Dressed as cannon fodder and vowing to kick the heroine’s head off

Recently, the emperor always felt that he did not have enough strength, especially at night, and he could never enjoy himself when he was with the queen.

The imperial physician told him to rest more and take more tonics. But he always felt that it was not right. Wasn't he taking enough tonics?

Although the imperial physician said he could still live for a few decades, and he also believed that he could live to be a hundred years old, but what if?

Because the position of crown prince had been vacant for a long time, the ministers were always urging him, especially a few elders, who kept nagging him with all kinds of dogmas, which annoyed him to death.

The emperor thought, let's just appoint one first. If it doesn't work, we can change it later. Anyway, he has done this several times, it's easy.

During this time, he assigned different tasks to each of his sons, wanting to see their abilities.

Today was the first time that he had gathered all his adult sons together, not on any festival day.

The second prince, Xiao Mubai, is too gentle and not domineering enough; the third prince, Xiao Yunfeng, is a bit hypocritical and not sincere enough; the fourth prince, Xiao Hua, is lively and doesn't like reading or writing. The only thing these three princes have in common is that they all look more like him - shorter and uglier than Xiao Chenyi.

Of course, the thirteen-year-old fifth prince was also good-looking. But he was too young, and his mother, Concubine Ling, was suspected of harming him last time, so she had been banished to the cold palace. The fifth prince was basically not considered as the emperor's future successor.

Looking at Xiao Chenyi who stood out from the crowd, the emperor felt a little sorry. Although he was born to the queen, he was not raised by the emperor's side. He must be lacking in the etiquette and other etiquette that are necessary for a wealthy family. It's just that they didn't live together and failed to discover it in a short time.

The emperor didn't want to joke about such a big thing. The surrounding countries were watching him covetously, hoping that his princes would make mistakes.

Therefore, he had never approved of Xiao Chenyi being the crown prince before, and he still doesn't approve of it now.

The one he favored was the second prince—Xiao Mubai.

Although Mu Bai's temper is not very tough, he is gentle and generous.

The world is peaceful now. What is needed is a benevolent ruler like Mu Bai to appease the officials and calm the people, rather than someone as aggressive as Xiao Chenyi.

"Mu Bai, you speak first." The emperor curled his lips and looked at his favorite prince.

Mu Bai is the prince who looks most like him. His mother, Concubine Xiao, has always been aloof from the world, eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures in her house all year round. She has a gentle personality, which is also what the emperor likes.

If Mu Bai succeeds to the throne, he will not harm other princes. There will be no chaos in the palace, which is what he hopes most.

"Yes, father!" After Xiao Mubai bowed, he reached out to look for information on his body, intending to start reporting on his political achievements during this period.

"Father, let me speak first. My affairs are more important!" The fourth prince Xiao Hua stepped forward and interrupted the second prince. His voice was loud, breaking the silence in the palace.

The emperor frowned, his eyes were like two sharp swords, piercing straight at the fourth prince, and he said coldly: "Why are you panicking? Can't you afford to wait for this little bit of time?"

As a king, the first thing is to be emotionally stable. No matter what kind of storm you encounter, you must remain calm, even if you are scared to death, you must not show it on your face. You are facing many ministers, and any panic on your part can lead to many misunderstandings among the ministers; if it spreads to the people, it will further expand to make no sense.

Among the sons, the second one is the most emotionally stable.

The fourth child has a strong desire to show off and a bit impatient. His mother is the former favorite concubine, Concubine Li.

Concubine Li has a somewhat arrogant and domineering personality. The emperor liked her when she was young, but now he avoids her as far as possible. Now that she is old and has wrinkles on her face, the emperor cannot accept her acting cute. Now that he has the beautiful and charming Feng Jiaojiao, he feels like vomiting when he sees Concubine Li acting cute.

Looking at the fourth child who looked 50% to 60% like his mother, the emperor inexplicably thought of Concubine Li, with her face thickly powdered, acting coquettishly with him. He could not help but shudder and rebuked him harshly.

Xiao Hua didn't expect that even after he had stepped out, his father would still object. He was stuck there, not knowing what to do.

"It's okay, let fourth brother speak first." The second prince Xiao Mubai patted his fourth brother on the shoulder.

"Thank you, second brother." Xiao Hua looked at Xiao Mubai gratefully and began his report.

"Father, I went to the south for an investigation some time ago and saw that some farmers have started to raise a small animal called 'silkworm'. It is said that silkworms will spin silk when they grow up, and this silk can be used to spin yarn and weave cloth. I think this is a very good livelihood and is worth promoting. I specially praised the local county magistrate and ordered him to promote it to the whole county within three months so that all the people in the county can start raising silkworms."

Xiao Hua's face flushed with excitement as he spoke: "I also promised the county magistrate that if silkworm breeding is promoted well, I will ask my father for a reward. The county magistrate was so grateful at that time that he knelt on the ground and kowtowed to me for a long time."

He must let his father know how much he is loved by the people.

The emperor was stunned: "What did you say?"

"I promised the county magistrate that if sericulture is promoted well, the emperor will reward him." Xiao Hua looked proud, "Don't worry, father, he will definitely do a good job."

"You idiot!" The emperor was so angry that he picked up the inkstone beside him and smashed it at him.

Xiao Hua jumped up quickly in fright, but was still splashed on his feet by the fragments of the inkstone.

"Father! What are you doing? I didn't say any specific reward. You can just give him a few thousand taels of silver as a reward." Xiao Hua rubbed the back of his foot bitterly. It was a bit painful.

"Second brother, tell him why I hit him?" the emperor said with a stern face.

"Father..." Xiao Mubai was a little embarrassed. He didn't know anything about raising silkworms.

"Chenyi, can you tell me?" The emperor saw that his second son didn't know either, and his expression suddenly became even uglier. He could only turn to Xiao Chenyi.

He didn't think Xiao Chenyi could answer this question, but his sons had to be treated the same. How could he ask others but not him? The children would feel discriminated against.

On the contrary, if he asked the same question and Xiao Chenyi couldn't answer it, and he finally gave him the answer, then Xiao Chenyi would respect him more as a father in the future.

"That's because sericulture has already been promoted in some places. No matter how well this county magistrate does, he is just following in the footsteps. Your Majesty will not and should not reward him again." Xiao Chenyi explained slowly when he saw the emperor's request.

"You're talking nonsense!" The fourth brother was anxious and shouted sharply, "That's not the case at all! You haven't even seen it, have you? You just open your mouth and say it just to suppress me, is it necessary?"

"How dare you!" the emperor said angrily, "He is the biological son of the late queen, ten years older than you! Don't you know how to respect your elder brother?"

"Father..." The fourth brother's eyes turned red with grievance.

If he had done this in the past, the emperor would not care about his mistakes. Instead, he would feel guilty towards him and give him various compensations.