Chapter Five: The Pace of Progress
Yexiang was there, motionless with a furrowed brow, as if he had encountered some distressing matter. Li Lan gently lifted her hand to stroke Yexiang's forehead and softly said: "Your Highness, if you have anything on your mind, please share it with me! Although I'm just a woman, I can also help Your Highness come up with a plan."
Ye Xiang's heart was moved at this moment, is this really a woman! He gently pulled up Li Ran's small hand and softly said: "I'm a man, how can I tell my own woman about my worries?" Gently embracing Li Ran in his arms, Ye Xiang found himself liking this woman even more.
After a while, Li Lan slowly raised her head and smiled at Ye Xiang: "Your Highness, are you hungry? I'll go find something for you to eat!" She then got up from her seat.
Subconsciously touching his own belly, Ye Xiang found that the food he ate in the morning had not been digested yet. He shook his head and said: "This palace is still not hungry. By the way, has the coronation ceremony ended? Has Father Emperor already ascended to the throne?"
"Your Highness, the coronation ceremony has ended and the imperial edict appointing you as the Crown Prince has been issued. The Emperor also said that Li Xuan, the palace maid from the Western Palace, and the Crown Prince are his beloved people, and he hopes that Your Highness and the Empress can move to the Qianqing Palace." Li Lan's voice was filled with joy, finally her dream of entering the palace had come true, and now that she had gained this man's favor, she might have a chance to ascend to that position.
"What day is today? What is the emperor's year?" Ye Xiang still had some reluctance in his heart, and he really didn't know what to do if it was true.
He looked up and glanced at the crown prince Li Ran on the bed, feeling that this crown prince seemed to be somewhat wrong. Others would have heard that they had become the crown prince and would probably jump with joy, but why did this crown prince look a bit afraid? These words could only be thought of in his heart and couldn't be said out loud no matter what. After hesitating for a moment, he simply responded: "Your Highness, today is August 1st, His Majesty ascended to the throne and changed the era to Tai Chang."
Li Ye Xiang glanced at him and nodded slightly, waving his hand: "You have something to do, go busy! The palace wants to sleep for a while, you come back to call the palace at dinner time." At this time, Ye Xiang really wanted to calm down and think carefully.
Li Lan made a bow and then backed out, coming to the gate he saw two eunuchs standing outside the door, and instructed: "Go find Li Gonggong, let him come to my house." After finishing speaking, he walked away without looking back.
The little eunuch naturally did not dare to disobey Li Lan's orders. Until today, Li Lan was just a small maid in the palace, but because she was left by the Crown Prince, these eunuchs also did not dare to be disrespectful. However, Li Lan had not been favored before, which made the little eunuch not very afraid. But now, Li Lan not only gained the favor of the Crown Prince, but also gained it greatly. Moreover, at this time, there was only one woman by the Crown Prince's side. If she could give birth to a son for the Crown Prince, that position would be hard to shake off.
At this time, Ye Xiang was lying on the bed and sighing lightly. What's going on? As a member of his own family, he understood his own affairs. Ye Xiang was just a student at a third-rate university, not to mention being an emperor, but even a student union official had never been done before. Although everyone dreamed of becoming an emperor, how did one actually become an emperor? Since coming to this world, Ye Xiang naturally didn't want to be a foolish and incompetent emperor.
Before crossing over, Ye Xiang wasn't a radical youth, but he also deeply resented that humiliating period in history. Now that he had arrived in this world, it seemed like he should do something to change all of this. But could he really? Wouldn't he just end up making the country even worse?
Just as Ye Xiang was at a loss, he suddenly heard the eunuch's shout from outside, "Li Xuan is here."
After hearing the shout, Ye Xiang covered himself with a quilt and closed his eyes to pretend to sleep. It's still best for Ye Xiang to do nothing now. As for this Li Xuan, Ye Xiang knew something about her - she was a woman who had always wanted to be an empress dowager, and Ye Xiang didn't have any good feelings towards her. But it wasn't just dislike before, now it's deep fear. The Tianqi Emperor almost became a puppet emperor back then because of this woman.
Li Xuan's servant is the nominal father of Ye Xiang, the most beloved wife, and also the real culprit who killed Tianqi Emperor's biological mother Wang Ruolan. For this ruthless woman, Ye Xiang is now naturally afraid.
Before long, the door of the room was pushed open and a noblewoman walked in, surrounded by eunuchs and palace maids. This person was naturally Li Xuan's consort.
Looking at Zhu Youxiao sleeping on the bed, Li Xuan's brow furrowed instantly. He turned his head to the eunuch behind him and said, "Li Jinzhong, didn't you say that His Highness was already awake? What's going on here?"
The Crown Prince Li Jinzhong on the bed also looked a bit at a loss, but he didn't lose his composure and said with a flattering tone: "Your Highness, it's possible that His Highness's body is too weak, he just woke up and fell asleep again."
"All he knows is sleeping, what else can this useless thing do?" Li Xuan's face sank slightly as she said loudly, then turned to the trembling palace maid behind her and said: "Go to Qianqing Palace, remind your Highness that after recovering from illness, move to Qianqing Palace." After finishing speaking, she swept her sleeves and left with the palace maid and Li Jinzhong.
It wasn't until the room was empty that Ye Xiang slowly opened his eyes, staring at the closed door as an inexplicable glow flickered in his eyes.
He lay down gently and slowly thought back to the history in his memory, Tai Chang Emperor ascended to the throne for 29 days before dying from the Red Pill case, one of the three great mysteries in Ming Dynasty history, followed by the Moving Palace case and then Ye Xiang became the emperor.
Yexiang's heart couldn't help but sink into contemplation, what should he do? Should he save that nominal father of his? After a brief moment of thought, Yexiang threw the idea to the back of his mind.
If Taichang Emperor didn't die, how could Ye Xiang become emperor? Becoming an emperor! Who in the world wouldn't want that?!
He let out a soft sigh, and Ye Xiang continued to make plans. What should he do next? Perhaps Ye Xiang should just go along with the course of history and do nothing, and after a month, he would be the Emperor, ruling over the world - what a wonderful feeling!
Reflecting on history, Ye Xiang knew that the next step would be the struggle between Li Xuan and the ministers. This woman who wanted to become Empress Lü's successor had to first become the empress herself. Historically, Li Xuan never became empress; what should she do to gain the greatest benefit?
Just as Ye Xiang was deep in thought, someone came into Li Lan's house. To be exact, it was an incomplete person, because this person was a eunuch.
Looking at the eunuch who walked in, Li Lan lightly paid her respects and said, "Uncle, you've arrived."
"In the future, don't look for me privately about anything. Our relationship must be kept secret. Your identity is different now, and we need to be more careful from now on." The eunuch sat lightly in his chair, his voice serious as he spoke to Li Lan: "The palace may be chaotic for a while, remember one thing - serve the crown prince well, he's the hope of our Li family. If something unexpected happens to me, you might still be able to save my life."
The eunuch stayed in Li Lan's house for a while and then left. This scene was not noticed by anyone in the vast imperial palace.
