Emperor Dongming was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe, looking majestic and solemn. Although he was carefully dressed up, his pale face, gloomy eyes, and slightly trembling fingers all showed that he was seriously ill.
Ling Yao held Jing Yu's hand and walked to Emperor Dongming with a smile, "Did Grandpa Emperor miss us?"
The two children were handsome and smiling, with admiration in their big black grape-like eyes, which softened the emperor's cold heart.
"Haha, yes, Grandpa Huang misses you!" The emperor laughed heartily, holding the two children in his arms, and carefully looked at their appearance, "There is still a difference when you grow up, Yao'er has more flesh.
He looks a bit taller and his eyebrows are softer. Jing Yu is stronger and his eyebrows are more handsome."
Ling Yao smiled slyly and said, "We change our clothes so often that my mother and concubine sometimes don't even recognize us."
Jing Yu also smiled and said: "One time I didn't want to take a shower and said that I had already taken a shower, but my sister was washed twice."
"Haha! Naughty devil!" Emperor Dongming laughed.
It's rare for everyone to see Emperor Dongming looking so happy, with his eyes twinkling and everyone having their own thoughts.
The younger princes didn't know how to hide their emotions and showed expressions of envy and jealousy. Their father had never been so kind to them, and he didn't even hug them.
But Shangguan Ruoli's eyes only fell on the emperor's hand. The emperor's hand was stroking the Buddhist beads on Jingyu's wrist, and he took them off without leaving a trace, but did not take them off.
He simply didn't want to hide it anymore. Emperor Dongming picked up his little hand, squinted his eyes and observed carefully, and asked kindly: "Can't you pick off this bead? Are you feeling nervous?"
Jing Yu shook his head obediently, "I can't take it off, I'm so scared."
Shangguan Ruoli's eyes flashed coldly. Could it be that the emperor knew that he was dying and had evil intentions towards Jing Yu's Buddhist beads?
He hurriedly said: "It's strange to say that Jing Yu looked like this when he first wore the beads. Now he is three years old, and he still looks like this. The beads seem to grow with his wrist."
"This Buddha bead belongs to its owner. Jing Yu is good for good fortune." The emperor took off the jade pendant from his waist and gave it to Jing Yu. He reached out and patted Jing Yu's butt, "Let's go play!"
"Thank you, Grandpa Huang!" Jing Yu held the jade pendant engraved with dragon patterns fondly, and pulled Ling Yao back to Dongming Ziyu and Shangguan Ruoli.
This jade pendant is the emperor's personal belongings. It was given to him by the late emperor. This dragon pendant should be a symbol of status, but now the emperor gave it to Jing Yu. What does this mean?
Everyone present used their minds to guess the emperor's thoughts.
Concubine Xian clenched her hands tightly into fists and slowly retracted them into her sleeves.
Shangguan Ruoli held his daughter's and son's hands, thinking about the emperor's intentions. Didn't this bring Jing Yu to the forefront?
Eunuch Zheng shook off the Buddha dust and reminded the emperor: "Your Majesty, everyone has almost arrived."
The emperor put away the smile on his face and said calmly: "Declare the decree!"
When everyone heard this, they knelt down to receive the order. There were many people, and the entire hall filled the whole hall.
As Dongming Ziyu expected, the emperor appointed King Jin Dongming Zijin as the crown prince, and from that day on he assisted the six ministries and assisted in government affairs.
After the decree for the canonization of the prince was issued, the imperial edict for the title of king and land was read out.
King Xuan's fiefdom of Dongming Ziyu is located in two counties on the border of Nanyun in the southwest, which is one-third of the original fiefdom of King Qin. With such a small area and a place where birds don't shit, I'm afraid they can't even support the servants in the mansion.
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But fortunately, it is next to Yuancheng and close to Peach Blossom Island, which is the only advantage. Fortunately, Dongming Ziyu did not expect to make a fortune from the fiefdom, so he was not too disappointed.
The sixth prince, eighth prince, and ninth prince who reached the age of fifteen were granted the titles of King Chu, King Heng, and King Ling respectively.
The Queen Mother of Chu has the lowest status, and her fiefdom is in the bitter cold land of the northeast, but it occupies a very large area and borders Beiling.
King Heng's fiefdom is in the west, which is also very barren and borders Xirong.
Prince Ling's fiefdom is in Shu. Although it is slightly richer than other princes' fiefdoms, transportation is inconvenient and it is separated from the Central Plains by high mountains.
The fiefdoms of several princes are very remote and do not depend on each other, so it is not easy to unite them.
Moreover, they are all very poor. If they go to the fiefdom, they will not be able to cultivate their own power in the short term. When they stabilize, the prince's status will also be stable.
The emperor did not ask them to leave the capital immediately and go to the fiefdom, but waited until after his Wanshou Festival before leaving, which only lasted for more than a month.
Dongming Ziyu was relatively calm, but the sixth prince, eighth prince, ninth prince and their concubines were no longer calm. Their faces were so gloomy that water could drip from their faces. The eighth prince's concubine, Concubine Jin, even cried.
The last imperial edict dealt with the seventh prince, who was demoted to a commoner, removed from the royal family, and barred from entering the capital for life.
No matter what they thought in their hearts, all the princes accepted the order and thanked him.
Then, the emperor announced that a banquet to receive the Western envoys would be held in the Qiankun Hall.
The delicacies, the singing and dancing, and the "weird" Westerners couldn't calm down everyone's mood. They all had their own thoughts and weighed their future choices.
The happiest people are probably only the children, but they are all well-educated children and will not point fingers at Westerners, but their eyes are full of curiosity.
However, the children's freshness only lasted for a while. After eating and drinking, they could no longer sit still, and were taken out to play one by one by the servants.
Jing Yu couldn't sit still anymore and said coquettishly to Shangguan Ruoli: "Mother, I want to go out and play, but it's too noisy here."
Ling Yao also said: "I want to go too!"
Shangguan Ruoli naturally wouldn't restrain the child, so he asked the two maids to follow him, and also asked Zhuyue to follow him.
When the tenth prince across from him saw it, he turned his eyes and said something to the newly appointed prince on the other side, and led the young eunuch out of the main hall from the back.
Dongming Zijin was not too proud of being the crown prince. His expression was indifferent, just like usual, and he greeted the people who came to please him.
"Princess Xuan, I would like to propose a toast to you! Thank you very much, Princess Xuan, for risking your life to save the prince." A lady wearing a third-grade imperial uniform raised a wine glass and toasted to Shangguan Ruoli.
Shangguan Ruoli took a look and saw that she was the wife of Mr. Zhao, the Minister of Punishment, the mother of Concubine Shu, and the prince's grandmother.
She spoke sincerely and looked sincere, but she always felt something was wrong.
Is it really appropriate to say this at this juncture?
Also, you are so grateful, why did it take so long for you to go to Prince Xuan’s Mansion to express your gratitude in person, and why didn’t you even send a thank you gift?
Shangguan Ruoli smiled lightly and said: "Sacrificing your life is not a big deal. I know how to defend myself, so naturally I will not ignore the safety of myself and the prince's children. That is what Princess Xuan should do in that situation. Otherwise, if something happens to the prince, what will happen?
I was so confused that I thought my prince had neglected his duty."
Her voice was not loud, but with some inner strength, it was enough for the people around her to hear clearly.
Mrs. Zhao's expression stiffened slightly, then she put on a smile and said: "What Princess Xuan said is absolutely true. Those rumors outside are not credible. They are all slanders from people with bad intentions. Princess, don't take it to heart."