Chapter 120

Seeing the Prince of Badong speak taboo words and clash with the Dianqian in public, everyone's expression changed.

Kong Zhangyu hurriedly ran out to smooth things over: "Your Highness is drunk! Official Wu, please don't take it to heart! It was this official's negligence not to send an invitation to you! Quickly, quickly set a seat for the official!"

Wu Xiuzhi's eyebrows twitched slightly, and the lines of his face moved, but he soon returned to normal.

The Prince of Badong pointed at Wu Xiuzhi: "You can go back and report me to the Father Emperor! Write down more of my bad deeds; it will just happen to avenge my insult to you in public!"

The emotion in the depths of Wu Xiuzhi's eyes did not change at all. He paused for a few seconds and cupped his hands: "This official is only acting according to the court's regulations and has no personal grudge against Your Highness. If there is any offense, I hope Your Highness will be magnanimous!"

The Prince of Badong sneered a few times, extremely disdainful.

Fearing that the Prince of Badong would say something more extreme, Kong Zhangyu hurriedly invited Wu Xiuzhi to take his seat.

The Prince of Badong drank the wine in his cup in one gulp and squinted with drunken eyes: "Zhiyan, what do you think of this Yicheng Spring?"

"Good wine." Wang Yang did not expect the Prince of Badong to speak to him right after his outburst, so he just answered casually.

"I like it too. It's a pity that Huashan Commandery belongs to Yongzhou, and transporting it here is quite inconvenient. If it were before, there would be no Yongzhou or Yingzhou, only Jingzhou! Then drinking this wine would be much more convenient! Don't you think so?"

This sentence was not something one could just answer casually.

Since the founding of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Jing and Yang provinces had been the most powerful. Those who occupied Jingzhou often rebelled. History calls this the "Jing-Yang Dispute." Therefore, starting from the Liu Song Dynasty, Jingzhou was gradually partitioned.

The territory of the current Yongzhou, Yingzhou, and a large part of Xiangzhou all belonged to the scope of the old Jingzhou.

This sentence of the Prince of Badong could be interpreted as an unintentional sigh, but it could also be extended to a potential idea of "wishing to expand the territory of Jingzhou." Most of those present were from families of generations of officials; who didn't smell the political risk in it? So most kept their mouths shut, avoiding having this topic involve themselves.

Xie Xinghan wanted to use her eyes to remind Wang Yang to answer cautiously, but she didn't find the opportunity.

Although Wang Yang was not in officialdom, he had always read extensively. The saying "reading can lead to understanding worldly affairs" and "reading brings wisdom" is not empty talk. Generally, if one can read clearly, there is no such thing as becoming more foolish the more one reads. If one is fooled or deceived, or becomes a so-called "bookworm," it is actually not the fault of the books, but that they were not read well. Back then, when Huan Wen casually said, "The wine of Jingkou is drinkable, and the troops can be used," Xi Chao knew that Huan Wen had designs on the Beifu Army's power, so he wrote a letter on his father's behalf, resigned his post, and retreated to avoid disaster. Now, the Prince of Badong was also using wine as an entry point, and Wang Yang also keenly sensed that the smell of this sentence was wrong.

Regardless of whether the Prince of Badong had deeper intentions, if it were exploited by someone with ulterior motives, it might not be impossible to write an article about "The Prince of Badong's Inflated Ambition." Moreover, the Dianqian official sent by the court was right there; if Wang Yang answered casually, there might be some unexpected disaster.

But the Prince's words could not be ignored, so Wang Yang smiled: "The beauty of scenery often lies in the dangerous and distant, and the taste of delicacies is precious because they are hard to obtain. If Yicheng Spring could be obtained often, it wouldn't be interesting anymore, don't you think, Your Highness?"

Everyone thought: Well answered!

The Prince of Badong laughed loudly: "That makes sense!" Then he smiled and scanned the scholars and officials in the hall: "It makes a lot of sense!"

The four sides accompanied him with laughter.

The Prince of Badong looked at Wu Xiuzhi, his smile vanished, and he asked provocatively: "Did you hear that? Did you write it down? This is a good lead; you should think carefully about how to use this sentence to falsely accuse me to the Father Emperor?"

The smiles of the guests in the hall suddenly stiffened.

Wu Xiuzhi kept his mouth shut, as if he had heard nothing, his expression wooden.

Watching this scene, Wang Yang suddenly remembered the "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Yuan Ang and Chao Cuo" and the "Book of Jin: Biography of Wen Qiao." Looking at the Prince of Badong again and savoring his words just now, he felt he tasted some different meanings. He couldn't help but think: The Prince of Badong is not simple, and Wu Xiuzhi can endure; I must be careful when dealing with the Prince of Badong in the future...

Of course, it might also be that he was overthinking? But politics is not something an ordinary person can play; the water is a bit deep. It is better to think more than to think less; it is better to be cautious...

After the banquet, the Prince of Badong was helped to the inner chamber and slumped on the couch, with a group of attendants serving him to undress and sober up.

Kong Zhangyu stood outside the door and bowed: "Your Highness."

The Prince of Badong's drunken eyes were half-open: "I knew it... come in."

As Kong Zhangyu walked in, those attendants naturally and quietly exited.

Kong Zhangyu prepared to say: "Your Highness—"

The Prince of Badong asked first: "Has the reply from the Left Min Cao Secretary not arrived yet?"

The Secretariat is divided into six bureaus and twenty offices; the Left Min Cao is one of the twenty offices, in charge of the world's accounts and household registration, led by the Minister of the Left Min.

Under the Minister of the Left Min are the Vice Ministers of the Left Min; under the Vice Ministers are the Chief Secretaries; under the Chief Secretaries are the Secretaries; under the Secretaries are the Secretary-Clerks; and under the Secretary-Clerks are the clerks, which can be understood as administrative staff. The Secretary-Clerk is similar to a section chief.

The Secretary-Clerk the Prince of Badong mentioned was surnamed Guo, given name Jian.

Two years ago, when the Prince of Badong was the Commander of the Central Guard in the capital, Guo Jian was a Secretary-Clerk in the Guard's office. Because he knocked over a candle stand and damaged the military register, he was almost dismissed and punished. Later, he bribed Kong Zhangyu with a large sum of money to plead with the Prince of Badong, which was the only reason he was leniently treated. Since then, he had followed Kong Zhangyu's every command and could be considered to have established a connection with the Prince of Badong.

At that time, the Prince of Badong was at the height of his power in the court, and Guo Jian also benefited, not only being transferred to the Secretariat (similar to the State Council) but also promoted, which could be considered changing his fate.

Kong Zhangyu was stunned for a moment. He had intended to talk about another matter, but now that the Prince asked, he had to answer first: "Not yet. Calculating the time, it should arrive in these two days. However, looking at today's events, his identity as a Langya Wang should be true. The documents at both the commandery and provincial levels are complete. Unless someone in both the commandery and provincial departments helped him fake it, otherwise..."

The Prince of Badong interrupted: "I want certainty, not 'should'."

Kong Zhangyu's expression became solemn: "Yes, as soon as the reply arrives, this official will immediately report it to Your Highness."

The Prince of Badong waved his hand: "Retire."

"Your Highness..." Kong Zhangyu hesitated.

"Are you going to talk about Wu the Slave?"

"Your Highness's actions seem a bit... excessive." Kong Zhangyu decided to get straight to the point.

"What do you know?" The Prince of Badong was disdainful. "Who doesn't know I'm crazy? The more excessive I act, the more normal it is! The bigger the grudge Wu the Slave has with me, the less credible his words will be to the Father Emperor."

Kong Zhangyu still had a worried look: "But the Emperor..."

"What is there to fear! At worst, it's just a reprimand, or some kind of punishment... Let me teach you a principle: a virtuous prince like my second brother, as long as he makes one mistake, it will attract the attention of ten thousand people. But a ridiculous prince like me, even if I keep making mistakes, not many people care. And when they are all used to me only making small mistakes..."

When the Prince of Badong said this, he suddenly leaned forward like a leopard, startling Kong Zhangyu into taking two steps back.

The Prince of Badong revealed a strange smile: "I will be like this, scaring everyone."

Kong Zhangyu calmed down and continued to persuade: "But Your Highness, you cannot always—"

The Prince of Badong became impatient: "Enough! Do I need you to teach me this kind of thing? Just handle the matters I entrusted to you; now I want to rest."

Kong Zhangyu had no choice but to suppress his full belly of advice and bow to retire. As he was leaving, he suddenly remembered one thing and said: "Your Highness, if that Wang Yang is someone from the Crown Prince or the Second Prince..."

"He won't be. I don't like literary matters; if they were to choose someone to get close to me, they wouldn't send him. Besides, my choosing him was beyond my own expectations; who else could have guessed it? More importantly, if he were really someone sent from the capital, he would definitely not have offended the Hedong Liu family, nor would he have gone to trouble the Guangyuan Inn. The Liu family and my third brother are not easy to deal with; if he did that, wouldn't he be creating extra trouble? Looking for unhappiness for himself?"

Kong Zhangyu felt that the Prince made sense; neither the Crown Prince nor the Prince of Jingling would offend the Hedong Liu family and the Prince of Luling at such a time. He knew what his Prince liked to hear and was just about to flatter him, but he saw the Prince of Badong's mouth curl into an inscrutable smile: "However, I still want to play a game with him and test him..."

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Note: At that time, both the North and South had the practice of calling the "Son of Heaven" "Guanjia." "Book of Song: Biography of Tuyuhun": "The barbarians call the Chanyu 'Guanjia' in Song." (The "Book of Song" records the history of the Liu Song Dynasty, and the "Book of Song" records the history of the Zhao Song Dynasty.) "Book of Wei: Biography of Yuan Xiang": "Before leaving, Gao would always bow and send him off, raising his cup and wishing: 'May the Guanjia live for ten thousand years, and come to my mother and son's house every year.'"