The old emperor's decree just happened to help Lan Shuang. She had been monitoring the movements of the princes, but she had been hiding in the dark before, and she had to consider herself unlucky if she was discovered.
Now with the old emperor's oral order, she can monitor openly.
After what happened tonight, the princes were not frightened, but became even more restless.
First, the second prince, who was most likely to sit in that position, has fallen, and it is still unknown who will take the position in the end.
Secondly, the old emperor himself looks like he will die young. After all the trouble he has been through, he probably won’t live long. Must we hurry up?
So although everything seemed calm on the surface, the princes were busy trying to win over the court officials behind the scenes.
Even Lan Shuang and Jiang Mu received many invitations to get together.
Lan Shuang rejected them all. She already had a candidate in mind, so naturally she would not get involved with them. But she did not tell the old emperor about the princes' movements either.
There will always be chaos in the end. There is no point telling the old emperor. It is better to let him enjoy the last few days of peace.
…
For a long time afterwards, the old emperor was in poor health, afraid of wind and cold, and often caught cold and had fever.
When the time for praying for rain came at the beginning of spring, the old emperor still couldn't get up, which worried all the civil and military officials.
The sacrifice must be presided over by the emperor or the crown prince, but unfortunately, the emperor fell, the crown prince was executed early, the second prince was placed under house arrest, and the rest were not qualified.
After searching everywhere, I couldn't find a suitable candidate.
When the old emperor heard this, he also began to worry, "Sacrifice is a big day. If there is no one of high enough status to preside over it, how can we appease the people?"
Lan Shuang casually mentioned, "The princes aren't suitable, but you're not saying the princesses aren't suitable either. Your Majesty, why don't you let the eldest princess try? She's a princess of a wealthy family, so her status is sufficient."
The old emperor was stunned. He leaned against the bed and drank a sip of medicine before slowly saying, "But she is a woman. Princesses have never been allowed to appear in sacrifices."
"Rules are dead, but people are alive," Lan Shuang said. "If we let the prince go, it would be bad. The rules set by our ancestors are that only Your Majesty and the Crown Prince can preside over the sacrifices, and the other princes can only watch from below. If we let the prince preside over it casually, wouldn't it be tacitly acknowledging that he is the next Crown Prince?"
These words immediately hit the old emperor's chest.
He frowned, showing a bit of resistance.
After the poisoning incident, his trust in these princes plummeted.
"You are right. Let Mu'er go. Confer her the title of Princess Anguo and let her preside over all matters related to the sacrifice."
"Yes." Lan Shuang agreed, and a faint smile appeared on her lips as she turned and left.
You said this yourself, Your Majesty, so don't regret it when the time comes.
…
As soon as the news that the eldest princess was offering sacrifices on behalf of the emperor spread, the whole of Kyoto was in an uproar.
This was the first time since the founding of the country that a princess had presided over a sacrifice. The princes had fought tooth and nail for this spot, but in the end, no one got the chance, and everyone was depressed.
Jiang Mu, on the other hand, didn't seem happy, nor unhappy. He stood in the corridor with a calm expression, teasing the birds.
The sleek green-feathered parrot was raised to be plump. It stood in the cage, tilted its head and looked at Jiang Mu, and shouted, "You little bastard, you value women over friends, you little bastard!"
Jiang Mu paused, and directly pushed the parrot off the shelf. It fell to the bottom of the cage and lay on its back with its legs spread out.
Parrot: "You rascal!"
Xu Yunzhou paused at the corner, the smile on his face turned into fear, and he turned around and tried to run.
Unfortunately, it was too late. Jiang Mu noticed him the moment he appeared and immediately shouted, "Come here."
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