The Valued Lady is Truly Dominant

The echo of the Crown Prince’s name was still lingering under the beams.

Bang.

Someone crushed the wine cup in their hand, thin as a cicada’s wing, completely losing their composure, utterly incredulous.

And some people finally breathed a sigh of relief—turns out they’d backed the right horse.

Rip.

On the women’s side, the sound of silk handkerchiefs being torn rose one after another. All the concubines who had sons were pale-faced, while the Empress, after a brief daze, put on a dignified smile—only the handkerchief in her hand was clenched tight.

Song Ci glanced at those concubines and a few Princesses, saw them looking on the verge of tears, and couldn’t help looking toward Emperor Chu.

As for Emperor Chu’s expression—pure bad taste, like he was enjoying watching everyone make a spectacle of themselves.

Song Ci thought, this ultra-big boss was probably thinking right now: you lot nagged me every day to establish a Crown Prince—now the Crown Prince’s fresh out of the oven, well? Surprised or not, thrilled or not?

The dust had settled.

Song Zhiyuan’s lips curved in a faint smile. He rose, stepped out calmly, and proclaimed in a loud voice, ”The Emperor is wise. Now our Great Qing has an heir to carry on, which is the fortune of the realm. May our Great Qing endure for thousands of autumns, ten thousand generations without end. Long live the Emperor, long live, long long live.”

Flunky Prime Minister Song, always first in line to lay on the rainbow fawning.

Duke Dingguo and the others also stood up, following with fine words. One after another, everyone rose, shouting in unison, Long live the Emperor, long live, long long live; long live the Crown Prince, long live, long long live.

Once the Emperor’s golden mouth had spoken, the gavel had fallen: Great Qing’s newly minted Crown Prince was the Empress’s legitimate son, Hongye—there was no changing it now.

So from today onward, as long as the Crown Prince didn’t cook up some heinous act of treason, he was Great Qing’s heir, the next Emperor.

Right now, of course, they had to congratulate him on his long life.

The newly appointed Crown Prince was urged forward to offer thanks, then made a rousing declaration of his ambitions, and only after receiving a round of exhortations did he return to his seat to sit down.

Emperor Chu then said, since the Crown Prince had been established, and while the envoys were here to offer birthday congratulations, they should also stay to witness the ceremony of formally investing the Crown Prince. As for the most auspicious date, the Observatory would naturally choose the best one, and the envoys, unsurprisingly, responded with great enthusiasm.

After all, for them, coming to offer birthday congratulations was basically a business trip abroad—good food, good lodging, good entertainment. Why not?

The music started up again. With the Crown Prince now named, some rejoiced, some grieved.

Some people couldn’t contain themselves, showering the newly minted Crown Prince—whose soul hadn’t even fully found its way back—with a barrage of flirty glances and nonstop praise, until His Crown Prince Highness used the excuse of being tipsy to escape.

Prince Xiao and the others poured down cup after cup of wine; that pent-up resentment was about to spill out along with the alcohol.

Why? Why did a little brat who still hadn’t grown all his hair get to leap over them and become Crown Prince? Just because he was legitimate-born?

Tch! Father is biased!

Emperor Chu swept his gaze over his sons’ shifting expressions, half-smiling.

What a magnificent show.

Song Ci was thoroughly dazzled. From the moment the Crown Prince’s ownership was revealed, the expressions on the faces in that hall were simply the full spectrum of the human condition; each and every one of them could win an Oscar.

Oh, and then there was the women’s side.

Some people’s smiles looked worse than crying—like those Princesses, whose facial smiles couldn’t even stay in place. As for their proper mother-in-law, her back molars were probably grinding so hard they were creaking.

Some were wild with joy—such as Earl Anle Mansion, and the Madams and relatives allied with their family.

Earl Anle Mansion, the Crown Prince’s maternal family—this was fortune raining from the skies. They were now even more of a hot commodity than Prime Minister’s Mansion.

Sitting beside Song Ci, Madam Song instinctively looked toward her own natal family’s seats. Just then, Madam Gu also looked over; that gaze, you couldn’t ask for more full of resentment—she practically looked ready to eat her alive.

Madam Song lowered her eyes, thinking that when the banquet broke up and she went back to her parents’ house, things would likely not end well. Oh dear, her head hurt.