The cold wind blew along the way, and when Emperor Jingming returned to Yangxin Palace, his mind became clear. He couldn't help but feel a little regretful and nodded easily in Kunning Palace.

But the emperor’s words cannot be taken back. Regrets may be felt, but things should still be considered.

Emperor Jingming started thinking about it from the eldest prince, Prince Qin.

The King of Qin was his adopted son. As a normal person with selfish desires, he certainly had no intention of handing the throne to his adopted son, given that he had a large number of sons.

But after all, the Prince of Qin had the character "长" in his name, so it would be fine to maintain the status quo. If he were to record the character "遗" under the Empress' name, it would be asking for trouble.

The King of Qin could not consider it at all.

Then there is the fourth son, Prince Qi. The fourth son is born to Concubine Xian, so it is obviously inappropriate to give him to the Empress.

As for the fifth son - thinking of Concubine Ning's violent temper, Emperor Jingming shook his head silently.

If he really gave the fifth child to the empress, what would he do if he, as the emperor, was beaten by Concubine Ning in a fit of rage? He couldn't afford to lose face!

The sixth son's mother was Concubine Zhuang. Although Concubine Zhuang was elegant and quiet, she would definitely cry if she gave her only son to the empress. He was afraid of being beaten by the concubine and being embarrassed, and he was also afraid that the concubine would cry and annoy others.

This way, there is no need to worry about the fifth and sixth brothers.

So only the seventh prince, Prince Yan, and the eighth prince, Prince Xiang, were left.

The first person Emperor Jingming thought of was Prince of Xiang.

The eighth prince's biological mother, Concubine Li, was of humble origin. Even if she had given him to the empress, she would certainly not have dared to utter a single sound, let alone cry. This saved him a lot of trouble.

In that case, Lao Ba is quite suitable.

The old emperor did not feel guilty at all for picking on the weak, and thinking of the eighth prince, Prince of Xiang, he nodded.

However, this was a major matter and certainly could not be settled just like that, so Emperor Jingming began to think about Yu Jian again.

The fact that the seventh son was born to Concubine Xian could be ignored. Given Concubine Xian's attitude toward the seventh son, she would definitely not feel sad about losing a son.

The seventh child can also be taken into consideration.

Emperor Jingming was still somewhat pessimistic about Yu Jin.

The seventh brother is good in all aspects, but he grew up outside the palace and seems to be too wild. She is always worried that the boy will get into trouble every other day.

In comparison, Prince Xiang is more to Emperor Jingming's liking.

Emperor Jingming sat there like this for half a day, and when he went to court the next day, he was still confused.

Which one should I choose, the seventh or the eighth?

The ministers saw that the emperor was distracted frequently today, and the scenes in the past where they argued over one thing and got red in the face as if they were in a vegetable market did not appear, so the court was dismissed smoothly.

Upon seeing this, Emperor Jingming even began to wonder if it would be more peaceful to just sit there in a daze with a straight face when he had nothing to do.

Of course, it was not enough for him to think clearly now. What the Queen raised was like a huge rock pressing on his heart. He could not relax until he settled down.

After thinking for a long time, Emperor Jingming asked Pan Hai to bring Yu Jin and Prince Xiang into the palace.

Several royal palaces were adjacent to each other, and the two of them arrived at the palace at about the same time, so they met at the gate of the imperial city.

"Seventh brother, what a coincidence." The Prince of Xiang had placed his bets on the Prince of Qi, so he naturally had no good feelings towards Yu Jin, and his tone was not very warm.

In his opinion, a prince who has never received a proper royal education should be a low-key person. However, the seventh prince is different. Not only does he stir up trouble everywhere without any punishment, but he is now doing much better than him.

Thinking about these, even putting aside all the reasons, Prince Xiang still disliked Yu Jin.

Yu Jin nodded modestly: "It's quite a coincidence."

The corners of King Xiang's mouth twitched, and he hated himself for his bad mouth.

He shouldn't have taken the initiative to say hello. He was being reserved in front of a wild kid.

As a result, the two of them had nothing to say and were led by the eunuchs to meet Emperor Jingming.

As the Prince of Xiang paid his respects, he was secretly surprised: the Queen was also there.

They were princes, so it was not surprising for them to go to the palace to pay their respects to the empress, but that was only during festivals. On weekdays, they would at most visit their mothers, so there was no reason for them to see the empress for no reason.

What happened today?

Compared to Prince Xiang's confusion, Yu Jin understood much more clearly.

It seems that his arrangement has worked. Not only has the Queen become interested, but she has also revealed her cards to her father.

Yu Jin felt that he had not made a mistake.

The Queen usually appears to be magnanimous and non-confrontational, but in fact she is gentle on the outside but strong on the inside. Once she makes a decision, she will act quickly and without delay.

If the plan is successful, it will be a real pleasure to cooperate with such a "comrade-in-arms".

Yu Jin saw this very clearly. It was obvious that he and the empress could not have a deep mother-son relationship. They were just partners.

But there's nothing wrong with just benefits.

He is a trustworthy man. The Queen is helping him at this time. Although he cannot regard the Queen as his real mother, he will give her due respect and take good care of Princess Fuqing.

Yu Jin was very satisfied with the Empress, but not so satisfied with Emperor Jingming.

Oh, the emperor chose so many times that he even considered the eighth one? Shouldn't he be the only candidate?

Thinking of this, Yu Jin suddenly became a little angry, secretly thinking that Emperor Jingming had no vision.

"Seventh brother, what are you thinking about?" Seeing that Yu Jin didn't say much and only Prince Xiang was around to joke and laugh, Emperor Jingming couldn't help but ask.

He called the seventh and eighth sons into the palace today, and also invited the empress, just to observe more.

Although Emperor Jingming was more inclined towards Prince of Xiang, he felt a little disappointed when he saw that Yu Jin couldn't even say a word.

Does this silly boy know that today is a critical day? He is so silly that it really makes people anxious.

As this thought flashed through his mind, Emperor Jingming looked at the smiling and talking Prince of Xiang and inexplicably felt a trace of disdain.

To be honest, for people of their status, it is more appropriate to focus on stability.

When asked by Emperor Jingming, Yu Jin said, "My son is wondering how Thirteenth Sister is doing."

After hearing this, Emperor Jingming was still willing to talk, but the Empress' eyes were filled with tears.

It’s the King of Yan!

She had originally been leaning towards Prince Yan, but she didn't dare to express it too much because of the emperor's thoughts. She even thought that if the emperor favored Prince Xiang, she would just give in. Anyway, Prince Xiang's mother was of humble origin, so even if Prince Xiang took the throne in the future, she wouldn't be afraid of Concubine Li stirring up trouble in front of her.

But now, the Queen has made up her mind: she wants Prince Yan to be her son!

Even if the princes did not know about the danger at Xuande Tower in Fuqing at the time, they should have heard about it after such a long time. However, after Prince Xiang came in, he said a lot of interesting things but did not mention Fuqing at all.

With a brother like this, can she expect him to truly protect Fuqing in the future?

Let's look at Prince Yan. He said very little after entering the door, and the first thing he asked about was Fuqing. It was obvious that he had been wondering who had harmed Fuqing these days.

After talking for a while, the two were sent out of the palace while the King of Xiang was confused.

"What does the Queen think?"

Yesterday the Queen didn't dare to say anything, but today is different.

Since the emperor had called her over to meet the two princes, it wouldn't be wrong for her to say a few words.

"I don't have any ideas, I just think that the King of Yan cares a lot about Fuqing."

She is just a mother who cares about her daughter wholeheartedly.

Emperor Jingming looked deep in his eyes and said slowly, "I'll think about it again."