Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 914: Chapter 43: Now It’s the Wang Family’s Turn (Part 3)

"The Princess of Annan from a few years ago indeed couldn’t take revenge, but now she’s fully capable of it." Zhao Yao said with a smile, "These past few years, she’s grown a lot. She’s no longer the naive little princess she was back then." At that time, when the Princess of Annan fled, it was they who helped her escape back to Annan. Not only that, but they also sent people to teach her many things.

He Lianfang asked, "How do you plan to help her?"

"I won’t help her take revenge. Revenge must be taken personally to be satisfying. I will arrange for her to go to Jiaozhou, and how she takes revenge from there is up to her." If the Princess of Annan couldn’t take revenge on her own, he wouldn’t mind giving her a hand.

"I remember the Princess of Annan had some cooperation with you, right?"

"Uncle, you mustn’t forget that we not only have to help her take revenge on Prince Zheng but also help her seize the throne." After the Princess of Annan escaped from Jiaozhou, she changed completely. In addition to no longer being naive, she became... the term "corrupted" would describe her best. At that time, after finally escaping back to her country, her father and brothers, who had always doted on her, wanted to send her back, making her go back to Prince Zheng and admit her mistakes obediently. If it weren’t for Zhao Yao’s help, she would have been driven out of Annan long ago.

After returning to Annan, the little princess didn’t stay in the royal family but went to her grandfather. Over the years, she learned from the people Zhao Yao sent to teach her while working by her grandfather’s side. Now, she can handle things independently. However, it won’t be easy for her to seize the throne of Annan, as her brothers and those ministers aren’t easy to deal with. The most crucial point is that since the founding of Annan, there’s never been a princess inheriting the throne.

"It seems there was indeed such a thing." He Lianfang had too many things to deal with and couldn’t remember everything. Besides, the matters of Annan had long been handed over to others, and he rarely inquired about them. "How is she doing in seizing the throne?"

"Not bad, a considerable number of ministers and nobles support her, and in a few years, her power will be a force to be reckoned with."

"I remember the reason you agreed to help her initially was for her grandfather’s gold mine." He Lianfang raised his eyebrows and asked, "Did they give you the gold mine?"

"Yes, they did." Zhao Yao replied, giving He Lianfang an odd look.

He Lianfang, puzzled by his gaze, asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Uncle, have you forgotten? The gold we’ve been using these years all came from the gold mine belonging to the Princess of Annan’s grandfather." No matter how well he could earn money, it was never enough to spend. Luckily there was the gold mine; otherwise, many things couldn’t have been done.

He Lianfang said with an unnatural expression, "I don’t handle money." He’s never been involved in business and financial matters, since it’s not his expertise.

"The gold mine that the Princess of Annan gave us has treasures nearby, also profitable." As soon as money was mentioned, Zhao Yao’s eyes sparkled, "Uncle, can you guess what the treasure is?"

"Silver?" Could this kid really have such good fortune?

"It’s not silver; it’s jadeite." Mentioning the jade mine next to the gold mine, Zhao Yao was overjoyed.

"Jadeite?" He Lianfang said amusedly, "Jadeite isn’t considered a valuable thing."

"Uncle, don’t underestimate jadeite. Once I work on it, I can make it as valuable as jade and gemstones." In the world Zhao Yao came from in his dreams, jadeite was valuable, but in Great Zhou, it wasn’t; it couldn’t be compared with jade. But it didn’t matter; after some promotion, jadeite prices would soar.

"Annan and other countries once offered local jade to the previous dynasty as tribute, probably the jadeite you mentioned, but the emperors and officials of the previous dynasty didn’t like Annan’s jadeite, calling it just stone." He Lianfang had seen jadeite during the war; it was entirely green in color and not appealing. "I doubt you can make money selling jadeite."

"If people in Great Zhou don’t like it, I can take it to the Western Regions to sell." Talking about jade and jadeite, Zhao Yao remembered that Uncle Gao had not only dug gold and silver in Japan but also jade. However, Uncle Gao said the jade from Japan couldn’t compare with that from Great Zhou. "Uncle Gao should be arriving soon."

Just now they were talking about jadeite, suddenly, they’re talking about Lao Gao.

"In just a few days."

"My gold and silver are coming back." The thought of soon having thousands of pounds of gold and silver made Zhao Yao’s face burst with joy.

Seeing Zhao Yao’s thoughts drifting back to money, He Lianfang sighed inwardly and had to steer the conversation back.

"What have Prince Zheng and the Wang Family been doing in Jiaozhou?"

"What could they be doing, just the usual stuff." Zhao Yao said blandly, "Secretly making money, gathering weapons, building a private army." It’s standard procedure for a prince to develop his power after going to his own fiefdom. Making money, gathering weapons, and building a private army are basic. Moreover, he was also secretly doing these things.

"Apart from this, nothing else?"

"You mean colluding with foreign tribes?"

"The Wang Family hasn’t, right?"

"No." Zhao Yao replied, "The Wang Family doesn’t have the guts to collude with foreign tribes. It would be a betrayal of their ancestors since their ancestors fought against foreign tribes, and quite a few ancestors died by the swords of foreign tribes."

"So it seems, the Wang Family won’t be like the Yuan Family."

"In the aristocratic families, only the Yuan Family colludes with foreign tribes." Most aristocratic families wouldn’t collude with them. On the contrary, when foreign tribes invaded the Central Plains, aristocratic families would actively resist the invaders.

"I remember Prince Zheng and Prince Chu had a falling out, also because of the Princess of Annan."

"Yes, back then, the Princess of Annan liked the fourth brother and wanted to marry him, but Prince Zheng used despicable means to force her to marry him." Discussing this old event made Zhao Yao laugh joyfully, "The princess bravely confessed her feelings to the fourth brother back then, but unfortunately, the two were not destined to be together."

He Lianfang rarely gossiped, but he curiously asked, "Does the princess still have feelings for Prince Chu?"

"Not sure, never asked." Zhao Yao thought for a while and said, "The fourth brother is so excellent; the princess fell in love with him at first sight and wanted to marry him but didn’t get her wish. Perhaps because of unfulfilled feelings, the princess finds it even harder to forget the fourth brother. However, she probably doesn’t want to marry him now." Moreover, in the third year after returning to Annan, she married under her grandfather’s arrangement. The man she married was from a well-known aristocratic family in Annan, who strongly supported her in seizing the throne.

He Lianfang looked at Zhao Yao and said to him with a meaningful tone, "Since you want to help the Princess of Annan take revenge, you might as well make things even more chaotic."

"Huh?" Zhao Yao was momentarily dumbfounded and asked in confusion, "How to stir things up?"

He Lianfang didn’t answer but instead asked, "What do you think?"

Zhao Yao realized what He Lianfang meant, and his expression immediately turned peculiar.