After the emperor returned from the palace, he seriously considered the matter of appointing a crown prince. Although the emperor had figured it out, he did not take action immediately. He planned to give everyone a surprise during the New Year ancestor worship this year!

When the time comes to offer sacrifices to the ancestors, he will simply announce that his eldest son will be the crown prince.

The emperor had never considered appointing another child as the crown prince, mainly because Li Chengyan was both the legitimate son and the eldest son. He was neither a fool nor had made any mistakes, so he had to be appointed the crown prince.

The emperor thought about his cousin's abnormal behavior today, so he summoned the commander of the secret guards and asked him to check what Marquis Cheng'en said to his cousin before his death.

The commander of the secret guards was quite efficient and returned quickly, handing the emperor the results of his investigation. He did not find any information about the Queen Mother's will.

All that was found was that on the day when Marquis Cheng'en divided his family property, he and Princess Fu'an chatted for a while in the pavilion in the middle of the lake, and Princess Fu'an hugged Marquis Cheng'en and burst into tears.

Afterwards, Marquis Cheng'en left first, and Princess Fu'an sat in the pavilion in the middle of the lake for a while before coming out.

However, the pavilion in the center of the lake was surrounded by water, so their people could not get close to it, and of course they could not hear what the two people said.

The main reason was that the emperor had not specifically instructed them to keep a close eye on Marquis Cheng'en and Princess Fu'an, so their people were a bit lax and just watched from a distance.

After the emperor read the results handed over by the commander of the secret guards, he threw them aside.

The Emperor asked the eunuch beside him, "Why do you suddenly become so confident?"

Eunuch Hou replied after careful consideration, "In my humble opinion, Princess Fu'an lost both her father and mother within a year, and her desire to live is somewhat weak. Furthermore, Your Majesty is her cousin. Can you sentence her to death just for a few words?"

The emperor drummed his fingers on the dragon table, but there was no response. Everyone in the hall dared not utter a word.

Even the eunuch beside him was sweating profusely from waiting until he heard the emperor order, "Go and summon Prince Rong to the palace."

When Prince Rong came in nonchalantly, the Emperor had almost finished reviewing the memorials.

Prince Rong came in and saluted casually, "Brother Emperor, are you looking for me?"

The emperor pointed to a seat below and ordered the eunuch, "Bring a chair for Prince Rong."

Eunuch Hou immediately moved a chair over. Prince Rong smiled at Eunuch Hou and sat down.

As for the sitting posture, it is not exactly the same as Yuan Chaokang's when he was a playboy, but it is at least 60% similar.

The emperor frowned, but ultimately said nothing.

Seeing that his brother didn't say anything, Prince Rong ordered Eunuch Hou to serve him a cup of tea, which he sipped slowly, showing no sign of hurry at all.

Finally, the emperor couldn't hold it in any longer. He put the memorial aside, picked up the teacup beside him and began to sip slowly. "If I don't say anything, you won't ask any more questions?"

"Didn't I ask just now? Your Majesty didn't say anything, so it's probably not a matter of urgency. I can wait until Your Majesty is done with his work before I tell you. I'm not busy."

Since the death of the Empress Dowager, Prince Rong has been much more casual in front of his brother. The main reason is that he has figured out that he should learn from his brother-in-law and become a leisurely prince.

If you have nothing to ask for, you have nothing to fear. Prince Rong no longer wants to command the army, so he is no longer afraid of his royal brother.

Prince Rong felt that his royal brother would not be so intolerant of an idle younger brother, so he now wanted to follow the path of the shameless younger brother.

In fact, the emperor was in a good mood after hearing what Prince Rong said. He now liked the feeling of his younger brother being close to him. "You, I only say one word, and you have a lot of words waiting for me."

When the emperor said this, Prince Rong showed no sign of panic. "Haha, then please bear with me, my royal brother. You are my older brother after all!"

"I went to see my cousin today, and it seemed like she had regained her fearless temper. I wanted to invite you in to have a chat."

Prince Rong would listen to the key points, "Ah! Your Majesty, did you go to see your cousin? I haven't been there for two days. How is your cousin? How is her diet? How is she feeling? Can she go fishing? If I had known your Majesty was going to see your cousin today, I would have gone there too."

Prince Rong's tone was full of regret, and after he finished speaking, he did not forget to look at the emperor with expectant eyes, waiting for his answer.

emperor······

"You have so many questions, which one should I answer first?"

Prince Rong rubbed his head innocently and said confidently, "Royal brother, why don't you just tell us one by one?"

Emperor: Why did he invite this sister-con into the palace?

The emperor was helpless, but also a little jealous. He narrowed his eyes dangerously and looked at Prince Rong, who was still waiting for his answer. "Why do I feel that you don't care about me as much as you do about your cousin?"

Prince Rong waved his hand and said bluntly, "Is it inappropriate for this humble servant to be so concerned about the Emperor?"

"Oh? What's wrong?" The emperor insisted that he was asking for trouble.

"If I care so much about you, my brother, you will probably suspect that I care about the throne. I don't want the whole family to go to jail."

After hearing this, the emperor imagined the scene where Prince Rong cared about him in every detail, and he might actually suspect that Prince Rong coveted the throne.

The emperor coughed guiltily, picked up an unused brush beside him and flung it at Prince Rong. "What nonsense are you talking about? Am I that kind of person?"

Prince Rong nimbly caught the pen thrown by the emperor and thanked him happily, "Thank you for the reward, my brother!"

After Prince Rong finished speaking, he didn't care about his brother's reaction and put the pen in his pocket. After all, it was his after he gave it to him.

Emperor: I feel even more tired!

Prince Rong wanted to be a speechless younger brother, "Royal brother, please tell me about my cousin!"

The emperor took another sip of tea, trying to comfort himself by not letting the other person get angry. He could only reply truthfully, "She looks a little pale and thin. When I left, my cousin and Fu'an should have just returned from fishing, and her appetite was okay."

The emperor couldn't help feeling a little disappointed when he said this. He had been back for so long, but he hadn't even thought of giving his cousin some supplements.

After hearing his brother's words, Prince Rong breathed a visibly relieved sigh, "My cousin can go fishing now, so her illness should be almost healed. As for the rest, she will recover slowly."

There was inevitably some envy in the emperor's tone, "You are really good to your cousin."

Prince Rong understood, and looking at the teacup in his hand, he thought of his mother: "My father and mother are gone, and only my cousin, my younger brother, and my brother are left.

Except for the children, everyone else is around us just for their own benefit. How much friendship can we have with them?

If I were to become a commoner now, perhaps only my cousin and my brother would help me!"

Prince Rong felt that his cousin was the only one who would never abandon him, no matter what situation he found himself in. He also felt that his brother would weigh the pros and cons. But he didn't need to say such things out loud.