The person they found was Yuan Ye's half-sister.
Yuan Ye's father was also of humble origins, but after a series of struggles, he eventually ascended the throne.
Although he was betrayed and left with only one son, he had actually had a one-night stand with someone else before his health deteriorated.
This involves an old story.
Yuan Ye's mother was a wife whom his father married after careful consideration—his mother's family had been of great help to his father in his conquest of the country.
After his mother passed away, in order to prevent his mother's clan from rebelling, Yuan Ye's father only took concubines and no longer established an empress.
Everyone thought he was infatuated, but only those in power knew his true purpose.
Before Yuan Ye's father married his mother, he had another marriage.
At that time, the two of them were already engaged.
His fiancée was also a girl from a modest family. As the daughter of a scholar, she was skilled in calligraphy and writing, but unfortunately, she met a heartless man.
By the time her beloved ascended the throne, the woman had long since succumbed to a serious illness and died, unable to wait for his return.
Few people know that Yuan Ye's father had a premarital affair with this woman before going off to war, resulting in a daughter.
Originally, this daughter should have been a princess in name only, but unfortunately, the woman's family felt it was too shameful and sent the baby to the countryside early on.
Later, due to frequent wars, they could no longer find the person they were looking for.
Yuan Ye's secret guards painstakingly unraveled this long-buried secret through every means at their disposal.
That baby girl is now twenty years old.
It took the guards three months to find her, but by the time they finally saw her, she had already passed away.
Yuan Ye's half-sister also suffered a very tragic fate.
She was an abandoned baby. After a long and difficult life, her parents saw that she was beautiful and decided to send her to be a landlord's concubine.
She didn't want to agree, but she was powerless to resist. In order to repay the kindness of being born and raised, she had no choice but to compromise.
Later, the landlord invited an official to dinner, and the official saw his sister's beauty and asked for her hand in marriage.
That official was a lecherous man with many concubines in his household. He favored her for a while, but when he met someone new, he forgot about her.
At that time, she was pregnant.
A year later, she gave birth to a baby girl.
The official, who longed for a son, neglected her again after she gave birth to a girl.
A mother's love is strong. For her daughter, she endured various postpartum ailments for a long time, but in the end, she couldn't pull through...
When the guards found her, she had already passed away.
Fortunately, her daughter is still alive.
Following Yuan Ye's orders, the baby girl was secretly taken to the capital by the secret guards.
She is practically the last drop of blood in the Yuan family.
Yuan Ye looked at the one-year-old child and was filled with emotion.
He couldn't describe how he felt.
In his mind, his father had always been a wise ruler when he was young, but he never imagined that his father had done such a thing.
Jiang Tian held his hand and said to him, "What you can do now is to properly settle your sister's remains, and also consider whether or not to let this baby girl inherit your throne. After all... she is a girl."
Yuan Ye's attention was instantly diverted by her.
He looked at Jiang Tian helplessly.
He had already picked up on her sarcastic tone.
"Jiang Tian, you underestimate me. I don't even want my own bloodline anymore. In the future, whether it is a woman or a man who inherits this throne, it makes no difference to me."
“I have witnessed your intelligence. As a woman, if you were to take the imperial examination, you would surpass many men. I do not mean to belittle women; please do not misunderstand me.”
Jiang Tian laughed out loud: "Yuan Ye, you really impressed me. I thought you would turn on me again when you heard that the bloodline lost among the people was a daughter."
"Stop teasing me."
Yuan Ye looked at the baby girl in his arms. She was already a year old, but she still looked very fragile and pitiful.
"Since she is of the Yuan family bloodline, let's raise her and see how she performs. If she is not smart enough to manage the country, I will definitely replace her."
In Yuan Ye's mind, this baby girl might not necessarily be his heir.
Since he has already abandoned his bloodline, he naturally needs to choose a wise ruler to ensure that the country prospers for several more centuries, so that his reign as emperor will not have been in vain.
This child is the result of the mess left by his father, and Yuan Ye would never destroy a country in order to make amends.
A few days later, Yuan Ye personally announced a piece of news that nearly made the court officials faint.
Yuan Ye openly stated that his health was affected when he pretended to be his cousin and went to the border to fight a few years ago, and no matter how he tried to treat it, he could not get better.
He has no major health problems, except that he can't have more children.
In previous years, there was still a sliver of hope, but in recent years, not even a glimmer of hope can be seen.
The Imperial Medical Academy was at a loss. He invited a bunch of renowned doctors, but they all said they would take a look first and wait a few years before making a decision.
"It's not that I don't want to take concubines, it's that I'm already incapable, what's the point of taking concubines? The seeds are all rotten, even the best soil won't produce fruit."
He summoned his trusted ministers to the Imperial Study and announced the news on the Lantern Festival.
These officials are all truly loyal ministers, wholeheartedly devoted to Yuan Ye's cause.
Hearing him say that made them feel dizzy.
The Emperor is of the perfect age and in good health, so why is he unable to function properly?
If he fails, and there is no successor to the throne, will the people be plunged into war and displacement once again?
Seeing that the ministers looked like they were about to die, Yuan Ye dropped another bombshell—
"So you don't need to worry about me taking concubines anymore. I need to treat my illness first, and we'll think about it later when I'm better. Also, I've been keeping this from you, but I can tell you now—I have a daughter in the common people's family. She's a year old now. If my illness doesn't get better, she will be the last drop of blood in the Yuan family, and I will raise her."
The emperor told them that his health was failing, and everyone was struck dumb.
The emperor then told them that he had a daughter, which made everyone feel even more conflicted—how wonderful it would have been if it were a son.
However, having a daughter is not a bad idea. It's feasible to have a son after the emperor's daughter grows up.
After several pieces of news were dropped, the ministers were speechless.
At least there's a princess.
That's the only way they could comfort themselves.
From that day on, no one forced Yuan Ye to choose a concubine anymore.
As Yuan Ye said, his seeds were bad, and they didn't want to waste their efforts.
The baby girl was accepted by the court officials very quickly.
Having a princess is far better than others criticizing the emperor for having no heir.
On the night of the first night, the baby girl was named Yuan Chen and was granted the title of princess.
With this daughter, he finally had some peace and quiet.
Under Yuan Ye's observation, Yuan Chen gradually grew up.
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