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Upon hearing this, all the palace servants in the hall knelt down in fear, not daring to even raise their heads. Eunuch Liu also sighed deeply, feeling utterly powerless in the face of the current situation.

The emperor, exhausted, closed his eyes. The reason he had been hesitant to appoint an heir was that he did not believe his three sons were capable of shouldering this great responsibility.

Although the eldest son, Song Chengyan, was quiet and seemingly obedient and respectful, he was actually the most scheming. The second son, Song Yunming, was nothing more than a spoiled brat who relied on his maternal clan's power and was arrogant and ignorant of his own limitations. If the throne were handed to him, the Zhou clan would probably wreak havoc on the court. As for the third son, Song Shiyou…

The emperor felt increasingly troubled by his youngest son. Apart from his talent in leading troops into battle, he was utterly useless. After this analysis, he felt that it would be inappropriate to pass the throne to anyone.

As for himself, the emperor gave a bitter smile. In all these years since he ascended the throne, he had been mediocre and could only be described as having neither merit nor demerit. He was hardly a good emperor.

But now he knows his days are numbered, and his three sons are all eyeing the throne. If he were to designate an heir, he might be able to avoid some infighting among his own flesh and blood. Unfortunately, none of his three sons are particularly outstanding, and he has always been indecisive. For a moment, he really doesn't know who to choose.

"Is there any news about Prince Jing?"

The emperor, still struggling to stay awake, asked another question. Eunuch Liu quickly replied, "Your Majesty, we sent people to look for the prince a few days ago, but there has been no news yet. Perhaps he hasn't been found..."

Upon hearing this, the old emperor closed his eyes again, feeling quite uneasy.

In the past, with Song Jinglan around, he could help him come up with ideas for various things, but now that he has gone to Jiangnan, he has not returned for a long time, and no one knows what his current situation is.

At this moment, Song Jinglan was being stopped at the gate of the imperial city.

"Who is coming!"

The guards at the gate drew their swords and stopped Song Jinglan's carriage. "The imperial city is under martial law. No one may enter without an imperial decree!"

"Open your dog eyes and see who this is!"

Ji Xiang leaned out and said in a deep voice, "This is His Highness Prince Jing's carriage. How dare you obstruct His Highness from entering the palace to meet the Emperor?!"

Prince Jing?!

The guards at the gate were all incredulous upon hearing this. Prince Jing had not appeared for almost two years. There were even rumors that Prince Jing had already passed away, but his death was kept secret for some reason. Yet now he suddenly wanted to enter the palace to meet the emperor.

The lead guard quickly glanced at the sign hanging in front of the carriage. It did indeed say "Prince Jing," but...

Seeing the guards still hesitating and refusing to make way, Jixiang cursed inwardly and was about to reprimand them again when the carriage curtain suddenly started to flutter without any wind.

The guard then met Song Jinglan's icy gaze, and upon seeing that familiar face, he couldn't help but tremble.

He had been working in the palace for many years and had seen the elusive Prince Jing several times. He immediately recognized the person in the carriage as Prince Jing!

"Your Highness, I was blind and I beg your forgiveness!"

The guard quickly made way and knelt down to pay his respects. The others followed suit. Song Jinglan remained expressionless, while Jixiang urged the coachman to move forward.

Meanwhile, the princes in the outer hall of the emperor's bedroom were each harboring their own secrets.

"Zhang Ziqing is truly loyal to his elder brother."

Song Yunming toyed with the teacup in his hand, his tone slightly sarcastic, "It is said that he brings people to the Emperor's bedchamber every day, just like now, to ask the Emperor to establish an heir. I wonder what benefits my elder brother gave that old bastard Zhang Ziqing that made him risk such disrespect to insist on doing this?"

Song Chengyan, who was mentioned, smiled slightly and said, "Second brother, you are mistaken. Minister Zhang only requested Father to establish an heir, without specifying which prince he requested. Why do you assume that Minister Zhang is doing this on my behalf? That is a bit unfair."

Song Yunming scoffed at his words. Who didn't know that Zhang Ziqing was a member of Song Chengyan's faction? Although he didn't name names and say he wanted to establish someone else, who could not understand the implication?

Even so, Song Yunming did not take his elder brother seriously. He had heard about this when he returned to the capital yesterday. Zhang Ziqing had been doing this for more than ten days in a row, but his father was unmoved. If he really wanted to make Song Chengyan the crown prince, why would he have waited until now?

The thought of this made Song Yunming even more confident of victory. He was certain that neither of his two brothers could compare to him; the only obstacle was…

The image of Song Jinglan's face, which he hated to the core, immediately flashed into Song Yunming's mind, and the wound on his right palm still throbbed faintly.

Judging by the time, his good uncle should be returning to the capital by now!

Meanwhile, the Third Prince Song Shiyou, who was sitting to the side, was getting impatient. "We brothers have been waiting here for several hours. Why won't Father let us in?"

Looking at his impatient third brother, a hint of contempt flashed in Song Chengyan's eyes, but it was quickly covered by a faint smile. "Perhaps Father has not yet woken up. Let's wait a little longer."

"Still unconscious?"

Song Yunming chuckled again, "Is Big Brother playing dumb? Zhang Ziqing has been yelling outside with his men for so long, how come Father hasn't woken up? In my opinion, Father probably thinks that Zhang Ziqing's actions were at Big Brother's behest, and he's unhappy about it, which is why he doesn't want to see us."

These words made Song Chengyan's expression stiffen slightly, but now that things had come to this point, he couldn't let Zhang Ziqing and his group continue like this.

"Since my second brother has said so, then in order for Father to be able to recuperate in peace, let's step forward and invite all the ministers back."

With that, Song Chengyan stood up and walked out first. Song Yunming cursed the man's pretentiousness in his heart, but still followed him out.

Zhang Ziqing and the others at the entrance were kneeling there. When they saw the three princes come out, they quickly bowed again.

"Your Highnesses, we, your humble servants, pay our respects!"

Song Chengyan slightly raised his hand to indicate that they should dispense with the formalities, and then said, "Minister Zhang, the Emperor is recuperating in his bedchamber. Your presence here with your men is not conducive to his recovery. You should take all the ministers back and never do this again."

"Please forgive me, Your Highness!"

Zhang Ziqing appeared to have a lot of grievances, saying, "I know that I am causing you a lot of trouble, but now that His Majesty is critically ill, the Crown Prince must step forward to handle state affairs at this critical juncture. All our actions are for the sake of the country and its people!"