Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne
Chapter 99 - 98: Having a Meal

Chapter 99: Chapter 98: Having a Meal

In the Lanyuan Pavilion, just as Prime Minister He was anxiously about to go to Kunde Hall to ask for the Silver Edge Royal Orchid, Sun Kui returned with it.

When Prime Minister He saw that only two or three blossoms of the Silver Edge Royal Orchid were left, his expression turned stiff.

Sun Kui hesitated whether to tell Prime Minister He the truth.

"Mr. Sun, why did the Tenth Prince take away my Silver Edge Royal Orchid?" Prime Minister He thought, could it be an imperial prank?

Sun Kui, seeing Prime Minister He’s expression, instantly understood what he was thinking.

"It has nothing to do with His Majesty; it was the Tenth Prince himself who wanted to come to Lanyuan Pavilion to pick the orchid."

The word "pick" had a bad connotation for Prime Minister He, instantly making him think of picking flowers or vegetables.

"What does the Tenth Prince want to do with the orchid?"

Sun Kui looked at Prime Minister He, appearing hesitant. Prime Minister He didn’t look pleased; if he told the truth, would he be so angry as to lose control?

Seeing Sun Kui’s hesitance, Prime Minister He had a bad premonition.

"Did the Tenth Prince pick the orchid just for fun?" At this moment, Prime Minister He’s chest started to heave a little.

"Not for fun." Sun Kui thought carefully and decided to tell the truth, "The Tenth Prince picked it to eat."

Prime Minister He thought he misheard: "Mr. Sun, what did you just say?"

"The Tenth Prince picked your orchid to eat. He said the orchid looks like chives, so he was curious if the orchid tastes as good as chives..." Sun Kui hadn’t finished when he saw Prime Minister He’s face turn red.

Grandmaster Liu, who was standing next to them, was first startled but then burst out laughing.

Prime Minister He’s breathing became rapid, and he spoke with disbelief: "Looks like chives, for eating?"

"Yes, the Tenth Prince didn’t know it was the Silver Edge Royal, he thought it was an ordinary orchid."

"Did the Tenth Prince eat the flowers on the plant?"

"Yes, and the Tenth Prince also said it tasted quite good..."

Before Sun Kui could finish, he saw Prime Minister He faint, and he exclaimed in fright: "Prime Minister He! Prime Minister He! Prime Minister He!"

Prime Minister He fainted from sheer anger.

The culprit who angered Prime Minister He into a faint, Zhao Yao, was channeling his focus towards the spinach and watercress in his bowl.

For the past two days, he had been eating these same dishes every meal, and Zhao Yao was getting tired of it. He never liked eating vegetables much, and now having them every meal was really torturous for a child.

Suddenly, the Emperor reached out to pinch open Zhao Yao’s little mouth and stuffed a chopstick full of spinach into it.

Zhao Yao, force-fed: "..."

The Emperor glared at Zhao Yao on purpose and said, "Swallow it."

Zhao Yao glared back at the Emperor angrily.

"Don’t eat it, and I’ll spank you."

This threat was effective; Zhao Yao timidly swallowed the vegetable in his mouth right away.

"No swallowing the vegetables whole," Liang Zhaoyi said with a frown, "Last time you swallowed it and got choked, remember?"

The Emperor picked up another bunch of vegetables and pushed them into Zhao Yao’s mouth, "Chew it properly."

Zhao Yao pouted and reluctantly chewed a few times. Just as he was about to swallow, the Emperor pinched his mouth open again.

The Emperor checked Zhao Yao’s mouth and saw that the vegetables were not chewed up, so he pinched his son’s face in anger.

"Chew it thoroughly before swallowing."

Liang Zhaoyi added, "Chew each bite twenty times." This child, when faced with something he doesn’t like, would swallow it right away.

Under the Emperor’s stern gaze, Zhao Yao reluctantly chewed twenty more times. The Emperor pinched his mouth open to check if he chewed properly. Once he was sure Zhao Yao had, he let him swallow.

Next, the Emperor personally fed Zhao Yao vegetables. To be precise, he shoved them into his mouth.

Zhao Yao was so angry he wanted to bite the Emperor, but dared not.

He knew that whenever the Emperor came to Kunde Hall for a meal, he would be bullied.

Under the Emperor’s forceful feeding, Zhao Yao ate quite a lot of vegetables.

After feeding Zhao Yao, the Emperor flicked his finger against Zhao Yao’s head and said with disdain, "You can’t even eat your meal properly, still need me to feed you."

Zhao Yao puffed up his cheeks and quietly retorted, "I didn’t ask you to feed me. Besides, you’re not feeding me, you’re forcing me..."

Before he finished speaking, his little face ended up in the Emperor’s "magic" grasp, being pinched into various shapes.

Zhao Yao was so angry he kept huffing.

Finally, Liang Zhaoyi rescued him from the Emperor’s "grasp."

"The hundred copies of ’The Analects’ I asked you to copy, are they done?" the Emperor asked. "If not, I’ll spank you."

Zhao Yao covered his little butt and said, "They’re done."

"Bring them to me."

Zhao Yao ran to his study with his little legs and asked Tong Xi to help bring over the hundred copies of ’The Analects’ he had copied.

"A hundred times, not one less."

"Really, let me see." The Emperor took a look and upon seeing Zhao Yao’s scribbled writing, his brows furrowed, "What kind of writing is this? Even a dog writes better than you."

"Then ask a dog to write," Zhao Yao muttered.

The Emperor tapped Zhao Yao’s head with a copied ’The Analects’, "Your writing is so ugly and you’re not ashamed, you even take pride in it."

"Father, are you reasonable or not? I’ve only been learning to write for less than three months," Zhao Yao lamented, "My hand is almost broken from copying."

"I have never seen such ugly handwriting."

"Well, now you’ve seen it... ow..." Zhao Yao’s face was pinched again by the Emperor. "Father, you’re being unreasonable." Asking him, who has been writing for only three months, to write as neatly as his fourth and eighth brothers is just unreasonable.

"I see you haven’t been practicing properly."

"I copy books every day, where’s the time to practice writing?"

"If you studied properly, would I punish you by making you copy books?" The Emperor tapped Zhao Yao’s head again, "Blame yourself for not being smart at studying."

Liang Zhaoyi had matters to discuss with the Emperor, so she sent Zhao Yao back to the study to read.

Zhao Yao was eager to leave, otherwise, he’d be beaten again by his father.

The Emperor saw Liang Zhaoyi send Zhao Yao away and knew she had something to discuss.

Liang Zhaoyi first spoke to the Emperor about Liang Run buying land. After hearing it, the Emperor said he would send someone to handle it properly. Then, Liang Zhaoyi spoke about compiling historical records.

The Emperor hadn’t thought of compiling history. Ever since he ascended the throne, he had been busy quelling rebellions and focusing on rebuilding, so other matters were temporarily set aside. Moreover, the court had historians already documenting events daily.

Liang Zhaoyi said that not only should current dynasty history be recorded, but past dynasties’ histories must also be collected and revised so history can be passed down from generation to generation.

If history isn’t organized well now, it might end up being lost in time.

After hearing Liang Zhaoyi, the Emperor felt that compiling history needed to be done.

"Why did you suddenly think of having me compile history?" The Emperor didn’t use "I" in formal terms but rather "I" casually.

"It’s Yao Yao. He’s always loved reading history books. A couple of days ago, after finishing the books on the previous dynasty, he asked me for books on the Zheng Dynasty. I told him not much was left, and he asked why..." Liang Zhaoyi skipped mentioning Zhao Yao’s reference to the ’Records of the Grand Historian’ and honestly explained to the Emperor her reason for suggesting compiling historical records.

After hearing her explanation, the Emperor warmly said, "I’ll bring it up in tomorrow’s morning court session." The Emperor was always decisive. When he believed something was right, he would act immediately, never procrastinating. "It’ll give those scholars something to do."

The conversation then shifted away from official matters, as they chatted casually.

The Emperor enjoyed chatting with Liang Zhaoyi. Unlike other concubines who were careful or had ulterior motives, she would speak whatever came to her mind, openly. She never played tricks in his presence nor asked him for anything. She treated him as a husband, sharing things she knew or read about in books.

Liang Zhaoyi enjoyed reading. Whatever she found interesting she would share with the Emperor. He would do the same with her.

They could spend a long time talking about trivial things.

The Emperor still had memorials to review, so he didn’t stay long in Kunde Hall. Before leaving, he hugged Liang Zhaoyi and kissed her ear.

Liang Zhaoyi hugged him back, warmly saying, "Take care of yourself and don’t overwork."

The Emperor replied gently, "Alright."

Liang Zhaoyi and Zhao Yao went to see the Emperor off at the door of Kunde Hall.

Zhao Yao noticed the Emperor instructing Sun Kui to take his copied hundred copies of ’The Analects’ away and internally grumbled: Father really is going to check my copied ’The Analects’! Isn’t he busy, how does he have time to check my writing?

Father is just bullying him on purpose!

Once the Emperor was out of sight, Liang Zhaoyi took Zhao Yao’s hand to walk back. As for Yu Meiren and the others, they didn’t show up. Every time the Emperor came to Kunde Hall, they would disappear and not disturb the Emperor and Liang Zhaoyi.

On the imperial chariot, the Emperor flipped through Zhao Yao’s copied ’The Analects’.

"Your Majesty, this servant forgot to tell you, Prime Minister He fainted from anger when he found out the Tenth Prince ate the Silver Edge Royal Orchid’s blossoms." Sun Kui respectfully reported, "The Imperial Physician said it was due to an outburst of anger."

The Emperor laughed upon hearing this, "He actually fainted from anger, huh."

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister He initially thought it was you who had the Tenth Prince prank him."

"Am I that idle?"

Sun Kui silently thought: Yes, you are. You used to tease Prime Minister He with orchids frequently.

"Little Ten, that rascal, won’t rest until he’s tasted stir-fried orchid." The Emperor knew his youngest son’s temperament well.

Meanwhile, at the Bodhi Temple outside the capital, Kong Yao was accepting the abbot’s tonsure.

For safety’s sake, they specially chose to have the tonsure at night.