Yun Shu's lingering questions found their answer during the next day's morning court assembly.
Following the Crown Princess's delivery of a "monster," the Crown Prince's past transgressions were dragged back into the light. Memorials condemning the Crown Prince for lacking the virtue to match his position—and claiming Heaven had sent a dire omen as punishment—piled high on Emperor Xuanwu's dragon desk.
The ministers from the Crown Prince's faction did their utmost to defend him, while their opponents seized the opportunity to press for his removal. Tempers flared, voices clashed, and the court descended into heated argument within the Hall of State Affairs.
The Crown Prince's supporters cried out, "Your Majesty once acknowledged the inherent risk of consanguineous unions producing afflicted offspring. Now, these ministers spew slander and seek to smear the Crown Prince's name with vile accusations. This is nothing short of malicious intent!"
The opposing faction retorted sharply, "That makes the matter all the more damning. His Majesty expressly forbade the Crown Prince from marrying a woman of the Shen family. Yet the Crown Prince defied that command and acted of his own will."
"Yes, consanguinity carries only a possibility—not certainty—of deformity. But in the hundred years since the founding of the Tian Sheng dynasty, never has such a grotesque birth occurred. If this is not a warning from the heavens, what else could it be?"
Cornered, the Crown Prince's allies could only grasp at the thinnest defense. "It was... merely an unfortunate accident!"
But the opposing ministers scoffed, their tones mocking. "Now it is an accident? How convenient.
Were you not the very same ones who, just yesterday, proclaimed that child as the first legitimate imperial grandson? Did you not say his birth, at such a pivotal time, heralded a blessing upon Tian Sheng? Were you not attempting to use the occasion to petition for the Crown Prince's confinement to be lifted?"
Flustered and pressed into a corner, one minister from the Crown Prince's camp blurted out desperately, "T-there was also the flood in the capital, where tens of thousands might have perished. But Princess Sheng An foresaw the disaster and saved countless lives—an act of immeasurable virtue.
And after that, she dreamed of the gold and silver mines in Wa Kingdom, of bumper harvests in the imperial estates' rice fields. All these visions came during the Crown Princess's pregnancy.
How can any of you be certain these were not divine retributions borne by the child himself, sparing the rest of us?"
Yun Shu: "?"
You bunch of blockheads… Yesterday you schemed to bring Imperial Father to the Eastern Palace, trying to use the child's birth to restore the Crown Prince's position. And now that your plan has collapsed, you're trying to pin her achievements on that unfortunate child?
Have you no shame?
She had labored tirelessly to earn those accomplishments. What did they have to do with the Crown Prince and that ill-fated heir?
No one had warned her the court's high ministers could be so shameless.
Yun Shu very nearly stepped forward to curse them herself.
She held back—only because Emperor Xuanwu beat her to it.
"Utter nonsense! What connection is there between Sheng An's deeds and that child?
Some of you have clearly gone senile!
To speak such absurdities without shame—what is next? Shall you claim that it is thanks to that child that We still sit upon the Dragon Throne?"
"Your Majesty, please calm your wrath. This humble official only meant—"
"We shall not be calmed!"
Emperor Xuanwu's fury ignited. He refused to hear a single excuse. "If your mind has truly decayed, then you ought to remain at home in silence. Do not stand before Us and spout such reckless drivel!"
The hall fell deathly still.
Those ministers who had been bickering moments ago now stood frozen, cowed into silence by His Majesty's thunderous anger.
Yun Shu stood with ease in the front row, arms tucked into her sleeves, calmly watching her Imperial Father unleash his temper.
After forcing several of the more obstinate officials aligned with the Crown Prince to resign, Emperor Xuanwu finally issued the imperial decree.
The Crown Prince was deposed.
The moment the decree was read aloud, the Crown Prince's faction fell into stunned despair.
Meanwhile, the Eldest Prince's camp could scarcely contain their excitement. But given the events of the previous day, paired with the official deposition of the Crown Prince, none dared show overt joy. On the surface, all wore solemn expressions of feigned regret.
Yun Shu passed through the tension-laden air, stepping over the threshold of the Xuan Zheng Hall. She tilted her head upward to gaze at the clear blue sky—unchanged from any other day.
But her thoughts drifted back to what Ji Yongtian had told her during the flood relief effort.
This palace… was about to descend into chaos.
The deposition of the Crown Prince was no small matter.
For days on end, both the inner palace and outer court remained shrouded in unease.
Only when Yun Shu's birthday approached did things begin to shift.
Emperor Xuanwu issued a special edict, commanding the Ministry of Rites to organize the celebration with full ceremony. It was only then that the palace stirred from its gloom.
The first to react was Great General Wei Yuan.
He privately sought out the Eldest Prince.
"Your Highness, what exactly does His Majesty mean by this?
At such a delicate moment, the Princess Sheng An's upcoming birthday is merely her fourteenth. It is not yet her hairpin ceremony.
Yet His Majesty has ordered such a lavish celebration. Is this a sign that he favors Princess Sheng An above all?
Could it be… that His Majesty intends to name her Crown Princess?"
The Eldest Prince's face was a mask of stone.
He had waited for years, biding his time. And just when the Crown Prince finally fell, a new contender emerged from nowhere. No one in his position could have maintained a cheerful face.
Looking back over the past year, even he could no longer deny the truth.
He had fought the Crown Prince for years. Yet all the damage he had inflicted on that rival paled beside a single casual strike from his Fifth Sister.
And yet… to admit that he was bested?
The Eldest Prince refused to accept it.
Surely, Yun Shu had simply been fortunate.
Had he not, at that exact time, incurred Imperial Father's displeasure and been forced to lie low… Had the Crown Prince not insisted on marrying a woman of the Shen family… Had that Shen woman not given birth to a deformed child...
The Eldest Prince clenched his teeth.
Bitter resentment surged through him.
"The position of Crown Prince is not so easily claimed. Yun Shu has nothing—no support, no base of power. All she has is Father Emperor's affection. That alone will never be enough to make her Crown Princess."
"Well… not quite nothing, is it?"
Great General Wei Yuan blurted out reflexively.
"At the very least, she has won the hearts of the people."
The Eldest Prince narrowed his eyes. "...What side are you on?"
Startled, Great General Wei Yuan quickly backtracked.
"What I meant, Your Highness, is that it is primarily the poor scholars and common folk within the capital who have been moved by her.
As for the rest of the realm… it is true that the Capital Weekly now has branches in every major region, and Princess Sheng An does speak rather openly of her accomplishments through its pages.
However, beyond the capital, the people have yet to witness the impact of her efforts with their own eyes. Thus, they do not hold her in the same regard as those within the city."
"...Enough! Stop talking."
The Eldest Prince's expression turned black as ink.
That was your idea of damage control?