After the fourth prince saw his mother off, he was well aware of what he had to face.
Yes, he was still young. That's why he was so eager to execute Yang Li, wanting only to cover up what had happened before.
Therefore, he no longer had the confidence to investigate how his mother died.
Since Consort Jin has admitted it, the Fourth Prince himself knows that it was most likely not Consort Jin who did it, but there's no way to pursue the matter further.
Shu Chengfeng couldn't possibly ignore it, but for the Fourth Prince, these landmines he planted at this moment would eventually blow him up.
Even if we don't blow it up, it will be difficult to win back the Emperor's heart.
He entered the Beichen Palace dressed in plain clothes.
Shu Chengfeng looked at him, but didn't ask any questions or tell him to get up immediately.
He just sighed.
The fourth prince became tense because of this.
Ke Shuchengfeng ultimately didn't ask those questions, but simply said, "You've worked hard too, go back and rest. Don't be too upset, your mother is gone, but your father is still here. You don't need to study tomorrow, rest for a few days."
"Yes, Your Majesty, thank you for your concern. Well... then I shall take my leave."
He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he left the Beichen Palace.
While I breathed a sigh of relief, an indescribable feeling of discomfort and disappointment also arose.
The fact that the Emperor didn't ask anything means that he has already made up his mind.
Although the fourth prince is intelligent, he lacks life experience.
He doesn't quite understand that when an elder refuses to even scold you for doing something wrong, it actually means they already know you're not up to the task.
Especially when your elders have many children.
He will still love you, but there are some important things that he won't be able to help you with.
The fourth prince returned to Qianqiu Tower dejectedly, only to run into the fifth prince in the courtyard, who was fanning himself and eating watermelon.
His maid grumbled, "Your Highness, please eat less. You can't eat any more after these few pieces. If you get an upset stomach, His Majesty will blame you. We servants will get beaten and scolded again. You also have to take medicine, which is so uncomfortable for you."
"You guys are so annoying. It's just eating some melon, why are you interfering?" the Fifth Prince said impatiently.
"Your Highness! His Majesty sent someone yesterday to urge you not to eat anything too cool in this hot weather. If you don't listen to me, I'll go find Granny Li and Tian Qi and ask them to talk to His Majesty's people." The little maid Jiao Rui was very quick-witted.
"Ugh, you're so annoying! Just you wait, you're not leaving the palace. When I grow up, I'll take you as my concubine," the Fifth Prince said.
"So be it, I'll be your concubine. As long as His Majesty is willing, I have nothing to say. So why don't you take good care of yourself?" Jiao Rui wasn't shy at all. She was already fifteen, why should she be shy with an eleven-year-old boy?
The fourth prince stared for a long time, and his disappointment grew even stronger.
"Fourth Brother is back? Um... are you feeling better... about this... well, I'm not good with words, but you're... alright anyway." The Fifth Prince saw the Fourth Prince and stood up to speak.
The fourth prince smiled and said, "It's alright. Fifth brother, you should be more obedient. Father will worry if you get an upset stomach."
"Fine, if none of you allow it, I won't eat. I'm a grown man." The Fifth Prince sighed.
The fourth prince wasn't in the mood to talk today; he just smiled and went back.
The sixth prince came out a moment later: "Don't even mention you, you're the one on Father Emperor's list with poor health. I'm under his control all the time." The sixth prince had also been born prematurely.
However, he has taken good care of himself over the past few years.
"Hey, Sixth Brother, what do you think about... Fourth Brother's matter..."
"Fourth Brother is pitiful. Mother passed away early." The Sixth Prince knew what the Fifth Prince wanted to ask. Although their father forbade them to know the intricacies of the matter, it couldn't be kept secret forever.
He would never tell this to his straightforward fifth brother. So he changed the subject.
The Fifth Prince was displeased: "Am I not pitiful?"
The sixth prince held back for a long time, but couldn't hold it in any longer: "I really don't think you're pitiful! You still have your sister, Father is watching you every day, and the whole palace knows you're not well, so they're all taking good care of you. What are you pitiful about? Are you pitiful that you can't eat watermelon?" As he spoke, the sixth prince snatched a large piece of watermelon, snorted, and walked away.
The fifth prince was caught in a dilemma and died of anger.
Jiao Rui was still smiling.
"Hmph, laugh all you want. If I don't take you in, I'll take your surname."
After a while, he asked again, "By the way, what's your last name again?"
Jiao Rui rolled her eyes: "His surname is 'stupid'."
The Fifth Prince was cornered again.
This summer has been incredibly busy.
In August, the Empress's investiture ceremony finally arrived.
Because the Empress's investiture ceremony hasn't been held yet, everyone else's investiture ceremony is still pending.
August 19th is an auspicious day.
It was calculated based on the birth chart of the wild geese returning south.
Everything was prepared several days in advance, and we were just waiting for this day.
She went to bed early last night, and when she got up this morning, she didn't even bother to eat breakfast. She just ate a few bites and got dressed.
After putting on the Empress's formal attire, she first went to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager, unusually, did not make a fool of herself today. She gave the Empress a proper reprimand and even personally put a pair of hairpins in her hair.
The wild geese returned south and led people to the ancestral temple to pay homage to the ancestors.
This means that she has been officially recorded in the royal family genealogy and has become the official empress.
No matter how the descendants of the Shu family changed in later generations, she always had a place in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
After paying respects to the ancestors, the investiture ceremony at the Taichen Hall begins.
She was going to walk up from Prince Taichen.
Behind her, Jiangxiang and Yuanhua, holding onto her skirts, and Shuanzi, supporting her, walked up the steps one by one.
She wore a bright red formal gown with black and gold embroidery on the outside. The inner gown was decorated with a landscape pattern, featuring twelve rows of pheasant-patterned designs on the open knees. Her belt was embroidered with the sun, moon, stars, and dragons. The jade pendant she wore was the same as the one His Majesty used for grand ceremonies, a combination of various jade ornaments including heng, yu, jade flowers, huang, chongya, and jade droppers.
The outermost part of the gown was embroidered with a golden phoenix spreading its wings, in black and gold thread with crimson silk thread. Beneath the nine-dragon crown was a simple yet high updo. Tassels hung from the golden crown, adorned with deep-sea pearls and crimson gemstones.
Her forehead was adorned with patterns of pearls and rubies. Today, she was naturally wearing a full face of makeup.
Yan Nangui drew her own eyebrows, and instead of the currently popular long eyebrows, she drew a slightly longer, upturned style that wasn't too sharp.
A touch of red lipstick and rouge on her face, but not so much that she looked like a paper effigy. Even formal attire wouldn't do.
Before she even reached the top, when there were still seven or eight steps left, the emperor, also dressed in a grand robe, came down and took her hand.
Those who pay attention will naturally notice that the Empress's attire is far more elaborate than that of the former Empress Ning.
At least, this crown says it all. Back then, Empress Ning wore a phoenix crown in a very proper and conventional way.
Throughout history, few empresses have been able to wear dragon crowns. In this dynasty, only Empress Gongxiao (Empress Jiang) had such a privilege.
But I remember it wasn't this magnificent back then.
It's clear how much His Majesty favors this one.
No wonder she could become empress even after remarrying without having children.
Yan Lingyun has also returned to attend the ceremony today, while Yan Nanxu remains on duty.
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