Xue Daoming stared blankly at Li Chenzhou, unsure for a moment how to face everything around him.
Li Chenzhou said respectfully, "Your Majesty must take care of your imperial health. Please restrain your grief and accept what has happened."
"Please restrain your grief, Your Majesty!" At Li Chenzhou's words, the ministers seemed to awaken suddenly from a dream, dropping to their knees before Xue Daoming one after another. Xue Daohong was dead, and Xue Shengjing had fled. The person with the strongest claim to the imperial throne was now Xue Daoming. Moreover, the Eldest Princess had produced the late emperor's testamentary edict, which declared that the throne had belonged to the Prince of Justice all along. It was only because the Grand Empress Dowager doted on Xue Daohong that she had deceived everyone above and below her, fabricating an edict to help him ascend the throne. Xue Daoming's accession now merely returned something to its rightful owner.
Xue Daoming surveyed the people kneeling before him. This was a feeling he had never experienced before-the feeling of standing high above everyone else. He had persevered and struggled for it, and now his wish had finally come true. Yet an endless emptiness suddenly filled his heart, for reasons even he could not understand. Only after a long while did he regain his senses and say solemnly, "Rise, my ministers..."
Xiang Liren picked up the bloodstained edict from the pool of blood. Looking at Xue Daohong, who lay on the ground with his eyes still open in death, he felt a surge of guilt. When he raised his head, however, he met Li Chenzhou's icy gaze. Startled, he lost his grip and dropped the edict again. The Eldest Princess, Xue Lingjun, walked over and picked it up, saying softly, "An edict this important