Reborn as Powerful Minister's Beloved
Chapter 502 - 481: First Update

Chapter 502: Chapter 481: First Update

As these words were uttered, everyone suddenly froze in place, momentarily unable to grasp the implications of Empress Dowager Yan Ping’s words. A deathly silence ensued, with those kneeling, standing, or facing away each harboring different thoughts.

Old Master Wen Kang looked toward Empress Dowager Yan Ping in horror. He had been vigilant against every move of Empress Xiao and Zheng Congyuan, how could he have forgotten this old cunning figure?!

Hadn’t this old cunning figure been feigning illness for a while? She had been quiet up till now, her mind filled with the late Emperor Jingzhi, mourning Emperor Jingzhi. Yet now, she stirred these troubled waters again.

"Impossible," Old Master Wen Kang immediately retorted as soon as Empress Dowager Yan Ping finished speaking. Surely nothing good could come from her words. The wills they had been injured to create were all forgeries, how could she possibly have a genuine will?

After speaking, Old Master Wen Kang thought, thankfully, he had a backup plan. After they had crafted those wills, they had switched the late Emperor Jingzhi’s private seal. If theirs were false, they would naturally be false.

"Old Master Wen Kang, what now? I am the Empress Dowager of Nanzheng. Would I falsify an imperial edict?" Empress Dowager Yan Ping wouldn’t argue with him about possibilities. Instead, she pinpointed the crux of the matter with a single sentence, being the Empress Dowager of Nanzheng, she was the most likely person to possess the will.

"Empress Dowager, since there is a will..." Prime Minister Lin said, more excited than others, yet the will in his hands was also genuine.

Empress Dowager Yan Ping stepped forward shakily.

"The Emperor had long left a will, not placed on that bookshelf, but above that plaque, He Ling..." He Ling paused slightly, clearly unaware, but quickly vaulted onto the beam. The next moment, he really did pull out a bright yellow package from behind the plaque, causing everyone in the great hall to gasp in shock. There really was one.

Prime Minister Lin hurried forward and pulled out the will, suddenly beaming with joy.

"This, this is also genuine, the Emperor’s will stipulates the Crown Prince to succeed the throne, heavens are open-eyed—" Prime Minister Lin’s voice raised a few notches, instantly passing the imperial edict around.

"This, this is also a personal letter from the Former Emperor, not a single discrepancy—"

More so because of Prime Minister Lin’s previous assertion about one will, no one doubted his words now. Instantly, half the ministers were excited, the other half tense, all forgetting one fact.

How could there be two different wills that were both genuine? Had Emperor Jingzhi been so incredibly negligent that he forgot he had already left a will, ending up creating two? But now, that wasn’t important. What mattered was what to do next?

"Crown Prince, since there is a will, your succession is legitimate and rightful. We beseech you to ascend to the throne immediately and take charge of the situation..."

"Not possible, since there are two wills, and both are genuine, why should the Crown Prince ascend?"

"Exactly, exactly, perhaps the Former Emperor forgot about this will, and later wished to pass the throne to the Fourth Prince, hence the two wills. Everyone knows the Former Emperor was long ill and could have been delusional."

"This point is very valid. The Crown Prince has been controlling the imperial court. If the Former Emperor had no other thoughts, why leave behind two wills?" A minister quickly responded.

"Nonsense, since you claim the Former Emperor had been delusional recently, perhaps this will was written in error." Prime Minister Lin immediately held up the will he guarded.

"How could it be written in error..."

"Clearly it’s nonsense and confusion..."

The great hall had already erupted into chaos, Old Master Wen Kang and Noble Consort Wen were becoming anxious at this point, but in front of so many people, they could only calm their spirits. Zheng Haoyuan’s gaze was cold, knowing this must be Zheng Congyuan’s trickery, yet all this while, Zheng Congyuan hadn’t uttered a single word.

"Your Highness, Crown Prince, please, say something..."

The trusted aide of Prime Minister Lin suddenly knelt down with a thud. Now was the time to compete, not the time to shrink back. The Crown Prince was known for his generosity and mercy, now was not the time to...

Zheng Congyuan knelt in front of the palisade coffin, and all eyes were drawn to the man’s upright and clear waistline.

"The Former Emperor’s body is not yet cold, and such a farce has broken out. I do not wish to chill the heart of the Former Emperor," Zheng Congyuan began slowly. At that moment, everyone was stunned.

Prime Minister Lin reacted the fastest, and he immediately knelt down with a thud as well.

"Former Emperor, your servants..."

"The noble character of the Crown Prince puts us to shame," Prime Minister Lin deeply kowtowed, followed by all the ministers from his faction, who also knelt down and did not utter another word.

Noble Consort Wen immediately directed her gaze at Zheng Congyuan—what a move to kill one’s spirit, completely wasting their efforts of the past days, utterly sinister.

With just that simple sentence, Zheng Congyuan had directly given the Crown Prince Faction the upper hand.

The competition among the top factions had no outcome for the time being, which immediately made many of the lower factions feel tense. Normally, changes in the imperial court would not greatly affect them, as their inherited positions could not shake their interests, but the lack of resolution had everyone in a panic.

This was an extremely bad omen, a clear sign that there would be conflicts within the imperial court. But before they could prepare, people from the Wen Family had already arrived, laying out interests that needed to be weighed up.

All was proceeding in darkness, several dozens of negotiation teams quietly infiltrated various factions’ negotiation tables, laying out nothing but interests and the leverage in their hands.

At the same time, dozens of fast horses sprinted out toward all directions.

The Wen Family had troops in the Southern Frontier, Eastern Border, Northwest Border, and Northern Border. Although ostensibly, men of the Wen Family had died in battle or from illness, countless soldiers who had once served the Wen Family simply changed leaders but were still trained by the Wen Family, and almost no one in Nanzheng could contend with them.

These were not facts that could be changed overnight.

The next day, troops from the Wen Family in the southwest entered Zheng Capital, and the whole Zheng Capital immediately became fraught with tension.

Zheng Nianru had been feeling uneasy since hearing the news of Emperor Jingzhi’s passing.

"Commandery Princess, you cannot go out now. Prince has instructed that you must not leave until he returns," Fu Dong immediately grabbed Zheng Nianru who was about to leave.

"If I don’t go out now, I might never be able to leave," Zheng Nianru hadn’t expected the Wen Family to act so quickly. Zheng Congyuan had troops, but now he was earlier than in his previous life, and he might not have been ready.

Ju Nanyi had just arrived at the Northern Border, and the troops in the Northwest Border were still in the hands of the General of the Jiumu Aristocratic Clan. Everything was unclear because Emperor Jingzhi had died too soon.

Zheng Nianru didn’t know what had gone wrong, but she still worried that Zheng Congyuan wasn’t ready, at least not in this struggle with the Wen Family where he hadn’t gained any advantage, otherwise, it wouldn’t have caught her off guard with such a sudden move.

Without further ado, Zheng Nianru threw on a cloak and headed for the Crown Prince’s Mansion. Now was not the time to be angry, and even if she was, she didn’t want to see Zheng Congyuan die.

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