As for the sixth prince, Huangfu Yu, he was simply a spoiled brat. He was often heard to go to the theater to listen to music, to Yixiang Tower to drink and carouse, and to the marketplace to fight crickets! He almost angered Emperor Zhou to death!
Thinking of this, the clarity in Emperor Zhou's eyes returned somewhat. "It's still too early to establish a crown prince now. No rush, no rush, let's wait a little longer." Zong'er has a good chance, but why can't I see what he really means? Doesn't he want to compete for the crown prince position?
Didn't he mean that? Emperor Zhou turned around and looked at Empress Yao, who had stepped forward. "Empress, analyze for me which of the four brothers is more capable."
"Your Majesty, if I were to speak, you mustn't be angry!" Empress Yao stepped forward, a silver needle already protruding from her sleeve.
"Say it, I pardon you." Emperor Zhou stood with his hands behind his back.
"Your Majesty, I feel that Ting'er is the most capable. Think about it, although Xuan'er has been training on the frontier since childhood, that is still just the ability to lead troops into battle. Even if he is trained well, it is still just the duty of a subject. As for Zong'er, he originally grew up in a marquis's mansion, but at that time his legs were crippled and he was confined to a wheelchair and unable to move. I have heard that Zong'er has a rather incomplete heart and a little bit of inferiority... How can such a personality be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the crown prince?"
"The Empress makes a good point." Emperor Zhou listened and thought about it, and it seemed that there was some truth to it.
"Ting'er grew up in the capital, often working alongside you. He knows your ways of doing things, your preferences, and how to handle political and national affairs according to your wishes! He also frequently observes military training in the capital, so his martial arts skills are top-notch. He is truly accomplished in both literature and martial arts, and his abilities are exceptional! His resolution of Prince Lin's predicament is the best proof of this! I believe he will achieve even greater things in the future!" Empress Yao tried to remain calm. Her best wish was for Emperor Zhou to willingly bestow the title of Crown Prince upon Huangfu Ting! Then, she could rightfully and cleanly resolve everything!
Emperor Zhou pondered for a moment, “What does the Empress think of Xuan’er and Zong’er? They are indeed as you say, but I see an imperial aura in Xuan’er! His abilities are no less than Ting’er’s! Or rather, Xuan’er’s abilities are even stronger than Ting’er’s! Xuan’er handles matters decisively and without hesitation, and he is extremely opinionated and resolute, which is what an emperor needs! However, he is too quick to reveal his brilliance and too prone to losing his temper! This is a fatal weakness, so if he becomes emperor, he must have someone to assist him! As for Zong’er, he… I don’t understand him.” Emperor Zhou shook his head.
"Your Majesty, do you mean that you intend to pass the throne to the Third Prince, Huangfu Xuan?" Empress Yao stepped forward, a hint of ruthlessness in her eyes.
"Let's see how they perform before making any further plans!"
"But I'm afraid Your Majesty's health can't wait any longer!" Empress Yao's lips curled up. "Your Majesty, have you forgotten that your body needs medicine to maintain it? But once the medicine is gone, Your Majesty, your imperial body will lose its original vitality..." Empress Yao's beautiful eyes narrowed, carrying the dangerous aura of a beautiful snake.
Emperor Zhou paused, then turned to look at Empress Yao, who was a few steps away. "Am I really beyond saving? Empress, how much medicine do you have left?"
"There are only a few left. The alchemist has already left the capital. I've sent people to search for him, but there's really nothing I can do," Empress Yao said with a sarcastic smile, but softened her tone and kindly reminded her.
Emperor Zhou was stunned for a moment. "No! Empress, you must find me as many medicines as possible! I want to live forever, and I can spend a lot of gold to have those people refine medicines! But the alchemy cannot be interrupted for even a day! Go and tell those alchemists to come back; I will reward them!"
"Your Majesty, those people have probably already left the capital. Once they're out of the capital, they'll never be found again." Empress Yao stepped forward, clinging to Emperor Zhou, her hand sliding up to him.
"Can't be found?" Emperor Zhou looked at Empress Yao in disbelief. "You, Empress! You..." At this moment, his heart clenched, and his face turned deathly pale. Emperor Zhou immediately reached out his hand. "Empress, quick, give me the medicine!"
"Then, Your Majesty, please grant me one request!" Empress Yao watched him fall ill, feeling smug. The moment had finally arrived!
"What, what is it?" Emperor Zhou looked at the venomous woman in front of him with some confusion.
At this moment, Empress Yao took out a bright yellow object from her bosom and looked at it carefully. It turned out to be a draft imperial edict!
Emperor Zhou was startled. "What are you doing?"
"This is my heartfelt wish. I know Your Majesty is having a hard time making a decision, so I am doing this to help you resolve your worries and keep you as happy as a god!" Empress Yao stepped forward, took Emperor Zhou's hand, and pulled him to a desk. She quickly laid out the draft imperial edict on the desk. "Your Majesty, as long as you affix your seal, everything will be resolved! I will give you your medicine! I will also try my best to find those alchemists and bring them back."
Emperor Zhou opened his half-asleep eyes and looked at Empress Yao. Empress Yao then gestured to Emperor Zhou with her eyes, "Your Majesty, um, take a look!"
Emperor Zhou looked down at the words on the document, "To appoint Huangfu Ting as Crown Prince?"
"That's right. Since ancient times, it has always been a mistake to depose the eldest son and establish a younger one in his place. So, Ting'er should be the crown prince now!"
"Ting'er, Ting'er... Huangfu Ting? No, no!" Emperor Zhou seemed not to be completely confused, so he refused.
Empress Yao glanced at the night sky; dawn was almost here! If this matter wasn't resolved soon, who knew what the future held!
"Your Majesty, do you not want to live anymore? Your medicine is in my hands. If you do not agree, you will suffer the agony of ten thousand ants gnawing at your bones! Your Majesty, don't you feel itchy all over now?" Empress Yao had lost her last bit of patience. She looked at Emperor Zhou with cold eyes. She took out the small black pill from her bosom and waved it in front of Emperor Zhou.
As the Zhou Emperor listened to her words, he immediately felt a piercing, throbbing pain spreading from his limbs and bones!
Emperor Zhou's face turned deathly pale. "Empress, quickly give me the medicine!"
"Then please, Your Majesty, stamp this imperial edict first!" Empress Yao looked at him coldly. If he hadn't hidden away the Imperial Seal, would she have needed to go to such lengths? How ridiculous! She had wasted all her time on this old geezer!
"Stamp it? You..." Emperor Zhou looked at Empress Yao, who was already giving him a cold look. "Why aren't you hurrying up?"
"Empress..." Emperor Zhou felt as if ants were crawling and gnawing inside his body! Before long, his whole body began to convulse, and he seemed to have entered a state of madness!
Emperor Zhou wanted to grab Empress Yao's hand to find the pill, but Empress Yao wouldn't let him get it. "Quickly find your Imperial Seal, or Your Majesty, you will die in agony! If you die without an imperial edict, then I will appoint Huangfu Ting as Crown Prince on your behalf. Isn't that the same thing?"
"No, no... If I pass away, the youngest son will inherit the throne, it will be Yu'er, not Ting'er!" Emperor Zhou struggled at this moment, drooling, and he looked nothing like an emperor.
"So, Your Majesty, if you don't want this empire to be ruined by that brat Yu'er, then hurry up and take out your imperial seal and stamp it!"
Emperor Zhou trembled as he reached into his robes and finally found something hard. He tried to take it out, but Empress Yao was already impatient. She reached in and pulled out the square jade seal, which was actually only a tiny piece of jade.
No wonder Emperor Zhou was able to hold it in his bosom!
But the most important thing now is with Yao Ming!
"Haha, finally got it!" Empress Yao sneered, her beautiful eyes coldly glancing at Emperor Zhou, who was clearly like a dog, eager to get the medicine!
Empress Yao snorted coldly and threw the pill on the ground with one hand, "Go away, it's on the ground!"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhou immediately lay down on the ground, and the pill rolled away and disappeared into another corner! Seeing this, Emperor Zhou crawled to find it!
Empress Yao looked at him and laughed coldly, "Hahaha! The once invincible emperor has now fallen to the point of crawling like a dog! Humph!" She lowered her eyes, looking at the jade seal in front of her, and then at the imperial edict on the desk, and sighed, "Ting'er, this world is ours!" With that, she was about to seal the jade seal!
Unexpectedly, at that moment, a gust of wind blew by, and Empress Yao's hand was tightly gripped!
"Your Majesty the Empress is in a hurry!" A woman's sharp voice shattered the tranquility.
"You?" Empress Yao looked on in surprise. "Ma Ruyi!" Empress Yao immediately attacked Ma Ruyi with one hand. Ma Ruyi dodged and immediately flew forward to snatch the jade seal from her!
"That was truly spectacular!" Nan Xuzong had appeared out of nowhere, and immediately a large number of Imperial Guards appeared!
"So the Empress had such a trick up her sleeve, actually using alchemy to bewitch Father and force him to appoint a Crown Prince!" Huangfu Xuan's tone was unusually humorous at this moment!
Ma Ruyi was highly skilled in martial arts. After exchanging a few blows with Empress Yao, Empress Yao was already at a disadvantage!
However, Empress Yao deliberately created an opening and immediately dodged backward.
She raised a cold, flippant brow. "I think you're plotting a rebellion! Guards, seize them all!"
"Since we were able to get in, it means we've already dealt with everyone outside!" Ma Ruyi said coldly. "Your Majesty the Empress is so eager to have the Emperor appoint a Crown Prince! But your methods are far too despicable!"
"It's none of your business to talk about my affairs!" Empress Yao said coldly, looking at them in front of her. "Hmph!" She glanced at Emperor Zhou, who was currently holding the pill in his hand, and his whole body had begun to convulse.
"Your Majesty, they've brought troops here to seize the throne!" Empress Yao quickly helped Emperor Zhou up. Emperor Zhou felt dizzy and disoriented. "Give me medicine! I'm in so much pain! I feel so terrible!"
Nan Xuzong glanced at Huangfu Xuan. Huangfu Xuan's lips curled up, his eyes devoid of any pity. His meaning was clear: Emperor Zhou could die if he wanted to! It had nothing to do with him!
He stepped forward, grabbed the draft imperial edict from the desk, and exclaimed, "Impressive! The wording is so reasonable! Second Brother, you are truly remarkable!"
"Your Majesty!" Empress Yao shouted at Emperor Zhou, who then reacted, "What is it?"
"They plot to usurp the throne! Those two brothers are here to assassinate the emperor!" Empress Yao breathed into Emperor Zhou's ear. "Do you want me to give you medicine? Execute them for treason, and I guarantee you immortality!"
Emperor Zhou composed himself, barely managed to push Empress Yao away, and looked at Huangfu Xuan, Nan Xu Cong, and Ma Ruyi, who had come with a large number of imperial guards.
"Are you plotting to usurp the throne?" Emperor Zhou choked, his gaze somewhat unfocused as he looked at the three people in front of him.
"It was the Empress who wanted to force you to appoint a Crown Prince!" Ma Ruyi stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the medicine you took was deliberately given to you by the Empress, who wanted you to die in agony!"
"You vile wretches are spouting utter nonsense!" Empress Yao said coldly. "Which eye of yours saw me threaten the Emperor? Did you see me holding a knife or a sword? You unfilial sons! I am your mother, how dare you speak to me like this!" Empress Yao displayed her empressly demeanor. "Guards, seize all of them!"
At that very moment, a large number of people suddenly poured in from outside! Leading them was Huangfu Ting!
"You've really got a full complement of guards!" Huangfu Ting sneered. The guards he had summoned were all armored warriors, and these were definitely top-notch experts, one in a hundred!
"Father, Mother! Your son has arrived late to save you, please punish me!" Huangfu Ting knelt down before Emperor Zhou and Empress Yao, his lips curled into a defiant and smug smile.
Huangfu Xuan snorted coldly. With his and Nan Xuzong's skills, these people were no match for them! It was just a matter of whether Nan Xuzong was willing to massacre the palace!
Nan Xuzong looked at Emperor Zhou and stepped forward. At this moment, Emperor Zhou looked at everyone with some confusion.
"Fourth brother, what are you planning to do? Are you going to come forward and assassinate the emperor?" Huangfu Ting asked loudly.
Nan Xuzong's face was cold. He immediately rolled out a golden thread in his hand, instantly pulling Emperor Zhou from Empress Yao's side to his side. Nan Xuzong then pressed several acupoints on Emperor Zhou's chest, and then took out a small bottle from his bosom, poured out three pills, and made Emperor Zhou take them.
Empress Yao screamed, "Guards, seize them all! Huangfu Zong, how dare you force the Emperor to take the medicine you concocted! Today, you are dead! All of you will die!"
"Take them down!" Huangfu Ting knew that things couldn't wait any longer. This matter, whether initiated or forced, had to succeed; failure was not an option! This was the only chance he had!
Immediately, all the warriors stepped forward, intending to capture Nan Xuzong and the others. Huangfu Xuan sneered, "It seems that it is the second prince who is plotting to usurp the throne! Empress, you first tricked Father into inhaling too much opium, then made the opium into pills for him to take from time to time, making him subject to your control. And tonight, you thought of using this to make Father agree to appoint the second prince as crown prince! You guessed that we would bring people, so you informed the second prince in advance that if things changed, he should come out immediately, and then it would be me and the fourth prince plotting to usurp the throne. Hmm, this performance was quite good!"
"Haha!" Empress Yao sneered three times, saying, "So what if you know? Look, the Emperor is already half-dead! Even if he doesn't stamp this document, it will still be the Sixth Prince Huangfu Yu who inherits the throne, not the two of you! You two brought guards in, clearly with ulterior motives!"
"Take it down!" Huangfu Ting immediately gave the order.
"Second brother, you're really impatient! But I've also heard that haste makes waste." Just then, a clear, cold voice came from outside, and immediately countless masked guards surrounded everyone present!
But what's even more surprising is yet to come!
"Grandmother, please slow down." It was Ji Wushang's voice!
"Oh, Wu Shang, you really know how to please your Empress Dowager!" This voice belonged to the current Empress Dowager!
Everyone around was stunned!
"What? The Empress Dowager has arrived, and you're all stunned and forgot to pay your respects?" Ji Wushang looked at everyone, his cold gaze sweeping over the people around him.
The masked guards brought by Ji Wushang all shouted, "Drink!"
Huangfu Ting stood there stunned for a moment, while Empress Yao was even more shocked! Damn it, she had forgotten about Ji Wushang! She should have eliminated her long ago!
Nan Xuzong stood there like a pillar, completely stunned. Hadn't she been drugged by his own drug? How could she be here? And how could she have managed to summon the Empress Dowager so late at night? He really didn't know her well enough!
Huangfu Xuan and Ma Ruyi watched as Ji Wushang and the Empress Dowager, who had come with them, were helped by her.
Emperor Zhou had recovered from the effects of the medicine given to him by Nan Xuzong some time ago. He swallowed a mouthful of water and briefly identified himself and the people around him.
The Empress Dowager, her slender fingers adorned with jade nail guards, rested her hand on Ji Wushang's. Her long hair was styled into a peony bun, adorned with five or six red-gold and silk-inlaid warm jade phoenix hairpins, with mutton-fat white jade tassels hanging naturally. Although her face bore the marks of time, one could still discern the unparalleled beauty of her earlier years!
She moved closer with graceful steps, her gaze kind and gentle. "Your Majesty, are you awake or dreaming?"
Emperor Zhou suddenly shivered. He stopped and looked around at the people. "What are you all doing!"
Immediately, all the guards and others knelt down.
Nan Xuzong, Huangfu Xuan, and Ma Ruyi also knelt down.
Emperor Zhou looked at Huangfu Ting and Empress Yao. Empress Yao looked somewhat frightened and embarrassed, but she had already come up with another plan.
She slowly knelt down, gesturing to Huangfu Ting with her eyes, and Huangfu Ting immediately knelt down as well.
In an instant, everyone knelt down, leaving only Ji Wushang, the Empress Dowager, and Emperor Zhou standing.
"What exactly happened tonight? I really want to know!" the Empress Dowager said. Ji Wushang waved his hand, and the palace maids immediately brought up a cushioned chair. Ji Wushang helped the Empress Dowager sit down.
Emperor Zhou had now regained his senses. He glanced at the people around him and tried hard to recall everything that had happened.
Empress Yao lowered her head and knelt on the ground, not daring to utter a sound.
Emperor Zhou's gaze fell on Empress Yao. He had indeed been somewhat confused before, but he had also heard what Empress Yao had said!
He slowly walked forward to Empress Yao. "It's you, Empress. What else do you have to say?"
"Your Majesty, I do not understand your meaning. What I do know is that the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince brought people in to disturb Your Majesty's rest, with ill intentions!"
"Stop beating around the bush! Do you really think I'm senile?" Emperor Zhou's voice trembled slightly. "Insolence!"