Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne
Chapter 94: Becoming a Monk

Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Becoming a Monk

At this moment, in the study room of the Kong Mansion, Kong Taichang’s expression was not very pleasant.

"Father, this is the best method, please don’t hesitate any longer, agree to your daughter’s request."

"Yao Er, have you really thought this through?"

"Father, I’m only afraid that by doing this, I might implicate you all and get you punished by His Majesty." Since she was bestowed by the emperor to marry Prince Dai, Kong Yao’s heart had been in turmoil. A few days ago, her father rejected the emperor’s order, but His Majesty did not agree. The emperor was determined to have her marry into Prince Dai Mansion. She absolutely could not marry into Prince Dai Mansion, whether for the Kong Family or for herself.

"Yao Er, if others become nuns, they may return to secular life in the future, but you cannot. Once you become a nun, it is for a lifetime, and you will not be able to return to secular life." Previously, Kong Taichang had also considered sending his daughter to a Taoist temple or a nunnery. After a few years, when everyone forgot about her, he would quietly let her return to secular life and send her back to their hometown to get married. However, later he thought it over and realized that Prince Dai would not easily give up on his daughter. Even if she became a nun, Prince Dai would keep his eyes on her. If she returned to secular life later, Prince Dai might still want to marry her.

"Father, your daughter knows." During this period, Kong Yao had thought a lot, but no matter how much she thought, she couldn’t find a good way to refuse this marriage. There were only two ways to avoid this marriage: one was to die. If she died, she wouldn’t have to marry Prince Dai as a concubine. The other was to become a nun. If she became a nun, she wouldn’t have to marry Prince Dai either.

She was not afraid of death, but if she died, her parents and brother would be heartbroken, so she could only become a nun.

Becoming a nun was a decision she made after careful consideration.

"A lifetime with the dim light of an oil lamp, unable to marry and bear children." Kong Taichang said, "Spending your entire life in a temple, is that really what you want?"

"Father, to tell you the truth, I don’t want to get married at all." From a young age, she didn’t want to get married, didn’t want to pin her fate on a man, "I just want to read, just want to be accompanied by books. To me, being in a temple is good, I can read quietly without being disturbed..."

Kong Taichang was shocked by his daughter’s "rebellious" words. In the eyes of the world, after a girl came of age, she should marry and bear children. Not marrying and bearing children, while staying at home as an old maid, would draw ridicule from the world.

Kong Yao felt that after becoming a nun, not only would she not have to marry, but she could also continue to study and pursue knowledge, which truly suited her intentions. To be honest, she couldn’t wait to become a nun, to stay away from the worldly troubles, and read peacefully.

"Father, this is the most effective method at present, please don’t hesitate any longer." She really felt that becoming a nun was great. "I just don’t believe that after I become a nun, His Majesty can still force me to marry Prince Dai."

"Yao Er, you must think it over."

"Father, I have already thought it over." Kong Yao said with a smile on her face, "I think becoming a nun is quite good."

Kong Taichang laughed with anger at his daughter’s words: "Have you long wanted to become a nun and not marry?"

"Yes." This marriage just gave her a legitimate reason not to marry and bear children.

Kong Taichang: "..." He never expected his usually obedient and sensible youngest daughter to be so... rebellious.

"Father is not afraid of you implicating us."

"Then please agree to my request, Father."

Kong Taichang said with a face full of guilt: "It’s all Father’s fault for wronging you."

"Father, it’s not your fault, please don’t blame yourself." Kong Yao continued, "Father, this period is the best time for me to become a nun. Even if His Majesty and Prince Dai are angry, they can’t take our lives."

Kong Taichang knew in his heart that what his daughter said was right, but he was reluctant. He would rather destroy himself than have his daughter become a nun.

"Father, delaying action leads to chaos."

Kong Taichang looked deeply at his daughter, then said heavily and helplessly, "Father agrees to your request."

Kong Yao said happily, "Thank you, Father."

Seeing his daughter’s happy and joyful look, Kong Taichang was both amused and helpless. Probably only his daughter would be so happy to become a nun in this world.

"I agreed, but it’s useless. You still have to convince your mother to agree."

"Father, Mother will definitely agree, I will go and talk to her now."

Kong Yao went to talk to Mrs. Kong, and Mrs. Kong quickly agreed.

Kong Yuan also didn’t want his younger sister to become a nun, but he understood that becoming a nun was the best way.

Kong Taichang originally thought his wife would not agree, but to his surprise, she was delighted to agree to her daughter becoming a nun.

"Father and Mother, the matter of becoming a nun is best done sooner rather than later, I will go tomorrow."

Seeing his daughter’s eagerness to become a nun, Kong Taichang felt very complicated and for a moment didn’t know what to say.

Mrs. Kong supported her daughter’s idea: "Tomorrow, I’ll take you to Bodhi Temple, saying it’s to pray for the late Empress, so it won’t arouse suspicion."

"Then we will set off early tomorrow morning."

"I will stay at Bodhi Temple with you for a while longer, so it will raise even less suspicion." After knowing her daughter’s desire to become a nun, Mrs. Kong thought through many things in an instant, "The abbess of Bodhi Temple knows me, I’ll ask her to discreetly have you ordained, so when His Majesty and Prince Dai find out you’ve become a nun, you’ll have been one for quite some time, and they can’t force you back to secular life."

"Mother is really considerate."

"You can’t pack too many things for now, nor bring too many books." Mrs. Kong said, "After a while, I’ll send the books to you." Mrs. Kong wasn’t as rigid as other ladies; since her daughter didn’t want to marry and wanted to become a nun to focus on her studies and pursue knowledge, she didn’t oppose it. As a mother, she only wanted her daughter to be happy.

"Come, let’s pack your things."

"Yes, Mother."

The mother and daughter happily went to pack their things, leaving the father and son staring at each other.

Kong Yuan, coming to his senses, laughed helplessly: "To go to become a nun so joyfully, it’s only possible with my little sister."

Originally, Kong Taichang felt guilty because his daughter was becoming a nun, but now seeing his daughter’s happy demeanor, his heart was no longer heavy.

"I hope everything will go as smoothly as my little sister wishes." If becoming a nun didn’t work, the only path left would be death.

"It’s all that bastard’s fault from the previous dynasty." Whenever Kong Taichang thought of that Family Head from the previous dynasty, his anger would surge, wishing to whip his corpse. Unfortunately, he can’t, because that Family Head died without a corpse left.

"Father, we need to find a way to make His Majesty rely on our Kong Family." The Kong Family in the court was considered favored, but compared to the Li Family, they weren’t as valued. "We can’t let His Majesty use our Kong Family as a bargaining chip or a tool for balance."

"Do you have any methods?" How could Kong Taichang not want to change their situation and make His Majesty rely more on their Kong Family?

Kong Yuan shook his head: "I haven’t thought of a good method."

"Neither do I have a good idea." After speaking, Kong Taichang sighed a long sigh, "Sigh..."

At this moment, in Kunde Hall, Zhao Yao was reading historical books of the previous dynasty, while Liang Zhaoyi was reading books personally written and bestowed by the previous emperor.

Reading historical books was a requirement from Liang Zhaoyi. In her view, the more one reads historical books, the more one can understand various things and avoid certain mistakes.

"Mother Consort, I’ve almost finished reading the historical books of the previous dynasty. Should I start reading the historical books of the dynasty before that?" He enjoyed reading historical books because they contained many interesting and entertaining stories, and even quite a few bizarre ones.

"The historical books of the Zheng Dynasty are incomplete; there are only a few in the palace."

"Why is that?"

"The founding emperor of the previous dynasty, the one who seized the throne, was fearful of being criticized by future generations, so he ordered the burning of the Zheng Dynasty’s historical books."

"This actually happened!" Zhao Yao was not knowledgeable about the affairs of the Zheng Dynasty since it belonged to a period before the previous dynasty.

"Not just the Zheng Dynasty; several dynasties before the Zheng Dynasty have lost many historical books." Liang Zhaoyi found this to be particularly heartbreaking.

"Didn’t anyone try to collect them?" Zhao Yao said, "In the dreams of Zhao Yao and their history, it continued without interruption precisely because there were always people collecting historical records and compiling them into books, like the ’Records of the Grand Historian’." These past few days, Zhao Yao had intermittently recalled some things from his dreams.

"Records of the Grand Historian?"

"Yes, this book recorded events from the time of Emperor Huang until the era of Emperor Wu of Han, covering more than three thousand years..."

Listening to Zhao Yao’s introduction of the "Records of the Grand Historian," Liang Zhaoyi was moved.

"It truly is a great historical book."

"Yes, so why can’t we collect historical records and compile our own ’Records of the Grand Historian’?" There were too many wars in the Xia and Zheng dynasties, causing many historical records to be lost or destroyed; that was why it was even more necessary to collect them and compile a comprehensive historical book. This way, if wars occurred again in the future, history would not become fragmented. "Why doesn’t Father the Emperor send people to collect and compile them?"

Liang Zhaoyi was moved by Zhao Yao’s words.

"You’re right, we should find people to collect historical records and compile our own ’Records of the Grand Historian’." She paused, then composed herself and said, "This is a highly beneficial proposal for the country and its people, and I will suggest it to your father the emperor." Currently, the world was mostly at peace, and it was time for the emperor to have historical records compiled.

"Mother Consort, I’m not reading anymore." Zhao Yao took out a quill and said, "I want to draw the blueprint for the farm."

Liang Zhaoyi curiously asked, "What kind of design do you want for the farm?"

"You’ll see once I finish the drawing, Mother Consort," Zhao Yao replied with a playful reservation. As he started drawing, a thought suddenly crossed his mind, and he turned to Liang Zhaoyi and asked, "Mother Consort, will Father the Emperor come to Kunde Hall tomorrow?"

Tomorrow was the day of the month when the emperor usually came to Kunde Hall. However, as it was the mourning period for the late Empress, Zhao Yao guessed that the emperor might not come.

"He will come for a meal."

During the mourning period for the late Empress each year, the Emperor would still come to Kunde Hall, but only for a meal and wouldn’t stay overnight.

"Mother Consort, in that case, I won’t disturb you and Father the Emperor. Tomorrow, I’ll go to Xingde Palace to find Fourth Brother." Every time Father came to Kunde Hall, he would tease him, take his treats, and deliberately quiz him on his studies. If he didn’t answer, Father would pinch his cheeks and nose or smack his bottom.

Liang Zhaoyi looked at Zhao Yao with a gentle expression, saying nothing.

Feeling a chill under her gaze, Zhao Yao quickly pleaded, "Mother Consort, I won’t go to find Fourth Brother tomorrow, please don’t look at me like that, I’m scared." The more gentle Mother Consort’s smile was, the more frightening it was.

"That’s a good boy."

Zhao Yao mumbled softly, "I hope Father the Emperor won’t snatch my food tomorrow."

Wait, when Father comes tomorrow, I can request permission to go to Hulong Temple to pray for the late Empress.