Legend of Concubine's Daughter Minglan 知否知否 应是绿肥红瘦

85. Abandon the Old and Welcome the New

After waiting for ages, people finally met the Prince Eight who arrived in dust. Without seeing each other for nearly fifteen years, the emperor and the prince seemed to be so perfectly intimate that no gap could be spotted between them. The father shook his arm and expressed sympathy and solicitude for his son's hardships while staying in Shu. The son cried his eyes out and kept saying that it was really hard for his father who even fell ill from overwork. Next to them stood the old Empress Li, who was now totally lost and confused. What a lucky family of three!

A group of officials standing under them were quick to cooperate with their performance, each of them wiping tears with sleeves and feeling touched by the deep love between the emperor and the prince. No wonder the weather in our country was so favorable, people enjoyed such peace and prosperity and everything took a turn for the better, thanks to the good example set up by the Royal family! After the reunion, the emperor shakily held his son's hand and gave a brief introduction of each courtier. This was the head of the royal cabinet who almost died, and that was the Great Bachelor of Wen Yuan Ge who served the country with distinctive merits, those were the five cabinet ministers, guys standing backward were...Minglan could hardly remember their names, there were too many of them!

"Father, what does the Prince Eight look like?" asked Rulang without hesitation. In fact, what she asked was also what all women present wanted to know.

With a loyal and patriotic look, Sheng Hong said with his head help up high, " His Highness is the lord of creation, he does well in both literature and martial skills and he looks undoubtedly spectacular."

All female members of the family believed in his words, since it would be much better to have a gorgeous ruler. Yet Changbai stole a glimpse of his father and then remained silent. Actually, the Prince Eight just looked okay with his square face and big ears. Emperor Gao, the first founder of the dynasty (Tai Zu), a man of exceptional ability, was, reputedly, known as an unbearably ugly-looking man. His ugly gene was so powerful that it still existed even after being modified by several beauties, generation after generation. But then again it was appropriate and safe for an emperor to have a plain appearance.

It seemed that the old emperor's poor condition really could last long, so the head of Imperial Board of Astronomy thoughtfully brought forward a recent good day and started to prepare for appointing the Crown Prince. All courtiers submitted memorials of congratulations on the cabinet and it was time for those well-prepared officials in Ministry of Rites and Taichang Temple to stand out. On the good day, the father and son from Sheng family left the house before the sunrise. They arrived at the Hall of Divine Prowess to attend the ceremony and then spent the whole day kneeling down many times to pay respect. Eventually, the ceremony came to an end when the Crown Prince took the jade book, expressed his thanks to the Empress in the Central Palace and venerated ancestors in the Ancestral Shrine. Even so, Sheng Hong claimed that the ceremony had been simplified because of the turbulent unrest before the lunar year and increasing tiredness of the emperor.

Equipped with sharp awareness, all civilians knew they should feel joyous with the royal family. Many of them set off firecrackers and those who were wealthy even donated a wide range of things to the poor, aiming to show their congratulations. Little Changdong was also cheerful to witness the Crown Prince appointment since he was given a few days-off because of it. When he went back home from school, he secretly told Minglan about what he had heard from the beggars. Those guys said that it was the second almsgiving within the same month, and they were all expecting to have the appointment ceremony on a daily basis. After hearing him, Minglan couldn't help smiling.

Changdong turned eleven years old this year and grew much taller, not a little boy anymore. He had always been polite and deferential in front of his father and brothers, but he still acted mischievous when with Minglan. Minglan encouraged Changdong to show good articles praised by his teachers to Sheng Hong, and indeed, Sheng Hong complimented him on his work a few times. Therefore, Changdong was more motivated to study hard. He got up early, stayed up late and sometimes looked like a dummy when he spoke to others.