Princess and the General

palace on mother Empress’ behalf all of these years, pretending to be virtuous and benevolent.
If father Emperor wanted to appoint Ning YiZhao as the crown prince, he would have appointed her as the empress.
That would be the proper way of doing things.
But father Emperor never did it, and Imperial Consort Xian remains an imperial consort.
She could not become the empress and will never end up the empress dowager!”

Princess DanYang seemed to have reached a revelation and joyously grabbed his hand.

“Since father Emperor revealed his intentions to you, has he told you when he plans to prepare the crown prince’s palace?”

The second prince smiled: “There’s no rush.
The court just had a new prime minister appointed, and the situation in court is unstable.
It will be a bit longer before father Emperor can begin preparing the crown prince’s palace.
When the situation starts to calm down, how long much longer would it take to prepare the crown prince’s palace?”

Princess DanYang hugged his arm and cheerfully said: “I knew it! Second brother is the son that mother Empress gave birth to, thus the crown prince’s position would definitely belong to you.
Just looking at the names, it was immediately clear.
Father Emperor chose the name ChengZhi for you.
With the blessing of the heavens, provide peace and prosperity for the country.
If it wasn’t you, who else could it be!”

The second prince patted her head.
He showed some rare kindness to his younger sister from the same mother.

“Mother Empress is no longer around.
We siblings have relied on each other for survival for many years.
Now, we’ve finally made it, but we can’t tell anyone about this for now to keep Ning YiZhao’s faction from finding out and causing trouble.”

“I understand! Second brother, I will be going out of the palace.
Tian’er, quickly prepare this princess’ clothes!”

Princess DanYang immediately wanted to run into the inner room but was grabbed by the second prince, “What are you going out at a time like this for?”

“I am going to look for brother ShuBai!”

The second prince furrowed his brow, “I only just said that you can’t tell anyone.
Have you put any consideration into my words? All you think about all day is brother ShuBai this, brother ShuBai that.”

Have you already forgotten that your brother ShuBai was almost engaged to another girl?

Thinking a little, he chose not to say the most hurtful last part.

Princess DanYang’s eyes were filled with joy, “Second brother, when did you become so overly cautious? Could it be that you’ve forgotten that father Emperor would definitely have sought out Marquis Gu prior to making as big a decision as appointing a crown prince? Brother ShuBai probably already knows about it!”

After saying this, she rushed into the inner room.
The second prince just listened to her tell the palace maids to look for clothes and a hairpin.

What she said was indeed true.
Emperor Ning even asked Gu HuaiJiang when it came to something like appointing a new prime minister, much less something like appointing a crown prince?

Marquis Gu’s Manor had always maintained a neutral stance, neither supporting him nor the eldest prince.
There was nothing for him to feel uneasy about.

He flicked his sleeve and left the Western Palace.

Behind a tall column nearby, someone dressed like a palace maid clearly heard the second prince’s conversation.

She looked around and saw that there were no others nearby.
Turning around and leaving the Western Palace, she walked toward the inner palace…