They are all concubines, so of course they choose the future emperor.

Dramatic changes in the Eastern Palace.

No one expected that the prince would be suddenly poisoned.

Fortunately, he hadn't gone far, and the imperial physician from Yi Qiu Palace hadn't left either.

After the imperial physician felt his pulse, his face turned pale with fright, and he hurriedly shouted for someone to call for the hospital official.

Although he is an imperial physician, he is better at childbirth and infant care. Detoxification is not his field!

He prayed silently, hoping it was not too late.

But his prayers were in vain.

When the messenger arrived, the prince was already breathing out more than breathing in, his lips were black, and his skin was strangely pale.

The doctor bled and poisoned the prince, but it had no effect.

Li Ce and Jiang Wanyue rushed over immediately, but they only saw the envoy with a look of pity on his face.

"I am guilty..."

The sheriff knelt down.

Li Ce stumbled.

"Prince, he..."

The envoy took a deep breath and reported truthfully.

"The poison that the Crown Prince has been poisoned with is something I have never seen before, and it takes effect very quickly. Before I arrived, Doctor Chen had already induced vomiting and bled the Crown Prince, but it didn't stop it."

Li Ce was furious and punched the door hard.

"I don't believe it! Call all the doctors in the Imperial Hospital and save the prince for me! Otherwise, I will bury the entire Imperial Hospital with you!"

The dean trembled and wanted to explain.

Jiang Wanyue glanced at him and shook her head slightly.

The court official shut up.

Jiang Wanyue helped the trembling Li Ce to sit aside.

"emperor."

Li Ce suddenly grabbed her hand.

"Wan'er...Ye'er won't..."

His voice was hoarse and he couldn't continue.

Jiang Wanyue sighed softly, reached out and gently stroked Li Ce's back, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Your Majesty, please at least go see Ye'er for the last time!"

Li Ce's whole body stiffened.

"Your Majesty, you are very familiar with the medical skills of the hospital envoy. If even he can't cure the poison, who else in the Imperial Hospital can? I am also very sad that Ye'er has suffered such a disaster. After all, I watched him grow up and he has always been filial to me."

As Jiang Wanyue spoke, two tears fell from her eyes.

"But we can't let Ye'er die with regrets, Your Majesty, the person Ye'er cares about most is you."

Li Ce's lips trembled, he stood up with the help of the table, and walked inside step by step.

He saw Li Chengye, his eldest son, lying on the bed.

At this moment, Li Chengye was only breathing his last breath, but he still kept his eyes open and looked towards the door.

Seeing Li Ce coming, Li Chengye opened his mouth, not knowing how many words he wanted to say, but in the end, he only uttered two words.

"Father..."

Li Ce held his hand.

"Don't worry, Ye'er, your father will definitely avenge you."

Li Chengye spoke again: "Child...Fan..."

Jiang Wanyue stood aside and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.

"Don't worry, Ye'er, the Crown Princess and her unborn baby will be fine."

After hearing this, Li Chengye finally felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief.

This was his last breath.

After that, he closed his eyes and never woke up again.

The prince died suddenly, and the court was shocked.

Li Ce ordered the entire Eastern Palace to be sealed off that day and sent people to investigate the cause of the prince's death.

It was discovered in just two days.

The ones who poisoned were the maids and cooks of Yi Qiu Palace.

The cook was a Jie ethnic group member, and he used a secret poison from Jie ethnic group. There was no antidote, and it had never been seen in the Central Plains, so even the hospital envoy could not cure it.

As for the maid, she was originally a palace servant of the Eastern Palace. She was subdued by Yun Lan and was wholeheartedly working for her master.

She didn't actually want to poison the prince.

She was originally targeting the Crown Princess.

My master gave birth to a prince, but Prince Dingbei died suddenly. If I want to keep everything, I must not let the Crown Princess give birth to a son.

So, the maid poisoned the Crown Princess' tea.

But she never expected that the Crown Princess did not drink the tea.

All this seems to be just an accident.

Yun Lan was not aware of this. Fu Nian was already dead and no one would tell them to do anything, but this maid acted on her own.

Li Ce seemed to have gone mad. He dragged out all the people in the Eastern Palace and beheaded them.

The heads of the maid and the cook were hung at the gate of the East Palace for many days.

In the entire Eastern Palace, only the Crown Princess and a few people around her were left.

If Jiang Wanyue hadn't taken action, I'm afraid the people around her would not have been saved.

The Crown Princess had someone reveal the news of Fu Nian's death to Yun Lan, and the news was also discovered. Li Ce hated her deeply, and if she hadn't been pregnant, she would probably have been killed.

The Crown Princess was terrified.

As soon as she closed her eyes, she saw the poisoned prince, the blood all over the floor of the East Palace, and countless wronged souls.

Seeing this, Jiang Wanyue took her to Fenglai Palace to stay temporarily.

At all costs, she had to protect the baby in her belly.

As for the child born by Yun Lan, Jiang Wanyue found a reliable person and took the child to the original Prince's Mansion, which was formerly the Prince Jing's Mansion, for care.

We can't continue living in the East Palace. It's too bloody there and it's not good for the children.

Li Ce killed too many people, but at least he should not be branded as someone who killed his own grandson.

As for the child's future...

No matter whether the Crown Princess is carrying a boy or a girl, this child must not be kept.

The East Palace fell silent.

Li Ce fell ill.

Losing a son in middle age, and the one who died was the son he loved most, even Li Ce could not bear it.

Li Ce fell and the crown prince passed away. The court could not be without a leader for a day. At this time, Jiang Wanyue stood up.

Jiang Wanyue was busy taking care of Li Ce while handling court affairs.

Naturally, there are also voices of opposition.

But Li Ce immediately scolded several ministers who opposed him, demoted some and punished others.

With his support, Jiang Wanyue was able to do things more smoothly.

She first removed the Minister of the Court and appointed Wang Jun as the new Minister of the Court.

Then Liang Gaosheng was sent out of the palace and replaced by Chang Xin, the head of Fenglai Palace.

As for the court, there were not many changes.

A month later, the court stabilized.

It just didn't last long.

It was thought that once Fu Nian died, Northern Xinjiang would be stable, but no one expected that Fu Nian still had a backup plan.

As soon as he died, some people secretly left the base.

In March, the Dingling people from the northwest suddenly moved south and raided the surrounding borders.

Their leader, Tiele, led a cavalry unit and after capturing a city, they continued to move eastward. It seemed that they were going to break the defense line of the northern border of the Great Zhou.

At this time in the northern border, although the border troops were still there, they were leaderless.

There was endless quarrel in the court over who to send.

At this moment, Li Chengxu suddenly broke into the hall and volunteered to go to the battle to kill the enemy for his father and guard the border.

But was opposed by Jiang Wanyue.

She has already planned a future for her son.

But, with Li Chengxu's stubborn personality, how could he be obedient?

He took off the Seven Dragon Crown that represented the prince.

"Please forgive my son for being unfilial."

Jiang Wanyue closed her eyes.

In the end, she agreed.

But Li Chengxu is young after all, and no one feels safe letting him go alone.

Jiang Wanyue thought about it and decided to send the old and young generals of the Fan family to go together.

Commander Fan had been injured before, and his leg was damaged, leaving him with a chronic illness, so he could no longer fight in the battlefield. But his vision and experience were still there, and with him in command, Jiang Wanyue could feel more at ease.

Li Chengxu did not return for several years.

The Dingling people were far more adept at fighting than the Tujie people. Moreover, they seemed to have known the defense of the Great Zhou in advance and had insight into its weaknesses.

It goes without saying that this must have been revealed by Fu Nian.

Li Ce deeply regretted his original decision. He should not have agreed to Fu Nian's surrender. This was simply raising a tiger to cause harm.

But what can we do now?

Li Ce was deeply trapped in self-blame and regret, his health deteriorated and he never recovered.

September.

Princess Fan Linling, who had been living in Fenglai Palace, finally reached the time to give birth.

As soon as Jiang Wanyue got the news, she immediately put down everything she was doing, rushed back to Fenglai Palace, and dismissed the palace servants of Fenglai Palace, leaving only a few trusted people.

The two midwives were busy inside, while Jiang Wanyue, Xing'er and Mi'er were waiting anxiously outside.

After a day and a night, Fan Linling finally gave birth.

The midwife came out trembling with fear, holding the swaddling clothes.

"My lady, it's a little princess."

Jiang Wanyue let out a breath, with no sign of surprise on her face.

As early as five months ago, the imperial physician had privately reported to her that Fan Linling's baby was most likely a daughter.

Prince, oh prince, you have really bad luck.

Jiang Wanyue sighed and took the swaddling clothes.

Mi'er bit her lip and said, "My queen, what should we do now? If it's really a little princess... should we bring the child of Tujie blood back?"

The people around Jiang Wanyue all knew the truth about the assassination, and they all hated the child with the blood of Tujie.

Now the emperor has not appointed another crown prince. That child, as the crown prince's only son, has a chance to succeed to the throne!

Although the Crown Prince is dead, the forces that used to depend on the Eastern Palace have not dissipated, and they are all waiting for the Crown Princess to give birth!

Jiang Wanyue had already thought of this possibility.

She patted the swaddling clothes gently, her tone calm.

"Spread the word and announce to the world that the Crown Princess has given birth successfully. Let the Ministry of Personnel draft an imperial decree to confer the title of Prince of Yong'an."

Mi'er and others' pupils trembled.

"Prince?" Xing'er lowered her voice, "Isn't she the Princess?"

Jiang Wanyue glanced around and spoke in a slightly cold tone.

"It's the prince."

Everyone trembled and responded in unison.

"Yes, ma'am."

Jiang Wanyue looked at Mi'er and said, "I'll leave the sealing matter to you."

A hint of murderous intent flashed in Mi'er's eyes, and she nodded solemnly.

Soon, the imperial edict was issued.

As soon as Prince Yong'an was born, the somewhat turbulent court soon stabilized again.

As for the child born by Yunlan, Jiang Wanyue had also made arrangements.

She had the child sent to the Dingbei Palace at the border and given to Qixia to raise, so that the child would inherit the title of King Dingbei in the future.

Those more than one million Tujie people must not fall into the hands of the Dingling people.

This child was born to Yun Lan, and can be considered as half of Fu Nian's descendant. For Tu Jie, he is more qualified than others to be adopted.

In this way, the Tujie people can be appeased so that they will not rebel against the Zhou Dynasty because of the Dingling people.

In the blink of an eye, it was spring of the following year.

The Dingling people pretended to be defeated and lured Li Chengxu, who was leading the troops at the time, into the deep, where they trapped and killed him.

No one survived.

When this news came back, everyone in the government was shocked.

Jiang Wanyue was still able to hold on, but Li Ce was hit hard and fell heavily.

Three months later, Li Ce summoned his ministers and read out the imperial edict.

The crown prince died early, and the Empress's legitimate son's life and death is unknown. Who will the Emperor choose to succeed him?

At this moment, the ministers had the answer.

Chang Xin held the imperial edict and read it out in a rhythmic manner.

"Prince Yong'an is my eldest son and grandson. He was raised by the Queen and is very dear to me. After my death, Prince Yong'an will inherit the throne. Before his wedding, the Queen will temporarily assist him in government affairs. All matters will be handled by the Queen."

This imperial edict was dictated by Li Ce and was not reviewed by the Secretariat, so it was written in vernacular Chinese.

But the meaning is simple and clear.

Prince Yong'an?

Although he is young, his identity is the most suitable.

All the ministers had no objection, responded in unison, and knelt down to receive the order.

After everyone left, Li Ce held Jiang Wanyue's hand.

Jiang Wanyue turned around, sat beside him, and gently stroked his face.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will take care of everything for you. I will take good care of the children, Yong'an, and the court. You can go with peace of mind!"

Li Ce looked at her, with affection in his eyes.

"it is good."

After saying this last word, he died.

Jiang Wanyue just looked at him for a long time, then gently stroked his eyelids with trembling hands.

"Do not worry!"

She murmured softly, not knowing whether she was talking to Li Ce or to herself.

After the emperor passed away, his coffin was kept for 49 days. The whole country was in mourning and the entire capital was plunged into sorrow.

After the burial, Jiang Wanyue issued an edict, ordering the third prince to guard the mausoleum, and ordered the fifth prince to go to the northern border to continue guarding in place of Li Chengxu.

At the same time, the coronation ceremony was officially held.

The new emperor was young and could not stand yet, so Jiang Wanyue held him throughout the ceremony.

Inside the Tai Chi Hall.

The officials were divided into civil and military officials. Jiang Wanyue, wearing the queen's court dress and holding the young new emperor in her arms, walked up the steps step by step and came to the front of the dragon throne.

Then he turned around and sat down.

Chang Xin on the side shouted loudly.

"bye!"

All the civil and military officials knelt down.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you, Your Majesty, and Your Majesty the Queen Mother."

Jiang Wanyue stretched out her right hand, raised it horizontally, and waved it lightly.

"Flat body."