Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 707: Chapter 346 Prince Chu’s Exhortation_3

Prince Chu didn’t expect Zhao Yao to still remember, so he quickly changed the subject: "Tell me, how did you get captured?"

Zhao Yao’s expression stiffened instantly, and he awkwardly laughed: "Uh, this is a long story."

"Then make it short."

"Fourth Brother, didn’t Eighth Brother tell you?"

"I want to hear it from you."

Seeing Prince Chu’s serious expression, Zhao Yao knew he had no choice but to reluctantly recount the process of being captured and imprisoned to Prince Chu.

After listening, Prince Chu raised his hand and knocked on Zhao Yao’s head again.

"I remember Father told you to leave Jinling after Mr. Meng’s funeral. Why didn’t you listen?"

"Well..." Zhao Yao’s eyes darted around, his expression guilty, "I just..."

Prince Chu looked at Zhao Yao sharply and asked with a stern face: "You think you’ve grown skills and wanted to stay in Jinling to do great things?"

It was the first time Zhao Yao saw Prince Chu so serious, he quickly put on a well-behaved posture, lowered his head and said softly: "I was just curious..."

Prince Chu asked coldly: "Curious about what?"

"Curious about what big things might happen in Jinling City..." Before Zhao Yao could finish, Prince Chu flicked his forehead with a finger, making him cry out in pain. "Ouch! That hurts!"

Prince Chu ignored Zhao Yao’s pitiful appearance and said with a stern face: "Continue talking."

Zhao Yao rubbed his forehead and said pitiably: "I’ve said everything, what else is there to say."

"Weren’t you capable of staying in Jinling to gather information? Tell me what you found out that made those people want to capture you?"

"I didn’t find out anything." Zhao Yao’s expression was extremely innocent, "At first, I didn’t even know why they wanted to capture me. Later, Eighth Brother told me they captured me because I’m a prince and they wanted to threaten Father. But Father didn’t care about me, his youngest son, so they deemed me useless and wanted to kill me. Luckily, I was smart enough to keep pretending to be poisoned, fooling Li Jue, otherwise, I would have been thrown into the river to feed the fish."

Seeing Zhao Yao still wearing a smug expression, Prince Chu knocked on his head a few more times in anger.

"You’re quite proud of yourself."

"Fourth Brother, don’t you think I’m clever?"

"If you were really clever, how could you have been captured? What’s there to be proud of..."

Following that, Prince Chu gave Zhao Yao a good scolding, reprimanding him for a full two hours.

In his heart, Zhao Yao sighed: Fourth Brother is still as talkative as ever. If they were at Prince Chu Mansion, Fourth Brother could probably go on for another two hours.

When Prince Chu finally finished, Zhao Yao attentively poured him a cup of tea and smiled ingratiatingly: "Fourth Brother, have some tea."

Prince Chu didn’t take the tea cup, his expression still stern: "Do you know your mistake now?"

Zhao Yao nodded quickly: "Fourth Brother, I know my mistake, I really know my mistake." Afraid Prince Chu wouldn’t believe him, he hastily raised his hand to swear, "I promise I won’t do it again."

Only then did Prince Chu take the tea cup and drink the tea.

"Fourth Brother, you must have encountered quite a few dangers on this journey, right?"

"It wasn’t that bad."

"Fourth Brother, you’re lying to me. You went to Peng City on business—do you think the Crown Prince and Prince Dai would let you go?" Zhao Yao displayed a ’you can’t fool me’ expression, "They must have sent people to assassinate you."

Hearing this, Prince Chu’s face darkened again: "Did Prince Wei tell you this?"

"Eighth Brother didn’t tell me anything, I guessed it." Seeing Prince Chu’s disbelief, Zhao Yao pouted and said, "Fourth Brother, I’m not an idiot, I understand some things."

"What do you understand?"

"Fourth Brother, you’re competing with the Crown Prince and them for the throne."

Prince Chu was not surprised that Zhao Yao knew about his fight for succession, as this was something anyone could see.

"What else?"

"Father values you greatly. Everyone says that you will definitely replace Big Brother as the Crown Prince in the future, so Big Brother and Second Brother see you as a thorn in their sides and want to get rid of you. You went to Peng City on business—such a good opportunity to kill you, how could the Crown Prince and Prince Dai possibly miss it."

"What else do you know?"

"I don’t know anything else, I just guessed."

"What’s your guess?"

"Fourth Brother, I didn’t dare ask Eighth Brother, but isn’t it true that on the surface, Eighth Brother works for the Crown Prince, but in reality, he’s just like you?"

This sentence greatly shocked Prince Chu: "How do you know?"

"I guessed. Eighth Brother is so capable, how could he possibly be willing to be the Crown Prince’s underling." Zhao Yao exaggerated on purpose, "If I hadn’t come to Jinling, I wouldn’t have known that Eighth Brother is so capable."

"I never thought your little head could be quite sharp." Prince Chu was genuinely surprised, because Zhao Yao usually seemed so innocent and carefree, always thinking about what delicious food he could eat next.