Chapter 1008: Chapter 846, A Thunderclap from a Clear Sky

At the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, the Emperor and Prince Ping defied the Empress Dowager’s opposition and forcefully declared Xiao Yeyang as the Princely Heir, which instantly rendered the Empress Dowager unconscious, a subject all the officials couldn’t resist discussing privately.

In Daxia, filial piety governed the world, and although the Empress Dowager’s interference in Prince Ping’s appointment of a Princely Heir was inappropriate, as a son, one should not neglect a mother’s feelings and stubbornly persist. One ought to enlighten her with reason and move her with emotion to gain her consent.

For this reason, many officials had prepared to formally censure Prince Ping at the morning court session the next day.

They dared not criticize the Emperor, but Prince Ping was certainly someone they could reprimand to indirectly point a finger at the Emperor, prompting him to reflect on his actions.

Duke Cheng’en did not attend the palace banquet, but this did not prevent him from being informed about the events at the palace.

As soon as he learned that the Empress Dowager had fainted, he immediately sent people to convey a message to the Imperial Censors and officials of the Jiang Family faction, instructing them to co-sign a letter to denounce Prince Ping the next day, to blow up the issue.

It’s a big deal when the Emperor is unfilial, and once it becomes public, many things can be done.

That night, the officials didn’t sleep well, all realizing that tomorrow’s morning court would definitely be eventful.

The next morning, the officials all spiritedly entered the palace for court, but as soon as they passed through the palace gates, they heard servants buzzing with gossip. Stepping closer to listen, they were all struck dumb.

What were the servants gossiping about?

The Empress Dowager is not the Emperor’s biological mother!!!

Boom! Like a thunderbolt from the blue, the revelation caught the officials completely off guard, their eyes wide and jaws dropping.

Thus, the morning court witnessed a scene where officials, who normally argued like crows, stood in the grand hall like sleepwalkers, their expressions vacant, lost in thought.

The Emperor sat on the dragon throne, leisurely observing the silent officials below: “What’s wrong, does no one have any issues to present today?”

The officials: They needed a moment to process.

The Empress Dowager being not the Emperor’s biological mother was too shocking of a message. Tying it to the former Emperor’s murky harem affairs, any improper handling might bring up secretive scandals from the previous dynasty and cause major turmoil, something not to be taken lightly.

Seeing the officials in such a state, the Emperor, in good spirits, announced the appointment of Xiao Yeyang as the heir to the Prince Ping Residence.

To this announcement, even the officials from the Jiang Family faction did not utter a word.

If the Empress Dowager was not the Emperor’s biological mother, then given the Jiang Family’s factionalism and exclusion of dissidents within the court since the Emperor’s ascension, the Jiang Family was in peril!

Today’s morning court proceeded surprisingly smoothly. As soon as it ended, the officials, without a thought for still being within the palace, began to quietly discuss the news with their close associates.

At this moment, each official was employing their own means to investigate the source and authenticity of the news.

When they found out that the news had first spread from Kunning Palace, they were shocked again, but it also validated the truth of the message.

The Empress came from the Jiang Family; she would not harm her own family’s position, thus, there was a high probability that the news about the Empress Dowager not being the Emperor’s biological mother was true.

Knowing this information at such a time, and thinking back on last night’s intervention by the Empress Dowager in Prince Ping’s appointment of a Princely Heir, the officials felt uneasy.

The Emperor no longer intended to tolerate the Empress Dowager and the Jiang Family!

The Crown Princes walked in a daze at the back, thinking of how eagerly they had curried favor with the Empress Dowager recently, they felt a chill down their spines.

Among them, the Third Prince’s expression was the most unpleasant, for he had already been dragged onto the Jiang Family’s boat.

The Fourth Prince was the calmest, feeling secretly relieved that he had listened to Xiao Yeyang’s advice and not been too frequent in the Empress Dowager’s company.

…

At Prince Ping Residence.

Xiao Yechen had been isolating himself in Chen Courtyard since Luo Qiong’s death. It was only after receiving a letter from the Ma Family that he became aware that Prince Ping had declared Xiao Yeyang as the Princely Heir.

The Ma Family had also included Prince Ping’s words from the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet in the letter. Xiao Yechen, upon learning that Prince Ping had never considered establishing him as a Princely Heir, even the elevation of his mother was due to the Empress Dowager, suddenly burst into laughter.

While laughing, he began to madly smash things around the room.

Exhausted to the point of being unable to smash anything further, he collapsed weakly to the ground.

Xiao Yechen watched the ceiling with unseeing eyes and murmured softly, “Gone, everything’s gone…”

His mother gone, the position of the Princely Heir gone, even his offspring gone, what was the purpose of his life?

Just then, Xiao Yechen heard a commotion coming from outside the courtyard and struggled to rise and step outside the house.

As he emerged, Gao Yuan and Gao Fang immediately approached to support him.

“What’s happening outside, why is it so noisy?”

Gao Yuan hesitated for a moment before answering with his head bowed, “The Prince has issued the imperial edict to appoint the new Princely Heir, and everyone’s gone to congratulate Second Master.”

At these words, Xiao Yechen’s body swayed, and he laughed at himself with a hint of self-mockery, “Xiao Yeyang really does have good fortune, doesn’t he? My mother and I drove him out of the Prince Residence, yet in the end, it is he who inherits the title.”

With that, he looked up at the sky.

“Am I really so inferior to him?”

Elsewhere, in Pingxi Hall.

Daohua had Wang Manman take the Silver Barley to reward the servants who came to offer congratulations, then carefully put away the imperial edict and turned to Xiao Yeyang, “How do you think the emperor subdued the Empress?”

The move by the Empress, who came from the Jiang Family, to publicly announce that the Empress Dowager was not the emperor’s birth mother, was indeed ruthless.

Even if the Empress Dowager was not the emperor’s birth mother, she was still his legal mother; according to proper rites, the emperor should show her the utmost respect and filial piety.

If the news had been spread by the emperor himself or through other channels, it might have been interpreted as the emperor being unfilial to the Empress Dowager.

But with the Empress, born from the Jiang Family, declaring it, no one could sling mud on the emperor anymore.

Xiao Yeyang was silent for a moment, “The Empress must have done this for Princess Lekang.”

Daohua nodded and did not say more but changed the subject, “Let’s go have a meal with Father later.”

With the Empress Dowager not being the emperor’s birth mother, she certainly wasn’t the birth mother of Prince Ping either. Worried that Prince Ping might be distressed, Daohua wanted to keep company with Xiao Yeyang more frequently.

Xiao Yeyang hummed in agreement.

Although his father, the Prince, was unreliable, he had indeed done several good deeds for him. Now facing him, Xiao Yeyang felt less resentment than when he was a child and no longer held the same hatred towards him.

As Daohua and Xiao Yeyang made their way to Pingxi Hall, maid servants and old matrons stopped to greet them with respect, “Crown Prince, Crown Princess!”

At Pingxi Hall, the side consorts like Jiang Side Consort and Ji Side Consort were present.

Upon seeing Daohua and Xiao Yeyang, their manner of address also changed.

Prince Ping seemed to be in good spirits, seemingly unaffected by recent events, and smilingly invited Xiao Yeyang and Daohua to sit, “Yan girl, you are now the Crown Princess, you should take charge of the affairs of the Prince Residence.”

At these words, Jiang Side Consort and Ji Side Consort couldn’t help but pause in their expressions.

After Princess Consort Ma’s death, the two of them had been managing the day-to-day affairs of the Prince Residence. Although their authority was somewhat unofficial, neither wanted to relinquish the power in their hands.

They looked towards Daohua, secretly hoping she would decline the responsibility.

However, they were disappointed. Unlike her previous reluctance when Princess Consort Ma died, this time Daohua accepted the responsibility openly and confidently.

As the saying goes, with position comes responsibility. As Xiao Yeyang had become the Crown Prince, she, as his wife, had the duty to manage the Prince Residence well.

Daohua smiled at Prince Ping, “Father, rest assured, I will manage the Prince Residence diligently.” Then, looking at Jiang Side Consort and Ji Side Consort, she added, “The two side consorts have had a hard time these past months managing affairs. From now on, leave the Prince Residence to me.”

In the past, Jiang Side Consort would certainly not have handed over her authority so easily, but at this moment, with the news of the Empress Dowager not being the emperor’s birth mother just spreading, she was feeling insecure and did not wish to disturb Prince Ping’s favor at such a time.

Ji Side Consort, though somewhat regretful, handed over the ledgers and the keys to the treasury without hesitation.