The ministers begged me to ascend the throne

Chapter 541 It’s time to close the net
In the study of the Prince of Chu's mansion, the Prince of Chu told Yang Ling about the conversation between him and the Emperor. Yang Ling felt very heavy after hearing it.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid the Emperor is disappointed in you." Yang Ling understood the King of Chu's desire to be reconciled to the King of Han, but he did not approve of the King of Chu's behavior of questioning the Emperor. "Your Highness, you shouldn't have offended the Emperor."

The King of Chu frowned slightly and said nothing.

He did not regret offending his father for his tenth brother. If he were given another chance, he would do the same.

When Yang Ling saw that the King of Chu looked calm, he knew that he did not think he had done anything wrong.

"Your Highness, the late emperor and the emperor were both born as peasants. You shouldn't... Alas..."

"The emperor still doesn't like my tenth brother, otherwise why did he choose my tenth brother?" The emperor and grandfather were born into peasant families, and there was nothing wrong in them wanting the prince to marry a peasant girl as his princess. But among so many princes, why did he choose my tenth brother? It's because my tenth brother is not favored and does not have a prominent maternal family.

"Even if this is the case, Your Highness should not offend the Emperor and embarrass him." Yang Ling advised earnestly, "His Highness the Prince of Han clearly advised you not to go to the Emperor for this matter, why did you still go?"

"Tenth brother is my brother. He is being bullied by our father. I can't just sit back and watch." When he was in the imperial study, the King of Chu was still upset about the emperor's anger with him, but now he doesn't care anymore. "Tenth brother has suffered so much injustice since he was a child, and now he has to suffer so much ridicule in his marriage. How can you let me just ignore it?" After leaving the palace, the more he thought about it, the more he thought that marrying a peasant girl as the prince's consort was an excuse. "If our father really values ​​peasants, then he should let one of us marry a peasant girl as the prince's consort. That would show that the royal family values ​​peasants, wouldn't it?" Compared to His Royal Highness the King of Han, who is not favored and whose mother's family is not prominent, the King of Chu, the King of Jing, or the King of Dai are more suitable to marry a peasant girl as the prince's consort.

"Your Highness, since you know that this is the emperor's excuse, why do you still want to expose it?" Yang Ling said helplessly, "His Highness the Prince of Han cares about this matter himself and doesn't let you intervene, why do you...?" His Highness the Prince of Chu is only one step away from that position, especially now is the most critical time, His Highness the Prince of Chu should not make the emperor angry or disappointed, but at this time, His Highness the Prince of Chu disappointed the emperor. He was really worried that the emperor would favor the Prince of Dai at this time.

"Your Majesty has wronged His Royal Highness the Prince of Han. It will not be too late to compensate His Royal Highness the Prince of Han when you ascend the throne in the future." Yang Ling said, "You can then issue an edict to grant His Royal Highness the Prince of Han a new marriage and let this peasant prince's wife be his concubine."

The King of Chu understood this truth, but marriage was a major event in life and he could not suffer humiliation in it.

"I can compensate my tenth brother, but this is different from my father. My tenth brother says he doesn't care about my father, but he cares in his heart."

"Your Highness..." Yang Ling knew that the matter was done and no amount of persuasion would be of any use, so he decided to think about his next plan.

"Sir, I don't think I did anything wrong. If my father is disappointed in me because of this and no longer values ​​me, then I have nothing to say." He will definitely get that position, and he will not give up even if his father is disappointed in him.

When Yang Ling heard this, he thought the King of Chu was going to give up the throne. When he was about to persuade him, he heard the King of Chu say, "Whether my father is really disappointed in me or not, I will not give up that throne."

"Your Highness, we must be prepared." With the King of Chu's words, Yang Ling felt completely relieved. "The spies reported that the King of Han and the Xiongnu were ready to make a move. I'm afraid that things will not be peaceful after the New Year."

The King of Chu frowned and said, "They may also take action during the Chinese New Year. After all, the Chinese New Year is the most relaxing time."

Yang Ling felt that the King of Chu's guess was not impossible, and said solemnly: "If this is the case, then we must prepare now."

The King of Chu nodded slightly and said, "Let's make the arrangements."

"Yes, Your Highness."

At this time, in the study of the Prince of Han's Mansion, Zhao Yao learned that the Prince of Chu had quarreled with the Emperor over him in the Imperial Study.

"Didn't I tell my fourth brother not to go to see the emperor? Why did he go anyway?"

Tong Xi said: "Your Highness, you also know that His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu cares about you the most. He feels that the Emperor has wronged you in the marriage, so he naturally wants to seek justice for you."

Of course Zhao Yao knew that the King of Chu did this for him, and he was very touched, but his fourth brother's actions would make his father dissatisfied with him.

"It's over. Fourth brother has now been completely ruled out by the Emperor."

Tongxi whispered, "Your Highness, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu has long been ruled out by the Emperor."

Zhao Yao: “…” Tongxi was absolutely right, leaving him speechless.

"Alas... Fourth brother's actions will make father more determined to choose me, which is not a good thing for me." He didn't want to be the emperor, he really didn't want to be the emperor. Fourth brother wanted to be the emperor, and he could be a good emperor, so why didn't father choose fourth brother?

Tongxi looked at Zhao Yao and said cautiously, "Your Highness, I think the emperor is right."

After hearing this, Zhao Yao glared at Tongxi.

Tongxi shrank his head and continued, "Your Highness, except for you, other princes do not take peasants seriously." Your Highness is the only one who treats everyone as human. In the eyes of your Highness, whether it is peasants, merchants, or eunuchs, they are all human. "Your Highness, you once said that the world belongs to the people, not the royal family, nor the aristocratic families and scholars." In fact, it is not surprising that the emperor chose your Highness.

Zhao Yao lay on the table and sighed, "Alas... Fourth Brother is different from me. He has been influenced by the Li family since he was a child and thinks it is normal for the world to be ruled by scholars and officials."

"This is the biggest difference between you and His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu." Tongxi knew that Zhao Yao was unwilling to be the emperor, so he had not spoken to persuade him. In his heart, he hoped that His Royal Highness could become the emperor. He did not do this for himself, but for the people of the world.

Regardless of whether His Highness becomes the emperor or not, he, as His Highness's personal eunuch, will have a good life. If His Highness becomes the emperor, the people of Da Zhou will have a good life.

"Your Highness, the Emperor has chosen you, and you cannot escape."

Zhao Yao sneered: "Hmph, let's see if I can escape." He was determined not to be an emperor who worked himself to death. Tongxi felt happy in his heart and sighed helplessly: Alas, His Royal Highness the King of Chu and His Royal Highness the King of Dai tried their best to get the throne, but his Highness, the Emperor gave the throne to him, but he didn't want it. It's really a matter of drought and flood.

As he was speaking, a secret guard suddenly appeared in the study and handed Zhao Yao a secret letter.

Zhao Yao opened the secret letter and his face immediately turned cold.

"Is the news confirmed?"

The secret guard replied respectfully: "Sure."

Tongxi saw that Zhao Yao looked unhappy, and asked with concern, "Your Highness, what happened?"

"King Han colluded with the Xiongnu and decided to invade the Great Zhou during the New Year." Zhao Yao sneered in his heart. King Han really did not disappoint him. "King Han wrote a letter to King Dai, asking him to rebel in the capital, and then join forces with him from inside and outside."

Tongxi said with horror on his face: "The King of Han is actually going to rebel?!" Although he had long expected that the King of Han would rebel, he did not expect that the King of Han would be so bold as to rebel.

"When a cornered dog jumps over the wall," Zhao Yao burned the secret letter over the candle flame. "It's as expected."

All of this is under Zhao Yao's control.

"Your Highness, what should we do next?"

"According to the original plan." Zhao Yao looked at Tongxi and ordered, "Send someone to inform the King of Dai and let him take advantage of the situation."

"Your Highness, what about the Emperor? Should we inform him?" Tongxi asked again, "Should we inform His Highness the Prince of Chu and His Highness the Prince of Wei?"

"Father has already known about it." Zhao Yao said, "I have received news that the King of Han and the Xiongnu are going to invade the Great Zhou, and Father should have received it as well. As for the fourth and eighth brothers, we will not inform them. The fewer people who know about this, the better, so that the performance will be more realistic."

"I will go and inform King Dai right away." Having said this, Tongxi withdrew.

Not long ago, the King of Dai received a secret letter from the King of Han, which said that on the evening of New Year's Eve, the Xiongnu would send troops south to invade the Great Zhou. When the Xiongnu troops approached the capital, the King of Dai would join forces with the King of Han in the capital.

After reading the letter, the King of Dai raised his lips and laughed sarcastically: "Fifth brother, fifth brother, you really didn't keep me waiting for long."

Just then, there was a knock on the door, followed by a voice: "Your Highness, it's me."

Hearing the familiar voice, King Dai said, "Come in."

A short man in a butler's uniform walked in. He looked ordinary and had no special features. Whether he was in a crowd or alone, he would not attract anyone's attention.

The short and ordinary man spoke to the King of Dai in a low voice. After listening, the King of Dai nodded and waved to him.

After the short and ordinary man left, King Dai chuckled and said, "My tenth brother is really not a simple person. I have to play this role well." After that, he wrote a secret letter to King Han, in which he agreed on the time of rebellion.

At the same time, the emperor in the palace also received the news that the King of Han was colluding with the Xiongnu to rebel. He received it faster than Zhao Yao.

The emperor asked the Dragon Guard to inform Chu Ying and ask him to cooperate with King Han and others in their show.

"Do you think I should fall ill early?"

Sun Kui had just finished listening to the conversation between the emperor and the dragon guards with a shudder of fear, and he had not yet recovered. Now that he heard the emperor say this, he felt even more uneasy.

"Your Majesty, why are you pretending to be sick?"

The emperor smiled and said, "Let them relax their guard and add some excitement to this show."

Seeing the emperor's expectant look, Sun Kui didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Your Majesty, are you not worried at all?" That's a rebellion, not a trivial matter. "I was very scared just by listening to it."

The emperor looked at Sun Kui with disdain and said, "You are really promising. You have rebelled before, so what are you afraid of?"

"Your Majesty, I am not afraid of anything happening to me, but I am worried about you." Sun Kui had experienced rebellion, rebellion, and riots in the previous dynasty, but that did not mean he was not afraid. His life was worthless, and death was not a pity, but the emperor could not be in danger. Once the emperor was in danger, the world would be in chaos.

"Nothing will happen to me." The emperor had already arranged everything, just waiting for the King of Han and the Xiongnu to take the bait. Now that they have taken the bait, it is time to close the net. "There will be a good show during the New Year, you accompany me to watch it carefully."

I'm back to update. Starting today, I'll resume updating.