Forced to Ascend the Throne after Transmigrating

Chapter 57: Progress

The other side.

Everyone had left, but the Duke of Zhen was still lingering there, and the young eunuch next to him couldn’t help but look at him several times.

Emperor Jingwen had no choice but to ask proactively, otherwise he felt that the Duke of Zhen could stay here for the whole day.

“Tell me, Lord Zhen, what else do you want to say?”

Upon hearing this, the Duke of Zhen’s eyes lit up immediately: “Your Majesty, I, your servant, just want to meet the Imperial Concubine and the Ninth Prince. I wonder if it is possible.”

There is no way. After hearing them talking about the Ninth Prince all the time today, the Duke of Zhen was really envious.

Emperor Jingwen was silent after hearing this.

Most of the ministers knew what was going on without his orders, and only the Duke of Zhen dared to bring it up on his own initiative.

But Emperor Jingwen would definitely not agree to it.

Even before Xiaojiu entered the court, at least before he was a teenager, he was not allowed to meet the Duke of Zhen.

Emperor Jingwen was afraid that the Duke of Zhen would lead his son astray.

The child is still young and so playful that he has no ability to distinguish right from wrong. We must be careful not to let him go astray.

Therefore, Emperor Jingwen did not give a direct answer and quickly changed the subject: “Let’s not talk about this for now. By the way, how are things going at the border?”

How could the Duke of Zhen be a match for Emperor Jingwen? After a while, his attention was diverted. When he left, he felt that something was wrong, as if he had forgotten something.

Oh, forget it, I don’t want to think about it anymore.

After the Duke of Zhen had completely left, Emperor Jingwen subconsciously reached out to touch the memorial beside him, but accidentally saw the wooden box again.

When Master Cen left, he did not take the box with him.

Is this thing really that fun?

Emperor Jingwen scattered the small wooden sticks on the table, and then according to the rules, he picked out one stick first and then used the small wooden stick to pick out the rest one by one.

By the time Emperor Jingwen came to his senses, it was already evening, and he had not yet finished reviewing the memorials.

“…”

After a moment’s silence, Emperor Jingwen tied the small wooden stick with red silk again.

When Wang Ziquan was thinking about how to deal with them, he knew that throwing them away was not an option, and he didn’t know where to put them. The next moment, he heard Emperor Jingwen say, “Put these things in my private vault.”

Wang Ziquan was startled and quickly responded.

“By the way, have you told Xiaojiu about the tutor’s matter? What did Xiaojiu say?” The Prince’s tutor was notoriously strict. Emperor Jingwen was afraid that he would not be able to accept it for a while and worried that he would make a fuss again.

Wang Ziquan couldn’t help but smile when he heard this and replied, “It seems that the Ninth Prince likes the Grand Tutor very much. When I said this, His Highness immediately accepted the order and thanked me.”

“That’s good.” Presumably because Xiaojiu often hangs out in the Eastern Palace, he is no stranger to the Grand Tutor. After hearing what Wang Ziquan said, Emperor Jingwen immediately felt relieved.

The next day, Ye Shuo had already started packing his things, preparing to go to the East Palace to study.

The princes felt mixed emotions and didn’t know what to say.

The Crown Prince’s Tutor is the highest official in the dynasty and also the Prince’s teacher. Wouldn’t being his student mean that you would be treated the same as the Prince?

But when they thought about the fact that the Ninth Prince was sent to the Eastern Palace for discipline because he was too naughty and uncontrollable, the other princes really couldn’t feel jealous. If it were them, they would definitely feel extremely ashamed.

Looking at Ye Shuo again, he seemed fine and even had time to say goodbye to them.

“I’ll be leaving soon, everyone, don’t miss me too much!”

The Fifth Prince couldn’t help but sneer when he heard this: “Who would miss you? I wish you would leave.”

Ye Shuo raised his eyebrows: “Huh? Really? I remember you said the same thing last time.”

Thinking of the three agreements, the fifth prince immediately shut his mouth.

He suddenly began to doubt himself, would he really miss him by then? No, no, definitely not.

The Sixth Prince was speechless upon seeing this. Although he went to the Eastern Palace, he still had to return to Qiuwu Palace at night, so it didn’t have any impact at all.

Looking at the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince, especially the Seventh Prince, as soon as Ye Shuo left, no one could control the Fifth Prince. The Seventh Prince was probably the only one who sincerely hoped that he would not leave.

“Don’t worry. If he dares to bully you again, just tell me and I will help you deal with him.” While everyone was not paying attention, Ye Shuo lowered his voice and spoke in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

The Seventh Prince was stunned, then looked up suddenly.

“Just consider it as a thank you for reminding me last time.” Although the note was of no use, Ye Shuo still kept it in mind.

Ye Shuo didn’t care whether the other party’s motives were pure or not.

The Seventh Prince was stunned: “I’m obviously… okay.”

Seeing the Fifth Prince immediately turned his head away, Ye Shuo patted his shoulder and turned back again.

The Seventh Prince looked at his back, wondering what he was thinking.

Ye Shuo didn’t have much stuff, just a few books, an ink stone and a writing brush. The ink stone looked new, and the writing brush didn’t show many signs of use. Most of the stuff was made from chessboards, and Master Cen got a headache just thinking about it.

And now that this hot potato has finally been thrown away, Master Cen feels refreshed when he thinks that his old rival will become as miserable as himself. He deserves it for letting him laugh at him!

Ye Shuo left very quickly. Originally, Master Cen and the other princes thought that with his departure, the Upper Study would finally return to its former tranquility, which was a good thing.

But gradually, everyone felt that something was missing.

No one is arguing or rolling up their sleeves with the Fifth Prince anymore, no one is pestering the Sixth Prince anymore, the Seventh Prince has to start dealing with the Fifth Prince again, no one is playing sandbags with the Eighth Prince anymore, and no one is making Master Cen angry every day.

During the break, the little grandson didn’t know who to go play with, and everyone became quiet and distant as they were at the beginning, polite and courteous.

Finally, Ye Shuo’s seat in the upper study room also became empty.

*

Halfway through the walk, Ye Shuo suddenly sneezed for some unknown reason.

“It’s over, it’s over. They must be missing me.”

Hearing this, Xing Yucheng’s eyes suddenly became a little strange. Come on, after he left, Lord Cen and the princes were so happy that they didn’t have time to miss him.

“You don’t understand this.” Although he didn’t say anything, Ye Shuo was not stupid, so how could he not know what he was thinking: “I have such good relationships with people, it’s normal for them to miss me.”

Ye Shuo had a lot of experience in this matter. When he was in school in his previous life, there were always a few naughty students in his class. If they were just being naughty, they were actually quite likable.

Xing Yucheng still didn’t believe it, but since this matter was not very important after all, he didn’t continue to dwell on it.

Seeing that the Eastern Palace was within sight, Xing Yucheng finally spoke out what he had been holding back all night: “Your Highness, I think that studying with the Grand Tutor is actually… not a good thing.”

Wow, this guy has become smarter recently.

Ye Shuo was a little surprised. If an old man, who had served in the government for many years, found this, he would not find it strange at all. But after all, Xing Yucheng was only twelve years old. A normal twelve-year-old would not be able to see that deeply.

Although the Grand Tutor has always hated evil and was upright, that was in the past after all.

Now that the daughter of the Grand Tutor has married the Crown Prince and become the Crown Princess, she has also given birth to a little grandson. The nature of the situation has changed all of a sudden.

On the surface, the Grand Tutor is still a minister of his stepfather, but in fact, he is completely the Prince’s man. Even if he wants to stop working for the Prince, he can’t.

Besides, the crown prince, his third elder brother, is helpless in the world. Others, like him, can still hide and avoid them. If he doesn’t want to work hard, then he doesn’t have to. As long as he doesn’t get involved in the power struggle, he can be guaranteed to be a prince, and then there will be no big problem in living his life smoothly.

^[1]T/L = He is referring that the chosen one would have to bear the burden, while other princes can live a free life, if they don’t get involved in the power struggle.

Ye Shuo didn’t have that idea originally, but after seeing the Fifth Prince and the others, he became even more determined in his original choice.

Firstly, he really didn’t think there was anything good about being an emperor. He had already enjoyed everything he should have in his previous life.

Secondly, as the old saying goes, wealth and glory cannot be brought into this world and cannot be taken away from this world either. In the end, being an emperor is nothing but empty talk.

Finally, Ye Shuo really couldn’t guarantee that he could win against the eight brothers above him. These eight people were not easy to deal with. If anything went wrong, it would be all over.

In the fight for the throne, even a slight mistake can be fatal.

Fight for one life and nine deaths, or don’t fight for nine lives and one death. Even a fool knows which one to choose.

As the son of his cheap father, he doesn’t have to worry about anything as long as his cheap father is around. It’s simply wonderful.

So even though Ye Shuo’s feelings for his stepfather aren’t as deep as his feelings for his father, deep down he still hopes that he can live a long life, the longer, the better.

Looking at the crown prince again, since he has been appointed as the heir to the throne, he has to fight for it even if he doesn’t want to, because other princes may not necessarily die if they fail, but he will definitely die if he fails.

Not to mention himself, his whole family might be implicated. If he meets a ruthless person, all the flower buds in the East Palace will be pinched out.

So under this circumstance, the crown prince certainly didn’t hope that he could learn anything real.

Ye Shuo could understand the crown prince’s difficulties, so he didn’t think it was a big deal.

Since no one, including Xiao Ming, wants him to be better, then he should never be better. This way everyone can be happy, which is also good.

So when Ye Shuo heard what Xing Yucheng said, he immediately frowned and said in feigned anger: “What do you mean? Third Brother is so good to me, I won’t allow you to slander him!”

“It was my father’s order that I study with the Grand Tutor. How can the Grand Tutor disobey my father’s order?”

“If you say that again, I will be angry.”

Completely unaware of the smile in Ye Shuo’s eyes, Xing Yucheng was scolded and felt bitter in his heart.

This is indeed the case on the surface, but it is not the case inside. The Ninth Prince has a reputation for being naughty, so it is understandable even if the Grand Tutor is not able to teach him well. If it is delayed for a few more years, then wouldn’t the Ninth Prince be completely ruined?

Oh my God, what should I do if I follow a prince who is playful, naive, and gullible?

Ever since he discovered that the Ninth Prince was unreliable, Xing Yucheng had been forcing himself to step in. After all, they were all in the same boat, and if the Ninth Prince was not well, he would not be well either.

Xing Yucheng has been working harder recently than before, but he discovered today that it might not be enough, far from enough.

Xing Yucheng felt that he had to work harder and be by the Ninth Prince’s side all the time to remind him, lest he be tricked to death one day.

In the end, Xing Yucheng, with a sad face, followed Ye Shuo into the East Palace.

References

?1T/L = He is referring that the chosen one would have to bear the burden, while other princes can live a free life, if they don’t get involved in the power struggle.