In just a few days, the news of the death of the crown prince spread throughout the entire Dongqian Kingdom, and even the three kingdoms of Nanchi, North Jersey and Xuan also knew the news of the sudden death of the prince of Dongqian on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. When Dongfang Lingwu learned that the crown prince and his brother had died, he happened to be on the way back to Beijing, and when he heard the news, he hurried back to the palace. And those who returned to the palace with Dongfang Lingwu, in addition to Chu Mi, there was also Chu Mi's master Wu Yazi.

After the resignation of Xuan Qiuyu, the secretary of the Dali Temple, and Zhao Hezhang, the servant of the Criminal Department, Emperor Qianwen has not been transferred to the lower-level officials, and these two positions have been vacant until now. The poisoning was not investigated clearly, and Dark Wind did not come back for a long time, Emperor Qianwen finally realized that something was wrong, and directly sent a team of dark guards to find Dark Wind's whereabouts.

On the night of the fifteenth, the palace guards searched for the assassin, and happened to find the clothes and swords and daggers of the dark wind, and they wanted to present them to Emperor Qianwen that night, but they didn't want the prince to follow the incident, so they had no choice but to leave those things first. It was only on the sixteenth day of the first month that the guards were sent out to find Darkwind, but because of the guards, they did not find any news about Darkwind.

The prince's coffin rested in the East Palace for five days before being sent to the imperial tomb. During this period, the saddest thing was none other than the queen of the prince's biological mother and his grandfather, Song Wen. If the crown prince can ascend the throne smoothly, the Song family will be able to follow the prosperity, and as soon as the prince dies, the position of the prince is vacant, who will be the new prince?

The second prince Qing Wang Dongfangdu, the third prince Youwang Dongfangxu, and the fourth prince Dongfang Xuan are all candidates for the position of prince. A kingdom cannot be without a king for a day, and it is also impossible for a country to be without a prince for a day. Dongfang Xu is another son of the empress, and naturally hopes that he can become the new prince.

The first month has not yet passed, and the hundred officials do not need to go to court, so the discussion of the establishment of the reserve has been shelved. Prime Minister Song was anxious to stabilize the status of the Song family, and as soon as Dongfang Xi was buried in the imperial mausoleum, he hurriedly sent someone to the empress, asking her to blow the wind on Emperor Qianwen's pillow and be sure to establish Dongfang Xuan as the new crown prince.

As soon as the eldest son was gone, he had to plan for the younger son to become the prince, and the queen only felt that she was ten years old in an instant. No matter which prince becomes the new crown prince, no matter who ascends the throne and becomes the emperor, she, the queen, can become the queen mother, but if the position of the prince cannot be won by Dongfang Xu, their Song family is afraid that they will decline.

What matters is not the title of the Queen Mother, but who made the new crown prince.

The queen found the opportunity and mentioned the matter of establishing a prince to Emperor Qianwen, who knew that she was thinking about the Song family, so she was so eager to establish a prince. If the new prince is not Dongfang Xu, but the other two princes, they can make a plan as soon as possible and strive to depose him before the new prince ascends the throne.

Emperor Qianwen was a little helpless, but he was helpless, and the matter of establishing a prince was indeed a top priority. On the twenty-second day of the first lunar month, he called Dongfang Du, Dongfang Xu, and Dongfang Xuan to the imperial study, preparing to choose one of the three to be the new prince.

The three of them knelt on the ground and saluted, and Emperor Qianwen looked at the three people kneeling in the center of the hall, and he didn't say that sentence for a long time. After a long time, he said, "The three emperors should get up." Seeing that the three of them stood up, he said again: "Go and sit down, I have a lot to say to the three emperors today." ”

Emperor Qianwen gave the little eunuch beside him a look, and the little eunuch cleverly led the other palace maids and eunuchs in the imperial study out of the imperial study.

The three of them sat down in order of age, and the first one sitting was Dongfangdu. The three of them all sat upright, their hands on their thighs, their heads slightly sideways, and looked at Emperor Qianwen, all of whom knew why their father had summoned them to the imperial study, but they all closed their lips tightly, waiting for Emperor Qianwen to speak first.

Emperor Qianwen's gaze swept over the three of them one by one, and finally returned to Dongfang Du's body, frowned slightly, and asked, "Du'er, what are the rules for this Dongqian State Prince?" ”

Dongfang Xu heard this, and subconsciously tightened his clothes, the prince of Dongqian State has always been the eldest rather than the young, this knowingly asked question is to establish Dongfang Du as the prince? Now he is the only concubine of the queen, why let Dongfang Du be the new prince?! What's more, Dongfang Du does not have the momentum of the royal family at all, and the breath of the people of the rivers and lakes is faintly appearing on his body. Such a half-crippled prince with the taste of rivers and lakes was made a prince, he was unwilling!

Dongfang Du looked at Emperor Qianwen with doubts in his eyes, and looked at Emperor Qianwen in confusion for a few seconds before he slowly replied: "Back to my father, I have always been a prince in the Eastern Qianguo, and I have always been a prince according to the eldest and youngest. "Is this to make her the prince? This crown prince position is too easy to get!

Emperor Qianwen nodded, "Now, Du'er is the oldest of the three emperors, and the position of the prince is ......" Before the words were finished, Dongfang Du hurriedly got up, and said with a panicked expression: "Father and emperor think twice, although the son is the eldest of the three princes, but above the son, there is also the imperial sister, if you want to establish the prince with the eldest and youngest, it should also be the imperial sister." ”

"Ridiculous!" Emperor Qianwen looked at Dongfang Du angrily, "Wu'er is a princess, how can this position of prince be given to a woman!" "Others are vying for the position of the prince they want, but Dongfang Du doesn't want it?! Emperor Qianwen couldn't wait to go down directly, slap her a few times, and sober her up.

"Father, the emperor of Nanchi Kingdom, isn't he a woman? The emperor of another country can be a woman, why can't we in the Eastern Qianguo? Dongfang retorted.

When Emperor Qianwen heard this, he felt speechless. The current emperor of Nanchi Kingdom, Nangong Anyi, is indeed a woman, and she is not the only imperial heir at that time, under her, there are several princes, the former emperor of Nanchi Kingdom, but he passed the throne to Nangong Anyi, who is a woman, his thoughts are unknown, but Nanchi Kingdom is indeed prosperous and powerful in the hands of today's empress, and it has not declined because she is a woman.

But Nanchi is Nanchi, and Dongqian is Dongqian, and it cannot be generalized. Emperor Qianwen never thought of establishing a female prince, nor did he ever think that the Eastern Qianguo would produce a female emperor. Since the founding of the country, the Dongqian Kingdom has always been the prince who was appointed as the prince, if he opened a precedent for the establishment of women as emperors, I am afraid that the future of the Dongqian Kingdom will produce the second and third empresses.

Thinking like this, Emperor Qianwen shook his head and said: "The woman of Nanchi State is the emperor, but we are the Eastern Qianguo country, and we can't be confused with other countries. The heirs of our royal family in Dongqian Kingdom have withered, and now there are only three of you, but it is more than enough to select a new crown prince from the three of you. As long as there is a prince in the Eastern Qianguo, it is impossible to make a woman the emperor! ”

Dongfang Du heard the words and was silent. It is impossible to make a woman emperor, so what about her? She's a real woman! It was only because of the momentary thoughts of the concubine that she disguised herself as a man to be the prince, she wanted to ascend to the throne, but now she just wants to leave the palace and take Yun'er to live the life of idle clouds and wild cranes.

Seeing that she was silent, Emperor Qianwen sighed lightly and said, "Sit back", then turned his head to look at Dongfang Xu, who was sitting below Dongfangdu, and asked: "Xu'er, should the prince be a virtuous person, or should he be a chief?" "If the eldest son is incompetent and incompetent, he is obviously the king of the dead country, do you still want to make him the prince?

This question is quite difficult to answer, if Dongfang Xu answers that Lixian, it means that he does not agree with the ancestral teachings handed down by the □□ of Dongqian State, and if he answers Lichang, it means that he agrees to establish Dongfang Du as the new crown prince.

In a dilemma, Dongfang Xu was apprehensive, but finally gritted his teeth and replied: "You should be virtuous." "He thinks about the position of the prince, and it is impossible to agree to establish the chief as the prince at this time, "Although the rule handed down by the ancestors is to establish the chief as the prince, if the eldest son is not virtuous, virtuous, talented and unwise, he is naturally not suitable to be the prince, and he should be set up separately." The ancestral training is important, but the century-old foundation of the Dongqian Kingdom is even more important, and only by establishing virtuous people as reserves from generation to generation can we ensure that the Dongqian Kingdom will be able to survive for generations. Ling Ran's words were justified and well-founded, and it seemed that he was only thinking about the Eastern Qianguo, and he had never had any selfish intentions.

But having said that, among the three, who is the most virtuous and intelligent, and he can't make a judgment on the spot, if all the princes have virtue and wisdom, the position of the prince will naturally fall on the head of the eldest son.

Emperor Qianwen appreciated Dongfang Xu's words, but there was no expression on his face, he just nodded. This action made Dongfang Xu's hand relax slightly, and his anxious heart also let go.

Dongfang Xuan had been quietly listening to the conversation between the two imperial brothers and his father, and at this moment Emperor Qianwen's eyes fell on him, and he knew that it was his turn to answer the question.

"Yu'er, who do you think is the most suitable prince among the three of you brothers?" Such a straightforward question really caught Dongfang Yu by surprise. He thought about many possible questions in his heart, but he didn't expect Emperor Qianwen to ask him so directly who he would appoint.

Dongfang Du and Dongfang Xu turned their heads to look at Dongfang Xuan, and they were sweating for this question in their hearts. Is this voting? Who do the three princes think should be appointed, and whose head will this throne fall to? Dongfang Du thought about not mentioning her, but he also thought that if Dongfang Xu became the new prince, I am afraid it would be very bad, and it would really be a dilemma.

Dongfang hesitated slightly, got up and arched his hand: "Father, which prince should be given the position of prince, the son does not dare to say anything, presumably the father has already made a decision in his heart." Whether the second imperial brother is made the new crown prince, or the third imperial brother is appointed as the new crown prince, the sons will support the two imperial brothers. ”

Dongfang Yu did not answer which one was most suitable to be the prince, but excluded himself from the candidates for the prince.

Emperor Qianwen waved his hand and let Dongfang Xuan sit back in his position.

The three of them waited for Emperor Qianwen's decision, but saw him push the paperweight, pick up the brush, and write on the paper. For a long time, he didn't speak.

After about a cup of tea, Emperor Qianwen put down his pen, looked up and said: "On the third day of the first lunar month, your poisoning has not been investigated, and on the fifteenth day, your eldest brother died suddenly, and now, you want to set up a new prince, what do you think should be used to choose a new prince?" "I first mentioned what happened a while ago, and then I said that the prince was established, which is obviously hinting at several people, whoever can find out the truth of the matter is the new prince.

It's just that, to Emperor Qianwen's surprise, the three of them remained silent together, and none of them took his words.