Eldest Princess: Xiao Zhaohuang
Capital
Royal Palace
The Yangxin Hall.
An elderly man with white hair and a sickly appearance lay on the dragon bed.
Though his body was withered and his face was bloodless, he resembled a tiny, weak light bulb, as if a gentle breeze could extinguish it.
It's clear at a glance that his life is nearing its end, beyond saving.
But the imperial majesty and bearing between his brows still made people dare not look him in the eye, and even dare not breathe.
Even an old tiger can still intimidate all beasts.
Even a sick dragon can still shake the world.
He was the ruler of Great Liang who ushered in the Shun'an Rule of Shun'an.
Liang Emperor: Xiao Chengqian.
At this moment, beneath the dragon bed,
A group of people knelt down.
There is the current Eldest Princess, the Imperial Eldest Grandson,
Grand Secretariat Senior Grand Secretary, Grand Tutor of the Emperor
Censor, Minister of the Six Ministries.
The entire Yangxin Hall was packed to the brim.
Today is destined to be an extraordinary day.
Because this great emperor, who ruled the world for thirty-two years, was about to pass away at the end of his holy life.
Liang Emperor is dying.
This was the final diagnosis made by the imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Bureau.
The reason these princes and ministers gathered in the Yangxin Hall was not only to see the emperor off on his final journey, but also for an even more important reason.
That is,
Witness the birth of a new emperor.
The matter of the Crown Prince has been hotly debated in the court for five long years.
The civil officials recommended the Imperial Eldest Grandson, but the military officials favored the Eldest Princess.
They engaged in heated debates, each sticking to their own version of events, arguing and bickering countless times, and even resorting to physical violence several times in the imperial court.
This created chaos and disorder throughout the imperial court.
Even so,
His Majesty, however, remained hesitant and indecisive, even trying to smooth things over.
Now it's all good.
His Majesty is dying.
The Great Liang is finally about to be decided.
They can finally go home and get a good night's sleep.
The eldest Imperial Eldest Grandson Xiao Chengchen, knelt at the very front, his head almost touching the dragon bed. As the eldest grandson of the crown prince, he was the most legitimate heir to the Great Liang in terms of status and bloodline.
Half a meter away from him, kneeling was a woman in palace attire. Her features were exquisitely beautiful, her eyes and brows exuded a gentle charm, but her posture was as upright as a pine tree, radiating an aura of heroic majesty.
These two qualities create a strong contrast in her, yet complement each other perfectly, without any sense of incongruity.
She was the fifth daughter of Liang Emperor, the Eldest Princess of the Great Liang, and one of the most noble women in the world.
Xiao Zhaohuang.
The Imperial Eldest Grandson, Xiao Chengchen, glanced at his Peerless Beauty aunt out of the corner of his eye.
He couldn't understand it.
This aunt clearly treated him like her own son when he was little, showering him with love.
Why would he suddenly want to compete with him for the throne?
There's no logic in this world for a woman to be emperor.
Grandpa Emperor is getting more and more confused as he gets older.
The position of Crown Prince has remained vacant and unresolved because of a woman.
If it weren't for the two of them,
He should have been on the throne five years ago.
He wasted five years of his life.
Do you know how he spent those five years?
It felt like every day was an eternity, and I was suffering terribly.
But things are better now.
He finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
Once his grandfather passes away, he can finally sit on the dragon throne that represents the supreme ruler.
Everyone is waiting.
The eldest Imperial Eldest Grandson is waiting, as are the Senior Grand Secretary minister and the grand tutor.
The ministers of the Six Ministries and the officials in charge of Censors were also waiting.
But there was only one person in the arena.
The expression on his face was different from theirs.
Although Eldest Princess Xiao Zhaohuang stood tall and straight like a pine tree, her phoenix eyes were filled with tears, and her heart was filled with pain and sorrow.
She didn't want to fight for the throne.
She just wanted to be a peaceful princess.
But she had no choice but to fight for it.
My eldest brother, second brother, and third brother all passed away one after another, and the rest of us are all mediocre people.
The Imperial Eldest Grandson, Xiao Chengchen, was of mediocre talent, full of empty words of benevolence and morality, but lacked any imperial shrewdness or means.
His subordinates were all stubborn, pedantic, and obsequious.
If he were to ascend the throne and become emperor, he would be utterly devoured by the civil officials, leaving nothing but a puppet emperor in name only.
As for the fourth Prince Ning Xiao Yuanheng, he was cruel, narrow-minded, sinister, ruthless, and tyrannical, showing no resemblance to a sage emperor.
If the country is handed over to him, within three years, the country will surely be plunged into chaos and the people will suffer. In the end, the people will rise up in rebellion and heroes will vie for power.
That is precisely why,
That's why the Emperor kept the position of Crown Prince vacant.
It wasn't that he was senile; it was that there was truly no one else available.
Although Xiao Zhaohuang was a woman, her intelligence and martial arts skills were in no way inferior to any man in the world, and she Perfect inherited Liang Emperor's imperial shrewdness and governing methods.
Liang Emperor said to her more than once: It's a pity you're not a man, but a beautiful woman.
Every time I hear this sentence,
Xiao Zhaohuang silently thought to himself: I only want to be a delicate woman, not a man.
She had no desire to compete with her nephew for the throne, and she had absolutely no interest in imperial ambitions.
She only wanted to be a Jingjing princess, embroidering needle and thread and composing poetry.
But my father wouldn't allow it.
At his behest, she put down her needlework, picked up a halberd, led her army into battle, fought in the north and south, repeatedly achieved military exploits, and gained great power.
Her prestige in the military was at its zenith, and her influence in the imperial court was deeply entrenched.
He is even capable of rivaling the Imperial Eldest Grandson, and they are evenly matched.
But these are not what she wants.
It was her father who forced it on her.
But in the end, her father would not truly hand over the throne to her.
Because there has never been a precedent of a woman becoming emperor throughout history.
The established moral principles and laws forbade it, the officials in the court disagreed, the Princes on the borders refused to submit, and even the people under its rule would not accept it.
The Emperor did this for only one purpose.
That is to support her and use her as a whetstone to hone the skills of the Imperial Eldest Grandson, Xiao Chengchen.
In the Emperor's heart, the only heir to this vast, prosperous, yet crumbling empire was none other than his Imperial Eldest Grandson, Xiao Chengchen.
She had long guessed her father's plans and intentions.
But she neither refused nor could refuse.
Because this old man, lying on his sickbed, was nearing the end of his life.
It was her father, the emperor.
It was her father, the emperor, who gave her life, raised her, and doted on her.
When his father passed away and Xiao Chengchen ascended the throne...
That is the day she and her cronies are purged, executed, and eradicated.
Xiao Chengchen wanted to use their flesh and blood to stabilize his throne, and their corpses to deter the restless wolves in the world.
However, even if she had already guessed these things and seen through them long ago.
But she still doesn't regret it.
Perhaps this is the fate of an imperial princess.
Born into an imperial family, one has no freedom of movement; glory and wealth are shackles, and status is a cage.
No matter how noble or unparalleled one's status, one is nothing more than a pawn in the power struggle of the imperial court.
But Father Emperor.
You are really wrong.
Xiao Chengchen is not a dull knife, but a piece of rotten wood.
Even if I, this whetstone, were to grind it to pieces, I still could not forge a piece of rotten wood into a sharp blade.
This world,
This Xiao surnamed Great Liang,
Will the future truly be as you wish?