they arrived at the main hall before the king showed up. Under the complicated gazes of the officials and the royal family, they sat down.
“All my dear subjects, there's no need to be overly courteous. The weather is good this year, the border is peaceful, and the Crown Prince has returned victorious. Moreover, he escaped danger, so I can easily pass the year. Come, fill up the wine, and I'll drink a cup to all my dear subjects first!”
“Thank you, Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!”
After drinking this cup of wine, someone in the hall stood up and said, “Your Majesty, you forgot to mention a joyous matter just now.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“Have you forgotten? Crown Prince is getting married. Crown Princess is a famous doctor. This is a great thing to celebrate.”
King of South Jin's smile instantly cracked. He was not in the mood to agree with her. “That's true. With such a talent in South Jin, he will definitely be able to bring peace to the outside and the inside.”
His words sounded a little weak. Tang Yue glanced at the person who spoke. It was his love rival's father - Old Prince was right.
Everyone in the hall knew that although the king had agreed to Crown Prince marrying a male concubine, he still couldn't keep his face. If others heard about it, they would think that he was afraid of the Crown Prince, which was why he gave him a man as his wife.
Therefore, Tang Yue didn't enter the palace often. He would only come with Crown Prince Zhao on the day that he had to enter the palace to pay his respects. In any case, he was a man, so he could not go alone to greet the queen. He could not follow the servant, which saved him a lot of trouble.
“Royal Father, my son got a wondrous rock a few days ago. It's shaped like a flying dragon. I heard that it appeared suddenly. It must be Royal Father's holy light that moved the heavens. This is an auspicious sign.” Wang Zixian was the first to stand up and present the treasure.
“I want to broaden my horizons for Third Brother to obtain such a treasure, but I'm afraid you don't have me, Royal Brother, in your eyes. Oh, the new Crown Prince has been established this year. It doesn't matter whether it's in terms of seniority or status, you won't be the first one to make an appearance.”
Ever since First Prince was grounded, the first person to present a treasure at the New Year's Eve feast had become Third Prince. The Second Prince had died in his early years and was no longer in this world. His son was fighting outside the palace, and he was no longer in the palace.
After First Prince was grounded, he was disheartened. Even after three years, he did not leave the residence. He locked himself in his study room all day long, burned incense, boiled tea, or wrote and painted, and never participated in the activities in the palace.
As a result, everyone had completely forgotten about his existence.
Wang Zixian was stunned for a moment, then he cupped his hands in shame and said, “Royal Brother, forgive me. I… I am used to this. It was all my recklessness. I would like to ask Royal Brother to present a gift to Royal Father first.”
First Prince glanced at him and shook his head. “No need. Royal Brother is poor and cannot afford good things. Why don't we see what kind of wondrous rock descended from the sky and look like a flying dragon?”
King of South Jin looked at his eldest son a few times and said lightly, “Chen-er is here today too. It's time for you to come out and take a walk. Don't hide in your own acre of land in the future.”
“Yes, this son obeys the decree.”
King of South Jin changed his smiling face and urged Third Prince, “Xian Er, quickly bring up your wondrous rock and let this emperor broaden his horizons.”
Wang Zixian raised his chin high, straightened his chest, and ordered someone to bring the wondrous rock up.
Four muscular men came in with a red cloth covering it. From their footsteps and expressions, it could be seen that the weight of the rock was not light.
When the object was put down, everyone heard the dull sound and stretched their necks to wait.
Everyone was curious, and Tang Yue was no exception. He poked Crown Prince Zhao, who was beside him, and whispered, “You said that the stone he found was really natural?”
It looked like a flying dragon. What a joke. How high was the probability that such a stone could be produced?
“Royal Father, please remove the red cloth yourself.” Wang Zixian looked like a filial son.
King of South Jin smiled. “Okay,” he said. Then, he strode down from the throne. He walked two circles around the stone, then he lifted it with force, revealing the true colors of the gem under the red cloth.
“Ya…” Everyone gasped in shock and praised one after another, “What a miracle… to actually really be like a flying dragon soaring into the sky…”
Tang Yue looked at the stone with his picky eyes for a long time and had to admit that this stone was quite strange. The flying dragon stone had a head and legs. Although it was not 100% similar, it had a complete outline. If he could draw a pair of wonderful eyes, it would be even more vivid.
“It's really a treasure. Is such a divine stone really falling from the sky?” King of South Jin stroked the big stone inch by inch. His eyes were full of admiration.
“Royal Father, you can ask the local magistrate. This was the first villager to discover it. Because it was too magical, he did not dare to hide it. He reported it to the government.”
“Why did the thing that was reported to the government appear in Third Prince Prefecture? Logically speaking, the magistrate should have given the stone to Royal Father at the first possible moment.” First Prince could not help but choke again.
King of South Jin's expression turned cold. “No one will treat you as a mute if you don't speak!”
“Good, good, good. Royal Father doesn't mind. I have nothing to say to that official.”
Everyone looked at each other. I looked at you and secretly sighed. I haven't seen Wang Zixu for so many years, why has his temper changed so much? The First Prince in their memories was gentle and well-educated.
“Royal Brother, you… feel like your whole body is full of negative energy.” Tang Yue felt that if he could give him an atomic bomb, he would blow up everyone here.
Crown Prince Zhao had not been here for many years. He had met this big brother. His understanding of him was limited. He only vaguely remembered that he had made a big mistake back then. He did not have any sympathy.
“He is not a person who looks exactly the same. It is best that you do not interact with him in the future.”
Tang Yue was about to agree when he saw Wang Zixu looking in his direction. He even gave him a friendly smile and nodded.
Tang Yue habitually wanted to smile back, but Crown Prince Zhao pulled his head away. He helplessly replied, “Got it.”
“Humph, this person is not a good person, and he is a lecher. Ignore him.”
Tang Yue probed, “A lecherous… a good man?”
Crown Prince Zhao nodded with a gloomy face. Back then, this First Prince had hooked up with the king's male pet and was only grounded for three years. Fortunately, he was a male pet. If he was a mistress of the harem, it would not be as simple as being grounded for three years.
His ears were still filled with the praises of the officials for the stone, but Tang Yue felt that this palace was gloomy and cold. It was easy for people to be perverted after staying here for too long.
“Good, good stuff! Men, put this stone in my room. This is a gift from the heavens. I must pay my respects every day!”
“Your Majesty is wise!” The crowd did not want to dampen King of South Jin's mood at this moment. They offered all kinds of nice words to him.
Wang Zixian had also received King of South Jin's reward. Although it was just a few rolls of pearls and a few horses, it was already out of the limelight.
“Brother Wang, I wonder what kind of gift you have prepared for Royal Father?” He turned to Wang Zixu.
When Crown Prince Zhao was still young, the two of them had a similar status. Naturally, they were at loggerheads with each other.
“I just said that our family's wealth is meager, so we can't afford such a good treasure. We can only give it to Royal Father, the words I personally drew. I hope Royal Father doesn't mind.” As soon as he finished speaking, a servant immediately came in with a long box.
King of South Jin originally didn't have much hope, but when he opened the box and took out a scroll to open it, his eyes widened in surprise.
Seeing his expression, everyone knew that First Prince's gift was not simple. They all craned their necks to look.
“Haha… good! Good! Good drawing! Good writing. Good meaning!” After saying a few good words, everyone's heart itched even more. King of South Jin did not hold back his appetite and directly asked people to hang the painting in the middle of the hall.
On the huge scroll, there was a painting of mountains and rivers. There were mountains and water, there were clouds and people. There was an angry look on his face, and even those who did not know how to paint had to praise him.
Some people sighed with emotion. It seemed that First Prince was going to make a comeback. He wanted to amaze the world.
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