The First Auxiliary Road from the Imperial Examination

"This, this... Prime Minister, look!" The officials were horrified and looked at Yan Yuan one after another.

"Let's go back to the Classics Hall first." Yan Yuan looked towards the inner courtyard of the imperial palace with unspeakable emotions in his eyes.

……

"In fact, there is another lineage of the royal family that had a close relationship with the late Emperor Chengyuan." When the ministers returned to the Classics Hall and just sat down, someone spoke first.

Gu Yuncheng and Cen Minzhou glanced at the man at the same time, and then looked at Yan Yuan in unison.

Yan Yuan nodded slightly: "The scholar is talking about the lineage of Prince Sui'an?!"

The Hanlin scholar who spoke immediately nodded: "It is indeed them."

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but gasp.

Prince Sui'an was the half-brother of Emperor Chengyuan and the favorite youngest son of his father, Emperor Xiaowu.

When Emperor Chengyuan ascended the throne, although Emperor Xiaowu was no longer around, he had to consider the feelings of Empress Dowager Rong'an when it came to enthroning his younger brother.

Although Empress Dowager Rong'an could tolerate the Duke's Mansion raising a bastard, she could not accept that this bastard was made a king without any merit.

In the end, in order to take both his biological mother and his reputation into consideration, Emperor Chengyuan sent his half-brother back to his hometown to live at the cost of granting him the hereditary title of a prince, with the title Sui'an, as if to persuade his brother to be content with whatever happens.

To date, the title of Prince of Sui'an has been passed down from generation to generation for five generations. During this period, their descendants have indeed been law-abiding and guarding their hometown and clan lands, and have never come to Kyoto, so even many court officials have ignored their existence.

"Well, as far as I know, the line of Prince Sui'an also has difficulty in having children. Currently, the Prince's Mansion only has a concubine and a concubine to raise the little Prince. If the little Prince is brought here, I'm afraid their line will be exterminated."

The Minister of Rites He Benchu ​​looked at everyone and said, "Besides, the little prince is only three years old now. This situation of a young ruler and a suspicious country... doesn't seem to be a good choice." Upon hearing this, the ministers nodded repeatedly.

The main reason why most of the ministers agreed was that everyone was aware of the relationship between Prince Sui'an and the current emperor. If Prince Sui'an was placed on the throne, it would be a great irony to Emperor Chengyuan and Empress Dowager Rong'an.

But this reason is not suitable to be stated.

"Minister He, what you said is wrong!" Another Hanlin scholar stepped out to express his disapproval, "You are the Minister of Rites, you should know that the first choice for the succession of the throne is the royal family. If there is no one in the royal family, then you can consider precedents and choose virtuous people... Now the royal family has the descendants of Emperor Yuan who are worthy of inheriting the throne. If you don't choose Prince Sui'an, do you really have to consider choosing between the Sheng family and the Xie family?"

"This..." He Benchu ​​was about to speak when the Minister of Justice Liang Er pulled his sleeve.

"Brother He, please look forward." Chen Zeming, the Minister of Works who was standing behind, reminded quietly.

He Benchu ​​looked in the direction indicated, only to see Prime Minister Yan Yuan looking at the desk thoughtfully.

Suddenly, he figured it all out.

"Hmph!" He Benchu ​​shook his sleeves coldly and suppressed his anger without saying anything else.

He said nothing, and the others did not say anything either. They just listened to the people from the Zhanshi Mansion talking enthusiastically with the scholars.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"In this case, why not..." Cen Minzhou, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said with a smile, "Let's put the issue of succession aside for now, and have someone bring Prince Sui'an back to the capital. As for what happens next, we'll wait and see."

"Well, what Cen Sanfu said... makes sense!" Yan Yuan nodded calmly, and the matter was settled with one word. (End of this chapter)