Princess Duanshu is over 40 years old this year. She is the only living princess of this dynasty and the first princess of the old emperor. When she got married, the old emperor firmly opposed marrying Duanshu to another country and insisted on finding a decent family in Beijing to marry her to. Therefore, Duanshu's status is self-evident.

Since the late emperor ascended the throne, Princess Duanshu, as the eldest sister, has settled down and lived with her husband in the princess's mansion in the capital, living a peaceful and stable life for many years.

She never imagined that her good brother, who had always been on good terms with her, would cause her such a big trouble before his death.

That night, the emperor suddenly sent someone to knock on the door of the princess's mansion. Duan Shu instantly knew that something big must have happened in the capital.

Before this, the emperor fell ill for unknown reasons, and Concubine Yue suddenly became the empress without any notice. However, she died inexplicably within a few days.

Duan Shu has lived in the palace for half her life, so how could she not see the hidden meaning in it? However, she could only watch and not interfere. This moment of transition from the old to the new and from the underworld was the most dangerous, and she could only choose to protect herself.

But the emperor refused and dragged her into the water. A secret letter and an imperial decree of succession tied her to the Night King.

The more Duan Shu thought about it, the more depressed she felt. Her tone suddenly turned cold. "Did the Night King know about this? That's right. The late emperor spent his entire life calculating people's hearts. How could he simply give me the imperial edict? He must have kept a backup plan. I can hand over the imperial edict, and you can take it back and give it to the Night King. This way, I can fulfill the brotherly relationship between me and the late emperor, and I will never let him down."

In front of Lu Yanluo, Princess Duanshu personally took out the edict of succession sent by the emperor. The lacquer seal was intact, which meant that she had never opened the edict privately.

She wanted to give the imperial edict to Lu Yanluo and quickly send the person away, but Lu Yanluo slightly turned sideways and dodged. Under Duan Shu's astonished gaze, Lu Yanluo lowered her eyes and explained her purpose.

"Princess, please allow me to report that when the late emperor passed away, my prince was not able to accompany him. If Prince Liang has already ascended the throne, and if my prince takes out the imperial edict and declares that he is the heir to the throne designated by the late emperor, people will inevitably think that he is plotting to usurp the throne and forging the imperial edict, so."

Lu Yanluo raised her head and looked at Princess Duanshu with a serious face, neither humble nor arrogant, and not afraid at all: "Your Highness means that the Princess should personally come forward to expose the conspiracy of Prince Liang in front of the civil and military officials and the people of the world, and give Your Highness justice. I hope that the Princess will respect the wishes of the late emperor and come forward to clarify this matter."

"No!" Duan Shu denied without a second thought, "I was only responsible for preserving the late emperor's will and waiting for the Night King to come and take it. Now that the will has been returned to its original owner, what else do I need to do? I have no power or influence. I just want to live in the princess's mansion and enjoy my old age. I don't want to get involved in their fight for the throne. It doesn't make any difference to me who becomes the emperor. Go!"

Lu Yanluo remained calm and looked cold as he recalled what Chu Xuan had said to him before he entered the city.

Chu Xuan's tone was firm, as if he had anticipated Princess Duanshu's reaction. He said to her calmly, "When you see Princess Duanshu after entering the city, she will give you the edict, but she will choose to protect herself. So you have to find a way to make her agree to come forward in person and expose the conspiracy of King Liang in front of the world."

Lu Yanluo came back to her senses and said, "Is there really no difference? Your Highness, the edict came from the Princess's Mansion. This matter will soon be known to everyone. Will King Liang let the Princess's Mansion go? Putting aside these things, it is inevitable that my prince will take over the Taiji Palace. It is a move that complies with public opinion. If the princess does not stand up now, does she intend to stay in the Princess's Mansion forever in the future?"

Lu Yanluo smiled sarcastically: "The eldest princess does not seek fame and fortune, she has lived a noble life and does not want to be involved in the mundane world. But Your Highness, don't you think about your own descendants? I heard that the eldest princess's sons, one is working in the Ministry of Revenue, and the other is in the city defense army. They are both in their prime years. Could it be that the eldest princess also wants her two sons to stay in the princess's mansion and never serve in the government?"

"You! You guys..." Duan Shu was speechless. Yes, she didn't want to get involved in the dispute between Chu Han and Chu Xuan, but what about her sons? They still had to pursue a career in politics, and they had a broader world to live in.

"There is one more thing that the princess may not know yet, right?" Lu Yanluo looked at Duan Shu meaningfully and said, "The late emperor wrote not just one but three copies of the edict. One copy was secretly sent to Tianque Pass and handed over to the prince, one copy was given to you, the eldest princess, and there is another copy."

Under Princess Duanshu's surprised gaze, Lu Yanluo slowly said, "Another copy was handed over to old Prince Taikang."

"What did you say?" Duan Shu was extremely shocked, but then she was relieved: "Yes, he has been calculating all his life. How could he be so careless when choosing a new emperor? This is his style of doing things. He really has planned everything!"

Presumably, the late emperor knew his elder sister very well. At the last moment, she would never stand up and cause trouble, so he handed the edict to the old Prince Taikang.

Lu Yanluo looked at the sky and her patience was obviously running out. "In that case, I'll take my leave. The prince is still waiting outside the city. I still need to visit the Taikang prince's mansion."

Duan Shu sneered: "You don't have to use provocation on me. I have lived for so many years and have seen everything. Are you sure that Prince Taikang will agree to let you identify Chu Han?"

Lu Yanluo leaned forward and bowed, bowing her head and said, "Who in this world would push away the benefits they have obtained? The prince will enter the city soon. Whether or not someone identifies Chu Han, Chu Han's dream of becoming emperor is over. You and Prince Taikang are just icing on the cake for my prince, not a timely help. I think the princess has not yet understood the relationship, but Yanluo guessed that Prince Taikang should be willing to add icing on the cake for me. Yanluo takes her leave."

Without waiting for Princess Duanshu to speak, Lu Yanluo turned around and left without any hesitation.

Duanshu was left where she was, feeling extremely complicated. She was old, and promotion to a higher position was not as important to her as a painting, but this was not the case for her sons.

If she could help Chu Xuanming ascend the throne legitimately, Chu Xuan would definitely not treat her two children badly.

Just as I understood this, Lu Yanluo had already disappeared.

Outside the princess's residence, Shen He looked back angrily and said, "How about I take action and force her to submit?"

"No." Lu Yanluo refused: "She will agree in the end, and we are going to look for Prince Taikang. Let's ignore her for now and go."