Xuanyuan Peng's words instantly stirred up a storm in the hearts of the officials.

What does Your Majesty mean by this?

Is this clearly a move to establish the Holy King as the crown prince?

This won't do! It doesn't make sense from the perspective of the Holy King!

Regardless of who his biological father is, according to the genealogy of the Xuanyuan royal family, he is the legitimate son of the former Crown Prince Xuanyuan Kun. There is no doubt about this. How could the legitimate son of Xuanyuan Kun inherit the throne?

The emperor himself has sons; he still has three princes. This is completely unreasonable and goes against ethics!

Xuan Yuanzhi, Xuan Yuanyu, and Xuan Yuanduo were also greatly alarmed.

Although they had always known their father's thoughts, this was the first time they had said them so openly in the Eastern Chu court.

It seems that Father Emperor has truly made up his mind to pass the throne to that bastard Xuanyuan Zhan!

Xuan Yuanzhan's gray eyes also stirred with emotion, his heart becoming complicated once again.

He admitted that he was somewhat moved!

For his boundless favoritism!!!

Xuanyuan Peng was truly unafraid to spell out these words today: "You understand my thoughts, and I know your thoughts perfectly well. When your master is able to approve such memorials, then come and lecture me!"

After Xuanyuan Peng finished speaking, he didn't bother with these ignorant officials anymore and got up to leave.

Zong Jiu was startled by Xuan Yuanpeng and quickly announced, "Court is adjourned!"

Xuanyuan Peng took two steps, then turned back to Xuanyuan Zhan and said, "What are you still standing there for? I still have many memorials waiting for you to review!"

Xuanyuan Zhan paused for a moment, then bowed respectfully, a rare occurrence for him: "Yes."

Xuanyuan Zhan followed Xuanyuan Peng.

Xuan Yuanpeng's favoritism towards Xuan Yuanzhan made Xuan Yuanyu and Xuan Yuanzhi green with envy.

If they were still kids, they would definitely surround Xuan Yuanzhan and beat him up to vent their anger!

Unfortunately, the current Xuan Yuan Zhan is no longer the Xuan Yuan Zhan of his childhood. If they were to really fight, they would be the ones to suffer!

As soon as Xuanyuan Peng and Xuanyuan Zhan left, the officials immediately became restless.

"Is His Majesty truly going to pass the throne to His Highness the Holy King?"

"His Majesty's meaning is crystal clear. What do you all think we should do?"

"How can the Emperor pass the throne to the Holy King? What kind of logic is this?!"

The lower-ranking officials were discussing it animatedly, while the higher-ranking officials all followed Xuan Yuanzhi and Xuan Yuanyu.

The Emperor's intentions are already out in the open. With such a major incident, they, as advisors, must help come up with ideas.

Some officials who hadn't taken sides started having other ideas.

The Emperor's intentions are clear: he favors the Holy King and wants to pass the throne to him.

If they side with the Holy King now, and he ascends the throne in the future, they, as his party members, will surely rise to high positions!

Especially now that the Holy King is isolated and without any support from officials, whoever sides with the Holy King at this time will surely become his confidant. If they succeed in siding with him in the future, they will definitely enjoy endless wealth and glory!

However, siding with the Holy King is also very risky. After all, the Holy King's status is what it is, and even if the Emperor wanted to pass the throne to him, it wouldn't be an easy task. If they failed in their alliance, their fate would be absolutely tragic.

So this is quite a high-stakes gamble. If you win, you'll be a superior person, enjoying wealth and status! If you lose, losing your official position is a minor matter; you might even lose your life.

We need to think carefully about what to do next!

Xuanyuan Zhan had no idea what those officials were thinking; he was currently writing furiously in the imperial study.

Xuan Yuanpeng was very pleased to see Xuan Yuanzhan return and immediately begin to seriously review memorials without saying a word or complaining.

This kid seems a bit different. Before, although he obediently reviewed the memorials, his attitude was definitely perfunctory. Of course, judging from the results, perhaps he wasn't being perfunctory.

However, he was clearly different today than in the past few days, appearing much more focused.

Xuanyuan Peng was worried about his son, fearing that Xuanyuan Zhan's frequent review of memorials would ruin his health, so he asked Zong Jiu to brew some ginseng soup for Xuanyuan Zhan.

Zong Jiu quickly brought the ginseng soup to Xuan Yuanzhan's table: "Your Highness, this is specially made by the Imperial Kitchen using century-old ginseng, as instructed by the Emperor. It nourishes the essence and replenishes the qi."

Xuanyuan Zhan glanced at Xuanyuan Peng and saw that he was looking at him with very loving eyes. He immediately felt uncomfortable and did not refuse. He drank the whole bowl of ginseng soup.

Seeing that he had drunk a bowl of ginseng soup so obediently, Xuanyuan Peng immediately instructed Zong Jiu: "From now on, have them stew a bowl of ginseng soup every day."

"Yes," Zong Jiu replied with a smile.

Xuanyuan Zhan, however, had no way to express his suffering. A bowl of ginseng soup every day—who was he trying to kill with all that nourishment?

The worst part is that he can't even touch his wife now. He's been spending so much energy and vitality on her every day, where is he supposed to put it all in?

Xuanyuan Zhan wanted to refuse, but looking at Xuanyuan Peng's eager gaze, he couldn't bring himself to do so.

Xuanyuan Peng was extremely satisfied with Xuanyuan Zhan's sudden change to obedience.

This kid is quite easy to handle. If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have sent him to that fiefdom. If I had raised him by my side since he was a child, we would probably have become close by now. Why would we have to wait until now?

While Xuanyuan Zhan was writing furiously in the imperial study, Su Xuening had lunch with Bai Shi but still hadn't seen Xuanyuan Zhan return. So she greeted Bai Shi and said she would personally go to the palace to fetch him.

Seeing the young couple so affectionate and inseparable, Lady Bai was naturally pleased. She then sent Su Xuening with more guards and soldiers into the palace.

When Su Xuening entered the palace, Xuan Yuanzhan had just finished lunch with Xuan Yuanpeng.

The ginseng soup was still warming his stomach. Xuan Yuanzhan wasn't really hungry, but he couldn't refuse Xuan Yuanpeng's hospitality, so he ate some with him.

After he finished his lunch, Zong Jiu came in to report: "Your Majesty, Your Highness, the Holy Princess Consort has entered the palace and is in the Imperial Garden."

"Ning'er is here." Xuan Yuanzhan ran out before he could even say a word to Xuan Yuanpeng.

...Seeing Xuan Yuanzhan's worthless appearance, Xuan Yuanpeng felt helpless and said to Zong Jiu, "Go tell that boy that's enough for today, let him keep his queen company!"

This kid has been working hard all morning reviewing memorials. At his pace, he must have reviewed quite a few, so he can take a break now.

"Yes," Zong Jiu replied with a smile and then left.

When Xuanyuan Zhan arrived at the Imperial Garden, he saw Su Xuening sitting in the pavilion feeding the carp.

Xuanyuan Zhan entered the pavilion. When Bihe and Lülian saw him, they hurriedly tried to bow, but he waved them off without any formalities.

The two women were quite self-aware; they glanced at Su Xuening, who had her back to them, and bowed as they left the pavilion.

Xuan Yuanzhan quietly stepped forward, peeked out from behind Su Xuening, and stole a kiss on Su Xuening's face.