Pei Zhi went in to see Emperor Pei, leaving the others to wait outside.

Yuan Chengyu kicked Xie Qi hard, "You bastard, you're not even human."

Yuan Chengyu grew angrier the more he thought about it. Xie Qi had made it seem like all the credit belonged to him.

"It's a misunderstanding, I just wanted to change my clothes."

Xie Qi was simply thinking that since he hadn't seen the princess for a long time, he should present his best self to her.

Unexpectedly, he was a bit slow; the princess had already arrived before he finally came.

"Don't worry, Princess, you know that this credit won't just go to me alone."

Despite saying that, Yuan Chengyu still felt unconvinced.

Xie Qi's actions just now—kneeling on the ground and presenting the imperial edict—were undeniably quite dashing.

It immediately drew the princess's attention, making it impossible for Yuan Chengyu not to hate her.

Xie Qi patted the dust off his clothes. "I'll apologize to you later."

Yuan Chengyu snorted, too lazy to bother with Xie Qi, that old schemer.

Pei Zhi entered the bedchamber and saw Emperor Pei sitting in a chair with his eyes closed, as if he were dead.

Pei Zhi knew, however, that Emperor Pei must still be alive.

How could Emperor Pei have died before he met her?

Pei Zhi announced loudly, "Father, your son has arrived."

Emperor Pei opened his eyes and looked at Pei Zhi.

Emperor Pei did not speak, but carefully examined Pei Zhi.

Emperor Pei simply wanted to know how Chang Le, a woman, could scheme so meticulously.

After a long pause, Emperor Pei finally spoke, "You win."

Pei Zhi won this round.

Pei Zhi walked to a chair and sat down. "Father, you are too kind. Your subject will always bear the surname Pei, so you have not lost."

Emperor Pei sighed, "Letting a woman ascend to the throne is already a defeat for me."

Pei Zhi remained silent. After catching his breath, Emperor Pei continued, "You have shown me that I have no choice but to hand over the throne to you."

"You have left me with no other choice."

"How could that be?" Pei Zhi seemed very surprised. "Father could make my second brother the crown prince."

"Second son? I guess. Whoever I appoint will die, except for you."

Pei Zhi raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Then perhaps the Emperor's edict was a death warrant, and they can only blame themselves for being unable to bear it."

Emperor Pei had previously thought that he would live for many more years.

He has so many princes under his command, there is no need to worry about having no successor.

"Now that things have come to this, I am unwilling to talk about the past."

What's past is past.

Emperor Pei has already designated Pei Zhi as the Crown Princess, so there's no need to discuss those matters further.

"I have only one question for you: if Xie Qi and Yuan Chengyu rebel, what will you do?"

"They are men. How can you bet that they would be willing to serve under a woman like you?"

"So, based on your looks?"

Pei Zhi chuckled softly and shook his head helplessly, "Father, you don't really think that I won them over with my good looks, do you?"

Pei Zhi stood up and said disdainfully, "So what if they turn against us?"

"I have the whereabouts of Prince Cheng and his wife in my hands. I believe that Yuan Chengyu is a filial son."

"As for Xie Qi, I have several thousand elite soldiers in the capital. If he dares to rebel, I will hang the entire Xie family at the city gate in the next moment."

"I believe that Xie Qi is not such a heartless and ungrateful person who would disregard his family for the sake of his future."

"Your subject also believes that even without their help, your subject can ascend the throne."

After hearing this, Emperor Pei smiled—a smile of relief.

"I can rest assured that the throne will be left to you."

Emperor Pei was worried, as Chang Le relied too much on the people around her.

Chang Le is a woman, and if she wants to ascend the throne, relying too much on the men around her is not a good thing.

Emperor Pei tossed Pei Zhi a jade pendant, saying, "Inside the jade pendant is a key."

"Use this key to open my bed; inside is what you desire."

Pei Zhi picked up the jade pendant. Emperor Pei had quite a few similar jade pendants.

They all look pretty much the same. Who would have thought that there would be a key inside this jade pendant?

Pei Zhi carefully explored for a while and then easily opened the jade pendant.

Sure enough, there was a key in the middle of the jade pendant.

Pei Zhi picked up the key and walked towards Pei Di's bed.

They lifted the bed frame but didn't see a keyhole.

Emperor Pei reminded Pei Zhi: "Turn the bed over."

Pei Zhi didn't call anyone; she just rolled up her sleeves and got to work herself.

They found the keyhole, opened it, and sure enough, the jade seal was inside.

Pei Zhi chuckled: "You hid it quite well."

"If I had known this would happen, I should have given it to you back then."

Pei Zhi picked up the imperial seal. "Weren't you unwilling to give up back then? You always wanted to hand the throne over to a prince."

It's likely that the imperial edict has been issued and the imperial seal has been obtained.

Pei Zhi and Pei Di were able to chat in a calm tone.

"How could you, a woman, have such audacious and reckless thoughts?"

Even now, Emperor Pei finds it unbelievable.

He had so many princes, but he never dreamed that the throne would eventually fall to a woman named Chang Le.

Pei Zhi said, "Now that the imperial seal is in hand, even if Father Emperor regrets it, it will be too late."

"Since I've already given it to you, there's nothing to regret."

Emperor Pei thought for a moment and then instructed, "Now that you have gotten what you wanted, don't be ruthless towards the rest of your brothers."

Pei Zhi pondered for a moment before saying, "I don't plan to have children. In a few years, I will choose a few of my brothers' children that I feel a connection with and raise them."

"As for my second brother, Father, rest assured, I will spare his life."

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