On the fifth day of the emperor's coma, there was unrest in the court. Several families stood up and wanted to elect a regent, claiming that the country could not be without a king for a day.
"The King of Southern Qi is the eldest brother. He has no choice but to shoulder the responsibility in the current situation."
"Why is it that the King of Southern Qi is no less powerful than the King of Yanping?"
"The King of Southern Qi is the eldest."
"Being a regent is not about age."
The supporters of King of Southern Qi and King Ping of Yan each held their own views and refused to give in to each other. At this time, people who had not taken sides, such as Wang Changwen and Taifu Feng, stood up.
"Your Majesty is unable to wake up for the time being and indeed requires an acting monarch. However, compared to the King of Southern Qi and the King of Yanping, we believe that the eldest prince is more suitable."
Someone immediately retorted: "The eldest prince is so young, how can he handle state affairs?"
Wang Changwen: "I am not handling state affairs, but attending court on behalf of Your Majesty. State affairs are jointly discussed by the five regents and the two princes."
The Queen Mother came in holding the eldest prince's hand: "I agree with this matter!"
In the first round, the eldest prince won.
King Ping of Yan looked at the still confused eldest prince, and murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
---
The palace was tense and undercurrents were surging, and everything was kept going thanks to the emperor. If he lost his temper, the situation would instantly fall into chaos.
On the other side, Xiao Li, who was hiding in the princess's mansion, caught a rabbit climbing the wall.
She looked at Feng Yin, who was only wearing a single layer of clothes, his clothes were torn, his cheeks were dirty, and his arm was injured by a sword from a guard. She almost didn't recognize him.
"How did you get yourself into this state?"
He even climbed the wall of her princess's mansion. If someone among the guards hadn't recognized him, he would have been killed on the spot.
Feng Yin couldn't care about himself, nor could he hear what she said. All he saw in his eyes was her, smiling and intact.
He strode forward and held her in his arms, his heart beating violently beneath his calm appearance.
"Princess......"
Holding her tightly, I felt like I had finally regained my lost heartbeat.
"Princess, you're okay... you're okay..."
The complex emotions of nervousness, worry, fear and relief were conveyed to Xiao Li. Knowing why he came, Xiao Li slowly raised his hand and gently hugged his waist.
"It's okay. I'm fine."
After a long while, Feng Yin's emotions finally calmed down. After letting go of Xiao Li, he still held her hand tightly and looked at her greedily.
"Grandfather knew I was attracted to the princess, and he disapproved. He had me closely watched after the ceremony. He didn't let me go to the horse race that day, and when he learned something had happened to the princess, he had me locked up."
As he spoke, his eyes misted over and tears were about to fall. He quickly wiped them away and looked at Xiao Li eagerly.
"I'm not saying this to make excuses, but I really, really want to see the princess. I don't dare to resist violently, as that would make my grandfather even more determined not to let me go. I can only pretend to be obedient and try to find a way to escape."
"I'm really scared... I'm so scared that I won't be able to see the princess anymore..."
Xiao Li looked at his cheeks which became more and more red as he rubbed them, and felt touched and wanted to laugh.
"Then how did you get out?"
Feng Yin paused, his eyes evading, but he still answered honestly: "I took advantage of them all being fast asleep and crawled out through the dog hole in the garden."
Asleep soundly?
It is afternoon now.
"You came out last night?"
Feng Yin: "It was early in the morning. The Princess's Mansion was too far from the Feng Family's. There were patrolling soldiers all along the way. I was afraid of being discovered by my grandfather's men, so it took some time."
Xiao Li's heart trembled. Even if he had a heart of stone, he couldn't help but be moved by his desperate rush.
She raised her hand and pinched his cheek: "Go wash up and change clothes."
Feng Yin then realized that he was very dirty, and he actually hugged the princess like this.
"I...I'm sorry to bother you..."
Hongyue stepped forward: "Mr. Feng, please follow me."
Feng Yin looked back every few steps as he left, as if he was afraid that Xiao Li would disappear if he was away for a while.
Lan Yue coughed lightly: "Ahem...Mr. Song."
Xiao Li raised his eyes and saw a tall figure standing in front of the door. He didn't know how long he had been standing there.
Because he was standing with his back to the light, Xiao Li couldn't see his expression clearly. The next moment, Song Junzhan walked in with a natural expression.
"I received news that Your Majesty is not of the late emperor's bloodline."
Xiao Li: "Where did it come from?"
Song Junzhan was slightly surprised: "The princess doesn't seem surprised?"
Xiao Li laughed: "It's something I've known for a long time, so there's nothing surprising about it."
Song Junzhan: "It was spread by Prince Ping of Yan. They originally planned to use this secret against Your Majesty, but before they could do so, Your Majesty was assassinated. Now that Your Majesty is unconscious, this secret would have little lethality even if it were spread. Therefore, they are only spreading it among themselves, but it shouldn't be long before it gets out."
Although the destructive power is not great, it can still be used to shake the situation.
Xiao Li picked up a cherry and tossed it into his mouth. After finishing it, he slowly said, "When the Queen Mother was pregnant, Concubine Qin and Concubine Hui had already given birth to princes. The Queen Mother was eager to give birth to a prince to consolidate her position as the Empress Dowager. She took many medicines and tried all kinds of methods to conceive that child. Because they knew that the Queen Mother wanted a son, everyone said it was a prince. Over time, the Queen Mother also believed that it must be a son."
"But the main point of the matter of fate is that you can't get what you want. The Queen Mother gave birth to a daughter. She was very disappointed, but she insisted that it was a son. Under her coercion, her confidants helped her conceal the truth, and the princess became a prince."
"Although she was pregnant with a prince, the Queen Mother took too many random medications to give birth to this child. The effects of the medications passed on to the child, causing him to be born with various illnesses. The Queen Mother was afraid that the imperial physicians would notice, so she only employed the doctors who were loyal to her. Their medical skills were not bad, but the illnesses brought from the mother's womb were very difficult to treat."
"The child was suffering from illness every day, and the Queen Mother was heartbroken. More importantly, she had to worry every day about the child's female body being discovered. During that time, she was almost driven crazy by the torture."
"One day, unable to bear the torture any longer, she got up in the middle of the night and went to the garden to relax. Somehow, she ended up in a remote palace and saw a palace maid holding a child and coaxing her. The maid was terrified to be caught by the queen and, under questioning, she told everything."
"The child she's carrying isn't hers. It's the child of an older aunt who committed adultery. Afraid of being discovered, she secretly raises him in this remote place. Two trusted palace maids take turns helping to care for him. The child was born half a month later than the Queen Mother's child, and most importantly... it's a boy."
Xiao Li narrowed his eyes. "You can guess what happened next even without her telling you. The Queen Mother had evil thoughts and took the child away and killed the palace maids. As for her daughter, to keep the truth secret, she had her trusted maid kill her and buried her under her favorite sycamore tree in the imperial garden."
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