Chapter 226 Chen Lang

After the court session, Shen Xu went straight to Yan Ying Hall to see Li Yuanzhao.

Now that the emperor is seriously ill and Li Yuanzhao is overseeing the country, she has moved to Yanying Hall to handle government affairs.

As soon as Shen Xu entered the room, he lifted his robe, knelt down, and solemnly kowtowed three times.

"On behalf of the entire Shen family, I thank Your Highness for securing a posthumous title for my sister. The Shen family will never forget this kindness and virtue."

After Li Yuanzhao sat down, his gaze thoughtfully swept over his "uncle".

Normally, as a daughter, she was advocating for her mother's honor, so why would she need her uncle to express his gratitude on her behalf?

As she expected, Shen Xu had indeed noticed something.

However, her purpose in requesting a title for her mother today was not merely to win over the Shen family and reassure Shen Xu.

It was also for her own sake.

She naturally didn't believe that her father would be so kind as to obediently abdicate in her favor.

Although we can't yet fathom Li Ye's specific plans, it's always good to be prepared.

Now, his father is an emperor, and his mother is also an emperor.

Then she was upgraded from "the emperor's daughter" to "the eldest daughter of two emperors".

This "dual legitimacy" status elevated her legitimacy as crown prince to an undeniable level.

Her succession became a foregone conclusion, an indisputable and irrefutable decision.

Moreover, this seems to be Shen Lang's last wish.

Since she has paved the way for me, I don't mind fulfilling her wish and giving her the honor she deserves.

As for the empty title of "the first female emperor in history," she didn't care.

As long as power is firmly in one's hands, that is enough.

She looked at Shen Xu and said calmly, "Sit down, Uncle."

Shen Xu then sat down and looked at his niece, who resembled neither Li Ye nor his sister.

He grew up in the military camp with his sister.

My older sister is a martial arts prodigy at a young age, and her mastery of the Shen family spear technique is unparalleled.

No one in the entire military camp was her match.

Even so, her father always said, "A daughter should live a peaceful life; fighting is a man's job," and wouldn't let her go to the front lines to fight the enemy.

The men in the barracks admired her skill and military strategy, but they didn't give her much real respect.

In their eyes, no matter how capable the older sister was, she was still a woman.

Behind her back, they often joked about her marriage, saying that she was "too rigid and not like a woman, and that she would probably never get married."

My sister never cared about this and continued to be at the training ground before dawn every day, devoting all her energy to military affairs.

Until that happened.

On one occasion, a sixteen-year-old girl who cooked for the army camp was dragged into a tent and defiled by a drunken general.

When the young girl woke up, she was both scared and angry. She cried and went to complain, but the general turned the tables on her, falsely accusing her of being unfaithful and seducing him. He then threw her a few coins to get rid of her.

As a result, the girl was strong-willed and threw herself into the river outside the camp that very night.

The news quickly reached her sister's ears.

Without uttering a word, she raised her sword and beheaded the lieutenant general, then hung his head under the highest command flag.

When the father found out, he ordered his sister to be tied up and taken to the drill ground, where he personally carried out military law in front of all the soldiers in the camp.

While hitting her, her father questioned her, "Do you know you're wrong?"

My sister stood ramrod straight, and with each lash she received, she shouted, "I did nothing wrong!"

The whip lashed heavily across the sister's back, a sight so gruesome that the surrounding soldiers could hardly bear to watch.

Upon hearing this, the father beat the child even harder.

He didn't stop until he had lashed the victim a hundred times.

The soldiers watching were discussing it amongst themselves, most of them feeling that the older sister had gone too far.

"She's just a woman who cooks. The General of the Central Army is a man who has made great contributions in battle. It's not worth it for him to pay for a woman's life."

"Women are supposed to be dutiful and respectful, so isn't the woman herself also at fault?"

Later, his sister was carried back to the tent to recover from her injuries, and he secretly slipped in to visit her.

Seeing the bloody and mangled wounds on her back, he felt so heartbroken that tears streamed down his face.

"Sister, why did you have to do that? Couldn't you have just pretended to admit you were wrong and waited until Father calmed down before saying anything?"

But his sister told him, "I'm not wrong, the world is wrong! A woman's life is her life too! It's no less valuable than a man's! If you men won't give us justice, then I'll fight for it myself!"

From then on, my sister completely changed.

Ignoring his father's strict order not to get involved in the struggle for the throne, he resolutely plunged into the vortex of power.

The first person she contacted was the then-Crown Prince.

Although the Crown Prince was tempted by the military power held by the Shen family, he was only willing to give her the position of a concubine.

Not long after, the prince died.

He knew it was his sister who did it.

Later, the elder sister turned her attention to Li Ye, the Prince of Yan, who was then unknown and whose mother came from a humble background.

This time, the older sister won.

She became empress as she had wished.

Not long after, she became pregnant with the emperor's child.

Looking at his brother-in-law's beaming face, he thought to himself that his own life was numbered.

Unfortunately, on the night she gave birth, her sister, who had always wanted to ascend the throne as a woman, died.

Fortunately, she left behind a child, her beloved daughter.

From then on, he wholeheartedly helped his niece from behind the scenes, paving the way for her and assisting her in ascending the throne.

Unexpectedly, fate played a cruel trick on him; the "niece" he had protected for over a decade turned out to be not his sister's biological daughter.

When the Imperial Concubine exposed the switch in the palace that day, he had a vague idea of ​​what had happened.

At that moment, his heart was also filled with turbulent waves.

But no matter what, he still had to protect her in front of everyone.

It wasn't just for the Shen family, but also for my sister.

Now, looking at Li Yuanzhao, he suddenly felt that his choice was not wrong.

Indeed, only she could give my sister everything she wanted.

Shen Xu's eyes reddened, and his words choked with emotion, "Your Highness, I think my sister would be comforted if she knew you were like this in the afterlife."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanzhao looked up at him and asked, "What about Uncle? Is Uncle pleased?"

Shen Xu's tone was filled with undisguised pride and emotion, "I am naturally gratified and even more proud! Although I have not been able to accompany you by your side all the time, watching you grow step by step into the Crown Prince who can stand against the opposition in Hanyuan Hall and win the title of Emperor for his mother, this achievement makes me feel more excited and honored than any military merit I have made!"

Li Yuanzhao nodded.

Suddenly, she changed her tone and said seriously, "Uncle, you must remember that no matter when, where, or under what circumstances, I am the only hope of the Shen family. Empress Shen's last wish and the glory of the Shen family rest on my shoulders. So... please support me without reservation, without any hesitation, and do not be swayed by other people or things."

Her words contained no warmth between uncle and nephew, but were full of cold admonitions, yet every word struck a chord deep within Shen Xu's heart.

He knew this wasn't a threat, but rather the most honest disclosure.

Shen Xu stood up, straightened his court robes, and then bowed deeply to Li Yuanzhao.

"Your Majesty, I understand. The entire Shen clan will follow Your Highness's lead without hesitation, even at the cost of mountains of knives and seas of fire! My life, and Chu Rong's life, are at Your Highness's command!"