Even the most skilled healers in my mother's clan couldn't save someone whose heart had given up.
It couldn't save them from the imperial family's favoritism, nor could it extinguish their ambitions twenty years later.
"Don't worry, Fourth Brother." Changyan raised her head, her beautiful face showing an almost indifferent emptiness. "She can't sit in that position."
forever.
"Remember when you're in the Imperial Hospital... help me..."
The two brothers huddled together in the shadows, whispered among themselves, and then went their separate ways.
One returned to the Imperial Medical Academy to study medical books and practice medical skills.
One person walked into the dilapidated palace and sighed as he looked at the memorial tablet.
A life that is too peaceful is hard to find fault with; it is the ambitious who are prone to making mistakes.
After much deliberation, it's time to take down the net that's been set up for so long.
He was truly fed up with this life of hiding in the West Third Prison, where he even had to sneak around to see his brother.
"Want to be empress? Want to be crown prince? Want to seize the throne?" Changyan sneered, his right hand clenching lightly. "I'm afraid you don't want to, I'm afraid you won't do anything."
In the following days, news of the new empress indeed spread throughout the palace.
Six years after Empress Yan's death, the imperial family finally remarried, which can be described as a sign of deep affection and loyalty. However, when they heard that she was being promoted to the position of Empress and that she was being promoted to the position of Consort Ju, everyone's expressions were quite different.
Ordinary families usually do not elevate their concubines to the status of principal wives, because daughters from good families never become concubines, and those who do become concubines are almost always considered low-class.
However, the royal family is different. It is not uncommon in history for a concubine to be chosen as a second wife, and the status of the eldest daughter of the Ju family is worthy of this honor.
However, this makes the eldest prince's identity very delicate.
Even if a concubine is promoted to the rank of principal wife, the sons born to her in the first wife cannot be made legitimate.
In the royal family, the usual rules don't apply. A mother can gain status through her son, and a son can gain prestige through his mother.
This means that the eldest prince will change from a son born out of wedlock to the eldest son born out of wedlock, and will have absolute right to inherit the throne.
As a result, the entire imperial court was in an uproar.
The eldest prince was originally a strong contender for the throne in Fengjing, but his conduct and character were lacking, and the shrewd and calculating families were unwilling to take sides too early.
Despite the Ju family's best efforts, they only managed to win over the Fang, Zhu, and Tao families, and then retain the Min family.
Now, with the Fang family declining and the Zhu and Tao families defecting, their power has been almost halved.
Those who were already shrewd became even less optimistic about the eldest prince.
However, with the release of the news that Consort Ju had been promoted to the rank of Empress, this skepticism turned into deliberation, and those who were wavering had to rethink and wait and see.
At the same time, this rumor could force the imperial family to make a decision sooner, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
Even the Second Prince was alarmed. He stood at the gate of the mansion for a long time, but in the end, he turned around and went back to his room, ignoring it.
"Why not ignore it? Once our dynasty establishes a crown prince, there will be no change. If he doesn't work harder, he'll have no chance." Jiang Sheng asked curiously, resting her chin on her hand.
Xu Mo collected the letters from the palace, crumpled them, and burned them. "To destroy something, you must first drive it mad."
Anyone with eyes to see knows that if the princes want to seize the throne, they must prevent Consort Ju from becoming empress and prevent the eldest prince from becoming the legitimate heir.
But the clever ones just don't make a move.
The entire capital was eerily silent, except for the growing calls for the Crown Prince and Consort Ju to be established as heirs.
Childhood sweethearts, innocent and carefree.
Is a 20-year relationship truly as solid as a rock?
If the imperial family is determined to establish an empress, then no one can stop them, only adding to the trouble.
If the imperial family is not so resolute, the adoration and clamor from Fengjing will backfire, becoming a sharp blade aimed at Consort Ju and her son.
The Ju family soon realized something was wrong.
They simply sent someone to spread the news of the succession, leaving the rest to speculation.
But the whole of Fengjing was saying that the Emperor's health was failing and that the eldest prince was to be given a legitimate title and that a crown prince would be established to succeed him.
The Ju family, sweating profusely, tried to stop them, only to discover that at least four forces were stirring behind them.
“One group is from Fifth Brother, one group is from the Second Prince, one group is from the Ju family, and who else?” Jiang Sheng counted on her fingers. “This person, they don’t want Consort Ju to become the Empress.”
The answer is unknown, but the effect is extremely good.
The winds blew from September to November, and with the New Year fast approaching, the imperial court still hadn't issued an edict.
I heard that Consort Ju threw a tantrum and refused to go to the Golden Palace for half a month, which finally made the imperial family feel a little guilty.
As expected of someone who enjoys the emperor's favor, even when throwing a tantrum, they can use a strategy of retreat to advance.
Chang Yan was somewhat lost in thought. He remembered that woman who never fought or competed, who always exuded a faint medicinal fragrance and sat quietly by the window.
Sometimes you can sense her gazing out the window, envying the soaring birds, but then she brings her head back down.
During a small banquet, someone whispered, "Does Mother really like the outside world?"
"I used to like it." The woman chuckled, a faint dimple appearing at the corner of her mouth.
"So you don't like it now?" Xiao Changyan asked, puzzled.
The woman stopped smiling, patted his head, and said, "I like you the most right now."
Because of the imperial power, she was crippled and confined to this deep palace.
Because of her child, she completely gave up all hope and died in despair.
If he could, he really wanted to go see the world on behalf of his mother, to see the mountains and rivers, and to see the local customs and traditions.
But alas, I am an unfilial son, and in the end I still choose this path.
He failed to protect his mother when he was young.
As we grow up, we must protect the people we want to protect.
A light rain began to fall from the sky at some unknown time. Chang Yan held up his tattered oil-paper umbrella and walked slowly along the long palace path.
Palace maids and eunuchs bowed to him and respectfully greeted him, "Greetings, Fifth Prince."
He simply smiled gently and politely until he entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony and was greeted by the smiling Chief Eunuch Wu.
"Why is the Fifth Prince here?" The head eunuch's eyes flickered slightly. "The Emperor is inside reviewing memorials. Do we need to announce our arrival?"
"Thank you for your trouble, Steward Wu," Chang Yan said humbly and politely.
The head eunuch waved his hand, quickly went in and came out again, gesturing for them to enter.
Chang Yan gripped the oil-paper umbrella tightly, neither handing it to the eunuch to place nor casually discarding it, but using it as a cane to lean on as he slowly moved forward.
His father was standing in front of the imperial desk, where what was laid out was not a memorial or a document, but an imperial edict that was half-written.
Is it an imperial edict appointing her as empress?
Chang Yan's right hand clenched again, gripping the handle of the oil-paper umbrella tightly. "Greetings, Father Emperor."
"Why are you here?" A look of surprise flashed across the man's face, and he subconsciously covered the imperial edict with the document.
“It’s raining. I’m bringing an umbrella for Father.” Changyan held up the tattered oil-paper umbrella in his hand, his eyes crinkling with a smile. “I’d like to invite Father to take a walk along the way and see the imperial city in the rain.”
This invitation is unusual; it's almost never been offered before.
But the sight of fathers and sons strolling in the rain seems quite common.
Tianjia paused slightly, his gaze falling on the oil-paper umbrella, and the words that were about to come out became, "Alright, let's go for a walk then."
The two refused to be followed by Steward Wu, and instead carried this umbrella from the Hall of Supreme Harmony to the Hall of Golden Thrones, and finally to the Hall of Ancestral Worship.
Fengxian, Fengxian.
As the name suggests, this place is where ancestors are enshrined.
The numerous ancestral tablets are those of the Zhu family's ancestors. The one placed closest to the throne is the late emperor, the most revered father in the imperial family, and also Zhu Changyan's grandfather.
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