On October 18th of that year, it was the concubine's birthday, and the celestial phenomena were auspicious.
The Son of Heaven proclaims that Imperial Consort Ye is a woman of both talent and virtue, born of a beautiful and graceful birth, with an elegant and graceful demeanor, graceful and dignified appearance, and a virtuous character. She is intelligent and quick-witted, and has given birth to an imperial heir. She is an example to the rest of the palace, and is committed to being diligent and thrifty in her husband's wife's house, and is filial and sincere in her relationships with her husband's wife. She is truly a role model for the world's gentleness and kindness, so I order her to be enthroned as Empress and the announcement should be made to the world so that everyone will know.
Then he issued another imperial decree, appointing his legitimate son, the fourth son of the emperor, Ning Yujing, as the crown prince and inheriting the throne.
According to the rules, Ye Yun will be granted the title of first-class duke when she becomes the queen.
Therefore, Ye Zhe was conferred the title of Duke of Ming, using the title that Ye Jun had once used. On the one hand, it expressed the emperor's favor, and on the other hand, it praised the Ye family as a clear and upright family and important officials of the country.
Back then, Ye Jun's uncle was also a hero who died on the battlefield. Although the second branch of the Ye family is now deserted, the brothers and sisters of the Ye family have a very good relationship, so his cousin Ye Huai was also conferred the title of Earl and the name of Changping.
After the imperial edict was issued, the palace became lively.
However, Ning Chen decided that the Fourth Prince's enthronement ceremony would be held first, and Queen Ye Jun's enthronement ceremony would be held in March of the following year.
The reason for postponing it for almost half a year was, firstly, because Ye Jun's health was not well yet and they were afraid that she would be tired, and secondly, Ning Chen was determined to hold the wedding as the first wife's ceremony, which would be more complicated and grand.
When this decision was first announced, there were indeed censors in the court who opposed it, saying that Ning Chen already had a queen, Xie. Even though Xie had committed a serious crime and had been sentenced to death and removed from the imperial record, she was still a former wife, and it would not be in accordance with etiquette to welcome Queen Ye into the palace with the ceremony of treating her as the first wife.
But Ning Chen had made up his mind and didn't want to let Ye Jun down in the slightest.
He rejected the man on the spot, and silenced the censors who held opposing opinions with a few words.
But those who opposed were only a minority after all, and the majority still obeyed the emperor's wishes.
Only the first censor who jumped out to express his opposition stopped harping on etiquette and pointed out that Ye Jun's permanent residence in Jiuchen Palace was against the rules. He even hinted that Ning Chen was bewitched and said that Ye Jun was a demon concubine.
Originally, this censor was usually pedantic and old-fashioned. He rarely said anything about important court affairs, but instead liked to keep an eye on the affairs of the harem. This time, Ning Chen could no longer tolerate it.
First, he gave him two young and beautiful dancers as concubines, and then dismissed him from his official position and sent him back to his hometown.
Naturally, he dared not fail to support the concubines awarded by the emperor, but after he lost his court salary, he could not even support his wife and children, let alone support two dancers.
The censor's wife was so angry that she divorced him and left with her dowry.
The two dancers were unwilling to suffer with him, so they each took some money and ran away.
It is really sad to see the censor, who kept an eye on the emperor's harem all day long, end up in such a state at the age of fifty.
Ning Chen's intention in demoting him was not only because the censor was incompetent, but also to sound a warning to other officials.
Remind them that their purpose as officials is to work for the welfare of the country and the people, and not to focus on his family affairs.
By the time this little twist was over, it was already November.
The Fourth Prince’s enthronement ceremony is scheduled for November 25th.
Preparations had already begun before the imperial edict was issued, so in almost two months, everything had been arranged.
This was also Ning Chen's idea. He wanted to complete the prince's enthronement ceremony before the end of this year and let the Fourth Prince join him when he worshipped the Taimiao and ancestors during the New Year.
The enthronement ceremony of the Fourth Prince was entrusted to Prince Ping.
There were still five or six days left, and there were still a few things in the process that had not been finalized, so Prince Ping brought the gift book to the imperial study to discuss with Ning Chen.
The first thing to do is to decide on the Prince's tutor.
This was reported early in the morning. It is up to Ning Chen to decide which one to choose.
"Let's settle on the Qi family. Qi Yao has done a great job in Lanzhou in recent years. He was transferred back to Kyoto last year and has made outstanding achievements. He is even more capable than Master Qi was back then. It is enough for him to teach Jing'er now." Ning Chen said.
King Ping picked up his pen and wrote it down on paper.
He also sighed in his heart. Now the Qi family has another tutor. Qi Chengru is Ning Chen's tutor, and his son Qi Yao is now the tutor of the fourth prince. He can be considered the tutor of two generations of emperors.
However, the Qi family is indeed a noble family, and the children they have educated are all of good character. Just look at Concubine Qi in the harem. Although she is only Qi Yao's niece, she has never brought disgrace to the family and is extremely dignified.
"Your Majesty, there is..."
Before King Ping finished his second question, Yuan Jiu came in quietly.
He lowered his voice and said, "Your Majesty, it is the end of Chen hour."
When Prince Ping heard this, he thought Ning Chen had something else to do, so he took the initiative to say, "If Your Majesty has important matters to attend to, why don't I come back another day? There are only two things that have not been finalized."
"No need, no need." Ning Chen waved his hand, stood up and straightened his clothes, "Second brother, sit here and have some tea and rest. I'll go take medicine with the queen and be back soon."
King Ping was stunned when he heard this.
As he looked extremely surprised, Ning Chen left the imperial study as if nothing had happened.
On the other side, Nan Zhi also brought the medicine.
"Go get the candied fruit, I'll bring the medicine in." Ning Chen took it and said.
Nan Zhi bowed and went there immediately.
When he entered the house, the Fourth Princess was weaving with Ye Jun and her daughter. When she saw him come in, she stood up and saluted with shining eyes.
"My daughter pays respects to the emperor, father. The emperor is accompanying the queen mother, so my daughter will go to play with my second sister first."
"No, no, you haven't finished weaving the web yet." Ye Jun reached out and grabbed her back.
The fourth princess blinked pitifully, "Mother, don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. You can't ask Yuan'er to learn it when you can't weave it yourself."
"Oh, where did you learn this new word? You actually put it into practice now." Ye Jun pinched her nose with amusement.
The fourth princess chuckled, "I listened to what the sixth brother read, but the fourth brother said he was stupid, he knew the facts but not the reasons, and his reading could make the teacher angry to death."
Ye Jun was helpless, "Your sixth brother is just a little lazy, he is actually very smart."
"Yes, yes, yes, Sixth brother is very good at rolling the dice, none of the brothers can compare to him!" The Fourth Princess blurted out.
As soon as he finished speaking, he covered his mouth in horror.
Looking at Ye Jun again, he was indeed gritting his teeth.
"Ning Yuxun is rolling dice? How old is he to play this?"
The fourth princess hesitated and backed away, then she ran away when the time was right, not forgetting to add, "Mother, you heard it wrong!"
Ye Jun stood up and was about to chase, but just as he took a step, a strong hand grabbed his waist, and he slipped and fell into a strong embrace.
"Qingqing, you always blame them, but they are not very well behaved. Hurry up and drink this medicine. I will go and teach them a lesson myself later." Ning Chen coaxed softly with a smile in his eyes.
"You are always soft-hearted and have spoiled them all." Ye Jun poked the man's chest angrily.
Ning Chen chuckled, leaned over and kissed the forehead of the girl in her arms.
"Nonsense, I only favor you, why do they have to worry about me? Be good and drink the medicine. I will watch you drink it, and you are not allowed to pour it secretly again."