Emperor Taixiang’s grave illness weighed on the ministers’ hearts like a mountain. The list of imperial clan children under three years old with proper appearances was quickly submitted.

Emperor Taixiang listened as Xu Mingda reported each name one by one, eliminated several whose fathers or grandfathers he held no favor for, and slowly asked: “How many remain?”

“Your Majesty, there are still four.”

“Have the mothers of these four children bring them into the palace. I want to see them.”

At this point, the ministers naturally carried out Emperor Taixiang’s words without question. The four children were soon brought into the palace by their mothers for an audience.

Though they were all imperial clan wives, opportunities to directly face the emperor were extremely rare, not to mention the momentous significance of this audience. The four noblewomen, despite being accustomed to grand occasions, were extremely nervous holding their young children, their entire beings caught between hope and anxiety.

“Bring the children forward so I can see them.” Emperor Taixiang half-leaned against the head of the bed, speaking weakly.

“Yes.” The four noblewomen respectfully agreed, carrying their children forward several steps before stopping not far from Emperor Taixiang.

Emperor Taixiang opened his clouded eyes and surveyed each young child.

At this moment, Emperor Taixiang was gaunt as a skeleton, his cheeks deeply sunken, his entire body emanating the putrid scent of a lamp running out of oil, causing discomfort to those who saw him.

The four young children were all under three years old and naturally couldn’t learn adult pretenses. When one child’s gaze met Emperor Taixiang’s, he couldn’t help but cry out in fear.

The noblewoman holding the child immediately turned pale with fright and dropped to her knees to beg forgiveness.

At home, she had repeatedly instructed her child to be sweet-tongued and well-behaved when meeting His Majesty, but who knew that because the child was too young, things would go wrong.

The woman grew more regretful the more she thought about it.

This was the position of the crown prince! Once His Majesty passed away, this would be the new emperor, and she would be the emperor’s birth mother. Now that her child had cried, her chances were completely ruined.

Thinking this, the woman also wanted to cry.

Who would have thought that Emperor Taixiang said indifferently, “Rise. It’s perfectly normal for young children to cry and fuss.”

The woman tearfully stood up in gratitude, but the child in her arms continued to cry loudly. She could only nervously try to comfort him, sweat already beading on her forehead.

Hearing the child’s cries, Emperor Taixiang showed no impatience whatsoever. Instead, he said to another woman: “You may take your child and leave.”

That woman felt as if a thunderbolt had struck her from a clear sky, leaving her dizzy and disoriented.

“Your, Your Majesty—” the woman pleaded with a cry.

It was someone else’s child who had cried, while her son had been well-behaved. Why was it her son who was eliminated?

Could it be that His Majesty thought the other child was more attractive than hers?

“Go. Wei Wuxie, reward the child with a jade pendant and two boxes of pastries.” Emperor Taixiang said wearily.

The woman ultimately didn’t dare say more. Tearfully holding her child, she performed a bow and silently withdrew.

Seeing this, the other three women couldn’t help but curl up the corners of their mouths, but then remembering the emperor’s unpredictable moods, they quickly suppressed their smugness and stood properly with lowered eyes, holding their children.

Emperor Taixiang was somewhat exhausted, yet still forced himself to continue: “Wei Wuxie, please ask the Empress to come.”

The three women’s hearts filled with anxiety, increasingly unable to guess His Majesty’s intentions.

Soon, the Empress arrived, surrounded by palace maids, and paid her respects to Emperor Taixiang.

Emperor Taixiang glanced at the Empress.

Since the Grand Empress Dowager’s passing, the Empress dressed increasingly plainly. Though not yet twenty, she wore only a simple pair of jade hairpins in her hair, and her expression lacked the liveliness of a young woman.

“Empress, look at those three children. Which one do you like?”

The Empress was suddenly shocked, and the three women were even more unable to hide their astonishment, instinctively holding their young children tighter. Even Wei Wuxie, who had weathered many storms, couldn’t help but steal a glance at His Majesty.

Was His Majesty handing over the right to choose the crown prince to the Empress?

Emperor Taixiang’s face remained completely calm as he urged, “Empress, which one do you like?”

“I—” The Empress gradually came to her senses, looking toward the three children, her hands tucked in her sleeves, trembling slightly.

Why was His Majesty asking which child she liked? Could it be that he wanted her to decide the crown prince candidate?

No, she must be overthinking this. It was simply absurd.

Which one did she like?

The Empress’s gaze swept across the faces of the three children one by one. She could see the tension and anxiety of the children’s mothers, while the three young children didn’t know what was happening—some looked at her innocently, some played by themselves, and one had fallen asleep.

The Empress’s mind quickly reviewed the backgrounds of the three children, but found that none had any particular connection to the Yang family.

Since choosing any one of them wouldn’t greatly impact her family, and none were her children, how should she choose?

The Empress couldn’t describe what she felt in her heart at this moment. She walked step by step toward the three young children and stopped in front of the first woman.

“Quickly pay respects to Her Majesty the Empress.”

The child in the woman’s arms was delicately carved like jade, with particularly lively eyes, and called out crisply: “Long life and golden peace to Your Majesty.”

The Empress couldn’t help but smile and walk toward the next child.

That child looked at the Empress curiously, and after his mother’s prompting, called out “Your Majesty” once before being distracted by the golden dragon on a nearby pillar.

The Empress smiled and came before the last child.

That child was sleeping soundly, and his mother gently patted him: “Dong’er, wake up quickly!”

The young child turned his head in his sleep, burying himself in his mother’s embrace like a quail, exposing his little bottom.

The woman was extremely embarrassed and couldn’t help but pat the child’s bottom. The child squirmed his little body and woke up, turning his head to meet the Empress’s gaze just as he smiled innocently.

The Empress felt her heart suddenly soften and curved her lips in a gentle smile.

“Which child does the Empress think is good?”

The Empress turned back to Emperor Taixiang and slightly bent her knees: “All three children are excellent. If Your Majesty truly wants this subject to choose one, this subject really cannot decide.”

The three women became even more nervous hearing this, but then saw the Empress suddenly look back at the child who had just awakened, smiling lightly: “This child is quite pleasing to this subject’s eyes.”

At these words, that child’s mother couldn’t help but be overjoyed, while the other two women were greatly disappointed. Only the three young children didn’t know what had happened and remained as they were.

Emperor Taixiang nodded: “Wei Wuxie, make note of this and inform Chief Minister Xu and the others.”

“Yes.”

“Take them away. I’m tired.”

“Your subjects take leave.” The three women, some joyful and others disappointed, were led away by the inner attendants.

The Empress also prepared to take her leave, but Emperor Taixiang said: “Empress, come sit beside me.”

Unable to fathom His Majesty’s thoughts, the Empress silently walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, but felt as uncomfortable as if she were being pricked by needles.

To be honest, since His Majesty had fallen ill, she had felt relieved.

The current peaceful days were much better than before, when His Majesty would stay at Fengzao Palace but awkwardly lie beside her.

“I remember when the Empress married me, she was more plump than now.”

The Empress couldn’t help but glance at Emperor Taixiang, but froze when she looked into his eyes.

Since her marriage, this was the first time she had seen such gentle eyes from His Majesty.

Emperor Taixiang reached out and grasped the Empress’s hand.

“Your Majesty—”

Emperor Taixiang tightened his grip on the Empress’s hand and said softly: “These days I’ve thought over and over, and feel that the one I’ve wronged most is the Empress… But what could be done? I didn’t want it either… Fortunately, that child is young. If the Empress treats him sincerely, he can be raised to be devoted.”

The Empress’s tears fell like rain.