At the beginning of the establishment of the Dayu Dynasty, in order to avoid a tragic case among the princes fighting for power, the First Emperor immediately set a rule that the eldest legitimate son would inherit the throne.
The eldest legitimate son would be chosen regardless of merit, while the chosen son would be based on seniority rather than age.
The first child born to the legal wife was often the eldest legitimate son and the undisputed heir apparent.
However, not every empress was able to give birth, so in that case, the emphasis would be on seniority first. Or if the eldest legitimate son was extremely young, the eldest son of a concubine would still be given priority.
This was a loophole that the favored concubines gradually figured out over time - as long as they gave birth to the eldest son first and prevented the empress from having a son or only having a very young one, they would have a chance at competing for the right of succession.
And the fact that Noble Consort Ju was able to successfully give birth to the Eldest Prince, while the Second Prince had an extremely low status and the Third was just a princess, the Fourth was disabled, showed how favored she was.
Unfortunately the Fifth Prince was still the eldest legitimate son weighing down on the Eldest Prince's head.
In the order of succession, the eldest legitimate son takes precedence regardless of seniority. An eldest son of a concubine would only be considered if there was no eldest legitimate son.
The death of Empress Yan was perhaps due to her own pent-up resentment, but the disappearance of Chang Yan was definitely not a coincidence. A young boy alone in the depths of the palace might not necessarily survive, being away would give him a better chance of staying alive.
But he vanished too thoroughly.
To the point of being completely obscure to the hustle and bustle of the mortal world, in the eyes of some aristocratic families he was no different from a dead person, and he gradually faded out of the center of power.
Even if he returned in poor health, the powerless and unsupported eldest legitimate son was no match for the overbearing might of the eldest son and his likelihood of becoming the heir apparent.
In the eyes of the Ju family, it was indeed time for the imperial family to establish the heir apparent, but it should have been the Ju or Min family making the request, not the Jiang or Dou families.
Seeing the bowing ministers were mostly from enemy factions, the Head of Ju Family quickly realized something was wrong.
He reacted swiftly by taking a few steps forward with his hands cupped and said, "Your Majesty is wise. It is time to appoint a mature and steady heir apparent to share Your Majesty’s burden, benefit the common people, and contribute to the mountains and rivers."
These words sounded good on their own, but the mention of “mature and steady” took on another layer of meaning.
The Fifth Prince was the eldest legitimate son but only fourteen years old, while the Eldest Prince was already eighteen years old. Judging purely by age, most would consider the Eldest Prince to be more mature and steady.
The ruler sitting on the dragon throne only smiled mockingly without revealing anything.
Jiang Jizong gave an undisguised sneer. "Is Lord Ju recommending the Eldest Prince? At eighteen years old he is indeed quite mature and steady. Just the other day he caused trouble with a young lady from the Min family on the streets, I heard it was related to a pregnant bedroom attendant in his prince’s residence."
He didn’t even have a proper wife yet he had gotten a bedroom attendant pregnant.
Respectable aristocratic families would never allow such shameful behavior. Even when Noble Consort Ju was still a favored concubine before entering the imperial household, she did not dare to get pregnant until becoming an officially conferred concubine.
Yet it had regressed to such a state in the next generation.
In addition to the argument over an unmarried lady in public, it was fail after fail in meeting the criteria of “mature and steady”.
The Head of Ju Family’s face instantly turned as purple and black as boiled pig’s liver, yet he couldn’t refute it.
In confrontations between scholars in the Golden Sacred Hall, the attacks were always steady, precise and ruthless.
“You... you must have seen wrongly,” after a long pause, the Head of Ju Family squeezed out, “The Eldest Prince gets along well with the young Miss Min, you can ask Lord Min.”
Having been inexplicably dragged in, Lord Min of the Min Family, “...”
In any case, the Min Family was currently in the Eldest Prince’s camp, so he could only keep his eyes lowered and mumble indistinctly.
It sounded vaguely like a nod, but also vaguely like a shake of the head.
Jiang Jizong suddenly smiled and said, "So Lord Ju is truly recommending the Eldest Prince, but the Dayu Dynasty's order of succession emphasizes the eldest legitimate son first, so the Eldest Prince would have to be after the Fifth Prince."
"The fate of the mountains and rivers is of great importance, this old minister does not dare to casually recommend," the Head of Ju Family reacted swiftly. "However, perhaps Lord Jiang has some connection with the Fifth Prince? I don't see it on a normal day though."
This was insinuating some improper relationship between the Jiang Family and the eldest legitimate prince.
The Ju Family was the Eldest Prince's maternal side, and the Head of Ju Family was also the Eldest Prince's uncle, so helping his nephew was understandable.
But the Fifth Prince had nothing to do with the Jiang Family. Secretly contacting him would be tantamount to factionalism and treason, and could be counted as a crime if necessary.
The Head of Ju Family was frantically calculating in his heart: This obscure Fifth Prince actually has some connection with one of the four greatest families, the Jiang Family. Add in their subordinate Yao Family and their odds don’t seem any lower than the Eldest Prince.
If he looked up, he would have seen the pity in Jiang Jizong's eyes, the aloofness in the imperial family's eyes, and even the interaction between Jiang Jizong and Dou Weiming.
In the entire Golden Sacred Hall, only the imperial family and Jiang Jizong understood the reasons before and after proposing an heir apparent, and exactly who the heir apparent would be.
Dou Weiming was completely confused, but had an excellent relationship with the Jiang Family and was standing close to Jiang Jizong, so he simply raised his eyebrows inquiringly: Could it be that an heir apparent is truly going to be established this time?
Jiang Jizong nodded in reply without shifting his gaze.
Dou Weiming's expression became serious: Appointing the eldest legitimate son?
Jiang Jizong continued nodding back in reply.
Dou Weiming straightened his back and glanced toward the imperial family's position: Does His Majesty know too?
Jiang Jizong still nodded back in reply.
Now Dou Weiming felt exasperated, seemingly unable to understand that since it had already been internally decided, what was the point of putting on this big show here?
When he caught a glimpse of the Head of Ju Family's shifty eyes, the answer floated to the surface - establishing the heir apparent was a weighty matter of utmost importance, the ministers still had to willingly accept it, there still had to be an explanation to the world.
Perhaps there was also an old father's selfish wish hidden in this - if the Ju Family could clearly see the state of affairs, the Eldest Prince could obediently be a wealthy idler without worries for life.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Jiang Family has no private contact with the Fifth Prince," Jiang Jizong cupped his hands and said. "The Jiang Family will always support the orthodox lineage, support the rules passed down by our ancestors."
Based on the precedence of eldest legitimate son, only the Fifth Prince would be in accordance with the rules.
The Head of Ju Family's complexion darkened again. "Your Majesty, all these princes grew up under your watchful eyes, surely you know best which of them is capable of the responsibility."
This was subtly reminding the imperial family about the deep fatherly love and affection.
Before Jiang Jizong even had a chance to speak, Dou Weiming took a step forward. "Reporting to Your Majesty, the First Emperor indeed once said that the eldest legitimate son takes precedence over the eldest regardless of birth order."
With both the Jiang and Dou Families expressing support for the Fifth Prince, the Ju Family's chances increasingly declined.
Before the Head of Ju Family's face could become even darker, the Lord of Sun Family took two steps forward and gently said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, it is indeed eldsest legitimate son before eldest son regardless of birth order."
If it was just going along with proposing an heir apparent before, now it was clearly picking sides.
The Head of He Family no longer hesitated and decisively stepped forward two paces. "Eldsest legitimate son before eldest son regardless of birth order."
The Yao Family Patriarch likewise cupped his hands. "Eldsest legitimate son before eldest son regardless of birth order."
The ministers who were willing to propose an heir apparent earlier also all took turns stepping forward. But the most unexpected was actually the Chu Family. "Reporting to Your Majesty, eldest legitimate son does take precedence over eldest son regardless of birth order."
The Fourth Prince actually sided with the Fifth Prince.
