Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 710: Chapter 347: Hoping He Hasn’t Misunderstood the Emperor’s Intentions_2

Zhao Yao interrupted Prince Wei’s words: "Eighth Brother, don’t try to comfort me. I don’t mind if Father cares about me or not. I have my mother, and I have you and Fourth Brother, that’s enough. I don’t care about the others." Although he didn’t know what Father was planning, he could guess that Father was deliberately ignoring him, intending to make his royal brothers think he’s indifferent to his youngest son. He hoped that was Father’s intention and nothing else.

Since Father treated him this way openly, he needed to cooperate and play along with this act, making everyone believe Father truly didn’t care about his youngest son. Even with Eighth Brother and Fourth Brother, he needed them to feel this way too.

"Eighth Brother, it’s just as well Father doesn’t care for me, so I can stay longer in Yangzhou." Zhao Yao appeared genuinely indifferent, "You know, Mother hasn’t seen her grandfather and them for over ten years and constantly worries about them. I plan to go to Yangzhou this time to fulfill my filial duties for Mother."

However, Prince Wei didn’t feel Zhao Yao was truly indifferent, rather, he felt Zhao Yao was forcing a smile.

"Tenth Brother..."

"Eighth Brother, if I return to the capital with you ahead of time, I won’t have any more chances to come to Yangzhou in the future." Zhao Yao smiled ingratiatingly at Prince Wei, "Eighth Brother, please let me stay in Yangzhou a bit longer."

Prince Wei’s heart softened. He smiled gently at Zhao Yao: "Alright, stay in Yangzhou for a few more days, and I’ll send someone to pick you up when you’re ready to return."

Zhao Yao immediately beamed with joy: "Thank you, Eighth Brother. You’re the best."

Prince Wei teased Zhao Yao on purpose: "Do you mean I’m not usually good to you?"

Zhao Yao sat upright, looking very serious as he said: "Eighth Brother, you’re always very good to me."

"I’ll come back soon and personally take you to Yangzhou."

"Eighth Brother, if you’re too busy, you don’t have to take me personally." Zhao Yao said sensibly, "Eighth Brother, the Crown Prince must have assigned tasks to you during your visit to Jinling, so focus on the Crown Prince’s matters."

"It’s nothing major, besides, I also want to pay a visit to Governor Liang." Prince Wei smiled slightly, "I haven’t been to Yangzhou; it’s a good opportunity to see it."

"Eighth Brother, if you visit Yangzhou, my grandparents will be very pleased." Zhao Yao said, showing a trace of worry, "Eighth Brother, isn’t there danger in going to Peng City? Fourth Brother faced danger there before."

Prince Wei’s face suddenly turned cold, and he spoke in an annoyed tone: "He actually told you about that!"

"Eighth Brother, will you be alright?" Zhao Yao only cared about this.

Prince Wei smiled reassuringly at Zhao Yao: "Don’t worry, I’ll be fine."

"How long will you be gone, Eighth Brother? If you’ll be away for a long time, I won’t wait for you. You can have Mr. Fan send someone to take me to Yangzhou."

"Just a few days." Prince Wei calculated the time in his mind, "I’ll definitely be back within five days."

"Then I’ll wait for you to return." Zhao Yao placed a chess piece on the board, putting Prince Wei’s game in peril.

While thinking about how to counter Zhao Yao’s move, Prince Wei carefully instructed him: "While I’m away for a few days, don’t go out casually, stay here obediently, and definitely don’t go looking for the Seventh Brother, understand?"

"Eighth Brother, why would I go looking for Seventh Brother? I’m not close to him." Zhao Yao said with a mischievous smile, "Don’t worry, I’ll stay here honestly and wait for you to come back, I won’t run around."

Worried Zhao Yao might feel stifled, Prince Wei thought for a moment and said: "It’s not a problem if you go out occasionally."

"Eighth Brother, Mr. Fan will take good care of me, don’t worry." Zhao Yao suddenly chuckled cheekily, "Eighth Brother, can you bring me some delicious and fun things from Peng City?"

Prince Wei flicked Zhao Yao’s forehead with his finger, smiling indulgently: "Didn’t Fourth Brother bring you some special treats and toys from Peng City already, are they not enough?"

Zhao Yao looked surprised: "Eighth Brother, how did you know?" Fourth Brother indeed brought him some specialties from Peng City.

Prince Wei said nothing.

"Eighth Brother, you can’t refrain from giving me gifts just because Fourth Brother did. Fourth Brother is Fourth Brother, and you’re you."

This statement pleased Prince Wei greatly, and he smiled, "Alright, I’ll bring you some."

Zhao Yao said with delight: "Thank you, Eighth Brother."

Next, the two brothers chatted casually while playing chess.

Zhao Yao didn’t play chess with Prince Wei for long because Prince Wei had to leave for Peng City after the hour of Hai.

Before leaving, Prince Wei repeatedly reminded Zhao Yao to wait for his return.

After sending off Prince Wei, Zhao Yao returned to his room.

"Your Highness, I thought you would go to Peng City with Lord Wei." Tong Xi was sent back by Prince Wei to take care of Zhao Yao. Compared to Mr. Fan, Prince Wei thought Tong Xi could serve Zhao Yao better, as he was Zhao Yao’s personal eunuch.

Tong Xi was placed back at Zhao Yao’s side today. Upon seeing Zhao Yao, he complained that Zhao Yao had deceived him, causing him to worry anxiously during this time searching for him.

"Eighth Brother has matters in Peng City, why would I go along and cause trouble?" Even if he wanted to go to Peng City, Eighth Brother wouldn’t agree to take him.

"Your Highness, hasn’t Prince Chu left Peng City? This means Prince Chu has already investigated the copper theft, so there’s no point for Lord Wei to go to Peng City now."

"Eighth Brother is just putting on a show." It’s obviously a show for the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen to see.

Zhao Yao spread out a piece of letter paper, preparing to write back to Lady Liang.

"Being at Eighth Brother’s place, it’s not convenient to receive Uncle’s letters, so I’m unaware of the situation in the capital." Mother is in the harem and doesn’t know about outside matters. Even if Mother knew, she couldn’t tell him in a letter.

"Your Highness, you have Second Master watching over the capital; there’s no need to worry."

"True."

"However, Your Highness, we should head to Yangzhou as soon as possible."

"We’ll go once Eighth Brother returns." Zhao Yao said while writing the letter, "Though it’s safe and comfortable here with Eighth Brother, it’s ultimately not very free, and many things can’t be done." The time when he was held, plus the days here with Eighth Brother, summed up to over a month. In this month, he hadn’t done anything.

"Tomorrow, we’ll go out for a bit."

"Your Highness, where do you plan to go and what for?"

"I still need to write to Uncle and have him do some things for me." Zhao Yao mused, "I should also meet up with the crew and let them know I’m fine."

Zhao Yao finished writing the letter and handed it to Mr. Fan. Though he knew Mr. Fan and the others wouldn’t read his letter, he still wrote about his current situation without mentioning other matters.

When handing the letter over to Mr. Fan, Zhao Yao told him he wanted to go out the next day.

Mr. Fan didn’t oppose, saying he would arrange everything.

The next day, after breakfast, Zhao Yao went out with Tong Xi.

Zhao Yao originally thought Mr. Fan would have him sneak out, but unexpectedly, he was allowed to go out openly.

"Mr. Fan, is it alright for me to go out so openly?"

"Your Highness, you’re not a fugitive, what is there to fear." Mr. Fan comforted Zhao Yao, "Besides, now that you have the Prince backing you, there’s no need to be afraid."

Zhao Yao thought about it and agreed with Mr. Fan, so he nodded, but recalling Eighth Brother’s instructions last night, he said with a peculiar expression: "But it’s not right, Eighth Brother instructed me to stay put and not go out carelessly."

"The Prince is worried you might go to some remote places and encounter danger. However, if you appear openly in bustling places, there will be no trouble." Mr. Fan said respectfully, "Li Jue and his people wouldn’t dare to openly capture you."

Zhao Yao suddenly understood: "I see." That put his mind at ease, "Let’s go."

Unexpectedly, as soon as he went out, he encountered Li Jue.