marquis of jingan

Chapter 1457: How is the prince?

Chapter 1457: How is the prince?

At the dinner table, after the family had finished their meal, the two brothers found a small table and drank some wine.

After a few drinks, Shen Heng asked, "I heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince lives in my eldest brother's house. Should I go and pay him a visit?"

"First live here with me."

Mr. Shen shook his head and smiled, "But living in my house is too unfair to him. After he came back from outside the Great Wall, I let him move to a Northern Qi palace outside. If you want to see it, I will have someone take you there tomorrow."

"Not at my elder brother's house anymore."

Shen Heng seemed to be thinking about something, and said, "No wonder Prince Jin and Prime Minister Song didn't come to my brother's house today."

He looked at the dark night outside and said softly, "Most likely, they are meeting His Royal Highness the Crown Prince now."

Mr. Shen smiled calmly: "Go and see if you want."

Minister Shen reached out to add more wine to Shen Yi and asked with a smile, "Brother, aren't you worried that the Crown Prince will say bad things about you behind your back?"

"He can't say anything bad about me."

Master Shen clinked his glasses with his brother again and said, "He wouldn't be stupid enough to say bad things about me."

Shen Heng thought about it, smiled and said, "That's the truth."

After the two brothers talked about the Crown Prince for a while, they talked about the things in Jiankang City. Shen Heng said, "Next year, Youniang and her children should move to Yanjing with the court, but..."

He looked at Shen Yi, sighed and said, "Master Zhao will probably stay in Jiankang to take charge of Nanjing affairs in the future."

Shen Yi said, "That makes sense."

Minister Shen tightened his clothes.

"But speaking of it, the north is indeed much colder than our south."

Lord Shen sighed: "I'm used to it."

Minister Shen did not say much, but changed the subject and said, "I'm afraid my father and teacher are not willing to come to the north."

Shen Zhang returned to his hometown in Jiangdu five years ago after his uncle Shen Hui passed away. Now he is the patriarch of the Shen family in Jiangdu and is enjoying his job very much.

Of course, Shen Ling is still in charge of the main affairs of the Jiangdu Shen family, and Shen Zhang is just a figurehead and wants to show off in front of his fellow townsmen.

As for my mentor, Master Lu, after he had run the Ganquan Academy in Jiankang well a few years ago, he took the initiative to leave Jiankang and returned to the Ganquan Academy in his hometown of Jiangdu, where he still serves as the principal.

It is probably difficult for the two elderly people to leave Jiangdu and come to the north.

Shen Yi was silent after hearing this and sighed: "You and I, for the next few years, I'm afraid we will be trapped in Yanjing most of the time and unable to move."

Shen Heng lowered his head and took a sip of wine, then said with emotion: "Brother, I miss my hometown in Jiangdu."

"I miss the days when we two brothers depended on each other."

Minister Shen wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve.

"In the blink of an eye, it has been 25 years."

Master Shen poured him more wine and said with a smile, "You're almost going to be a high official, why are you still crying like a child?"

Minister Shen raised his head and drank the wine in the cup, then shook his head and said, "After twenty years of ups and downs in the officialdom, now I can only cry in front of my elder brother."

Shen Yi was also silent for a while, and he patted his brother on the shoulder.

"Don't cry, don't cry, we will all return to Jiangdu one day."

"As for these few years."

Master Shen said softly, "The two elders don't want to come, and we brothers can't go back. Fortunately, the children at home are growing up, so let them come back to Jiangdu more often to take a look on our behalf."

Only then did Shen Heng exhale the alcohol and nodded silently.

"Brother is right, children..."

"We should go back to Jiangdu more often. We must not forget the roots of our family."

…………

The next day, the Shen Yi brothers went together to pay a visit to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

That evening, Shen Yi held a banquet at home to entertain the officials who came from Jiankang. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was also present and drank with the officials from Jiankang.

In a blink of an eye, several days passed and Shen Heng spent the New Year reunion with his brother Shen Yi at the Shen family.

A few days after the Chinese New Year, Shen Heng, the Minister of Rites, and a group of officials from the Ministry of Rites started to get busy. They were busy every day, trying to make the etiquette of moving the capital perfect without any mistakes.

After all, when His Majesty the Emperor arrives, he will definitely go to the altar to offer sacrifices and pray to God.

In addition to various etiquette rules, many places in the imperial city and the Taimiao have been moved by Master Zhuli. Although Shen Yi has basically restored the original appearance of the Dachen Imperial City in recent years, some details still need to be polished bit by bit by Shen Heng and the officials of the Ministry of Rites.

And Mr. Shen finally found some time to have a meal with Prince of Jin Li Mu in a restaurant in Yanjing City.

At this time, Prince Jin had a lot of white hair on his head. The two sat across the table from each other. Li Mu took the initiative to pick up the wine glass and toasted Shen Yi. He smiled and said, "I have been wandering around Yanjing City these days. The prosperity of Yanjing is no less than that of Jiankang. Ziheng has made great contributions in the past ten years."

Mr. Shen smiled in silence and shook his head, saying, "Your Highness, what you said is just flattery. To be honest, in the past ten years, I basically didn't pay attention to too many political affairs. The first six years were when my senior brother was in charge here, and the last four years were when Song Ying was in charge here."

"It was only in the past six months that I finally did some of the things that a civil servant should do. To be honest, the prosperity of Yanjing has little to do with me."

Li Mu smiled and did not respond. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "Because of the relocation of the capital, the court was shaken drastically. The most obvious thing is that because of the establishment of two capitals, some old officials will stay in the Jiankang court, and many positions will be vacant in the Yanjing court. Many people are fighting over this and it is hard to stop."

Shen Yi lowered his head to drink and said with a smile: "Let them fight if they want. I just do my job well and don't think about other things."

"Although Ziheng doesn't fight, your status and position are here..."

"For example."

Prince Jin smiled and said, "The relocation of the imperial court seriously involves the foundation. Some matters concerning the etiquette system should be handled by the Minister of Rites. Why did Your Majesty send Zichang here?"

"This means that the former Minister of Rites will most likely stay in Jiankang."

"And the vacant position of Minister of Rites must belong to Zichang."

"Tsk."

Prince Jin shook his head and said, "A great minister in his thirties, it's incredible to think about it."

Mr. Shen was much calmer. He toasted Li Mu with a glass of wine and said, "Although my brother is young, he passed the imperial examination when he was a teenager. In terms of official qualifications, there are not many people in the court who are older than him."

"Even those officials in the Nine Ministers would call him Brother Nian when they were talking about their friendship."

"That is."

Prince Jin said with a smile: "The two heroes of the Shen family have long been a legend in the court and the country."

Shen Yi looked towards the direction of the imperial city and said with emotion: "In fact, my brother is very capable and is also outstanding in the court. It's just that I, as his elder brother, have harmed him, so that now when others mention him, they all say that he is Shen Yi's younger brother."

"Let me tell you."

Mr. Shen shook his head and said, "You should call me Brother Shen Hengzhi."

"Big Shen and Little Shen are both excellent."

Prince Jin said with a smile: "If other families get one, their ancestors would be very happy. But the Shen family got two talented people at once. I am jealous too. By the way..."

Prince Jin put down his wine glass, looked at Shen Yi, and said, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been in the north for almost half a year..."

"Ziheng, what do you think of the prince?"

Mr. Shen was startled, then smiled and said: "Your Highness asked this question, is it..."

Li Mu said sternly, "It was His Majesty who mentioned it and asked me to ask Ziheng."

Mr. Shen then became serious and replied, "Your Highness has been cautious and steady over the past six months, without any faults."

Li Mu thought about it and said with a smile: "That is, there is no credit at all."

Mr. Shen shook his head and smiled as well.

"That's what the prince said, I didn't say that."

Prince Jin picked up the wine glass, raised his head and drank it all, then let out a long sigh.

"It's hard to be the emperor."

Mr. Shen drank a glass of wine with a smile on his face.

"That's what the prince said, I didn't say it."

Prince Jin looked at Shen Yi helplessly and said, "Don't you think so, Ziheng?"

"Your Majesty, these years have been very difficult."

Prince Jin whispered, "It is so difficult to be a wise ruler. Your Majesty is only this old, but your hair is already turning white."

Shen Yi lowered his head silently and took a sip of wine.

"One should not worry too much, but His Majesty..."

Mr. Shen also sighed.

“I have to worry about it.”

(End of this chapter)