Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne
Chapter 97 - 96 Orchid = Chives?

Chapter 97: Chapter 96 Orchid = Chives?

Afternoon painting lessons.

The Third Prince’s painting is exceptional, and this is what he prides himself on the most.

His maternal family, the Wang Family, is renowned for their calligraphy and painting. His mother, Consort Shu, is also proficient in painting, especially portraits. Before entering the palace, she was a famously talented woman in the capital. While still unmarried, she enjoyed painting for friends and family. Her portraits were so lifelike that they resembled the person exactly. At that time, many noble ladies in the capital sought her paintings.

Even the court painters skilled in portraits could not match Consort Shu’s work. The Third Prince perfectly inherited his mother’s talent for portraiture. He loves painting beauties, regardless of gender.

Today, the teacher is instructing them on painting people, having the princes sketch each other.

Zhao Yao, a beginner, can only practice painting plants and flowers.

"Tenth Brother, can I paint you?" the Fourth Prince asked.

"Of course, but Fourth Brother, you better paint me looking handsome," Zhao Yao said, feigning a fierce look, "If you paint me ugly, I’ll be upset."

The Fourth Prince replied with a laugh, "I’ll do my best to make you look handsome."

"Fourth Brother, that’s where you’re wrong," Zhao Yao corrected him seriously, "I am naturally handsome. You only need to capture my beauty as it is, without enhancing it unnecessarily."

Listening to Zhao Yao’s "shameless" words, the Fourth Prince chuckled, "Alright, I’ll try to capture your beauty just as it is."

Zhao Yao gave him an encouraging gesture, "Go for it, Fourth Brother!"

The Fourth Prince already knows what "go for it" means. Sometimes he wonders how his Tenth Brother comes up with these peculiar phrases.

"You too, keep it up."

Zhao Yao was learning to paint orchids. He thought his orchids resembled chives a bit. Thinking of chives, he thought of scrambled eggs with chives. Then he thought of dumplings and got hungry.

The Fourth Prince was observing Zhao Yao while painting. Seeing Zhao Yao licking his lips from time to time, he curiously asked, "What are you thinking about with that hungry look on your face?"

"Dumplings, Fourth Brother, I feel like eating chive and scrambled egg dumplings." He planned to have the small kitchen make some chive and scrambled egg dumplings tomorrow. Oh, but he couldn’t eat eggs these few days; eggs are meat. He wondered how dumplings with only chives and no eggs would taste.

"Why did you suddenly think of eating dumplings?"

Zhao Yao showed the Fourth Prince his just-finished orchid painting, "Fourth Brother, do you think these look like chives?"

If he hadn’t pointed it out, the Fourth Prince wouldn’t have seen the resemblance to chives. But now that Zhao Yao mentioned it, he realized they really did resemble chives.

"Fourth Brother, orchids look so much like chives. I wonder if orchids taste as good?" He had never eaten orchids before; maybe he should have the small kitchen stir-fry a plate of orchids tomorrow? Or use orchids as dumpling filling.

Upon hearing this, the Fourth Prince was both amused and exasperated, "Tenth Brother, orchids are not chives, you can’t eat them." How do orchids look like chives?

"You can’t eat them?" Zhao Yao asked, puzzled, "Fourth Brother, have you eaten them?"

"Never." The Fourth Prince loved orchids very much; he had nurtured many orchids and cared for them well.

"Fourth Brother, you’ve raised a lot of orchids. Could you give me a pot?" He recalled that his Fourth Brother had several pots of orchids in his room.

"What do you want orchids for, to fry and eat?"

"I want to try if orchids are tasty."

The Fourth Prince’s face immediately turned dark as he refused with a stern expression, "No, my orchids are not to be eaten."

Seeing how precious the Fourth Prince’s orchids were to him, Zhao Yao had to give up. His eyes glinted with mischief as he remembered the orchids in the Imperial Study; next time, he could steal orchids from there.

The Fourth Prince noticed Zhao Yao’s scheming eyes rolling and knew he was plotting something mischievous. He became immediately alert, "Tenth Brother, you’re not allowed to target my orchids."

"Fourth Brother, am I that kind of person?"

The Fourth Prince just looked at Zhao Yao silently.

"Don’t worry, Fourth Brother, I won’t steal your orchids."

The Fourth Prince was not assured. He decided that after class, he would hide the orchids in Xingde Palace to prevent Zhao Yao from getting any ideas.

At this moment, the Seventh Prince and Ninth Prince started arguing, then began splattering paint on each other’s faces and bodies, covering each other in paint.

Initially, it was just the Seventh Prince and Ninth Prince causing chaos, but soon the Third Prince and others got involved too.

The Fourth Prince quickly pulled Zhao Yao aside to avoid getting smeared with paint.

Zhao Yao saw the Third Prince and others throwing inkstones and paint, and he shouted internally, "It’s over."

"Fourth Brother, Third Brother and the others are fighting again; won’t we be implicated like last time?" Last time, when the Seventh and Ninth Princes fought, he got caught up and had to copy "The Analects" a hundred times.

Just as the Fourth Prince was about to speak, he saw Zhao Yao sneakily walking over and hurl a splash of red paint toward the Third Prince. Unexpectedly, his aim was good, directly hitting the Third Prince’s head.

The Third Prince’s forehead and face were covered with red paint, looking as if his forehead was injured and he was bleeding all over, very frightening to behold.

"Zhao Xun!" The Third Prince mistakenly thought it was the Ninth Prince and angrily threw a palette of paint over.

The Ninth Prince agilely dodged, pointing at the Seventh Prince while telling the Third Prince, "It was Zhao Jing who did it."

"It wasn’t me; Zhao Xun did it."

Zhao Yao saw the Third Prince and others fighting again and laughed with great amusement.

"Tenth Brother, you..."

"Fourth Brother, you saw nothing just now," Zhao Yao implored with his earnest, clear eyes gazing at the Fourth Prince.

Looking at Zhao Yao, the Fourth Prince’s heart softened. He said seriously, "Hmm, I saw nothing."

"Fourth Brother, you’re the best."

The Fourth Prince smiled indulgently, "Stand here properly."

"Fourth Brother, are you going to stop them?"

"If they keep fighting, Father will blame them."

The Fourth Prince stepped forward and shouted loudly, "Stop!"

The Third Prince and others were startled by his shout, and their actions froze involuntarily.

The Fourth Prince gave them a chilling look and said, "This is not far from the Imperial Study; do you want to draw Father here?"

His words quickly changed the Third Prince and the others’ expressions. The Third Prince glared at the Ninth and Seventh Princes, then swiftly led the Fifth Prince and others away.

Covered in paint, they needed to hurry back to Xingde Palace to bathe; otherwise, if the Emperor saw them in this state, they’d surely be punished.

Seeing his chives—no, orchids—destroyed, Zhao Yao angrily cursed the Ninth Prince and others.

"Fourth Brother, you hadn’t yet captured my beauty before they ruined it."

"I’ll redo it once we’re back."

"Fourth Brother, when I learn to paint portraits, I’ll paint you," Zhao Yao promised with a smile, "I’ll definitely capture your handsome grace."

"Fourth Brother will be waiting."

With the Third Prince and others gone, Zhao Yao and the Fourth Prince couldn’t continue their painting lesson, so the teacher dismissed them to return.

After bidding farewell to the Fourth Prince, Zhao Yao took Tong Xi and left. Instead of heading straight back to Kunde Hall, he turned and went to the Imperial Garden.

"Your Highness, why are we in the Imperial Garden?"

"To pick orchids." Zhao Yao looked around the Imperial Garden but couldn’t find any orchids, "Are there no orchids in the Imperial Garden?"

Tong Xi searched around too but didn’t find any orchids either.

"Your Highness, it seems there really aren’t any."

"How could the Imperial Garden have no orchids? What a fuss."

Tong Xi recalled a place with orchids, "Your Highness, there are some over at Lanyuan Pavilion."

"Then let’s go there."

Lanyuan Pavilion is where Prime Minister He and other ministers handle affairs of state, not far from Chengguang Hall.

This was Zhao Yao’s first time at Lanyuan Pavilion, yet he was unfazed. He strutted boldly into Lanyuan Pavilion with Tong Xi. Before his eyes was a sea of orchids.

"So many orchids?!"

"I’ve heard the officials love orchids, so they planted many in Lanyuan Pavilion."

Zhao Yao marveled, "No wonder it’s called Lanyuan Pavilion."

"Your Highness, which one do you want to pick?"

"Let me see." Zhao Yao squatted in front of the orchids, his eyes shining as he studied them. "I’ll pick the one that looks the nicest."

"Your Highness, all the orchids here are quite beautiful."

Grandmaster Liu and Prime Minister He had just finished discussing some affairs. While sipping tea and taking a rest, they suddenly spotted a small figure in the orchid garden outside, surprising them both.

"The Tenth Prince?"

"What’s he doing here..." Before Prime Minister He could finish his sentence, he saw Zhao Yao reach out and snap off an orchid. His expression changed drastically, and he sprayed the tea in his mouth, exclaiming, "My orchid!"

Startled by the cry of "My orchid," Zhao Yao fled with the freshly snapped orchid in his arms.

Tong Xi hurriedly chased after him.

Prime Minister He also gave chase but was a few steps too slow, failing to catch up with Zhao Yao.

"My orchid..."

Seeing Prime Minister He looking as if he might cry, Grandmaster Liu sympathetically patted his shoulder and consoled him, "Mourning and yet finding solace."

Prime Minister He loved orchids passionately; the orchids in Lanyuan Pavilion were mostly cultivated by him.

The orchid garden was Lanyuan Pavilion’s most treasured feature. The ministers all loved this garden and usually helped Prime Minister He take good care of these orchids. They never expected them to fall victim to Zhao Yao’s "cruel hands" today.