Childbearing system: The royal family is shocked to see their offspring wither away!

So next in the court, the emperor collected all these memorials, and on the surface he was the one who approved them, but in fact it was the prince who approved them.

Moreover, as long as the matters in the court were not particularly important, they were basically left to the crown prince to handle. Now, it could be said that he was no different from the emperor emeritus.

Eighty percent of the affairs are handled by the prince himself.

Of course, Jiang Zhao and Chen Bo would sometimes go to help, but the prince was still very hardworking and he basically did everything himself.

The prince sat there writing furiously.

Seeing the emperor and the empress looking so affectionate, a nameless anger suddenly burst out in my heart.

The prince twitched his lips and said to the emperor and the queen: "Father, mother, aren't you two going a little too far?"

"If you guys want to show off your affection, can you please hide away and do it? Can't you see I'm busy right now?!"

As he spoke, the prince pointed to the memorial in his hand.

Seeing the prince's angry look, the emperor beside him seemed to have been prepared. He immediately asked Li Haitang to pour the prince a cup of chrysanthemum tea and said to him, "Prince, you are in your prime now. You should work harder now!"

"Your father and mother are both old now, it's time for them to enjoy their lives."

The emperor and empress said to the prince very happily.

The prince said helplessly to the emperor and the queen: "Father, mother... that makes sense."

"But if you don't have any work to do, stop showing off your affection here and get out now."

When the emperor and empress heard this, they immediately became unhappy.

The emperor said, "Hey, you little brat, we didn't say anything or do anything in front of you. We were just chatting and gossiping. I didn't expect that we would bother you now."

"...Now I am the emperor. Why do you, the crown prince, want to drive me off the throne right away before you even take the throne?"

Hearing the emperor say this, the prince was amused. He looked straight at the emperor and said bluntly: "So if your father says so, then you might as well just depose me as the crown prince. I won't be the crown prince anymore."

"You can find anyone you want to be the crown prince, the second or the ninth. You can just depose me and drive me out of the palace. Wouldn't you be able to keep your throne this way?"

When the emperor heard that he would be able to secure the throne, he panicked and said quickly: "Prince, what are you talking about? We are all family, why are you so polite? I don't trust any of you, the second and ninth brothers. You are the most obedient. I trust you the most to be the crown prince. After all, the crown prince position is still yours. The two of them can only be your assistants..."

"Especially the second son is useless. And the ninth son, if you don't become the crown prince and let the ninth son become the crown prince, don't you think all these years of training will be wasted? And how much pressure will the ninth son be under? And the ninth son's wife Zhining, how much pressure will she have?"

When he heard about Chen Zhining, the prince sat back down, raised his eyebrows, and said directly to the emperor: "I'm thirsty."

"?"

The emperor looked at the prince in confusion, and the prince repeated, "Father, I am thirsty."

The emperor held his breath and handed the prince a cup of tea. He snorted coldly and said to the prince, "If you don't review these memorials for me, I will punish you later."

The prince twitched his mouth, thinking that the emperor was still as childish as ever.

"..."

Listening to the conversation between the emperor and the prince, the queen just felt like laughing. She said to them with a smile: "It's been a long time since I saw you two being so harmonious."

As they were talking, a voice came from outside: "His Royal Highness the Ninth Prince and Princess Pingnan are here."

"Laojiu and Pingnan are here?"

Hearing this, the queen immediately looked at the emperor, her eyes full of concern.

They had only three legitimate sons and daughters, so naturally they loved them very much.

The emperor and empress immediately had them ushered in: "Quick, bring in Lao Jiu and Ping Nan right away."

"Yes."

After the door opened, two stunningly beautiful men and women came in.

Although they are now in their thirties and time has left traces on their faces, they are both dignified and beautiful.

The emperor and empress looked at this with great joy, and quickly arranged for the Ninth Prince and Princess Pingnan to sit down, smiling warmly at them and saying, "Why are you here?"

The Ninth Prince and Princess Pingnan exchanged a glance, and Princess Pingnan quickly said to the Emperor and the Queen, "We came here to talk about Ping An's mission to Zhou and Song."

"I heard that the King of Loulan wants to marry the Grand Princess Chang'an of our Zhou Song. I wonder what my father and mother think now?"

"..."

The emperor and the empress looked at each other, and there was some hesitation in their eyes.

After thinking for a while, the Queen gave a piece of cake to the Ninth Prince and another piece to Princess Pingnan. She smiled as she watched them eat. Before the Emperor spoke, she said, "In fact, it doesn't matter what I think or what the Emperor thinks. What matters is what Zhao Jia thinks."

"If Zhaojia likes Ping'an and the King of Loulan, we must marry Zhaojia to him no matter what. Even if we have to give Zhaojia a few more cities and give her Yongzhou, we must let Zhaojia live a happy life."

"If Zhao Jia doesn't want to, even if Loulan is a million times more powerful than our Zhou and Song dynasties, it will be useless."

"Even if Zhou Song dies in battle, he must not send the princess to marry. This is not just for Zhao Jia, but also for the face of the entire country... Our country is now strong, and it doesn't matter whether the eldest princess Chang'an marries or not. It all depends on Zhao Jia's wishes."

"..."

Hearing this, the Ninth Prince and Princess Pingnan looked at each other, and Princess Pingnan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She lost her first child, Princess Jingrong, and now, she really treats Zhaojia as her own daughter.

Moreover, she is his own niece, so naturally he is very close to her, and there is no difference between her and his own daughter.

She had previously worried that the emperor and empress would send their own daughter to sacrifice for the sake of national peace, but now she realized that she was just overthinking.

The emperor and the empress loved little Zhaojia more than she thought, and they were also smart people. They would never marry their child to Loulan just for the sake of peace with Loulan.

only......

Princess Pingnan thought of Loulan's rapid development and could not help but sigh to the emperor and the queen: "Father, mother, I never thought that Loulan would be so powerful and unify the entire Western Region so quickly. Other countries around it admire Loulan very much."

"Although Loulan cannot catch up with Zhou and Song, it should not be underestimated."

"It is amazing that the King of Loulan is so diligent and hardworking at such a young age!"

"Yes, the King of Loulan is so young but he is so diligent and hardworking. It is hard for any of the previous royal families in our dynasty to match him. I guess only the Crown Prince can compare to the King of Loulan."

"But I think... even if the prince is better than the King of Loulan, it is still an unfair victory."

"You have to know what Loulan was like when the King of Loulan just took over. You have to know that when the prince takes the throne, our Zhou and Song dynasties should be peaceful and prosperous... So there is no comparison at all."

The emperor thought of this and couldn't help but sigh and said, "It would be great if this child was a prince of our Zhou Song."

"If he was the prince of Zhou Song, where would he be today?"

Hearing that there was no position for him, the prince was unhappy. He snorted coldly and said to the emperor: "Father, mother, what are you talking about? If you don't like me, just say it!"

"I admit that the King of Loulan is indeed gifted, but is it easy for us Zhou Song to train a prince like me?"

It is estimated that a good child like the prince will not appear in a hundred years.

The emperor and the empress both knew it.

But now, listening to the prince's words, they couldn't help but laugh.

The two of them twitched their lips and glared at the prince at the same time.

Seeing the Crown Prince being glared at, the Ninth Prince and Princess Pingnan couldn't help but laugh secretly.

Princess Pingnan smiled and said, "I really didn't expect that the Crown Prince would be so shameless and say such things. I feel ashamed just listening to them."

Hearing what Princess Pingnan said, the Crown Prince glared at her angrily. Princess Pingnan glared back without admitting defeat and said to the Emperor and Empress with a smile, "Since Father and Mother say so, then I and my ninth brother will withdraw."

Hearing this, the emperor and empress hurriedly stopped them and said, "Ah, we three children have finally gathered together, why are you retreating?"

"We usually get together, so I rarely spend time alone with you guys."

"... like Zhining, the Crown Princess, and the Prince Consort, they came up to greet us for a while, but before they could finish their conversation, they exchanged greetings with the children for a while, and basically two hours had passed. This family dinner was basically over."

"I didn't have a chance to talk to you guys before, but now I finally have the chance, let's sit down and talk to each other."

As he spoke, the emperor first ran to the Ninth Prince and asked him about his health: "Old Ninth Prince, how are you doing recently? Have the old injuries you sustained on the battlefield recurred? And do your legs still hurt? I heard that you contracted cold legs in Liangzhou... How could you contract cold legs in Liangzhou? Alas, that place is a border after all, and the wind and sand are too strong..."

The Ninth Prince listened and answered the Emperor's words one by one: "I have been in good health recently. The old injuries I suffered on the battlefield have not recurred. The quilts Zhining made for me are very thick and inlaid with wolf skin. Naturally, there is no sign of the cold leg disease. My legs have not hurt much for several years. They only itch slightly when it rains. You don't have to worry about me so much."

The emperor was stunned after hearing Jiang Zhao's response.

When she raised her head, she saw the Ninth Prince's deep eyes looking at her.

The Ninth Prince's eyes were very gloomy, even a little cold. When he looked at people, his eyes were like a wolf's.

When he was the unruly and rebellious Ninth Prince in the past, he was restrained and had the temperament of a naive and innocent Husky. But now as the real Ninth Prince, his temperament makes people stay away from him and is very cold.

Only when looking at Chen Zhining, there was some warmth in those eyes.

Sometimes, when the emperor saw the ninth prince's eyes, he couldn't help feeling afraid.

These are definitely a pair of eyes that have experienced countless storms.

It was like a wounded wolf king walking forward alone. No one knew how long he had been walking, and there was a hint of despair in his eyes.

But at this moment, the emperor saw calmness and tranquility in these eyes.

Yes, it's very peaceful here, there's no emotion.

The emperor couldn't tell how he felt. How could the ninth prince become like this?

I still remember that at the beginning, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince had just died not long ago. At that time, the Ninth Prince looked at me with some hatred in his eyes, and even seemed to ignore my existence.

At that time, the emperor was very angry.

Now, as he is getting older, the emperor is trying hard to mend the relationship between himself and the ninth prince, but it is unknown whether he has succeeded.

But now, the emperor felt a little uneasy when he saw the Ninth Prince like this, so...was his repair successful or not?

The emperor scratched his head, held a piece of cake to the ninth prince foolishly, and said with a smile: "Come, come, try this water chestnut cake. What do you think it tastes like?"

The Ninth Prince was stunned when he heard this. Looking at the emperor's silly smile, he nodded and began to taste the water chestnut cake.

The imperial physician told him that the emperor's memory was getting worse, so he had forgotten many things in the past. He even forgot how good his relationship was with his two sons, the third prince and the fourth prince, when they were alive.

Now he has only a few children left, so the emperor is closer to the crown prince, himself and the second son. Even though he doesn't like the second son very much, he has now been directly appointed by the emperor to be the Prince of Duan.

The Ninth Prince silently took a piece of cake and ate it, feeling indescribable.

"..."

The Emperor and the Empress breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the Ninth Prince had finally become closer to them and his attitude was not as stiff as it had been many years ago. The Crown Prince also breathed a sigh of relief.

Now...Laojiu can finally let go of some of the things in the past.

In fact, the prince didn’t know whether he had let it go or not.

According to the prince's idea, he estimated that the ninth prince would not let it go.

Because he knew the Ninth Prince's temperament better than the Emperor and the Empress.