Chapter 3: Requesting to be a vassal
All the officials were suddenly in an uproar and turned to look at the palace door.

Two figures came against the light, and all the officials couldn't help but narrow their eyes.

As soon as they saw the figure clearly, the highest hall of power in the empire suddenly began to howl with ghosts and wolves, and the usually extremely majestic imperial ministers all fled in panic.

Wang Hongyuan also stood up in panic and left his beloved dragon throne.

"You...you are a human or a ghost!"

Wang An held Shen Shaozhu's hand and stood in the Huangji Palace, looking at his uncle who was panicking and confused on the throne. He sneered in a low voice, "As expected of father and son, they always say the same thing when they meet."

After he finished his complaints, Wang An immediately put on his usual submissive demeanor and bowed, saying, "Nephew Wang An, I pay my respects to His Majesty the Emperor!"

The attitude was so respectful and the etiquette was so standard that not even the Minister of Rites could find any fault with it.

Seeing that Wang An did not look dead with blood coming out of all his seven orifices and his face green and fangs fanged, but instead had a ruddy complexion and even knew how to salute the emperor, the people in the court gradually calmed down.

Wang Hongyuan said in disbelief: "You...you are not dead! This is unacceptable..."

Wang Hongyuan immediately changed his words and said, "Nephew, how...how did you come back to life?"

Wang An showed his white teeth and said in a sunny tone, "Nephew doesn't know either. It was just a dream."

"What dream?" Wang Hongyuan asked subconsciously.

Wang An scratched his head and pretended to think, then said, "In my dream, I went to a palace. There were demons with ox-heads and horse-faces, judges and little ghosts in the palace. There was also a man wearing a crown. As soon as he saw me, he hugged me and cried, saying, 'Why did my son die so young?'"

As soon as these words were spoken, Huangji Palace fell into chaos again.

All the officials were whispering to each other and discussing the matter.

"Oh my, His Royal Highness Prince Xin has gone to Hades' Palace!"

"Since there are Ox-Head and Horse-Faced, it can't be wrong."

"The one with the crown must be the King of Hell!"

"Why did Lord Yan hold His Highness Prince Xin and call him 'my son'?"

"hiss……"

All the officials seemed to have thought of something, and everyone in the hall gasped.

Wang Hongyuan looked even uglier and asked, "What else did that person say?"

The prince pretended to think for a moment and said, "It seems that he said that the nephew should return to the human world first, and then deal with him after he finds out the whole story."

"You said he called you his son?"

"It seems like, I can't remember clearly."

Wang Hongyuan sat back on the dragon throne, his eyes fixed on Wang An, as if he wanted to see any signs of lying on Wang An's face.

However, all the officials began to discuss it.

"This must be the late emperor! Otherwise, how could he allow His Royal Highness Prince Xin to return to the world of the living?"

"As expected of Emperor Zhaowu, he is the Emperor of Humans in life and the Emperor of Ghosts in death!"

"To be reborn as the King of Hell, one's merits in life must have reached the heaven!"

The ministers were discussing, and suddenly someone stood up and proposed: "I propose that we hold a sacrifice ceremony for the late Emperor Zhaowu to celebrate his becoming the King of Hell!"

"I second the proposal!"

"I also second the proposal!"

Wang An couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as he watched the performance of the officials.

Fortunately, I had read several historical novels in my previous life and knew that even emperors in ancient times believed in the existence of gods and ghosts, so I brought out the dead ghost father as a big banner.

Even the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor Wu were limited in their perspective and firmly believed that there were ghosts and gods in this world. For example, Qin Shihuang sought the elixir of immortality, and Emperor Jiajing practiced Taoism to become an immortal.

This explanation not only explained why he came back to life, but also prevented Wang Hongyuan from attacking him at will in the short term.

But this was only a temporary measure. Wang An knew very well that the stories of ghosts and gods could not scare away people's desire for power.

As expected, Wang Hongyuan was not enthusiastic about the officials' proposal and just perfunctorily said, "We will discuss this matter later."

Then he looked at Wang An and said, "Since your nephew has been reborn, go back and have a good rest."

However, Wang An did not leave obediently. He just bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have a request and I hope Your Majesty will grant it."

Wang Hongyuan showed a hint of hesitation, but still nodded and said, "What's the matter?"

Wang An showed an indifferent expression and said with a sigh: "After this resurrection from the dead, my nephew deeply felt that life is short. The most important thing is to cherish the present."

"Therefore, I beg Your Majesty to grant my nephew a fiefdom, and let him be sent out to be a free and easy prince!"

However, as soon as Wang An made his request, some ministers immediately objected.

"I understand that Your Highness must have some feelings after escaping death, but you are the eldest son of the late emperor. According to the rules set by Taizu, you are the heir to the throne. How can you be sent to a fiefdom?"

Wang An turned his head and saw that the person who spoke was a man with a three-foot long white beard.

I vaguely remember that it was Gao Jin, the Minister of the Honglu Temple, who was in charge of national sacrifices and court etiquette. He was a conservative person and a staunch supporter of Wang Hongyuan's abdication of the throne.

Wang Hongyuan disliked this man very much, but he couldn't get rid of him.

Because Gao Jin was not only law-abiding and never engaged in corruption or fraud, but he was also a veteran minister who had served four dynasties.

Although he was only an official of the fourth rank, many high-ranking officials in the court were his disciples and descendants.

All the conservative ministers in the court tried to dissuade him, but Wang An just smiled and said nothing.

After everyone finished speaking, he bowed to all the officials and said, "You don't need to persuade me anymore. I have made up my mind!"

"What's more, Daliang is now facing internal and external troubles. There are Western Di, Northern Rong, Southern Barbarians and Eastern Yi outside, and bandits rising up everywhere inside. I don't think I have the ability to take on this important task. The revival of Daliang should fall on the shoulders of the emperor's uncle!"

After that, he bowed solemnly to Wang Hongyuan and said, "My nephew is timid, I beg you to shoulder the responsibility of the fate of the world!"

As soon as he finished speaking, one of Wang Hongyuan's confidants jumped out to agree.

"Your Majesty, this is from the bottom of my heart. I also implore Your Majesty to take sole responsibility for the fate of this world!"

"I second the proposal!"

"I also second the proposal!"

The appearance of the royalists made Wang Hongyuan, who was in a bad mood because of Gao Jinjin, feel a little better. However, he was still a little skeptical and asked, "Nephew, do you really not want to inherit the throne?"

Wang An said firmly: "My nephew only wants to live a carefree life. He has no interest in the imperial cause."

Hearing this, Wang Hongyuan couldn't help but smile.

As long as Wang An was willing to be sent to a vassal state, his status as a vassal king would be confirmed, and he would be waiting for him to voluntarily give up the throne. This would be a great joy for Wang Hongyuan that he could never ask for.

Although he was ecstatic, Wang Hongyuan still sighed in a pretentious manner.

"Since my nephew has no intention of taking the throne, rather than ruining our ancestors' country in the future, I would rather let you live a carefree life, so as to not let go of the brotherhood between me and the late emperor."

Gao Jin and other conservatives could only sigh when they heard this. Although they hoped that Wang An would inherit the throne, the internal and external troubles in Daliang today did not seem to be something that a sixteen-year-old boy could bear.

Besides, Wang An has repeatedly stated that he does not want to be the emperor. They have offended the emperor for many years because of their persistence. Now that the person concerned has spoken, he has no fear to persist.

Wang An was overjoyed. As long as he left the imperial capital, his life would be safe to a certain extent.

(End of this chapter)