Empress Dowager Sun swept her gaze across their faces one by one. She knew the tide had turned. She had neither the power to oppose it nor the right to do so.
The Ming Dynasty could not be ruined by her hand, much less by her son's. She squeezed her eyes shut, then nodded fiercely. "Granted! Prince Cheng shall succeed to the throne."
Yu Qian had thought it would take a long time to persuade Empress Dowager Sun, yet she had agreed so readily.
He immediately knelt and performed a grand bow. "The Empress Dowager is wise. We subjects thank the Empress Dowager!"
Wang Zhi and the other ministers followed him to their knees. Before they could voice their agreement, the Empress Dowager suddenly opened her eyes and stared at them. "But I have a condition."
The ministers raised their heads to look at Empress Dowager Sun.
Her face was expressionless, half of it obscured by the shadow of the screen and seeming somewhat dim. "The Retired Emperor is the true legitimate line. The Crown Prince must come from the Retired Emperor's branch."
Yu Qian frowned deeply. "Empress Dowager, the Retired Emperor has no offspring at present."
Empress Dowager Sun said without expression, "Once you bring the Retired Emperor back, naturally he will have one."
Yu Qian knitted his brows and was about to object when Wang Zhi tugged at him from behind.
Yu Qian fell silent. Wang Zhi said quietly, "Stabilizing the court is the most important matter right now."
But would this not leave disaster for the future?
How unfair was this to Prince Cheng?
Yet when he looked up at the Empress Dowager's resolute face, he knew that if they did not agree today, they would not obtain her Imperial Edict.
Without the Imperial Edict, Prince Cheng's