The best ring

"Come here!"

The old emperor gave an order, and a eunuch came in immediately.

"Go and ask the second prince Zhao Ke to come to see me." The old emperor said in a deep voice: "Let him enter the palace immediately!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The eunuch turned and left.

After the eunuch left, the old emperor's pale face looked a little solemn.

He has made a decision!

Conferring the second prince Zhao Ke as the crown prince!

This is a decision that has to be made, and it is also an expected decision.

In fact, although the old emperor has not yet confirmed the candidate for the crown prince, he has already had a general idea in his mind:

The candidate for the crown prince must be selected from the first and second princes.

As for the third prince Zhao Lun, he has never considered it!

In the old emperor's heart, he still prefers the first prince Zhao Xuan.

After all, Zhao Xuan is the first prince, the eldest son, and is more qualified to inherit the throne than others.

But over the years, Zhao Xuan's performance has not satisfied the old emperor, so the old emperor has not appointed him as the crown prince, thinking that he will be appointed as the crown prince when he is more mature and more stable.

However, the old emperor was disappointed after all. Over the years, Zhao Xuan has not made much progress and is still so mediocre. If it were not for him being the eldest prince, the old emperor would have given up on him long ago.

This time, the old emperor temporarily retreated behind the scenes and let the eldest prince handle the government affairs. This was his last chance for the eldest prince. As long as the eldest prince's performance satisfied him, he would take the opportunity to appoint the eldest prince as the crown prince.

However, the eldest prince disappointed the old emperor again.

Although the eldest prince has been very active and enthusiastic in handling government affairs these days, his ability is very average, and the way and result of handling cannot satisfy the old emperor.

In addition, the eldest prince wanted to force his way in before, which made the old emperor even more dissatisfied.

Therefore, the eldest prince's last chance was completely lost.

The eldest prince was not good enough, so the old emperor naturally leaned towards the second prince.

Originally, the old emperor wanted to wait a little longer and temper the second prince a little.

But now, he couldn't wait any longer.

First, his condition worsened very quickly, and there was not much time left. He still needed to escort the prince for a while, so he had to confirm the candidate for the prince as soon as possible.

The second reason was that what Eunuch Zhao had done just now stimulated him.

The old emperor did not believe all of Eunuch Zhao's words, but he did not deny them all. Eunuch Zhao's actions were obviously related to the third prince Zhao Lun. As for what kind of collusion there was between the two, the old emperor was not clear, and he didn't care.

The old emperor knew that as he had not shown up, there were more and more rumors about his condition outside, and some people could no longer hold back. The third prince was the first to take action, but he was definitely not the last!

Therefore, the old emperor wanted to announce the candidate for the prince as soon as possible to put an end to some people's unrealistic ideas.

Of course, there is one more thing that the old emperor is unwilling to think about or admit:

He is afraid that the second prince will do the same thing as the third prince!

If that happens, he will definitely be very disappointed. Who will he let inherit the throne at that time?

So, he must establish the second prince's status as the crown prince in advance before the second prince makes a similar move, and nip this situation in the bud!

"I hope you won't disappoint me, and I hope the decision I made is right!" The old emperor muttered to himself.

At this time, the appearance of the seventh princess Zhao Qi suddenly appeared in the old emperor's mind.

The old emperor was slightly stunned, and then a bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "You must still blame your father now? It was your father's incompetence that harmed you. Your father wanted to take you back in the future, but now it seems that it is impossible."

The old emperor has killed many people and calculated many people in his life. He has a clear conscience for other people and does not think that he has done anything wrong, but he has deep guilt for Zhao Qi.

Zhao Qi, his most beloved daughter, could have lived a happy life, but because of him, Zhao Qi is now suffering in a foreign country. This is the most unforgivable thing for the old emperor.

"If you were a man, it would be great." The old emperor said to himself: "If you were a man, father would definitely give you the world! It's a pity that you are a girl!"

The old emperor felt sorry for this matter more than once. Among all his children, he was most satisfied with Zhao Qi and liked Zhao Qi the most. If Zhao Qi was a boy, he would definitely pass the throne to Zhao Qi. He was also the most assured and satisfied with Zhao Qi.

It's a pity that Zhao Qi is a girl. In the old emperor's mind, it is obviously impossible for a girl to inherit the throne.

The old emperor knew very well that Zhao Qi's life in Tianji Kingdom would not be too easy. She was a pawn between the two countries. Now she still had value. Once she lost her value, her life would be even more miserable.

The old emperor wanted to rescue Zhao Qi, but thinking about his current physical condition, the old emperor was powerless.

Now he could only pin his hopes on the next emperor.

The eunuch who went to deliver the message soon arrived at Zhao Ke's house. When the servants in the house told Zhao Ke that someone had come from the palace, Zhao Ke was meeting Yuan Ji.

Yuan Ji had been in close contact with Zhao Ke recently, and even had some intention of not wanting to hide it. The worse the old emperor's condition was, the more unscrupulous he became.

On the one hand, Zhao Ke wanted to contact Yuan Ji, after all, Yuan Ji's status in the palace was not low. On the other hand, he was afraid to see Yuan Ji, because Yuan Ji had advised him not to contact the people of Shuiyue Kingdom before, but Zhao Ke did not listen to Yuan Ji's words. He was very afraid that Yuan Ji would know about this.

In fact, Yuan Ji had already learned about this from Hou Zhong. He was very angry, but he could do nothing about Zhao Ke. What's more, he originally planned to control Zhao Ke and make Zhao Ke a puppet. At this time, he naturally couldn't turn against Zhao Ke because of this.

Moreover, the spies of Shuiyue Kingdom were all dead, and Zhao Ke was now completely cut off from them.

"Someone came from the palace? Did my father have an order for me?" Zhao Ke asked with a little doubt.

Since the old emperor lied about being seriously ill, he had never appeared in front of the public, nor had he met anyone, nor had he issued an imperial decree to anyone. Therefore, Zhao Ke was still very confused and curious when he heard that someone came from the palace.

"Your Highness, just let him in and you'll know." Yuanji said, "Perhaps, His Majesty has something to tell you."

Zhao Ke nodded and said to the servant, "Let him in."

Soon, the eunuch came in and said directly when he saw Zhao Ke, "His Majesty's order! Second Prince Zhao Ke, come to the palace immediately to see him!"

Hearing the eunuch's words, Zhao Ke and Yuanji, who was hiding in the dark, were stunned. After reacting, Yuanji was ecstatic!