“Here, we have the Du family’s legitimate daughter. She is intelligent and multi-talented, has excellent medical skills, and has resolved many crises for Feng Ming. Her contributions to Feng Ming are tremendous. Today, I will adopt you as a younger sister and bestow you with the title of Princess Anle

with the status of a second-rank official

. Soon after this, I’ll have the Ministry of Works build a princess’ manor for you,” Han Mingze said slowly while gazing at Du Xiaoli.

Huh?!

He wasn’t saying this to scare Du Xiaoli, right? To think he was making her a princess…?

This news came too suddenly, stunning Du Xiaoli and all the cabinet ministers.

“Your Majesty, this… You absolutely cannot do this!” Grand Prince He immediately cried out when he finally regained his senses.

“What can’t I do?” Han Mingze asked with displeasure. “Could it be that I don’t even have the right to make someone a princess?”

Everyone in the study lowered their heads and said, “Please quell your anger, Your Majesty.”

“All I did was adopt a younger sister, yet I can’t even do this. How can I quell my anger?!” Han Mingze became even angrier.

Elder Prince bent his body forward and said, “Your Majesty, it’s not that we, your servants, want to prevent you from adopting a younger sister. If Your Majesty wishes to adopt Imperial Physician Du as your younger sister, this is Your Majesty’s family matter. However, if Your Majesty wishes to confer her with the title of princess, this means adding her to the genealogical records of the imperial family. This is no small matter! Your Majesty will have to thoroughly convince everyone about why you want to do this. Otherwise, anyone will want to request for Your Majesty to give them a title. This will throw your ancestors’ system into disorder.”

“All of you must be skeptical of her contributions to Feng Ming, aren’t you?” Han Mingze sneered. “Little Shan.”

“Your Majesty’s servant is here,” Eunuch Shan said while stooping.

“Tell them.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Eunuch Shan replied and stepped in front of the imperial table. “After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Third Princess of Eastern Li was severely poisoned. It was Imperial Physician Du who did her utmost to save the Third Princess. Saving the Third Princess’ life and, in turn, averting a conflict between Feng Ming and Eastern Li was Imperial Physician Du’s first contribution. Her second contribution occurred during the Academy Competition. Northern Qi’s little princess, Beiling Yu, was poisoned. It was Imperial Physician Du who went to the mountain range at Mount Yin and developed an antidote. She turned peril into safety, averting a conflict between Feng Ming and Northern Li. Imperial Physician Du’s third contribution was providing the venue for the competition and preventing Feng Ming from being humiliated in the presence of foreign representatives. Moreover, she researched and supervised every aspect of the competition, allowing it to progress smoothly until the end. Her fourth contribution was defeating Northern Yuan’s representative in a dance contest, leaving the opposing party no choice but to open up a trade city.”

After Eunuch Shan finished speaking, he bowed to the emperor and the cabinet ministers before returning to the emperor’s side.

“Are these sufficient to convince you?” Han Mingze asked.

All of the cabinet ministers below kept silent. Just a moment ago, they had been so concerned about Du Xiaoli being conferred with the title of princess that they had forgotten that she had saved the Third Princess of Eastern Li. They only recalled the matter now after Eunuch Shan mentioned it. Additionally, the fact that Du Xiaoli saved Beiling Yu had initially been concealed from uninvolved parties to avoid causing a commotion. However, now that everyone was aware of it, these cabinet ministers naturally had nothing to say. After all, if these two princesses had died here, there would definitely be trouble for Feng Ming.

The most important point was the last contribution. Due to Du Xiaoli defeating Zhao Zirui, Feng Ming managed to avoid opening up a trade city and forced Northern Yuan to open up their gates instead. The value of such a contribution to a country was impossible to assess. Just this matter alone earned her sufficient merit to receive a title!

Upon seeing that the cabinet ministers no longer opposed the move, Han Mingze said, “From today onwards, you, Du Xiaoli, will be my adopted younger sister and Feng Ming’s Princess Anle

!”

Du Xiaoli raised her head and had a good look at Han Mingze. Once she confirmed he wasn’t going crazy, she gave him a kowtow and said, “This younger sister thanks Your Majesty for the title.”

The title was of a princess, as well as the status of a second-rank official. It would be a waste if she didn’t accept it. Her status was now much higher than that of princesses who didn’t have a title. If she were to encounter princesses like Fan Min, they would now be the ones who had to bow to her in greeting. Du Xiaoli felt pleased just thinking about it!

“All right. All of you should get up now,” Han Mingze said.

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“Northern Yuan’s request for a peace treaty and the rest of the matters will be discussed tomorrow morning’s imperial court session. If there’s nothing else, all of you are dismissed. Prince Ding and Princess Anle, stay behind,” Han Mingze stated.

“Your servants will leave now.”

The princes and cabinet ministers had already finished addressing any pressing matters before Du Xiaoli appeared, so the moment Han Mingze dismissed them, they left together. Now, the only ones remaining in the study were Han Mingyi and Du Xiaoli.

“Today, Grandmother talked a lot about you two. You should come with me to go visit her,” Han Mingze said as he stood up.

Du Xiaoli initially thought Han Mingze retained her because there was something he wanted to discuss, so this was unexpected. She still wasn’t used to her sudden rise in status!

Just as the three people left the study, the empress and a servant girl walked over. They curtsied the moment they saw Han Mingze.

“I pay my respects to Your Majesty.”

“You may dispense with curtseying, Empress.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” The empress stood back up.

“Empress, why have you come here?” Han Mingze asked.

The empress glanced at the small bowl in the hands of the servant girl standing behind her and said, “I, your servant, thought about how you’ve been working hard tending to the affairs of the nation. The weather is rather dry of late, making it easy to suffer from excessive internal heat. So, I boiled some lotus seed soup for Your Majesty. It boiled for a whole afternoon and just finished cooking, so I wanted to bring it over for Your Majesty.”

Han Mingze looked at the soup in the servant girl’s hands and said, “I’ve troubled you, Empress. However, I’m just about to bring Prince Ding and Princess Anle to go see Grandmother, so I won’t drink the soup. It has also been hard on you to manage the matters of the harem every day. You should drink this soup instead. We’ll be going now.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty, for the concern. Please let me see you off,” the empress said with a slight bow.

After speaking, Han Mingze had walked around the empress to leave, but he now turned around to gaze at the empress. He said, “Empress, the imperial study is an area that’s forbidden for members of the harem. It would be better if you left quickly.”

References

MoonWhisperer, TWIP's Thoughts

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