The ministers begged me to ascend the throne

Chapter 20 The Secret Path
Yesterday, the Seventh Prince and Ninth Prince were punished, and Qin Su didn't let them go until they were too tired to get up on the ground.Today, they originally didn't want to come to Wende Hall to study, but they didn't dare not come because they were afraid of making Emperor Wu of Zhou unhappy, so they could only drag their exhausted bodies to study.

The punishment was too harsh yesterday, let alone bickering, they didn't even have the strength to speak.In the past few days, the Ninth Prince kept showing off the great victory of acting king Liangzhou. Today he was too tired to say a word, which made Zhao Yao and the others feel the long-lost peace.

After school at noon, the eunuch next to the Seventh Prince and Ninth Prince carried them out of Wende Hall.Not only were they so tired that they didn't even have the strength to speak, they didn't even have the strength to walk and write.

Zhao Yao didn't run away after school today, but waited for the Seventh and Ninth Princes to leave.Seeing that the Seventh Prince and the others were punished so badly, Zhao Yao's anger at being punished for copying "The Analects of Confucius" a hundred times eased a lot.

"Hey hey hey..."

Seeing Zhao Yao smiling so happily, the Eighth Prince couldn't help teasing him: "Is that so happy?"

Zhao Yao put his hands on his hips and said with a smile: "Of course I'm happy, my heart is instantly more balanced."

"You..."

"Brother, don't you think it's very quiet today?" Zhao Yao said with a very exaggerated expression, "Don't you think the air is very fresh today?"

The Eighth Prince raised his hand and gently patted the back of Zhao Yao's head, "You're not hungry, so you're not in a hurry to go back for lunch?"

"Brother, come back to have lunch with me."

"No, I have to go to the prince's elder brother." The eighth prince patted Zhao Yao's shoulder and said with a smile, "Hurry up and have lunch."

"Okay, then I'll go back to have lunch first." After Zhao Yao finished speaking, he waved to the Eighth Prince, and then left Wende Hall with Tong Xi.

The fourth prince was walking beside the eighth prince, and suddenly stopped, looking down at the eighth prince.The fourth prince is much taller than the eighth prince, and the eighth prince is only as tall as his shoulders.

The eighth prince didn't like the condescending gaze of the fourth prince, he frowned slightly dissatisfied, but he didn't show it at all.

"Fourth brother, are you okay?"

The fourth prince took a deep look at the eighth prince, and his tone was indifferent and full of warning: "The tenth brother is simple, you should not get too close to him."

The Eighth Prince narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing this.He pretended not to understand, "Fourth brother, what do you mean?"

The fourth prince said: "You will bring him danger." After finishing speaking, he turned and left Wende Hall.

The eighth prince stood where he was, looking coldly at the leaving fourth prince.

Yu Hai walked to the side of the Eighth Prince, and watched the back of the Fourth Prince leaving with him, "Your Highness, what does the Fourth Prince mean?"

The Eighth Prince said with a sullen face: "He is warning me."

"You don't get in trouble with the Fourth Prince on weekdays, why did he warn you?" Yu Hai asked puzzledly, "Besides, you have a good relationship with the Tenth Prince, so how could you bring danger to the Tenth Prince?"

The Eighth Prince said as he walked, "Because the Prince and I are close."

"Is there anything wrong with you being close to His Highness the Crown Prince?" Yu Hai suddenly thought of something, and said with a dazed expression, "Could it be that the Fourth Prince also wants to fight for that seat?"

The eighth prince sneered: "Except for the tenth brother, no one wants to fight for that seat."

"But fourth prince, why did he warn you?" Yu Hai said indignantly, "Do you think you are easy to bully?"

"He doesn't want me to implicate the tenth brother." The eighth prince said negatively, "Although I don't like Zhao Xi's pretentious appearance, he really cares about the tenth brother."

"Then you really listen to the Fourth Highness, and stay away from the Tenth Highness in the future?"

The Eighth Prince sneered, "Why should I listen to Zhao Xi?"

"That's right, what is the Fourth Highness?"

"Go to the East Palace."

On the way to the East Palace, Yu Hai reported to the Eighth Prince what happened this morning.

After the Eighth Prince heard this, he smiled inexplicably and said, "As expected!"

"Your Highness, His Royal Highness is in a bad mood, are you really going to the East Palace?"

"The more this is the time, the more I will go." The Eighth Prince said, "Besides, the Crown Prince will not vent his anger on me."

As soon as the Eighth Prince walked to the entrance of the East Palace, a teacup flew towards him and almost hit him on the head. Fortunately, he dodged quickly and hit him at his feet.

He raised his head and looked over, and seeing the prince's desperate look, he knew it in his heart.He stepped forward and saluted the prince respectfully: "I have seen His Royal Highness the prince."

Seeing that it was the Eighth Prince, the prince put away the anger on his face, "Eighth brother, you are here."

"Brother, you are..." The Eighth Prince hesitated and said, "Is it because of the second brother?"

"At the court this morning, the ministers all agreed to add beads to the acting king."

"Could it be that Marquis Xuan Ping bought the Wang family and the Yuan family?"

The prince said coldly: "Xuan Pinghou doesn't have such a great ability."

"Then the Wang family and the Yuan family want to share a piece of the pie, so they agree to add beads to the second brother?"

The crown prince nodded slightly: "The third younger brother will be crowned king next year, and the Wang family supports adding beads on behalf of the king. They want the third younger brother to also add beads when he becomes king next year."

"Big Brother, Third Brother and Fifth Brother are not a bad thing to confer kings and beads." The eighth prince analyzed on behalf of the prince, "The Wang family, the Yuan family, and the Xun family are slightly inferior to the Xie family. They have more heritage than the Xuanping Houfu. Third brother They are also a threat to the second brother by conferring the title of king and Jiazhu."

"The Wang family, the Yuan family and the Xun family are more powerful than the Marquis of Xuanping's mansion, but even if the third brother and the others add pearls in the future, they will not be able to match the Dai Wang." The prince said, "The third brother and all of them together cannot match the Dai Wang." king."

"It is."

"We must not allow the case of Jiazhu to pass, otherwise there will be endless troubles." The prince let out a heavy sigh as he spoke, "Father, he..."

"Brother, I have an idea, but I don't know if it's feasible or not?"

When the prince heard this, his eyes lit up immediately, and he hurriedly asked, "What's your idea?"

The eighth prince walked up to the prince and whispered something in the prince's ear.

After the prince heard this, his expression was a little complicated.

"Brother, do you think it will work?" The Eighth Prince asked carefully.

"It should be useful." The prince smiled lightly, "I really have no other way at that time, so I will use your method."

"Brother, I have always thought that the father loves you, but you are the eldest son and the crown prince, so the father is very strict with you." The eighth prince comforted the prince, "Furthermore, the father and your mother have a deep relationship. Not to mention anything else, just for the sake of the former empress, father will not let the second brother replace you."

This sentence has reached the heart of the prince, it is what he loves to hear.

"It would be great if it's like what you said." The prince's face changed a lot, and he said gently, "You're hungry, let's go eat."

The Eighth Prince smiled a little embarrassedly, and then asked curiously: "What's delicious today?"

"Today I have your favorite dish of bad goose feet and duck." The eighth prince often dined in the East Palace, and the prince remembered what the eighth prince liked to eat and what dishes he didn't like.

"That's great." The Eighth Prince suddenly asked, "Brother, do you have any more of this dish? I want to bring some for my tenth brother."

The prince was a little surprised: "For the tenth brother?"

"Well, Brother Ten loves this dish. Last time at the dinner party, he ate a lot secretly by himself."

"It's hard for you to remember." Seeing that the eighth prince cared so much about the younger brother, the prince was very pleased, "Then you will bring some for the tenth brother later."

"Then I will thank elder brother on behalf of tenth brother."

"Thank you." The prince thought about what happened after he left the martial arts field yesterday, and asked with concern, "Father ordered my tenth younger brother to copy "The Analects of Confucius" a hundred times. I'm afraid my tenth younger brother will cry."

"Brother, you hit the nail on the head." The Eighth Prince vividly told the Prince Zhao Yao's reaction when he learned that he was fined to write "The Analects" a hundred times, and the Prince couldn't stop laughing.

"This tenth brother..." The crown prince shook his head and smiled helplessly, "Aside from being not smart in reading, he is very clever in other things."

"Especially when it comes to eating."

The two brothers chatted and walked to the dining room.

Being interrupted by the eighth prince, the prince's mood improved a lot, and his appetite naturally improved a lot.

In the Kunde Palace, Zhao Yao, who was having lunch, sneezed unexpectedly, scaring Poppy and the others, thinking that he had caught a cold.

A few months ago, Zhao Yao suffered from the cold and fever, and lay in bed for a month or two, frightening Liang Zhaoyi and the others, that's why they were so nervous about Zhao Yao sneezing.

Liang Zhaoyi knew how to check the pulse, and felt relieved when she saw that her son's pulse was normal.

Zhao Yao rubbed his itchy nose and said that someone was speaking ill of him behind his back.He guessed it must be Brother Jiu.Among so many imperial brothers, only Brother Jiu likes to speak ill of him the most.

After lunch, Zhao Yao took Tongxi to the secret base.

As soon as he arrived, Lai Lu and Lai Wang rushed towards him.

[Yaoyao, it's not good, something happened to Pei's mansion. 】

Zhao Yao's heart tightened, and he frowned and asked, "What happened to Pei's residence?"

Laiwang said: [Someone wandered around Pei's house last night. 】

Zhao Yao asked: "How many people? Have you entered Pei's mansion?"

[Several people, but they didn't enter Pei's mansion. ] Laiwang said, 【It should be frightened by our brothers. 】

"Pei's mansion has long since become a deserted house, and the Pei family has long since died. Why do people still want to go to Pei's mansion?"

The Pei Mansion was the natal family of Concubine Pei Gui of Emperor Xia Ling in the previous dynasty, and it was once the home of a famous nobleman in the previous dynasty.Back then, when Concubine Pei favored the Sixth Palace, the Pei family was also very prosperous.Later, Concubine Pei Gui was thrown into the cold palace, and then the whole family of Pei's family was ransacked, leaving no one alive.

This secret base of Zhao Yao and the others is actually the Lenggong where Concubine Pei lived.

When they were exploring in Lenggong, Zhao Yao and the others discovered that there was a secret passage in Lenggong, and the end of this secret passage was Pei Mansion.

Because of the existence of this secret path, Zhao Yao was able to leave the palace, otherwise, in his capacity, it would be impossible to leave the palace at will.

(End of this chapter)