The book mentions that the prince born to Consort Jin was born weak and was taken to be raised in the Empress Dowager's palace, but later died unexpectedly.

In fact, the Empress Dowager had hidden the prince away, intending to wait for the right time to support a puppet emperor to ascend the throne and gain greater benefits for herself.

Although Consort Jin was unaware of the situation, she must have harbored resentment. Now, Empress Dowager Yin was going to bestow Consort Jin's only daughter upon a royal guard. Why would she do such a thing?

Even though she supported the young prince's ascension to the throne, Consort Jin was just a consort and could not be compared with the Empress Dowager. Consort Jin also did not have any powerful relatives to help her, which meant she was not a threat. Consort Jin could not affect anything at all. What was the point of the Empress Dowager humiliating Consort Jin?

Moreover, upon hearing about this matter, Jiang Wang went directly to Cixi Palace. Did Jiang Wang intend to persuade the Empress Dowager to rescind the imperial edict? Faced with a series of questions, Shen Mingzhuang couldn't help but feel distressed, wishing he hadn't gotten involved.

Suddenly, I realized that even being the unfavored ninth young lady in Shen Hanlin's mansion would be much easier than being in the palace.

When Jiang Wang returned to the study, the lanterns were already lit, night had fallen, and the last rays of sunset had faded from the horizon. His face was cold and stern, like frost and snow in the dead of winter, chilling one to the bone.

Shen Mingzhuang rushed back to his post, but his gaze kept falling on Jiang Wang's desk, trying to find some clues.

"Why can Princess Jiayuan marry a member of the Lin family, but Princess Xian'an cannot marry Lord Wen?"

Princess Xian'an has now been betrothed to Wen Su, a bodyguard of the emperor. To show respect, she addressed Wen Su as "Your Excellency." Upon hearing this, Jiang Wang's expression darkened, and Shen Mingzhuang's heart sank as well.

She thought he would scold her for that, but to her surprise, Jiang Wang simply asked her, "Why do you think the two can be compared?"

Shen Mingzhuang disagreed, "Didn't His Majesty appoint Lin He of the Lin family as Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices? At worst, we can also remove Lord Wen and send him to another post. That way, it won't be considered an insult to Princess Xian'an."

For some reason, she subconsciously felt that Jiang Wang did not want Princess Xian'an to marry. He seemed to have more familial care for Princess Xian'an than he had been as cold and distant as he was with Princess Jiayuan.

Shen Mingzhuang didn't want Jiang Wangwei to be troubled by such a thing, which is why he made this suggestion.

“You’ve become much bolder than before.” Yet, it also felt unfamiliar to him. Jiang Wang’s voice rang out, and he stared straight at her.

Shen Mingzhuang quickly lowered his head, somewhat regretting that he had spoken too bluntly.

However, Jiang Wang felt much more relaxed afterward. Seeing that he didn't blame him for being talkative, Shen Mingzhuang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Three days later, a major event caused a heated debate in the court.

"The Wen family was granted this title without cause. This doesn't make sense. It's said that one shouldn't accept a reward without merit. How can Wen Yucheng be granted the title of Earl for no reason?"

The Duke of Wei, who always followed the Empress Dowager's lead, was the first to jump out and oppose it.

"Princess Jiayuan's husband was just a minor official, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and he married into a low-class merchant family. Why then did Princess Xian'an marry into a noble family?"

His words were sharp and hit the nail on the head.

Jiang Wang, however, did not seem to care much and said, "This is what the late emperor told me in a dream. If any of you ministers have any objections, you may go to the imperial mausoleum and ask the late emperor."

The mere mention of the late emperor appearing in a dream was not enough to easily dismiss these ministers who were deliberately questioning him at the behest of the Empress Dowager.

"This goes against the principles of legitimate and illegitimate children. I urge Your Majesty to reconsider. If Your Majesty insists on doing so, wouldn't this encourage the corrupt practice of blurring the lines between legitimate and illegitimate children in our Jing'an Kingdom?"

"With such eloquence that distorts the truth, it's a waste of the Duke of Wei's talent not to serve in the Censorate!"

Wen Rucheng also stepped forward, his voice neither humble nor arrogant, and said: "If what the Duke of Wei said is true, then all the concubine daughters in Jing'an must marry worse than the legitimate daughters? Should all the concubine daughters in the country who have gotten good marriages hang themselves? Otherwise, wouldn't that be going against the established order and reversing the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children?"

The Duke of Wei choked on his words, coughing twice before cursing, "What a scoundrel! Truly, treacherous officials are in power, bewitching the Emperor! Lord Wen, you have such a silver tongue, such a clever mouth! You are the kind of person the Censorate would kill for! It's just a pity that you haven't used your talent for good, but instead used it for shady dealings!"

These words are tantamount to tearing off a fig leaf; the insults are quite harsh.

But Wen Rucheng was notorious for his thick skin, and he wouldn't take the Duke of Wei's words to heart. He snorted coldly, "The Duke of Wei has the final say on both good and bad things, so the Censorate is useless. I think we should just forget about it. I still have to share His Majesty's burdens, so I won't go to the Censorate!"

The censors standing nearby were sweating profusely. They were arguing all they wanted, but why drag the censors into it? Besides, the censors didn't argue like this every day.

Jiang Wang waited quietly for the two to argue. Seeing that he couldn't win the argument with Wen Rucheng, Duke Wei stopped arguing with him and went directly to the Emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, Princess Jiayuan is the legitimate daughter of the Empress and the only legitimate princess of Jing'an Kingdom. Even foreign states would have to consider whether she is worthy of marriage if they wanted to. Is it too frivolous to bestow a marriage so casually?"

Jiang Wang nodded, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly ordered Tan Yonglin to fetch the imperial seal. "I may not be a good emperor. Perhaps I should hand the imperial seal over to the Duke of Wei?"

Upon hearing this, all the court officials were shocked and hurriedly knelt down to beg His Majesty to reconsider. The Duke of Wei had never expected Jiang Wang to pull this stunt. It was clear that His Majesty had made up his mind and would not change it. If he continued to speak, it would be inappropriate.

He quickly realized what was happening and hurriedly knelt down, begging His Majesty to rescind the decree, "Your Majesty, I am terrified and beg for your forgiveness!"

Jiang Wang sneered and stopped insisting on sending someone to fetch the imperial seal.

After the court session ended, Empress Dowager Yin learned of this and sneered several times. "Well, she's treating me like a thief. Is she afraid that I will do her a harm?"

Threatening someone with the imperial seal, that's really something!

Princess Jiayuan ran over crying. Yin Rong was already annoyed. It was one thing for her daughter to only know how to cause trouble on ordinary days, but now she was adding to her troubles. When Yin Rong saw her daughter, her tone was no longer cheerful.

"What kind of behavior is this, crying and sobbing? If you were more mindful, I wouldn't have to worry about you!"

Jiang Yanxin was stunned, "Mother..."

This image of her mother made her uneasy, and she called out cautiously.

Yin Rong's expression softened slightly. "Alright, what brings you here this time?"

Seeing that her mother had returned to her usual gentleness, Jiang Yanxin mustered up her courage and said, "Mother, why is my brother treating me like this? I am his own sister!"

Jiang Wang is now the king of a country, and Jiang Yanxin is the empress, so they are indeed related by blood. But what good is that? Seeing her daughter acting like an ignorant child, Yin Rong has a headache. If she were to die, would this child be able to survive in this cannibalistic royal family? This made her even more determined in her heart.