On the night of March 20th, Emperor Yuan Wei Zhaoxiu passed away in Changxia Palace.
It was as if a heavy snow had fallen in the Beiyuan Palace, and it had changed from spring to winter overnight. Looking from a high place, white silk was floating, the canopy was held high, and the white lanterns were swaying gently in the warm spring breeze.
The royal family, civil and military officials all wore mourning clothes, took off their crowns and ornaments, and frowned with grief. The spring was still bright, but the palace was filled with the sound of weeping and crying.
The late emperor passed away, and everyone was worried about one thing under the appearance of grief—who would sit on the throne and become the new emperor of Beiyuan. Everyone knew that the future of Beiyuan was not determined by the late emperor's will, but by His Royal Highness Prince Heng, who held a large number of troops.
His Royal Highness Prince Heng led the army to destroy Xixia at the age of 16, and became famous at a young age. Now the Western Expedition Army, which was invincible in the past, is stationed outside Shengjing City. Even if the King of Ying leads the imperial guards in the capital, he cannot compete with them.
As long as His Royal Highness Prince Heng wanted to, he would be the only candidate for the crown prince. But all signs showed that he didn't think so, so others dared to have such thoughts.
After the incident on the ninth day of the first lunar month, Prince Heng hesitated for more than two months between the King of England and the Fifth Prince. It was time to make a decision.
In the hall, important civil and military officials and nobles lined up on both sides, waiting for the arrival of Prince Heng. The only one who was not there was the fourth prince, Wei Huaiyi. He was already weak and sickly, and after the death of the previous emperor, he was even more grief-stricken, causing his illness to relapse and he was bedridden.
No one cared about the absence of an insignificant prince. The new Emperor Yuan could only be one of the King of England and the Fifth Prince.
After waiting for nearly half an hour, the eunuch's voice finally sounded outside the Xuande Hall: "His Royal Highness Prince Heng has arrived—"
Everyone immediately lowered their heads and bowed in a proper manner. Soon, steady footsteps were heard in the deserted hall, and a white hem passed by their lowered vision one by one.
Wei Zhenfeng couldn't cry, but he still had to do some superficial work. He was seen wearing a plain white mourning dress, with a white hairband tied up high in his ponytail, and stepped into the Xuande Hall under the attention of everyone.
Before Wei Zhenfeng even sat down, he said, "No need to be polite."
Everyone raised their eyes and saw the young man in mourning clothes stepping onto the stairs and walking to the top as usual. What was different from usual was that he did not stop in front of the assistant chair specially prepared for him, but walked straight over and sat on the dragon chair as if inadvertently.
His movements were casual and natural, as if this position had always been his and was entirely natural to him, even though everyone in the hall was in panic and stunned.
The King of England was old, and he managed to remain calm, showing no emotion on his face. However, the young Fifth Prince looked ashen, with shock written all over his face.
Although His Royal Highness Prince Heng never explicitly mentioned the crown prince, everyone could see that he intended to retreat behind the scenes and support the new emperor to take the throne. What made him change his mind? If Prince Heng suddenly became interested in the throne again, who could compete with him, and who dared to compete with him
"If you want to say something, just speak louder." Wei Zhenfeng seemed to be a very easy-going person, with a faint smile on his face. "I can't hear you if you say it in your heart."
In the pin-drop silence, no one dared to speak. Finally, it was the King of England who stood up first and bowed to his nephew: "I dare not."
Seeing this, everyone knelt down and followed suit: "I dare not."
Wei Zhenfeng placed his palm on the dragon head of the armrest, looking down at the ministers from a high position. It was amazing that the Grand Master's chair was clearly as high and as big as the Dragon Chair, but the feeling of sitting on it was completely different.
He remembered what Zhao Mian had said.
"With the dragon robe, you can have the power to decide life and death, and rule the country. You will be invincible. Are you sure you don't want to try such an exciting thing?"
Zhao Mian was right. It would be a pity not to try such an exciting thing. Even if he could give up the throne, he was unwilling to do so. His Majesty, who was arrogant and frivolous, could not tolerate his loved ones calling others "Your Majesty" in Beiyuan, nor could he tolerate that he could not legitimately possess everything that the master of the Beiyuan Central Palace should have.
Only a ruler of a country is worthy of being a ruler of a country.
Zhao Mian, who witnessed everything in the side hall of Xuande Hall, was quite satisfied with it. If Wei Zhenfeng really chose one between King Ying and the Fifth Prince to submit to him, resulting in Fanfan not being able to be the eldest prince who was second only to the emperor when he occasionally came to Beiyuan for the summer vacation in the future, he would definitely be so upset that he would return to Nanjing overnight.
Fortunately, the time I spent sleeping on the dragon bed was not in vain.
Zhao Mian had seen enough and said to Yun Yong behind him, "Let's go back."
Yun Yong asked: "Your Majesty, are you going back to Chengming Palace?"
"I want to see someone first," Zhao Mian said, "your Fourth Prince."
Wei Huaiyi's biological mother died early, and he was helpless in Beiyuan Palace since childhood. His frail constitution doomed him to have no chance of becoming the crown prince, and Wei Zhaoxiu's attitude towards him was also indifferent. Fortunately, with the careful care of Concubine Mei, he was able to grow up despite his sick body.
After Wei Zhenfeng gained power, Wei Huaiyi moved from the remote small palace to the big palace. When Zhao Mian visited, he was half lying on the bed, being served by his personal eunuch to drink medicine, and Bai Yu happened to be there.
When Wei Huaiyi saw Zhao Mian, he stood up with difficulty and tried to greet him: "Why is my second sister-in-law here?"
Zhao Mian hesitated for a moment, and reluctantly decided not to stop Wei Zhenfeng's brothers and sisters from calling him that. He asked Bai Yu, "How is the Fourth Prince's condition?"
Bai Yu said: "Your Highness is worried and sick, it's not a big problem, you just need to rest and you will recover."
Facing Zhao Mian's sudden concern, Wei Huaiyi seemed flattered: "Thank you for your concern, my health has always been like this. I just need to rest for a few days."
Zhao Mian said meaningfully: "Now that the overall situation has been decided, it will be difficult for you not to rest."
Wei Huaiyi coughed twice and asked, "What do you mean, sister-in-law?"
Zhao Mian dismissed the palace maids, leaving only Bai Yu. He said, "It was you who was responsible for the assassination of Wei Zhenfeng in the border town of Nanjing."
Zhao Mian originally thought that Wei Huaiyi would do his utmost to deny the matter, but he just slightly widened his eyes, then chuckled and said, "It really can't be concealed."
The boy's calm reaction impressed Zhao Mian. Neither the King of England nor the mother and son of Concubine De had any motive to send a group of inferior assassins to kill Wei Zhenfeng. Excluding these two people, the remaining answer was none other than Wei Huaiyi.
Wei Huaiyi asked: "Second sister-in-law, does Second Brother know about this?"
Zhao Mian asked back: "What do you think?"
An assassination attempt that was doomed to fail was enough to make Wei Zhenfeng equally suspicious of everyone who had the hope of inheriting the throne, but no matter how much Wei Zhenfeng suspected the King of Ying and others, Wei Huaiyi would not be among the candidates for the crown prince. The imperial physician of Beiyuan had already asserted that the Fourth Prince was too weak to have children, and Bai Yu also agreed with this statement.
Zhao Mian could only think of one reason why Wei Huaiyi did this. He wanted to hear Wei Huaiyi's confession, so he asked, "Why did you resort to such a bad idea?"
Wei Huaiyi laughed at himself and said, "Second brother should know my intentions, otherwise why would you keep me here until now, and you wouldn't let others leave before mentioning this matter."
"Wei Zhenfeng is right. You are quite smart." Zhao Mian said, "But from another perspective, you are also stupid to persuade Wei Zhenfeng to ascend the throne in this way."
Wei Huaiyi smiled bitterly and said, "This is the only solution I can think of." The young man looked at Zhao Mian, and said urgently, "Second sister-in-law, I know that my second brother pretended to have no interest in the throne for your sake, but how can I allow others to snore beside my bed? Whether it is my sixth uncle or my fifth brother who ascends the throne, there will be endless troubles in the future. They will not tolerate my second brother continuing to hold power. Please persuade my second brother to think twice."
Zhao Mian said calmly: "Do you need to tell me these?"
Wei Huaiyi was speechless: "… Huaiyi was abrupt."
"Take good care of him," Zhao Mian turned and left, "Only when he is well can you attend your second brother's coronation ceremony."
Wei Zhenfeng was busy all day and returned to the palace after dark. As soon as he came back, he went around the palace to look for Zhao Mian. Bai Yu told him: "Your Majesty is in the study reading the letter sent by Prime Minister Xiao."
Wei Zhenfeng said "I know" and walked towards the study.
"Your Highness," Bai Yu called out to him, "Don't forget that there is only one serving of contraceptive soup left, and Your Majesty will have to stay in Beiyuan for another month."
"You don't have to remind me every day." Wei Zhenfeng said with a smile, "I'm still in mourning, do you think I have the mood to think about those things?"
Bai Yu put on a fake smile and said, "When we left Shangjing, you also said that you were going back to Beiyuan for serious business, so I didn't need to prepare too much."
Wei Zhenfeng: “.”
Wei Zhenfeng came to the study and was surprised to find that Zhao Mian was also wearing pure white today. Zhao Mian rarely wore such plain colors, and his usual domineering aura was reduced a lot, revealing his elegant and abstinent side. But the purer the white, the more people's bad and playful hearts are ready to move.
Wei Zhenfeng stood at the door and watched for a long time. Zhao Mian felt his gaze and looked up: "You came back so late."
"Sorry, I'm a bit busy." Wei Zhenfeng's Adam's apple rolled and he asked, "Why... are you dressed like this?"
Zhao Mian explained: "The whole palace is in mourning, and I am the only one wearing gold and silver, which is too eye-catching."
Wei Zhenfeng put on a distressed expression: "No way, we can't even wear gold and silver, our Majesty must be very upset."
"You're being sarcastic." Zhao Mian looked down at his clothes. "Don't I look good like this?"
"It looks good." Wei Zhenfeng paused, not knowing whether he was being rude or reminding himself, "But it's definitely not as good-looking as you wearing a dragon robe."
Zhao Mian was speechless for a moment: "Thank you for saying it so loudly, but you only need to say the first sentence."
Wei Zhenfeng smiled, sat down next to Zhao Mian, put his chin on Zhao Mian's shoulder and relaxed: "What did Xiao Xiang say?"
Zhao Mian said: "Regarding the matter of Tianque Sect, my father also advocated that Nan Jing send troops to Dongling."
"So what do you think?"
"I'm wondering who should lead the troops if we send them out."
Wei Zhenfeng was not in a position to interfere too much in the affairs of Nanjing, as he believed that Zhao Mian would make the most correct decision.
Wei Zhenfeng changed the subject: "I heard that you went to meet Wei Huaiyi?"
Zhao Mian hummed and sneered, "I didn't expect you also have a brother who is obsessed with his brother. I should introduce him to Zhao Lin someday. Maybe these two can get along well."
Wei Zhenfeng raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "So, you believe in my fourth brother?"
Zhao Mian nodded: "Father once said that bloodline is the most stable thing for the inheritance of the throne. And Wei Huaiyi does not have his own bloodline, even if he is given power, he will not threaten you and Fanfan. I believe in him for your sake. He is a talented person, you can make use of him."
Wei Zhenfeng understood what Zhao Mian meant: "Just like when you left Shangjing, Xiao Xiang watched over you. You also hope that when I leave Shengjing, there will be someone trustworthy to watch over me, right?"
Facing Wei Zhenfeng's knowing question, Zhao Mian used his usual irony: "No, I hope you will be rebelled when you leave Shengjing."
"Thank you." Wei Zhenfeng thought for a moment and said, "Zhao Mian, let's stay in Nanjing and Beiyuan for one month each. In the odd months, you will go back to Beiyuan with me, and in the even months, we will stay in Nanjing. What do you think?"
"It's a waste of time to run back and forth like this." Zhao Mian pondered, "Why don't we meet halfway between Shangjing and Shengjing and meet once a month."
Wei Zhenfeng disagreed: "Don't make an appointment, but keep meeting. According to your middle point, we might as well move the capital. You move north and I move south. Wouldn't it be easier?"
Zhao Mian said seriously: "Or building a canal can facilitate trade between the two countries."
Wei Zhenfeng joked, "Or we can search the world for a capable person who can build a teleportation formation."
Zhao Mian sneered: "You might as well get a big eagle and let it carry you to Shangjing. It's better than your superstition."
The two of them talked more and more outrageous, and they were still discussing it after going to bed. Then they thought about their son together, and then they had an ideological struggle for an hour about whether they should use up the last batch of contraceptive soup tonight. Finally, they felt sleepy and fell asleep with their clothes on.
(End of this chapter)