Emperor Hui was stunned, staring at his unusually calm daughter as if truly seeing her for the first time.
“And the imperial clansmen… Is being the Regent Princess assisting a young emperor not enough for you? Since ancient times, no woman has ever become Empress.”
“Father would rather pass the throne to the Crown Prince—who has a reputation for benevolence but is actually weak and incompetent—to three-year-old Prince De who can’t even recognize characters, or to a nephew from a collateral branch, but not to me, your adult daughter of outstanding ability?”
She was not some delicate flower who obeyed her parents in everything, needing protection from her father and husband.
She did not want to be a virtuous princess supporting her younger brother.
She wanted to ascend to the highest position and enjoy supreme glory.
There had never been an Empress before?
That didn’t matter—there hadn’t been any emperors at all in the distant past.
From now on, there would be an Empress.
Under the Sky Screen, countless women held their breath, staring intently with unwavering focus.
Well said! Why are sons always favored over daughters when both are children of the same parents? Why can’t daughters inherit family property? Why are married daughters like spilled water—gone forever?
Countless married women lamented silently: It’s not that we abandoned our parents, but that they abandoned us first.
[“Father, have you considered why, when Prince Chen was injured and cried out in such pain moments ago, no Imperial Guards or eunuchs rushed in to check?”
“Left Imperial Guards Deputy General Feng Shuo has already followed my orders to purge the rebels within the Imperial Guards. Not just the Left Imperial Guards—do you think there are none of my people in the Right Imperial Guards that Prince Chen trusts?”]
The audience below the Sky Screen gasped.
This meant both the Left and Right Imperial Guards were already under Princess Shunyang’s control!
Plus the military strength of the Yue family.
Queen Wang had truly chosen an excellent husband for Princess Shunyang!
Wait—Queen Wang!
She must have contributed significantly to stabilizing the inner palace!
The ministers thought to themselves: If only Zhu Xuanyi weren’t a princess, otherwise how would Zhu Xuanyu ever qualify for the Crown Prince position?
Princess Shunyang’s words bordered on blatant threat against the emperor.
Not long before, she had drawn a sharp blade from her wide sleeve and severely wounded Prince Chen, the splattered blood staining her magnificent dress and pale hands.
That blade was now sheathed back in her sleeve sheath.
Though the blood on her hands had been wiped clean, the stains on her dress remained.
They shone glaringly, stinging Emperor Hui’s eyes—both the animated Emperor Hui on the Sky Screen and the real Emperor Hui watching outside.
Having lost two sons and disinherited another in a single day, now his most beloved daughter was baring her fierce fangs at such a time.
Emperor Hui clutched his chest, supporting himself on the bed with one hand: “Yiyi, are you threatening your father?”
“How could that be? Father, I merely wish to obtain what I rightfully deserve.”
Her voice remained gentle and calm as always, like when she used to ask, “Father, is this pastry sweet?”
Outside the Sky Screen, the old scholar Sheng Mian pointed at the screen and cursed: “Shameless! Greedy!”
What do you rightfully deserve?
Since ancient times, women have never inherited family estates!
Sheng Mian’s granddaughter hid in a corner, watching her furious grandfather, but unlike before, she didn’t obediently rush over to comfort him and soothe his anger.
The princess spoke so well!
She too wanted to inherit the family estate like the princess!
“When did you develop such heretical thoughts? Who put these rebellious ideas in your head?” Emperor Hui gripped the quilt tightly, his gaze burning. “Was it the Queen? Or Yue Guantang?”
“It’s normal for brothers to inherit the throne, but I’m the one who defies convention? Father, you’ve always said I’m your most beloved child, and I’ve never done anything harmful to the nation or its people like the Crown Prince and Prince Chen have. Why won’t you give me the best?”
Outside the Sky Screen, Princess Shunyang stood up—this was exactly what she thought!
If you love me, let me possess the greatest power to protect myself, rather than keeping me perpetually under your shelter!
“Father, you have no other choice.”
Clearly, the princess had no intention of further heartfelt conversation with Emperor Hui.
“Since ancient times, no woman has ever become emperor.”
Emperor Hui emphasized this point once more, yet he knew his own predicament all too well—having no son to inherit the throne was his greatest sorrow.
Since that was the case, and his daughter wanted it so badly, he might as well grant it to her. But—”My time is short. I can pass the throne to you. But can you hold it firmly? Will the court officials submit to you? Will the people of the realm accept you? And will they be submitting to you or to the Yue family?”
Beneath the Sky Screen, Princess Shunyang sat upright.
When Father appointed Consort Yue as empress, did he consider whether the people submitted to him or to the Yue family?
He never gave it a thought.
By elevating Consort Yue, Father was bestowing honor upon the Yue family.
If the princess marries a son of the Yue family and ascends the throne, would the realm belong to the Yues instead of the Zhus?
Why is it that when the princess ascends, it’s assumed the realm would actually be controlled by her husband?
Simply because her husband commands part of the military?
No. It’s because of the deeply rooted, foul belief that wives are possessions of their husbands—that women are appendages to men.
In the animation on the Sky Screen, Princess Shunyang seemed slightly disappointed, but she did not argue with Emperor Hui.
“Father, please draft the Imperial Edict.”
Petty quarrels and differences in ideology were unimportant at this moment.
She was no longer a little girl yearning for her father’s approval and praise.
What mattered most now was the imperial throne.
Yue Guantang, who was returning to the capital after suppressing bandits, watched the calm, self-possessed, and somewhat coldly detached Princess Shunyang on the Sky Screen without much surprise.
Like Queen Wang, the palace official Xu Meizhen, and Lin Zhitong, he was not greatly astonished.
Because they understood better than Emperor Hui that the princess was extremely strong-willed, determined, persistent, and resolute. True, she was gentle and filial.
But that did not hinder her intense craving for power, nor her ability to decisively and calmly overcome obstacles to achieve her goals.
Yue Guantang murmured to himself, “The princess is like the vast ocean.”
It can be calm and sparkling, but ultimately it is boundless, with towering waves.
Ordinary people cannot appreciate the princess’s magnificence.
The Sky Screen’s animation faded, replaced by a static portrait—the tightly shut palace gates opening in the profound darkness of night.
[As Emperor Hui wrote the Imperial Edict and stamped it with the Imperial Seal, Princess Shunyang opened the inner palace doors and, following Emperor Hui’s instructions, summoned Queen Wang and the ministers.
Emperor Hui barely had the strength to leave his bed, so the high officials gathered around it.
Emperor Hui handed the scroll of the Imperial Edict to Minister of Personnel Xue Zeruo, who unrolled it and proclaimed the crimes of Prince Chen and the deaths of the Crown Prince and Prince De.]
Xue Zeruo stroked his beard. Having spent most of his life in the officialdom, he had weathered all kinds of storms and was unlikely to lose composure.
【Sensitive officials were not surprised by the first imperial edict accusing Prince Chen of rebellion, but were troubled by the sudden deaths of the Crown Prince and Prince De. With Emperor Hui having no other male heirs, it became inevitable to adopt an heir from a collateral line…
The officials quickly began deliberating, instantly listing several names of imperial clan descendants. However, Emperor Hui handed the Minister of Personnel a second imperial edict.
Historical records note that Xue Zeruo was so stunned upon seeing this edict that he became speechless, until Emperor Hui urged him to proceed with the reading.】
Xue Zeruo’s hand, which had been stroking his beard, paused. This was undoubtedly an edict designating the princess as successor. Not only had his decades-long official career never witnessed such a thing—since ancient times, there had never been an Empress. His loss of composure was neither surprising nor worth mentioning…