In the fierce downpour, Song Ning'er felt a long-missed hint of coolness.
She watched her husband display the Heir Apparent's true power in the courtyard, watched the melancholy he never showed before others, listened to the murmurs he never spoke aloud, and felt melancholy herself. "I don't know what great matter affecting the fate of the state Husband spoke of. I lack the strength to interfere, so I don't care about it either. I only care about what effect this matter will have on Husband."
"The effect on me?" Jiang Wuhua seemed never to have considered that question. After a moment of silence, he said, "If this succeeds, Father Emperor will have no worries behind him and will devote all his strength to contending for the throne of the Six Directions. Within his century of rule, he may very well accomplish this unprecedented great undertaking. He will be the eternal emperor, and I naturally can only be the eternal crown prince."
Then he shook his head. "No. An eternal emperor has no need for a crown prince."
"If Father Emperor ultimately fails to achieve the Six Directions, he will surely have advanced the great enterprise considerably. The one most likely to succeed him should be the master of Yangxin Palace. He resembles the Martial Ancestor most closely, with grand designs and far-reaching ambitions. He can inherit the will to unite the Six Directions, his intent to conquer the Eight Desolations never extinguished. He can receive the greatest support in every regard."
"If this does not succeed... Father Emperor, unable to seek the Six Directions, may retreat and seek Transcendence, planning for Qi State's generations to come. Then I would be the most likely to ascend the great throne, as in the story of Emperor Hui—governing the state and preserving what