By the time the burial and the first sacrifice were over, it was already afternoon. After a vegetarian meal, the funeral processions returned one after another.

The snow fell heavier and heavier, the sky and the earth turned white, and it was getting colder and colder.

Yang Yanzong ordered Akang to harness the carriage and escort Su Ci back to the mansion first, and to walk slowly as the road was slippery in the snow, so they had to be careful.

He had official business and had to rush back to the city.

Akang took the order and left. After Su Ci got on the car, Ji Yuanhao also saw the guests off. The two of them mounted their horses, whipped their horses and rode back to Yangdu City.

Ji Yuanhao's face was still gloomy, but his personal affairs would not be reduced. Even if his wife's brother was buried, he still had to deal with urgent court affairs immediately.

The two men headed straight for the imperial city along Tongtian Street, first went to the funeral palace outside Yingde Gate, burned incense to the coffin of the late emperor, and then hurried back to the Left Council Hall. They were busy until it was almost dark before they finished handling the important matters and passed them on.

After the busy work, the two of them were not done yet, so they mounted their horses and headed for Xu's house to visit General Xu first.

…

General Xu's illness has worsened and he is now completely unable to get out of bed.

When he went to find the little emperor and spoke to him earnestly, his original intention was simply to hope that the little emperor would tell the truth. As long as he is willing and shows just a little bit of willingness, General Xu will naturally cooperate with him fully.

But no one expected that this child would jump down from the high palace gate wall so suddenly and in such a violent way!

The small body, wearing the heavy crown, was splashed with a scarlet flower of blood.

Tragic, hopeless, and shattered.

When General Xu heard the news, he stood there in a daze for a long time, tears streaming from his old eyes. He covered his face, and he looked like he had aged ten years overnight.

He harmed him!

He was the one who harmed the child! !

After General Xu cried in grief, he lost consciousness that day. His old illnesses such as high fever, diarrhea and vomiting all recurred, and his condition was so critical that the imperial physician issued a notice of critical illness.

Fortunately, I managed to survive in the end, but now I can't get out of bed.

However, there were a lot of people who came to pay a visit to old General Xu, and many of them had to see him, such as the old Prince Su, who came at least once a day and almost lived in Duke Xu's mansion.

In fact, the old Prince Su and General Xu are very closely related. General Xu is the son of Emperor Xuanzong's eldest daughter, while the old Prince Su is the great-nephew of Emperor Xuanzong.

Of course, close blood relationship is not the reason why General Xu, who is bedridden at this moment, is determined to see the old Prince Su.

The old Prince Su was the Chief of the Imperial Clan.

Equivalent to the patriarch of the royal Ji clan.

Xu Wenkai felt very sorry for his old father who was sick and had just fallen asleep, but when he saw the old Prince Su coming, he could only sigh, "Your Highness, please wait a moment. I will go wake my father up right away."

Old Prince Su, leaning on a cane, shook off the snow all over his body and staggered into General Xu's bedroom. The strong smell of medicine was heated by the warm earth dragon and the brazier, making it even more sultry, astringent and bitter.

Old Prince Su was helped to sit down by Xu Wenkai and leaned on his cane: "It's time to make a decision. We can't delay it any longer! We can't delay it any longer!"

The 27th day of mourning for the late emperor has already passed. How can we delay it any longer? !

…

A country cannot be without a king for a day!

But the throne has been vacant for twenty-seven days.

Alas, it’s difficult!

Under normal circumstances, once the previous emperor passed away and the succession was decided, the new emperor would accept the worship and congratulations of civil and military officials at the bedside of the late emperor on the same day, and the status of the monarch and his subjects would be determined.

But the current situation is really too special. The little emperor is only nine years old. He himself is a child, not to mention his own children.

Moreover, he was a successor to the larger clan from a smaller clan, and he had no brothers or sisters.

More importantly, not only was he the successor of a smaller clan to a larger clan, but the old emperor and the Yongqing Emperor above him were also the same.

Moreover, both Emperor Yongqing and the old emperor had very few offspring.

Emperor Yongqing at least had a few little sons, but the old emperor was much more miserable. He struggled for half his life but didn't even have a son to keep. Otherwise, he wouldn't have caused so many disasters and there would have been no successor emperor.

The young emperor didn't have one, nor did the old emperor. Emperor Yongqing did have one, but his other sons, except Prince Zhao, were all killed by the old emperor due to the struggle for the throne, so it was the same as not having one.

This happened for three generations, and the young emperor died suddenly. Even the Empress Dowager Kun, who had full authority to preside over this important matter, was convicted and died.

There was no priority candidate, and no empress dowager came out to take charge of the situation, so until the little emperor's body had been moved to the funeral palace after 27 days, the successor had not been finally decided.

But we really can’t delay it any longer, we have to decide on it in the next few days no matter what.

The old Prince Su was very cautious and dedicated to the public. He was born weak and sickly and has lived to this day without leaving any biological offspring. The current princes are all adopted, so they have no selfish motives and all their considerations are based on the clan and the legitimate descendants.

"I've looked around and both the Prince of England and the Prince of Qian are good. I've brought both of them here. Can you take a closer look and see which one is better?"

Since the succession of the smaller clan to the larger clan has been repeatedly cut off, it proves that they do not have this blessing. The old Prince Su is the direct descendant of the royal family passed down by Emperor Taizong and Emperor Shengzong. Under such circumstances, he certainly hopes that the throne will return to their direct branch!

Yes, the direct lineage was not very outstanding back then, but now there are a few young people who look very good. The old Prince Su carefully studied and investigated them for a long time, and finally he favored two candidates, the Prince of Ying and the Prince of Su.

He said to General Xu, "You have seen it before, but there were many people there. You have to take a closer look this time."

The old Prince Su gave Xu Wenkai a few instructions. Xu Wenkai glanced at his father, turned around and went out. Not long after, he led two heroic young men in.

His body was slender and tall, like the rising sun. He wore a sea blue, indigo, and round-necked robe with a wide waist. His brows were radiant with heroism. As soon as he came in, he greeted the old Prince Su and the old General Xu on the bed in a loud voice.

The two young men, one fourteen and the other fifteen, would be able to rule the country immediately after they ascended the throne.

These two people were also selected by the old Prince Su and the elders of the royal family after careful consideration, and everyone was very satisfied.

He has completed his studies and has also made some progress in martial arts. He is a rare and outstanding child of the direct lineage.

"Greetings to Uncle Su Wang and Elder Xu!"

The Prince of England and the Prince of Qian had clear voices. The boys were thin but had straight backs. They looked high-spirited and solemn.

Both of them knew what they were doing, were well prepared, and showed their best.

Especially the Prince of Qian, whose stubborn eyes were filled with a bit of determination. His father wanted to take him back to his fiefdom, but his brother died so tragically that if he didn't do something, the fire burning his heart and lungs would never go away!

King Qian disagreed and insisted on coming, even though he had a big argument with his father.

"They are all good kids. Do you want to do some research?"

Old General Xu smiled. He was not only good at martial arts, but also very good at literature when he entered the palace to study at a young age. He was a man of both civil and military talents. The old Prince Su called him twice, so he picked up two anecdotes and tested the two children.

These two children are indeed academically capable. They have learned everything they should learn at their age and have a solid foundation.

Afterwards, the old Prince Su asked them to perform martial arts so that General Xu could see their skills and physique.

There was not enough space in the house for the performance, so the two teenagers went out of the courtyard, opened a window in the house, and the two children took turns to perform martial arts against each other. They were not as good as adults, but it was good enough for them at their age.

As for the performance, overall, it is remarkable.

The old Prince Su was very satisfied and smiled happily, stroking his beard and nodding. Old General Xu also smiled a little and praised him a few words, but after the old Prince Su and the Prince of Ying and Qian left, the smile on his face faded.

Xu Wenkai was originally quite happy to see these two children. They were indeed very good. However, he saw his father's smile fade in the blink of an eye, so he asked in a low voice: "Dad, this... do you think it's not good?"

Xu Wenkai thought of the task his father had assigned him and had some vague guesses. However, even though he was already in his forties and almost fifty, he was still a junior in front of his father. Moreover, matters such as succession to the throne were not something he could decide. He was also very cautious in his words and did not dare to express his opinions easily, for fear of affecting his father's judgment.

"They are all good, they are all good kids, but they are still too young!"

After working hard for half an afternoon, General Xu looked exhausted. However, he thought for a long time and sighed, "Where are the things I asked you to prepare?"

Xu Wenkai responded and hurriedly went to get a stack of manuscripts, some old and some new. There were original manuscripts and news notes, as well as newly compiled summaries. The latter were all copied by Xu Wenkai himself without having to let anyone else do it.

He had to cry at the funeral, take care of his old father when he came back, and work late into the night. Xu Wenkai lost a lot of weight.

But finally the result was good. My father wanted "the more detailed the better", and he had organized as much as possible the information that could be checked and recorded, and the information is very complete.

This thick stack of information is nothing but the life stories of the brothers, uncles and fathers of the Prince of England and the Prince of Qian.

They have one thing in common, that is, they are all between 23 and 24 years old, which is the prime of their life.

General Xu closed his eyes and rested for a while, then opened his eyes. Xu Wenkai brought the kang table up, and General Xu leaned against a large pillow and slowly flipped through the pages.

He looked at it very carefully and managed to watch it for more than an hour. Unfortunately, after he finished reading it, he still let out a long sigh.

The direct line of the royal family passed down by Emperor Shengzong is actually quite weak, and there are not many candidates. However, General Xu has looked at those from afar, but there are always some unsatisfactory ones.

Finally, he pushed all the manuscripts away, waved his hands weakly, and signaled Xu Wenkai to put them away.

"It's useless. Let's burn them all."

Old General Xu had been working hard for a long time, and his head felt heavy and his chest felt stuffy. He coughed a few times. Seeing this, Xu Wenkai hurriedly helped him take a cup of medicine. After a while, he finally recovered.

General Xu stared at his eldest son packing up things on the kang table, leaned back on the pillow for a while, and sighed deeply.

It would be good if the throne returned to the legitimate family, and General Xu also wanted it.

But the problem is, even though he was very reluctant to admit it, General Xu knew it very well in his heart. He clearly felt that the dynasty was in decline. In the past twenty years or so, natural disasters had become more and more frequent. There were often long-term droughts in the east and floods in the west. The national treasury was unable to make ends meet, and the royal family was becoming increasingly small. It seemed that the country's fortunes were really not very prosperous.

There were frequent changes of the throne, turmoil in the government and the public, unrest in the officials and the people. The harm caused by the many years of fighting for the throne among the four kings, the six kings, the seven kings, etc. had not been eliminated in time, and then they encountered the sinister tumor like the Kun family with ulterior motives.

The fall of Kun alone would bring about earthquake-level shocks in the future, not to mention that there is also the Fourth Prince Ji Lin who is eyeing them covetously.

There are already so many internal problems, but the Northern Rong outside have already recovered and are preparing their troops, eyeing the situation covetously and may march south at any time.

General Xu was reluctant to admit it, but he had a vague feeling that the building was about to collapse.

If this juncture is not held and there is a slight mistake in steering, this dynasty that has gone through four hundred years of ups and downs may really come to an end.

Is a kid of fourteen or fifteen years old really capable of shouldering this heavy responsibility?

Absolutely impossible!

The person who is in power right now must be a shrewd and capable person who can control himself and let go, has great foresight and vision, and most importantly, he must be a monarch in his prime! !

This is all General Xu can do.

He couldn't foresee the future, he could only try his best to fill in everything he could think of and expect before he closed his eyes.

However, he had read through the information on the direct lineage and more recent royal families, but had not found a suitable candidate.

He watched silently as his eldest son threw a thick stack of manuscripts into the charcoal basin. The fire rose with a "boom". The red flames illuminated General Xu's face, making his thin face seem to have a bit of blood color.

After thinking deeply for a long time, General Xu finally confirmed his original idea.

He actually had a candidate in mind. When this issue was mentioned, the first name that came to his mind was this person's. It had been suppressed for a long time, but in the end, it finally surfaced.

The steward quietly opened the door and came in, whispering a few words in Xu Wenkai's ear. General Xu, who had just laid down and closed his eyes, coughed twice and asked, "...What's the matter?"

The steward hurriedly reported: "Master, it is Marquis Rong and Marquis Changyi who are here to visit you. They are currently in the outer hall."

The master has met too many guests today and has already gone to bed. However, the steward has no right to refuse, so he quietly came in and reported to Xu Wenkai.

Xu Wenkai was about to speak and was about to get up and leave, but unexpectedly, General Xu's half-closed eyelashes moved and opened.

Ji Yuanhao and Yang Yanzong?

"Wait a minute," General Xu slowly propped himself up on the bed and said, "Call them in."

…

On that day, Yang Yanzong and Ji Yuanhao visited General Xu before dinner.

General Xu looked very tired, with a sallow complexion and obviously weaker than in the past few days. It was said that he had just met with guests for half the afternoon. The two men thought that they would not be able to see General Xu today.

But soon, Yang Yanzong knew why.

This was the first time that General Xu talked to them about the issue of the succession to the throne.

——In the past, due to the sensitive status of the two people in power, the old Prince Su and the old General Xu deliberately never mentioned it to them.

But today.

General Xu took the initiative to talk about today's guests, "The Crown Prince of Ying and the Crown Prince of Qian are both good children passed down by the Holy Emperor."

"...It's a pity that he is too young."

General Xu sighed in his hoarse voice, "The Daqing Dynasty can no longer afford a little emperor."

A few tears appeared in the corners of his eyes, but they disappeared quickly. Although General Xu was so sick, his eyes were still sharp. He said, "It's better to be older."

"I thought," he turned to look at the two of them, "as long as they are descendants of Taizu!"

When General Xu said this, there was a slight change in his voice, which became more meaningful and pointed.

Who is Yang Yanzong? General Xu was almost the last one to land when his hand that was turning the ring suddenly stopped.

Yang Yanzong slowly raised his eyelashes, and the gaze of General Xu in front of him, coincidentally, just happened to fall on Ji Yuanhao's face.