Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Although the Emperor is thirty-one years old this year, he is actually just like Emperor Xiaozong, Emperor Wuzong, and Emperor Xian, with very few children.

Zhu Zaiji, the eldest son of the emperor, was born to Consort Yan in August of the twelfth year of the Jiajing reign. He died at only two months old and was posthumously honored as the Crown Prince Aichong.

There are currently three princes still alive under the Emperor's rule.

Zhu Zaihe, the second son of the emperor, was born to Consort Wang in October of the fifteenth year of the Jiajing reign. He is not yet two years old, but he is already the emperor's eldest son.

According to Eunuch Huang, the Emperor is already preparing to appoint him as Crown Prince.

The other two princes were Zhu Zaiji, the third prince born to Consort Du Kang in the sixteenth year of the Jiajing reign (last year), and Zhu Zaizhen, the fourth prince born to Consort Lu Jing.

Both princes were still infants.

In those days, the infant mortality rate was extremely high, even among royalty.

Whether they can grow to adulthood is something no one can guarantee.

If these three princes also die young, and no new princes are born, the Emperor may end up without an heir, just like the late Emperor Wuzong.

The Emperor was also very angry about this.

Despite having so many concubines and the Emperor being young and vigorous, and diligently working in the harem, only four women were able to give birth to princes after seventeen years.

We've done everything we can; what else can we do about this?

If the late Emperor Xian had truly had another adult prince, the situation would have been much better.

A prince who has reached adulthood is not as likely to die young as a toddler.

If the three princes, or any other princes born in the future, can grow up successfully, the emperor's throne will naturally be passed on to his own offspring.

But if something unexpected happens and the emperor passes away, the court will have to establish a new emperor from a collateral branch.

If it really comes to that, as a son of Emperor Xian and the emperor's younger brother, according to the patriarchal system, his succession order would be ahead of Emperor Xianzong's other sons, that is, the descendants of Emperor Xian's brothers.

After all these years since the Emperor ascended the throne, he finally managed to change his biological father's title from Prince Xingxian to Emperor Xingxian.

Before leaving the capital, Sun Dexiu had heard from Eunuch Huang that the Emperor was planning to bestow a temple name upon his late father, Emperor Xian, and to elevate his spirit tablet to the main hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

It should be noted that the number of ancestral tablets enshrined in the main hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple is fixed. If a new tablet is to be added, one of the tablets must be moved to the ancestral temple, also known as the temple of distant ancestors, to be worshipped together with other distant ancestors.

The deity whose tablet is moved out of the main hall is usually the one with the most distant blood relation.

However, there are exceptions. The founding ancestor can enjoy the privilege of having his lineage passed down for generations.

In the Imperial Ancestral Temple of the Ming Dynasty, only Emperor Hongwu, the founding emperor, was originally entitled to have his lineage preserved for generations.

Aside from Emperor Taizu, the person with the most distant blood relation is Emperor Taizong (Yongle Emperor).

However, the Yongle Emperor represented the legitimacy of the entire Prince of Yan lineage, and in fact, he was also an ancestor who founded the dynasty.

Of course, it absolutely cannot be moved to the ancestral temple!

Therefore, His Majesty intends to change Emperor Yongle's temple name from Taizong to Chengzu, so that, like Emperor Taizu, his name will be passed down for generations!

Preparations for this matter are almost complete, and it shouldn't be long before it's announced to the world.

Having skipped Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu, the next emperor to make way for Emperor Xian, the late Emperor Renzong, was naturally Emperor Renzong.

However, in the end, the emperor insisted on his own way, and there were quite a few people in the court who opposed him.

After all, everyone knows that Emperor Xian, the late Emperor, never actually served as emperor for a single day.

If the emperor were to die without an heir and the throne were to fall to a collateral branch again, it goes without saying that the first person to be removed from the main hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple would be Emperor Xian.

They didn't even have the chance to move into the ancestral temple!

The high-ranking officials and ministers of the imperial court were very good at learning from history.

They will not repeat the mistakes Yang Tinghe made back then!

Regardless of which branch of Emperor Xianzong's offspring is chosen, this member of the imperial clan, who was hit on the head by a windfall, will definitely have to complete all the procedures for being adopted by the late emperor first!

In this way, the legitimacy of this member of the imperial clan who ascended the throne came from the adopted son of the late emperor from the imperial clan, and had nothing to do with the original vassal state.

If he were to forcibly elevate his biological father to the position of emperor, he would be undermining the legitimacy of his ascension to the throne.

Moreover, these high-ranking officials need not worry that this member of the imperial family is unwilling to be adopted.

Emperor Xianzong had many descendants. If you don't want to be adopted by the late emperor as his heir, there are plenty of others who would be!

After the new emperor ascended the throne, since he could not honor his own father's lineage as emperor, what would he think when he saw the spirit tablet of Emperor Xian being worshipped in the main hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple?

That would probably be even worse than eating a fly!

Both were successors from collateral branches of the imperial family, and all were descendants of Emperor Xianzong. So why is it that your Xingwang lineage, a prince who has never been an emperor, is allowed to enter the Imperial Ancestral Temple?!

Moving the spirit tablet of Emperor Xian out of the main hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple would not encounter much resistance in the court.

Even stripping Emperor Xian of his temple name and demoting him back to the rank of a vassal king would have many ministers supporting it.

Why not do something that makes you feel good and that no one objects to?

Sun Dexiu could easily imagine that if a collateral branch were to inherit the throne again, it would be almost certain that Emperor Xian's spirit tablet would be removed from the main hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple and he would be demoted back to a vassal king!

But if the emperor had a younger brother, the situation would be completely different!

In terms of blood ties and patriarchal clan system, this person was much closer to Emperor Xianzong than to his other descendants.

Even for the Emperor himself, passing the throne to his younger brother when he had no children of his own was far better than adopting a son from the imperial clan of the Xianzong lineage.

Because the throne remained with the Xingwang lineage!

As long as the throne remains in the Xingwang lineage, the spirit tablet of Emperor Xian will never be removed from the main hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple!

Sun Dexiu thought that if the Emperor knew that Emperor Xian had left an heir in Chengtian Prefecture and that he himself had a younger brother, he would be happy!

However, so many years have passed, and the Lu family has not reported this matter to the Emperor!

Why is that?

Is she afraid of being blamed by the Emperor for giving Wang, who had been favored by Prince Xing, to the steward of her household as a concubine?

Of course not! Even His Highness Prince Xing didn't blame him, so why would His Majesty blame him?!

All Lu Song needs to do is tell the Emperor that the maid who had been favored by Prince Xing gave birth to a boy after being given to the steward as a concubine.

The boy grew to look more and more like the heir apparent of the Prince of Xing back then, which was actually the emperor himself.

Moreover, the time when her birth mother conceived coincided with the time when Prince Xing visited her.

As long as Lu Chen as a child is brought before the Emperor, his face alone will dispel all doubts!

Although Wang later became someone else's concubine, that person was the steward of the Lu family, and it was impossible for her to have given birth to a boy who looked so much like the Emperor.

The only possibility is that it is the offspring left behind by His Highness Prince Xing.

For Lu Song, this matter actually posed no real risk. If the Emperor were pleased, he might even reward the Lu family.

Even if they might not look quite alike in infancy, Lu Song dared not take the risk.

But by the time he grew into a child, his facial features should have become visible, making it absolutely certain that he is Prince Xing's offspring!

However, after so many years, Lu Song has turned a blind eye, as if he were blind!

Next month, Lu Chen will turn nineteen!