Who wants to learn sewing skills while dating?

One day in August, Chu Yun finally summoned all the children under the age of ten from the royal family to the palace.

Because not all members of the royal family lived in the capital, some lived outside the capital, so it took some time to summon these children to the palace.

In addition, in order to prevent those old ministers from making trouble, Chu Jun also asked someone to take the trouble to check the child's identity to prevent people with impure intentions from sneaking in, so that those ministers would not use bloodline as an excuse.

Only then did Chu Jun realize the inconvenience of this dynasty, which valued bloodline above all else. He wondered whether this royal bloodline was truly noble.

Mo Heng went to the scene with Chu Yun and was able to help Chu Yun with some advice.

It would be best if I could just pick a child I like this time.

If you are not satisfied with any of them, you can only choose a few more and train them for a while before making a decision.

Children under the age of ten should normally be noisy, but these children gathered in the imperial garden were very quiet. I guess they were taught by their parents and elders before entering the palace.

Chu Jun walked in front of the crowd and sat on a chair. The group of children then knelt on the ground in an orderly manner, and their etiquette was impeccable.

Some things need to be considered before the selection. The future crown prince cannot be a puppet without independent thinking. That would be irresponsible of Chu Jun to the millions of people in the Chu State.

Chu Jun sat in the main seat and kept observing these children. Through some detailed actions, he could roughly understand their temperaments, which was also one of his references in selecting people.

Suddenly, a little kid in the corner caught Chu Jun's attention.

The child has a pretty appearance, with fair skin, round eyes, and a chubby face. He is very cute.

Chu Jun observed carefully and found that the child was only about eight years old, but he could hold the pen very steadily and write with vigor and strength. When faced with the test questions, he only thought for a few seconds before answering them fluently.

Moreover, he rarely makes small movements, so he must be a steady child. He is considered to be one of the best performers among these children.

However, what caught Chu Jun's attention most was the child's appearance.

Chu Jun's gaze fell on the child's eyebrows and eyes. They looked very familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere.

Li Yu noticed that His Majesty's eyes were fixed on the child in the corner, so he whispered in His Majesty's ear, "Your Majesty, that child is the great-grandson of the late Emperor Taizong."

Chu Jun's mind turned slightly and he figured out the relationship.

This child is the grandson of his grandfather's brother, and can be considered his cousin, and is of the same generation as him.

However, the great-grandson of the late emperor was not closely related to him by blood, and was about to be out of the three generations, so he was arranged in a very corner by the person in charge.

Chu Jun has always had a good memory. He believed that he must have seen this face before, but he couldn't remember it for a moment.

It seemed like we had a quick glance and met each other a long time ago.

Although he didn't remember where he had seen her, Chu Jun did remember that pretty child.

When the exam was over, Chu Jun paid special attention to the child's test paper.

Excellent answer. Your thinking and logical abilities are far beyond what a ten-year-old should have.

Chu Yun looked at the child's name on the test paper.

Chu Guannan.

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At Prince Qi's residence, Chu Qi was already feeling very upset because he had been severely suppressed before.

Now, as soon as Chu Jun's new order came out, Chu Qi's anger could no longer be suppressed. He raged in front of all his subordinates: "The emperor actually chose his successor from those useless people in the side branch. Where does my reputation as an orthodox emperor go?"

Yesterday, the emperor issued an edict to select a crown prince from the side branch, completely bypassing his brother, which was a complete slap in his face.

Moreover, the child that Chu Yun finally fell in love with was just the great-grandson of the late emperor, and their blood relationship was very distant.

How could someone with such bloodline be qualified to sit on the throne? Chu Jun might as well pass the throne to him!

"Once the crown prince is confirmed, there will be no voice in the court opposing the emperor." Someone spoke in panic. Their current situation was too bad.

Now that the emperor's power is consolidated, most of the ministers in the court, whether new or old, are on the side of the emperor.

The wings of these subordinates who followed behind King Qi were also broken.

If this continues, the only possible outcome may be that he will fall along with Prince Qi.

To make matters worse, someone else brought even worse news: "I've recently confirmed that the assassin we secretly infiltrated the palace is dead. He died of poisoning, and his body was found in a mass grave."

The people who were reporting did not dare to look at Prince Qi's expression and kept their heads very low.

When Chu Qi heard that the assassin was dead and he didn't know how long he had been dead, he felt even more uneasy.

He no longer knew what situation he was in.

After all, the emperor has not discovered their whereabouts yet and is only in the stage of secret investigation.

Or perhaps the emperor has already known about it, and everything he is doing now is just toying with them, playing tricks on them, and trying to eliminate them one by one like cat and mouse.

He also didn't know whether the small official who was abandoned by him in order to survive a few months ago betrayed him or revealed anything before his death.

However, when Prince Qi caught a glimpse of a young man sitting in the corner, he suddenly felt relieved.

Although the commoner surnamed Xue was of humble origin, his poison-making technique was indeed exquisite.

Chu Qi had sent someone to feed the abandoned son Xue Wei's poison in advance. Even the imperial physician could not figure out the cause of death, so it seemed that there should be no problem.

But Chu Yun now understood that they could no longer sit and wait for death. The longer they waited, the greater the possibility of their being exposed. It was better to strike as soon as possible: "Now that the Queen Mother has completely ceded power to the Emperor, we only need to get rid of Chu Yun, and everything will be fine."

There is no need to worry about the Queen Mother interfering. The throne is much easier to obtain than before.

Someone offered a suggestion: "Sir, the palace has been preparing for the October enthronement ceremony for the past month. The guards are bound to have more holes than usual. Why not send assassins into the palace during this time and kill the emperor directly?"

Chu Qi felt as if he was being helped by God. After all, his good brother was in a hurry to be crowned empress this year. The palace had been full of mixed people recently, and it was much easier for their people to get close to the emperor than usual.

Thinking of this, Chu Qi forgot his previous fear and began to fantasize about the future: "I am now the closest blood relative to the emperor in this royal family. Assisting an eight-year-old child of mixed blood to ascend to the throne, and the emperor's brother to the throne, I think the ministers in the court should have some thoughts."

"When the late emperor was alive, he favored you, sir. The ministers of the previous dynasty naturally knew who the legitimate heir to the throne was." Someone echoed with a flattering smile on his face.

These words touched Chu Qi's heart. He thought about how the throne, which was within his grasp, was taken by his simple-minded and useless brother just because of the legitimate son.

Ever since the succession of the throne, he felt as if a stone was pressing on his heart and he couldn't breathe.

Now, this big stone can finally be moved.