Harem Daily Life

Chapter 759 Establishing a Crown Prince

He Jinan stayed in the Qinzheng Hall that night and talked a lot with He Linzhang. It was the first time that the father and son had such a heart-to-heart talk.

The next day, when the court was about to begin, after the ministers and the empress had finished discussing state affairs, Eunuch Zhang loudly announced, "Your Majesty has decreed—"

Tao Yanyan's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly had a bad premonition. With a solemn expression, she knelt down with everyone else to listen to the imperial edict. Sure enough, she heard an edict to establish a crown prince.

"The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, proclaims: I have obeyed the will of Heaven, succeeded the throne, quelled calamities, and achieved great success during times of great hardship. For fifteen years, I have worked tirelessly, day and night, without attending court. To ensure the longevity of my empire, I now appoint my legitimate son, Yucheng, as Crown Prince. Your birth into the royal family is Heaven's will. Considering your youth, I hereby order Empress Tao to command the army and oversee the state. I decree this."

The position of the crown prince, which had been undecided for many years, was finally officially announced today, which also gave all the ministers a reassurance.

Tao Yanyan stood up, took the imperial edict and looked at it. It had already been stamped, so it was valid.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty has had this intention for a long time. Please don't hesitate any longer." Eunuch Zhang said as he put away the imperial edict.

"We congratulate the Queen!" Led by Prince Yong, the court officials offered their congratulations.

Tao Yanyan was not happy at all, because the issuance of this imperial edict meant that He Linzhang was determined to leave and he was really leaving.

Tao Yanyan sighed and said, "I hope all the nobles will work together to assist the Crown Prince in protecting the Great Zhou."

After the court session, Eunuch Zhang seemed to be hesitant to speak, but he couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, please return to Changle Palace as soon as possible. Perhaps you can see His Majesty again."

Tao Yanyan was stunned and looked at him steadily: "What do you mean? He is leaving today?" Tao Yanyan couldn't believe it. How could someone be so heartless and leave just like that?

She was boiling with anger. They had a big fight the day before, and he hadn't even come to comfort her, but he just left like that without even saying a formal goodbye. He really pissed her off!

Mingyue hurried to Changle Palace, her eyes already red. She stepped forward and whispered, "Your Majesty came here early this morning, dined with the princesses and princes, played for a while, and then said he needed to go somewhere else to recuperate. He'll be away for a while and will be back soon. Your Majesty, I beg you to wait a little longer until the Queen leaves court, but Your Majesty..."

Tao Yanyan clenched his fists tightly, cursing He Linzhang a thousand times in his heart, and was so angry that his teeth were itching.

"Are the children okay?" Everyone had left, and Tao Yanyan asked Mingyue, "How much hatred he had to endure."

"Everything is fine. They all think that His Majesty will be back soon, so they are not very sad." The children are raised by Tao Yanyan and feel very safe, and they don't worry about things.

Tao Yanyan turned to look at Eunuch Zhang, who hurriedly said, "I had no choice. His Majesty has instructed me not to tell the Empress that His Majesty wishes to leave quietly."

"Then he must have a place to go, right? Where did he go?" When they had quarreled before, Tao Yanyan was determined not to let him leave, so he didn't even ask for the address. Now he really regretted it. He wanted to go and catch him but couldn't find the place.

Eunuch Zhang shook his head. "His Majesty refused to tell this servant, saying only that if anything happened, he should contact Ying Er."

Tao Yanyan closed her eyes and said, "Ying Er? Okay, then when he comes, bring him to see me. If he can't get the address, he can't go back!"

Tao Yanyan was furious. Was He Linzhang trying to disappear? He was really capable!

Since He Linzhang had left the palace, Tao Yanyan no longer lived in the Qinzheng Palace. She moved back to the Changle Palace to be with her children. She postponed the time for court attendance by half an hour. Anyway, she was the eldest now, so she could attend court whenever she wanted.

Yu Cheng went to the Qinzheng Hall to study with the three teachers every day. Jin An also came to the palace every few days to accompany Tao Yanyan and, by the way, to accompany Yu Cheng to study. Yu Cheng used to be a bit mischievous, always catching the teachers asking questions that he knew the answer to but deliberately asked. Seeing the arrival of his second brother, suppressed by his bloodline, he no longer dared to make trouble.

As was customary in previous years, a palace banquet was scheduled for the Mid-Autumn Festival in August. Unfortunately, Tao Yanyan wasn't in the mood, so it wasn't held. Instead, Tao Yanyan had Concubine Xian prepare gifts and send them to each household. If any family wanted to come to the palace to express their gratitude, Concubine Xian would receive them.

Xinlan brought return gifts to the palace on behalf of Ningyuan Marquis Mansion and General Gu Mansion to express her gratitude, but she did not go to Concubine Xian's Palace, but went directly to Changle Palace.

She and Gu Yi's son Gu Shuhuan was taken out by Qingfeng and others to play with the Fifth Prince, so Xinlan told Tao Yanyan about the interesting stories outside the palace.

"Prince Yong's Consort is quite active now. She used to rarely show up at any family banquet, but since she had the little prince, she's been bringing him along to banquets every now and then. I've seen that child a few times, and he looks more and more like Brother Yong. But it's not a good thing for a child so young to be running around everywhere, and I can't help but want to show him off."

Xinlan didn't quite understand Princess Yong's behavior. When her child was so young, she rarely took him out, for fear that he would be exposed to too many people and get sick.

Tao Yanyan smiled and said, "The more one lacks something, the more one wants to show it off. She has been married to Prince Yong for over ten years and has been childless. She has been longing for a child for so long, and now that she finally has one, she naturally wants the whole world to know about it."

It's like showing off on WeChat Moments. If Princess Yong had a mobile phone, she would probably take pictures of the young prince's daily eating, drinking, defecating, urinating and sleeping, and upload them to share.

Xinlan said, "But how could she bear to go through so much trouble when she gave birth to her own child? In my opinion, she's just being vain and doesn't really love the child. But speaking of which, the child's biological mother, Lin, is also a pitiful person."

Xinlan thought of Lin's face and glanced at Tao Yanyan casually before saying, "I heard that Lin has contracted some kind of illness. Her skin is ulcerated all over. We've asked the palace physician to see her, but he can't figure out what's wrong. Prince Yong has even sought out famous doctors to treat her, but they haven't been able to cure her."

Tao Yanyan narrowed his eyes. "Skin ulcers? Has anyone else in the mansion been infected?"

But as soon as she asked, she knew it was a waste of time. If the disease was contagious, Prince Yong would have been the first to be infected, but Prince Yong was no different from before.

"Privately, some people say that Lin was poisoned." Xinlan whispered, "The secretive methods used in the harem are hard to guard against."

Tao Yanyan thought of the previous incident of Princess Qinghe being poisoned, and his eyes darkened.

"But after Lin came, she was the exclusive favorite of Emperor Yong, so it was inevitable that she would offend others." Xinlan sighed: "For such a woman, it is safer to be someone's principal wife. Otherwise, look at those concubines. Once they arrive at someone else's territory, they are basically at the mercy of others."

However, she immediately realized that the Queen Tao opposite her was also a seventh-rank Liangyi who rose to the position, so she immediately stopped talking and picked up the teacup to drink water strategically.