Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne-Chapter 1015 - 94: Prince Han Really Overestimates Me

With Wang Cai and Fu Duoduo’s help, they quickly found the person who had poisoned. The poisoner killed the cook’s assistant in the kitchen and then disguised himself as that person, successfully infiltrating the Han Prince Mansion. Before killing the cook’s assistant, he had secretly monitored and observed him, only making his move after understanding all of his habits.

After infiltrating the Han Prince Mansion, his character, actions, habits, etc., were no different from the cook’s assistant, so no one in the kitchen noticed that the cook’s assistant had been swapped.

After the assassin turned into the cook’s assistant, he did not poison immediately; instead, he honestly worked as the cook’s assistant for some time. The assassin did not act immediately for another reason: Zhao Yao was hardly at the Han Prince Mansion during this period.

Knowing that Prince Han was frequently away from the Prince Mansion and sometimes returned for only a few days, the assassin saw Zhao Yao finally returned and did not leave immediately, so he decided to poison.

After poisoning, the assassin saw Prince Han unharmed and realized the poison hadn’t worked. He decided to attempt poisoning again, so he did not leave the Han Prince Mansion or Swamp Prefecture.

These days, Wang Cai and Fu Duoduo secretly followed and monitored the assassin, discovering that he had contact with the shopkeeper of a rouge shop.

Upon learning this, Zhao Yao instructed the Dark Guard Camp to investigate this shopkeeper and discovered that though he seemed to be from Yangzhou, he was actually from Jizhou.

Since Jizhou is Prince Dai’s territory, it was naturally concluded that Prince Dai was behind it. However, Zhao Yao did not think so; he didn’t believe it was that simple.

"Prince Dai has a reason to kill you. Why don’t you think it’s him?" He Lianfang was playing chess with Zhao Yao, "Last year, because of the glass incident, Prince Dai was displeased with you and taught you a lesson. Before that, Prince Dai even sent people to seek cooperation with you, which you refused. You repeatedly lost face for him, and you’ve gotten close to Prince Chu. He won’t tolerate you anymore."

"Prince Dai indeed has a reason to kill me, but don’t you think this whole thing went too smoothly?" Zhao Yao played with a chess piece in his hand, a faint smile on his lips, "The mastermind wants me to think that it was Prince Dai who sent someone to assassinate me."

When He Lianfang heard Zhao Yao say this, he indeed found it was too smooth.

"So, who do you think the mastermind is, Prince Jing or Prince Han?"

With a decisive snap, Zhao Yao placed down his chess piece, looked up at He Lianfang, and said confidently, "Prince Han."

"Why Prince Han, not Prince Jing?" He Lianfang asked, "Prince Han just collaborated with you, trying to poison you would be too reckless, wouldn’t it? Besides, Prince Han relies on you to make money. What gains does he get from poisoning you?"

Zhao Yao replied nonchalantly, "If I die, Prince Han can seize my business."

"If you’re dead, Prince Han can indeed seize some of your business, but he can’t seize the Swamp Prefecture." He Lianfang didn’t believe Prince Han would poison Zhao Yao for that reason, "Zhao Zheng wouldn’t let Prince Han take control of Swamp Prefecture."

Zhao Yao questioned, "Uncle, then who do you think wants my life this time, Prince Jing?"

He Lianfang responded, "Prince Han."

Zhao Yao was quite surprised by He Lianfang’s answer, "Uncle, didn’t you just say Prince Han wouldn’t kill me?"

"I just think your previous reason wasn’t right," He Lianfang pondered before saying, "Could it be that someone you placed in the Northern Border Camp was discovered by Prince Han?"

Zhao Yao shook his head and said, "It shouldn’t be. The person I placed in the Northern Border Camp isn’t someone of high stature, and he hasn’t affected Prince Han." Many years ago, Zhao Yao sent people into various major military camps. Although he had people in the Northern Border Camp, their position wasn’t high. Ordinarily, they wouldn’t have access to the power centers within the Northern Border Camp. Moreover, Zhao Yao instructed him not to casually inquire about news unless it was significant. So over the years, he hadn’t relayed much information from the Northern Border.

"Then why?" He Lianfang asked with a puzzled expression, "You and Prince Han have no conflict of interest. Why would he work with you on business while trying to poison you simultaneously?"

Zhao Yao lightly tapped his finger on the table, thoughtfully expressing, "Perhaps it’s related to my fourth or eighth brother."

"Related to them?" He Lianfang was surprised.

"I don’t contend for the throne, I’m not competing with Prince Han for it, but my fourth and eighth brothers are contenders, and they are Prince Han’s biggest rivals in the struggle for the throne. I’m on good terms with them, so it’s possible Prince Han wants to deal with me," Zhao Yao speculated, "Besides, I have business partnerships with my fourth brother, helping him earn money, so Prince Dai and the others might target me for that reason as well."