Lu Xiaoyun turned to look at Zhu Yu behind her. She knew the pain in his heart, and she could feel his sadness.

She recalled that day in the Zichen Palace, when the old emperor's eyes were filled with despair and helplessness, and the words he spoke at the time expressed his sympathy and injustice for Zhu Yu.

When the message was delivered to the wedding delegation, Ruoling changed into mourning clothes and kowtowed towards Shengjing from afar.

Zhu Dan, in his capacity as the new emperor, intended to send a letter to the Southern Liang Dynasty, stating that due to the sudden national mourning in the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was not appropriate to marry at this time. Princess Ruoling was required to observe three years of mourning, so the wedding procession should return to Shengjing, and the marriage alliance should be discussed again after three years.

However, unexpectedly, the Southern Liang Emperor's letter arrived even earlier than Zhu Dan's letter.

The memorial stated that Southern Liang deeply mourned the passing of the Great Zhou Emperor. However, the marriage alliance had already been arranged, and Princess Ruoling was already on her way to Southern Liang. It was not advisable to change the arrangement. Southern Liang agreed that Princess Ruoling would observe three years of mourning for the Great Zhou Emperor in the Southern Liang capital.

Zhu Dan slammed his fist heavily on the letter from the Southern Liang state: "The Southern Liang is going too far!"

The Empress Dowager said, "Dan'er, everything should be prioritized in the affairs of the state!"

The ministers knelt down: "Your Highness, please prioritize the affairs of the state!"

Zhu Dan clenched his fists.

Seven days later, on the eighth day of the eighth lunar month, an auspicious day, Zhu Dan, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, ascended the throne and changed the era name to Jianyan.

The Empress Dowager was honored as Grand Empress Dowager, and her birth mother, Consort Shu, was honored as Empress Dowager.

The late emperor had many concubines in his harem. Those who had given birth to children were moved to the Palace of the Dowager Concubines, while those who had not given birth to children were released from the palace or allowed to return to their maternal homes. They could also choose to enter a nunnery, all at their own discretion.

Bu Feizhang was appointed Right Chancellor, and Gu Weizhi was appointed Left Chancellor. The Northern Army was officially renamed the Xishan Military Camp to protect the safety of the imperial city of Shengjing.

Zhu Dan wanted Zhu Yu to continue serving as the commander of the army, but neither Lu Xiaoyun nor Zhu Yu were willing.

Zhu Dan understood their meaning; they wanted to wait until things in Shengjing were settled before following the imperial edict to go to their fiefdom in Huainan.

Helpless, Zhu Dan had no choice but to appoint Lu Yucheng as the Grand General Commander of the Xishan Military Camp, to take over the Xishan Military Camp after Lu Yucheng recovered from his injuries.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Duke Lu Zhongyi submitted a memorial requesting resignation, explaining that he had been guarding the southern border for many years and was now old and in poor health. He feared that it would be a mistake to continue leading the Lu Family Army, so he requested to resign from the position of Grand General of the Lu Family Army and hoped that the emperor would approve it.

Zhu Dan knew Zhenguo Gong's thoughts. He was not the emperor, but he knew Zhenguo Gong's worries and stubbornness, so he did not force him and approved his resignation, appointing the former deputy general Huang as the new general of the Lu family army.

The late Emperor appointed Xiao Cheng, the former commander of the Northern Army and the husband of the eldest princess, to transfer him to the northwest battlefield to take over the mess left behind by the Duke of Ying.

Lu Yuyan made great contributions during the great epidemic in Mu City, but he was not interested in joining the Imperial Hospital. So Zhu Dan rewarded him with many rare medicinal herbs and good things, and also gave him a palace token, allowing him to enter the palace library at any time.

Ren Yong'an, who was imprisoned in the imperial prison, was sentenced to death. The Crown Prince's residence was released from confinement, and the Crown Prince Zhu Zhi was granted the title of Prince Xian.

The wise prince entered the palace to express his gratitude: "Your Majesty, I thank you. However, I have another request that I will not ask."

Zhu Dan smiled and said, "Please speak, elder brother."

Zhu Zhi touched his nose and chuckled sheepishly, "Your Majesty, as you know, I'm a blockhead. I used to think I was clever, but actually I'm not very bright. So, could you change the title you gave me? Change 'virtuous' to 'idle,' the 'idle' that means 'idle to the point of being bored'?"

The character "贤" (xián) is really bad. The virtuous concubine was Zhu Heng's mother. She harbored hatred for more than 20 years, lived a very bad life, and died so tragically.

He doesn't want it.

Zhu Dan laughed loudly: "Brother, what are you saying?"

“I’m serious. The first half of my life was spent fighting with my third brother every day, which was extremely boring. In the end, he still died at my hands. Can you imagine how frustrated I was? So, for the second half of my life, I’m going to live a life of luxury with my two daughters, enjoying the good life, playing with cats and dogs, and living a life where I don’t know what to do all day but eat, drink, and have fun without worrying about money.”

Zhang Zhongwei and Zuo Xiu were also amused by Zhu Zhi's words.

Zhang Zhongwei laughed until tears streamed down his face. "Late Emperor, why did you do this to yourself?"

"Your Majesty, as you know, I am not a very clever person. In the past, my father and maternal grandfather forced me to learn this and that every day, to befriend this minister and that minister, and to take this family's daughter as a concubine and that family's daughter as a concubine. I don't know how tiring it was."

"Your Majesty, you have no idea how much I envy the Marquis of Nanyang. I want to live a life like his. Originally, since his daughter married the Heir Apparent Lu, I wanted to see how the Marquis of Nanyang would continue to live his carefree life. But guess what? He's still happily living his life every day."

"My daughter has been married into the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion for a month or two, and he has only allowed her to return home once, for her homecoming. After lunch, he kicked her out and told her not to come to her parents' home unless necessary, as it would interfere with his gardening and bird-keeping. Your Majesty, do you think this kind of life is comfortable?"

Zhu Dan smiled but remained silent.

"Once I've raised my two daughters to adulthood, I'll marry them off and tell them the same thing: stop running back to your parents' home all the time, and focus on being a good wife and mother, instead of distracting me from playing with my cats and dogs."

Zhu Dan made a bold stroke of his pen, crossed out "virtuous" and rewrote it as "leisurely," and handed it to Zhu Zhi.

Zhu Zhi left the palace as happy as a child, but his heart was filled with mixed emotions. He, Zhu Zhi, had finally, finally reached this day.

On the Lantern Festival, his father was assassinated. He wasn't stupid; how could he possibly go to Lianfu Restaurant again?

He simply didn't want to be the crown prince who was used by his father and forced by his maternal grandfather anymore.

But he couldn't voluntarily relinquish the position, because the empire wasn't his, and the title of crown prince was bestowed upon him by his father, the emperor.

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