Forced to Ascend the Throne after Transmigrating

Outside, both Xiang Hong and Xiang Li, father and son, are fine. It doesn’t make sense for the stepfather to attack only Zhao Chongrong. Ye Shuo still has some judgement in this regard.

What’s more, Zhao Chongrong’s health was not good to begin with, and even the imperial physician had mentioned this matter.

It is enough for him to say this and do this.

Finally, under the somewhat tense gaze of Emperor Jingwen, Ye Shuo nodded: “I know.”

“…dad.”

Upon hearing these long-lost words, Emperor Jingwen froze.

When he was young, whenever he called him like that, Emperor Jingwen would subconsciously correct him. But now he is reluctant to do so. It really is a different time now.

However, Ye Shuo did not stay here for a long time. Compared with his stepfather, Zhao Chongrong’s matter was more important at the moment.

So Ye Shuo opened his mouth and said, “Son has to go to Shu Lan Zhai, so he has to leave first.”

After thinking for a while, he added: “I will go back to Qiuwu Palace at night.”

Only then did Emperor Jingwen feel relieved.

After his youngest son left, Emperor Jingwen couldn’t calm down no matter what, so he simply put down the brush in his hand. Anyway, most of the things were handled by the Sixth Prince now, so it didn’t matter if he reviewed less memorials for a day or two.

After a while, Emperor Jingwen arrived at Qiuwu Palace.

When Ye Shuo arrived at Shu Lan Zhai, he heard crying before he even entered the door.

Ye Shuo paused, took a deep breath, and then walked in.

When Jianjian arrived, Zhao Chongrong was on her deathbed. Jianjian, who was in the study, had already received the news. She happened to see Zhao Chongrong for the last time and talked to her for a long time. It can be said that Jianjian watched Zhao Chongrong leave with her own eyes.

At first, Xu Chongyi and Li Chongyuan wanted to drive her out because she was young, but the little princess was very determined and insisted on staying.

Because Zhao Chongrong was also pregnant with a daughter that year, she would naturally be more caring towards Jianjian on weekdays. Jianjian felt that at this time, she should see Empress Zhao off for the last time.

This was the first time that Jianjian faced death head-on. The Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince had all died outside, so the impact on her was not as great as it was now.

Jianjian has been pampered by the Imperial Concubine and Emperor Jingwen for many years. So far, the biggest obstacle she has encountered is her brother who causes her trouble. Apart from that, she has never experienced any other storms.

It was not until now that Jianjian suddenly realised that people could be so fragile. Empress Zhao was fine before, and even half a month ago she was talking and laughing with him in the yard, but now she has closed her eyes forever.

What is death? Death is when the people you are close to no longer run, jump, or respond to you.

Jianjian was already precocious, and now she felt even more deeply. She couldn’t help but wonder if her mother would be like Empress Zhao after a few years, just sleeping and never waking up again, and then her father, and then her brother…

No matter how serious she is, Jianjian is just a child now.

When Ye Shuo came in, he saw that Jianjian’s eyes were red, and it was obvious that she had just cried. The little girl pretended to be strong but couldn’t hide her confusion, which was really heartbreaking.

Birth, ageing, sickness and death are the norm in life, but every time we face them, we still cannot control ourselves.

Ye Shuo sighed, then held Jian Jian in his arms and whispered to comfort her: “Don’t cry, don’t cry, brother is here.”

It would have been better if Ye Shuo didn’t say anything. After he said that, Jian Jian completely lost control of herself and burst into tears like she did when she was a child.

“Don’t die, brother, don’t die!”

Jianjian grabbed the corner of Ye Shuo’s clothes tightly, as if this could change anything.

Ye Shuo was not surprised that she would suddenly say such words. Children are like this. Even though they don’t know the meaning of death yet, their brains are one step ahead of her and begin to be filled with fear. Then they can’t stop imagining that the people around them will move away from them one by one.

Although Jianjian felt that her brother was extremely troublesome, had no ability and was extremely fragile, a very, very troublesome troublemaker, she couldn’t help feeling afraid when she thought that one day he would leave her like Empress Zhao did.

Ye Shuo also went through that age. After his mother passed away in his previous life, there was a period of time when he was particularly afraid that Mr. Gu would suddenly leave him, so Ye Shuo understood what Jian Jian was thinking at the moment.

“No, no, even if I really have to die, I will die after Jianjian. I will never leave Jianjian alone. How about that?”

“Don’t you dare lie to me!”

“Brother promises you.”

After receiving a positive answer, Jianjian, who had been crying uncontrollably, reluctantly let go of his hand.

After Jianjian was tired of crying, Xu Chongyi and Li Chongyuan brought the palace maids from Shulanzhai to change clothes for Zhao Chongrong.

Only then did Ye Shuo see the dead Zhao Chongrong.

Zhao Chongrong was relatively peaceful in the last moments of her life.

Although her illnesses made her feel extremely miserable, at least she had two good friends and the little princess by her side. Her ending was much better than most people in the palace. The only regret was that she did not live past the age of 60, which was not considered a long life, but Zhao Chongrong did not care.

During these last moments, although Zhao Chongrong aged very quickly, her face was extremely peaceful when she closed her eyes.

Being able to leave without regrets, she is already much better than others.  

For the sake of Prince Rui and the princess, the people in charge of Zhao Chongrong’s funeral naturally did not dare to neglect the arrangements, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs also did not dare to be harsh in the slightest.

After the initial panic, order was quickly restored in Shu Lan Zhai.

By the time everything was done, it was already dark.

According to the rules, Zhao Chongrong’s children or nephews should keep vigil for the first three days, but unfortunately, Zhao Chongrong has no children, and no one knows where her nephews and nieces are now. Zhao Chongrong at least watched Ye Shuo grow up, and helped him and his mother a lot. He only needs to keep vigil for three days, and he doesn’t even have to worry about the rest. It is natural for Ye Shuo to do the duty.

Some things may have been destined.

Twenty years ago, Ye Shuo was born in Shulanzhai, and twenty years later he saw Zhao Chongrong off in Shulanzhai.

As it was still light now and he had already made arrangements with his stepfather during the day, Ye Shuo planned to go back to Qiuwu Palace to have dinner before coming here.

As for Jianjian, after she was tired of crying, she fell asleep leaning against Xu Chongyi without knowing when.

There were still tears hanging on her long pointed eyelashes, her brows were furrowed all the time, and she slept very uneasily.

Taking it from Xu Chongyi, Ye Shuo carried Jianjian on his back and told Xu Chongyi and Li Chongyuan to go back to their palace to rest. Ye Shuo said, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a while.”

The two nodded at the same time and did not force themselves to stay here.

After Ye Shuo left, Xu Chongyi looked at the coffin in the main hall and couldn’t help but sigh: “We are lucky to meet this child.”

Li Chongyuan seemed to sigh: “Yes…”

The other side.

As long as Ye Shuo was there, she suddenly felt safe. She didn’t know if it was because she felt safe, but in her sleep, her pointed brows finally relaxed.

After putting her in the room, Ye Shuo came to the main hall and found that his mother and stepfather had been waiting there.

“Mom, Dad, why aren’t you eating?” Ye Shuo took a look and found that the food was not even hot enough.

The Imperial Noble Consort was also wondering why the Emperor didn’t start eating in advance today.

Only after Ye Shuo sat down did Wang Ziquan start to help serve the dishes, which made the Imperial Concubine have an illusion: Could it be that the Emperor was waiting for Xiao Jiu?

But then the imperial concubine shook her head and dispelled the thought.

How is it possible…

Seeing him sit down at the table as usual and start shovelling food into his mouth, Emperor Jingwen felt inexplicably relieved.

Later, when the Imperial Noble Consort learned that her youngest son was going to keep vigil for Zhao Chongrong for three days, she didn’t think it was a big deal, but she was worried that he might hurt himself, so she couldn’t help but remind him not to force himself and to do what he could.

But in fact, Ye Shuo would not stay there for 12 hours. There were palace servants from Shu Lan Zhai there during the day, so it was actually okay.

After hearing what he said, the Imperial Noble Consort finally felt relieved.

Emperor Jingwen, who was standing aside, couldn’t help but frown, but since his youngest son had said so, he couldn’t say anything else.

After dinner, when he came out of Qiuwu Palace, Emperor Jingwen looked at Wang Ziquan standing beside him.

“Have someone watch carefully, and ask the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs to persuade Prince Rui to rest more, and not to be so rigid about those empty formalities.”

Wang Ziquan was not surprised. He knew very well that after this incident, His Royal Highness Prince Rui’s favour would be even greater than before, so he responded without hesitation.

Although his youngest son had deep feelings for Zhao Chongrong, this did not mean that Emperor Jingwen had a good impression of her.

Just talking about the fact that Zhao Chongrong instigated discord before her death, Emperor Jingwen wanted to cut her into pieces. The only reason he was able to keep it secret was for the sake of his youngest son’s face.

If he hadn’t been concerned about her, Emperor Jingwen would have taken action long ago. How could he have kept Zhao Chongrong until now?

Now that Xiaojiu was finally no longer avoiding him, Emperor Jingwen naturally didn’t want to cause any more trouble.

After returning to his bedroom and pondering for a long time, Emperor Jingwen finally picked up his pen and raised Zhao Chongrong’s status by a whole level, posthumously conferring her the title of Ru Fei and burying her with the rites of a first-rank concubine.

Ye Shuo soon learned the news and immediately understood the reason.

It turned out that what Prince Su said was true. My stepfather did not become suspicious and defensive because of the revelation of what happened that year. In addition, in my stepfather’s heart, my importance seemed to be even more important than he imagined.

Zhao Chongrong, no, the concubine’s body was kept in the palace for seven days before being buried in the concubine’s tomb, guarded by the Black Armor Guards throughout the process.

On the day when Concubine Ru was buried in the Concubine’s tomb, Ye Shuo accompanied her throughout the whole process. Until the moment the tomb was closed, Ye Shuo couldn’t help but feel dazed.

I have sent another one away…

Finally, he turned around to take a look at the huge mausoleum in front of him. After a while, Ye Shuo rode away.

Then, the news that the Ninth Prince and the Emperor had reconciled their past grudges spread once again, and this time it was even more different than before.

The emperor and the ninth prince seemed to be completely turned upside down…