Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 280 The Imperial Seal
Seriously, have you ever seen someone get promoted this fast? This isn't just rising steadily, it's like they've ascended to heaven!
We all know Your Majesty favors Ying Jiuque, but this is too much of a show of favoritism. An eighteen-year-old girl, who has been in the court for less than a year, yes, she has indeed helped Your Majesty solve many major cases and has indeed made those contributions, but her promotion is far too fast.

You have to understand how many people spend their entire lives hovering below the fifth rank, and to even become a third-rank official is considered incredibly lucky. But this Ying Jiu Que, this... how can anyone accept this speed?

Before they could even begin to grumble, everyone noticed Emperor Jingtai's displeased expression and suddenly realized that this wasn't a normal court meeting. His Majesty had just weathered a major treason case, and anyone with a modicum of sense wouldn't dare offend him. But the more they thought about it, the more resentful they felt. Why was Ying Jiuque so favored by His Majesty?
Jiu Que herself didn't know, but she just felt that His Majesty was a great man, and she was happy to serve him. If she did well, she could be promoted and make a fortune—who wouldn't want that? If all the civil and military officials in the capital, or even the entire country, heard this, who knows how heartbroken they would be? Didn't they want to serve His Majesty? So many people worked diligently their entire lives, yet never caught His Majesty's eye. What did they lack compared to Ying Jiu Que? Was it simply because they were men?
I just can't understand it, I really can't understand it at all.

What's more, His Majesty's subsequent rewards almost made them vomit blood. Chunyu Shuang, Wei Yuan, and even Xie Mingchen, who always accompanied Ying Jiuque on his cases, all received rewards. Just look at these three! A eunuch's adopted son, a female official, and a doctor—what glorious identities! His Majesty insisted on promoting them and making them rich. Didn't you see that even the usually reserved Eunuch Jiufu was beaming with joy? Even Xie Mingchen not only rose to become the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, second only to the head physician. Oh, and there was the female knight who suddenly appeared today. Although her martial arts skills were outstanding, she was a江湖人士 (jianghu person, a martial arts practitioner), not from a respectable family, and unwilling to serve in the court. Even so, His Majesty bestowed upon all four of them the title of Fourth-Rank Light Cavalry Captain.

This is a noble title! Although the rank is a bit low, it's a good official position that can be passed down to one's descendants, guaranteeing a stable income regardless of circumstances! You must know that His Majesty isn't very generous in bestowing noble titles. Only those brothers who followed him in his campaigns and built this vast empire received titles. Since then, for a full thirteen years, His Majesty hasn't granted any more titles. Oh, right, except for that unconventional Ying Jiuque.

This is truly unbelievable! Who can we even complain to?!
Sigh, in short, everyone's feelings were incredibly complicated. Adding to that, Ying Jiuque's current position—the Ministry of Personnel—is the department that manages the promotions and reshuffling of officials, and Ying Jiuque isn't even a minor official there. The previous Left Vice Minister of Personnel was Mu Yanchun's son-in-law, and he's definitely going to fall now. To be honest, everyone had already mentally divided up those positions, but before they could even speak, His Majesty directly appointed Ying Jiuque to that position. This is truly unbelievable!
Moreover, they will no longer dare to say that Ying Jiuque is a woman. So what if she is a woman? She is still in charge of your promotion and changes. You should know that although the Minister of Personnel is not related to Mu Yanchun by marriage, Mu Yanchun was once his mentor. With this relationship, even if His Majesty does not punish him, he will not stay in this position for long. Isn't the position of Minister of Personnel prepared for Ying Jiuque?
In short, everyone's feelings were incredibly complex and hard to describe when they left the palace.

Ying Jiuque, however, did not leave for a while. The eunuch named Dequan still had something to say, and Jiuque was also kept by His Majesty to listen in.

It seems that Dequan had been holding back some things in his heart for too long, and now that Emperor Jingtai had finished clearing the room, he hurriedly blurted them out.

"Your Majesty, this old servant has something to say. Ajiu, he is not actually of the blood of the former crown prince!"

Now, Emperor Jingtai perked up. He naturally suspected that this was the old eunuch's attempt to exonerate his young master. However, Dequan then pulled a palm-sized box from his robes and handed it to Jiufu with trepidation.

After it was presented, Emperor Jingtai was stunned the moment he opened the box.

This, this thing!
"When Mu Yanchun saved His Highness the Crown Prince, the prince was very grateful. But he soon discovered that Mu only wanted to keep him as a puppet, even forcing him to have sex with women and produce offspring despite his frail health. As the prince grew older, Mu thought he was difficult to control. Therefore, after one of the women gave birth to Ajiu, the prince quickly became unwell. Although His Highness was frail, how could he have died in just three days? It's just that Mu probably didn't know that when the palace was in chaos, the prince was injured in the confusion and could not have had a child."

"Over the years, that Mu fellow has been subtly trying to find what's in the box. His Highness saw through his scheme and hid it carefully long ago. On his deathbed, he gave the box to this old servant, asking me to deliver it to His Majesty. His Highness the Crown Prince said that the people suffer because the royal family is inactive. Since His Majesty can save the people from their misery, he is the chosen one. This box can only be given to you. As for Ajiu, his mother was originally a peasant girl from Qingyun Manor. She had a childhood sweetheart, but Mu Yanchun forcibly gave her to His Highness. His Highness couldn't bear to see them separated, so he secretly officiated their wedding. Ajiu, he is not His Highness's child."

In fact, by the time Emperor Jingtai took the contents of the box out, no one was paying attention to the person Dequan had mentioned. That square, smooth, and ancient object, clearly having been handled many times, was none other than the Imperial Seal of the State!
Every dynasty, and even every emperor, had their own imperial seal, but this Imperial Seal of the State was exceptionally different. For over a thousand years, it had been the symbol of the highest ruler of this land, and regardless of dynastic changes, this seal would miraculously fall into the hands of the new emperor.

Those who receive orders from heaven will live long and prosperous lives.

Gradually, the Imperial Seal of the State became a symbol of the imperial throne. One of the greatest regrets of Emperor Jingtai's life was that he had not been able to find the legendary Imperial Seal of the State even after conquering the capital and establishing his new dynasty. Although he did not think that changing dynasties was anything dishonest, having the Imperial Seal of the State would make him, as emperor, more legitimate.

Emperor Jingtai held up the Imperial Seal of the State, which remained warm and lustrous despite the changing dynasties, and slowly rose to his feet. Everyone present knelt down and shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

"Long live His Majesty—"

(End of this chapter)