The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 2004

Chapter 2004: Chapter 1003: Epilogue

Zhan Country, Renshou Palace.

For the past few days, Empress Dowager Zhuang hasn’t had much of an appetite, and Eunuch Qin keeps having the Imperial Kitchen try different ways to prepare her meals, but she barely eats a few bites.

Eunuch Qin secretly passed a message to Bishui Alley, only for Empress Dowager Zhuang to intercept it.

Empress Dowager Zhuang glared at him.

Eunuch Qin sighed, knowing she didn’t want her juniors to see her in her ailing state, but his heart ached for her.

"Empress Dowager, His Majesty has arrived." A palace maid reported from outside the Sleeping Palace.

Seeing that Empress Dowager Zhuang looked quite ill, Eunuch Qin whispered, "Should I inform His Majesty that you are resting?"

Empress Dowager Zhuang glanced at the crescent moon hanging in the night sky, suppressing the fatigue between her brows as she said, "For him to come at this hour, he must have something important."

"Yes," she responded.

Eunuch Qin went to invite His Majesty in.

The Emperor stepped into the room, glanced at Empress Dowager Zhuang seated calmly in the official hat chair, and asked worriedly, "Mother, are you feeling any better?"

This son may be a bit slow-witted, but his concern for the Empress Dowager is genuine.

Rarely, Empress Dowager Zhuang didn’t roll her eyes, instead saying blandly, "I have long been fine; it is you all who fuss about each day. Speak, what’s the matter that brings you to me at such a late hour?"

The Emperor sat by his mother’s side and, resigned, said, "To be honest, Mother, there is indeed something I wish to discuss with you."

"Is it the matter of establishing the crown prince?" Empress Dowager Zhuang asked pointedly.

The crown prince had been deposed for two years, and the calls within the court for establishing a successor were growing louder. If no decision was made soon, it could lead to factional struggles for the throne.

The Emperor acquiesced silently.

Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at him and asked, "What are your thoughts on the matter?"

The Emperor replied, "I believe Prince Rui is up to the task." Saying this, he paused, then added, "However, Xiaoqi has also matured a lot over the past two years."

Empress Dowager Zhuang gazed into the boundless night, "Xiaoqi is eighteen, nearly nineteen, at his age, Ahen had already passed the imperial examination as the top scholar."

"Yes," the Emperor sighed, "I am torn between Prince Rui and Xiaoqi and wish to hear your opinion."

Empress Dowager Zhuang spoke calmly, "I have no particular opinion; you are the Emperor, and to whom the succession belongs is up to your Qin Family."

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