The abdication ceremony was held in the Fengxian Hall.
Civil and military officials stood solemnly within the hall, where two thrones were set up, the eastern one for the Retired Emperor and the western one for the Emperor.
Emperor Yuanyou entered the hall slowly with Song Yu, and all the officials knelt in salute.
Shen Qingping only caught a glimpse of the hem of Song Yu's robe.
Amidst the solemn and dignified ceremonial music, Wu Qi presented the imperial jade seal, symbolizing imperial authority, to Emperor Yuanyou.
Emperor Yuanyou looked at Song Yu, who also slowly knelt down.
The jade seal was transferred and finally placed into Song Yu's hands.
Song Yu looked up at Emperor Yuanyou and saw a face full of smiles.
"Please ascend the throne, Your Majesty."
The voice of the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial rang out, followed by the resounding crack of whips outside the hall.
"Please ascend the throne, Your Majesty."
The cries of the officials came in waves, like the urgent thunderclaps of a summer storm.
Under the gaze of all the officials, Song Yu sat upon the throne that symbolized the identity of the Emperor.
"Kowtow—"
The officials uniformly dropped to both knees, placed their hu tablets at their waists, bowed forward, touched their foreheads to the ground, and held the position for a moment.
"Rise—"
After three rounds of kowtows, they performed the grand ceremony of five bows and three kowtows to the newly ascended Song Yu.
"Long live the Emperor!"
"Long live the Emperor!"
"Long live the Emperor!"
Three cries of "Long live" rose wave upon wave, pushing the entire abdication ceremony to its climax.
"All ministers may rise."
Song Yu sat upright on the dragon throne. Dressed in imperial robes, his handsome features and commanding presence made it difficult to look directly at him, and the twelve-beaded crown on his head added to his majesty.
Outside the hall.
The officials' mountain-shaking cries of "Long live" clearly reached Song Shihuan's ears.
"Your Highness, the Emperor has ascended the throne."
At Yingchun's voice, Song Shihuan realized she had been somewhat lost in thought.
Had she... really managed to nurture her playboy father into an emperor?
Her initial hope for her father to become a dragon—to achieve greatness—had actually come true.
...
Song Yu's accession edict was proclaimed during his first morning court audience after ascending the throne.
"I reverently receive the great mandate, inheriting the favor of Heaven and Earth, following the instructions of my late imperial father, and hereby change the reign era to Zhaowu."
"I honor my late imperial father as the Sagely and Virtuous Retired Emperor, and posthumously honor my late mother as the Zhaoyuan Empress Dowager."
"My only daughter, Princess Fu'an, is elevated to Princess Chang Fu'an (Eldest Princess Fu'an) and is granted residence in Ming'an Palace."
"I appoint Shen Mingwen and Ye Shijie as Imperial Tutors."
"I appoint Shen Qingping as Chancellor."
"I appoint Gu Zheng as a General of the Second Rank, and his son, Gu Mingning, as a Brigade Commander of the Third Rank."
"..."
"A special additional imperial examination is granted to broadly open the path for the virtuous. This is proclaimed within and without, so that all may know."
This day's morning court lasted longer than usual, yet everyone was fully alert.
The first year of the Zhaowu era had officially arrived.
After court adjourned.
Shen Qingping was immediately surrounded. Such a young Chancellor—who wouldn't want to step forward and make their presence known?
Even Cheng Guang wore a sour expression. "Congratulations, Chancellor."
"Imperial Censor Cheng, congratulations to you as well."
Cheng Guang nearly gritted his teeth to pieces.
Zheng Fang and Ling Ming were assigned to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War respectively, and Feng Kuizhi was assigned to the Dali Temple, all holding crucial positions.
"Chancellor, should we go pay our respects to His Majesty separately?"
Hearing this, Shen Qingping raised an eyebrow. "If you go to the Zichen Hall now, you likely won't find His Majesty."
He would bet his head that the Emperor had gone straight to Ming'an Palace after court.
Hearing this, the crowd dispersed on their own. Only then did Shen Qingping notice Shen Mingwen, who had been silently watching him.
Shen Qingping straightened his official robes. The first-rank robes worn by him carried a unique elegance.
"Apologies, but your son's official rank is now too high. You can't scold me so freely anymore in the future, old man."
Seeing this, Shen Mingwen rolled his eyes at Shen Qingping. "Hurry back to the residence."
"What's the rush?"
"To pay respects to our ancestors!"
Throughout the entire morning court, Shen Mingwen's heart had been fluttering uncontrollably. It wasn't until he heard the edict appointing the Chancellor that he finally felt completely at ease.
His Shen family had truly produced a Chancellor.
"Be a worthy Chancellor," Shen Mingwen said.
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you there, old man. I'll probably be secretly cursed by all the officials."
The corners of Shen Qingping's eyes reddened slightly. "Don't worry, I'm no longer that playboy young master from back then either."
...
Ming'an Palace.
"Ahuan—"
A gust of wind passed, and Song Yu, dressed in bright yellow, sprawled inelegantly across a lounge chair. Baoxia hurried to pour tea for him.
"Attending court is so exhausting."
The grand ambitions before accession had only lasted through one morning audience.
"Liuxi, come quickly and massage your emperor-father's shoulders."
Song Shihuan looked at Song Yu's appearance and felt like laughing. She tried hard to hold it back, but failed.
"Father, how does it feel to be emperor?"
Song Shihuan was somewhat curious.
"One word: tired." Song Yu waved a hand at Song Shihuan.
No wonder that old man had been so insistent on him succeeding, even writing in the edict about being aged and frail—he must have been unable to bear the hardships of being emperor anymore.
"Is it more tiring than cricket fighting? More tiring than cockfighting? More tiring than listening to operas?"
Song Yu's movements stiffened. Some past embarrassments were better left unmentioned.
"Back then, after the birthday banquet when I arrived at the Prince of Qin's mansion, I didn't see a trace of you for several days in a row." Song Shihuan propped her head in her hands. "Whenever I asked the steward, he said you had gone out to listen to operas, with that equally famous Third Master Shen."
"At that time, the matron took me around the Prince of Qin's mansion. The study was overgrown with weeds, and the fighting cocks you raised kept crowing at me. I thought then that I must stew and eat those cocks."
And indeed, they didn't live much longer.
"You must have been terribly heartbroken back then, right?"
Song Yu immediately shook his head, utterly sincere.
He hadn't been heartbroken at all. Really.
"Back then, did Ahuán feel that choosing me as a father was particularly unfortunate?"
Hearing this, Song Shihuan laughed like a kitten who had successfully stolen a treat. She leaned close to Song Yu and whispered:
"It wasn't all that unfortunate, because I soon discovered a big secret."
"What secret?" Song Yu also grew curious.
"You, Father... enjoyed immense imperial favor."
Song Shihuan recalled. At that time, her imperial grandfather and father still had estrangement between them. While she and her father were recuperating in the side hall of Zichen Hall, she noticed her imperial grandfather sneaking to the side hall several times a day. He wouldn't go in, just secretly watched from outside.
"And then I began a grand plan!"
Looking at Song Shihuan's delicate little face, smiling with pride.
Song Yu suddenly had an epiphany. "This grand plan of yours... has it already been realized?"
Song Shihuan nodded, even her hair strands seeming to perk up with joy.
Not only realized, but realized perfectly.
"Then Ahuán's plan couldn't possibly be..."
"Hoping Father becomes a dragon!"
Song Shihuan and Song Yu said in unison, then looked at each other and laughed until they bent over.
"So it turns out I should have appointed Ahuán as my Imperial Tutor!"
Song Yu ruffled Song Shihuan's head, his eyes filled with gentle warmth:
"Thank you, Ahuán, for not giving up on this truly worthy playboy."
Song Shihuan happily squinted her eyes, her smile nearly reaching the back of her ears, putting on a tsundere look as if it were a piece of cake.
"Relax, it's just a playboy. A little nurturing fixes that right up!"
