Chapter 392: Heaven's Will
Peng Xiang looked at the pairs of eyes around him, and finally fixed his gaze on the pair of particularly cold pupils.
He took a deep breath and recited, "By the Will of Heaven, the Emperor decrees... The eldest daughter of Prince Wei, Ji Nanxi, is kind-hearted, intelligent, and the most beloved of all his grandchildren... From now on, I wish that all the wise and capable ministers, both inside and outside the court, will be loyal and upright. The Prince of Wei will lead the external affairs, Cao Zhengxing will lead the internal affairs, and together with the Prime Minister and the cabinet, they will wholeheartedly assist the new Emperor..."
Although the edict is still incomplete, the meaning it wants to express is clear.
However, except Cao Zhengxing, no one expected that the heir to the throne would be a child, and this child was a girl, the daughter of King Wei Ji.
After reading it, Peng Xiang looked at Ji Sheng and then at Cao Zhengxing.
The two had no previous interactions, even though they were both on business in the northern border. However, the fact that Cao Zhengxing was driven back to the capital by Ji Sheng had spread throughout the streets and alleys before he even returned to the capital.
If there is anything, it is hatred.
But why did this will choose Ji Nancy?
Why not choose Ji Sheng, but Ji Nancy!
Even if Ji Nancy becomes the new emperor, she is destined to be just Ji Sheng's puppet. It would be better to let Ji Sheng become emperor directly.
Besides, it has been a long time since the Great Zhou Dynasty had an empress. The sudden appearance of an empress, who is only a few years old, is too much of a variable.
Cao Zhengxing didn't care what Prime Minister Peng and Prime Minister Lin were thinking. He looked at Xixi, who didn't cry no matter what he said, and knelt down and shouted, "Your Majesty, I, Cao Zhengxing, greet you!"
As soon as Cao Zhengxing knelt down, the young eunuchs around him also knelt on the ground, and the palace maids followed beside the eunuchs.
Even Zhu Zhengchun knelt on the ground when he looked at Xixi in Ji Sheng's arms.
He was kneeling not because of Xixi, after all, she was just a little girl who knew nothing. He was kneeling for Ji Sheng who was holding the little girl.
Xixi looked at the people kneeling before her and her father. Just as she was about to ask Ji Sheng what they were doing, she saw Cao Zhengxing turn his head and look at Prime Minister Peng and Prime Minister Lin and ask, "Why aren't you two kneeling? Are you trying to disobey my order?"
Prime Minister Peng and Lin Xiang exchanged glances and said, "I still have doubts about this will. I..."
Cao Zhengxing knelt on the ground, looking at Prime Minister Peng and the others with a cold snort, "Are you still skeptical, or are you two simply dissatisfied with the late emperor's will, and even more dissatisfied with Your Majesty becoming the common ruler of the world?"
"Cao Zhengxing, stop talking nonsense!"
Cao Zhengxing laughed and said, "Am I talking nonsense? I think the two gentlemen are just dissatisfied that the emperor's choice is not what you wanted, so you want to disobey the order."
"Who said we were going to disobey His Majesty's order? We simply felt that His Majesty's will was incomplete. Furthermore, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei is still alive. It's His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei who should be conferred the title. How could they bypass His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei and directly appoint the princess as the new emperor?"
Isn’t this a joke!
"Don't be so pretentious." Cao Zhengxing looked at Prime Minister Peng and the others coldly and said, "You just think that His Majesty is young and a princess, so you are unwilling."
"Even if the throne truly belongs to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei, Your Majesty, as His Royal Highness's eldest daughter, is also eligible to inherit the throne."
Minister Lin frowned and said, "There has never been a legitimate eldest daughter who inherited..."
"Minister Lin's words put Taizong in a different light. Taizong is the eldest daughter of Emperor Shun. Have you forgotten?"
"But later..."
"Later, it was in accordance with fate, and now it is still in accordance with fate."
Cao Zhengxing seemed not to want to hear the two old corrupt men talking anymore, so he interrupted them again and again, so that in the end, Lin Xiang and Peng Xiang looked at Cao Zhengxing with grim expressions.
They weren't even allowed to finish their words, so what else could they possibly say in rebuttal?
However, Prime Minister Peng and Prime Minister Lin both looked at Xixi who was holding the "new emperor". Didn't the King of Wei want to say something?
There is a big difference between a daughter being an emperor and yourself being an emperor.
Cao Zhengxing didn't care at all about the looks that Peng Xiang and the others gave Ji Sheng. The will was already there anyway. Even if Ji Sheng became the regent, he couldn't stay in the palace for long. By then, he would be the only one who would be with Xixi in the palace day and night.
She is still young, and as she grows up she will naturally prefer people who are always around her.
Not to mention, children are the easiest to trick.
As long as Cao Zhengxing is given enough time, he can make Xixi recognize only him in the future.
"If the two Prime Ministers cannot make up their minds, it would be better for them to deal with the late emperor's funeral first, and then discuss your majesty's enthronement with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Rites."
Although Cao Zhengxing did not give in, Prime Minister Peng and Prime Minister Lin breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's great, Your Highness, what do you think?" Prime Minister Peng still couldn't call out "Your Majesty" to the little girl with a childish face.
Maybe there is still a turning point.
Ji Sheng did not interrupt from beginning to end. He was almost certain that the matter of Xixi becoming the new emperor in this will was almost entirely pushed by Cao Zhengxing.
I just don't know whether this handwriting, which is almost exactly the same as that of the late emperor, was written by the late emperor under the deception of Cao Zhengxing, or was forged by Cao Zhengxing.
Ji Sheng didn't want Xixi to be the one sitting alone on the throne at this age.
Ji Sheng guessed that there might be more than one copy of the will.
"Can."
Ji Sheng felt that the less he did now, the better. The situation was already in his favor anyway. If things developed to this point, Xixi would really ascend to the throne.
That……
Ji Sheng's eyes swept across Cao Zhengxing.
He will make Cao Zhengxing disappear from this world before Xixi ascends the throne.
The news of Daizong's death did not spread throughout the capital as the imperial guards rushed in the ministers and royal relatives who were at the palace gate.
Regardless of the intentions of the two prime ministers or Ji Sheng Cao Zhengxing, they all wanted to confirm the new emperor before announcing the death of the previous emperor to avoid causing unnecessary turmoil.
When the ministers and royal relatives rushed into the Weiyang Hall of the Wuji Palace and learned that the late emperor had passed away, the sound of wailing filled the entire palace.
The two prime ministers had already cried, so they dragged the cabinet officials and the Minister of Rites, who had just knelt down and cried for a few seconds, to the side hall. They had to come up with a charter as soon as possible.
The longer the matter of the new emperor is delayed, the more variables there will be.
The capital is surrounded by wolves, and the King of Huainan is guarding outside with his troops. They have to complete the arrangements for the new emperor's enthronement before the King of Huainan arrives in the capital.
So even if they didn't want Xixi, a young child, to ascend the throne, they had to come up with a solution as soon as possible.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain to Ji Sheng and Cao Zhengxing.
One of these two men is now in charge of the imperial guards in the palace; the other is the eunuch in charge of the imperial stables and the commander of the twelve regiments of the Beijing troops.
The military power of the entire capital is almost in the hands of these two people, not to mention that Ji Sheng and the army in the north are far away and can go south to protect their master at any time.
Peng Xiang's face was frighteningly gloomy. "What do you mean? Do you support the new emperor, or do you mean..."
He glanced at Lin Xiang beside him, hoping that he would agree with him.
Otherwise, if he abandoned me and surrendered to King Wei first, he would definitely be the first prime minister to be replaced in the new dynasty.
Minister Lin did not respond to Minister Peng's gaze. He only said, "I don't believe there is only one will."
"I don't believe His Majesty would entrust the new emperor to Cao Zhengxing. We must find other imperial edicts."
"What if we can't find it?" The Minister of Rites looked at Prime Minister Lin and asked.
He also could not accept a eunuch becoming an important minister entrusted with the care of the young emperor.
"Then forge one."
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