The ministers begged me to ascend the throne

Chapter 578 Confessing to He Lianfang
Although the enthronement ceremony of King Wei was kept simple, it was still very grand.

Reign: Yong'an.

After Emperor Yong'an ascended the throne, he immediately honored the emperor as the Supreme Emperor, Concubine Liang as the Empress Dowager, and conferred the title of Prince Bazhu on Zhao Yao.

Before that, the ministers who followed and supported Emperor Yong'an were promoted to higher positions. Officials who remained neutral were also rewarded. In short, the new emperor ascended the throne, and the whole court was filled with deep joy.

At this time, in the imperial study of the Purple Palace, Zhao Yao was telling Emperor Yong'an that he was planning to return to the Swamp Palace.

"Are you really leaving? Don't you plan to stay and help me?" Emperor Yong'an still habitually called himself "I" in front of Zhao Yao.

"My dear, you don't need my help." Zhao Yao was still as comfortable as before in front of Emperor Yong'an. "Besides, I still have a lot of things to do and I don't have time to stay in the capital."

Emperor Yong'an looked at Zhao Yao with amusement: "I don't even know you, and you want to avoid trouble."

"Myna, if you know, why are you asking me?"

Emperor Yong'an smiled and said, "You have to show some respect."

Zhao Yao was amused by Emperor Yong'an's words, and then his expression became serious: "Myna, if you need my help, just ask."

Emperor Yong'an said: "Don't worry, I won't be polite with you."

"Okay, I won't bother you anymore. I'll go tell my father and mother that I'm going back to Swamp House."

"I will go with you."

The two brothers walked side by side towards the Cining Hall, talking and laughing along the way.

Yu Hai and Tong Xi walked behind them. Seeing that the two brothers were still as close as before, they were very happy.

After Emperor Yong'an ascended the throne, he had the Empress Dowager and the Emperor Retired move to the Cining Palace.

Before ascending the throne, Emperor Yong'an ordered people to redecorate the Cining Palace to make it more comfortable for the emperor and the empress dowager. As for Concubine Li, now Concubine Li, she was sent back to her original palace, where someone would serve and take care of her despite her serious illness.

The former Imperial Concubine Ying, now the Imperial Concubine Dowager Ying, continues to live in her original palace.

In the Cining Palace, Concubine Dowager Ying was talking with the Queen Mother. When she saw Emperor Yongan and Prince of Han coming, she wisely left.

When the Queen Mother saw Zhao Yao and his brothers coming, she first let them drink a bowl of soup, which she had cooked herself in the morning.

After drinking the soup, the two brothers went to visit the emperor. Under the treatment of the witch doctor, the emperor gradually regained consciousness, but he still could not speak.

After talking with the retired emperor for a while, Zhao Yao said goodbye to the empress dowager.

The Queen Mother had known for a long time that her son was going to leave the capital and return to the Swamp House, but she was still reluctant to let him go. Even if she was reluctant, she would not keep her son in the capital.

She didn't say much, but just asked Zhao Yao to take good care of himself and the princess after returning to the Swamp Mansion.

Emperor Yong'an still had memorials to review, so he chatted with the Queen Mother and the King of Han for a while before leaving. Zhao Yao did not leave, as he had to stay for lunch.

Zhao Yao held the empress dowager's hand and chatted with her while walking in the garden of Cining Palace.

The mother and son walked for a while and then sat down in a pavilion by the lake. Gui Xing and the others immediately brought them tea and snacks.

"Mother, no matter what happens in the court in the future, no matter who comes to you to plead for mercy, you should ignore it." Zhao Yao added, "Don't worry about the affairs of the harem either."

The Queen Mother nodded and said, "Don't worry, I won't worry about anything else. I'll just take good care of your father."

Zhao Yao looked at the clear blue sky in the distance and said thoughtfully, "The court will not be at peace for long."

The Queen Mother understood what Zhao Yao meant, "Don't worry, I won't interfere in anything."

"Mother, you are also the mother of myna now. You still have to show concern when you should." Zhao Yao said seriously, "You also have to talk about him when you should."

"Okay." The empress dowager knew her limits. She knew exactly when to care for Emperor Yong'an and when to lecture him.

Zhao Yao gave some instructions, and the Queen Mother wrote them down one by one.

"My brother asked you to be the queen mother before, and I thought you would not agree." After all, Concubine Liang is not the biological mother of King Wei.

"The emperor wants me to be his mother, how can I refuse?" This is one of the reasons why Liangpin agreed to be the queen mother. "Besides, I have seen the emperor since he was a child. In my heart, he is almost the same as you."

"It would be great if you could become the empress dowager and become a real couple with my father." This was why Zhao Yao agreed to Emperor Yong'an's decision to appoint Concubine Liang as the empress dowager.

The Queen Mother did not expect Zhao Yao to say this. She smiled slightly and said, "This is good."

"By the way, don't worry about the Li family's affairs." After being rescued by Zhao Yao, the Li family did not return to the Imperial College to continue teaching. After Emperor Yong'an ascended the throne, he did not issue an order for them to return to the Imperial College. The Li family knew that Emperor Yong'an did not like them and prepared to return to their hometown.

The Queen Mother asked in confusion, "What happened to the Li family?"

"They are going back to their hometown. They should continue to teach and edit or revise books." Zhao Yao personally poured a cup of hot tea for the queen mother. "I originally planned to take some members of the Li family to the Swamp House and let them continue to teach and educate people there."

“It’s a good thing to let the Li family teach in Swamp House.”

"That's a good thing, but after thinking about it, I decided not to take them with me." Taking the Li family to Swamp House would allow them to teach students in Swamp House and improve the literary style of Swamp House. It would also protect them.

The Queen Mother asked in confusion: "Why don't you take them with you?"

"Although Bage has released the Li family, he still has some grudges against them. If I take the Li family and my fourth brother away, it will not be a good thing for the Li family." Zhao Yao said, "It will be safer to let the Li family stay under Bage's nose."

The Queen Mother nodded slightly and said, "You are right."

"Recently, the ministers have been suggesting that my brother take a concubine, but my brother has ignored them. However, given the tempers of those ministers, they might ask you to persuade my brother to take a concubine." Zhao Yao said, "Don't agree, and don't mention this matter in front of my brother."

When the Queen Mother heard this, she frowned slightly and a puzzled look appeared on her face.

"Why? Does the emperor not plan to take a concubine?"

"I think Brother Ba has no plans to take a concubine for the time being." Zhao Yao added, "Over the years, Brother Ba has only had his sister-in-law by his side, no other women. From this, it can be seen that Brother Ba is just like me, not interested in women."

"If the emperor doesn't mention it, I won't say it."

Zhao Yao talked to the Queen Mother for a while before returning to the palace.

It was still early in the afternoon, so Zhao Yao took a nap in the side hall. When it was noon, Emperor Yong'an came over to have lunch with them.

After lunch, Zhao Yao accompanied Emperor Yong'an to the Imperial Garden for a walk to digest the food. While the two brothers were walking, they talked about some official business in the court.

After finishing his business, Zhao Yao left the palace and prepared to return to the Swamp House. The luggage for the return trip to the Swamp House had been packed a few days ago. Now only the small things were left.

At night, Zhao Yao quietly left the capital with the King of Chu without alerting anyone. It was not until the next day that the civil and military officials and the people of the capital knew that His Royal Highness the King of Han had left the capital.

They didn't expect that the favored Prince of Han would actually leave the capital and return to Swamp House! Many ministers thought Zhao Yao was too stupid to give up his overwhelming power and run back to Lingnan to be an idle prince.

To Zhao Yao, the power and wealth of the capital city really meant nothing. In Lingnan, he was a local emperor, covering the sky with one hand and doing whatever he wanted. In addition, the money he made in Lingnan could not be spent in several lifetimes. The most important thing was that no one cared about him in Lingnan, but in the capital city, he was watched every day and had no freedom at all.

After some time, Zhao Yao and his party arrived at the Swamp Mansion.

After returning to the Swamp Mansion, Zhao Yao did not rush to see He Lianfang, but first took the King of Chu to have a good tour of the Swamp Mansion.

The prosperity, cleanliness and beauty of Swamp House shocked the King of Chu. Before coming to Swamp House, he had heard a lot about it and knew about its changes, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he was still deeply shocked. He felt that Yangzhou and the capital combined could not compare to Swamp House.

A few years ago, Swamp Prefecture was a remote and backward place, but now it has become a prosperous port state capital, and the number one port in the Great Zhou.

Thousands of merchant ships come to the Swamp House every day. Foreigners come to the Swamp House to do business in an endless stream. Walking on any street in the Swamp House, you can see all kinds of foreigners, who speak the poor Da Zhou official language to do business with others. They abide by the laws and rules of Da Zhou and do business honestly.

It has been a while since he came to the Swamp House, but the King of Chu is still shocked by the prosperity of the Swamp House every day. The King of Chu would go out of the Han Palace every day to walk on the street, take a look, and feel the prosperity of the Swamp House. But Zhao Yao was so busy in the past two days that he was nowhere to be seen. He had been away from the Swamp House for several months, and naturally there were a lot of things waiting for him to deal with when he came back.

After he had dealt with all his affairs, he went to the next yard to meet He Lianfang.

During the time he was under house arrest, He Lianfang did not do anything out of the ordinary. He stayed in his room obediently, reading or playing chess every day.

Seeing Zhao Yao coming, He Lianfang said as usual: "You're back."

Zhao Yao pulled out a chair, sat opposite He Lianfang, picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea.

"came back."

He Lianfang put down the book in her hand and looked calmly at Zhao Yao who was drinking tea, without saying a word.

Zhao Yao raised his eyes to meet He Lianfang's gaze and said with a smile, "Second Uncle, just say whatever you want to say."

He Lianfang said: "Shouldn't you have something to ask me?"

Zhao Yao played with the teacup in his hand with a nonchalant smile on his face.

"Uncle, you should know what I want to say."

He Lianfang took a deep look at Zhao Yao, then chuckled: "I really underestimated you."

"You and my father underestimated me." Zhao Yao said with a smile, "Do you really think I know nothing about what you two did?"

"When did you know that?"

"Before coming to Lingnan, I already knew everything."

"Since you knew this, why did you let me train the soldiers?"

"Second Uncle, you are a great general and you are very good at training soldiers. Why should I stop you from training?"

He Lianfang narrowed her eyes slightly and said, "Are you using me to train your soldiers?"

"Uncle, you should understand that I can train soldiers well even without you helping me train them." Zhao Yao winked at He Lianfang playfully, "Don't forget, the way you train soldiers was figured out by me."

If Zhao Yao hadn't said it, He Lianfang would have really forgotten about this matter.

"Uncle, you are the one using me, not me using you." Zhao Yao said, "You want to rebel against my father, so you chose me. Of course, another reason for choosing me is that I am somewhat similar to my uncle."

He Lianfang said nothing.

"You think my father was responsible for your uncle's death, so you want to avenge him."

"Zhao Zheng told you?"

"Father has suffered a stroke and is paralyzed. He cannot speak. How can you tell me this?"

"How did you find out?"

"If we investigate and speculate, we will know." Zhao Yao pointed to his head and said proudly, "My greatest strength is my intelligence."

Hearing Zhao Yao's shameless words, He Lianfang did not open her mouth to refute.

"Uncle, do you really think that my father killed my uncle?" Zhao Yao stared at He Lianfang. "You should know my father's character. He wished my uncle was alive so that he wouldn't have to be the emperor."

He Lianfang remained silent.

"You blame my father for your uncle's death. In fact, you can't accept your uncle's death. You are also looking for excuses for not protecting your uncle."

When He Lianfang heard this, she immediately retorted, "I didn't."

"Whether it is true or not, you know it clearly in your heart." Zhao Yao's eyes seemed to see through what He Lianfang was thinking, "Second uncle, my father and I had a deep brotherly relationship. His death had nothing to do with my father. You hated my father so much that you wanted to rebel against him. If your uncle knew, what do you think he would do to you? How can you face him in the underworld in the future?"

Zhao Yao's question stunned He Lianfang. He had never thought about this aspect.

"Father and uncle are brothers. They value each other more than their own lives. You treat father like this. Do you think my uncle will be happy that you help him get revenge?"

"I……"

"You are using the pretext of helping my uncle to avenge himself to absolve yourself of responsibility."

"I didn't..." He Lianfang's voice gradually became weak.

"Whether you have done it or not, you know better than me." Zhao Yao did not say anything more about this matter, but talked about the rebellion, "Do you know why you did not succeed in your uprising?"

This was also what He Lianfang was puzzled about. The soldiers of the Swamp House were all trained by him, and they should all listen to him, but this was not the case.

"Why?"

Zhao Yao said word by word: "Because. You. Are. Not. Me."

He Lianfang was stunned for a moment when she heard this, then she understood what Zhao Yao meant and smiled self-deprecatingly: "So that's how it is."

"Second Uncle, you and Brother B have been cooperating for a long time. It is not a bad thing for you if Brother B ascends the throne. Why do you still want to start an army?" This is what Zhao Yao didn't understand.

"When did you know?" He was cooperating with King Wei, and even Zhao Zheng didn't know.

"I learned about it after I came to the Swamp House." Zhao Yao added, "The murder of the deposed crown prince's family was actually done by you. Also, the death of my third mother was also caused by you."

He Lianfang didn't expect that Zhao Yao knew all these things. She was shocked for a moment, but soon regained her composure.

"I really underestimated you." This child's intelligence is unfathomable. "Since you know that your third mother was forced to death by me, why don't you help her get revenge?"

"I wanted to see what you were going to do, whether you were really going to rebel." Zhao Yao smiled helplessly, "I didn't expect you to start a rebellion."

"Zhao Yao." He Lianfang called Zhao Yao's name formally for the first time, "I want you to be the emperor!"

"If I become the emperor, can you succeed in your revenge?" This is what Zhao Yao could not understand.

"No, it's not for revenge, it's for the whole world."

Zhao Yao was puzzled by these words: "For the sake of the world? Second uncle, didn't you follow me in the first place just to avenge your eldest uncle and anger my father to death?"

"In the beginning, yes, but later..." He Lianfang paused here, her expression suddenly softened, "Later, it was for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and for the whole world."

Zhao Yao still didn't understand, "What do you mean?"

"Your uncle is a man who cares about the world. When he was alive, he told me that he hoped the world would be peaceful and the people would live a good life without having to go through the pain of war." He Lianfang said, "You can bring peace and prosperity to the Great Zhou and let the people of the world live a good life."

After hearing this, Zhao Yao said with a wry smile: "Second Uncle, you think too highly of me."

"Isn't Swamp House a ready-made example?"

Zhao Yao quickly waved his hands and said, "We can't compare, the Swamp House is not that big a place."

"I can tell whether you have the ability or not." He Lianfang sighed, "I started the army just to force you to become emperor, but I didn't expect you had already arranged everything."

"You and my father are really determined to make me the emperor." Zhao Yao felt helpless. He had said before that he didn't want to be the emperor, but his father and second uncle didn't listen to him and tried every means to force him to be the emperor.

They really went to great lengths to make him emperor.