The emperor was at his last gasp, on his deathbed.
He grabbed Yin Zidu's hand and lovingly stroked his face. He called out, "Zidu, are you here?"
He couldn't see clearly anymore. He could only feel his younger brother's presence by touch.
Yin Zidu knelt in front of the bed, pressing his face against the emperor's hand, and replied in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I'm here."
The emperor shook his head. "I don't want to be the emperor, and you're not my subject..."
Yin Zidu nodded with tears in his eyes. "Brother, brother, Zidu is here. Zidu has always been here."
The emperor showed a smile. As he was smiling, he started coughing again. He tried hard to open his eyes, but all he saw was blurry. He could only feel his younger brother's face by touch. This was the younger brother he had felt guilty towards all his life.
"Zidu, I'll soon go to accompany Mother."
Yin Zidu nodded desperately. "I know, brother. I know. Mother is waiting for you. You won't be alone."
The emperor continued, "You're so capable. I have nothing to worry about. Zidu, you draft the imperial edict. I want to appoint you as the imperial younger brother..."
A commotion arose among the court officials behind them. The imperial younger brother? Did the emperor mean that the regent would succeed to the throne instead of the eldest prince? This...
The court officials looked at the eldest prince. However, perhaps the eldest prince was too young. He was only grief - stricken and showed no sign of dissatisfaction.
But the queen beside him couldn't hold back any longer. She burst into tears. "Why? Why, Yin Fusu? I've been with you for so many years... We've finally had a good life. Why should the throne be his? Why? The throne should be Han'er's, Han'er's!"
Yin Yunhan then raised his head. His face was still childish, yet full of dissatisfaction. "Mother, Father is so ill. Please don't make such a racket."
The queen glared at him angrily and stared back at him fiercely. "Who am I doing this for? Isn't it for you!"
Yin Yunhan frowned. "Mother, the grand tutor has always taught me that a king doesn't rule for anyone in particular but for all the common people in the world and for the people of the Great Zhou. My knowledge and insights are far inferior to Uncle Huang's, and I'm not capable of governing alone. How can I be the one to sit on the throne?"
Just as the queen was about to say something more, she heard the emperor on the bed coughing violently, coughing up blood.
She rushed forward, pushed Yin Zidu away, and grabbed the emperor. "Yin Fusu, you're not allowed to die. You're not allowed to die. Do you hear me? I want our son to be the emperor. Only he is worthy of being the emperor!"
The emperor's mouth was full of blood. He laughed strangely. He reached out his hand, stroked her face, and said with a laugh, "Zhir, you've changed..."
Yin Zidu stepped forward, pulled the queen away, and said, "The queen has lost her mind. Take her away."
The queen still shouted, "Yin Zidu, you're seizing the throne. You'll die a bad death, a bad death."
These words reached the emperor's ears, but the emperor remained unmoved. He grabbed Yin Zidu's hand and said, "Zidu, promise me... promise me... don't hurt her. Don't..."
Yin Zidu tightened his grip.
Seeing that he didn't respond, the emperor coughed violently again.
Yin Zidu took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the blood off for him. "Brother, I'll handle everything well. Don't worry..."
The emperor's dry hand didn't even have the strength to lift up. "Zidu, Han'er is not the material to be a king. Listen to me. After I'm gone, you be the emperor yourself. Do you understand?"
Yin Zidu's face was full of tenderness. He stroked his elder brother's hand. "Brother, don't worry about it. I know what to do. I'll surely not let the Great Zhou's country be destroyed in our hands."
Hearing his promise, the emperor finally let out a sigh of relief, and his hand dropped.
The emperor passed away.
Yin Zidu became even busier with his affairs. He rarely went back to his mansion.
Shen Yuning returned to the Xue family. Her sister - in - law already had a son and a daughter. Now that she gave birth again, whether it was a boy or a girl would be a happy thing. When Shen Yuning got home, she learned that her sister - in - law had given birth to a son.
Xue Yusong carefully held the delicate baby in his arms. Xue Yuxin beside him reached out her hand trying to hold the baby, but was blocked by Xue Yusong.
Xue Yuxin immediately got upset. She mumbled that she wanted to hold her little nephew and reached out to pinch her brother, saying that he was stingy and wouldn't even let her hold the baby for a while.
Xue Yusong grimaced from the pain of being pinched by his sister, but he didn't let go. He was afraid of hurting the baby in his arms and was even more afraid of hurting the baby in his sister's belly.
Mrs. Shao shook her head helplessly. She pulled Shen Yuning to sit at the table. "Don't pay attention to them. They're so old, but still acting like kids. They're so noisy."
Shen Yuning watched them with a smile. In fact, when they were young, her elder brother took care of her more than her elder sister. So she was closer to her elder brother. She didn't expect that now that they had grown up, the relationship between her elder brother and elder sister was much better than before.
Mrs. Shao asked Shen Yuning about her recent situation with concern and then talked about other things.
"Your grandmother wants to go back to her hometown. That girl Yu Han has decided to accompany her."
At the banquet in the mansion last time, Shen Yuning almost got into trouble. Liang Hong caught Xue Yuxuan, and this matter couldn't be easily resolved. Plotting against the royal family was a great crime. Shen Yuning was also pregnant with the regent's child. Xue Yuxuan had been sentenced to be beheaded. However, it was currently a period of national mourning, and the execution would have to wait until after the national mourning.
After the old lady knew about it, she didn't say anything. She just said that she was old. Back then, the old master had returned to his hometown to be buried, and she also wanted to go back.
Actually, back then, the old master's coffin was sent back after he passed away. But this time, the old lady meant that once she went back, she didn't plan to come back.
Shen Yuning tried to persuade her for a while. The old lady only said that seeing that they were all doing well, she was at ease and could go back to spend her remaining years in comfort.
Mrs. Shao continued, "A cousin - uncle in your clan sent a letter. He found a good young man and wanted to marry him to Yu Han. That girl Yu Han has already agreed."
Shen Yuning lowered her head. Their lives were so good, but she didn't know if Yu Han's future would be as good.
Mrs. Shao held Shen Yuning's hand. "Your lord is now at the center of the storm. You mustn't be careless about anything. Those old - fashioned people in the court are all staring at you. You must be careful."
After the emperor passed away, Yin Zidu had to first handle the matter of the emperor's coffin being placed in the imperial mausoleum. The ceremony for the new emperor's accession to the throne was postponed to three months later.
Now the court was still in an uproar. Half of the court officials thought that before the emperor ascended to heaven, he had given an oral edict appointing the regent as the imperial younger brother. Naturally, the new emperor should be the imperial younger brother. The other half thought that although the eldest prince had not been appointed as the crown prince, he was of the royal direct bloodline, and it should be him who ascended the throne.
However, Yin Zidu didn't deal with these disputes. These days, he had thoroughly investigated every detail of what happened at the mansion banquet that day.
The Prince of Zhuang was demoted from a prince to a marquis. The Prince of Zhuang and the heir of the prince were removed from their official positions and lived in leisure. People related to the Mansion of the Prince of Zhuang were basically either removed from their official positions or demoted.
Tong Xiaoqiao was still a princess. However, it was found out that on that day in the Marquis's Mansion, she was actually having a secret meeting with the heir of the Prince of Zhuang - no, now he was the heir of the marquis. The heir of the marquis was the queen's elder brother by adoption. He was already 37 years old and had a wife and children.
The regent took pity on the princess and bestowed her in marriage to the heir of the marquis as a concubine.
It was precisely because the regent was so tough and showed no mercy in handling matters that there were even voices in the court saying that the regent's actions were to suppress the eldest prince. After all, the former Mansion of the Prince of Zhuang was equivalent to the eldest prince's maternal family.
Xue Yuxin stroked her belly and said to Shen Yuning angrily, "Humph, who doesn't know what those people are up to? Seeing that the eldest prince is young, they want to support him as a puppet. In my opinion, your lord was too kind before. He should have rounded up these people long ago."
Shen Yuning couldn't help but laugh. "According to sister's idea, shouldn't all these people be arrested and sent to the Supreme Court? If they were really all investigated, the capital would change again, and the hard - won stable situation of the Great Zhou would be in turmoil again."
Xue Yuxin laughed along. She reached out to touch Shen Yuning's belly and then sighed with emotion, "It's a pity that the one in the middle palace wasn't punished by the regent. That one wished you were dead."
Xuan Zhi didn't punish the queen. Shen Yuning knew that it was because the emperor had forced him to promise before he died. She understood, but it didn't mean she didn't mind.
Just like before, when she sensed danger but didn't want to tell him. She was always afraid to face it. She was afraid that when faced with a choice between his family and his lover, he would choose to abandon her.
Maybe she had seen too many muddle - headed husbands in the common people's lives who, without distinguishing right from wrong, protected their family and always asked their wives to endure grievances.
Shen Yuning stayed at the Xue family for a month. Yin Zidu came to pick her up, and behind him was Zhu Bin, looking as aggrieved as a young bride.
Mrs. Shao had long known the temperaments of these two sons - in - law. Naturally, she packed up her two daughters and sent them away, muttering, "You've finally come. You've given me a hard time these days. Take them away quickly so that I don't have to be annoyed seeing them."
Xue Yuxin was not happy. She pulled Mrs. Shao's arm and acted coquettishly.
Mrs. Shao tapped her forehead. "You're going to be a mother. Why are you still acting so coquettishly and improperly? Go, go. Hurry back. You're already more than seven months pregnant. You may give birth at any time. You mustn't be reckless."
A woman is pregnant for ten months, but usually gives birth a little over nine months. Their due dates were about the same, so their babies might be born around the same time.
After returning home, Shen Yuning welcomed an old friend, Wan Yan.
Wan Yan had been away for nearly a year. He looked a bit haggard, but more importantly, he had the determination brought by the years.
The two of them talked for a while. Wan Yan stammered and asked, "Is Qiao Peilan still living in the mansion?"
Qiao Peilan had saved her. But according to the status of a criminal slave, Shen Yuning couldn't overturn the previous punishment just because of this one act of saving her. A slave could be freed to become a commoner, but a criminal slave couldn't.
Wan Yan explained, "She wrote me a letter saying she wanted to follow me. I'm here this time to take her away."
Shen Yuning was extremely shocked. What Wan Yan meant was not that Qiao Peilan would follow him as a maid or something. It was obvious that she wanted to be a concubine. But that day, Qiao Peilan clearly said that she didn't want to be a concubine.
However, when she asked Qiao Peilan and told her that if she didn't want to, she could arrange for her to be sent to one of the embroidery workshops of the commercial firm so that no one would know her identity.
Qiao Peilan just shook her head. "I'm used to a good life. In the past year or so in the mansion, although the life was not bad, it's not what I like. Fine clothes and delicious food, being in the limelight, that's what I yearn for. Princess, Wan Yan can bring all this to me."
Shen Yuning didn't know why Qiao Peilan had changed her mind. She just saw her walk up to Wan Yan proudly. Wan Yan blushed deeply and looked a bit cautious.
Maybe people change, or maybe they never do. Qiao Peilan probably had already figured out who liked her and who didn't. So in the end, she chose an easy path.