Chapter 206: Excerpts from Zhaohui Jingbao (Fourth Prince’s Extra Chapter)

【I】Lu Lange. Minutes of the Interviews with the Four Kings 【III】Zhaohui Jingbao, March 28, the first year of Zhaohui.

In the first year of Zhaohui, Your Majesty ascended the throne and issued a general amnesty, pardoning the three kings and sending them to the Ten Kings' Palace for recuperation.

In order to resolve the confusion of the world and to improve the brotherly and sisterly relationship of Your Majesty, on March 27th of the first year of Zhaohui, the Jingbao, under the order of Your Majesty, visited the Palaces of the Ten Princes and the Palace of the Prince of Jin and wrote this article.

Excerpts from the interview with the Ten Princes’ Palace:
Lu Lange: Are the princes adapting to life in the Ten Princes' Palace?
The late Crown Prince: Not bad, Your Majesty is considerate. Apart from not being able to go out, everything is no different from usual.

King of Chu: My food, clothing, housing and entertainment are all the same as usual. I am grateful for your majesty’s kindness.

King Qin: Very good! Please inform Your Majesty that my princess is pregnant!

Lu Lange: What do you princes want to say about the mistakes we made in the past?

The former crown prince: Wrong? Perhaps. In comparison, she is indeed more suitable to be the emperor.

King Chu: My mother wanted to be the Queen Mother, and I was filial, so I did that foolish thing. As for the mistake, I am grateful for your kindness.

King Qin: The same goes for me.

Lu Lange: Do you princes still remember the interesting things that happened with His Majesty when you were young?

The former crown prince: I don’t quite remember. However, when Your Majesty was young, she was sickly and weak, and she didn’t like to take medicine. It took an hour or two of coaxing and begging before she could drink it. In the autumn of the tenth year of Wude, my father ordered the imperial kitchen to make a tonic drink, which was very bitter. It was a family dinner at that time, and everyone watched Your Majesty run from Qingxin Hall to Wumen. In the end, the imperial guards surrounded Your Majesty, and my father personally made her drink it.

King of Chu: Brother, you remember it very clearly.

King Qin: I remember that my elder brother was laughing so hard that he couldn’t stop.

The late crown prince: No.

King of Chu: It already existed.

King Qin: At that time, except Your Majesty, everyone was laughing happily.

Lu Lange: If we give the princes another chance, will they make the same mistake again?

The late crown prince: No. Your Majesty has done an excellent job.

King of Chu: My ability is limited, so I naturally won’t do that.

King Qin: No. I will soon have a daughter, and Your Majesty is undoubtedly the best role model. Excerpts from an interview with the Prince of Jin:
Lu Lange: Your Highness, have you been busy with spring ploughing these past two days?
Prince of Jin: Will Your Majesty read this article?

Lu Lange: Don’t worry, Your Majesty, His Majesty will take a look.

Prince Jin: Let your majesty return my princess to me! She is a weak woman, and it is so dangerous to send her to deal with the barbarians' request for peace!
Lu Lange: Your Majesty, shall we talk about spring ploughing?

Prince of Jin: I submitted three memorials, but all of them were rejected by Her Majesty. I wanted to go with her, but she disagreed.

Lu Lange: Spring ploughing…

King of Jin: The spring ploughing is going on in an orderly manner. The second high-yield spring wheat has been pushed to suitable planting areas. The rest of the land suitable for winter wheat is also being promoted for the first high-yield winter wheat.

Lu Lange: Your Highness, do you have anything to say to the three elder brothers from the Tenth Prince's Mansion?

Prince of Jin: I’m envious.

Lu Lange: Envy?

King of Jin: I envy them that they don’t have to deal with government affairs, and I envy them that they have wives and children around them.

Lu Lange: Don’t worry, Your Majesty. I will convey your message to His Majesty.

King Jin: Delete this paragraph, do not write it. Otherwise, I will impeach you in court tomorrow. To put it again, my choice of the three brothers is not strange, but they all had their own difficulties back then. Their choices may not be correct, but they must be the most suitable. When the three brothers and Your Majesty resolve the rift, the future will surely be bright. Your Majesty is a person who cherishes the old times and will definitely show mercy to the three brothers.
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"The stubborn former crown prince, the highly emotionally intelligent King of Chu, the 'me too' King of Qin, and the 'I'm going to impeach you' King of Jin, plus the mighty and domineering empress, it's interesting! Really interesting!"

"I didn't expect this Lu Lange to be so courageous. King Jin didn't let him write, but he still wrote. I just want to know if he has been impeached or not, haha!"

"Impeached! Really! I found a memorial online, as if it was a joke! It said that the Prince of Jin impeached this Lord Lu for farting secretly in the Prince of Jin's mansion and stealing rice paper from the Prince of Jin's study. His Majesty even made a comment on it. Guess what it was?"

"…What can this be approved for? Read?"

"No! His Majesty's annotation is - Princess Jin will return on the 20th of next month, Fourth Brother, please don't bite anyone."

"Aww! She understands him so well! They are brother and sister, and king and subject! She can speak clearly even when she has something to say, which is rare!"

"Yes, ever since I saw that memorial, I have been particularly interested in the memorials reviewed by the Empress. I have collected a lot of them and found that the Empress is quite interesting."

"Do you think Teacher Liu has seen this memorial? The empress she wrote is really close to history!"

"Of course he has. Teacher Liu knows everything about the Empress. He is amazing..."