At dusk, Xue Zhongfu hurried back home.
The two brothers had a long conversation behind closed doors in the Xiangyun Hall, the candlelight illuminating two figures sitting opposite each other on the window paper.
When Xue Yuanchu proposed to confer the title of Crown Prince, Xue Zhongfu stood up suddenly, and the teacup fell over and soaked the hem of his official robe.
"Brother! How can this be done!" Xue Zhongfu's voice trembled.
"The Marquis's Mansion needs this respect." Xue Yuanchu held his brother's shoulder. "After you marry the princess, you will be half a member of the Heavenly Family. With this status, my third brother's future career and Shanqiu's marriage will be much smoother."
The sound of a night watchman's drum was heard outside the window, and Xue Yuanchu walked to the desk and spread out the rice paper for the memorial.
The ink in the inkstone turned a deep black. As he picked up the brush, he suddenly remembered what his father had said in the ancestral hall before leaving Beijing that year: "Yuanchu, you must remember that the sons of the Xue family can shed blood, but they must not bring disgrace to our family."
The tip of the wolf-hair brush landed on the words "Your servant Xue Yuanchu respectfully submits this memorial", and the force penetrated through the back of the paper.
Three days later, in the study of the Yangxin Palace.
Li Longze leaned against the rosewood imperial desk with dragon pattern, his fingertips tapping lightly on two memorials placed side by side.
"The Xue brothers from the Xuanxingyuan Marquisate come to see you—"
The eunuch's shrill singing penetrated the palace gate.
Xue Yuanchu and Xue Zhongfu entered one after the other, the hem of their dark blue official robes sweeping across the golden brick floor, making a slight rustling sound.
The two brothers knelt down in unison, even the sound of their foreheads hitting the ground was exactly the same.
"Everyone, get up."
Li Longze suddenly pushed the two memorials forward and said, "I called you here today because of these two memorials."
Xue Yuanchu raised his eyes and saw two documents placed side by side on the imperial desk. They were clearly his memorials requesting Zhongfu to be named the crown prince, and the one next to them had elegant handwriting, which was obviously the handwriting of his second brother Xue Zhongfu.
"Very interesting."
The emperor tapped his fingers on the memorials one by one. "The elder brother requests the younger brother to be conferred a title, and the younger brother requests the elder brother to be conferred a title. This Kong Rong giving up his pear, as you Xue family did, really puts me in a difficult position."
The second son, Xue Zhongfu, suddenly turned his head to look at his brother, his eyes filled with shock, and his knees under his official robe slammed heavily to the ground.
"Your Majesty, please allow me to report this! Since ancient times, there has been an order of seniority. My brother returned from the frontier with great merit, and his prestige has awed the Western Rong. In contrast, I am only the head of the Ministry of Works. How dare I usurp the throne of the Crown Prince?"
"His Majesty!"
The eldest son Xue Yuanchu knelt down almost at the same time, his dark military uniform gleaming with an iron-blue sheen in the sunlight.
"My youthful imprudence has brought shame upon our family. Zhongfu is a man of righteous character, and now he is married to the princess. He is the perfect candidate to revive the Marquisate."
The hall suddenly became eerily quiet. Li Longze's eyes moved back and forth between the two brothers, and he suddenly chuckled.
"I remember that before Old Marquis Xue died, the thing he couldn't let go of the most was you, his eldest son. If Old Marquis is still alive, seeing you trying to give in like this today, I wonder what he would think?"
Xue Yuanchu's Adam's apple rolled, his voice hoarse as sand, "I am ashamed to my late father..."
Li Longze gently closed the memorial and said, "I will consider this matter further. You may leave now."
"Your Highness obeys your command."
The two brothers responded in unison and bowed deeply to the ground.
The two of them walked through the palace gates in silence. The vermilion palace walls cast long shadows, gradually engulfing their figures.
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