I just want to be a princess, no, you want to be a queen

On the palace road, Lu Mingyang heard the laughter around him and angrily shook off someone's hand.

"why are you laughing?"

Chu Mingzheng took the delicate little hand again and said with emotion: "Only today do I realize how much Madam has been lenient with me."

Lu Mingyang snorted coldly: "Who made someone useless?"

"That's right," Chu Mingzheng agreed. "From now on, please, Madam, please protect this useless man like your husband."

"Stop talking nonsense." Lu Mingyang kicked the man.

Chu Mingzheng picked him up and held him high.

"What are you doing!" Lu Mingyang hurriedly slapped the person.

"Climb high and look far, let my wife see the outside world."

As soon as Chu Mingzheng finished speaking, Lu Mingyang saw a eunuch jogging towards him, running in a panic.

Zheng Hao ran up to the two of them, panting heavily, "Your Highness, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty is awake."

……

Outside the Qinzheng Hall, all the officials knelt and shouted "Long live the emperor!" But no one dared to go in.

Inside the Qinzheng Palace, Chu Mingzheng knelt before the bed and said in a loud voice, "Your Majesty, Concubine Song instructed Imperial Physician Ge to administer a slow-acting poison to murder Your Majesty. She has been apprehended and brought to justice. Your Majesty, please make your decision."

Although he said this, Concubine Song had already been brought up.

The palace doors were wide open, and Concubine Song knelt on the ground, cursing loudly. It wasn't entirely because of her promise to Lu Mingyang, but also to vent the resentment she had accumulated over the years.

For so many years, she has been wholeheartedly following the emperor and has never cultivated her own power, only hoping that one day her son can ascend to the throne.

I didn't expect the emperor to be so heartless and ungrateful. I and the Song family are just pawns in his hands, used to take the blame and to be discarded.

"Father, your daughter has avenged you."

Concubine Song pulled out the golden hairpin from her head and tried to stab the emperor. Of course, she couldn't hit him at all, and two imperial guards held her to the ground.

Chu Mingzheng said again: "Your Majesty, please make the decision!"

The emperor looked at the bed curtains, his empty eyes gradually becoming focused, and suddenly he smiled weakly: "Noble Concubine Song is sentenced to death, the Song family..."

"Your Majesty!" Chu Mingzheng interrupted the emperor and said, "Duke Song died fighting for his country. I beg Your Majesty to show leniency in his punishment."

The emperor smiled and said, "Then leave it to my son to deal with."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Chu Mingzheng had Concubine Song taken away. He knelt down again, kowtowed, and said in a loud voice, "Your Majesty, please issue an edict of apology to comfort the 30,000 soldiers who died outside Yanmen Pass, to comfort the souls of our loyal ministers in heaven, and to comfort the hearts of the people of the world."

Immediately, the sound of thunder and lightning was heard outside the hall.

"Your Majesty, please issue an edict of apology."

The emperor pulled himself up by the bed frame. He had already accepted his defeat, but he did not expect that it would be even worse than losing.

"Huang'er, come here."

"Yes!" Chu Mingzheng stood up and walked towards the emperor.

The emperor leaned over to Chu Mingzheng's ear and said with all his strength, "Don't even think about it."

Then, a mouthful of blood spurted out, spraying on Chu Mingzheng's cheek. Chu Mingzheng glanced sideways at the man he had called "father" for twelve years.

The emperor snorted and said, "I am the emperor of Dasheng, and I will do no wrong until my death. No matter how much you don't want to be my son, if you want to sit on the throne, you must call me father and wear mourning clothes for me."

Even now, he still didn't think he was wrong and still maintained his imperial dignity. Chu Mingzheng smiled.

"Your Majesty, I have been demoted to a commoner by you. How dare I be your son?"

The emperor was surprised and pointed to the eunuchs serving in the room: "Then why do they call you Your Highness the Crown Prince?"

"Then you'll have to ask your majesty, your mother." Chu Mingzheng didn't want to say more and waved for Eunuch Su to come forward. Eunuch Su stepped forward and whispered in the emperor's ear.

The emperor's face became paler and paler, he spat out another mouthful of blood, and his fingers trembled.

"You, you rebellious son."

"Your Majesty, please write it!" Chu Mingzheng waved Eunuch Su aside, walked over, and whispered in the emperor's ear: "Otherwise, if I accidentally find the accession edict left by the late emperor, will Your Majesty still be buried in the imperial mausoleum?"

"You!" The emperor slapped Chu Mingzheng in the face.

All the eunuchs in the hall knelt. Eunuch Su, who had served His Majesty for many years, had finally developed some affection for him. He kowtowed, "Your Highness, Your Majesty has just woken up and is still a little confused. I beg Your Highness to forgive me, please forgive me."

But it is so ridiculous for the king to apologize to his minister.

The emperor was angry, his body shaking uncontrollably, and perhaps also afraid.

"Since Your Majesty is unwilling, then just take a good rest." Chu Mingzheng turned and left.

"Wait!" The emperor was frightened. "I'll write it."

"What to write?" Chu Mingzheng asked again knowing the answer.

The emperor slapped the bed and said in a trembling voice, "I will write an edict of apology."

Chu Mingzheng said loudly: "The person in charge of the cabinet should come in quickly. His Majesty will issue an edict of apology."

A group of Grand Secretaries entered the cabinet with a flurry of activity. Originally, they wouldn't have needed so many people to write, but it was a spectacular sight. The emperor, his face gloomy, began to speak.

"I, with my humble virtue, have inherited the throne..."

"Your Majesty, please speak louder." Chu Mingzheng reminded.

The emperor gritted his teeth and continued, "I, with my humble virtue, have inherited the throne, wishing to bring peace and prosperity to the world and its people. However, since I ascended the throne, I have committed three sins. One is..."

The emperor's voice echoed throughout the palace.

Lu Mingyuan stood in the corridor, holding her sister's hand, tears streaming down her face. Lu Mingyang looked distressed and raised his hand to wipe her tears, "Eldest sister, it's good, why are you crying?"

"It's a good thing." She lived just to wait for this day. Lu Mingyuan choked up: "It's a pity that Aze is not here."

Lu Mingyang said, "The edict of repentance will be announced to the world. Third brother will see more than us."

Lu Mingyuan hugged his sister, choking with sobs and unable to speak.

The edict of apology was quickly completed under the emperor's dictation. Chu Mingzheng then had the cabinet ministers stand in the corridor and read it aloud before allowing all officials to leave. The edict was immediately distributed to all prefectures and counties.

The emperor was coughing up blood, and the bed was completely red.

Chu Mingzheng took a look and ordered, "Summon the imperial physician to see His Majesty."

The emperor stopped him and said, "I want to talk to you alone."

Chu Mingzheng nodded and asked everyone to leave.

The emperor looked at his son, who looked so much like his younger brother, and sighed, "You look down on me in your heart. You think I'm incompetent, cowardly, and narrow-minded."

Chu Mingzheng said coldly: "Your Majesty thinks he is."

The emperor laughed, "That's because you've never sat in my position. Once you do, you'll realize that you have no control over the world. Everyone is selfish."

Chu Mingzheng sneered: "Your Majesty is incompetent and immoral, yet you blame the people of the world."

"I admit you have some abilities, but in the eyes of the world, you are nothing." The emperor snorted coldly, "Do you think that my repeated requests for peace with the Xiongnu mean I can't deal with a mere Xiongnu?"

"The Xiongnu is just a visible wolf. There are countless snakes, insects, and poisonous ants that will slowly eat away at your flesh and blood. There are also countless pigs and dogs that are silently staring at the wolf, trying to imitate him and wait for an opportunity to strike."

"Being an emperor is not as easy as you think."

"Even if I made mistakes, I have at least protected the country that our ancestors founded."

"And you, sooner or later, will pay the price for your arrogance today."

Chu Mingzheng stared at the dying emperor in front of him. He had never thought that he was fit to be an emperor before, but now, he could actually see some imperial aura in him.

"Your son has taken note of this. Thank you, father." Chu Mingzheng knelt down and kowtowed to him for the last time.