Chapter 374

On the twelfth day of the fourth month, the court was bustling with activity as all the officials and their families gathered in the palace to celebrate the first birthday of the Sixth Prince.

For the young ladies who had been candidates for the imperial harem just the day before, their mood upon entering the palace today was entirely different.

To put it simply, it felt like surviving a disaster!

Jiang Xinyue’s gaze swept across the room, noticing that the sharp eyes of the noblewomen, which had previously been fixed either on the Emperor or herself, were now uniformly directed at the busy palace maids.

They watched with clenched teeth, shaking their heads as if relieved.

It seemed that from this day forward, the mention of entering the palace for the selection of imperial consorts would send these noble ladies running in the opposite direction.

The Sixth Prince’s name had already been exceptionally recorded in the imperial jade register. Now, under the direction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the formal announcement was made to the ancestral temple.

In the Shen family genealogy, beneath the Emperor’s name, alongside his other sons, a new name appeared: Shen Mingye.

The characters “Ye” and “Ye” shared the same pronunciation, and the ministers, finally catching on, realized that the Emperor had intended for the Sixth Prince to become the Crown Prince from the moment he named him.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

How old was the Sixth Prince then?

He must have been just a newborn!

It was clear that even back then, the Noble Consort and the Third Prince had already been excluded from the succession. No wonder the Noble Consort had eventually gone mad, resorting to faking her own death to attempt an assassination.

As ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‍the banquet reached its midpoint, the Emperor signaled to Wang Dequan to prepare to read the edicts appointing the Crown Prince and the Empress.

“Your Majesty! Noble Consort! The Sixth Prince… the Sixth Prince…”

Nanny Xiang, in a state of unprecedented panic, rushed out of Taihe Hall and collapsed near Jiang Xinyue’s seat. “The Sixth Prince has suddenly broken out in rashes and is having difficulty breathing!”

Jiang Xinyue immediately rose from her seat and, without a word, ran toward the inner chambers.

The Emperor quickly stood up but, suppressing his anger, sat back down. It was evident that someone was deliberately trying to sabotage the appointments of Jiang Xinyue and the little prince.

His fingers gripped the dragon-head armrests so tightly it seemed he might crush them.

He let out a cold laugh. “Wang Dequan, read the edict.”

Even if the sky were to fall today, he would ensure that the banquet proceeded as planned, refusing to let the schemers succeed.

The attendees, having heard Nanny Xiang’s cry, were thrown into chaos, unsure of what to do.

The Jiang family was especially anxious. If not for the many eyes watching, they would have rushed in immediately.

At that moment, Wang Dequan unrolled the imperial edict. Before he even began to read, all the ministers and their families in Taihe Hall knelt to the ground.

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: I, having inherited the sacred teachings of my ancestors and devoted myself to the ancestral temple with utmost diligence, have never slackened in my duties. I have heard that a sage ruler must establish an Empress to uphold the ancestral temple and govern the realm. Noble Consort Jiang, daughter of Jiang Yankun, Minister of Justice, has long been entrusted with the imperial mandate. She is virtuous, gentle, graceful, and dignified. It is fitting to establish her as the Empress, to serve the ancestral temple. In accordance with the wishes of my ancestors, I hereby appoint Jing Weimin, the Chief of the Secretariat, to confer upon her the Empress’s seal, that she may serve as the mother of the nation. May she unite with the Emperor in heart, love the country and its people, and together create a prosperous era for Great Yan. So it is decreed—”

Even as the Sixth Prince was being harmed and the Noble Consort was absent, the Emperor, with unyielding resolve, appointed Jiang Xinyue as the Empress.

Through his actions, he made it clear to everyone that no scheme or conspiracy could hinder his determination to appoint the Noble Consort and the Sixth Prince.

As for those who had plotted against them, the Emperor vowed to scour the entire palace after the banquet and make them pay an unbearable price.

“The Emperor is wise! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress!”

The deafening cheers echoed throughout the hall, reaching even Jiang Xinyue in the inner chambers.

But she had no time to spare for them. Holding the crying Sixth Prince, her eyes reddened. “Yan the Imperial Physician, is this an allergic reaction?”

The Sixth Prince’s head, chest, and fingertips were covered in acupuncture needles. Yan the Imperial Physician had chosen to use acupuncture to regulate the prince’s yin and yang balance, aiming to treat the skin condition.

By stimulating and adjusting the flow of qi and blood at specific points, acupuncture could enhance the body’s natural healing ability, alleviating the symptoms of the skin condition and providing some relief for the prince.

As he crushed herbs like coptis and anemarrhena, he asked, “It seems so. Did the Sixth Prince consume any peanuts today?”

Nanny Xiang, choking on her tears, replied, “No… no… Everyone in Hexi Palace knows that the Sixth Prince is allergic to peanuts. His diet strictly prohibits peanuts. I have been vigilant every day, and it’s impossible that he was given peanuts.”

She truly couldn’t understand how the prince had still suffered an allergic reaction.

“What about the wet nurse? Did she eat peanuts?”

Wet Nurse Lu shook her head in guilt. “I’ve been extremely careful. Not only do I avoid peanuts, but since learning of the prince’s allergy, I’ve also stopped eating any similar foods.”

Nanny Xiang had told her to eliminate all potential risks, so she had given up not just peanuts but all nuts entirely.

“That’s strange…”

Yan the Imperial Physician stroked his beard. “The Sixth Prince’s severe reaction suggests that he must have ingested something.”

The prince’s once fair and adorable face was now swollen, his large eyes reduced to slits, and his entire head seemed to have grown larger.

Tormented by the itching, the little prince struggled and cried incessantly, causing maids like Magpie and Frostfall to weep as well.

If they could, they would willingly bear this suffering in his place.

Heavenly Bodhisattva, please protect the Sixth Prince and let him recover quickly!

They would even give up years of their own lives for his sake.

Most critically, the prince, already struggling to breathe, cried even harder, worsening his condition.

If this vicious cycle wasn’t broken, the prince’s life would be in grave danger.

Jiang Xinyue had always considered herself strong and unyielding, but seeing her son in such pain brought silent tears to her eyes.

Suppressing her heartache, she laid the prince on the bed, applied herbal ointment to his body, and gently held him, placing his head against her chest so he could hear her heartbeat. “My precious baby, everything will be alright. You must be strong. Mommy is here, Mommy will always be here. Don’t be afraid. Be brave and fight this. I swear, this will never happen again. My darling, don’t be scared, okay?”

Her soothing voice seemed to cast a spell, and the prince, nestled against her chest, gradually calmed down. His nearly swollen-shut eyes gazed intently at Jiang Xinyue’s face. “Mo… mo… Mommy… hurts!”

The Sixth Prince had spoken his first words!

Overcome with both joy and sorrow, Jiang Xinyue kissed his cheek. “Mommy will blow on it, and the pain will go away. Little Tuan Tuan, sleep now. When you wake up, the pain will be gone.”

If Mommy said so, it must be true. The prince drifted into a drowsy sleep.

Yan the Imperial Physician let out a sigh of relief. “It’s good that he’s stopped crying. I will perform acupuncture every hour and change the medicine every two hours. Once the swelling subsides, he should be out of danger.”

“No!”

Jiang Xinyue’s eyes flashed with fury. “This is far from over. This is a grave matter!”