Would the Left Prime Minister really be interested in Hailin? Or is he overthinking it?
After all, given the Left Prime Minister's character, he could marry any outstanding woman he wanted, so why would he marry Hai Ling? But then he remembered that he had once wanted to take Hai Ling away, but the Left Prime Minister stopped him. If it wasn't intentional, why would he stop him?
For a moment, Bai Ye was filled with a thousand worries, but he quickly felt relieved. Perhaps he was overthinking it. The Left Prime Minister was only protecting the Crown Princess, and it wasn't what he thought.
As the Left Prime Minister of the current dynasty, these were all things he was supposed to do, and he did not overstep any boundaries.
While Bai Ye was concerned about Hai Ling, Feng Zi Xiao and the Empress had already captured the assassin and were interrogating him.
The assassins were subdued, unable to move, and couldn't even bite their tongues to commit suicide. Left Prime Minister Xi Lingfeng had poisoned them, causing them excruciating pain, as if a thousand arrows were piercing their hearts.
Large beads of sweat rolled down the faces of the assassins, their eyes filled with despair. It felt as if a million ants were crawling inside their bodies. They only wished they hadn't died. Soon, one of them couldn't bear it any longer and nodded frantically, willing to confess.
Xi Lingfeng ordered someone to give the antidote to one of them, ignoring the others.
The assassin, now freed from the poison, collapsed to the ground, catching his breath after a long while. He cried out in terror, "Your Highness, spare us! Your Highness, spare us! We were ordered by Prince Ning to assassinate you!"
The other assassins who hadn't been cured of the poison nodded repeatedly, indicating that the man was right.
Inside the hall, everyone was in an uproar, never expecting that Prince Ning would send someone to assassinate the Crown Prince.
No wonder he didn't come in when there was any commotion inside the hall, and stayed outside the hall the whole time.
In fact, His Highness Prince Ning knew that the Crown Prince suspected him, so he carefully stayed outside the palace and did not come in, but he still fell into the trap.
Crown Prince Feng Zixiao, his face grim, coldly ordered, "Guards, arrest Prince Ning."
"yes."
The guards obeyed and pounced away.
Soon, the cries of Prince Ning and the weeping of Princess Ning could be heard outside the main hall. Even Consort Yun Shu was arrested. In an instant, the entire palace was shrouded in a chilling atmosphere.
Hai Ling coldly watched all this, and couldn't help but shed a tear for the deceased Emperor Heng, Feng Chang.
When the emperor was dying, he specifically instructed his sons to get along well. Little did he know that before his soul had even returned to the underworld, this place was already a scene of scheming and strife.
This emperor died a truly pathetic death. He only knew how to scheme against outsiders, never considering that his own sons were no pushovers either.
Prince Ning, Feng Ziyu, was arrested and imprisoned, while Consort Yun was temporarily detained in the Cold Palace awaiting further instructions.
Thinking about it, this mother and daughter are really wronged. If they had done something wrong and been caught, they could have shouted something like "the victor is king, the loser is villain" or something. In the end, they just fell into someone else's trap and sacrificed their daughter, Princess Fengyao, for nothing.
Unfortunately, there's no chance of winning at all.
This night was truly thrilling. Feng Zixiao finally succeeded in eliminating Prince Ning, Feng Ziyu. He had always known that Prince Ning coveted his throne, but he couldn't act because his father was still alive. If things were exposed, he would probably lose his position as the Crown Prince. So he had been enduring it. Now, the day his father passed away gave him a chance.
The Prince of Ning carried out an assassination attempt in front of the palace, and there is ample evidence and witnesses. Even if the whole world knew about it, they would have nothing to say.
Feng Zixiao's only regret was that he couldn't take the opportunity to get rid of Fatty Jiang Hailing. Thinking that he would have to make Jiang Hailing his empress after ascending the throne, he felt somewhat unwilling. However, with the throne within reach, Feng Zixiao was still very happy.
The day finally arrived as scheduled. Early in the morning, Feng Zixiao dressed neatly and went to the Zhengtai Hall to participate in the enthronement ceremony, receive the kneeling obeisance of the court officials, and ascend the throne as a matter of course. Because the court could not be without a ruler, Feng Zixiao had to immediately ascend the throne, take charge of the affairs of the court, and announce to the world that the emperor had passed away and the new emperor had succeeded to the throne.
On August 21, the eighteenth year of Haoyuan, a new emperor ascended the throne, changing the era name to Shunyuan, meaning eternal peace and prosperity. The new emperor called himself Emperor Jing.
Upon ascending the throne, the new emperor issued an edict to the entire nation, declaring a hundred days of mourning and forbidding any weddings or celebrations.
Emperor Heng's body lay in state at Huguo Temple, where sutras were chanted for forty-nine days, before he was given a grand burial in the imperial mausoleum of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Prince Ning, Feng Ziyu, was stripped of his martial arts skills, castrated, and sent to guard the Feng family's imperial mausoleum, never to leave the mausoleum again.
Consort Yun Shu and the other concubines in the palace who had no children were sent to the temple to practice Buddhism while keeping their hair, and were never allowed to leave the temple.
As for the other princes, the fifth, sixth, and seventh princes, they were all granted the title of prince and given mansions. Those with mothers moved into the mansions with their sons.
The palace was also thoroughly reorganized. The Empress was granted the title of Empress Dowager and moved to Qingxin Palace, a more remote part of the inner palace, to recuperate. Zhengyi Palace, where the Empress used to live, was the residence of empresses throughout the ages, so it was given to Hailing. Although the new Emperor Feng Zixiao was unwilling to appoint Hailing as the Empress of the Great Zhou, he had no other choice at the moment. As a temporary measure, he granted her the title of Empress and made her live in Zhengyi Palace.
Yu Zheng, Feng Zixiao's former concubine, had managed the former Crown Prince's residence perfectly after following Feng Zixiao for several years. In addition, she was the daughter of General Yu Yao, so she was granted the title of Yun Zhaoyi, a second-rank official, and was given the palace Chunwan Palace.
This rank was a bit low for Yu Zheng, but the Empress Dowager secretly summoned her and gave her a hint that as long as she became pregnant with a royal child, she would be granted the title of Consort.
Yu Zheng then put aside her resentment and prepared to try her best to conceive a dragon child.
As for the three former wives of the Crown Prince, they were all granted titles. Yan Lian was granted the title of Jieyu, a third-rank concubine; Gu Lin was granted the title of Guiyi, a fourth-rank concubine; and Pei Mei was granted the title of Shunrong, a fourth-rank concubine. Each was also granted an independent palace. As for the other concubines, some were granted the title of Jiqie, a fifth-rank concubine, and some were granted the title of Guiren, a seventh-rank concubine.
As for the concubines at the very back of the Crown Prince's residence, they were all transferred into the palace and became court singers.
When I was in the Crown Prince's residence, I thought there were too many women, but after entering the harem, I realized there were very few. There were four imperial concubines, but not a single one.
Apart from the position of Empress, all other positions are vacant. The Empress Dowager intends to select concubines, but the new emperor, citing the recent death of the previous emperor, will not take any concubines for the time being. Not only will he not take any concubines, but the new emperor has not even entered the harem, as he has been busy with state affairs and has not even entered the harem.
Zhengyi Palace.
Hai Ling sat listlessly on one side of the main hall. This was life in the palace? This was the circle everyone was scrambling to enter, a lavish cage that offered no joy whatsoever. Although she had been excited when she first arrived, the initial excitement had worn off, and there was nothing to be happy about. The thought of wasting a woman's entire life in such a place was truly disheartening. If she had a man who deeply loved her, she might be willing to sacrifice herself for love, but that man was nothing but a slacker. There were plenty of women in the harem, so many vying for one man's favor—was it meaningful? No wonder there was never a shortage of infighting in the palace; they were simply too bored.
Yan Zhi stood beside Hai Ling, observing her mistress's ever-changing expression, and knew that she was extremely dissatisfied with her current life.
Because she has always been a carefree person, but things are different now. Before, she was a young lady in the General's Mansion, and no one paid attention to her. She always sneaked out of the General's Mansion. Now she is the Empress in the palace, and it is not easy for her to go out.
"Miss, what are you thinking about?"
Rouge gently inquired and learned that Hailing disliked being called Empress, because being Empress was a disgrace to her. Who in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty didn't know that she was out of favor? So she continued to call her Miss as before.
"Rouge, let's go out of the palace to visit Mother."
Hai Ling raised an eyebrow and immediately had an idea.
Rouge blinked, then shook her head vigorously. It wasn't that she was timid or afraid of trouble, but rather that she was worried that her mistress would suffer. Now that the new emperor had just ascended the throne, if her mistress did anything wrong, she would likely be punished by the new emperor.