The ministers begged me to ascend the throne

Chapter 582 Time is running out
In the study of the Han Palace, Zhao Yao had just finished reading the secret letter sent from the capital. He frowned slightly and sighed: "Alas..."

When the King of Chu heard Zhao Yao sigh, he asked with concern, "What happened in the capital?"

Zhao Yao handed the secret letter in his hand to the King of Chu, "Fourth brother, read it yourself."

The King of Chu put down the teacup in his hand, took the secret letter handed over by Zhao Yao, and then lowered his head to read it carefully. After reading it, his face became solemn.

"In the past two years, Bage's methods have become more and more ruthless. If things continue like this..." Zhao Yao stopped talking at this point. "In the past six months, Bage has killed more and more officials."

"He is becoming more and more anxious and ruthless." The King of Chu frowned and said, "He wants to kill all those who don't listen to him."

"Over the past two years, some of the officials killed by my brother deserved to be killed, but some did not deserve to be beheaded." Zhao Yao originally thought that after Emperor Yong'an established his prestige in the court, he would no longer use extreme means to deal with things, but he did not expect that Emperor Yong'an would become more and more radical.

In order to bring imperial power down to the countryside, Emperor Yong'an sent his cronies to monitor officials in various places. If local officials were disobedient and did not follow orders, Emperor Yong'an's cronies could directly convict and execute them on the spot.

Zhao Yao did not expect that Emperor Yong'an would create a "Jinyiwei". He thought this was not good and wrote a memorial to persuade Emperor Yong'an to give up the "Jinyiwei", but Emperor Yong'an did not listen.

The existence of the "Jinyiwei" made civil and military officials tremble with fear, and also made the people panic.

Although the "Jinyiwei" of Emperor Yong'an did not embarrass the people, the people could not help but feel scared when they thought about their lives being monitored by the "Jinyiwei". They were afraid that they would say something they shouldn't say, do something they shouldn't do, offend the "Jinyiwei" and then be executed.

Over the past two years, the people and officials have become very well-behaved. In the court, officials dared not disobey Emperor Yong'an. They followed whatever Emperor Yong'an said and did not dare to refute him. Ministers who refuted Emperor Yong'an would either die, be dismissed from office, or be exiled.

Since Emperor Yong'an ascended the throne, his methods have become increasingly ruthless, making the ministers and the people in the court afraid of him. In Zhao Yao's opinion, this is not a good thing, and if it continues like this, something serious will happen.

"If the killing continues, no one will dare to be an official." In the past two years, Emperor Yong'an has killed hundreds of officials. Last year, almost all the officials in the northwest were killed. "Alas, in the past two years, the number of students taking the imperial examinations has been decreasing." Since Emperor Yong'an wiped out the entire Li family, the hearts of the scholars in the inland areas have been chilled, and they hate Emperor Yong'an. In order to resist Emperor Yong'an's atrocities, the scholars in the inland areas are unwilling to take the imperial examinations, let alone become officials.

During these two years, many scholars and students from the inland came to Lingnan to study, take the imperial examinations, and become officials.

Zhao Yao welcomed scholars from all over the world to come to Lingnan to take the imperial examinations, but he did not want all students to come. After all, Lingnan was such a small place, and if all the scholars came to take the imperial examinations, there would not be so many official positions for them to take.

As more and more people came to Lingnan to take the imperial examination, the examination became more and more difficult, and the number of admitted students became less and less. Even so, the scholars who came to Lingnan were reluctant to leave. Those who failed the examination made a living in various prefectures in Lingnan, such as teaching, opening private schools, or doing business.

These scholars and students gathered in Lingnan, which made the cultural heritage of Lingnan flourish, which Zhao Yao was happy to see, but the cultural heritage of the inland became dim, which he did not want to see. He could not drive these scholars away, so he could only let them stay in Lingnan. Doing so would at least preserve the cultural heritage of the Great Zhou.

The King of Chu said, "I said he would not be a good emperor."

"Hey, I feel like Bage is getting more and more anxious about things. What is he so anxious about?"

The King of Chu knew what Emperor Yong'an was worried about, but he did not tell Zhao Yao.

"Who knows?" Even if Emperor Yong'an was not in a hurry to do things, he would not be a good emperor.

"Myna is becoming more and more stubborn. He won't listen to anyone and continues to do what he wants." No matter what he said or the advice of He Xiang and Liu Taishi, Myna would not listen to a word. "I'm really worried that if Myna continues like this, something big will happen." He was really afraid that Myna would become a tyrant.

The King of Chu suggested: "If you are worried, go back to the capital and persuade him in person."

Zhao Yao pondered for a while and said, "I'll go back to the capital after some time." He hadn't been back to the capital in the past two years, so it was time to go back and take a look. "I can't let Bage go on like this."

At this time, Emperor Yong'an, who was far away in the capital, suddenly fainted. Yu Hai and Sun Doudou were so scared that they hurriedly called the imperial physician.

The imperial physician already knew the physical condition of Emperor Yong'an, but he couldn't tell the truth to Yu Hai and the others. He could only say that Emperor Yong'an was too tired and needed a good rest.

Yu Hai did not doubt the words of the imperial physician. In the past few months, Emperor Yong'an had been reviewing memorials day and night, not taking care of his health. He often advised the emperor to have a good rest and take care of his health, but the emperor did not listen.

Emperor Yong'an woke up after being unconscious for more than an hour. Seeing the empress dowager looking at him with concern, he smiled at her soothingly.

"Mother, I'm fine. I'm just too tired."

The Queen Mother asked with concern, "Your Majesty, how do you feel now?"

"I feel much better." Emperor Yong'an smiled slightly, "Mother, I'm just too tired these days. I just need a good sleep. Don't worry."

Seeing the weak appearance of Emperor Yong'an, the empress dowager's eyes turned red slightly, and her voice choked: "You, child, still want to hide it from me, your body..." At this point, the empress dowager's eyes were wet, and she couldn't say any more.

When Emperor Yong'an saw the empress dowager's extremely sad look, he knew in his heart that she knew everything.

"You know?"

The Queen Mother nodded with tears in her eyes: "I know, you are really reckless." In fact, with Emperor Yong'an's body, if he takes good care of himself, he can still live for a few more years, but after he ascended the throne, he worked hard every day and did not take good care of himself, which made his body weaker and weaker. Now his physical condition, let alone living a few more years, it would be good if he could live until next year.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager knew everything, Emperor Yong'an no longer concealed it.

"Mother, I just want to do more." "I know you are doing this for Yaoyao, but if Yaoyao finds out..."

Emperor Yong'an interrupted the empress dowager and said, "Mother, don't let my tenth brother know everything I have done. Don't let him know my physical condition. Let him think that I died of illness..." Before he could even finish the word "die", the empress dowager covered his mouth.

The Queen Mother said with a serious face: "Don't say this word."

Emperor Yong'an smiled obediently: "Okay, I won't tell you."

"You should know that he can do it, so why bother..." The empress dowager was very smart. She knew very well that everything Emperor Yong'an had done in the past three years was to remove all obstacles in the court and in the localities, so that after Zhao Yao ascended the throne, he could carry out his policies without any scruples.

Emperor Yong'an smiled and said, "This is all I can do for my tenth brother."

"I'm sorry for wronging you." Although Emperor Yong'an was not the empress dowager's biological son, she had watched him grow up and taken care of him since he was a child. In her heart, Emperor Yong'an was her other son. Moreover, Emperor Yong'an had been filial to the empress dowager since he was a child.

The word "grievance" made Emperor Yong'an feel sad, and his eyes immediately turned red. In this world, only the Queen Mother and Zhao Yao would care whether he would be wronged.

"Mother, I would rather suffer myself than let my tenth brother suffer."

"You know his character. He won't let himself be wronged." The Queen Mother sighed softly, "He would rather suffer wronged himself than you."

Emperor Yong'an pleaded, "Mother, don't tell my tenth brother anything."

"Even if I don't tell him, he can guess it."

"Mother, as long as you don't tell me that I was poisoned, my tenth brother will not blame father." As soon as Emperor Yong'an finished speaking, he began to cough and then spat out a mouthful of black blood.

When the Empress Dowager saw this, she hurriedly took a towel to wipe the blood off Emperor Yong'an.

"Mother, you must not tell my tenth brother that I was poisoned. I don't want him to resent my father." Emperor Yong'an did not want Zhao Yao to live in resentment. "If my tenth brother guesses, just say that I was poisoned by the people of Southern Wei."

“Don’t you hate the retired emperor?” The empress dowager did not know at first that the retired emperor had poisoned Emperor Yong’an. When she found out later, it was too late. Emperor Yong’an had been poisoned to the bone marrow, and even the immortals could not save him.

Emperor Yong'an said calmly, "I hated it before, but I don't hate it anymore now."

Seeing that Emperor Yong'an really had no hatred in his eyes, the Queen Mother asked distressedly, "Why not?"

"If I were my father, I would do the same." Emperor Yong'an laughed at himself, "It's because I have half the blood of the Southern Wei people in my body."

The Queen Mother held Emperor Yong'an's hand and said, "I would rather you hate him."

"Mother, I have avenged myself, haven't I?"

The Empress Dowager understood what Emperor Yong'an meant and sighed.

"Mother, I don't have much time left. I have to let my tenth brother come back." Emperor Yong'an knew very well about his own body. He would not survive until next year.

The Queen Mother cried silently, "Okay, let him come back, so he can accompany you."

"Mother, can I be your biological son in the next life?" Emperor Yong'an has always wanted to be the empress dowager's biological son and to be a brother with Zhao Yao from the same mother.

Emperor Yong'an's words made the Empress Dowager burst into tears. She nodded repeatedly: "Yes... yes... yes..."

"Then I'll wait for you..." Before he could finish this sentence, Emperor Yong'an fainted.

The Empress Dowager sat beside the bed, looking at the unconscious Emperor Yong'an, and cried for a long time.

She called Sun Doudou in and asked him to bring a basin of warm water.

Sun Doudou moved quickly and brought a basin of warm water.

The Queen Mother personally wiped the blood off Emperor Yong'an's face, and then asked Sun Doudou to change Emperor Yong'an into clean clothes and bedding.

"Don't tell anyone else about the emperor vomiting blood."

Sun Doudou said respectfully, "Yes, Queen Mother."

The empress dowager waved her hand, signaling Sun Doudou to go back and boil medicine for Emperor Yong'an, while she continued to stay by his side.

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