"Yes," Chu Yan answered, quickly entering the inner palace.
By the dragon bed, Nanli was taking Emperor Muwu’s pulse.
Chu Yan, feeling guilty for pushing Emperor Muwu to such a state, dared not approach. His eyes, however, were sharp enough to see from a distance the deathly pallor on Emperor Muwu’s face. In an instant, his tears welled up, unable to contain the anguish in his heart, and he quietly began to sob.
Pri Minister Lu’s eyes glead with a dark light before he stepped forward to ask, "The Ninth Princess, His Majesty was perfectly fine earlier. Why has he suddenly fallen ill? Could it be poison?"
Nanli, unsure how to explain, could only reply, "It’s the will of Heaven."
Elder Xu, hearing her words, trembled as he asked, "Then according to the Ninth Princess, is His Majesty’s illness... truly beyond cure?"
Nanli nodded with great difficulty.
The Chief Imperial Physician spoke up, "Third Prince, please co forward, His Majesty’s breath has weakened further."
At this rate, the emperor could pass at any mont.
Chu Yan hesitated. He feared that if he moved closer, the emperor’s already fragile state would deteriorate completely.
However, Pri Minister Lu quickly composed himself, exchanged a glance with the chief eunuch, and the two of them went to a hidden compartnt, retrieving a royal edict.
Upon seeing this, everyone knelt in reverence.
Indeed, Emperor Muwu, ever wise, had prepared for this mont, knowing his body was failing and having made the necessary arrangents.
Old Prince Ji’s sches and actions these past few days now seed nothing more than the antics of a fool.
Pri Minister Lu was about to read the edict when Nanli, who had not been kneeling, moved forward. "Wait," she said, quickly scanning the contents.
Sure enough, Emperor Muwu’s edict praised her fifth brother, naming him as the Royal Heir, and stipulating that if anything were to happen to the emperor, Chu Yan would imdiately ascend the throne, with Pri Minister Lu, Elder Xu, and other trusted ministers assisting him.
"The Ninth Princess..." Pri Minister Lu paused, "Do you have any objections?"
Nanli asked, "Was this edict drafted by you?"
"Yes," Pri Minister Lu confird.
Nanli’s eyes flickered briefly before she turned her head to glance at Emperor Muwu. She quickly formulated a plan. "You need to redraft the edict. It should state that His Majesty is abdicating to beco the Honorary Emperor, and that the Third Prince should imdiately ascend to the throne."
"Ah?" Pri Minister Lu was caught off guard.
Seeing that Emperor Muwu’s condition was rapidly worsening, Nanli urged, "Hurry."
If anyone else had spoken, Pri Minister Lu would have refused, but Nanli was different. Especially with Elder Xu and the other officials offering no objections, Nanli’s words carried weight.
The Chief Eunuch hurriedly prepared the revised edict, feeling certain that the Ninth Princess had a way to save the emperor.
In less than a teacup’s worth of ti, Pri Minister Lu had redrafted the royal decree.
However, since this was against the original intent of the emperor, he hesitated as he held the Imperial Jade Seal.
"I’ll do it," Nanli said, snatching the seal from his hand and stamping it onto the edict.
Pri Minister Lu, still in a daze, was about to respond when Nanli pressed, "Hurry, read the edict!"
"Ah... yes," Pri Minister Lu, startled by her urgency, quickly read out the brief royal proclamation.
As Nanli looked at Chu Yan, she noticed his aura had grown slightly stronger. Even she felt that she could no longer look directly into her fifth brother’s eyes.
Pri Minister Lu, too, felt discomfort, bowing his head as he said, "Third Prince, please accept the edict."
Chu Yan, with his heart full of conflicting emotions, bowed deeply before rising and accepting the edict.
He had never expected that he would ascend to the throne this quickly. He had thought it would take the conquest of Qi Nation and the unification of the world before he could stand here. And yet, on this clear day, a thunderclap rang from the sky, shaking the entire capital, causing everyone to tremble.
Pri Minister Lu knelt down.
The nobles and relatives also knelt and exclaid, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
Though Nanli did not need to kneel, she still offered a bow in unison with the others.
At this mont, the skies above were filled with colorful clouds, and spirit birds, unknown in origin, soared above the palace, singing.
Both inside and outside the palace, everyone was stunned by this miraculous sight.
It was a divine on from Heaven!
Unexpectedly, at this mont, Emperor Muwu, who had been on the verge of death, suddenly began to cough.
From weak coughs to stronger ones.
Everyone looked up in surprise.
The emperor, who had been near death, had now sat up by himself, clutching his chest as he coughed violently.
"Bring ... bring so water," he said, his voice strained with discomfort.
"Your Majesty!" The chief eunuch, witnessing this, was overjoyed, tears streaming down as he hurried to pour water for the emperor.
After Emperor Muwu drank, he felt so relief in his throat and his body beca more comfortable.
Seeing the others so emotional, his face showed confusion. "Why are you all like this? Do you not know? I haven’t passed away yet!"
The chief eunuch froze. "Your Majesty..."
Before he could say more, a mighty thunderclap bood from the sky.
It seed like a warning.
The chief eunuch shivered in fear.
Nanli, sensing the ominous atmosphere, remarked, "You’ll have to start calling him Honorary Emperor from now on, or there will be more thunder strikes."
"What?"
Not only the chief eunuch but also Pri Minister Lu and the others were perplexed.
Elder Huang narrowed his eyes and quickly said, "What kind of trick did the Ninth Princess use? Even if you want Third Prince to ascend the throne, you shouldn’t be playing gas with the Honorary Emperor’s health!"
The unusual occurrences had everyone questioning the situation.
However, Elder Huang, feeling unsatisfied, directly reminded Emperor Muwu, "The Ninth Princess must have used so thod, but even so, we can’t simply let this go!"
"Elder Huang, be cautious with your words! When the Honorary Emperor was unconscious, the Ninth Princess was not in the capital!" Pri Minister Lu rebuked sharply, though he was not foolish and continued to ask, "Ninth Princess, what exactly is happening here?"
Emperor Muwu, still unsure why after a nap, Chu Yan had returned and he had beco the Honorary Emperor, was now filled with joy. His mouth couldn’t stop smiling.
However, he still had to get to the bottom of it, and so he asked, "A’Li, what’s going on?"
Nanli thought for a mont and then explained the battle at Yan Town and Chu Yan’s awakening.
Finally, she concluded, "Third Prince’s royal aura has awakened, so it affected the Honorary Emperor’s destiny. But I used a thod of abdication to resolve the Honorary Emperor’s predicant."
At that mont, Chu Yang and the others arrived. Hearing this, Cinian burst out laughing, "So this is how it was solved. Ninth Princess, you are truly clever!"
He stepped forward, bowing in respect to Emperor Muwu and adding, "The Honorary Emperor’s imperial aura has indeed diminished significantly. There’s hardly any left now."
Chu Yang, realizing that his fifth brother had already ascended the throne, felt a wave of excitent in his heart.
"What is all this talk?" Elder Huang didn’t believe a word. He thought that they were all colluding to deceive Emperor Muwu. "The Ninth Princess, the Honorary Emperor is wise and mighty. How could he be so easily tricked? You want Chu Yan to beco the emperor of Mu Nation—this is absurd!"
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