Chapter 216 The "Kneeling Clan" in Front of the Prince's Mansion

Chapter 216 The "Kneeling Clan" in Front of the Prince's Mansion

Early morning in the capital.

Although the war has ended, the capital city is even more lively than during the Lunar New Year.

The reason was simple—the main gate of the Regent's Palace was blocked.

Looking around, the usually solemn and quiet gates of the Prince's Mansion were now filled with a dense crowd of people kneeling.

From high-ranking officials to lowly clerks, all the civil and military officials, dressed in court robes and holding court tablets, knelt in neat rows according to their official rank, all the way to the end of the street.

A country cannot be without a ruler for even a day!

The leader, Minister of Rites Zhao, although over sixty years old, was as energetic as if he had been injected with chicken blood, shouting at the top of his lungs:

"The late emperor was immoral, and the Great Prosperity was in turmoil! Only the Regent Prince's achievements will last for a thousand years, and his virtue will match that of heaven and earth!"

"Your Majesty, we humbly beseech you to obey the will of Heaven and ascend the throne!"

"Please, Your Highness, ascend the throne!"

"Please, Your Highness, ascend the throne!"

The officials behind him echoed in unison, their voices rising in waves, so loud that even the stone lions at the entrance of the Prince's Mansion seemed to tremble.

However, despite the scene that could drive any ambitious person mad with urging to take the throne, the vermilion gate of the palace remained tightly closed and unmoved.

"Your Excellency, this..."

A courtier wiped the sweat from his brow and asked in a low voice, "Your Highness has been leaving us waiting inside for three hours without making a sound. Is it... that you don't want to?"

"What do you know?"

Minister Zhao glared at him, wearing an inscrutable expression that screamed "the art of the emperor."

“Since ancient times, a new emperor has always been required to decline and offer his throne three times. If the prince agrees as soon as we ask, wouldn’t that make him seem too eager and too greedy for power?”

He stroked his beard and said firmly:

"His Highness is testing our sincerity! This is the first offer, so we must work even harder to show His Highness our 'heart to support him'!"

Having figured this out, the ministers felt reassured.

This isn't kneeling; it's clearly earning a future by contributing to the rise of a powerful figure!

So the shouts grew even louder.

Some even started to weep and wail, putting on a show of "dying in remonstrance," as if they would kill themselves on the spot if Pei Yunjing didn't become emperor.

...

However, inside the Prince's study, separated by only a wall, the atmosphere was completely different from the heated excitement outside.

Pei Yunjing was slumped in the armchair, his hands tightly covering his ears. His handsome face was now filled with rage and murderous intent.

"It's so noisy..."

His brows were furrowed, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

Although his sensory overload has improved a lot thanks to Tang Li's comforting words, he is still a quiet person.

Now, hundreds of people are wailing and howling at his doorstep, which is a form of mental pollution for him.

"Are these old fogies just bored out of their minds?"

Pei Yunjing ground his back teeth, a hint of ferocity flashing in his eyes:

"I didn't kill them, yet they've become so arrogant. They want to force me to become emperor? Do they want to work me to death so they can inherit my fortune?"

In his opinion, what's so good about being an emperor?

I get up earlier than the chickens and go to bed later than the dogs, and I still have to look at the faces of these old idiots and listen to their nonsense every day.

Nothing smells better than sleeping with your wife in your arms.

"Okay, okay, calm down."

Tangli sat to one side, grooming the big white tiger while gloating as she peeled an orange.

"They were just being 'loyal.' They declined three times; that's standard procedure."

"What kind of bullshit procedure is this?"

Pei Yunjing released his hands from his ears, took the orange Tang Li offered, and took a big bite, as if he had bitten off the neck of some minister.

"Han Zheng!"

He yelled at the door.

"Your subordinate is here!"

Han Zheng pushed open the door and entered, his face also looking pale and sickly.

The noise outside was so loud that even the dogs inside the manor were barking.

"go out."

Pei Yunjing pointed towards the gate, his tone icy, showing no gratitude for the "merit" he had received, only a frenzied agitation at having his peace disturbed:

"Tell those old bastards, I will count to three."

"After three calls, if anyone still dares to yell at the door..."

He sneered, his eyes sharp as knives:

"Throw those who shouted the loudest out of here!"

"Throw him into the moat to wake him up!"

Han Zheng was taken aback: "Your Highness, this... isn't this against the rules? They've come to persuade you to ascend the throne..."

"Persuade him to accept the throne?"

Pei Yunjing threw the orange peels on the table, plugged his ears again, and looked utterly disillusioned.

"I believe they have come to force me to abdicate."

"Go, drive them all away. Tell them that if anyone dares to mention the word 'ascension to the throne' again, I will send their entire family to the North to build the Great Wall."

"……yes!"

Han Zheng accepted the order, his lips twitching involuntarily.

In history, my prince is probably the only one who threw a minister who urged him to become emperor into the river because he didn't want to be emperor.

...

Outside the mansion gate.

Minister Zhao's voice was hoarse from shouting, and he was preparing for the next emotional outburst.

"Squeak—"

The heavy gates of the Prince's mansion finally opened slowly, just a crack.

"It's open! It's open!"

The ministers perked up, their eyes shining.

As expected! Our sincerity has been shown! The prince is about to come out and accept our support!

Minister Zhao straightened his clothes, adopting the posture of a loyal minister and general, and prepared to receive the new emperor's summons.

However, it was not Pei Yunjing, dressed in a dragon robe, who stepped out.

Instead, it was Han Zheng, his face contorted with murderous intent, his hand on the hilt of his sword, and two rows of menacing black-armored guards.

"His Highness has given the order."

Han Zheng stood on the steps, looking down at the expectant ministers, and expressionlessly conveyed the Regent's supreme instruction:

"It's so noisy."

"???"

Zhao Shangshu's smile froze on his face.

"The prince said," Han Zheng added, "that anyone who dares to yell at the door again will be thrown into the river."

"And the one who's in charge..."

Han Zheng's gaze locked onto Minister Zhao:

"His Highness specifically requested that you go to the northern border to repair the Great Wall. Depart immediately."

"..."

The wind swept through the streets, and the officials kneeling on the ground were completely petrified.

This script is wrong!

What happened to the promise of declining and refusing three times?

What happened to the harmonious relationship between the ruler and his ministers?

So, after kneeling all morning, they ended up kneeling themselves into a ditch?

"What are you all standing there for? Do we really need His Highness to come out and do it himself?" Han Zheng waved his hand. "Clear the area!"

"Ouch! Don't push! That's uncivilized! Uncivilized!"

Amidst the chaos and screams, this grand "drama of urging the emperor to ascend the throne" finally ended with the ministers being herded away like ducks by the Black Armor Guards.

The world was finally quiet in the study.

Pei Yunjing breathed a sigh of relief, slumped back into his chair, pulled Tang Li into his arms, rested his chin on her shoulder, and let out a comfortable sigh:

"Finally... the arguing has stopped."