The ministers begged me to ascend the throne

Chapter 539: His Royal Highness the King of Han Became a Joke

After Zhao Yao returned to the capital, he did not attend court immediately. However, he would go to the palace every day, talk with Concubine Liang in the morning, and talk with the emperor in the imperial study in the afternoon.

When he talked to the emperor in the afternoon, the guards guarding the door of the imperial study were driven away. Only Sun Kui and his apprentice Sun Doudou were guarding the door, and no third person knew what they talked about.

All the civil and military officials in the court and the concubines in the harem wanted to know what the father and son talked about secretly every day.

As everyone knows, His Royal Highness the Prince of Han is not favored. The emperor doesn't like him on weekdays. It has never happened before that he has talked to His Royal Highness the Prince of Han alone for a long time. If there is nothing, the emperor will never talk to His Royal Highness the Prince of Han for a long time.

All the civil and military officials in the court were wondering what the King of Han was talking to the emperor about. As far as they knew, nothing major had happened in Lingnan, and there had been no conflict in the southern border. Could it be that countries like Johor and Siam were restless and wanted to invade the Great Zhou?
Impossible. Annan and Johor have been very honest in recent years and have come to Da Zhou to pay tribute every year. In recent years, the royal families of these countries have often come to Da Zhou for fun. Some members of the royal family have even settled in Da Zhou. If they harbor evil intentions, aren't they stupid?

Since countries like Annan and Siam have no ulterior motives, what is His Royal Highness the Prince of Han saying to the Emperor? Does the Emperor want to attack countries like Johor and Annan?

It is impossible. The Xiongnu in the north are still eyeing the enemy covetously. The emperor will not attack the countries near the southern border at this time. Besides, there is no value in attacking these small countries.

These small countries have already submitted to the Great Zhou and pay tribute to it obediently every year. There is no need to go to great lengths to attack them.

Could it be that the Emperor and His Royal Highness the Prince of Han have a deep father-son relationship and have endless things to talk about after not seeing each other for a year or two?
This is even more impossible.

The ministers and concubines tried to guess what the emperor was talking about with His Royal Highness the Prince of Han, but they could not figure it out.

The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and the civil and military officials are praying in their hearts, hoping that what His Royal Highness the King of Han said to the Emperor is not a big deal, so that they can spend the Chinese New Year in peace. They don't want to spend the Chinese New Year in fear.

Before the imperial court closed its doors, Zhao Yao's entourage finally arrived in the capital.

When the ministers saw His Royal Highness the King of Han bringing back boatloads of goodies from Lingnan, they were all stunned and filled with jealousy.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Han has been in Lingnan for more than a year, and he has come up with so many good things. It's really... It seems that His Royal Highness the Prince of Han was hiding his talents when he was in the capital.

Zhao Yao gave most of the things he brought back to the emperor, and the rest to his brothers. As for the civil and military officials, he did not give any. This made the civil and military officials very angry, and they felt that he was too ignorant and stingy.

During the past two days of court attendance, Zhao Yao could feel the cold eyes and sarcasm of the ministers, but he pretended not to see it.

Because Zhao Yao sent a lot of gifts, King Jing and King Dai had a good attitude towards Zhao Yao, their younger brother. They even took the initiative to invite Zhao Yao to their house as a guest. Zhao Yao did not refuse directly, but smiled and said that he would talk about it later.

The day before the court closed its doors, the emperor issued an edict granting Zhao Yao a marriage.

The ministers all knew that Zhao Yao returned to the capital from Lingnan just to get married. The officials were curious about whose daughter the emperor would marry the King of Han. They guessed that the emperor would not marry the daughter of a high-ranking official to the King of Han.

The King of Han has never been favored. He went to Lingnan and made a lot of good things, which pleased the emperor, but the emperor did not value him because of this. The emperor should choose from officials below the fifth rank.

On that day, when the emperor issued an edict to grant the marriage, all the ministers in the court were stunned.

All the officials had expressions of disbelief on their faces. They couldn't believe that the emperor would actually marry a peasant girl to the King of Han.

She is a peasant girl. No one in her family is an official and her ancestors for three generations have been peasants.

By marrying a peasant girl as his princess, Your Majesty is humiliating the Prince of Han.

For a moment, Zhao Yao became a huge joke.

Officials in the court had always looked down on Zhao Yao, the King of Han, but when they heard the emperor's decree to grant him marriage, they couldn't help but feel sympathy for Zhao Yao.

Not to mention the previous dynasty, even in the previous dynasties, there had never been a peasant princess. Even if the emperor disliked His Royal Highness the Prince of Han, there was no need to humiliate him like this. After all, the Prince of Han was his biological son.

The ministers in the court felt sorry for Zhao Yao, and the people in the capital felt sorry for the King of Han.

"Isn't His Royal Highness the Prince of Han the Emperor's biological son?" If he was his biological son, how could the Emperor treat the Prince of Han so cruelly.

"If His Royal Highness the Prince of Han was not the Emperor's biological son, then His Royal Highness the Prince of Han would have died long ago."

"Since His Royal Highness the Prince of Han is the Emperor's biological son, why is the Emperor so cruel to him?"

"Farmer Princess, what is the emperor thinking?"

"Does the Emperor hate the youngest son of the King of Han so much?"

"Your Highness the King of Han is so pitiful."

"His Royal Highness the Prince of Han is a very good man. He has done so many good things and done so many good things. Why does the Emperor treat him like this?"

The people of the capital felt sorry for Zhao Yao. Many people even cried for him. Zhao Yao, who was pitied by everyone, was comforting the furious King of Chu.

When the King of Chu heard the marriage decree, he was furious. If he hadn't had a bit of rationality left, he would have almost yelled at the emperor in court.

After the court session, the King of Chu wanted to go to the imperial study to ask the emperor for an explanation, but was stopped by Zhao Yao.

"Tenth brother, you can't accept this arranged marriage." The King of Chu had never been so angry as he was now. He knew from childhood that his father didn't like his tenth brother, but he never thought that his father would humiliate him like this. "Father is too much, I'd better go to the palace to argue with him." The King of Chu wanted to say that the emperor was not worthy of being a father.

Zhao Yao personally poured a cup of tea for the King of Chu and handed it to him personally.

"Fourth brother, have a cup of tea to calm down."

The King of Chu put down his teacup and felt even more distressed when he saw Zhao Yao’s smiling face.

"Tenth brother, don't worry, Fourth Brother will definitely reject this marriage for you." Father is making the whole world laugh at Tenth Brother. Tenth brother is his own flesh and blood, how can he treat Tenth brother so viciously.

The King of Chu had always been full of admiration and respect for the Emperor. The Emperor had always disliked Zhao Yao, and he felt sorry for Zhao Yao and was somewhat dissatisfied with the Emperor, but he had never used the word "vicious" to describe the Emperor.

He thought that if his father didn't like his tenth brother, then he didn't like him. As a brother, he just needed to love his tenth brother. But he didn't expect that his father hated his tenth brother to such an extent.

"Fourth brother, I think the marriage arranged by our father is a good one." He couldn't understand it at first, but later he understood his father's intention. To be honest, he didn't want to accept this marriage at first, but later he learned that his future princess had been learning all kinds of things for him. If he refused the marriage, it would be too cruel to Xiao Siyun.

The King of Chu stared at Zhao Yao and was surprised to see that his face was calm, without a trace of dissatisfaction or anger.

"Tenth brother, do you really think this marriage is a good one?"

Zhao Yao stared into the eyes of the King of Chu with a serious look and said calmly, "Fourth brother, I really think this marriage is a good one."

The King of Chu realized that Zhao Yao was not trying to comfort him, but really felt good about it.

"Tenth brother, you can't just accept your fate like this." The King of Chu thought Zhao Yao was numb. After all, Zhao Yao had never been favored by the emperor since he was a child. He thought Zhao Yao had long since given up hope and had no expectations of the emperor. Even if the emperor gave him a humiliating marriage, he didn't care.

Seeing that the King of Chu had misunderstood, Zhao Yao smiled and said, "Fourth brother, I have not accepted my fate. I really think there is nothing wrong with my princess being a farmer. Don't forget that our Zhao family's roots are farmers."

Hearing Zhao Yao say this, the King of Chu was stunned. He had never thought about this before.

"Grandpa and father were both farmers. Didn't Grandpa always emphasize that our Zhao family is farmers and we should not forget our roots?" Zhao Yao said with a smile, "I don't think it's a bad thing for me to marry a farmer. I don't think it's a shame either."

The King of Chu thought about many things in an instant, "You mean that the emperor deliberately arranged for you to marry a peasant girl as your princess."

Zhao Yao nodded slightly: "That's right, after all, our Zhao family has been farmers for generations."

"Father asked you to marry a peasant girl as your princess. Did he want to tell the world that our Zhao family has not forgotten our roots?"

"Yes, I guess my grandfather told my father before he died that our Zhao family must never forget our roots, and one of the Zhao family's daughters-in-law must be born into a peasant family." Zhao Yao was lying. He couldn't let the King of Chu think the other way. "When my father ascended the throne, the Great Zhou had just been established. In order to maintain the stability of the Great Zhou and balance the forces of all parties, my father's concubines were either from aristocratic families or from officials. None of them came from the common people."

The King of Chu asked, "That's right, then why didn't father allow us to marry a peasant princess, but let you marry one?"

"Fourth brother, your mother's family is either a noble family or a scholarly family. How can the emperor allow you to marry a peasant girl?" Zhao Yao pointed at himself and said, "I am not favored. My mother's family is not a noble family, a scholarly family, or a family of officials. It is most appropriate for me to marry a peasant girl as my princess."

"Isn't the Eighth Brother more suitable than you?" The King of Chu accepted Zhao Yao's statement, but still felt unfair for him.

Zhao Yao didn't expect that the King of Chu would think that the King of Wei was more suitable. His mind worked quickly and he immediately came up with an explanation.

"Fourth brother, when Eighth brother got married, Big Brother was still alive."

"Just because you are unpopular and useless, I arrange for you to marry a peasant girl as your princess?" The King of Chu laughed angrily.

"Fourth brother, this is at least not a humiliation." Zhao Yao said with a smile, "I really think it's a good idea to marry a peasant girl as a princess."

"Tenth brother, you don't have to act tough in front of me."

"Fourth brother, I really didn't try to be stubborn." Alas, he was glad that his fourth brother was angry for him, but his fourth brother... looked down on farmers. It was not his fault. None of the officials in the court looked down on farmers, even if some of them were born farmers. "I don't have any dissatisfaction in my heart."

"Tenth brother..."

"Fourth brother, even if you go and argue with the emperor, he won't agree." Zhao Yao said, "Being laughed at and looked down upon is not important to me."