Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"Brother, if His Majesty is truly determined to go his own way, he must go into seclusion to cultivate."

Lu Wei looked worried.

What will happen to the political situation?

"It depends on how far His Majesty intends to isolate himself from worldly affairs."

Although Lu Bing had just been ordered to have Yang Zui, who had risked his life to remonstrate, flogged to death, he was actually quite worried about the matter.

"If it's just that he doesn't attend court, he can occasionally meet with people from the Cabinet and the Directorate of Ceremonial in his spare time from cultivation."

Ordinary state affairs could be drafted by the cabinet, approved by the Directorate of Ceremonial, and sealed by the crown prince.

The crown prince is too young to actually review the documents.

Either the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs directly affixed the seal on behalf of the Crown Prince, or the Crown Prince's Office of the Eastern Palace reviewed and affixed the seal on behalf of the Crown Prince.

Matters of state and military importance that the Cabinet and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs dare not act on their own must still be reported to His Majesty for a decision.

If that's the case, nothing serious will happen.

I'm afraid that's not the case!

If that's the case, Your Majesty doesn't need to appoint the Crown Prince as regent; he can simply avoid attending court.

There was no need to issue an edict appointing the crown prince to oversee the country, thus avoiding resistance from the court officials.

Based on my understanding of His Majesty, he may very well have actually believed Duan Chaoyong's words and decided to completely abandon state affairs for a year or two in exchange for the opportunity to cultivate immortality and achieve eternal life.

It was customary for the crown prince to oversee the state when the emperor was away from the capital or unable to handle state affairs.

But this time it will take too long, at least a year, or even two years.

Although Emperor Taizong... no, Emperor Chengzu often had the crown prince oversee the country during his reign, sometimes for even longer periods without incident, that was because the crown prince at the time was already an adult, while the later Emperor Renzong was an adult.

The current crown prince is far too young and incapable of fulfilling the responsibilities of overseeing the country.

If Your Majesty does not personally make decisions on matters of great importance to the nation, in the long run, this may not be a blessing for the country.

"This is neither a blessing for the nation nor for my Lu family."

Lu Wei shook his head.

"In the worst-case scenario, it will take a full two years, and too many things can change."

The Lu family's current status is entirely due to its relationship with His Majesty.

If anything unspeakable happens, we will definitely be held accountable.

We have to stop it!

"It's impossible!"

Although no one dared to agree with His Majesty, apart from a few fearless individuals like Yang Zui, few dared to openly oppose him.

Lu Bing thought about it carefully, and finally sighed.

"Our Lu family controls the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Emperor's personal guards are His Majesty's most loyal henchmen. We must not contradict His Majesty on such matters."

However, allowing Your Majesty to act arbitrarily and let a five-year-old child oversee the country will inevitably lead to the loss of imperial power and social unrest.

After much thought, I believe there is only one way to resolve this crisis.

That is to find a way to bring Prince Ying to the capital to assist the Crown Prince in overseeing the country.

"what!"

Lu Wei was taken aback.

"In the more than 170 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, only two princes have ever served as regents."

During the reigns of Emperor Renzong and Emperor Xuande, the first Prince Xiang served as regent twice. This was because Emperor Xuande had no children at the time, so his younger brother had to serve as regent.

Another prince who served as regent was the Prince of Cheng, who later became Emperor Jingtai.

At that time, Emperor Yingzong had already lost Tumu Fortress to Esen of the Oirat Mongols. The Crown Prince was too young to support the critical situation, so Prince Cheng was appointed to the position in a time of crisis, which was a helpless move in an extraordinary situation.

Now that His Majesty has three princes, and the state is not in any dire situation that a young ruler cannot handle, why would he agree to let his younger brother enter the capital to assist the Crown Prince?

"After our private meeting with Lu Chen at the Weihui post station that day, you went directly to Gucheng County to set up the empty house where His Highness grew up, unaware of some of the things that happened afterward."

Lu Bing glanced at Lu Wei.

"After the fire at the palace, when my mother and I met with His Majesty to report Lu Chen's background, His Majesty asked a few strange questions."

Lu Chen's birth mother, Lady Wang, was a maidservant by my mother's side. Back then, when His Majesty was still the heir apparent of the Prince of Xing, he often visited my home and it was normal for him to have seen her. But so many years have passed, he should have forgotten her long ago.

However, when I mentioned Lady Wang to my mother, His Majesty immediately thought of her.

Not only did she remember that she was a beautiful maidservant by her mother's side back then, but she even remembered that she often wore emerald green dresses!

"Brother, you mean..."

Lu Wei's expression immediately froze.

"Lu Chen... His Highness Prince Ying is not the son of the late Emperor Xian. The one who slept with Lady Wang back then was actually the eleven-year-old heir of Prince Xing?!"

That's not right!

Even if His Majesty did indeed favor Lady Wang back then, it would have been almost impossible for an eleven-year-old boy to make Lady Wang conceive a royal child!

Our guess when we met Lu Chen at the post station was probably correct. Even if both Prince Xing and the Crown Prince had slept with Lady Wang back then, Lu Chen should be Prince Xing's son.

"My mother and I originally thought the same thing."

Lu Bing shook his head.

"After the southern tour group arrived at Chengtian Prefecture, His Majesty publicly announced in front of his ministers that Lu Chen was the posthumous son of the late Emperor Xian. He also ordered Yan Song, the Minister of Rites, to propose the name Zhu Houyu for Lu Chen in accordance with royal regulations."

At the time, I felt that His Majesty must have realized that he was too young back then, and even if he had indeed slept with Lady Wang, the possibility of leaving behind a royal heir was extremely slim.

Lu Chen should be the son of the late Emperor Xian, and His Majesty's half-brother.

By the time you return after arranging the empty residence in Gucheng County, His Highness the Prince of Ying will have already accepted the investiture.

My mother and I felt there was no need to bring up those strange words His Majesty said that day, so we never told you about them.

However, there's something on my mind that I feel is a bit off.

"What does my brother mean?"

Lu Wei thought about it carefully.

"Your Highness Prince Ying looks remarkably like His Majesty when he was young!"

"right!"

Lu Bing stood up.

"It is quite common for brothers to look alike."

For example, you and I, brothers, look about seven or eight points alike.

"If my brother and I wore the same clothes, people who don't know us well might mistake us for each other."

Lu Wei nodded.

"But it's far from being at the point where even people who know me well would admit their mistake."

We're brothers, born of the same mother... Could it be...?

"That's the problem!"

Lu Bing continued,

"After returning to the capital from Chengtian Prefecture, I felt increasingly uneasy."

Once I officially took over as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I secretly sent several teams to various places to randomly select wealthy families with multiple wives and concubines, all of whom had children.

They secretly observed how similar the fathers, sons, and brothers in their family were, drew their portraits, and submitted a detailed report.

After comparing hundreds of reports, I finally arrived at the accurate answer.

Half-brothers may look only six or seven parts alike; they may look somewhat similar, but you can tell the difference at a glance.

Brothers born of the same mother tend to look more alike, but at most they are only about 90% similar; those who know them well and are close to them can still tell them apart.

If two brothers look so alike that even close relatives can't tell them apart, there's only one possibility: they're twins!

I have been by Your Majesty's side since childhood, and I am very familiar with Your Majesty's appearance from childhood to adulthood.

"Even my half-brothers would never admit their mistakes!"