Going to Beijing to save his father, all the powerful officials in the city are vying to be his fath

Chapter 110: You Can't Hang Yourself on a Tree

Zhao Liangsi sat there, stunned, as if time had frozen. After a long pause, he slowly came to his senses, as if waking from a dream. He blinked, still unable to believe what he had heard. After a long pause, he spoke with difficulty, "So... now that Prince Liang has taken a liking to Zhao Liangchen, not only must we not take any action against him, but we must fully support him and help him rise to prominence and success?"

Madam Zhao nodded slightly in affirmation. She looked at Zhao Liangsi gravely and warned him, "That's right. So, you must not act on impulse or do anything foolish. The King of Liang is not someone we can afford to offend! You must know that even your grandfather and father are merely insignificant pawns in his hands; he could discard them at any moment like a worn-out shoe."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Liangsi's eyes widened, his face filled with confusion and indignation. He couldn't help but blurt out, "If even my grandfather and father don't earn the respect of King Liang, then why should we still work so wholeheartedly for him? In my opinion, he's far inferior to the current emperor!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Zhao was horrified and quickly covered Zhao Liangsi's mouth with her hand. She listened nervously to the surroundings. After confirming that nothing was amiss, she lowered her voice and said with a look of panic, "You must never say such outrageous words again! If someone with ulterior motives hears, I'm afraid it will bring us death!"

Zhao Liangsi saw her reaction and thought of something: "Does our family have someone from the King of Liang?"

Mrs. Zhao nodded. It was more than just someone, more than one person. King Liang was a man who was very careful in everything he did. Even the people he tried to win over would not be completely trusted by him. They were being monitored by King Liang's people, and maybe there were other people monitoring them behind the people who were monitoring them.

Zhao Liangsi's heart was filled with resentment and unwillingness, a wave of resentment surging in his chest. Although he had no talent or ability, he had never had the slightest thought of rebelling, forming cliques, or attempting to undermine the emperor's power.

He was a serious scholar, deeply influenced by Confucianism since childhood, and the words "loyalty to the emperor and patriotism" had long been deeply ingrained in his soul. For him, as long as the emperor was not incompetent, he should be loyal to him.

Since he was a child, he has fantasized about passing the imperial examination, being loyal to the emperor, and serving the court. But now, if he is told that his family is planning a rebellion, wouldn't he become a traitor?

Why bother reading books? If the rebellion succeeds, you can have a good future without studying because of your merit in following the emperor. If the rebellion fails, there is no point in reading books, and you will be beheaded directly.

He suddenly felt that all his previous efforts were in vain, and leaned back in his chair dejectedly. Seeing his distraught look, Madam Zhao thought he couldn't accept this matter, so she comforted him in a gentle voice, "This matter has nothing to do with you. For the time being, you should hide from Zhao Liangchen. When King Liang has used him up and he is no longer useful, I will find a way to get rid of him. Just concentrate on studying your books."

Zhao Liangsi suddenly became angry and shook off Madam Zhao's soothing hand. "How can it not matter? My life has already been arranged. Why should I study? Since you decided to rebel, why did you give birth to me back then? You made me a rebel for nothing. Why didn't you just raise Zhao Liangchen? Prince Liang has his eye on him anyway."

Mrs. Zhao's eyes instantly turned red. She said with a sad look, "My son, mother doesn't want this either. I have no choice either. Do I really want to marry a warrior who has a son out of wedlock? I should have married a scholar and lived a stable life. I didn't tell you all these years because I didn't want you to get involved. I wanted to live the life you wanted. How could you say that to me?"

As she spoke, her tears fell like beads from a broken string. Zhao Liangsi saw his mother crying, and a sense of distress and pity welled up in his heart. He comforted her, "I don't mean to blame you. I just feel bad. I haven't even started working hard, but my future is already determined."

Madam Zhao wiped away her tears with a handkerchief and said, "Don't say that. Your grandfather did this so that his descendants could have a better future. When Prince Liang successfully ascends the throne, you can still make your own decisions about your future life."

Zhao Liangsi: "What if he doesn't succeed?"

Mrs. Zhao was stunned: "What?"

Zhao Liangsi was rarely clear-headed and analyzed rationally: "It is impossible for my mother's rebellion to succeed. If Prince Liang was so confident, he would not have allowed the emperor to ascend the throne.

Back then, the emperor was still young and could be manipulated by him. Now the emperor has grown up and has already married. It won't be long before he will take power. By then, there will definitely be many officials supporting the emperor. Prince Liang will have no chance to replace the emperor except to rebel. However, war is a matter of time, place and people, and success is not guaranteed.

If he loses, we will be considered traitors and our entire family will be executed."

Mrs. Zhao immediately retorted: "Impossible, Prince Liang will definitely succeed."

She had never thought that Prince Liang would fail, so from the moment her father asked her to marry Zhao Jian, her father had always told her how virtuous and capable Prince Liang was, and that he was a hundred times better than the late emperor who had no offspring and did nothing. How could they not be able to defeat a little emperor after planning for so many years? So how could they not succeed?

Zhao Liangsi couldn't help but pour cold water on her: "Nothing is absolutely impossible. King Liang is a human, not a god. As a human, he will make mistakes. Didn't he make a mistake with the disaster victims this time? If he can make a mistake once, he can make it many times.

Maybe the heavens are not on his side. What will his mother do if he really fails?"

Mrs. Zhao's face turned pale. Whenever she thought about the possibility of Prince Liang losing, her body couldn't help but tremble. No, she couldn't lose. Her whole life was influenced by this matter. If Prince Liang failed, then what were the points of his forbearance for more than ten years?

Zhao Liangsi continued as if he hadn't noticed her pale face, "Mother, we can't hang ourselves on a tree. Since Prince Liang has decided to reuse Zhao Liangchen, he won't reuse father. Even if Prince Liang succeeds, we can't rely on Zhao Liangchen's help. If father can't, we have to make preparations in advance."

Mrs. Zhao asked with a trembling voice, "What are you going to do?"

Zhao Liangsi said, "We must prepare for both scenarios. You should still obey Prince Liang's arrangements in private, but I will secretly approach the Emperor. If Prince Liang succeeds, I am just a scholar who failed the imperial examination. With your achievements, Prince Liang will not do anything to me. But if Prince Liang fails, with my early submission to the Emperor, perhaps I can save my family's lives."

Madam Zhao hurriedly shook her head: "No, if Prince Liang knew that you had defected to the Emperor, he would not let you go."

Zhao Liangsi rarely showed his intelligence: "Don't worry, I will be careful and won't act rashly. You are all helping him, so he won't focus on me. I won't do anything big, I just want to get closer to the emperor so that I can have a say in anything that happens."

Mrs. Zhao is now uneasy and confused. She doesn't know whether what Zhao Liangsi said makes sense or not, and what to do now.

Zhao Liangsi didn't give her a chance to think. He held out his hand and said, "Mother, give me some silver. If I want to get close to the emperor, I need some silver to smooth the relationship."

Mrs. Zhao didn't know what to do, but she still gave Zhao Liangsi the banknote with mixed feelings.

Zhao Liangsi stood up and said, "I won't be back recently to avoid a conflict with Zhao Liangchen."

He was about to leave when Mrs. Zhao quickly stopped him and warned him, "You must be careful in what you do."

Zhao Liangsi nodded: "Don't worry."

After saying that, he left. After leaving the yard, he looked deeply in the direction of Zhao Liangchen's yard. The reason why he decided to surrender to the emperor was not only to save his life, but also to compete with Zhao Liangchen. Since King Liang chose Zhao Liangchen, he would choose the emperor to compete with him to see who was more capable between the two of them.