Chu Xuan entered the palace and, with the blessing of Princess Duanshu and Prince Taikang, swaggered into the Taiji Hall.

A group of ministers followed closely behind. Chu Han was already dead, and Chu Xuan had not yet held his coronation ceremony. He could not become a real emperor, so everyone could only address him as prince for the time being.

Chu Xuan didn't care about it at all. Not only that, when the ministers respectfully invited the new emperor to ascend the throne, Chu Xuan even refused. His reason was very simple, but it made people unable to refute it.

"My father has passed away, and I am deeply saddened. To show my remembrance and respect for my father, from today on, the Taiji Palace will be closed. Even if I ascend the throne in the future, I will not live in the Taiji Palace."

"This..." The ministers were very troubled by this. If the emperor didn't live in the Taiji Hall, where would he live?

Chu Xuan saw what everyone meant, and did not embarrass them. He said directly: "There is an empty palace next to the Taiji Palace, so let's renovate that palace."

All the ministers were stunned when they heard this. What Chu Xuan was talking about was the Haiyan Palace, the sleeping palace where Emperor Wen lived when he was alive.

After Emperor Wen passed away, Emperor Qingfeng ascended the throne and the place was shelved. Emperor Qingfeng, like Chu Xuan today, chose another place and built the current Taiji Hall.

In this imperial city, every place is the emperor's palace. The ministers naturally cannot have any objection to where the emperor chooses to live. Even if the emperor goes to live in the cold palace, they have to send him there with joy.

However, Haiyan Palace still needed to be repaired. During this period, Chu Xuan still returned to Yewang Mansion to rest every day and went to the palace to handle government affairs during the day.

Another thing worth mentioning is the ascension to the throne.

It has been said since ancient times that a country cannot be without a king for a day. Since the day Chu Xuan returned to the capital, the ministers have been chasing after him, urging him to ascend the throne, but for some unknown reason, Chu Xuan just refused to agree to ascend the throne.

The court affairs were handled as usual, and he was only a prince in name only.

Three months passed like this, and Chu Xuan didn't feel anything, but the ministers of the previous dynasty were panicked.

Because Chu Xuan had not yet ascended the throne, in order to show respect to the late emperor, Chu Xuan had a chair placed under the dragon throne. During the morning court, Chu Xuan sat on this chair and listened to the reports of the court officials.

On this day, all the ministers finally lost their patience and no one stood up during the entire morning court session. They all knelt on the ground and begged Chu Xuan to ascend the throne.

Chu Xuan was stunned at first, then fell silent, and finally was so angry at these people that he laughed.

"I know what you are thinking. The reason why I have not mentioned the matter of ascending the throne since returning to the capital is not because I have any grudge against you. It is because the late emperor passed away. Because of the war, I was unable to see the late emperor for the last time. I have always felt guilty and regretful. So I want to observe mourning for the late emperor for three months to express my remembrance. I will discuss the matter of ascending the throne after three months. I didn't expect you to misunderstand me."

"Your Highness, the country cannot be without a ruler for a day. I know that Your Highness is a filial son, but the late emperor's will has long been announced to the public. Your Highness is the candidate for the late emperor. Your Highness must not delay the ascension to the throne because of grief. As long as you do not ascend the throne, the whole country will not be at peace. Please put the overall situation first and ascend the throne as soon as possible!"

Chu Xuan smiled helplessly and was about to refuse again, but the old Prince Taikang, who had been silent all this time, spoke at the right time: "Your Majesty, I think what you said makes sense."

"Uncle..."

The old Prince Taikang bowed slightly, stopping Chu Xuan from saying, "Your Highness called me the Emperor's Uncle, so I have to say a few more words. Your Highness is filial, and everyone knows it. But the dead are gone, so Your Highness should still take the overall situation into consideration. The incident with Chu Han must not happen again. The former dynasty and the harem all need you to plan. If you delay for a day, there will be a change. So this old minister respectfully invites the new emperor to ascend the throne."

As soon as he finished speaking, the old Prince Taikang knelt down. Chu Xuan quickly stood up and helped him up. Then he sighed and compromised: "Okay, I agree. The emperor's uncle must not do this. The Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory will find a day together."

Chu Xuan finally gave in, and all the ministers breathed a sigh of relief. It was really difficult to give the new emperor a way out!

The ministers have been working in the officialdom for so many years, what is there to not understand? Why is Chu Xuan reluctant to ascend the throne? Is it really because he misses the late emperor? What a joke!

When the late emperor was alive, the affection between the father and son was not even as good as that between strangers. Now that the emperor was dead, how could there be any talk of commemorating him? It was simply because Chu Xuan was not in the capital when the late emperor passed away, allowing Chu Han to take advantage of the so-called will.

Then he took out the will. Although it was testified by Prince Taikang and Princess Duanshu, people's opinions could not be ignored. What Chu Xuan cared about was nothing more than people's evaluation of him.

Now, he holds the imperial edict in his hand but is reluctant to ascend the throne because he misses the late emperor. If it gets out, this will be pure filial piety and worthy of praise from the world, and he will not be like Chu Han, a traitor who plotted to usurp the throne.

The role of these ministers was to highlight the new emperor's filial piety. They repeatedly pleaded with the new emperor to ascend the throne and gave him a chance to show off himself.

After the court session, Chu Xuan dealt with government affairs and went straight out of the palace. Because of Jin Die, they wanted to see an old friend off.

There was a carriage parked outside the palace gate. Chu Xuan walked out of the palace gate calmly as he did in the past, got on the carriage, and left without stopping.

But no one knew that Chu Xuan was not the only one in the carriage at the moment. There was also Qin Xuelin, who had just been released from prison three months ago and had been recuperating in Guanju Palace.

The only two things Chu Xuan and Lu Yanluo did after returning to the capital were to send someone to the Cheng family in Qianzhou to bring back the two children, Chu Yao and Chu Yuan, and to immediately take Qin Xuelin out of the prison.

Qin Xuelin was tortured by Concubine Xian in prison, and her body was covered with bloody scars. When Lu Yanluo first saw her, she almost couldn't hold back her tears and her eyes turned red on the spot. Qin Xuelin had become so thin that she was no longer recognizable, and her breath was weak.

Regardless of the blood, Lu Yanluo carried Qin Xuelin back to Guanju Palace, leaned over and whispered in her ear: "I'm back. As long as you survive, the future will be smooth."

Qin Xuelin opened her eyes slightly, looked at the face so close, and tried to put on a smile: "You... you are finally... back."

She was waiting for her, always waiting.

Lu Yanluo nodded repeatedly: "I'm back, you must live, do you understand!"

The imperial physician was summoned to Guanju Palace in a hurry and stayed there for a whole night. Fortunately, the patient was saved.

Now, after three months of rest, Qin Xuelin finally recovered a little. Seeing that she was fine, Lu Yanluo had an idea and took Qin Xuelin out of the palace.

The emperor is dead, and there is nothing in the harem that can trap Qin Xuelin anymore.