Chapter 108: Difficult Awakening

After the father and daughter finished changing their clothes, they went straight to Cining Palace.

It was not far from Cining Palace, and they were worried that the Empress Dowager had been frightened, so they went over immediately.

Yan Ze arrived at Cining Palace very quickly.

When Nanny Chang saw Yan Ze, her eyes lit up, and she immediately went inside to report to the Empress Dowager: "The First Prince has returned!"

The Empress Dowager immediately asked her to help her sit up, "Quick, quick, let them come over."

Yan Ning said in a sweet voice: "Great-Grandmother, we are back."

The Empress Dowager took her hand, "I heard that fighting broke out at the front, and I was so worried about you..."

Seeing that the Empress Dowager's complexion was not very good, Yan Ning handed her a fruit: "Great-Grandmother, please don't worry about us, eat a fruit first."

Having not seen Yan Ning for a long time, she would certainly eat the fruit her great-granddaughter had brought her.

After eating it, the Empress Dowager was surprised to find that her body felt a little lighter.

After the few of them chatted for a while, a child ran over.

Yan Qing was very surprised to see the two of them, "Uncle, Sister Ning, you're back?"

Yan Ze smiled and patted his head, then remembered with some embarrassment that he had just blown up Yan Qing's father.

Yan Ning also felt a bit stiff for a moment.

The Empress Dowager asked: "How is Yan Yu?"

Yan Ze and Yan Ning hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to tell the truth.

Yan Ze said: "He wanted to have archers shoot at Ningning, so we blew him up."

The Empress Dowager's first reaction was: "Ningning wasn't hurt, was she?"

Yan Qing also asked: "Sister Ning, are you okay?"

They were not surprised by the Empress Dowager's reaction; after all, the Empress Dowager did not think much of Yan Yu and the Imperial Concubine.

But Yan Qing...

The Empress Dowager saw their awkwardness and said: "If he was blown up, then so be it. You don't know, Yan Yu wouldn't even spare his own son."

"Because Qing'er was the Grandson of the Emperor for a time, Yan Yu even wanted to make a move against Qing'er."

Yan Ze sighed, "It's pitiful. Why not have Yan Qing adopted under my name? From now on, I will treat Qing'er the same way I treat Ningning."

Yan Qing's eyes lit up: "Uncle, is that really okay?"

Yan Ning said with a smile: "You should call him Dad."

After resolving these matters, Yan Ze took the two children out to let the Empress Dowager get some good rest.

There was still a pile of messes to clean up.

First were the corpses; Yan Ning had the palace servants clean them up quickly, and then the officials Yan Yu had locked up also needed to be rescued.

But what Yan Ze never expected was that, holding one child in each hand, the palace gate was actually filled with officials waiting to ambush him.

"Your Highness, you have finally returned. A country cannot go a day without a ruler..."

"Your Highness, you have finally returned. We have been terrified every day during the morning court. Your Highness is benevolent and should be the one to sit in that position."

"Your Highness, there hasn't been a day we haven't missed you. Only if you become Emperor can we be at ease."

Yan Ze had a massive headache.

He lifted Yan Ning up and was about to speak when Yan Ning said: "Dad, you cannot sell me out."

Yan Ze hesitated for a moment, put Yan Ning down, and pushed Yan Qing forward instead: "There, the former Grandson of the Emperor, let him be the Emperor."

As a result, this group of old men started making a scene again.

"Your Highness, this is absolutely impossible. Yan Qing is young; if you ascend the throne, you can name him Crown Prince."

Yan Qing shivered: "No, no, I don't want to be Emperor, nor do I want to be Crown Prince."

He had seen his grandfather go mad, and he had nearly died several times because he had been the Grandson of the Emperor.

Yan Qing did not want to have anything to do with the imperial throne.

The officials continued to persuade him:

"Your Highness, you have seen it yourself, neither child is willing, so it can only be you. You can't possibly call the Third Prince out of Tianlao to be Emperor, can you?"

"What 'Your Highness', call him Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, look at the officials locked in Tianlao... why not release them quickly? Tianlao and the Water Prison are so torturous."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, we will follow you forever."

Yan Ze:...

They were actually forcing him to ascend the throne.

Finally, the Grand Tutor, who was nearly seventy, knelt directly before Yan Ze and kowtowed heavily.

"Your Highness, this throne can only be yours. You created high-yield Seeds and explosives. Your Highness, only if you are Emperor will our Daxia dynasty get better and better."

Yan Ze did not know how to refuse for a moment.

The white-haired Grand Tutor knelt on the ground, his voice sorrowful.

Yan Ze sighed, "Then let us make a three-point agreement."

Seeing that Yan Ze had agreed, the Grand Tutor immediately stood up: "Your Highness, please speak."

Yan Ze cleared his throat and said: "First, I will only have one wife and one daughter. I will not hold a selection for concubines, nor will I have another child."

"Second, if I ascend the throne, my daughter must be the Imperial Crown Princess, and if I die, she will directly become the Empress Regnant."

"Third, I want to add a trial period for myself—one year. If the officials feel dissatisfied, or if you make demands I cannot accept, such as holding a selection or having a second child, I will not continue to be this Emperor."

The group of old men looked at their phones with bewildered expressions.

What kind of strange request was this?

Never mind, as long as Yan Ze was willing to be this Emperor, whether he held a selection or had children was secondary.

These officials had experienced being exiled in large batches and being thrown into Tianlao in large batches to be executed after the autumn assizes.

Looking at Yan Ze again, he simply did not hold a draft and did not have sons; by comparison, Yan Ze was simply too good.

As for Yan Ze wanting to appoint Yan Ning as the Crown Princess, it did not matter either.

There had been an Empress Regnant in a previous dynasty.

Moreover, Yan Ning's temperament was the same as her father's, both very gentle.

As long as Yan Ze conquered the realm, with the civil and military officials in the imperial court, holding onto the realm should not be difficult.

And so, Yan Ning was arranged just like that.

When Yan Ze was exiled, the Wangfu was already gone, so during this time, Yan Ning lived in the Imperial Palace with her father and mother.

Her father and mother lived in the Qianqing Palace, and Yan Ning was still young, so she was arranged in a side chamber within the Qianqing Palace.

They lived there for about three days before preparing for the enthronement ceremony.

These three days were mainly for making the Dragon Robe and the Crown Prince's attire.

It took three days of waiting before they were finished and delivered.

Yan Ze even tried them on; the bright yellow garment was embroidered with a Dragon Pattern, which looked very good.

Yan Ning's was a black robe, also embroidered with a Dragon Pattern using gold thread.

Originally, the palace servants wanted to embroider a python, but Yan Ze demanded a golden dragon be embroidered.

How inauspicious it would be to embroider a python.

Waiting for the third day, Yan Ze was woken up by a Eunuch before dawn.

Yan Ning was also woken up by a palace maid.

She sat up, dazed for a moment, her expression one of utter listlessness.

The two of them sat on the sedan chair together to attend court, and in just that brief moment, Yan Ning fell asleep again.

Yan Ze patted her: "Wake up, go back to sleep later, don't fall off."

Yan Ning was already trying very hard to pull herself together.

It was only with great difficulty that they arrived at the morning court, and it was only five o'clock at this time.

Yan Ze could not be bothered with those fancy frills, nor did he hold an enthronement ceremony, directly starting the morning court instead.

Yan Ning stood below, her position even further forward than the Chancellor's.

The morning court had not yet begun, and the officials stared at her clothes in surprise, "You, you have embroidered a Dragon Pattern! Which palace servant wants to harm you?"

Yan Ning yawned: "My father said pythons are inauspicious, and dragons look better."

All the officials:...

Subsequently, amidst the chanting of the Eunuch, the morning court began.

Yan Ze's first sentence was: "From now on, the morning court is postponed to the Si hour."

All the officials:???