Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1691 Etiquette
"By the way, was this photo just taken?" Shangluo asked Fu Yuanshan.

"The photo of the current emperor was indeed taken just before he left. How should I put it, his life has been full of good things lately, with one victory after another, and he has just resolved the biggest crisis in his life recently."

"Oh, indeed."

"What is it?" Victoria asked. "What is the biggest crisis?"

“It’s a matter of succession,” Shangluo replied. “After all, there’s a throne in his family to inherit.”

“Actually, this problem is much more serious than it seems to you all.” Fu Yuanshan lowered his voice. “To be honest, although the Empress Dowager didn’t say it, the Grand Empress Dowager mentioned the matter of taking a concubine in a roundabout way—she brought it up with the King of Joseon.”

"Huh?" Shangluo was hearing this news for the first time. "Why the King of Joseon?"

"Didn't you see before that the King of Joseon often does things that others are unwilling to do? The Grand Empress Dowager sought out the King of Joseon because he was a distant relative of hers, as she had a younger brother who married the King of Joseon's aunt; secondly, the King of Joseon's sister was indeed very beautiful."

"But in principle, marriage is not allowed, right? Even if there were consorts in Joseon hundreds of years ago, they didn't directly use Joseon princesses as consorts."

“That’s it. So this matter isn’t about arranging for the emperor to take concubines, but rather about subtly putting pressure on him.” Fu Yuanshan’s voice lowered further.

"Isn't this going to offend people too much?"

"The King of Joseon is the one who offends people; he's used to it. The Emperor knows this too, so when he sees the King of Joseon coming, he knows he's about to be offended—that's how things are in the royal family. If the Empress Dowager herself brings it up, then the matter becomes very serious. If the Grand Empress Dowager has spoken, then there's no room for discussion; it must be done. So, the two of them won't bring it up until the very last moment. After all, the Empress's face is very important; they really like this daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law, and they took a liking to her at first sight during the matchmaking. But the importance of the throne outweighs personal feelings, and when absolutely necessary, the things that must be done must be done."

This is the first step—to get the Joseon king, who isn't afraid to offend anyone, to come over and whisper a few words about just how adorable his lovely younger sister is. Even if this makes Joo Seon-hee realize that someone is trying to put him in a bad light, he won't be too angry, and the rift can be mended.

If we move to the next step, it will be his real relatives, like his cousin, who will come over and whisper among themselves.

Ministers would not be involved in this step. It was a rule that the empress dowager should not interfere in politics, and that there should be a physical separation between officials and the empress dowager. This was a political consensus that none of the parties would violate.

However, the emperor's family affairs are also a form of politics. Therefore, by the third step, the court officials wouldn't need the Empress Dowager to urge them; they would begin to offer their opinions themselves. Only when the Empress Dowager and the Grand Empress Dowager had to intervene and press the issue would it be a matter of using filial piety as leverage—at this point, both sides would lose face. Because if filial piety had to be specifically brought up, it would be considered unfilial, which would be extremely undignified.

Thankfully, none of this happened; the matter stopped at the very first step.

Zhu Xianxi smiled. He was now a winner in life, having encountered all the good things.

"But speaking of your sister," Fu Yuanshan looked at Shang Luo, "I'm not pressuring you, I just wanted to ask how things are going between you and the Princess?"

"We've been going on blind dates."

"I know you're on a blind date. I'm wondering, is this just a polite blind date, or are you actually taking things to the next level?"

"Well, I can't really say." "Can't really say? So it's just a polite blind date, right?"

"That's not entirely wrong."

"That's right."

Shangluo remained silent, because it seemed that this was indeed the case.

“Alright.” Fu Yuanshan bowed slightly. He was considerably taller than Shang Luo, and when he lowered his head, he was level with Shang Luo. “I have something to remind you of. We conducted some prenatal examinations on the Crown Prince—the Crown Prince who hasn’t been born yet. Would you like to hear the results?”

Shangluo nodded.

"The results were as we predicted: the child of a celestial being must be a celestial being. If it's not a celestial being, then the child cannot be born. This was also confirmed in the prenatal examinations of other people. Therefore, it is foreseeable that our birth rate will experience a huge decline in the future. So the question is, Shangluo, do you think you can really have a child when you are ready?"

"Huh? Is that really the case?"

"So, prepare as soon as possible, or it will be too late once you've actually ascended. This news has already spread, and those who are still of childbearing age are rushing to have as many children as possible. Once you've ascended, who knows when you'll be able to have another one—that's why the Emperor is smiling so broadly. He's practically walked through the gates of hell. Everyone else can plan ahead, but he can't. There can be many crown princes, but there must be one."

Shangluo glanced at Zhu Xianxi's smile again—now he understood completely.

The crown prince was a crucial link in the feudal order. If the position of crown prince was not filled for a long time, then Zhu Xianxi and his wife would face endless pressure to get it done.

Wow, so he beat the level by perfectly timing it? No wonder he was smiling so broadly.

"So, Shangluo," Fu Yuanshan said in a deep voice, "have you thought it through? We actually talked to Zhu Ling before we came, and she was hesitant and wouldn't give us an answer. But if you change your mind, I don't think she'll have any objections."

Fu Yuanshan was so anxious that he started saying Zhu Ling's name directly.

“Please wait a moment,” Victoria stepped forward. “Shangluo cannot have offspring.”

"Why?" Fu Yuanshan asked. "Do you have any objections?"

"It's not a matter of opinion, it's magic. When Shangluo accepted the power of the Roman king, he also accepted the fate of the god-king at the same time. The god-king will die at the hands of the god's son, and Shangluo's child will definitely kill him."

"Doesn't your system include a 'crown prince'? Wouldn't having a crown prince suffice?"

"No, that's true," Apollonia replied. "This order only had a co-emperor, a crown prince who shared power; it didn't specifically leave room for the emperor's sons. Because Rome was technically a republic. 'Anyone who claims to be king can be killed'—that was Roman tradition. Therefore, all the systems of the Roman emperors were just word games, to avoid the use of the term 'king.'"

(End of this chapter)