With a commander leading the troops, the Crown Prince was not worried at all about any rebellion in the capital.
Shortly after he finished speaking, Commander Ren arrived with his troops. He dispatched a portion of his forces to help Chen Si pursue the fake emperor, while the rest were used by the Crown Prince.
Those who followed the fake emperor, those who had harmed the crown prince, including those who helped the fake emperor orchestrate the assassination attempt...
These officials, regardless of rank, were all dismissed by the Crown Prince and imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice.
Even the Inspectorate was not spared.
The turmoil in the previous dynasty did not spare the harem either.
Apart from Consort Shu, all the other concubines who had been involved with the fake emperor were reprimanded by the Crown Prince.
The next day, Consort De, along with a group of concubines, removed their hairpins, knelt outside the Qianqing Palace, and confessed that although she had not failed the late emperor, she had been deceived by treacherous people and was filled with remorse. She begged to go to the Jielu Nunnery to meet the late emperor and empress to pray for blessings and atonement.
The Crown Prince could not possibly send all his concubines to a nunnery. After all, they were his father's women. If he sent them all there, what would become of his reputation?
So he issued an edict demoting all the concubines by two ranks and ordering them to go back and reflect on their mistakes in seclusion.
The Imperial Household Department kept records of the emperor's favored concubines, noting which ones had served the fake emperor and which ones hadn't.
Consort De did indeed live up to the late Emperor's expectations, just as she had said.
It was somewhat of a coincidence that her health was not good after giving birth to the second princess, and she did not receive any favor from the emperor in the following years.
The Crown Prince, impatient with reviewing each matter, handed them all over to the Crown Princess to handle.
The Crown Princess still resides in the Eastern Palace.
She has been anxious and uneasy for the past two days.
She knew nothing beforehand about all the things the Crown Prince had done.
It was bad enough that she was trapped in the Eastern Palace, but the Zhao family hadn't even gotten a whisper of it!
It is obvious that the Crown Prince has already grown tired of the Zhao family.
The Crown Princess was so anxious that she wanted to rush to the Qianqing Palace to defend herself, but fortunately she was stopped by Granny Hu.
Granny Hu earnestly advised her that the fact that the Crown Prince was allowed to enter the Qianqing Palace and hold the Imperial Seal meant that the ministers had already recognized him as the Emperor. However, the Crown Prince had not yet appointed his wife as Empress, nor had he even given her a verbal message. If she ran around at this time, wouldn't that only further displease the Crown Prince?
The Crown Princess was persuaded to stay, and waited another day. She then heard the news that Consort De and the others had been kneeling for a long time. That same afternoon, she heard about the demotion of the other concubines.
Then, the Zhao family tried every means to send her a message, telling her to be patient.
So the Crown Princess endured it all, and finally received the imperial decree delivered by the Crown Prince.
Granny Hu was overjoyed: "Your Highness, His Highness has not held a grudge against you because of the Zhao family! You can rest assured."
The Crown Princess was stunned and remained silent, feeling that she no longer understood the Crown Prince at all.
"Granny Hu, do you think the Crown Prince will still make me Empress?"
"In this Eastern Palace, besides you, who else is qualified to be Empress? His Highness has entrusted you with managing the people in the harem; isn't that a power that only the Empress can exercise?"
The Crown Princess's eyes lit up.
“That’s right! I am the Crown Princess chosen by the late Empress, his lawfully wedded wife. The position of Empress should naturally belong to me!”
She finished speaking slowly and deliberately, and by the end, she had regained her confidence.
But then she started to worry about the Zhao family.
"I was only implicated by my maternal family... The Crown Prince must know what my third uncle and the others did to Consort Xi. I don't know how to appease His Highness."
She paced back and forth in the room.
At this moment, Zhao Fen, who was standing to the side, suddenly said, "Your Majesty, please forgive my indiscretion, but that Third Master Zhao is not Your Majesty's biological uncle. Even if His Highness punishes him, what does it have to do with you and the Imperial Brother-in-law?"
The Crown Princess was in a great mood because of her calling him "the Emperor's brother-in-law".
"After all, we are from the same clan, and we can't write two different Zhao characters with the same stroke."
People from prominent families are used to thinking this way, having been instilled with the concept of prioritizing family from a young age.
Zhao Fen looked puzzled: "But aren't they Your Majesty's father, brothers, uncles, and aunts? Does that mean that when Your Majesty becomes Empress and is granted a title of Marquis, they will also be made Marquis of Cheng'en?"
The title of Marquis Cheng'en has always been a title held by the Empress's maternal family.
After the Crown Prince ascends the throne, the Zhou family, formerly the Marquis of Cheng'en, will be promoted to the Marquis of Mu'en, and the Zhou family will become the new Marquis of Cheng'en Mansion.
The Crown Princess frowned, and her expression changed.
The title he worked so hard to obtain is going to be given to the eldest son's family?
impossible!
But if they come to take it, Dad definitely won't be able to beat them...
The Crown Princess's eyes flickered for a long time before she suddenly ordered someone to grind ink, wrote a letter, and had it taken out of the palace and delivered to her father.
The letter contained only one meaning.
Branching!
When the letter was sent out of the palace, the Crown Prince was talking to Granny Fangqi in the Qianqing Palace.
How is she doing?
Although no names were mentioned, Granny Fangqi knew immediately who the Crown Prince was asking about.
"Your Highness, rest assured, everything is fine with Consort Liang. The two young masters are eating and sleeping well and have grown quite a bit. This old servant even noticed that their hair has become thicker!"
The crown prince couldn't help but laugh.
"Is she still angry with me?"
On the day of the uprising, Song Xibai originally wanted to go with the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince did not want her to take any risks, so he lied to her and told her that the real time was the next day.
When Song Xibai found out, she was naturally angry.
But Granny Fangqi dared not tell the truth.
"How could that be? Your Highness, you are thinking of Consort Liang, and she knows it. Why would she be angry with you? However, it is cold today, and Consort Liang is frail and it is inconvenient for her to go out."
While saying this aloud, Granny Fangqi was thinking to herself: If you knew, she would be cursing you every day in the room, calling you a liar and untrustworthy, and telling the two young masters not to follow your example...
Her eyelids trembled, and she decided she would rather die than tell.
The crown prince is no longer the crown prince; he is an emperor, only one step away from the coronation ceremony.
Although it had only been a few days since they last met, Granny Fangqi showed more awe when facing the Crown Prince, and dared not even meet his gaze.
The Crown Prince did not notice the change in Granny Fangqi. He touched his newly grown stubble and muttered to himself.
"The coronation ceremony is in five days. I will arrange everything so that she can wait peacefully to enter the palace."
The crown prince was full of confidence.
After Granny Fangqi left, the Crown Prince summoned several ministers and inquired about the enthronement ceremony.
The incident happened so suddenly that there was no time to prepare many things. The Ministry of Rites could only modify some of the things that the fake emperor had prepared when he was going to establish the eighth prince, and use them for the time being.
Seeing the Crown Prince take the initiative to ask, the Minister of Rites was uneasy, preparing to face a round of questioning. However, he heard the newly appointed Emperor say something like this.
"Lady Song has given birth to my child and has made great contributions. She is still outside the palace, which makes me uneasy. I wish to welcome her into the palace through the main gate on the day of my enthronement ceremony. Lord Li, I will have to trouble you with the preparations."
Minister Li stared wide-eyed and immediately rejected the idea.
"No! Although Consort Liangyuan has rendered meritorious service in giving birth to a child, the Crown Princess is still alive. How can we disregard etiquette?"
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