The newlyweds were replaced with new wives, and the medical concubine entered the palace and killed

During this time, Zhan Qinyi and Kou Shijun stayed at the Jingwang Mansion. Emperor Tianqi also visited the Jingwang Mansion several times, but Zhan Qinyi never saw him. Instead, Emperor Tianqi had Long Shang drive him around a few times.

He had originally planned to ask Long Shang for the car to drive, but when he heard that it would require fuel and that fuel was unavailable in Tianqi, he gave up on that idea.

Everything returned to normal. Nothing happened in the court, and Long Shang stopped attending court. He stayed at home with Gu Lingyue, and their days were peaceful and happy. Zhan Qinyi probably stopped giving Long Shang a hard time because she had avenged her great enemy.

As the year drew to a close, Gu Lingyue was more than six months pregnant. Everyone was busy with New Year preparations. Princess Yizhen finally agreed to the marriage between Yang Yanru and Chang Jinnuo, and Yang Yanru was sent back to the Yang family mansion.

On New Year's Eve, they cooked a lot of dishes and made dumplings. Emperor Tianqi also brought Gao Ming to Prince Jing's residence.

During the meal, Emperor Tianqi and Kou Shijun sat on either side of Zhan Qinyi. Their eyes met, neither willing to yield to the other, and they both tried to put food into Zhan Qinyi's bowl.

By this time, Zhan Qinyi's bowl was piled high with food.

Seeing this scene, everyone couldn't help but laugh. One of them was the retired emperor of Western Shu, and the other was the emperor of Tianqi. How could they be so childish!

Zhan Qinyi slammed her chopsticks on the table in anger, "You two, that's enough!"

After shouting, he looked at Emperor Tianqi with displeasure, "Why didn't you stay in your own palace? What are you doing here?"

Seeing Zhan Qinyi reprimanding Emperor Tianqi, Kou Shijun wore a gloating expression.

Emperor Tianqi rolled his eyes at Kou Shijun, ignoring the people around him, and said, "This is my son's residence. If he can stay here, why can't I?"

He spoke as if it were perfectly reasonable, without feeling that there was anything wrong with his behavior, leaving Zhan Qinyi speechless.

Long Shang ignored his father's childish behavior and kept serving Gu Lingyue food. Everyone else pretended not to hear and ate by themselves with their heads down.

And so, the Lantern Festival passed in the blink of an eye. Zhan Qinyi and Kou Shijun bid farewell to Long Shang and Gu Lingyue, preparing to leave Tianqi.

Gu Lingyue glanced at Long Shang, who remained silent, and asked, "Are you really not planning to stay?"

Zhan Qinyi shook her head, a rare smile appearing on her face.

“Shijun has sacrificed a lot for me, and I want to travel around with him while I’m still alive.”

Upon hearing this, Gu Lingyue stopped trying to persuade her and simply said, "Alright then, since you've made up your mind, it's fine to go out for a stroll. If you want to come back, you're welcome anytime."

Zhan Qinyi looked at Gu Lingyue's stomach, hesitated for a moment, then took off the bracelet from her wrist, gently took Gu Lingyue's hand with one hand, and placed the bracelet in Gu Lingyue's palm with the other hand.

“This was given to me by my mother, and I’ve always worn it. Now I’m giving it to you…” As she said this, she looked at the bracelet on Gu Lingyue’s wrist and realized that her bracelet wasn’t as good as the one on Gu Lingyue’s wrist. She felt a little uncomfortable, but since she had already said it and done it, she continued, “The child in your belly.”

Actually, she gave Gu Lingyue the bracelet as a way of apologizing to Gu Lingyue. She was indeed not good to this girl at first, but she was still willing to save her and Shi Jun.

Most importantly, she discovered that her son cared a lot about this girl.

She felt like a failure as a mother, and she hoped this girl could love her son properly in her place.

Gu Lingyue clearly saw the way Zhan Qinyi looked at her wrist just now. She didn't expect Zhan Qinyi to have such an awkward moment.

"Then I'll thank Grandma for the gift on behalf of my unborn baby."

Gu Lingyue's words indicate that she has accepted her mother-in-law and forgiven her for what she did to her in the beginning.

Zhan Qinyi's eyes were a little moist, and she nodded, "Mm."

Kou Shih-Chun, who was standing to the side, was also happy for Chan Chin-Yi, and a gentle smile appeared in his eyes.

Long Shang was also very pleased. In any case, his mother had finally accepted Yue'er.

Although he knew he didn't need to care about his mother's opinion of Gu Lingyue, he was still very happy that Zhan Qinyi could accept Gu Lingyue.

So he looked at Kou Shijun and said seriously, "Take good care of my mother."

"Don't worry. I treat him like my own eyes," Kou Shijun said gently to Zhan Qinyi.

Not long after Zhan Qinyi and Kou Shijun left, Emperor Tianqi rushed to the Jing Prince's residence and anxiously asked Long Shang, "Where is your mother?"

"I'm leaving," Long Shang said calmly.

Emperor Tianqi was taken aback for a moment, then said, "How could you let your mother leave?"

Long Shang ignored him and took Gu Lingyue's hand, walking towards the courtyard where they lived.

He couldn't even stop it himself, so why should I help him stop it?

At this moment, Long Shang felt particularly regretful that he hadn't taken Gu Lingyue with him when he left.

Just after they returned to the courtyard, Emperor Tianqi hurriedly took Gao Ming back to the palace.

They never expected that after returning home, Emperor Tianqi would make a decision, and the next morning at court, Gao Ming would read aloud the imperial edict of succession personally written by Emperor Tianqi.

"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: I have deeply benefited from the late Emperor's favor, but now I am old and frail, and fear I am unable to shoulder the heavy responsibility. Therefore, I abdicate in favor of Prince Jing (Long Shang). I hope that all my ministers will assist Prince Jing in ascending the throne as soon as possible and governing the country well. So be it—"

After Gao Ming finished speaking, all the civil and military officials were shocked.

Putting aside the fact that the Emperor is in good health and does not look old and frail, let's talk about passing the throne to Prince Jing. There was no indication from the past that the Emperor preferred Prince Jing as the future crown prince. How could he just pass the throne to him like that?

Some ministers were skeptical and couldn't help but ask, "Eunuch Gao, are you sure the Emperor has passed the throne to Prince Jing?"

Gao Ming snorted and handed the imperial edict to the nearest minister. “I believe all of you can recognize His Majesty’s handwriting. Please take a look and see if it is His Majesty’s handwriting. If you still have any doubts, please ask the Emperor Emeritus yourself.”

No one dared to do that. Last time, they almost lost their lives because they listened to Shen's words. Who would dare to act recklessly again this time? Besides, they knew how capable Prince Jing was. The reason they asked this question was because they knew that if Prince Jing ascended the throne, their original hope of sending their own family members to the palace would be dashed.

What if Prince Jing finds out they don't want him to inherit the throne and holds a grudge against them later?

Since Long Shang did not attend the morning court session, all the ministers began to congratulate Tang Zhenhong, saying, "Congratulations, Lord Tang!"

"congratulations!"

Tang Zhenhong simply nodded slightly, but in his heart he wondered if Yue'er had ever mentioned that the Emperor intended to pass the throne to Prince Jing. Did they even know about it?

In truth, he didn't really want Long Shang to sit on the throne. He felt that his Yue'er was living a good life and there was no need for her to become empress.

He didn't doubt Long Shang's feelings for Gu Lingyue; his main concern was that once Long Shang became emperor, he would be powerless to control many things and ultimately let down his beloved Yue'er.

Gu Shuo was standing there too. Everyone kept congratulating Tang Zhenhong, but no one came to say a word to him. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't upset, but he also clearly understood that it was all his own fault.

Gu Shuo sighed inwardly, then quietly slipped out.

Meanwhile, in the Prince Jing's residence...

Long Shang and Gu Lingyue also learned that Emperor Tianqi had passed the throne to Long Shang.

Gu Lingyue was somewhat amused and exasperated, while Long Shang had a gloomy expression.

He originally planned to take his wife back to his fiefdom after Yue'er gave birth, but now, his father didn't even say goodbye and left him with an imperial edict to pass on the throne before going after his mother.

What kind of nonsense is this? Does he think he can still win back his mother's favor? Even if his mother forgives him, there's no way they'll ever get back together.

Although Long Shang was very unhappy, his father had already left the capital, so he couldn't very well send someone to bring his father back, could he?

Seeing that Long Shang was unhappy, Gu Lingyue reached out and tugged at his sleeve, comforting him, "Alright, it's just what I wanted to do as an empress, to have some fun."

Long Shang knew that Gu Lingyue was trying to comfort him; his Yue'er actually hated being trapped the most.

He looked at Gu Lingyue apologetically and said, "I'm sorry to have troubled you!"

Gu Lingyue looked up at Long Shang and shook her head. "I am your wife. It is only right for husband and wife to share joys and sorrows. Besides, I don't feel wronged."

Long Shang gently put his arm around Gu Lingyue's shoulder, rested his head on the crook of her neck, and said in a muffled voice, "You have no idea how jealous I am of him."

He originally planned to stay with his wife, Yue'er, during her pregnancy, but now he's completely disrupted those plans.

Gu Lingyue didn't say anything more, but patted Long Shang's arm with one hand to comfort him.