At the tender age of eight, he was hastily dragged out and made emperor!

"We, your servants, take our leave!!"

Sounds echoed throughout the hall. Chu Ling, sitting on the throne, remained expressionless as he watched the people bow their heads and leave the main hall.

The one leading them was none other than Li Zhong!

The harsh reality rendered Chu Ling's plans futile.

From the Ten Princes' Palace Square in the east of the Imperial City, I rushed all the way to the Daxing Hall of the Yu Palace, hoping to find an opportunity to use Li Zhong as a breakthrough point and then learn about the inner court situation.

Regardless of the amount, it's always good to know something.

But as soon as he was ushered into the Daxing Hall and sat down on the throne, the crowd, led by Li Zhong, bowed respectfully and withdrew.

Inside the vast main hall, Chu Ling was now the only one left.

A sudden gust of wind rose outside the palace, and as the palace doors were slowly closed, some snow was blown into the palace. The snow that fell on the golden bricks quickly melted into water.

Chu Ling sat on the throne and looked around. What came into view were rows of gilded pillars, engraved with dragons and various other patterns. Chu Ling counted 108 gilded pillars. Even with hundreds of people gathered in this main hall, it probably wouldn't feel crowded at all.

Daxing Hall was the sleeping quarters of the Yu Dynasty emperors and was the most important of all the palaces and halls in the inner court. This main hall was where court officials were summoned, memorials were reviewed, and daily government affairs were handled.

Chu Ling was thinking about something. If the emperor's palace was so luxurious and covered such a vast area, then what must the entire Yu Palace and the imperial city be like? And how big must the capital of Yu be?

"The Yu Dynasty was powerful, at least on the surface."

Chu Ling frowned slightly, thinking to himself, "The territory under its jurisdiction is probably not small, otherwise, it would be difficult to gather enough materials to build this main hall."

With no one to serve him, Chu Ling could only rely on his own deductions.

Chu Ling's knowledge was limited to what he had learned before he was six years old, from his mother, some other people, and his own experiences. After he turned six, he moved out of the Yu Palace and went to live in the Tenth Prince's residence.

The Ten Princes' Mansions are not actually ten separate mansions; it's just a general term. Princes of the Yu Dynasty who had not yet taken up their fiefdoms and were over six years old would temporarily reside here.

The Ten Princes' Mansion has many residences.

Within the imperial city limits, the only one who could rival it was the Hundred Suns Academy.

"What's the point of thinking about these things?"

Thinking about all this, Chu Ling shook his head with a wry smile, a mocking smile on his lips. "Being chosen as the successor emperor, he was welcomed into the Daxing Palace with extremely high honors, but now, there isn't a single person here. Isn't this a bit too much of a defensive stance? Whose idea is this?"

Grand Empress Dowager?

The Queen Mother?

Queen?

Three figures appeared in Chu Ling's mind, but they were somewhat blurry, because he rarely left the residence after moving into the Tenth Prince's Mansion.

Emperor Taizong Wen once left the capital after his death.

There was one instance of a new emperor ascending the throne and appointing an empress.

At other times, Chu Ling rarely left the Tenth Prince's residence, because if he went out, he had to send someone to the Inner Palace to report, which was of no concern to others.

But for Chu Ling, it was a huge deal.

Without him.

Who told his mother to come from such a lowly background, and that her family had no influence in the court?

squeak~

As Chu Ling pondered, the tightly closed palace doors were slowly pushed open, and rows of eunuchs stood outside, their heads bowed, carrying various things in their hands.

"Please, Your Majesty, have your meal!!"

As Chu Ling looked closely, a voice rang out from outside the hall, followed by a movement of the crowd outside, with a continuous stream of eunuchs entering.

Chu Ling remained seated, watching the crowd enter. Li Zhong was not among them; instead, several middle-aged men were in charge of directing the process, which made Chu Ling frown.

Another group of strangers.

Now, Chu Ling is certain of one thing: someone is on guard against him. There is no one else but those three who can do this!

This is the inner court!

No matter how powerful the civil and military officials in the outer court are, they would never dare to interfere in the inner court, especially given the current special circumstances. Anyone who dares to do so would be incredibly foolish.

"retreat!!"

When Chu Ling came to her senses, she saw a dazzling array of dishes neatly arranged on the temporary dining table, while those who had entered the hall bowed their heads and retreated towards the outside.

"Wait a moment."

Chu Ling frowned.

puff~

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd in sight knelt down one by one, and then the leaders bowed to Chu Ling in unison.

"Please, Your Majesty, have your meal!"

Chu Ling frowned even more. He sensed a hint of fear in their words. He knew that no one in the Yu Palace wanted to have much contact with him now.

"Go back."

Chu Ling waved his hand and said.

"Here!"

The crowd responded in unison.

Under Chu Ling's gaze, the people who were kneeling prostrated themselves on the ground, crawling backward on their knees. Although they had done their utmost to be respectful, in Chu Ling's eyes, this was an insult!

In that instant, Chu Ling understood why some of the puppet emperors he knew of were willing to risk their lives to rebel!

lonely.

Utter loneliness!!

You are clearly the most important person, but you are trapped in one place. Everyone is very respectful to you, but you have no say in anything.

Like a canary in a gilded cage.

"As long as the emperor can ensure safety within ten steps, there is no solution. After all, he holds both power and influence, and both thunder and rain are expressions of imperial favor!"

Chu Ling clenched his fists, staring at the slowly closing palace doors. "But the key issue now is that within these ten steps, countless swords are already hanging, ready to fall at any moment!"

This is a puppet emperor.

Unable to control one's destiny.

Unable to control the overall situation.

Unable to control my preferences!

Despite the dazzling array of dishes laid out before Chu Ling, he had no appetite whatsoever.

Chu Ling had considered that he would face a terrible situation after becoming the successor emperor and taking control of the Daxing Palace, but he did not expect it to be this bad!

He has many ideas, but no opportunity to put them into practice.

Everyone feared him like a tiger, and none of them even surrendered. Under such circumstances, even if he wanted to break the deadlock, he couldn't even find a way out.

He was trapped and died.

"Is this how it will always be from now on?"

Chu Ling knew that becoming emperor meant he was destined to be all alone. After all, the special nature of imperial power meant that no one was allowed to touch it. With power in hand, he could make all the decisions!

This is what every emperor dreams of, and it also means that any emperor who wants to achieve something is destined to be lonely at heart.

But that kind of loneliness is completely different from the loneliness I'm experiencing right now!

This is not what Chu Ling wanted!

If things continue like this, Chu Ling feels he'll go crazy. He now suspects that someone is trying to drive him insane.

Reason told Chu Ling that he had to be patient at this moment. If he really went crazy, he wouldn't even be able to find out who was behind all of this.