Chapter 419: Deposed Crown Prince
Xie Yao ordered everyone outside to secretly look for a doctor, and at the same time ordered the imperial physicians to prepare various precious medicinal foods and watch Xiao Ji drink them every day.
By the time Xie Yao calmed down from this incident, it was already spring again.
Xuan Yue gave birth to a daughter. As for the four-month vacation given by Xie Yao, she only took two months and then returned to work as usual.
As for the children, the Xuan family has Tutor Xuan, Madam Xuan, and a wet nurse and servants, so it won’t affect them at all.
Xuan Yue is really busy this winter. After all, he had distributed potatoes in the middle of the year, and now he has sweet potatoes and corn to distribute.
These were all distributed during the winter, waiting to be planted in the spring.
There are also several major events in this spring.
In this year's examination, in addition to men, there are also many women. The number is even greater than last year's female official examination!
Xie Yao was very excited and looked forward to everyone getting good results.
Of course, Xie Yao felt it was very risky.
Because Xie Zhan and Xu Ping'an will both be participating this year. Both of them are young geniuses. Although they are not very old, they also participated in the distribution of seeds last year and went to various places to investigate the people's conditions.
In addition to their extraordinary talents and hard work, Xie Yao has also read their articles, which are indeed very good!
Just as the potatoes were harvested, this year's palace examination also came to a successful conclusion.
Just as Xie Yao expected, Xu Ping'an was the top scorer, Xie Zhan was the third, and the second place was also a woman.
Xie Yao was quite satisfied with this.
As more and more people favored Xie Yao in the court, her control over the entire Xia Kingdom became stronger and stronger.
There were some things she no longer had to do herself; she could just give an order and someone would do it right away.
Xie Yao just felt that life was becoming more and more comfortable.
But not everything went so smoothly. On this day, Mr. Qingshan entered the Yangxin Palace.
When he saw her, the smile on Xie Yao's face immediately disappeared.
"Mr. Qingshan." Xie Yao stood up personally and showed great respect to Mr. Qingshan.
Mr. Qingshan clasped his fists and said, "Empress, I came here today to discuss the teachings of the Crown Prince."
That’s right, last year, after Zhaozhao and Suisui turned four years old, Xie Yao and Xiao Ji started to educate the two children.
The teacher invited was not someone else, but Xu Ping'an's teacher, Mr. Qingshan, a great scholar from the Xia State.
All this is done for Xu Ping'an's sake.
Mr. Qingshan was grateful to Xie Yao for introducing such an outstanding disciple to him, so he agreed to Xie Yao's request and taught Zhao Zhao every year.
"Mr. Qingshan, please sit down first." Xie Yao's scalp tingled.
Mr. Qingshan paused, then sat down. He said, "Your Majesty, forgive me for being blunt, but the prince may not be suitable for studying."
Xie Yao: “…”
"When I was teaching, Her Highness was very smart and quick to understand. Although she was young, she could draw inferences from one example. I think Her Highness's talent is probably not inferior to Ping An."
After a pause, Mr. Qingshan said in an awkward tone, "But His Royal Highness... is completely different. I taught him a poem for three days, but he still couldn't memorize it."
"After these days of observation, I have discovered that His Royal Highness is not unable to remember, nor is he unintelligent."
"Your Highness just doesn't want to learn."
Xie Yao pursed her lips and also felt quite a headache. Her eyes fell on Mr. Qingshan's head, and her heart was full of guilt.
Half a year ago, when Mr. Qingshan entered the palace, he was a happy old man with a head full of black hair.
But now, his hair has turned visibly white, his frown can kill flies, his hair is falling out in clumps, and he is almost bald.
Mr. Qingshan noticed Xie Yao's gaze and his expression became even uglier, "Empress!"
He used to wonder how such a wise and powerful emperor and empress could give birth to a naughty child like the prince.
But now it seems... they are really our biological children.
Xie Yao coughed lightly and said, "Sir, please calm down. Being angry is harmful to your health. Please take care of yourself."
"As for the Crown Prince, I will definitely have a good talk with him."
If it wasn't so disrespectful, Mr. Qingshan would have wanted to roll his eyes. His Majesty always says this, but the prince never changes.
It’s not that the prince doesn’t respect his husband. On the contrary, he respects him very much.
The prince just... doesn't study well.
While Xie Yao was making promises to Mr. Qingshan, she secretly cursed Xiao Ji in her heart, asking why he hadn't come yet.
In the past, whenever Mr. Qingshan looked for parents, he would look for Xiao Ji. She used to just smile and watch Xiao Ji get into trouble, but now... it's her turn.
"Mr. Qingshan." Xiao Ji's voice finally came.
Xie Yao felt as if she was listening to the sound of immortals. Her eyes instantly became bright and she looked towards Xiao Ji expectantly.
Xiao Ji stepped into the room and said, "Tell me about the prince's studies."
Mr. Qingshan: "..."
This prince, he really can’t teach him!
But unfortunately, the princess is so outstanding that no teacher would be willing to miss out on such a disciple.
Although the princess is too young now, or perhaps her premature intelligence will lead to harm, she is now good enough.
He was so good that he couldn't bear to let her go.
After Xie Yao left, Mr. Qingshan talked to Xiao Ji for a while before leaving the Yangxin Palace.
Zhu Qing kept staring.
As soon as Mr. Qingshan left, he told Xie Yao.
Xie Yao then returned to the main hall. She looked at Xiao Ji and spoke kindly, "Your Majesty is wise and brave. Thank you for your hard work!"
Xiao Ji looked at her helplessly and said, "Yaoyao, I really need to have a good talk with Zhao Zhao this time."
He has already sent someone to call Zhao Zhao.
Xie Yao said aggrievedly: "It's not that I don't want to be fierce, I really have no choice."
Zhao Zhao soon arrived at the Palace of Tranquil Longevity. He was dressed in a black brocade robe, had a round face, big bright eyes, and looked very cute.
The anger that had been brewing in Xie Yao's heart just now disappeared in an instant when she saw Zhao Zhao. There was only one thought in her mind: her child was so adorable.
Xie Yao wasn't just treating Zhao Zhao like this; she was like this to all of her children and never said a harsh word to them.
Even if the children got into trouble, as long as they stood in front of Xie Yao, Xie Yao couldn't help but laugh.
Although Zhao Zhao was young and didn't like to study, he was impeccable in etiquette. He bowed respectfully and said, "Your son greets the father, the emperor, and the mother, the queen."
As soon as Xiao Ji saw Xie Yao's expression, he knew there was no hope, so he could only say with a straight face, "Did you know that Mr. Qingshan came to see me and your mother again today?"
Zhao Zhao raised his eyes, his expression serious, "In reply to your father's words, I know what the master said today."
"So what do you have to say?" Xiao Ji asked.
Zhao Zhao said: "I have nothing to say. Father, please punish me if you want."
Xiao Ji just felt a headache, but Xie Yao was still beside him and said, "Your Majesty, it's actually not a big deal if you don't like studying..."
"Yaoyao." Xiao Ji said helplessly, "Zhaozhao is the prince."
The prince will be the future king of a country, how can he not study?
Xie Yao pursed her lips, and Zhao Zhao said, "I don't want to be the crown prince either."
His big eyes rolled around, and he stepped forward to pull Xie Yao's sleeve, "Mother, if the prince wants to study, why not let Sui Sui be the prince."
“She loves to study!”
Xie Yao and Xiao Ji looked at each other, and a thought flashed through their minds: Well... it's not impossible.
Zhao Zhao said: "Anyway, I don't want to study. I just want to play every day."
“…”
There was silence in the Yangxin Palace.
Xie Yao looked down at Zhao Zhao, then at Xiao Ji, "Your Majesty, otherwise..."
Xiao Ji pursed his lips and glared at Zhao Zhao, "Get out!"
"Yes." Zhao Zhao bowed obediently, "Father, please calm down, and I will take my leave."
Then he retreated.
"Yaoyao." Xiao Ji walked to Xie Yao and looked at her helplessly, "You dote on him too much."
Xie Yao said: "I am the same to everyone, but Zhao Zhao is naturally casual..."
She treats all her children equally.
All of the children are very easy to take care of, but they have completely different personalities.
Zhaozhao is casual and relaxed, Suisui is rigorous and serious, Ruyuan is innocent and cheerful, and Anlan smiles whenever he sees everyone.
Between the two of them, Xiao Ji took care of the children more, so what Xie Yao knew, Xiao Ji naturally knew clearly.
Xiao Ji knew in his heart that Xie Yao was right.
I don’t know if it was the love of Xie Yao and Xiao Ji that gave the children the confidence, but they can be described as “willful”.
Xiao Ji paused and said, "I think what Zhao Zhao said just now is not entirely unreasonable. He really doesn't like it. Even if you force him, it will only backfire."
He himself was extremely talented, so naturally he used every possible means to treat Zhao Zhao.
I also thought about guiding Zhaozhao and making him fall in love with studying.
But it's totally useless.
He has really given up a bit now.
"However," Xiao Ji said, "Zhao Zhao is still young, let's talk about this in a few years, what do you think, Yao Yao?"
Xie Yao nodded.
In the following years, Zhao Zhao never disappointed Xiao Ji and Xie Yao. She has always been excellent and smart since childhood.
One is always lazy and does everything except studying.
Under such circumstances, Xie Yao and Xiao Ji still treated their four children equally, but took Sui Sui with them separately when handling government affairs.
Just as Xie Yao had calculated, three years later, she distributed corn seeds to the former Northern Frontier, now Beizhou.
Of the three new high-yield seeds, she only released one.
But the changes this brought were enough to make the people of Beizhou sing praises to the emperor and empress, no matter if there was only one kind or not, at least they could now have enough food to eat.
When Xie Yao made this decision, Sui Sui was beside her and she offered some suggestions.
So, when Zhao Zhao was fourteen years old, Xie Yao and Xiao Ji mentioned this matter when the family was celebrating the two children's birthdays.
At the age of fourteen, Zhao Zhao was as tall as Xiao Ji. His figure was like a tall green bamboo, and he often held a piece of grass in his mouth. No matter it was scorching summer or freezing winter, he always held a sword in his hand, and whenever he opened his mouth, he said he wanted to travel the world with his sword!
Of course, his martial arts are also very good. He was taught by Xiao Ji personally, and now he can fight with Xiao Ji on equal terms.
The fourteen-year-old Sui Sui was graceful and had grown into a grown-up girl. She wore a bright yellow dress and had a delicate face. She looked easy-going, but once she had a cold face, people were afraid to approach her and wanted to just kneel down and admit their mistakes.
She has officially followed Xie Yao to learn some political affairs. Although she is young, she is very thoughtful.
Xie Yao gave her a set of last year's examination papers and asked her to do them herself. Her essay was shown to Mr. Qingshan, who said it was better than the first place.
The thirteen-year-old Ruyuan is cheerful and lively. He is slightly shorter than Zhaozhao and a little fat. His martial arts skills are only mediocre, but he is very good at speaking. He is the one that Xie Yao loves the most among the four.
Twelve-year-old An Lan still looked like a little girl. She wore pink clothes and looked like a porcelain doll when she smiled. She was the youngest princess in the entire palace and was loved by everyone.
Xie Yao's eyes fell on Xiao Ji again.
Ten years have passed, and he seems to have not changed much, but the aloofness and majesty in him have gradually diminished, and he has become more introverted and steady.
Xiao Ji's smiling eyes were always fixed on Xie Yao. At this moment, the couple looked at each other and nodded slightly.
Xie Yao then looked at the children and said, "On Zhao Zhao's birthday today, your father and I have something to discuss with you."
"Mother," Ruyuan said, "Are you going to depose my eldest brother from the position of Crown Prince?"
Xie Yao: “…”
How could she hear expectation in such words?
But some people are more looking forward to it than they wish.
It is Zhao Zhao.
Zhao Zhao said, "Father, Emperor, and Mother, please be kind and depose me immediately. I cannot continue to be the Crown Prince for even a day longer."
It was fine when he was young. The court officials always thought that the prince would become sensible when he grew up.
But as he grew up, the court officials' dissuasion was useless... They even started to report him! They reported that he was a prince, but he was only interested in having fun...
As a result, he received a lot of scolding for no reason.
"Okay." Xie Yao didn't have the energy to get angry. After so many years, she had gotten used to it. She looked at Sui Sui, "What did Sui Sui say?"
Sui Sui said: "Mother, I think it is my responsibility to take the lead."
Xie Yao raised her eyebrows, finding it interesting.
Sui Sui said, "The eldest doesn't like to study. I'm the second oldest and I have the ability, so it's natural for me to take over."
"Don't worry, Father and Mother. When I inherit the throne in the future, I will definitely treat the eldest, third, and fourth sons well. As long as they don't rebel, I will definitely not do anything to them."
Before Xie Yao could say anything, Ruyuan started to scream, "Second sister, do you mean that if I rebel, you will do something to me?"
Sui Sui glanced at Ru Yuan and said, "I advise you not to rebel."
"Why?" Ruyuan widened his eyes.
An Lan leaned close to Ruyuan's ear and whispered, "Brother, sister thinks you are stupid."
As wished: ???
After An Lan finished speaking, he leaned towards Sui Sui and said in a sweet voice, "Sister, I will definitely not rebel."
Sui Sui's eyebrows softened a little, a smile flashed in his eyes, and he reached out and pinched An Lan's cheek, "You are the best."
Zhao Zhao said, "Then I won't rebel either."
"As for me, I am just waiting to be an idle prince and receive a monthly salary. I will travel the world with my sword, and help those who are injustice when I see it!"
"I have been working hard as an emperor in the palace every year to earn money to support me... hehe."
“…”
Xie Yao and Xiao Ji looked at each other. They had only started, but the four little guys had already arranged everything.
Xie Yao felt that it would be too immature for her and Xiao Ji to not abdicate now and let Sui Sui sit on the throne.
But anyway, the matter was settled.
The next day, the emperor and empress issued an edict to abolish Zhao Zhao's position as crown prince.
As soon as this decree came out... the entire court breathed a sigh of relief, as if a huge stone in their hearts had finally fallen to the ground.
After all, the emperor and empress were so wise, and they were also worried about what they would do if the emperor was replaced by an "unlearned" emperor like Zhao Zhao in the future.
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