"Your Majesty~"
After Yan Zhaoyi finished her coquettish behavior, she pretended to be worried and asked anxiously, "Your Majesty, after Little Eleven is adopted by the King of Qi, will he have to live in the King of Qi's fiefdom?"
"I can't bear to leave Xiaoyi."
To be honest, how could Emperor Jingxi be reluctant to part with the Eleventh Prince? The Eleventh Prince was the youngest among many princes. He had doted on him for many years, so it was natural for him to be reluctant to part with him.
So he quickly came up with a solution that he thought was good.
"I will summon the Prince of Qi. When the time comes, Xiao Eleven will live in the Prince of Qi's Mansion outside the palace. It will not be difficult for him to enter the palace, and he can come to see you often."
In the past, he felt that the King of Qi was very annoying. Whenever he saw the King of Qi, he would think of his own incompetence when the late emperor was still alive.
Now, whenever he thought of the King of Qi, he would think that the title of King would be inherited by his son a hundred years later. Whether anyone would burn incense and offer sacrifices to the King of Qi would depend on his son's opinion. Thinking of this, he felt happy.
Upon hearing this good news, Yan Zhaoyi could no longer hide her smile and said in a sweet voice, "Your Majesty is wise."
*
Half a month later, Emperor Jingxi formally adopted the eleventh prince to the Prince of Qi as his heir, and at the same time issued an edict to adopt several princes of the royal family to the Prince of Kang, the Prince of Lujiang, and the Prince of Beining respectively.
This series of decisions caused an uproar inside and outside the court, and the thoughts of various forces became increasingly complicated.
After this incident, the calls in the court to establish a crown prince were like a surging wave, unprecedentedly huge.
The sounds that came one after another seemed to drown out the entire court.
Even Emperor Jingxi couldn't help but feel frightened when he heard it.
Listening to the urgent cries of "The country cannot be without an heir", he suddenly realized that in the eyes of the court officials, he was already old.
He had always thought that he could face life and death calmly, but now he found that when he truly felt the ruthlessness of time and the possible loss of power, the fear in his heart was so difficult to suppress.
It seemed that the court officials who urged him to appoint a successor were simply trying to ensure a smooth transition of power after his death, rather than genuinely considering his status as emperor.
Now, his words could no longer suppress the surging calls in the court.
Does this mean that in their eyes, I am already very old and no longer have the majesty and threat I once had?
Does it mean that those court officials who were once loyal to him have already secretly defected to a new master and are working towards the new center of power?
Emperor Jingxi, who thought he had already seen through life and death and could calmly face the passage of time and the change of power, suddenly felt a strong fear of death at this moment.
The reason why he didn't want to appoint a crown prince was probably because he simply wanted to pass the throne to his most beloved son before he died.
However, at this moment, this idea has quietly changed.
It became that he didn't want to pull anyone out to share the supreme power in his hands.
*
Another half month passed quietly. When the Prince of Qi and his family were rushing to the capital, Emperor Jingxi once again issued an eye-catching imperial edict to his sons.
He granted fiefs to all the princes without favoritism, even those who were missing limbs, had disfigured faces, or even lost their fertility.
Not only that, he also strictly ordered all the princes to set off within three days and head for their respective fiefdoms.
This move was like a bombshell, instantly shocking every corner of the government and the country.
All the court officials were dumbfounded. They all felt that Emperor Jingxi's behavior seemed a little abnormal, as if he had gone insane.
They originally pleaded to establish a crown prince for the sake of long-term peace and stability in the country.
But Emperor Jingxi did the opposite and actually wanted to drive all the princes out of the capital.
How is this possible?
If your majesty suddenly passes away one day, who will inherit this vast empire?
All the censors were eager to try, and they all had the idea of changing Emperor Jingxi's crazy idea by dying for his advice, so as to go down in history.
However, Emperor Jingxi gave a reason in the court that was difficult to refute for a while.
He said with certainty that he granted fiefs to the princes in order to train and test them.
Whoever can manage the fiefdom in an orderly and prosperous manner will be considered as the crown prince.
No matter how earnestly the court officials tried to persuade him, Emperor Jingxi remained steadfast and insisted that this was a severe test for the princes and was not moved at all.
All the court officials looked sad and distressed.
They can't just say bluntly that there's no need to exercise and directly state who they think will be the crown prince, right?
There were many stubborn officials in the court. After finding that their persuasion to Emperor Jingxi was futile, they really took the extreme measure of committing suicide in remonstration regardless of the consequences.
Fortunately, Emperor Jingxi had been prepared and had arranged guards beside each pillar to be on high alert.
Therefore, this incident did not result in any loss of life in the court.
After this scare, the brave but reckless censor was exiled to the northwest by the furious Emperor Jingxi.
In the end, the court officials were unable to change Emperor Jingxi's firm mind and could only watch as the candidates for the crown prince set out on their journey to their fiefdoms.
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