Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne-Chapter 229 - One Hundred and Seventy-Nine

"Prince Dai discovered this?" The emperor was somewhat surprised.

"In the morning, Tenth Brother and General Shen’s youngest son went hunting in the northern forest. They found that apart from birds, there were no other animals there, which they thought was very strange, so they told me about it."

"I didn’t expect this kid to be so perceptive."

The Fourth Prince said nothing more, "Father, I shall not disturb you any longer. I will take my leave."

The emperor nodded lightly and said warmly, "Go back and rest well."

"Yes, Father."

After the Fourth Prince left, the emperor called in Shen Hu and the others and instructed them on some matters.

After listening, Shen Hu and the others’ expressions became very solemn.

Initially, they planned to go hunting with the Fourth Prince in the afternoon, but Zhao Yao only woke up at the beginning of the evening after taking an afternoon nap. By this time, it was already dusk.

During his sleep, the Fourth Prince and Chu Huan had already come to see him. Seeing he was still asleep, they didn’t let Tong Xi wake him.

When Zhao Yao awoke, he saw Lingyun sleeping beside his pillow.

Seeing Zhao Yao awake, Lingyun gently pecked his little face with its beak.

Zhao Yao rubbed Lingyun’s little head. Seeing the tent was quite dim, he asked instinctively, "What time is it?"

Lingyun said, [It’s getting dark.]

"Ah? It’s getting dark?" Zhao Yao was startled. He sat up abruptly and looked outside the tent, and indeed, it was dark outside too, "Did I sleep all afternoon?"

Lingyun said, [Yes, you slept the whole afternoon.]

Tong Xi, who was guarding outside, heard movement inside the tent and hurried in to check. Seeing Zhao Yao awake, he said joyfully, "Your Highness, you’re finally awake. If you hadn’t woken up soon, I would have called the imperial physician."

Zhao Yao stretched and said, "I didn’t expect to sleep so long." Last night he had been dreaming all night, constantly being chased by assassins. He had been running all night, making him terribly tired. He also got up early this morning, and after a morning of hunting, he was quite exhausted.

"Your Highness, do you feel unwell anywhere?" Tong Xi asked nervously.

"I don’t feel unwell at all." Zhao Yao said, "I feel refreshed now."

"That’s good." Tong Xi sighed with relief, "You don’t know how worried the Fourth Prince was this afternoon when you didn’t wake up. He came to see you every two hours, and just left a moment ago."

"Ah? Fourth Brother didn’t go hunting?"

"The Fourth Prince was worried about you, so he didn’t go hunting." Tong Xi also said, "Mr. Chu and others also came to see you this afternoon. Empress also came several times to see you, and His Majesty sent Mr. Sun to check on you."

Zhao Yao was shocked by what Tong Xi said, "I just took an afternoon nap, why did it alarm so many people?"

"You didn’t wake up, everyone was very concerned." Tong Xi asked again, "Your Highness, are you thirsty or hungry?"

"A little."

Tong Xi first poured Zhao Yao a cup of hot tea, "Your Highness, please have some tea first."

After drinking the tea, Zhao Yao asked, "Did anything happen this afternoon?"

"Nothing major happened this afternoon..." Tong Xi suddenly thought of something and quickly said, "I noticed the patrol around the camp became more stringent."

Zhao Yao said, "It must be that Fourth Brother told Father about the northern forest." As soon as he finished speaking, he turned his gaze to Lingyun and hastily asked, "Lai Fu, did you find anything in the northern forest this afternoon?"

Lingyun said, [There are people.]

"How many people?"

Lingyun: [Quite a few.]

"There are indeed people!" Zhao Yao thought, could these people be assassins sent by Eighth Brother.

"Your Highness, do you mean there are assassins in the northern forest?" Tong Xi showed a horrified and anxious expression, "Assassins... this..."

"Fourth Brother told Father, so Father must have sent people to the northern forest."

"I haven’t heard about any assassins."

Zhao Yao pondered and said, "Father may not want to alert them either."

Lingyun continued, [They’re not assassins.]

"What, they’re not assassins?" Zhao Yao asked in surprise, "Didn’t you say there are people in the northern forest?"

[There are people, but they’re not assassins.] Lingyun continued, [I didn’t find any assassins.]

"You really didn’t find any assassins?"

[No.] Lingyun said, [However, there are wolves.]

"Wolves?"

[Yes, quite a few.]

"How can there be no assassins?" Zhao Yao found it unreasonable.

[There are no assassins in the entire hunting ground.] After checking the northern forest, Lingyun also examined the eastern, southern, and western forests and did not find any assassins. [Within the depths of the western forest, there is a bear.]

Lingyun’s eyesight is excellent, and since it didn’t find any assassins, there really must not be any.

"Could the assassins not be hiding in the hunting ground?" Zhao Yao asked again, "Then why are there no other animals in the northern forest?"

[They were eaten by the wolf pack.]

"Was there a wolf pack in the hunting ground before?"

[There were wolves, but not as many as now.] Lingyun said, [This is a complete wolf pack.]

"Could there be danger?"

[With many people, it’s fine.] Lingyun added, [With many people, the wolf pack won’t dare to approach.]

Hearing this from Lingyun, Zhao Yao felt reassured.

"That’s not right, then where are the assassins hiding?" Eighth Brother specifically told him, so there must be assassins.

"Your Highness, are there really no assassins?" Tong Xi was bewildered by Zhao Yao’s words.

"Lai Fu said it didn’t find any assassins."

It’s strange, how could there be no assassins?

If the assassins aren’t hiding in the forest of the hunting ground, where would they hide? They can’t just suddenly appear for an attack, can they?

The hunting ground is heavily guarded by the Imperial Guards, and assassins would have to fly to get in. However, in doing so, there’s a good chance they’d be shot by archers.

"Your Highness, are there really no assassins?"

"Possibly."

"It’s good if there are no assassins." Tong Xi said, "Your Highness, I’ll get you something to eat."

"First go and tell Fourth Brother and Mother that I’ve woken up."

"I’ll go immediately."

A moment later, the Fourth Prince came over. Seeing Zhao Yao looking well in spirits, he felt relieved.

"Tenth Brother, come to my tent tonight, and sleep with me."

Zhao Yao looked surprised, "Ah?"

"Don’t want to?"

Zhao Yao shook his head and said, "Fourth Brother, sleeping with you, won’t it disturb you?" After all, he didn’t sleep very still.

"No." The Fourth Prince laughed and said, "You pack up and come with me to my tent later."

"Alright." Has Fourth Brother learned about something? Otherwise, he wouldn’t ask him to sleep in his tent.

After Zhao Yao packed up, he obediently followed the Fourth Prince to his tent.

After staying in the tent for a while, they went out to the grassland outside the tent to have dinner.

The campfire had already been set up and was burning vigorously.

Torches were lit around the grassland, illuminating it as bright as day.

Many people came to the grassland and sat down. They were discussing the hunting competition from earlier that afternoon.

That afternoon, the emperor didn’t go out hunting. He stayed in the tent dealing with state affairs.

The Crown Prince and Prince Dai went hunting together. Invited by Prince Dai, the Crown Prince did not refuse.

Prince Dai also invited many generals and their sons to hunt together.

Shen Hu and his sons naturally didn’t participate.

The ministers supporting Prince Dai and those supporting the Crown Prince, along with their sons, all participated, turning it into a contest.

The people on Prince Dai’s side were mostly military officers, skilled in equestrian archery. On the other hand, most people on the Crown Prince’s side were civil officials and weren’t as skilled, so they lost to Prince Dai’s people.

The competition that afternoon was intense and exciting, but unfortunately, Zhao Yao slept through it and didn’t see it.

Tonight’s dinner featured the game hunted by Prince Dai and the Crown Prince that afternoon.

On the other side of the grassland, Empress Xie dined with the concubines.

Jiang Chuan returned to Empress Xie’s side and whispered in her ear, "Empress, everything is arranged."

Empress Xie nodded slightly.