Three years later.
Tianxuan Palace, the bedroom of Imperial Noble Consort Su Qinghe.
Since the birth of the eldest prince, Lin Tianyou, this place has become an undisputed center of power in the harem.
Su Qinghe has transformed from a slightly naive concubine into a graceful and dignified imperial concubine.
At this moment, she was lounging lazily on the soft couch, while a maid with long flaxen hair, carefully selected from the Kingdom of North, was gently massaging her legs.
"Your Majesty, have you heard? His Majesty stayed at the Pansy Palace again last night and didn't leave all night," said Cai Lian, Su Qinghe's trusted maid, in a low voice, her tone tinged with worry.
Su Qinghe stroked the bracelet on her wrist, which was carved from a single piece of imperial green jade, without even lifting her eyelids, and simply gave a faint "hmm".
"Those exotic vixens, they all act like they've never seen a man before, using every trick in the book to seduce His Majesty. Especially that 'Black Gold Demon Consort' named Camilla, I heard she used the resources His Majesty bestowed upon her to build a small commercial network in the palace, selling all sorts of novelties, and winning over many low-ranking concubines and head eunuchs, her power is growing very quickly," Cailian continued.
“A bunch of worthless bastards.” Su Hanhe finally opened her eyes, her phoenix eyes filled with contempt: “The more they make a scene, the more shallow they appear. I am Tianyou’s mother, the mother of the eldest son of the empire. This position is one they can never shake. They are nothing more than His Majesty’s playthings in his spare time, while my son is the future of the empire.”
Even so, her fingernails dug unconsciously into her palms.
Since those foreign women entered the palace, His Majesty's visits to her Tianxuan Palace have indeed decreased noticeably. This has stirred a strong sense of crisis within her.
"Your Majesty is right," Cailian quickly echoed. "However... Consort Murong has been causing some trouble lately. Relying on the Murong family's influence in the military, she has hired several retired veteran generals as martial arts instructors for the Second Prince, seemingly intending to train him into an unparalleled warrior. Now everyone in the palace is saying that the First Prince is skilled in literature, while the Second Prince is skilled in martial arts, and in the future..."
"Shut up!" Su Qinghe sat up abruptly and shouted sharply.
Cailian was so frightened that she immediately knelt down: "Your Majesty, please calm down! It was my fault for being so talkative!"
"Civil and military? Hmph, laughable!" Su Qinghe sneered, "The empire was built by His Majesty's divine bloodline and supreme wisdom, not by the brute force of a mere warrior. Tianyou is the eldest son, the purest continuation of His Majesty's divine lineage. He was born to be the crown prince! That stupid woman Murong Yan can't see the situation clearly. Sooner or later, she will pay the price for her ambition."
She took a deep breath, calmed herself, and said to Cailian, "Go, take out that thousand-year-old blood coral from my storeroom and send it to the Nine Heavens Moon-Gazing Palace. Tell them that I saw His Majesty was working hard on state affairs recently, so I specially found it to nourish His Majesty's body. Also, tell the Imperial Kitchen that I will personally cook a few of His Majesty's favorite dishes for tonight's banquet."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Cailian accepted the order and left.
Su Qinghe leaned back on the soft couch, a calculating glint in her eyes. She knew that relying solely on her son's status wouldn't be enough; she had to take the initiative and regain the Emperor's favor.
Meanwhile, inside Murong Yan's Chengwu Hall, a completely different scene unfolded.
The style of Chengwu Hall was completely different from the other palaces in the inner palace. There were no luxurious decorations here; instead, it resembled a military camp. The hall was filled with various weapon models, and a huge strategic map of the star field hung on the wall.
The Second Prince, Lin Tianwu, was only three years old, but he was already a robust and sturdy child. At this moment, he was practicing the Empire's basic body-strengthening technique under the supervision of a one-armed general with a hideous scar on his forehead, standing in a horse stance and sweating profusely.
Murong Yan sat to the side, her eyes filled with pride and expectation, without any trace of heartache.
"Your Highness, the Second Prince is truly a born general! His ruthlessness and tenacity are just like the old general of yesteryear!"
The one-armed general was Murong Yan's father's personal guard and was extremely loyal to the Murong family.
“Ruthlessness and resilience alone are not enough.” Murong Yan’s voice was clear and firm: “I want him to become the strongest warrior in the empire! His Majesty’s empire was won through battle, and in the future, it must be protected by the strongest fist. Those spineless cowards who only know how to recite poetry and indulge in luxury are not worthy of inheriting His Majesty’s great cause.”
Her words were loaded with meaning.
"Your Majesty is wise," the one-armed general flattered. "Currently, ninety percent of the generals in the army are from the Murong family faction. As long as His Highness the Second Prince can obtain the full support of the military, the future..."
"Be careful what you say." Murong Yan interrupted him. "His Majesty hates collusion between his subjects the most. We must do it, but we cannot say it. Go tell my brother to send a set of the latest batch of powered armor to the palace. I want Tianwu to be familiar with the empire's killing machine from a young age."
"Yes, sir!"
Murong Yan looked at her son, who was drenched in sweat, and saw a flame burning in her eyes called "ambition".
She knew very well that the Empress Dowager Xihuang's advantage was her "eldest son," while her advantage lay in the entire empire's military. This was a contest of evenly matched strength.
Behind this revelry and strife, however, Fengyi Palace remains a forgotten corner.
After Su Wanqing gave birth to a prince, Lin Tianxin, her de facto "confinement" was lifted.
But unlike what others had predicted, she did not immediately plunge into the vortex of vying for favor.
Fengyi Palace remained quiet and deserted. Its expenses and servants had only been restored to the standard expected of a queen, far less luxurious than Tianxuan Palace and Chengwu Hall.
On this day, Shen Jiaqi came to Fengyi Palace again.
Now, Shen Jiaqi has given birth to a prince for Lin Feng and has been granted the title of "Consort Jia," thus securing a place for herself in the palace.
She is the only one of Su Wanqing's old friends who still maintains contact with her.
"Sister, are you really just going to keep waiting like this?" Shen Jiaqi looked at Su Wanqing, who was teaching the Third Prince Lin Tianxin to read, and asked with some confusion, "The palace is fighting like chickens these days. Imperial Concubine Xihuang and Imperial Concubine Murong are doing almost anything to pave the way for their sons. And those newly arrived foreign concubines are no pushovers either. If you keep not fighting, what will happen to His Highness the Third Prince in the future?"
The Third Prince, Lin Tianxin, was not like the First Prince, who was born with a sacred aura, nor was he as aggressive as the Second Prince.
He was very quiet, but his eyes were just like Su Wanqing's—clear, deep, and able to see into people's hearts.
Su Wanqing put down the book in her hand, patted her son's head, and smiled gently: "Jiaqi, do you think that if you fight, you will definitely win?"
"But if we don't fight, we'll definitely lose!" Shen Jiaqi said anxiously.
"That's not necessarily true." Su Wanqing picked up her teacup and gently blew on the steam. "Look at them, one claims to be the legitimate ruler, and the other is allied with the military. They seem powerful, but in reality, they've already revealed all their cards to His Majesty. Do you think His Majesty would like to see a powerful maternal relative or a military that can blackmail the monarch?"
Shen Jiaqi was stunned.
“I know His Majesty better than any of them.” A complex light flashed in Su Wanqing’s eyes: “He is suspicious, arrogant, and enjoys absolute control. He likes to watch us fight, because the fiercer we fight, the more we need to depend on him. But he will never allow any party to grow so powerful that it can threaten him.”
"So, sister, you mean..."
"Wait." Su Wanqing only said one word: "Wait until they are both exhausted, wait until they are complacent and cross His Majesty's bottom line. We don't need to do anything, we just need to quietly teach Tianxin well and make him a smart, reserved child who knows how to judge the situation."
"What His Majesty needs is not a powerful heir, but a shadow who can put his mind at ease and perfectly continue his glory."
Shen Jiaqi only vaguely understood what she was hearing, but she knew that this queen was playing a very, very big game.
The power struggles within the imperial harem intensified, finally reaching a critical point at a grand palace banquet.
This palace banquet was to celebrate the empire's great success after conquering three civilizations, including the "United Kingdom of North".
Lin Feng was overjoyed. All the concubines in the harem who had given birth to children, as well as the newly promoted foreign imperial concubines, were eligible to participate.
At the banquet, Lin Feng sat high on the dragon bone throne, looking down at the women below, some plump and some slender, each with their own charm, as well as the seven or eight princes who were already able to walk unsteadily and even answer questions fluently. An unprecedented sense of satisfaction welled up in his heart.
Once upon a time, he was just a food deliveryman in a big city, struggling to earn a few dollars in delivery fees.
Looking at the bright lights and bustling activity in the skyscrapers every day, I feel like it's another world.
He never dreamed that one day he would become the king of this world, even the entire planet. He would have the power of life and death, and his words would be law.
These plots, which were once only seen in online novels, have now become part of his daily life.
This enormous leap from dust to the clouds instilled in him an almost obsessive fascination with power.
Halfway through the banquet, Imperial Noble Consort Su Qinghe, carrying the eldest prince Lin Tianyou, gracefully walked to the center of the hall, knelt down, and said, "Your Majesty, Tianyou is now four years old. He is exceptionally intelligent and can already read the Imperial Encyclopedia. I humbly request Your Majesty to establish an heir apparent as soon as possible for the future of the empire, so as to reassure the hearts of all subjects."
Upon hearing this, the entire hall fell silent instantly.
Murong Yan's face immediately darkened. She pulled the Second Prince, Lin Tianwu, forward and said loudly, "Your Majesty, the First Prince is intelligent, which pleases me greatly. However, the Second Prince, Tianwu, could draw a 300-jin bow at the age of three, and his boxing skills have been personally instructed by General Qin Lan. He has quite the style of Your Majesty in your youth. I believe that the Crown Prince of the Empire should have swift and decisive measures to suppress the villains. I hope Your Majesty will reconsider the matter of establishing an heir."
"Your Majesty, I believe..."
"Your Majesty, the Fifth Prince, he..."
In an instant, all the concubines who had given birth to princes could no longer sit still and stood up one after another, wanting to fight for their sons.
The main hall immediately descended into chaos.
Lin Feng sat on the throne, watching this scene with great interest, as if he were watching a wonderful drama.
His gaze swept over the excited Su Qinghe, the unwilling Murong Yan, and the eager concubines, and finally landed on Queen Su Wanqing, who had remained seated and quietly served food to the Third Prince.
Su Wanqing felt his gaze, raised her head, met his eyes, smiled slightly, and then lowered her head again, as if all of this had nothing to do with her.
This woman... is interesting.
A mysterious smile appeared on Lin Feng's lips.
He slowly raised his hand, and the noisy hall immediately fell silent again.
All eyes were fixed on him, anxiously awaiting his final decision.
"Crown Prince..." Lin Feng drawled out the words, the two words like two mountains pressing down on everyone's hearts.
He slowly stood up, walked to his sons, and looked at them one by one.
Lin Tianyou's pride, Lin Tianwu's arrogance, Lin Tianxin's tranquility... Every child carries his bloodline and contains infinite possibilities.
“My sons are all good. They are all sons of God, the most precious treasure of the empire.”
Lin Feng's voice echoed in the main hall.
"But..." His tone shifted, becoming incredibly cold and authoritative: "My empire does not need a crown prince who grew up in a greenhouse and rose to power solely through the title of 'eldest son'! Nor does it need a brute who only knows how to brandish swords and spears!"
"My throne was forged with mountains of corpses and seas of blood!"
"Therefore, my successor must also emerge victorious from the most brutal competition!"
He opened his arms as if embracing the whole world.
"I hereby announce this today!"
"The Star Empire will not appoint a crown prince!"
"All my sons are qualified to inherit the throne! They will undergo the empire's most rigorous education and trials. Whoever demonstrates the most outstanding wisdom, the greatest strength, and the most ruthless heart will be able to wear this crown after my death!"
"What I want is not a ruler who merely maintains the status quo, but a stronger conqueror who can plant the empire's flag across the stars and the sea!"
"The royal family needs the strong! Survival of the fittest! This is the only law of inheritance for my Lin family!"
These words resounded like thunderclaps within the Nine Heavens Moon-Embracing Palace.
Everyone was stunned.
Why not appoint a crown prince?
Let all the princes compete fairly?
This...this is simply unheard of! This is turning the entire harem, and even the entire empire, into a giant arena!
After a brief moment of shock, countless concubines' eyes instantly blazed with ecstatic joy and excitement!
Especially those concubines from humble backgrounds with young sons, they originally thought they were just there to make up the numbers and had no hope.
But now, His Majesty's order is tantamount to giving each of them a chance to ascend to the supreme throne!
fair play!
This means that their sons, even the youngest, can become the future rulers of the empire, as long as they are outstanding and ruthless enough!
The seemingly solidified harem structure was shattered in an instant!
Imperial Noble Consort Su Qinghe's face turned deathly pale instantly.
Her greatest asset—the title of "eldest son"—became worthless in the face of His Majesty's ironclad rule.
Murong Yan's eyes shone brightly. She seemed to already see her son, with the support of the military, stand out from the competition and eventually rule the world.
Queen Su Wanqing kept her head down, but her hand holding the teacup trembled almost imperceptibly.
She knew that the opportunity she had been waiting for had finally arrived.
This grand event came to an end in a way that no one expected.
But everyone knew that a real, bloody storm surrounding the empire's highest power had only just begun from this moment on.
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