Chapter 317: Chapter 208: The Joke about Liang Zhaoyi_3
Zhao Yao thought for a moment and said, "No."
The Fourth Prince, seeing Zhao Yao was fine, said to him, "Let’s go back."
Eunuch Han respectfully escorted Zhao Yao and the Fourth Prince out of the Commander’s Hall.
"Tenth Brother, can those things you mentioned really produce good paper?"
"Yes, absolutely." Zhao Yao said firmly, "Fourth Brother, just wait and see."
"Tenth Brother, how are you so sure?" the Fourth Prince asked with a puzzled expression, "How did you come to know these things could make paper, and good paper at that?"
"Fourth Brother, I dreamed about it." Zhao Yao wasn’t lying; he did indeed dream about it.
"Dreamed about it?" The Fourth Prince was somewhat astonished.
"I really dreamed about it, I’m not lying to you, Fourth Brother." Zhao Yao’s expression looked extremely sincere.
The Fourth Prince looked at Zhao Yao, then laughed and asked, "How did you end up dreaming about such things?"
"I don’t know, it just came to me suddenly in a dream." Zhao Yao said in all seriousness, "Then I thought I’d give it a try, maybe it will really work."
The Fourth Prince could tell that Zhao Yao wasn’t lying anymore and had no doubts about Zhao Yao’s words.
"What did you want the clay for earlier?"
"Fourth Brother, I want to make something out of clay; if it works out, it will be something good." Zhao Yao gave a slight smile to the Fourth Prince, speaking mysteriously, "Fourth Brother, once I make it, you’ll be the first to know, and you’ll definitely be shocked."
"Shocked?" The Fourth Prince said amusedly, "What shocking thing are you planning to make?"
"Fourth Brother, you’ll know when the time comes."
"Then I’ll wait for it."
Just as Zhao Yao was about to say something more, his little stomach grumbled loudly.
"Fourth Brother, I’m hungry."
The Fourth Prince reached out and rubbed Zhao Yao’s little head, smiling, "Let’s go eat."
Back at the Fourth Prince’s residence in Xingde Palace, Zhao Yao ate dinner with the Fourth Prince while telling him what he’d been up to outside the palace these past few days.
A simple matter, Zhao Yao could make it sound very interesting and funny, amusing both the Fourth Prince and Wei Mian greatly.
The Fourth Prince marveled inwardly that a trivial little thing in life could become a fun matter in Tenth Brother’s perspective.
Meanwhile, the Emperor was having dinner in Kunde Hall.
The Emperor knew that if Liang Zhaoyi was fine, she wouldn’t have sent someone to invite him for dinner at Kunde Hall.
Liang Zhaoyi had prepared a table of homestyle dishes that the Emperor usually loved to eat. Recently, the weather had gotten much hotter, and the Emperor’s appetite had diminished.
When the weather gets hot, the Emperor’s appetite becomes poor.
No matter what the Imperial Kitchen cooked, it couldn’t make the Emperor take a few more bites. Only the dishes prepared by Liang Zhaoyi could improve the Emperor’s appetite.
During dinner, Liang Zhaoyi didn’t talk about matters but kept serving dishes to the Emperor.
Sun Kui, seeing that the Emperor finished two bowls of rice and two bowls of soup, became curious: What secrets did Zhaoyi’s dishes have that could make the Emperor enjoy them so much?
The Emperor stopped only after he was full.
Afraid that the Emperor would be too full to sleep at night, Liang Zhaoyi invited him to take a stroll in the courtyard to aid digestion.
The Emperor, holding Liang Zhaoyi’s hand, strolled leisurely, "What has that rascal Little Ten been up to?"
"He Lianfang wants to help Zhao Yao build his power and train spies for him."
The Emperor wasn’t at all surprised to hear this.
"Didn’t expect him to act so quickly."
Liang Zhaoyi raised her eyes in surprise to look at the Emperor, "You knew?"
The Emperor nodded slightly, "Yes, I’ve known for a while. He Lianfang wants to assist Little Ten to ascend to the throne, and then have Little Ten betray me."
Liang Zhaoyi was shocked, "And yet you still let Zhao Yao get close to He Lianfang?"
"It wasn’t me who allowed it, Little Ten approached He Lianfang on his own." The Emperor said gently, "He Lianfang made a wager with me."
"What kind of wager?"
"Whether Little Ten will rebel against me in the future," the Emperor said with a smile, "He Lianfang will do his utmost to assist Little Ten and incite him to rebel against me. He is sure that Little Ten will fulfill his wish, and I bet that Little Ten won’t."
Liang Zhaoyi gave the Emperor a coy look, "Knowing what’s on Little Ten’s mind, why do you still allow He Lianfang to assist Zhao Yao?"
"If he wants to help Little Ten, why should I refuse?" The Emperor said with a profound smile, "I even hope that Little Ten will fulfill his wish."
"Little Ten doesn’t like that position, just like you."
"Otherwise, how would he be my son?" With ten sons, only Little Ten, the rascal, most resembled him. "That rascal managed quite a bit during this outing, didn’t he?"
"Yes, he’s accomplished a lot." Liang Zhaoyi recounted all that Zhao Yao had done outside the palace to the Emperor, including the matter of the soap.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor was shocked momentarily, then laughed, "He is indeed my son!" That rascal Little Ten truly has skills, even managing to recruit Mr. Xiao. "That rascal has a clever mind, to even come up with the idea of making offerings."
"Are you sure there’s no issue having He Lianfang help Zhao Yao?" Liang Zhaoyi seemed unconvinced about He Lianfang, given this man’s madness.
"There’s no issue; he will loyally assist Little Ten." The Emperor reassured Liang Zhaoyi, "Everything is under my control, nothing will go wrong."
Upon hearing the Emperor say this, Liang Zhaoyi felt reassured.
"You needn’t worry about your second brother and them either; I’ll arrange for people to protect them secretly." The Emperor assured, showcasing a contented smile, "After hearing about the matter with the Xiongnu, that rascal Little Ten thought of forming a trading team to do business with various countries in the Western Regions and secretly gather information on the Xiongnu, surpassing many others in this regard." Among his numerous sons, only that rascal Little Ten had consistently shown concern about the Xiongnu issue. His supposedly most similar second son hadn’t paid any attention to the new Chanyu’s emergence.
"He even said that when he grows up, he intends to drive the Xiongnu away, ensuring they wouldn’t dare entertain thoughts of invading southward for decades, or even a century."
"Ambitious, worthy of being my son." The Emperor thought the same. "I’ll arrange for people to help Little Ten."
Liang Zhaoyi understood the Emperor’s intention and nodded.
"Calling him smart, he is indeed smarter than many, yet does he truly believe I don’t know about the things he’s been up to?"
"He genuinely thinks so."
The Emperor scoffed, "He’s ultimately still a child."
Liang Zhaoyi said amusedly, "Yao Yao is indeed just a child."
The Emperor and Liang Zhaoyi took a walk and chatted for a while before he left Kunde Hall and returned to the Imperial Study.
Empress Xie and Noble Princess Consort Rong, upon learning that the Emperor only dined at Kunde Hall and did not stay, felt relieved. Simultaneously, they mocked Liang Zhaoyi for overestimating herself.
They thought Liang Zhaoyi invited the Emperor to Kunde Hall to compete for favor, but after dinner, the Emperor returned, making them ridicule her.
Sun Doudou, seeing the Emperor had returned, quickly asked his teacher, "Master, why didn’t the Emperor stay at Kunde Hall?"
"What do you think?"
Sun Doudou looked puzzled, "I don’t know. It’s rare for Zhaoyi to invite the Emperor for dinner at Kunde Hall. Normally, the Emperor should stay, but he didn’t. Could it be that the Emperor feels..."
Before he could finish, Sun Kui knocked his head hard, "What nonsense are you talking?"
"Then the Emperor..."
Sun Kui glared at Sun Doudou, speaking sternly, "This isn’t something you should be concerned with."
"Master, the other consorts noticed Zhaoyi put a lot of effort into inviting the Emperor for dinner, yet he didn’t stay. Won’t the other consorts laugh at her?"
"Do you think Zhaoyi will care?" Sun Kui scoffed, "The other consorts laughing at Zhaoyi without knowing that they themselves are the most laughable."