Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne
Chapter 66: Rewarding with Beef

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Rewarding with Beef

The play at Chaoyang Palace was quite spectacular. Although Zhao Yao kept his head down while eating, his eyes observed everything, and his ears listened carefully, not missing a single scene.

Ah, the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen’s move is truly clever, using a child to deal with Second Brother. First, they subtly mocked Second Brother for not being able to have children, then used the issue of the child to sow discord, and finally used the child to gain Father’s favor, obtaining the emperor’s personally worn Nine Dragon Jade Pendant. This move kills three birds with one stone.

Tonight’s victory feast was supposed to be Second Brother’s moment in the spotlight, but now he’s being doubted by all the civil and military officials in court. No man can accept being doubted in his abilities.

He guessed Second Brother originally intended to humiliate the Crown Prince at tonight’s victory feast, but unexpectedly, the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen turned the tables on him.

Second Brother and Marquis Xuanping, relying on their great achievements and the fact that Father had betrothed the youngest daughter of Kong Taichang to Second Brother, became arrogant and dismissed the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen.

Before returning to the capital, Second Brother and Marquis Xuanping suffered a major setback at the hands of the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen, but they hadn’t learned their lesson at all. Thinking that Father betrothing Kong Taichang’s youngest daughter to Second Brother meant the Crown Prince was to be deposed, they became arrogant and forgot about the capabilities of the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen.

He had long guessed that the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen wouldn’t let Second Brother steal the spotlight at tonight’s feast, but he hadn’t expected Duke Zhen’s methods to be so... exquisite.

He believed that by tomorrow morning, rumors that Second Brother was incapable would spread throughout the entire capital.

Yesterday afternoon, when Second Brother returned to the capital, he was full of spirits, but after tonight’s feast, his face no longer shone.

He had thought that Second Brother would certainly flaunt his power for a while and that the Crown Prince would be oppressed by him for some time, but there was an unexpected reversal. Not only did Second Brother underestimate the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen, but even he didn’t anticipate this move by Duke Zhen and his allies.

This shows how difficult it is for Marquis Xuanping to defeat Duke Zhen. Truly, Duke Zhen is prudent and farsighted.

With Duke Zhen present, it will be challenging for Second Brother to replace the Crown Prince as heir.

Duke Zhen must not be underestimated, or one would not know how they might end up being tricked by him.

The beef on the table was all gone, and Zhao Yao eagerly awaited the next plate of beef. He waited for a long while and it still didn’t come, making him very disappointed.

"Eighth Brother, is there still more beef?"

The Eighth Prince reached out and poked the corner of Zhao Yao’s mouth, laughing, "No more, stop waiting."

Unrelenting, Zhao Yao asked, "Eighth Brother, is there really, really no more beef?" He hadn’t had enough yet. He could still eat ten plates. No, he could eat a whole cow.

"You’ve already had several plates of beef tonight, haven’t you had enough?" said the Eighth Prince, while patting Zhao Yao’s little belly, "Your little belly is all round, and you still want more? If you eat any more, your little belly will burst." The Eighth Prince was sometimes curious how his small-in-size Tenth Brother could fit so much food in his little belly. "You’ve also eaten quite a bit of pork, and lamb, and chicken, duck, and goose..." Suddenly realizing that Zhao Yao had only eaten meat and not touched any vegetables tonight.

Seeing there were still vegetables on the table, he quickly picked some spinach and fed it to Zhao Yao.

"Stop thinking about beef and eat some vegetables."

Zhao Yao slightly frowned, looking disdainfully at the spinach in front of him.

"Eighth Brother, I don’t want to eat..." Before he could finish speaking, the Eighth Prince had already fed him the spinach.

The Eighth Prince saw Zhao Yao’s little face scrunched up, looking like he was about to spit the vegetables out, and immediately warned him, "Don’t spit it out, swallow it."

Zhao Yao pouted a bit, feeling wronged, and reluctantly, with great disdain, ate it.

As soon as he finished, the Eighth Prince fed him another mouthful of spinach.

"Eighth Brother, I can’t eat anymore..."

"No, you need to eat a few more bites," the Eighth Prince said, putting on a deliberately fierce face, "You haven’t eaten a single vegetable tonight."

"I don’t like eating vegetables," he only wanted to eat meat.

"Only eating meat and not vegetables is not good for your health," the Eighth Prince said, poking Zhao Yao’s forehead, "Being picky is wrong."

"Eighth Brother, you don’t like eating meat, so how can you tell me I’m picky?"

"I don’t like eating meat, but I still eat some, while you won’t eat a single vegetable."

Zhao Yao looked to the Fourth Prince for help, "Fourth Brother, say something for me."

The Fourth Prince looked at Zhao Yao but didn’t look at the Eighth Prince, seriously saying, "Being picky is wrong, you need to eat more vegetables." After saying that, he also picked some spinach and fed it to Zhao Yao.

Zhao Yao: "..."

It was at this moment that the Emperor stood up and left the Chaoyang Palace.

There was still a pile of memorials on the imperial table that needed reviewing, so the Emperor had to return to the Imperial Study to review them.

Even though tonight was his favorite second son’s victory feast, he couldn’t linger any longer. To him, nothing was more important than matters of state.

The Emperor, hands behind his back, hummed a tune out of key.

Sun Kui, walking behind the Emperor, noticed how happy he was and boldly said, "Your Majesty, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you this happy."

The Emperor raised the corner of his mouth in a smile of vague meaning, "Tonight’s play was good; it pleased me."

A play?

Sun Kui was momentarily stunned, then immediately understood the Emperor’s meaning.

"Your Majesty, were you referring to Marquis Xuanping and Duke Zhen?"

"Duke Zhen always manages to surprise me," the Emperor said, a hint of profundity in his eyes.

Sun Kui thought indeed, just now Duke Zhen’s words were... beyond expectation. More importantly, it shamed Prince Dai greatly, overshadowing his triumphant return.

"Duke Zhen has trained the Crown Prince well." The Emperor still wore a casual smile, but his eyes were cold.

Sun Kui sensed the Emperor’s displeasure and knew what his words meant. Not daring to respond, he lowered his head, hunched over, and obediently followed behind.

The Emperor suddenly thought of something, his face showing a doting smile, and instructed Sun Kui, "Have the Imperial Kitchen send the leftover beef to Little Ten."

This inexplicable order caused Sun Kui to pause slightly, surprised, "Send beef to His Highness Ten?" What kind of reward was this?

"That boy likes beef; he was eating it non-stop at the feast earlier." Recalling his youngest son stealthily hiding beef at the feast, a smile of helplessness mixed with amusement and affection appeared on the Emperor’s face.

Sun Kui hadn’t noticed this, "This servant only saw General Shen eating beef endlessly." Thinking of General Shen’s wolfing down manner of eating, Sun Kui nearly chuckled aloud. Since General Shen was often criticized by the civil officials for eating so rudely, often bringing himself complaints. "Doesn’t His Highness Ten prefer snacks?"

"He likes beef most of all." The Emperor chuckled lightly, "See if there’s any beef left in the Imperial Kitchen. If there is, send it all to him." Stealing meat during the victory feast, that boy Little Ten really is...

Sun Kui was astonished; he hadn’t expected His Majesty to be so attentive to the Tenth in this way.

"If His Highness Ten finds out, he will surely be very happy."

"Oh, and when you deliver the beef, ask if he’s finished copying the Analects."

If Zhao Yao were in front of the Emperor at this moment, he would surely curse the Emperor as a demon in his heart.

"Your Majesty, you still remember that?" Sun Kui laughed, "His Highness Ten might end up crying."

Thinking of his young son’s wronged and aggrieved yet unable to retort expression, the Emperor’s eyes were full of laughter.

"It’s good for children’s eyes to cry more."

Sun Kui thought, what kind of nonsense was this? To have a father like the Emperor, His Highness Ten truly was unfortunate.

Back at the Imperial Study in Chengguang Hall, the Emperor buried himself in the memorials.

Sun Kui personally went to the Imperial Kitchen instead of sending his apprentice.

The eunuchs in the Imperial Kitchen were both surprised and overjoyed, yet fearful, seeing Chief Steward Sun himself come to the Imperial Kitchen, fearing the imperial meal tonight didn’t suit the Emperor’s taste.

"Are there any leftovers of the beef from tonight?"

"Beef?" The eunuch of the Imperial Kitchen was stunned for a moment, then quickly responded, "There’s just a little left. Should it be made into a midnight snack and sent to Chengguang Hall?"

"Send whatever’s left of the beef to Kunden Hall for His Highness Ten," Sun Kui added, "His Highness loves to eat it."

"This beef is fresh, and if left overnight, it won’t be fresh anymore. I’ll cook it up right now so that the taste of the beef won’t spoil." The eunuch of the Imperial Kitchen, cleverly discerning that the Emperor specifically ordered this, was greatly astonished in his heart. After all, the Tenth wasn’t particularly favored.

"His Highness Ten is probably still at Chaoyang Palace. I’ll come back for the beef tomorrow morning."

"Mr. Sun, why don’t we cook the leftover beef tomorrow and then deliver it to Kunden Hall at noon?"

"Kunden Hall has its own small kitchen; let them prepare it themselves," Sun Kui instructed, "I’ll come by after the morning assembly." Having spoken, he left the Imperial Kitchen and returned to the Imperial Study to inform the Emperor of the plan to cook the leftover beef.

The Emperor nodded.

"Your Majesty, shall we send only beef? Should we send some other items too? Just sending beef seems odd. Shall we add some snacks since His Highness Ten loves them?"

"Then send some snacks too," the Emperor said, suddenly thinking of Liang Zhaoyi’s love for books, "send her a couple of those books composed by the court in the past few days."