Shen Wangshu was not surprised by his actions. Instead, he smiled and said, "It seems that you have figured it out."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Zhongyi kowtowed again, "I will serve you faithfully from now on!"
"Alright, I don't like people making promises. The Emperor has passed away suddenly, so you should hurry and do what you need to do."
"Yes, sir!"
Li Zhongyi responded respectfully and turned to leave.
"Madam, do you think Li Zhongyi can really keep his promise?"
Lianzhi looked at the direction Li Zhongyi left and couldn't help but worry.
"I believe it."
Shen Wangshu narrowed his eyes slightly, "If he really wants to live, he will definitely not let me down."
"Your Majesty has great foresight, and I admire you!"
…
That night, the death knell rang in the palace.
White paper money was hung everywhere in the palace.
The palace maids and eunuchs also changed into mourning clothes, looking extremely grief-stricken and sobbing continuously.
Shen Wangshu was wearing a plain white dress and a white flower on her head. She knelt beside the coffin with her knees bent, staring quietly at the old emperor lying in the coffin without saying a word.
Mo Sichen was also standing on the side, staring deeply with a dark look in his eyes.
In front of the coffin, the royal children, concubines and court ministers knelt on the ground.
"Father, wuwuwu..."
"Your Majesty, why did you leave so suddenly..."
Shrill and sad cries echoed throughout the palace, one after another.
Shen Wangshu felt his eardrums itchy after hearing this, and couldn't help rubbing his ears.
"Li Zhongyi, how did you manage to be on duty? Fu Heng seemed to be getting better a few days ago, so why did he suddenly pass away today?"
Faced with the Eleventh Prince's sudden attack, Li Zhongyi was so frightened that he quickly knelt and begged for mercy. "Eleventh Prince, please calm down. This happened suddenly. I've had the imperial physician examine him. The Emperor was recently upset about the Fourth Prince's incident. Furthermore, he had been ill for a long time and his health was severely weakened. He couldn't hold on for a while, which led to his sudden death."
"Does the Emperor have any last words?"
The Eleventh Prince's words actually raised the question that everyone wanted to ask the most. For a moment, the crying stopped and everyone stared at Li Zhongyi with wide eyes.
Li Zhongyi lowered his eyes and remained silent for a moment. "Reporting to His Highness the Eleventh Prince, the Emperor did leave behind a will before his death."
"What is the will?"
"It's like this..."
Li Zhongyi lowered his head, took out the will from his sleeve, and immediately began to read it:
[Before I died, I had a wish that was not fulfilled. I have specially issued a will to appoint the fifteenth prince as the crown prince and pass the throne to him. I have also appointed Prince Chen as the regent. I hope that he will loyally assist the new emperor, perform his duties conscientiously, and protect our Dayan country for thousands of generations; ...]
The Eleventh Prince was stunned upon hearing this. He snatched the imperial edict from Li Zhongyi's hand, staring at it with wide eyes, his mouth twitching. "Are you sure this is the will left by our father?"
A half-year-old child as the new emperor?
This kind of thing seems ridiculous no matter how you look at it, right?
"Your Highness, this... this was instructed by the Emperor himself, and the document was drafted by the leader himself. I dare not falsify it."
Upon hearing this, the Eleventh Prince immediately turned his head to Lin Rui, who was kneeling on the ground, and asked, "Master Lin, is this true?"
Now, everyone's attention was focused on Lin Rui again.
"Master Lin, whether it is true or not, just tell the truth in front of the entire court today."
Mo Sichen's words made Lin Rui's heart tremble slightly, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead.
"Eleventh Prince, this imperial edict is indeed authentic, and the document was drafted by me personally."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was shocked.
A baby who is just half a year old and still breastfeeding has become the crown prince and is going to inherit the throne?
It's simply a fairy tale!
Many ministers began to talk about it, and some even thought it was totally fake.
But Lin Rui's words left them with no way to refute.
Mo Sichen scanned every face present and said in a cold voice, "Ministers, please tell us what you think while you still can."
The whole place was silent...
"Since no one has spoken, I will assume that you all have no objections."
Everyone: “…”
Do they dare to speak?
The palace is full of Prince Chen's men, who dares to say no?
"I have no objection."
Suddenly, Shen Wangshu, who had been silent for a long time, spoke.
Seeing that Concubine Shu had spoken, the others also began to chime in, "We have no objection!"
Everyone has expressed their opinions. The Eleventh Prince knows that he has no hope. Even the powerful Fourth Prince cannot defeat Prince Chen and his men. Why should he be cannon fodder?
…
On the tenth day after the old emperor passed away, Mo Sichen presided over the burial in the imperial tomb. The funeral procession was huge and the people all praised Prince Chen for his loyalty and righteousness.
A month later, the court held the coronation ceremony of the fifteenth prince.
The grand occasion of that day was unprecedented. The fifteenth prince, who was only eight months old, was held in the arms of his wet nurse as he completed the grand ceremony.
The Regent Mo Sichen and the pregnant Queen Mother Shen stood aside to watch the ceremony. The two looked surprisingly well-matched.
After the new emperor's coronation ceremony, Mo Sichen, as the regent, stayed in the palace on the pretext of teaching the new emperor and moved into Jichen Palace.
All the ministers felt that this was inappropriate, but no one dared to say anything.
At first, Empress Dowager Shen pretended to rule the country from behind the scenes, but later she was absent due to illness. In the entire court, Mo Sichen almost had the final say.
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