Old Master Wen Kang frowned, his face slowly cooling, showing no change. The first thought that ca to him was whether the thod might be unreliable. Yet, as soon as he considered Master Huo Yi standing on the stage, Old Master Wen Kang instantly dismissed this doubt.
Zheng Haoyuan also stared in astonishnt at everything before him. How could this be? If it wasn’t Zheng Congyuan, it must surely be him. Everyone’s reactions just now indicated as much; how could it be otherwise?
anwhile, Zheng Congyuan’s expression had not changed from beginning to end, and Master Huo Yi remained standing with a gentle deanor atop the wooden platform.
"Mage, could there be so mistake?" Below, soone could not help but speak out. If neither the Crown Prince nor the Fourth Prince were the chosen one, how could this be possible? Emperor Jingzhi had no other children.
The whispering had slowly turned into quiet conversations and then into a clamor. Everyone refused to accept such a fact. Pri Minister Lin’s camp, which had been as dejected as frostbitten eggplants, revived their spirits at this mont. Although confused, the fact that Zheng Haoyuan had also not passed seed to inject them with strength.
"There is no mistake. Neither the Crown Prince nor the Fourth Prince is the Child of Heavenly Selection," stated Master Huo Yi. Although he had known this answer all along and Zheng Congyuan had known it too, they had both been baffled at one ti. But that was not important now, what mattered was that they needed to present a result.
As soon as Master Huo Yi spoke, the uproar ensued. Noble Consort Wen staggered a step backward, shaking her head. No, no, she would not accept this result. It was impossible that it wasn’t her son, Zheng Congyuan.
Old Master Wen Kang swiftly grabbed hold of Noble Consort Wen, whispering that now was the ti to be strong. Regardless of Zheng Congyuan’s status, although they were in a more difficult situation, they were not completely without chance.
Noble Consort Wen nodded with difficulty. They had reached a point of no return.
Empress Dowager Yan Ping and Empress Xiao both looked sowhat astonished at all of this. This turn of events was sothing nobody had anticipated. But if it was neither Zheng Congyuan nor Zheng Haoyun, then who was the Child of Heavenly Selection?
Almost everyone was thinking the sa thing.
"Master Huo Yi, what do we do now?" Pri Minister Lin asked shakily, standing up at this critical mont when everyone needed a pillar of support. "This matter of heavenly selection was originally just an ancestral instruction, and now it seems that neither the Crown Prince nor the Fourth Prince is the favored one by heaven. Nevertheless, Nanzheng State cannot remain without a sovereign for even a day. Perhaps in the next generation, the sign of heavenly selection will reappear."
As Pri Minister Lin finished speaking, so imdiately understood his implication. There were those who agreed, and those who opposed.
Noble Consort Wen looked anxiously at Old Master Wen Kang. What should they do?
Old Master Wen Kang returned a look; what was there to fear? These people were already under their control, and had they not already made thorough preparations?
Zheng Haoyuan was still standing in front of the glazed screen, evidently struggling to believe the result. He reached out to touch the glaze, its icy touch instantly snapping him back to reality.
Zheng Haoyuan turned his head, looking at Master Huo Yi with confusion.
"Pri Minister Lin’s words are not without reason," Master Huo Yi conceded. "After all, it is rely a portent. When it will appear, when it will manifest, still remains a mystery. After all, Emperor Jingzhi ascended the throne after turning thirty. Perhaps..." Master Huo Yi gave an equivocal answer without directly negating Pri Minister Lin’s speculation.
The crowd fell into a mont of astonishnt. What was to be done now? This was practically the worst outco—it ant that anyone could be a contender, plunging Nanzheng State into strife and even civil unrest.
Pri Minister Lin and others imdiately looked to Zheng Congyuan. Crown Prince, you must speak up now. It was not a ti to back down. If civil strife ensued, it would shake the foundations of Nanzheng. All their efforts over the years would be in vain,
"I am rely stating this fact," Master Huo Yi said as he turned to leave. "Now that everyone has witnessed the result of the Heavenly Selection, there is no further need for my presence here. Crown Prince, Fourth Prince, I will take my leave now."
Old Master Wen Kang felt a sense of urgency. He had thought that Master Huo Yi’s arrival would cut through the chaos quickly, but now it seed that they had been dragged into an even greater whirlpool.
Just as Master Huo Yi was about to step down from the wooden platform, suddenly a voice rang out.
"Wait—" A clear and bright female voice stopped him. Everyone looked around in astonishnt, only to see a figure erging slowly from Chenyuan Hall, dressed in white robes that blended her skin with the snow, her eyes and brows hinted at springti, and a smile curling at the corners of her mouth, she approached slowly and deliberately."
"It seems the Mage has forgotten that, apart from the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince, there is also this Princess," the Eldest Princess Zheng Tianxin began to speak slowly. Her skin, nourished by the winter, shone translucent in the sunshine and seed to be tinged with a layer of light.
As these words were uttered, everyone at the scene couldn’t help but express their astonishnt.
Zheng Congyuan did not lift his head. His entire focus was on the wooden platform where Zheng Tianxin was speaking, and seeing that Congyuan did not look up, Tianxin was not surprised. She understood the situation clearly; when she had accidentally heard the secret of the prophecy and the predicant faced by Congyuan, as well as Congyuan’s uncertainty about whether the Child of Heavenly Selection was Zheng Haoyuan, she had thought of this.
"This, what kind of behavior is this—" Pri Minister Lin was the first to stand up, calling her out for being absurd. This Eldest Princess...
If it were soone else, perhaps... soone from the lineage of the Crown Prince, they might...
But now it was the Eldest Princess. What kind of reputation did the Eldest Princess have? If it really was her, then he would rather it be the Fourth Prince...
"Ridiculous, how can such a serious matter be treated as child’s play—" The voices of opposition from the Wen Family were even louder, feeling an extre crisis indeed. It was true, Zheng Tianxin was also of the Nanzheng Imperial Clan’s blood, perhaps...
Empress Xiao watched as Zheng Tianxin walked out and felt a rush of urgency. She hadn’t paid attention; how could she have let her go out and cause trouble? She imdiately looked toward the Prince Consort, urging him to pull Tianxin back.
Zheng Tianxin did not listen to these people, but instead shifted her gaze from Congyuan to Master Huo Yi.
"Whether I am qualified or not is sothing that only Master Huo Yi has the authority to comnt on here," Zheng Tianxin said with a smile. She stood on the wooden platform, thinking that if it was her, then Nanzheng would be hers. If not, she felt no pressure at all; after all, neither Congyuan nor Zheng Haoyuan was the one, so what difference would one more make?
Master Huo Yi looked at Zheng Tianxin, his expression unchanged from the beginning to the end. It was as if he had anticipated her question.
"Indeed, any offspring of the Nanzheng Imperial Clan has the right to stand here."
Master Huo Yi’s words left everyone even more amazed. This, this...
Pri Minister Lin looked at Master Huo Yi incredulously, but then in the next mont thought that perhaps, the Eldest Princess taking the throne would be better than the current chaotic situation.
People at the scene could only look toward the Eldest Princess as a last resort, and so even began to consciously bow their heads. Anyone with a semblance of beauty had already deep bowed their head, considering whether to resign from their positions.
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