The Emperor said nothing for a long while. He merely paced slowly to the doorway, pursed his lips, and looked up at the sky.
By then, the rain in the sleet had completely turned to snow. Snowflakes drifted down slowly on the wind, and the ground gradually gathered a layer of white.
"White and boundless, truly clean." The Emperor's heart had first been a chaotic fog of bewilderment, but all at once it settled, and he made his decision. He turned around.
"Convey my decree!"
"Yes!" Everyone present—Ma Shunde, Zhao Bingzhong, and even the nearby eunuchs and palace maids—knelt together to receive the imperial edict.
"The Crown Prince resembled me deeply. I had thought he could inherit the great succession, but Heaven did not grant him long years. It has not only grieved me, but also left the realm without an heir. Fortunately, there is the Prince Dai, who has inherited sacred bearing and virtuous character. His moral stature is noble, and he is fit to be invested as Imperial Grandson—have the Hanlin Academy draft the edict at once!"
The Emperor spoke slowly, each word and sentence like a thousand-pound hammer striking everyone present.
"What?" Once this decree was issued, not only was Ma Shunde struck as though by thunder, but even Eunuch Zhao was stunned.
How was this possible?!
Ma Shunde knelt ramrod straight, his mouth hanging open.
Why was His Majesty not only not enraged, not immediately dealing with Prince Dai as he had dealt with the Crown Prince back then, but instead making Prince Dai the Imperial Grandson?
This simply defied logic—and everything he had always known about His Majesty!
Could it be that His Majesty had regretted it long ago? The Crown Prince's death had made His Majesty regret it, which was why he was investing