The ministers begged me to ascend the throne

Chapter 579 He Lianfang is dead

He Lianfang died, committing suicide. Before he died, he left a suicide note to Zhao Yao, saying that he was no longer of any use in this world, and had no desire, and that he should go to Prince Yiyong to make amends.

A few days ago, after Zhao Yao told He Lianfang everything, he was worried that He Lianfang would be upset, so he repeatedly begged He Lianfang not to do anything stupid. He also sent someone to keep an eye on He Lianfang to prevent him from doing anything stupid, but he didn't expect that he would commit suicide in the end.

Although He Lianfang did some bad things, such as killing the entire family of the deposed crown prince, forcing the third mother to death, and other things, Zhao Yao did not blame him.

He Lianfang has been with Zhao Yao for more than ten years, teaching him, caring for him, and comforting him... To him, He Lianfang is his teacher, his relative, and even more his friend.

Zhao Yaoming knew that He Lianfang had done many things behind his back, but he never exposed it because he didn't want to lose this elder who was both his teacher and friend.

A few days ago, the reason why everything was laid out was to make He Lianfang give up the rebellion, but he never expected that it would kill him.

In fact, He Lianfang had long wanted to die. If he had not met Zhao Yao, he would have committed suicide more than ten years ago. After meeting Zhao Yao, he felt that Zhao Yao was very similar to Prince Yiyong, and wanted to stay by the side of "Prince Yiyong" and let "Prince Yiyong" become the emperor. However, Zhao Yao was not Prince Yiyong after all, and was unwilling to be the emperor.

Although He Lianfang had long known that Zhao Yao had no interest in becoming emperor, he still had a glimmer of hope in his heart, thinking that when the time came, Zhao Yao would still become emperor. However, he did not expect that when the situation really came, Zhao Yao would still let the King of Wei become emperor.

Zhao Yao's choice was unexpected to He Lianfang, but also within his expectations. He chose to end his life because Zhao Yao no longer needed his help, and because he had lived enough and did not want to live anymore. Third, Zhao Yao would eventually become the emperor and did not need him to rebel.

He Lianfang's death was a great blow to Zhao Yao. He felt that it was because he did not want to be the emperor that He Lianfang was killed.

In the courtyard next to the Prince of Han's Palace, Zhao Yao and the Prince of Chu sat in the courtyard where He Lianfang once lived, drinking and chatting.

Zhao Yao never drank on weekdays, even on important holidays, he would not drink, but since He Lianfang died, he drank every day.

The King of Chu knew that Zhao Yao was blaming him, "Tenth brother, tell me, are your fourth sister-in-law and the others dead?"

Zhao Yao, who was drinking, stopped moving his hands and froze his face when he heard the King of Chu's words. He wanted to deny it, but when he saw the King of Chu's fierce eyes, he didn't say the lie.

Zhao Yao's silence has already told the King of Chu the answer.

"I already knew it. You don't have to hide it from me." The King of Chu's expression was very calm, his tone was very calm, but his eyes were very sad. "He will not let my family go."

"Fourth brother, I'm sorry. It's all my fault that I didn't save Fourth Sister-in-law and the others." Zhao Yao's heart was filled with guilt and regret when he mentioned this matter.

"This matter has nothing to do with you. Even if you saved them, he would still kill them in the future." After arriving at the Swamp House, the King of Chu originally planned to secretly leave after a while, end his life, and go underground to accompany his wife and children. However, because of He Lianfang's words, he gave up the idea of ​​ending his life and was willing to live.

Some time after the King of Chu came to the Swamp Prefecture, He Lianfang came to see him and talked to him.

"Fourth brother..." Zhao Yao didn't understand why the King of Chu told him this at this time.

The King of Chu saw the doubt in Zhao Yao's heart and comforted him in a gentle tone: "What I want to tell you is that the dead cannot be resurrected, and we should all live well."

"Fourth brother..." Fourth brother used the death of Fourth Sister-in-law and others to comfort him. He really was... "Fourth brother, I understand. I will return to normal tomorrow and will not be immersed in grief anymore."

"Tenth brother, death is a relief for General He, you should be happy for him." The King of Chu continued to persuade, "He should have found his uncle now. For him, returning to his uncle is a very happy thing."

Zhao Yao felt that what the King of Chu said was right, and nodded slightly and said, "Yes, for Second Uncle, it is best to return to the side of the eldest uncle." At this moment, Zhao Yao was relieved. "Fourth brother, fortunately you are by my side."

"Don't worry, I will always be by your side." The King of Chu had a very "fatherly" expression when he said this.

"Fourth brother, have you found what you want to do?" Although the King of Chu still has the title of prince, it is only a title, without any real power, let alone fiefdom. It can be said that he is a prince in name only. Zhao Yao felt that if he did not find something for the King of Chu to do, the King of Chu would definitely think too much, and then he would be unable to think straight. Besides, the King of Chu also has the ability, and not letting him do anything would be a waste of his talent.

"I plan to teach." The King of Chu was still very weak and could not do anything too strenuous. Besides, he did not know how to do business. After thinking it over, he felt that he was suitable to be a teacher.

"Are you going to teach at the Imperial Academy?" There is also an Imperial Academy in Swamp Prefecture, which is the highest institution of learning in Lingnan.

"I plan to teach in the free school." The students of the Imperial College don't need his teaching, but the students of the free school need his teaching.

"It would be good to teach at the Free School." Zhao Yao said with a smile, "With Fourth Brother's knowledge, he will definitely be able to teach the students of the Free School to become talented people, and then have them all be admitted to the Imperial College."

“I have never taught students, so I am not necessarily a good teacher.”

Zhao Yao pointed at himself and said, "Fourth brother, have you forgotten that you taught me? When I was a kid, I didn't like studying and I wasn't good at studying. You taught me all the time. I can teach you well, and I can teach the students of the free school even better."

Hearing what Zhao Yao said, the King of Chu suddenly recalled the time when he taught him to read when he was a child.

"Yes, I can teach you."

"Fourth brother, you have patience, and you will definitely be able to teach students well." Zhao Yao said with a smile, "The students of the free school are blessed to receive your teachings."

“It’s my blessing.”

Zhao Yao told the King of Chu about the students in the free school. After listening to him, the King of Chu felt that it was right for him to teach. "Fourth brother, I remember that you used to write and edit books. I think you can give it a try."

"Write a book? Edit a book?" The King of Chu had never written a book, let alone edited a book, since he came of age and was crowned king.

"I asked the people in the Hanlin Academy to compile books on various aspects of Lingnan, such as Lingnan language, Lingnan poetry, Lingnan folk songs, Lingnan dramas, etc." Zhao Yao suggested to the King of Chu, "Fourth brother, you can go and take a look. If you are interested after reading it, you may as well give it a try."

"I'll go take a look." The King of Chu looked at Zhao Yao with satisfaction and pride, "You have done a great job in protecting and inheriting the culture of Lingnan, my tenth brother."

"I think the culture of every place should be well protected and passed down, so that people in later generations will know the culture of their hometown." Zhao Yao added, "Fourth brother, if you are interested in foreign culture, you can also go to Sifang Pavilion to learn foreign languages."

When the King of Chu heard what Zhao Yao said, he became interested.

"I'll go take a look when I have time."

Zhao Yao also told the King of Chu a lot of interesting things about foreign countries such as Johor and Siam, and the King of Chu became more and more interested.

The two brothers chatted until very late before going back to their rooms to rest.

Zhao Yao did not go back to the bedroom to rest, but went to the study.

Tongxi was very worried when he saw Zhao Yao leaning his elbows on the desk, holding his head in his hands, not saying a word.

"Your Highness, are you all right?"

"Fourth brother knows that something happened to fourth sister-in-law and the others."

Tongxi was shocked and asked, "What? How did His Royal Highness the King of Chu know that?"

Zhao Yao shook his head and said, "I don't know. My fourth brother didn't ask me where my fourth sister-in-law and the others were buried, and I didn't tell him either, for fear of making him sad." After learning that the Princess of Chu and the others had been in trouble, Zhao Yao sent people to find their bodies, and then buried them in Liangzhou.

"This……"

"I'm worried about one thing now."

"whats the matter?"

"Myna will not let the Li family go." Zhao Yao heard the King of Chu tell him that Emperor Yong'an would not let his family go, and he thought of the Li family. Although the Li family had been rescued and returned to their hometown to live in seclusion, it did not mean that Myna would not kill them again.

"Didn't the emperor promise you to release the Li family?" Tongxi thought Zhao Yao was overthinking. "The emperor's words are as good as gold. How could he kill the Li family again? Your Highness, don't think too much about it."

"A word is as good as gold... I hope I'm overthinking." Zhao Yao said this, but he still had a bad feeling in his heart. He called out the secret guard Jia and asked him to send someone to keep an eye on the Li family. If anything happened to the Li family, they could be rescued in the first place. "Don't tell Fourth Brother what I said just now, so that he won't worry."

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I won't tell the King of Chu a word."

Zhao Yao waved at Tongxi, signaling him to leave.

"Your Highness, it's time for you to rest." His Highness has not had a good rest since the second master left.

"I am fine."

Tongxi didn't dare to say more and retreated respectfully.

After Tongxi left, Zhao Yao stood up, walked to the window, looked out at the night sky in the east, and murmured, "My dear, was it you who instructed my second uncle to commit suicide?"

Also, Brother Myna, what kind of deal did you make with your uncle?

Myna, have you read the secret decree? Do you know that my name is written on it?

Brother Ba, you must have known about the deal between the emperor and my second uncle for a long time, so you secretly cooperated with my second uncle.

My second uncle and father are determined to make me the emperor. My dear brother, you know this but you don't stop me. Do you believe that I won't fight you for the throne, or is it because of something else...

My father realized that Myna had poisoned him, so he took advantage of the situation and got himself poisoned, just to make Myna and I become enemies, so that I could kill Myna and successfully ascend the throne?
Although the old man knew that the starling would not poison him to death, was he afraid that the starling would keep him unconscious?

Given the old man’s insidiousness, he would never do anything without certainty, but where does he get the confidence that I can definitely save him... Wait, what if the old man is not waiting for me to save him, but for the starling?
By the way, there is a deal between the old man and the starling. Does the deal include letting the starling ascend the throne?
No, if the deal was to let the starling become the emperor, then why did the starling poison the old man? Why did the old man take advantage of the situation?

The old man, the myna, the second uncle...what are these three people up to?

Guess what He Lianfang said to King Chu that made him willing to live.