Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne-Chapter 144 - 127 Outsmarting Oneself

In Hulong Temple, the Crown Prince was also discussing with the Eighth Prince about the matter of Kong Taichang secretly sending his youngest daughter to become a nun.

"I never expected Kong Taichang to be so unwilling to let his youngest daughter marry Prince Dai." Hearing this, the Crown Prince was in high spirits. "It’s a pity I’m not in the palace to see Prince Dai’s reaction."

"With Prince Dai’s temperament, he must be very angry, maybe even angry enough to want to kill Kong Taichang." The Eighth Prince’s guess wasn’t far off.

"It’s a pity we couldn’t witness this interesting scene." The Crown Prince asked, "How do you think Father would punish Kong Taichang?"

"It’s hard to say," the Eighth Prince replied. "If Father is extremely angry, the punishment for Kong Taichang’s family won’t be light, and exile is not out of the question."

The Crown Prince shook his head and said, "Exile is unlikely."

"The second possibility is that Kong Taichang’s youngest daughter is forced to return to secular life and marry Prince Dai," analyzed the Eighth Prince. "Given the situation, canceling the marriage is not possible. Kong Taichang doesn’t want his daughter to marry, but she must. Also, Kong Taichang and his son will likely be demoted."

"Marrying a nun..." The Crown Prince imagined the scene and couldn’t help but laugh out loud again, "Hahahaha... Prince Dai must feel frustrated, and it’s extremely humiliating for him."

The Eighth Prince laughed, "Initially, Prince Dai was so delighted, and now he’s equally embarrassed."

"Exactly." The Crown Prince laughed heartily, "This is the funniest thing this year." Unfortunately, he still had to stay in Hulong Temple to pray, otherwise, he would definitely return to the palace to see Prince Dai’s face.

"Kong Taichang’s youngest daughter is about to come of age, I wonder when Father will arrange their marriage?"

The Crown Prince laughed, "Previously, Prince Dai must have been eager for Kong Taichang’s youngest daughter to marry as soon as she came of age. Now he certainly doesn’t want to marry her immediately, maybe he’ll even delay it."

Kong Taichang’s youngest daughter now has no choice but to marry Prince Dai. There’s no chance of anything going wrong with their marriage. Moreover, she cannot marry anyone else.

For Prince Dai, he doesn’t want to marry a bald-headed nun. Furthermore, the humiliation Kong Taichang’s youngest daughter brought him makes him unwilling to marry her into the Prince Mansion now.

Currently, the betrothal between him and Kong Taichang’s youngest daughter is set in stone, and he is already tied to the Kong Family. Even if he doesn’t marry Kong Taichang’s youngest daughter, Kong Taichang and his family will still have to assist Prince Dai.

For Kong Taichang’s family, being imprisoned and wanting to die to preserve the Kong family’s reputation was futile. When Sun Kui escorted them to prison, he reminded them that if they did anything further, or attempted to atone for themselves through death, it wouldn’t just be their family’s issue but that of the entire Kong clan.

If they wanted the Kong family to vanish, they could continue down this self-destructive path.

The warning from Sun Kui scared Kong Taichang and his family into not daring to entertain any more thoughts.

Kong Yao’s heart was filled with regret and guilt. She never expected her decision to become a nun would ruin the entire Kong clan. At that time, she thought too simply. She assumed that during the late Empress’s memorial period, the Emperor would not take action against the Kong family, but unexpectedly...

Now she has no choice but to marry.

Moreover, she cannot let anything happen to her now. If anything occurs, the Emperor will vent his anger on the entire Kong clan. Moreover, the Kong family will be scorned by the whole nation.

Even though the Kong family has held a significant position among the literati over the years, it’s certainly not as important as the Imperial Family in the eyes of the public.

Both the late Emperor and the current Emperor are benevolent rulers. The people and the scholars all are filled with gratitude and respect for the Imperial Family.

The public and the scholars could do without the Kong family, but they cannot do without the Emperor.

She was arrogant!

She underestimated the Emperor!

"It’s all my fault. If it weren’t for my cleverness, our family wouldn’t have fallen to this point." Kong Yao was full of self-blame, "Father, Mother, Brother, it’s me who harmed you and the entire Kong family."

Kong Taichang, enduring the pain in his buttocks, comforted his daughter, "Yao Er, it’s not your fault, it’s Father’s fault, Father implicated you."

"Enough, what’s done is done, let’s not blame ourselves," Mrs. Kong remained calm, "Now nothing is more important than our family being together. Even if we die, our family will travel the path together without regrets."

Kong Yuan, with a pale face, said, "The Emperor will not kill us." If the Emperor wanted them dead, it would have happened already. "Little sister, it seems you still have to marry Prince Dai."

Kong Yao bit her lip and said nothing.

Kong Taichang let out a heavy sigh, "Sigh..." He never expected things to turn out this way.

Mrs. Kong never wanted her youngest daughter to marry Prince Dai. In this situation, if her youngest daughter marries Prince Dai, she’s afraid...

The whole family blamed themselves in their hearts and said nothing more, the atmosphere became oppressive.

After a moment, Kong Yao’s gaze became resolute, her demeanor firm, "I shall marry!" Even if she wanted to die, she dared not now. She had no other choice but to marry Prince Dai, "There’s nothing terrible about marrying Prince Dai."

Hearing their youngest daughter speak like this, Kong Taichang and Mrs. Kong turned their heads, shedding silent tears.

If only they had arranged a marriage for their daughter earlier, things wouldn’t have turned out like this, it was they who harmed their youngest daughter.

Just returning from Dahua Village, Zhao Yao heard about Kong Taichang’s family. He was also shocked by Kong Taichang’s audacity.

Don’t be fooled by that old Emperor’s constant smiles, he’s actually the most vindictive. Kong Taichang’s actions were a slap to the Emperor’s face, how could the Emperor possibly let them go?

If Kong Taichang had reasoned with, and emotionally appealed to the Emperor to cancel the betrothal, and asked multiple times, perhaps the Emperor would have agreed. Unexpectedly, he used the most foolish method to avoid this marriage. Now it’s settled, this marriage will never be canceled and his youngest daughter must marry the second brother.

Kong Taichang initially refused the marriage to preserve the Kong family’s reputation, yet this matter affected the very reputation he wanted to protect.

The scholars in the capital all thought Kong Taichang’s actions were too much. Even if he didn’t want his daughter to marry Prince Dai, he shouldn’t have done it this way, this was clearly an insult to Prince Dai and a disregard for the Emperor.

"Your Highness, what was Kong Taichang thinking to conceive such a foolish plan?" Tong Xi couldn’t believe that the well-learned Kong Taichang could come up with such a stupid idea.

"Probably thought that once his daughter became a nun, Father wouldn’t force her to return to secular life," Zhao Yao speculated, "Also, given it was the late Empress’s memorial period, Father wouldn’t do it."

"Didn’t they realize doing this was slapping the Emperor’s face?" Tong Xi said, "Even during the late Empress’s memorial period, the Emperor couldn’t possibly let them trample on the Imperial dignity, were their minds corrupted?"

"Perhaps because Father usually appeared too gentle, leading them to mistakenly believe he wouldn’t care about this," Zhao Yao said while petting Xiao Niu’s head and speaking to Tong Xi, "They probably thought the worst outcome would be death."

"Aren’t they afraid of death?"

"To Kong Taichang, the reputation of the Kong family means more," Zhao Yao sneered, "But the result was counterproductive."

"Your Highness, does this count as being too clever for one’s own good?"

"This is what you call misguided cleverness," Zhao Yao looked at Xiao Niu in his arms, suddenly having an idea, "Tomorrow, I’ll take you and your mother to a place and then you can show me the results of your training."

Xiao Niu obediently asked: [Where are we going?]

"To Prime Minister He’s house," Zhao Yao smiled mischievously, "Prime Minister He has many precious orchids, tomorrow your and Da Niu’s task will be to secretly take one orchid from his house."

"Prime Minister He will be furious." The poor Prime Minister He, being targeted by His Highness.

[Who is Prime Minister He?] Xiao Niu asked in confusion.

"He’s someone who likes to grow orchids. Let me tell you, one pot of his orchids is worth a fortune, enough to buy a lot of food for you and Da Niu..." Zhao Yao coaxed Xiao Niu, "Tomorrow, when you go to Prime Minister He’s house, sneakily steal one pot of orchid, and then I’ll buy you fruits to eat."

Upon hearing there were fruits to eat, Xiao Niu’s eyes immediately sparkled brightly: [We can definitely steal one out.]

Tong Xi silently inwardly remarked: Your Highness, didn’t you previously say that training Da Niu and Xiao Niu wasn’t for stealing, so what’s the deal with asking them to steal orchids from Prime Minister He’s house?

"Your Highness, are you really not taking White Deer back to the palace?" Tong Xi felt that if Zhao Yao brought White Deer back to the palace, it would surely astonish the entire court and win over the Emperor’s affection.

"No, Bai Bai is better off in the mountains than in the palace." Zhao Yao replied, "Besides, Bai Bai still has to handle matters for me in Shu land."

The White Deer told Zhao Yao that some of its relatives lived in Shu land. Its parents were originally from Shu land, then they came to Dahua Village, where it was born.

Before they died, its parents instructed it to make a trip back to Shu land and then bring another White Deer back to Dahua Village.

The White Deer has been an adult for a few years and plans to return to its native Shu land soon to find a mate.

Follow current novels on freewe(b)novel.c(o)m