Emperor Yuming sneered, waved his hand dismissively, and ignored her. She was just a daughter, after all; whether she came back or not was up to her.

Unexpectedly, the fourth prince, who had always been submissive, became angry.

It's not his fault; she's his only sister, and the only one he's truly close to. He thought he'd be reunited with his sister soon, but who knew Emperor Yuming wouldn't bring her back?

In a fit of anger, the fourth prince went on strike on South Street.

This is interesting.

When the words reached Emperor Yuming's ears, he let out another cold laugh.

If we don't care, we don't care. Anyway, the eldest prince already controls two streets, so we might as well give him another one.

This is quite subtle. There are four streets in total, and the eldest prince occupies three-quarters of them, while the third prince only occupies one-quarter. This is blatant favoritism.

However, the emperor was in a fit of rage, and the officials kept their eyes down, none daring to say anything. The emperor's faction remained silent, and the prime minister's faction was even less likely to speak, so the matter was settled.

Because of what had happened before, the Third Prince hadn't uttered a single word for several days, and hadn't even eaten much.

When the news came that the eldest prince was in charge of the three streets, he was stunned for a moment, but then he actually smiled, which was a rare occurrence.

Turning around and entering the house, the Third Prince opened the mechanism, took out the box containing the North Street Commander's Order from the hidden compartment, and handed it to his personal guard.

"Your Highness, what is this...?" the guard asked hesitantly.

The Third Prince pursed his lips and sighed softly: "This is the North Street Command Order. Please personally deliver this to my eldest brother."

The guard, holding the box, trembled slightly: "Your Highness...!"

"No need for further words." The Third Prince shook his head: "I will simply say that I wish him a bright future and that he will soar to great heights."

"..." The guard remained silent for a moment, then turned and left with the box.

Watching him leave, the Third Prince smiled bitterly to himself.

Are you willing to give it up?

Of course, I'm reluctant to part with it.

He knew exactly what he was thinking. This was the most direct contact he had had with power in a long time, and he had struggled with the decision to hand it over to the eldest prince for quite some time.

Of the four districts, the eldest prince alone holds power over three. Everyone already knows how things will turn out. Besides, this is only temporary; handing him the command token sooner rather than later would at least earn him some favor.

If a real battle were to break out one day, all I ask for is to live peacefully in a corner of the world.

...

There is another thing that must be mentioned.

Emperor Yuming, who was in a fit of anger, issued two imperial edicts in succession, bestowing the titles of Prince Ye and Prince Xu upon his two sons who had already reached adulthood, and granting them the fiefdoms of Qingyang and Zhuling respectively.

The second prince was originally to be named Prince Wu, but to avoid any appearance of impropriety, the title was changed.

Once the investiture ceremony was over, the construction of the prince's mansion was put on the agenda.

...

...

So much has happened lately, my mind is a bit overwhelmed.

Qin Xi pressed her temples wearily, wondering how her father was doing lately. The changes in the court were too great, and she didn't know if they had affected him.

"Yizhi?" Shu Hua stretched out a hand and waved it in front of her eyes: "Are you listening to me?"

"Huh?" Qin Xi snapped out of her daze and looked at her apologetically. "Go on."

Shu Hua sighed, feeling quite helpless, and said, "That girl Jin Huan actually packed all those boxes into the inner room and hid them. She didn't touch a single one. It was only when the servants were cleaning that they found them."

Qin Xi pursed her lips: "She didn't mention this at all, so I thought she took it with her."

"Yes, that was prepared by my mother with great care for my brother."

"Hmm?" Qin Xi raised her chin curiously: "If it was prepared for your brother, why was it given to her?"