The following day after court, Zhao Yao didn’t rush out of the palace to find He Lianfang, but instead went to Kunde Hall to have breakfast with Lady Liang.
Seeing Zhao Yao’s brows lacking worry and no longer wearing a troubled expression on his face, Lady Liang gently asked him, "Have you resolved your issues?"
"I’ve figured it out." Oddly enough, he didn’t truly trust his father, nor did he pletely trust his fourth and eighth brothers, but he had unwavering faith in his second uncle. Clearly, his second uncle was an outsider, unrelated by blood, yet he was willing to entrust all matters to him. He was willing to share everything with his second uncle.
"You’ve been looking worried for days. Your father is very concerned about you and asked me if something happened to you."
"Nothing happened to me, just some things I hadn’t figured out. I figured it out last night."
Lady Liang asked curiously and with concern, "What did you figure out?"
"Nothing, just realized how hypocritical I am." Zhao Yao was afraid that if Lady Liang knew he planned to raise an army of ten thousand private soldiers, she would be frightened, so he decided not to tell her. "I have now e to terms with my hypocrisy."
Lady Liang didn’t understand, looking puzzled, "Hypocritical in what way?"
"It’s nothing, I’m fine now, Mother. You don’t need to worry."
Seeing Zhao Yao unwilling to talk, Lady Liang didn’t press further.
"If there’s anything troubling you, you can talk to me."
"Okay." Yet Zhao Yao didn’t tell Lady Liang the reason for his distress in the past couple of days.
After finishing breakfast, Zhao Yao left Kunde Hall.
After he left, Lady Liang sighed softly, "Alas..."
"Madam, what’s wrong, are you still worried about His Highness?" Gui Xing forted Lady Liang, "Didn’t His Highness say he has figured it out and is fine now?"
"This child has always been astute, seldom troubled for days on end. I’m afraid he has encountered a major issue this time."
Listening to Lady Liang’s words made Gui Xing anxious, displaying an uneasy expression. "Madam, what major issue has His Highness encountered?"
"He didn’t say. If it were minor, he would have told me, but today he didn’t say anything, so I’m afraid the matter is not small." Lady Liang understood her son’s nature; if it wasn’t a major issue, he would have certainly discussed it with her, but he had kept silent.
"Madam, what should we do about this?"
"I hope he truly can handle it." Lady Liang surmised it was a significant matter, but she couldn’t guess what it was exactly.
"Madam, His Highness is exceptionally intelligent and will surely handle it well." Gui Xing could only offer such fort to Lady Liang.
Lady Liang nodded slightly, "Hmm."
Zhao Yao was unaware of Lady Liang’s concern for him and arrived at He Lianfang’s residence.
Seeing Zhao Yao, who hadn’t appeared for several days, finally decide to show up, He Lianfang sarcastically said, "Weren’t you scared away and didn’t dare to e? Why are you here again?"
Zhao Yao was thick-skinned, unafraid of He Lianfang’s sarcastic remarks.
"I wasn’t afraid, just pondering deeply."
"Tenth Highness, have you thought things through over these days?"
"Second Uncle, you are right. Let’s raise them as you suggested," Zhao Yao said boldly, "I can afford it."
In fact, He Lianfang had already anticipated that Zhao Yao would agree with his approach.
"Let’s start with ten thousand first."
When Zhao Yao heard the word "first," he subtly twitched his brows. It seemed his second uncle wasn’t content with just ten thousand private soldiers and intended to raise another ten thousand. Could it be that his second uncle wanted to reassemble the massive army of tens of thousands he once manded?
How many tens of thousands did his second uncle mand back then, twenty thousand, thirty thousand, or even forty thousand?
Though Lingnan was vast, raising an army of twenty thousand would be somewhat challenging. Ten thousand private soldiers could be somewhat managed in secrecy, but hiding twenty thousand would be very difficult.
As of now, with no ten thousand private soldiers yet, he temporarily didn’t worry about the matter of a twenty thousand army. Once he had ten thousand private soldiers, he would then have a good discussion with his second uncle.
"Second Uncle, luckily I can make money, otherwise how would you expect me to support ten thousand people?"
"There’s a way even without money." He Lianfang wasn’t asking Zhao Yao to raise ten thousand private soldiers because he had money. "I didn’t have as much money as you in the past, but I still led my tens of thousands of troops quite well."
Zhao Yao heard the underlying meaning in He Lianfang’s words and his expression became plex, "Second Uncle, it seems that whether I have money or not, you would have me raise ten thousand private soldiers."
He Lianfang replied, "That’s correct."
Zhao Yao: "..."
"Since you’ve agreed to raise ten thousand private soldiers, shouldn’t we consider the subsequent matters?"
Zhao Yao blinked blankly, "What matters?"
"If you’re going to raise ten thousand private soldiers, you can’t let them be empty-handed, can you?"
Zhao Yao understood He Lianfang’s meaning, "Second Uncle, are you asking me to forge weapons?" Secretly raising ten thousand private soldiers and forging weapons in secret — if he were to tell others he had no intention of rebellion, who would believe him?
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