Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 956: Chapter 65: Stingy Prince Han (Part 2)

The Third Princess felt it was better not to mention this matter, but once it was brought up, Princess Consort De was angered and pained.

"This unfilial son..." She just couldn’t understand why she had given birth to this ungrateful and miserly son, Prince Han?

"Brother is generous only to himself, stingy to everyone else." Prince Han, except for being miserly, treated the Third Princess quite well, which made her love and hate him at the same time. "It’s okay if he’s stingy to us, but he should be more generous to Father and the ministers. Every one of Prince Dai and the others is generous; how can Brother win people’s hearts being so stingy?"

Currently, quite a few ministers in the court support Prince Han, mainly out of respect for Marquis Wuping’s Mansion. Without Marquis Wuping’s Mansion, no minister would want to support the notoriously stingy Prince Han.

"If I had known he’d turn out this way, I should have ended it when I was pregnant with him, saving myself the anger now." Princess Consort De really wanted to disregard Prince Han, but she couldn’t sit idly by for the sake of Marquis Wuping’s Mansion and let Prince Han do as he pleased.

The Third Princess lamented, "When Brother takes the throne later, how could he ever be short of money? The entire world will be his, including the wealth. But he really doesn’t know what’s more important." Compared to the throne, money naturally should be less significant, but her brother thinks money is more important than the throne.

Princess Consort De angrily said, "His mind is broken."

"Mother, Brother’s mind wasn’t good to begin with, and spending all these years in Youzhou, full of Northern Barbarians, probably made it worse." The Third Princess recalled rumors she heard about Youzhou, her face changed with worry, "Mother, Brother won’t turn into a Northern Barbarian, will he?"

Princess Consort De glared at her daughter, "What nonsense are you talking?"

"Mother, why not have Uncle send someone to Youzhou to talk to Brother again?"

"Has your uncle sent too few people to Youzhou? He’s talked till his lips are chapped and broken. Has it worked?"

The Third Princess sighed softly, "No, it hasn’t." Her brother was impervious to persuasion, no matter how they tried.

"Only if the Emperor issues a decree to summon him back will he obediently return to the capital." Princess Consort De had long given up on working on the unfilial Prince Han, "I should think about asking your father to issue a decree to summon him back." Asking the unfilial son to return to the capital was far less effective than asking the Emperor to issue a decree.

The Third Princess suddenly said, "Mother, there’s a way to make Father happy and it’s guaranteed to work."

Princess Consort De, eager to know, asked, "What way?"

"Mother, if you give Father another prince, Father will surely be delighted. Then, if you ask Father to issue a decree for Brother to return, he’ll definitely agree..." The Third Princess hadn’t finished speaking before Princess Consort De reprimanded her.

Princess Consort De poked her daughter’s forehead fiercely, "You’ve got a nerve to joke with me."

The Third Princess stuck out her tongue at Princess Consort De, then smiled affectionately, "Mother, I was just joking."

"How audacious—that’s not a joke you should make." Princess Consort De wished she could give birth to another son for the Emperor, but unfortunately, she was too old to even conceive.

The Third Princess’s mind quickly came up with another idea.

"Mother, how about sending a Beauty to Father?"

"A Beauty?" Princess Consort De poked her daughter’s forehead again, "What kind of lousy idea is this; sending a Beauty to the palace just to annoy me?"

She added, "Your father isn’t one to covet beauty. These years, your father’s visits to the harem have become less frequent. Sending a Beauty not only won’t work but will make your father angry." She was very sure about this.

Hearing this, the Third Princess realized it was true. For years, ministers had suggested selecting beauties for the Emperor, but he refused. The concubines in the Emperor’s harem were still the same ones from before.

"Then what would make Father happy?"

"If your brother could vaccinate cowpox to prevent smallpox like Prince Han, your father would be very pleased."

"My brother doesn’t seem capable of that."

Mentioning Prince Han reminded Princess Consort De of what he did after going to Lingnan, making her feel uncomfortable.

"Thank goodness the Emperor doesn’t favor Prince Han, otherwise, with what he’s done over the years, Prince Han would’ve..."

"Although Brother can’t vaccinate cowpox against smallpox, Brother surely collected many rare treasures while doing business in the Western Regions, yet he never presented any to Father." She couldn’t believe the Western Regions lacked rare treasures.

Princess Consort De waved her hand, "Don’t bring up that unfilial son. After you return, discuss with your uncle and the others and see if there’s anything or any matter that could please the Emperor." She certainly had nothing to please the Emperor with.

"Alright..." The Third Princess suddenly thought of a good idea, her expression somewhat excited, "Mother, a little while later will be the Imperial Grandmother’s memorial day. Father always attaches great importance to it; you can think of something about this."

"Oh my, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I nearly forgot." Princess Consort De said happily, "After you go back, talk to your uncle about this; see if he can find some Shariputra or something." Although the Emperor didn’t believe in Buddhism, the Empress did when she was alive.

"Shariputra would be great, Mother has many ideas."

After speaking with Princess Consort De for a while longer, the Third Princess left. Upon leaving the palace, she went to Marquis Wuping’s Mansion to discuss the matter. Hearing this, Marquis Wuping immediately sent people far and wide to find Shariputra.

Prince Han, far away in Youzhou, received Zhao Yao’s letter. In the letter, Zhao Yao invited Prince Han to send someone to attend Swamp Prefecture’s trade conference. Then, it spoke about potential business cooperation.

Despite Youzhou being located on the northern frontier and quite desolate, Zhao Yao didn’t see it that way. Youzhou was right next to Xiongnu, and there was trade involving cattle, horses, and sheep from the grasslands.

Zhao Yao was focused on the warhorses from the grasslands, specifically wanting to cooperate with Prince Han on this business.

Prince Han had done plenty of business over the years with various tribes of Xiongnu while staying in Youzhou.