Chapter 111: Prince Chu

Li Dingning was seriously injured and had a high fever for several days in a row. Concubine Li stayed by Li Dingning's bedside for several days and cried until her eyes were almost blind.

"My son, why are you being so stubborn with your father? You are really going to make your mother die of heartache."

Li Dingning still had his eyes closed, mumbling incoherently, "No, mother, I don't want to marry Miss Liu..."

With tears in her eyes, Concubine Li held Li Dingning's hand, which was also burning, and said with a sob, "Okay, if you don't want to marry her, then don't marry her. Mother promises you that she will convince your father not to let you marry her..."

Concubine Li wiped away her tears, then stood up and prepared to go to Emperor Chengwen.

Her son is about to die, and no matter what happens today, she will make Emperor Chengwen take back his decision.

"Xiao Linzi, you stay here and take good care of His Highness. I will go and apologize to the Emperor."

It is also a plea for mercy.

Chu Ran nodded, and waited for Concubine Li to leave. Chu Ran looked at Li Dingning who was in a deep coma, and couldn't help but sigh.

I hope God blesses you and that the Fifth Prince will get better soon.

In less than half an hour, Concubine Li came back.

After seeing Concubine Li, Chu Ran was still thinking, "How could the emperor be so easy to talk to? Did he agree to this?"

But after seeing Concubine Li's panic-stricken expression, Chu Ran guessed that it might not be what he imagined.

But Concubine Li couldn't take the initiative to tell Chu Ran what happened. She just sat on the edge of the bed, holding Li Dingning's hand with a panicked look. After a while, tears rolled down her face again.

After finding an opportunity, Chu Ran called Xiao Yingzi out.

Xiao Yingzi had just gone out with Concubine Li, so she might know what had happened.

"What happened?" Chu Ran walked to an empty corner and asked in a low voice.

Xiao Yingzi lowered her head slightly, her expression extremely solemn: "I'm afraid the emperor is dying..."

"What?" Chu Ran frowned in shock.

How come it's so fast?

"Just now, I went to see the emperor with Concubine Li. I just learned that not long ago, the emperor was discussing state affairs with Prime Minister Shen and several ministers. I heard that the emperor looked quite normal at that time, but when Prime Minister Shen just stood up to leave, the emperor suddenly fell to the ground and has not woken up until now. When I went there just now, the room was full of imperial doctors... Oh, this palace, I'm afraid it's going to change soon."

After hearing what Xiao Yingzi said, Chu Ran became more and more uneasy, and always felt that something bad was going to happen.

Soon, Chu Ran's idea came true.

Taking advantage of Emperor Chengwen's serious illness, within two or three days, Shen Minghan took control of most of the court affairs by relying on his power as prime minister.

Shen Minghan used to be a dictator in the imperial court, and now he is even more powerful. For a while, no one in the imperial court could stop him.

Chu Ran also discovered that there were many new faces in the palace recently, which meant that Shen Minghan had already extended his hand into the palace.

If the government is controlled by Shen Minghan, it will not be good news for Chu Ran.

Chu Ran thought of writing a letter to Li Fu. The emperor is far away and Li Fu may not know that the court is now almost completely controlled by Shen Minghan. Chu Ran is willing to be Li Fu's eye and keep an eye on the developments in the capital and the court for him.

The letters between Chu Ran and Yunzhou were usually mixed in with the secret letters sent from Dongchang. No one except the people from Dongchang had the right to read them. This was also the reason why Chu Ran had been able to communicate freely with Li Fu without being discovered for so long.

But Chu Ran didn't expect that even the Dongchang was controlled by Shen Minghan.

"A blank letter." Shen Minghan took the letter handed over by his subordinates and laughed softly, "Interesting."

Shen Minghan folded the letter, put it back into the envelope, and sealed it with wax. "Send it to where it should be sent. Just pretend that I don't know about this."

The messenger took the letter with both hands and quickly went out.

Shen Minghan turned around and looked at Shen Jingyi who was sitting on the bed behind him with a child in her arms. He walked over and picked up the baby with loving eyes.

"Grandpa's little grandson! Give grandpa a good hug."

Shen Jingyi saw all the conversation between Shen Minghan and the visitor. She was silent for a while, but couldn't help asking, "Dad knew that this letter was written to Yunzhou to inform him, so why did he send someone to deliver it?"

Shen Minghan patted his grandson's back, smiling, "It can't be hidden. If that's the case, what difference does it make if we know it earlier or later?"

Shen Jingyi frowned, she became more and more confused about her father's intention.

"Dad, what do you want to do?"

Shen Minghan glanced at Shen Jingyi and said, "Just rest at home. You don't need to worry about what's going on outside. Daddy is here to take care of everything. Right, my grandpa's little grandson?"

Shen Minghan tapped the baby's nose with a smile on his face, looking like a kind elder.

When Emperor Chengwen regained consciousness, Shen Minghan entered the palace. He dismissed everyone and sat down in front of Emperor Chengwen's bed.

He pulled out a bright yellow imperial edict from his sleeve and placed it on the dragon bed. Then he slowly opened the cinnabar clay seal box and stuffed the jade seal that had been prepared long ago into Emperor Chengwen's hand.

Although Emperor Chengwen was conscious, his limbs were unable to move. He tried hard to turn his head to see clearly what was written on the imperial edict.

But it was all in vain. After twisting my neck for most of the day, I could only see one or two words clearly.

"I have assisted Your Majesty for more than ten years and have gained Your Majesty's trust. I am extremely grateful. Now, Your Majesty is seriously ill in bed. For the sake of stability in the court, I think it is better to confirm the candidate for the crown prince as soon as possible."

He said this with a sincere heart, as if he was helping Emperor Chengwen solve his problems. "I have thought about it. The Fifth Prince has no ambition and no talent. He is not up to the task. The Third Prince is smart and intelligent. He is the best candidate for the throne."

Emperor Chengwen's fingers were stiff and he couldn't hold the imperial seal steadily, so Shen Minghan grabbed Emperor Chengwen's hand and helped him hold it tightly. As he spoke, he stamped the imperial seal, which was stained with red mud, on the imperial edict.

Shen Minghan looked at the imperial edict in front of him with satisfaction, and said with a smile: "It seems that the emperor also wants the prince to supervise the country. This old minister has understood your majesty's intention and will soon announce this imperial edict to the world. Your majesty can rest assured."