My Fantastic Chef Wife

375. The Throne

Translator: ChowvanLee

However, when they thought about what Xiao Baoshan had said, they started to worry that Xiao Baoshan would feel be disrespected if they refused, so they could only accept these servants.

Xiao Baoshan and Ye Xiaoxian returned to their big room.

Xiao Baoshan prepared two old maids to take care of the children to ease Ye Xiaoxian’s burden.

The maids were good at taking care of children. Not long after they got back to the room, they got close to these two children. Li Hongmei knew that Xiao Baoshan and Ye Xiaoxian had separated for a long time, so she called the children and maids to her room so that they could have some private time.

It had been five years since Ye Xiaoxian saw Xiao Baoshan last time, she felt Xiao Baoshan was familiar and a stranger.

Plus the climate was dry in Tianshan tribe, so the first thing Ye Xiaoxian said to Xiao Baoshan was, “Do I look much older?”

Xiao Baoshan held Ye Xiaoxian in his arms, “Not at all. You’re still that beautiful woman. It is me who gets older.”

“You’re not old.” Ye Xiaoxian was a little embarrassed. It had been a long time since they touched each other, and now she was hugged like a girl who had just fallen in love, shy and nervous.

“It must be very hard for you, right? Did you get wounded in the war?” Ye Xiaoxian asked again.

Xiao Baoshan took off his shirt and said, “I’ve been injured in my arm where I could see a hint of bone at that time, but it was not that bad. I can move my arm freely now.”

Ye Xiaoxian glanced at his arm where she could see a long scar, which showed how dangerous the battlefield was.

She threw herself into Xiao Baoshan’s arms and said, “I hope there will be no  more war.”

Xiao Baoshan hugged Little Ye and said, “I hope so. I wish for a peaceful world. Then I could spend more time with you and the children.”

Ye Xiaoxian hugged him tightly.

She thought, ‘It’s hard to say if there would be war. If the war begins, then Baoshan must go to the battlefield. We can only cherish the time together now and let children spend more time with their daddy.’

…

At the Sixth King’s Residence.

After the Sixth Imperial Concubine and the others came, they saw Li Chengyi who they had been gone for a long time.

It should be happy to meet again after a long period of separation. But when the Sixth Imperial Concubine saw the weakling Li Chengyi, how could she be happy.

The Sixth King had led the soldiers to fight for many years and now they won. They returned to the capital city. The throne was empty and Li Chengyi was the most qualified to take the position.

But Li Chengyi was ill and hadn’t improved at all. He could walk at first, but now he couldn’t even sit up. How could he think about fighting for the throne?

The minor and major issues in the capital city all fell on Li Chengru and Xiao Baoshan.

Although Yan Ziyan had changed a group of ministers during his rule over the city, many old ministers had stayed.

Li Chengru did not adopt tyranny but dealt with them kindly.

As long as the ministers supported members of the Li Clan to be the emperor and could work for the people, Li Chengru could forgive everything they had done before. However, the condition was that they had to make some achievements within three months.

Xiao Baoshan and Qian Qi were responsible for the whole military system and discipline in the city.

But no one mentioned the throne.

Li Chengru had always thought that Li Chengyi would get better. When Li Chengyi recovered, the position would be handed to him.

However, Li Chengyi became weaker every day.

One day, Li Chengyi called Li Chengru into his room and told Li Chengru in front of the Sixth Imperial Concubine and everyone, “My Seventh Brother, I know that you don’t want to be an emperor and just want to be a leisurely young master. But Great Qi Dynasty needs an emperor. Right now, you have to take on this responsibility and run the Great Qi Dynasty… better so that the citizens can live… a well-off life. This has always been the expectations of me and our fourth brother.”

Li Chengru still refused, “Sixth Brother, let’s talk about it after you recover, okay?”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to recover from this illness. If you don’t agree, I won’t be at ease even if I die.”

“… ” Li Chengru didn’t know what to say.

Recently, the ministers had been requesting him to be the Emperor, but he had always felt that the position belonged to Li Chengyi and he didn’t want to deal with all the messy stuff in the court, either.

Li Chengyi added, “Seventh Brother, you… are the most qualified person to be an emperor. You’re fair-minded and have a pure heart, they’re… rare qualities. If you sit on the throne, then you will definitely be… a great emperor in the future. As your big brother, I hope that you can make some achievements for the people as soon as possible. In that case, you can comfort our ancestors and ordinary people.

Li Chengru held Li Chengyi’s hand while looking at Li Chengyi’s pale face. He wanted to comfort him but couldn’t say anything.

…

After exiting the Sixth King’s residence, Li Chengru entered the palace again.

Now, the daily early meeting returned to normal. Although Li Chengru was sitting on the throne, he always claimed that he was handling state affairs on behalf of his brother, and had never declared that he was the emperor.

On this day, he read all the remonstrance letters and discussed them with ministers before he was ready to withdraw.

But at this moment, the new Prime Minister stood up and stopped Li Chengru, “the Seventh King, I have something to report!”

Li Chengru said, “Say it!”

Prime Minister knelt on the ground and shouted, “The Seventh King, this country can’t wait for a new emperor any more. We’ve discussed it and think that the Seventh King is fair-minded and loves your people, please take the throne as soon as possible!”

After Prime Minister finished, a large crowd of officials below knelt. They echoed, “Please take the throne as soon as possible, the Seventh King.”

Li Chengru sat blankly.

He had never thought of such a scene, nor had he ever coveted this position. He just wanted to support the emperor or be a leisure king.

However, in the current situation, it seemed that he had to take the throne.

This country had just finished a battle with Yan Ziyan and now the imperial court needed to be reorganized thoroughly. If there was no Emperor in the palace, many actions could not be carried out.

…

After another half a month, Li Chengyi passed away and was buried in the Imperial Tomb.

Li Chengru was also preparing for the accession ceremony.

The date was set. Suddenly, someone came to report that Li Chengkun was back.

Five years ago, when Yan Ziyan attacked the capital city, Li Chengkun fled and had never appeared all these years. Li Chengru was about to occupy the throne. At this time, Li Chengkun came back. Everyone knew what he was going to do.

Very few people knew about Li Chengkun’s return. Now Li Chengru was favored by the public, so he brought Li Chengkun to a secret place and considered how to deal with Li Chengkun.

Li Chengru naturally wouldn’t give the position back to Li Chengkun, but he didn’t know how to deal with him.

Therefore, he went to Xiao Baoshan’s residence for suggestions that day.

…

Xiao Baoshan currently had a very high position in the capital city. Li Chengru trusted him very much, and he was not afraid of Xiao Baoshan’s power or influence. Xiao Baoshan was the temporary commander of the city’s army, and also the organizer of the Ministry of war. Xiao Baoshan was also responsible for the arrangement of soldiers and horses in various places.

Although Li Chengru was going to be the Emperor soon, when he arrived at the Xiao family, the family still regarded him as a friend.

As Xiao Tieshu said, “I used to think that the Emperor in the capital city was superhuman with three heads and six arms. I didn’t expect someone around me will be the Emperor. Apart from being a little more handsome and richer, you’re never seemed, uh, particularly special to me.”

Therefore, after Li Chengru arrived, everyone surrounded him, asking questions.

Xiao Baoshan and Ye Xiaoxian knew that it was not appropriate. They wanted to lessen everyone’s enthusiasm and let them treat Li Chengru more seriously.

However, Li Chengru waved his hand, “Don’t treat me as the emperor. I’ve disliked the city before because the restrictions are everywhere. Now there is a place where I can relax. If you’re restricted by the formalities again, it will be so boring.”

Xiao Baoshan and Ye Xiaoxian could only give up.

Their two children were still young and naughty. They kept running around in the front hall. Sometimes, Dongdong even ran to Li Chengru and played with Li Chengru’s pendant and Xiao Xia touched Li Chengru’s pouch.

Li Chengru took his pendant off and gave it to Dongdong.

Ye Xiaoxian said quickly, “No!”

“It’s just a pendant. If I want one, there’s a lot of these in the palace.” Li Chengru finished and handed the pouch to Xiao Xia.

The two children got the gifts and ran out happily.

Li Chengru sighed, “It’s so nice to be a child, satisfied with little gifts.”

Ye Xiaoxian thought, ‘They’re not little gifts. They’re Li Chengru’s gifts. Li Chengru is going to be the emperor soon. If I go to a pawnshop, it’ll be worth half the city, okay?’

Xiao Baoshan noticed that Li Chengru had something to say to him, so he found an excuse to let Xiao Tieshu leave. Only he, Ye Xiaoxian and Li Chengru were left in the hall.

Then Xiao Baoshan asked Li Chengru, “Is there something that the Seventh King wants to talk with me?”

Li Chengru looked around and confirmed that there was no one else. He then said, “Li Chengkun is back, the former Emperor.”

“Oh? Where is he now?” Xiao Baoshan asked.

Li Chengru said, “The capital city, but few people know about this.”

Xiao Baoshan frowned and continued, “The Seventh King, I don’t dare to and can’t interfere in the affairs of the Imperial Family. However, today, I still want to say something. Your Third Brother was not kind. You can’t give the position back to him.”

Li Chengru said, “But he is back.”

Xiao Baoshan thought for a moment and said, “Then arrange a proper place for him.”

“Where?” Li Chengru asked.

Xiao Baoshan pondered for a while, “For example, a villa that he can spend the rest of his life there; a countryside, or… lock him up in the prison. People can’t know where he is, so as to avoid that some people would use him to attack you.”

Li Chengru nodded, “That’s the only way.”

Xiao Baoshan added, “If the Seventh King trusts me, you can handle this matter to me. I will definitely have it done perfectly for you.”

Li Chengru looked at Xiao Baoshan and nodded.

…

After Li Chengru left, Xiao Baoshan sat silently in the hall.

Ye Xiaoxian asked, “Baoshan, shouldn’t you help the Seventh King deal with Li Chengkun? Why don’t you start now?”

Xiao Baoshan looked up at Ye Xiaoxian and smiled, then asked, “Do you know why the Seventh King doesn’t ask for help from someone else but me?”