The prince is more stable

Chapter 740 Origin of Ambition
Around noon, the maids brought chives to the Yin'an Palace.

The father and son were reunited and should have been drinking together, but Zhao Xiaoqian had to go to the palace to see Zhao Xu in the afternoon, so he declined the drink.

Zhao Hao enjoyed drinking alone, finding it quite amusing. With his son alive and well before him, everything he did seemed interesting.

"Are your wife and children all settled?" Zhao Hao asked, taking a sip of wine.

“They’ve all been sent to Japan. Tomorrow I’ll go see my mother and arrange for someone to secretly send her out of Bianjing as well,” Zhao Xiaoqian said.

Zhao Hao said with a look of disappointment, "My precious grandson, I haven't even seen him since he was born. He's the only heir of our Chu royal line..."

Zhao Xiaoqian clicked his tongue and said, "That's such a discouraging thing to say. He's not the only heir, he's the first. As long as my son is alive, our family line will only grow stronger."

Zhao Hao sneered: "Don't boast in front of me. You've already been seriously injured; I don't know if you're still up to the task..."

"I... damn it!" Zhao Xiaoqian was furious: "I suffered internal injuries, not physical injuries, so why am I not able to do it?"

Both father and son are men, and all men care about their reputation, especially in that area.

Zhao Hao was too lazy to argue with him, his mind was full of other people: "My grandson whom I have never met, I wonder what he looks like. It's all the fault of this world, otherwise our family would have three generations under one roof long ago, and I could enjoy the joy of being a grandson."

"By the way, has your grandson been named yet?"

“They named him Zhao Sangbiao.”

Zhao Hao: "???"

After a long silence, Zhao Hao's tone grew cold: "I didn't hear you clearly just now, say it again."

"His full name is Zhao Ritian... okay, his name is Zhao Hao, and his courtesy name is 'Sangbiao'."

Zhao Hao took a deep breath, trying to suppress his anger, and slowly said, "Your formal name is fine, but that courtesy name, never mention it again! You're a father now, can't you be a little more sensible?"

Zhao Xiaoqian glanced at him silently.

This "living dad" is quite a character; even though his son is a father himself, he doesn't seem to be very sensible. Judging from his daily behavior, it would be more appropriate for the roles of father and son to be reversed.

Now he actually has the nerve to lecture him? He's a grandfather now.

"Let's resolve this mess in Bianjing as soon as possible, and then bring my precious grandson back. I'll hold him every day, and nobody can stop me," Zhao Hao said with a disappointed look.

Thinking that he and his grandson could not meet, Zhao Hao lost his appetite for drinking. He listlessly grabbed a large pork knuckle from the table, picked off the tender, stewed skin, and slurped it down in one go.

Zhao Xiaoqian frowned secretly as he looked at Zhao Hao, whose round figure seemed no different from before their last separation, showing no signs of weight loss.

Zhao Hao was eating with his mouth glistening with oil when Zhao Xiaoqian beckoned a maid into the hall. He pointed to the meat dishes on the table and said, "Take all the meat dishes away and have the cook make a cold salad with less oil and salt."

The maid glanced at Zhao Hao fearfully.

Zhao Xiaoqian retorted with dissatisfaction, "What? Does my word no longer carry weight? He's dead and all his inheritance is left to me, including yours. You decide what to do with it."

The maid immediately understood the situation and, without saying a word, efficiently removed all the meat and vegetables from the kitchen.

Zhao Hao's eyes widened: "Hey! I'm not dead yet!"

The maid ignored her and tidied up even more nimbly. In a short moment, she had already learned the inheritance law of the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Xiaoqian said calmly, "If Father still does not know how to control his diet, your death will be drawing ever closer."

There was something he didn't want to think about: Zhao Xiaoqian couldn't recall how long Zhao Hao had lived in the original history.

Zhao Xiaoqian didn't remember the exact year, but he knew that his father had indeed not lived long enough. He must have died before the Jingkang Incident. Fortunately, he was spared the humiliation and abuse of the Jurchens. In that sense, it was a happy death.

In this life, under Zhao Xiaoqian's supervision, Zhao Hao can live a few more years. If he pays more attention to his diet, exercise, and sex life, extending his life by one or two decades shouldn't be a problem.

The maid was about to clear away the last meat dish from the table, but Zhao Hao was very uncooperative. He grabbed the meat dish with both hands and glared at Zhao Xiaoqian with a resentful expression.

"That's enough! You just got back and you've already started mistreating me. You took all my meat and are treating me like livestock. You unfilial wretch!"

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed, “Father, I’m doing this for your own good. If you really don’t intend to be restrained, you might as well write down your will as soon as possible and leave all the royal property to me.”

"Furthermore, when your grandson grows up and gets married, I will prepare a gilded memorial tablet for your father so that he can kowtow before it. Unfortunately, your father will not be able to see his grandson get married and carry on the family line by then..."

For Zhao Hao, who placed great importance on the continuation of his lineage, Zhao Xiaoqian's words hit his weak spot.

Zhao Hao's expression shifted between light and dark. After a long while, he finally pushed the last meat dish off the table, waving his hand impatiently, "Take it away! From now on, I'm an animal! Damn it, I'm going all out to be with my grandson as he grows up!" Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and said, "When Father can't hold on any longer, why not imagine the future scene of having a house full of children and grandchildren, surrounding you with joy, and then think about the scene every year during Qingming and Zhongyuan Festival, where your children and grandchildren can only kneel and burn paper money at Father's grave? Which one you choose is entirely up to Father's own will."

Zhao Hao gritted his teeth and said, "I want to live a long and healthy life, until I have a house full of children and grandchildren. Our family will depend on you to continue our lineage..."

After a pause, Zhao Hao added, "Are there enough women at home? If not, I'll buy you two more courtesans."

Zhao Xiaoqian hurriedly said, "That's enough, that's enough. Any more won't be enough."

Zhao Hao scoffed: "You're already saying you're not good enough with just a few women? What if you become emperor in the future... well, with three palaces and six courtyards, wouldn't you be drained dry?"

Zhao Xiaoqian's expression hardened, and he said in a low voice, "Father, please be careful with your words. Did you receive the letter I sent you before I returned to the capital?"

Zhao Hao then dropped his teasing tone and became serious, lowering his voice to say, "Received. I have secretly ordered my assassins to disguise themselves and enter the capital, distributing them throughout the bustling streets of Bianjing."

How many suicide squad members were there?

"More than two thousand."

Zhao Xiaoqian was taken aback: "How did you do that? I've heard that real assassins are very rare. Ordinary families with ulterior motives would be celebrating if they had a hundred or two assassins. Father, are your two thousand assassins all fakes?"

Zhao Hao glared at him and said, "They are all genuine and loyal only to me. Of course, they are also loyal to you. Anyway, everything I have is yours. The assassins were secretly trained by me more than ten years ago. At that time, there was war in the north and there were many orphans. I secretly took care of them and recruited a group of orphans."

"Later, Emperor Shenzong's health deteriorated, and many rumors circulated in the court. The Empress Dowager was also my mother, and she was inclined to let me inherit the throne. From then on, I secretly made some preparations..."

Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly realized.

No wonder the power under my father's command is so strong; it turns out he has been cultivating it for over a decade, and he actually narrowly missed the throne back then.

No wonder his ambition remains undiminished; it turns out he almost reached that position once.

Zhao Hao's hidden strength was now revealed to Zhao Xiaoqian, and Zhao Xiaoqian finally understood the origin and cause of Zhao Hao's ambition.

Empress Dowager Gao gave birth to four sons in her lifetime. Emperor Shenzong Zhao Xu was the eldest, and Zhao Hao, her biological father, was the second.

For some reason, the Empress Dowager doted on Zhao Hao, the second son, to an extreme degree. Zhao Xiaoqian couldn't help but suspect that his biological father might be the child the Empress Dowager had secretly fathered with her first love...

After Emperor Shenzong's death, the Empress Dowager even considered the idea of ​​succession by his brother, wanting Zhao Hao to inherit the throne. However, the matter was abandoned due to strong opposition from the court officials.

Unfortunately, Emperor Shenzong had several sons, so it was impossible for the throne to pass from brother to brother. The Empress Dowager had no choice but to give up in frustration.

Although he didn't inherit the throne, Zhao Hao had a real chance to pass it by, so how could he not develop ambition?
Zhao Xiaoqian only learned today that his biological father had actually been a rival for the throne with Zhao Xu back then...

It was fortunate that the Song Dynasty treated its imperial relatives and officials well; otherwise, based on this relationship, Zhao Xu's first act after assuming power would have been to kill Zhao Hao.

Zhao Xiaoqian recalled the year he had just transmigrated, when the Prince's Mansion was in crisis. At that time, Zhao Xu was planning to use Zhao Hao as a scapegoat to implement a policy of abolishing the old and restoring the new.

Looking back now, Zhao Xu's choice of who to operate on was not necessarily random, nor was it necessarily because Zhao Hao had submitted a memorial that lavishly flattered the old laws.

The real reason is probably somewhat related to the struggle for the throne back then.

Fortunately, I time-traveled and averted the crisis. Otherwise, even if Zhao Hao hadn't died, his whole family would have been forced to leave Bianjing and guard the late emperor's tomb.

“Father, you won’t be content until you sit on the throne, will you?” Zhao Xiaoqian asked.

Zhao Hao took a sip of wine and said calmly, "That was indeed what I thought back then, and I even made quite a few preparations in secret. However, I later discovered that you were more capable and more suitable for that position, so I changed my mind several years ago..."

"Hmm, being an emperor emeritus isn't bad either. The status is higher than the emperor, there are fewer things to do, and it won't stop me from seducing widows. The more I think about it, the more worthwhile it seems."

"So, I've figured it out now. I'll wholeheartedly assist you in taking the throne. It doesn't matter whether we, father or son, are in power. In short, this position cannot be left to an outsider, otherwise our family will surely be destroyed. This is no longer a matter of whether I want to or not, but something I have no choice but to do. If we don't advance, we will retreat; if we don't advance, we will die."

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded silently.

Having reached this point, he naturally understood the implications.

As long as Zhao Xu is alive, everything can still be kept under control. If Zhao Xu dies, the world may not necessarily be in chaos, but the court and palace will certainly be in turmoil.

The consequences of an emperor who died without leaving an heir are this severe.

"I have sent people to keep an eye on Prince Duan, Zhao Ji, day and night. I have also planted some spies in his residence. Recently, Zhao Ji has been very well-behaved and has hardly even left his house."

(End of this chapter)