Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne-Chapter 230 - One Hundred Eighty

During dinner, musicians played music, and dancers performed, creating a very lively and joyous atmosphere.

After several rounds of drinks, the mood of the Emperor and the ministers became very high-spirited.

The civil ministers supporting the Crown Prince suggested playing the drum-passing flower game, but it was rejected by the military officers supporting Prince Dai.

Most military officers had not read much and disliked playing such literary games. They proposed playing rock-paper-scissors or wrestling, or competing in drinking.

The Emperor, who normally did not enjoy literary games, agreed to the military officers’ proposals.

The rules of the game were to freely choose someone to compete with in rock-paper-scissors, wrestling, or drinking. Whoever lost would perform a show.

In the past, in the barracks, the Emperor often played this way with the soldiers. Playing this way not only brought him closer to the soldiers but also made the soldiers happy.

The military officers usually disliked the civil ministers and naturally seized this chance to properly humiliate them.

The civil ministers couldn’t wrestle, so they played rock-paper-scissors and competed in drinking with the military officers.

Don’t be fooled by the civil ministers’ gentle appearance; many were surprisingly fierce drinkers, not losing to the military officers at all. After all, drinking was a refined pastime for scholars.

Usually, scholars would sip wine, and when inspiration struck, they would write poetry and essays. Many famous poems and writings were penned under the influence of alcohol.

The military officers didn’t expect the civil ministers to be such good drinkers and played rock-paper-scissors with them. They thought civil ministers wouldn’t play such crude games, but were surprised to find the ministers played very well.

In the first round, the military officers lost.

They stood up and went to the center of the grass to perform. No one knew what kind of dance they were performing, but it was very comical, making everyone burst into laughter.

In the second round, the civil ministers lost.

The civil ministers’ performances were much more refined, some reciting poems, some playing flutes, and some singing.

In the third round, the military officers lost. Some performed wrestling, some told jokes, and some told dirty jokes.

The civil ministers scolded the military officers for being vulgar, daring to tell dirty jokes in front of the Emperor.

While the military officers were telling dirty jokes, the Fourth Prince reached out to cover Zhao Yao’s ears.

He also thought the military officers were being too "brazen," blatantly telling dirty jokes without considering the presence of children.

Zhao Yao felt the Fourth Prince had covered his ears in vain because those people were speaking loudly, and he still heard them. However, he didn’t understand the meaning. But from everyone’s suggestive expressions, he could tell it wasn’t proper talk.

"Are you done eating?" The Fourth Prince, who didn’t like noise, didn’t want to stay any longer now that the military officers were being indecent. He also didn’t want Zhao Yao to be negatively influenced.

Zhao Yao, who was gnawing on a freshly roasted lamb leg, blinked naively at the Fourth Prince’s words, then raised the lamb leg he was holding to show him.

The Fourth Prince couldn’t help but laugh, then gently said, "You continue eating."

Zhao Yao nodded obediently, holding his lamb leg and continuing to eat. Of course, while gnawing on the lamb leg, he didn’t forget to watch the show.

Prince Dai, at this moment, was with several military officers in the middle of the grass, shoulder to shoulder, twisting and dancing a strange dance.

The Third Prince and the Fifth Prince were drinking with the military officers.

The Seventh Prince and some young family members from the Duke Zhen Country Mansion were drinking and chatting.

Duke Zhen and some other ministers were drinking.

Marquis Xuanping was also drinking with some military officers.

The Emperor was drinking with Prime Minister He and others.

Shen Hu, Chu Ying, and Zhang Gong, since they were responsible for protecting the Emperor, didn’t drink much. Seeing the atmosphere was good, they couldn’t help but recall the celebrations after winning battles, and they started singing a song they had made up back then.

Most of the military officers present had heard the song, so they joined in singing.

The Emperor and Prime Minister He also joined in singing.

Though the song was reminiscent of a folk ballad, its melody had a heroic and tragic feel, stirring deep emotions and bringing tears to the listeners’ eyes.

After singing for a while, the Emperor couldn’t hold himself and stood up, pulling Prime Minister He to the middle of the grass to dance.

Prime Minister He seemed to have drunk too much, and actually followed the Emperor in dancing the strange and indecent dance.

Shen Hu and the others also joined the Emperor. Seeing this, Prince Dai quickly joined in. Then, the ministers also joined in the dance.

Zhao Yao watched in shock as the Emperor and his group danced wildly. The Fourth Prince also had a look of astonishment on his face.