The white-haired woman turned her face, her eyes transforming into vertical pupils. Several snake scales silently sprouted on her jade-white face as she gazed at the mortal emperor as if hunting prey.
"Yes, the time has come."
Zhu Yuanzhang probed: "The incense at Liu Xian is very popular. Wouldn't it be more reliable to accumulate more offerings over a longer period of time?"
To be honest, Lao Zhu wasn't sure what his mindset was. He felt both apprehension and reluctance, but perhaps apprehension outweighed it.
"If I wait any longer, I will lose the courage to fight to the death, and then slowly decline until I die. Even if I die this time, it will be my wish to achieve my goal!"
Liu Xian resolutely refused; she had to get through this hurdle, which was also what Ling Xiao most desired in this world.
Ling Xiao was not afraid at all; on the contrary, she was eager to try.
At this moment, all the other princes and grandsons present looked in this direction, and no one paid attention to those people paddling the dragon boat with all their might in the lake anymore.
He only offered a few words of advice, without truly intending to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang, who inwardly thought:
Oh, I was just worried about you, you really don't appreciate my good intentions.
At this moment, Ling Xiao also noticed the royal family members who were spying on him. He looked up and, a thought flashed through his mind, and he smiled maliciously.
Then everyone heard Liu Xian lower her voice, becoming increasingly soft and alluring:
"Of course, whether I succeed or not, I'm afraid I'll never see you again. But we've had a connection, so I'll spare no effort to look into the fate of Your Majesty's descendants."
Let Zhu Yuanzhang take a good look at how many "good" emperors his family has produced.
These words, once uttered, were like a boulder dropped into water, creating a thousand waves.
By understanding one's own destiny, one can avoid bad choices and embark on the right path.
The fact that the fortune-telling and divination industry has thrived for thousands of years shows that it is human nature to want to encounter good fortune and avoid misfortune.
Apart from the concubines, everyone present was a descendant of Zhu Yuanzhang, and they couldn't sit still any longer, casting longing glances at the emperor.
The concubines also had children, so they were naturally restless and wanted His Majesty to agree quickly so that Liu Xian could choose their children for fortune-telling.
Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a while, and everyone was getting impatient with his hesitation.
The princesses: Father, you are the epitome of human achievement, you have become the emperor, but your poor children do not know what will happen to them in the future.
Concubine: What is this old man still being so pretentious about?
Liu Xian seemed in no hurry. She leaned down and whispered something in Empress Ma's ear. Everyone saw the Empress pause for a moment, then laugh.
Good heavens, apart from Empress Ma's children, everyone else was even more anxious.
Actually—what Liu Xian whispered was: "You found such a husband, who is not good-looking and has married so many concubines and had so many children."
Empress Ma, of course, smiled.
Finally, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "I am deeply grateful for Immortal Liu's kind offer." Having finished these pleasantries, he eagerly asked:
"Can I designate the fate of that descendant?"
Liu Xian immediately scoffed, as if the emperor had said something ridiculous, and leaned back in her chair with boneless grace.
"Do you think peeking into the future is some street trick, something you can just predict?"
"You'll have three chances. I'll be there for you to see three different parts of history after the fish is caught. What you see depends on your luck."
As she spoke, Liu Xian slowly raised three fingers, her beautiful eyes sparkling. She then closed her eyes, and after a long while, opened them again, pointing to a group of Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants:
"First of all, among these people, there will be two emperors. One will have the temple name Chengzu, whose reputation is flawed but can be called a wise ruler. The other will not be so."
Liu Xian rested her chin on her hand, her mocking gaze sweeping through the crowd. Zhu Yuanzhang sensed something was amiss, and then he heard:
"Not only was his temple name Huizong, but he also only sat on the throne for four years before he died."
Old Zhu's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously thought that the two emperors among his descendants present were his eldest son and his great grandson.
Zhu Biao sat next to Zhu Xiong Ying. The father and son exchanged a glance and shared the same thought as Zhu Biao. At the same time, Zhu Di, who was a few seats away from them, did not think anything was wrong.
With her own father's biased nature, how could he possibly pass the throne to them? No way, that's something she wouldn't even dare to dream of.
However, the temple names of the two emperors are vastly different: Chengzu and Huizong.
Emperor Chengzu is a title given to those who have made great contributions or expanded the territory. Generally, those with the title "Zu" are founding emperors. Therefore, if the second ruler of a dynasty can be called Emperor Chengzu, he must have made outstanding achievements, perhaps even comparable to those of the founding emperor.
"Biao'er did a good job," Zhu Yuanzhang said with satisfaction, glancing at his crown prince and beckoning him over.
Zhu Biao walked over with his son, bowing to Liu Xian but being ignored. He didn't mind, but sat down and looked at his son with concern.
A hint of disappointment flashed across the emperor's stern face, making Zhu Xiong Ying feel disheartened.
He was exceptionally intelligent and had already grasped the metaphor of the emperor's temple name.
So he knew he was a terrible emperor. He didn't mention that he only reigned for four years, which might be because he died young. But the temple name Huizong says it all.
Compared to Emperor Chengzu, Emperor Huizong's writing style is a typical example of the literary style of historical writing.
On the surface, "惠" (huì) is a good word. It means to be gentle and kind to the people, and to love and give to the people. It sounds pretty good, right?
However, an emperor's benevolence is not necessarily a good thing. If an emperor is truly benevolent to the point of loving his people like his own children, then he deserves a better temple name, such as Emperor Renzong, like Emperor Renzong of Song, Zhao Zhen.
It is conceivable that Emperor Huizong's posthumous title was a veiled criticism, and at most, it could be considered a neutral posthumous title!
As an emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang was a rare figure who showed genuine affection, and he truly loved Zhu Xiong Ying. At this moment, he was also pondering—
Should we take a look at Biao'er's sons to see if there are any good ones?
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't think he was ruthless. Xiong Ying had already been proven unsuitable to be emperor. Listen to that, he only lived for four years.
If his death was short, that would be one thing, but Zhu Yuanzhang had a more chilling theory—that he was overthrown by a rebellion of one of his uncles.
Although the flesh is all rotten in the pot, and the emperors are all my descendants, he still wants the crown prince's lineage to inherit the throne.
"Leave this aside for now," Zhu Yuanzhang asked.
"What achievements did this Emperor Chengzu have?" After saying this, Old Zhu glared at his other sons, afraid that someone would know about Xiong Ying's experience, and then he began to have some thoughts of his own.
Hmph, he wants to use Liu Xian's words to let his sons know how powerful their eldest brother is. It doesn't matter if his eldest brother's sons are useless, he can just choose another one.
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