The old emperor finally reacted and realized what this meant to him. This scene would be recorded in history books in the future, and it would all be his achievement.
The old emperor was delighted, dancing with joy and laughing: "Great! I will reward Mingyu handsomely. Mingyu has really made me proud. When he enters the capital, all the officials will go out of the city to welcome him."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, Prince Duan is the god of war sent from heaven to our Great Zhou. Our Great Zhou is so fortunate to have the help of the god of war. Your Majesty, Prince Duan will surely lead our Great Zhou to create a prosperous era." So, don't hesitate any longer. It is what the people want to decide on Prince Duan as the heir now.
Even if His Majesty chooses another heir, will the ruler not be afraid of the over-famous Prince Duan? Will Prince Duan surrender? There will surely be another fierce battle between the two, and they will suffer the most.
In fact, the court officials also hoped for an emperor who was not so powerful. Unfortunately, who could have thought that Prince Duan could achieve such an unprecedented achievement? Prince Duan's dominance was already established, and they could not stop him and could only go with the flow. In fact, they felt very bitter as well. Life under Prince Duan's rule would definitely not be easy in the future.
The old emperor's smile froze for a moment, but it did not completely disappear in the end. No matter what, this unprecedented achievement was earned for him by Xiao Mingyu. Although he felt a little unhappy, as if he was forced by everyone and Xiao Mingyu to establish this heir, it was a pity. He also figured it out and realized that it was impossible to change anything.
As the emperor of the Great Zhou, he had been willful for many years, but he also knew that the empire conquered by his ancestors could not be lost in his hands. He had to choose a good successor for himself. After looking around, he found that Xiao Mingyu was indeed outstanding.
When the day Xiao Mingyu returned to Beijing was coming, Prince Duan asked Yuan Jing to go out of the city to pick him up early. Yuan Jing brought his mother along. Needless to say, they came back from Ningcheng in Jiangnan together. Fan also missed this little prince very much, but in the blink of an eye, the little prince had grown up and she was afraid that she would not be able to recognize him.
Yuan Jing was equally excited. He had never expected that they would be separated for such a long time. When he left the capital, he was still a somewhat childish young man. Now he must be tall and mighty.
Of course, no matter how much his lover changes, he can still recognize her at first sight.
If the capital city really couldn't do without him, he would have wanted to go to the border long ago to charge and kill the enemy with Xiao Mingyu.
Prince Duan stayed with Yuan Jing's mother and son. Actually, many officials wanted to flatter Prince Duan at that time, but he was still the same as before. This made the old emperor feel relieved. He thought that Prince Duan was different from others and would not get carried away by success.
Prince Duan looked at the end of the official road, thinking that his son would soon come back, and his tears could not stop flowing down. He wiped his tears and said, "This brat has made it impossible for his father to sleep peacefully for the past few years. He finally knew that he had to return to the capital."
Seeing his expression, Fan Shi didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "The prince will be back soon. He will stay in the capital to accompany the prince from now on."
"Who needs him to accompany us? He just needs to take care of his own business." Prince Duan was a little embarrassed, but this son was the one that worried him the most. He had been worried about him since shortly after he was born. He was desperate when he went missing. After he came back, he went to the border to fight again within two years. He was gone for eight years.
It's a good thing he's in good health now, otherwise he might not be able to wait for his son to come back.
All the officials, nobles and members of the royal family were eagerly waiting, and there were also many ordinary people who came spontaneously. They did not expect that in the end Prince Duan's Mansion would become the biggest winner. Prince Duan was a useless prince among all the royal family members, but he had given birth to a good son.
"Prince Duan hasn't gotten engaged yet, right? There's no woman in charge of the Prince Duan's mansion, and no one has helped Prince Duan find a wife yet."
"Before, that was because I didn't return to the capital. Now that I'm back in the capital, why would anyone need to worry about me? Maybe His Majesty has already chosen someone in mind."
Although the officials wanted to send their daughter Shuang'er to the Prince of Duan's backyard in order to fight for a position in the harem in the future, they also knew that with Prince of Duan's current position, the principal wife would definitely have to be personally approved by His Majesty, but they could still fight for it.
After all, she is the future queen.
Many people have their eyes on Prince Duan's backyard. If they can't become the principal wife, at least they have to occupy a position first.
"Here they come! Someone appears at the end!"
"It turns out that Prince Duan has brought people back!"
At the end of the official road, soldiers in black armor rode over on horseback, raising clouds of dust all over the sky, but that could not conceal their overwhelming aura. Before they arrived, many were already speechless due to the overwhelming aura.
Many people still remember the scene when Xiao Mingyu left Beijing eight years ago. Eight years later, Xiao Mingyu and his soldiers have indeed changed.
Prince Duan pointed to the rider in the front and said, "That must be Ming Yu, haha, this guy looks so impressive, I almost didn't recognize him."
Yuan Jing hadn't taken his eyes off him since the rider appeared. He nodded and said, "Your Highness has good eyesight. It is indeed Ming Yu. He is back."
The clanging sounds were getting closer and closer, and the faces of Xiao Mingyu and his men also came into everyone's sight. Xiao Mingyu brought back five thousand cavalrymen, and these five thousand cavalrymen were disciplined and solemn in their expressions. They were completely different from the Imperial Guards and patrolling soldiers they had seen in the capital. They were obviously brave and powerful generals who had been tested on the battlefield for a long time.
When they came closer, Xiao Mingyu waved his hand backwards, and the marching team immediately stopped. The sound of weapons and armor colliding was so shocking, and Xiao Mingyu was so loud that people couldn't look directly at him, so they couldn't help but lower their eyes.
They didn't realize that Xiao Mingyu was only paying attention to one person at this moment, and that was Yuan Jing who was standing next to his father. He didn't even look at his father. It was good that Prince Duan didn't notice this, otherwise he would have scolded this unfilial son and made him live in fear all day long in the capital.
"Welcome Prince Duan back to the capital!"
Xiao Mingyu got off his horse and strode towards Prince Duan. Just at this moment, the chief eunuch of the old emperor's side stepped out from the ranks of officials, holding a roll of bright yellow imperial edict, and rang out in a sharp voice: "Prince Duan, Xiao Mingyu, listen to the order!"
Xiao Mingyu really wanted to ignore it. He hadn't said a word to Yuan Jing yet. He glared at the ignorant old eunuch with displeasure, but Yuan Jing glared back at him immediately, telling him to behave himself.
Xiao Mingyu has come to this point and is no longer afraid of anyone. As long as he wants the throne, he can just reach out and take it even if the emperor doesn't want to give it to him. But there is someone in this world who is specifically designed to quell him, and he is willing to be quelled. The only thing he is dissatisfied with is that for the past eight years, he has missed this person so much, but this person has stayed in the capital and has never visited him at the border. He feels so aggrieved.
Xiao Mingyu had no choice but to stop and said in a cold voice with a stern face: "Xiao Mingyu accepts the order."
Just as he was about to kneel, of course he was just pretending, the eunuch immediately waved his hand to let him stand up. Xiao Mingyu also stood up straight, which made the eunuch's eyes twitch.
The eunuch read the imperial edict aloud. At the beginning of the edict, Xiao Mingyu was highly praised. Although he did not say that he was the reincarnation of the god of war, the meaning expressed by those words of praise was not much different. When the content was read to the end, everyone's heartbeat quickened, because the old emperor adopted Xiao Mingyu into his lap and made him the crown prince in one go. That meant that after a hundred years of the old emperor, Xiao Mingyu would directly succeed to the throne.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
"Your Highness the Crown Prince is welcome back to the capital!"
Once the imperial edict was issued, the status was confirmed and Prince Duan had to kneel down to his son. No, Xiao Mingyu was no longer his son now. Prince Duan had the leisure to think about these things while kneeling, and he felt sad.
However, before he and Yuan Jing could kneel down completely, they were supported by a pair of hands. Eh? They couldn't kneel down anymore. Prince Duan looked up along the strong hand and saw that the person who supported him was Xiao Mingyu.
The eunuch twitched his eyes again. The imperial edict hadn't even been received yet, but he had already gone to Prince Duan. He thought about how Xiao Mingyu had been very willful when he left Beijing. That polo match had left a deep impression on everyone. Now, eight years have passed, and he's afraid that he hasn't improved much and has become even more willful.
"Everyone, please stand up. No need to be polite. Follow me to the capital."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Prince Duan's eyes narrowed with a smile. His son still cared about him, otherwise he would not have rushed over so quickly to help him up and stop him from kneeling.
He didn't notice that Xiao Mingyu's hand had not yet let go of Yuan Jing's arm. It was Yuan Jing who used some clever strength to break free and signaled this guy to quickly get on the horse and continue back to Beijing.
Xiao Mingyu smacked his lips in dissatisfaction. Fine, he knew Yuan Jing was shy. Well, he would settle the score with Yuan Jing after returning to the capital and settling down.
"Get on the horse and return to Beijing!"
All the officials followed Xiao Mingyu back to the capital. There was a prisoner carriage behind the team. As expected, they were all dressed in the style of the Northern Qi royal family. The common people threw stones and rotten vegetable leaves at it.
Xiao Mingyu wanted Yuan Jing to ride with him, but there was no way Yuan Jing would listen to him. He was as willful and reckless as Xiao Mingyu and decided to follow Prince Duan and Lady Fan.
After entering the capital, cheers like mountains and seas rang out, one wave higher than the other. Prince Duan was so excited. He had a miserable first half of his life, but he was lucky because the princess gave him a good son. When he goes to the underworld in the future, he will definitely show off to the princess.
"Wow, the one in the front is Prince Duan, so impressive!"
"What Prince Duan? The imperial decree has been issued, and he is now the Crown Prince."
"The title of Crown Prince is now well-deserved. If he doesn't become the Crown Prince, who else can?"
"That's right. With the Crown Prince here, who dares to invade our Great Zhou? Whoever dares to come will never return!"
Yuan Jing, who was following behind, felt proud of the scene. This was Mingyu, his lover, and the man he had watched grow up. He felt doubly proud. In the future, he would become an emperor admired by the world.
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