Yuwen Wuji looked at her quietly and sneered, "How can the son of a disgraced concubine become the crown prince?"
"That's precisely why Prince Jing won't become a threat to you, isn't it?"
Yuwen Wuji suddenly realized that her words made a lot of sense. A crown prince with a less illustrious background would not be so easily supported by the court officials, and would be easier to depose. In this way, his position would not be threatened.
"Your Majesty, this is my only wish. Please let me leave this world without regrets!"
Yuwen Wuji pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, I will issue an edict to appoint Prince Jing as Crown Prince, but you know what you should and shouldn't say! Xie Wanqing's matter ends with you!"
He turned and left without a trace of warmth.
Gao Ping gave a bitter smile, then burst into laughter. She couldn't understand why she had ended up like this.
She didn't think she was wrong; she just felt she was unlucky. Or perhaps she hadn't used the right people!
Mo Yu said she would give her life for me, didn't she? But what did she do? She betrayed herself! She betrayed the words she once spoke!
"Mo Yu...you deserve to die!"
She wiped away her tears and then called out, "Someone, come and do my hair and makeup!"
Everyone in the palace knew that Gao Ping was in trouble, and everyone remained silent. The Emperor had only ordered the Imperial Noble Consort to be confined to her quarters, but had not yet stripped her of her title, and they did not know if Gao Ping had any chance of making a comeback.
Upon hearing the news, Consort Xian clapped her hands and burst into laughter.
"This Consort Gao Ping probably never imagined that she would die at the hands of her own people! 'The Imperial Concubine killed the Empress'! Hahaha! This is hilarious! I never thought that Consort Gao Ping could do such a thing! She actually managed to kill the Empress!"
"Your Majesty, it's not impossible that heroes often die at the hands of villains throughout history," the female official whispered. "Please keep your voice down, lest people overhear and gossip."
Consort Xian didn't care. "Gao Ping has fallen from grace. Who in the entire harem can now check and balance me? The newly promoted Consort Zhen? Does she have that ability?"
If Song Wenyue didn't have a prince, would she be worthy of sitting on equal footing with the four concubines?
Consort Xian thought that once the matter of Gao Ping was over, she would find a suitable opportunity to remove the mother and keep the child, and bring the prince to her palace to raise.
Then, just as her idea was taking shape, the news of the emperor's decision to establish an heir caught everyone off guard.
When Gao Ping was thrust into the spotlight, the emperor appointed his eldest son, Prince Jing, as crown prince, causing the officials of the Censorate to be extremely anxious.
If this had happened before Gao Ping's affair, establishing this crown prince would have been the popular choice, and there would have been no problem with it at all.
But this crown prince's biological mother is the one who killed his stepmother!
How can this stand?!
The censors of the Censorate wore out their pens from writing so much, but they couldn't change the Emperor's mind. The Emperor coughed several times during the court session, looking very tired, and said, "My health has deteriorated a lot because of this matter. I only have Prince Jing as my only adult son. For the sake of the Great Chen Dynasty, I feel comfortable making him the Crown Prince."
The Censorate wanted to ask the Imperial Medical Academy if the Emperor's health was truly failing, but unfortunately, it was a secret, and they had no way of knowing.
When the court officials saw that the emperor had said this, they could only give up and comfort themselves that the Imperial Noble Consort's crime had not yet been determined, and it might just be a frame-up!
King Jing never expected that his fortunes would turn around. He thought that after the scandal involving Gao Ping broke out, he might have to pack his things and go to his fiefdom like his foolish younger brother. Unexpectedly, he received an imperial edict appointing him as crown prince, which delighted him.
Immediately, he began to feel distressed as he held the imperial edict.
When he was young, Empress Jingxian treated him well. Because his mother couldn't bear to part with him, the Empress allowed him to be raised in his mother's palace.
It wasn't that he thought his mother was incapable of such a thing; he had always considered her a wicked and self-righteously clever fool. She certainly had a part in the killing of Empress Jingxian, but there was no way she could be the mastermind and still alive.
After all, his father was a notorious womanizer!
With the cause of Empress Jingxian's death in doubt and no one investigating, Gao Ping, the murderer, has not only survived to this day but has also become the head of the imperial concubines.
Isn't that utter nonsense?!
King Jing stared at the imperial edict without saying a word.
Princess Jing thought he was worried about Gao Ping, so she comforted him, saying, "I believe that my mother is not that kind of person. Someone must be framing her."
"You're right," King Jing murmured in agreement, as if his thoughts had been cleared.
He was given the position of Crown Prince by his mother!
She decided to confess everything on the condition that the Emperor would appoint a member of the Gao family as Crown Prince. In doing so, she also conveyed to him that Yuwen Wuji was inextricably linked to the deaths of his father and Empress Jingxian!
Thinking of this, his eyes held countless emotions that Princess Jing could not fathom.
"I see, I see!"
So what if he became the son of a disgraced concubine? His mother gave him leverage over his father!
Once this matter is settled, he can slowly build up his own power. In a few years, he will be able to ask his father to become his retired emperor!
"Your Highness, is there anything I can do for my mother?"
"You don't need to do anything. Stay at home and don't go anywhere. Pack your things properly and move to the East Palace with me after the investiture ceremony! The previous dynasty is under my control!"
He had already imagined himself sitting on that dragon throne, with thousands of people bowing down to him!
"The Imperial Concubine killed the Empress?" Song Wenyue chewed on these words and let out a sneer.
I thought I would have to put in some effort to get rid of Gao Ping, that annoying and hateful woman, but I never expected that she had already planted such a huge time bomb for me!
However, she was also a little suspicious. If even a Noble Consort could kill the Empress, how could she still only be a Noble Consort with her abilities?
That can't be right. She became a concubine in less than two years. How could it be so difficult to climb any higher?
Song Wenyue felt she had discovered a blind spot; the wet nurse was bringing the child over for her to see.
She looked at the child, then at the wet nurse, and suddenly thought of the people living in the inner palace.
She summoned her confidante and whispered a few words to her. That evening, the little prince developed a rash. The imperial physician said it was probably because the wet nurse ate something she shouldn't have that night, causing the rash to appear after the little prince drank her milk.
Enraged, Song Wenyue had the wet nurse beaten and thrown out of the palace, and then ordered people to find a new wet nurse.
Li Wei mentioned it to Yuwen Wuji, but Yuwen Wuji didn't take it to heart. As long as the child was alright, that was all that mattered.
At this moment, Song Wenyue was sitting on the bed drinking ginseng chicken soup. Looking at the woman in front of her, she smiled and said, "It's better for the baby to drink breast milk, don't you think?"
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