Shangguan Ming, the Prime Minister of Yuan, and the Ministers of the Six Departments exchanged shocked glances at the entrance of the morning court's assembly hall.
"What does this mean?" Shangguan Ming's voice lowered, "Did you all dream of a young girl?"
"Yes, indeed."
"That's right, Prime Minister Shangguan."
"...!" Shangguan Ming was dumbfounded. How could they all have had the same dream?
"What did this celestial child tell you all?" As Shangguan Ming spoke these words, it was as if all his strength had been drained.
But as he asked this, the other six ministers looked terrified and glanced towards the guards at the entrance of the assembly hall.
"This... Prime Minister, we can't speak of it here."
"Are you trying to get us in trouble, Prime Minister?"
"We can't talk about this! Prime Minister! If I speak of it, something terrible will happen!"
The Ministers of Personnel and others all looked panic-stricken and uneasy, not daring to reveal the contents of their dreams.
Shangguan Ming felt lightheaded, and his symptoms of dizziness became more pronounced.
The dream content that no one dared to speak of seemed eerily similar to the secret about the Yuan King he had heard.
Shangguan Ming felt like he was about to faint.
If it had just been him who dreamed it, it could have been dismissed as a mere dream. But for all six ministers to dream of this celestial child revealing heavenly secrets, could it still be a coincidence?
"Court is in session!" At the appointed time, a young eunuch at the entrance of the assembly hall called out.
Shangguan Ming and the six ministers exchanged glances, each seeing the caution, nervousness, depression, and despair in the others' eyes.
If their individual dreams all contained the same content, and if this heavenly secret from the dream was true, wouldn't the current Yuan Mu Royal Family be a joke?
Shangguan Ming and the six ministers felt lost inside, but couldn't show it on their faces.
Entering the court, they couldn't help but look towards the Yuan King on his throne—
The more they looked, the more Shangguan Ming and the six ministers felt something was off about the Yuan King!
A few days ago, the Yuan King had thrown away all the bronze mirrors in the palace and forbidden the palace staff from letting their hair down in his presence!
And in these past few days, not a single palace maid was to be seen.
Even the young Empress had been sent to a temple, supposedly to pray for the Yuan Army's success!
The Yuan King clearly had something to hide!
Bronze mirrors, long hair, women... The Yuan King's problem was obviously related to women!
What the celestial child said was likely true!
"Prime Minister, um, what did you just say?" The Yuan King sat on his throne, having not slept well for days, his spirit low and dark circles under his eyes.
These past two days, he had been afraid of having bad dreams and dared not sleep easily, yawning one after another.
He couldn't focus on what the officials below were saying.
"I didn't hear clearly, speak up a bit," he said.
Shangguan Ming's heart skipped a beat. Hadn't he spoken loudly enough?
Was this a joke?
Looking at the Yuan King's face, younger than his own yet more haggard, Shangguan Ming's expression turned grim.
The Yuan King was truly unwell!
Medical texts say that when a man lacks vigor, it's due to physical weakness, poor constitution, and depleted vital energy.
The Yuan King's deafness and puffy face were exactly the symptoms of kidney deficiency!
Shangguan Ming's heart sank to the bottom.
He repeated what he had just said, his gaze involuntarily scanning the Yuan King's face. Seeing the Yuan King's sparse beard and irritable temper, his heart continued to sink.
The Yuan King, though lacking in spirit, felt puzzled, "Prime Minister, is there something on my face?"
"...No, Your Majesty."
The Yuan King frowned. If there was nothing, why keep staring? Casually gazing upon the dragon's countenance was a grave offense!
But he couldn't punish the Prime Minister on a whim. Irritated, he turned his head only to find the six ministers all averting their gazes, stealing glances at him.
What was going on?
The Yuan King rubbed his throbbing temples, growing even more agitated, "I haven't been sleeping well lately. Starting tomorrow, there will be no morning court for three days!"
The Yuan King left his seat in embarrassment.
The civil and military officials were about to surround Shangguan Ming and the six ministers to discuss how to handle the recent military defeat, but they all fled faster than the others.
"We'll discuss it tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow, tomorrow—"
Shangguan Ming and the six ministers exchanged a glance before quickly leaving the palace, quietly exchanging code words under the bewildered gaze of the other officials.
"Celestial child? Lotus-colored palace dress?"
"This official didn't notice the celestial child's attire, but they left a four-character motto—" The Minister of Personnel pointed to the sky, saying two words before closing his mouth, "Heaven's..."
"Will..."
"Be done."
The Ministers of Works and Justice silently mouthed the words, each adding a character as if exchanging a secret code.
Shangguan Ming's body swayed. So everyone had dreamed the same thing!?
Could it really have been a celestial child entering their dreams?
"Did they say that the Yuan King..." Shangguan Ming suddenly stopped.
The six ministers widened their eyes, then nodded in unison, then shook their heads.
Shangguan Ming and the six ministers all fell silent, their faces turning from pale to dark.
It wasn't false.
Everyone had dreamed of a celestial child entering their dreams, saying the Yuan King was impotent!
It was over. The current princes and princesses, the entire royal bloodline was fake!
And the three Empresses—
Next to Shangguan Ming, the Minister of War suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning golden, and fell backward.
"Lord Chen!"
"This is bad, quickly, to the medical hall!"
Shangguan Ming hurriedly supported the Minister of War, his face extremely grim.
The Yuan King's first Empress had been the daughter of the Minister of War!
The second Empress was the granddaughter of the current Border General.
The third Empress was the daughter of the Former Prime Minister.
Shangguan Ming closed his eyes. If the Yuan King had truly harmed the three Empresses, the Minister of War and the Border General would surely hate him to the bone. The Yuan King would lose the support of most of the current military!
And the Former Prime Minister was the role model for the Yuan Mu scholars of today.
Shangguan Ming's heart was in chaos. If this were true, the court would surely fall into turmoil, unless the Yuan King issued an edict of self-blame and abdicated immediately!
They had to find evidence and make preparations as soon as possible!
"We need to find a way to investigate this thoroughly."
The celestial child only spoke but left no evidence, alas.
Worried, Shangguan Ming barely touched his evening meal. When night fell, he bathed and changed clothes, refusing to be intimate with his wife before bed.
Shangguan Ming pushed away his wife as she leaned in, "Not tonight, no, not for the next few days."
"If the celestial child from before the divine seat comes again tonight, how could I defile myself?"
"I've bathed and changed, burned incense and washed my hands to welcome the celestial child. You'd better bathe as well, my lady," Shangguan Ming said seriously.
"Although the celestial child enters my dream, you are right beside me. If you are not clean, it would also be a desecration of the divine," he added.
Madam Shangguan: "???" What? What was this about?
"Where did this celestial child come from?" Madam Shangguan was confused, "What nonsense are you talking?"
Shangguan Ming waved his hand, "My lady, you probably lack the spiritual root to understand. Even if I explained, you wouldn't comprehend. Never mind, the celestial child is coming for me, not you."
Madam Shangguan glared at him.
She wanted to get to the bottom of this, but Shangguan Ming had already devoutly lain down to sleep, clasping his hands and muttering "Amitabha" before bed, ignoring her completely.
Madam Shangguan rolled her eyes in anger.
What celestial child?
The old fool was just talking nonsense.
But as she lay down angrily under the thin quilt, it wasn't long before she began to dream.
...
[Awooo, my dream projection can only appear as a five-year-old, how annoying. It doesn't match my image as a breathtakingly beautiful immortal.]
Xiao Chuchu complained as she crafted dream packages for the officials' wives of Yuan.
Xiao Yunzhou silently patted her and glanced at Liu Chaniang, who remained quiet beside them.
He really wanted to see the five-year-old version of his daughter too.
But alas, he couldn't.
Only the people of Yuan were lucky enough to dream of his fairy daughter's adorable five-year-old appearance.
[This afternoon when the Minister of War's wife was napping, I entered her dream. As soon as I mentioned her daughter, she got scared and confessed everything.]
[Sigh, it turns out she knew all along that her daughter, despite being the Empress, was killed by the Yuan King, but she didn't dare speak up. As the first Empress killed by the Yuan King, if the Minister of War's wife had revealed the true cause of her daughter's death at the time, it might have prevented the tragedies of the next two Empresses.]
[But she was too afraid. She feared that after her daughter was killed by the Yuan King, she would be next as the one who knew the truth.]
[On the first day she visited her daughter after she became Empress, the Minister of War's wife learned about the Yuan King's impotence from her daughter's account of their first night, alas.]
[For so many years, she has hated the Yuan King while also hating her own weakness. Even when her daughter died tragically, she only dared to swallow her anger in silence.]
Xiao Chuchu sighed.
[Don't worry, Minister of War's wife. Tonight, celestial Chuchu will help remind the other officials' wives.]
[Any family with unmarried daughters can no longer send their daughters to the Yuan King!]
[Alright, I'll enter their dreams~]
...
Madam Shangguan fell into a deep slumber.
Soon, she discovered that she too was dreaming of a celestial child!
"Are you Madam Shangguan, Xue Li?"
In her dream, Madam Shangguan's mouth suddenly fell open as she looked at the adorable celestial child before her, with fair skin and rosy cheeks, appearing to be about five or six years old.
"Your young daughter is sixteen years old, not yet married, and on the list for this palace's selection of maidens, is that correct?"
