After the emperor read her mind, the salted fish concubine effortlessly won the title of empress.

Chapter 408 In my next life, I'll live here.

She thought Bai Ping was calling her to go to court.

Li Yuanke was awakened by the noise and asked, "What is it?"

Bai Ping said, "Granny Qu from Jiafu Palace has arrived. She requests that Her Majesty the Empress come over."

Shen Shixi woke up and quickly sat up. "Come in and help me get dressed. I'm going to go over there."

Consort Jing could not hold on any longer.

Shen Shixi arrived quickly. The Seventh Prince was already there, kneeling on the footstool, head bowed, tears streaming down his face.

Shen Shixi patted his head, but couldn't comfort him, so she didn't say anything.

Consort Jing appeared to be in good spirits, but she was already in a state of near-death experience.

She said to the seventh prince, "You may leave now. I want to speak with your mother."

"Yes!" The Seventh Prince kowtowed three times, then got up and went out to stand guard outside the door.

"Chenyuan, I won! I outlived Madam Du by several days." She said with a smile, "I barely made it through yesterday, and I wanted to live a few more days. I did my best."

She had already changed her clothes and done her makeup; she wasn't old yet, but her life force was almost gone.

"I don't want to die yesterday, yesterday was your birthday."

Shen Shixi stepped forward, took her hand, and his eyes were a little moist. "It's not so bad. Every year on my birthday, I'll think of you. Isn't that nice?"

Consort Jing smiled and said, "I won't add to your bad luck! I've resented you, I've resented the Emperor, I've resented my parents and my sister, I've resented many people, but in the end I realized, what's the use of resenting you all? I should resent myself the most, because in the end I'm useless."

Shen Shixi sat down on the edge of the bed. "It's good that you don't resent it anymore! No matter what happened in the past, it's all in the past now. Yesterday's events are like yesterday's death. We made stupid mistakes or did wrong things, there's always a reason. Once it's over, stop thinking about it and let yourself go."

Today's events are like the beginning of today's life. One must always look forward, and without harming others or oneself, live a more relaxed and happier life, without compromising oneself.

"Okay!" Two tears rolled down Consort Jing's cheeks as she tightly grasped Shen Shixi's hand. "In the next life... I'll remember your words. In the next life, I'll live like this."

Seventh Prince, please take care of him... take care of him... he's a pitiful child..."

Before she could finish speaking, she breathed her last, her eyes wide open, the last glimmer of light fading from them.

Shen Shixi raised his hand to stroke her eyelids and whispered, "Okay!"

The former Empress Pei Linghua lived in the shadow of her elder sister simply because she was born a few years later. She was neglected from a young age and spent her whole life seeking the approval of others and chasing after a light that did not belong to her.

In the end, she lived a life of nothingness.

Her parents didn't take her seriously, her admired older sister only saw her as a tool, and her husband didn't approve of her.

Emperor Yongxi of the Great Zhou Dynasty only recognized one empress throughout his life. Even though Pei Linghua was the first empress, she was just a symbol of enduring humiliation to him. When the Pei family line was wiped out, he also ordered the removal of this symbol.

The emperor did not posthumously confer any title upon Consort Jing, and neither the court nor the harem mentioned her. Therefore, her funeral could only be conducted according to the regulations for a second-rank consort. Although Shen Shixi still entrusted the task to Consort Xian and Consort Shu, the Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of Rites were involved, so they paid much more attention to the arrangements.

The seventh prince cried very sadly. He was already in poor health, and he fainted as soon as he started crying.

Shen Shixi had him sent back to Consort Guo's palace and ordered the imperial physicians to treat him properly.

Xihe then mentioned that she was going to visit the Seventh Prince at Consort Guo's palace. Shen Shixi was quite curious and asked the Crown Prince, "Are your sister and your Seventh Brother on good terms?"

"Yes, my sister once fell asleep in class and didn't listen to what the teachers were saying. It was my seventh brother who tutored her. My fourth brother loves to make fun of my sister, and my seventh brother once helped my sister fight back against him."

Xihe brought some small cookies and chiffon cakes from Zhaoyang Palace to visit the Seventh Prince. After exchanging greetings with Consort Guo, she was led to the Seventh Prince's bedroom.

The seventh prince had just taken his medicine. He was granted permission to wear mourning clothes and was dressed very simply. He was reclining on the couch under the south window, reading a book.

Hearing that his younger sister had arrived, he quickly got up. Xihe's short and slightly plump figure appeared at the door. She walked over in a few steps, looked her seventh brother up and down several times, and said, "Seventh brother, don't be too sad; Mother Jing has turned into a star in the sky, and she can see you."

The Seventh Prince smiled gently, his eyes warm and gentle, and gestured for her to sit down. "What brings you here?"

Xihe took out a flower rope, quickly flipped it into a shape, and handed it to the Seventh Prince, letting him choose the rope. "I was afraid that Seventh Brother would be bored, so I knew you could read books."

The seventh prince played cat's cradle with her for a while, then they ate cookies together. Later, she got tired and lay down on the seventh prince's couch to take a nap.

The seventh prince carefully covered her with a blanket, reading a book while watching her; her chubby face had a very healthy color.

He wanted to cough, but he tried his best to suppress it, afraid of waking his sister.

Xihe's companionship softened his heart.

After the Dragon Boat Festival, the palace moved to Qingyi Garden, just like before.

The eleventh and twelfth are at their most mischievous age, and Shen Shixi doesn't want to manage them, so Li Yuanke is in charge. Shen Shixi is still handling political affairs.

Since there was no court assembly at Qingyi Garden, Shen Shixi set the meeting time for eight o'clock, so the officials no longer had to get up in the middle of the night to come over as before.

Some ministers who lived far away were eager to rush over here before dawn, which was indeed not easy.

The Empress was decisive and the ministers were used to her style, so few people cared that the Emperor did not participate in state affairs.

Apart from King Xun and others.

As long as Shen Shixi was in the court, they dared not make any rash moves.

In the evening, the family enjoyed the cool air and ate fruits in the waterside pavilion. The prince and Xihe then talked about things at the school.

The crown prince leaned against his mother and said, "Mother, do you think my third brother and the others are trying to steal my position as crown prince?"

Li Yuanke was surprised and looked over.

Shen Shixi found it amusing and asked, "Why do you say that?"

The Crown Prince said, "I think Third Brother, Fourth Brother, Sixth Brother, and Eighth Brother are in cahoots. Ninth Brother and I are good friends. Second Brother used to be good to me and my sister. Seventh Brother was good to my sister, and my sister was good to me. But Third Brother and the others are not good to me and my sister."

The prince counted on his fingers and concluded that his four older brothers, the third, fourth, sixth, and eighth, were in cahoots and were his enemies.

Shen Shixi asked, "Did they bully you?"

The Crown Prince shook his head. "They wouldn't dare bully me! They have a good relationship with Li Minchang and made plans to visit his residence during this holiday, but they didn't invite me."

Li Minchang was the son of Prince Xun, Li Yunjue, and the grandson of Crown Prince Li Yuanqian.

Do you think they should invite you?

The crown prince thought for a moment, then raised his chin, his arrogant expression strikingly similar to Shen Shixi's.

"Even if they invite me, I won't go. Li Minchang is a junior. If anyone should be invited, it should be Prince Xun who makes the invitation. But I won't go."

Li Yuanke's gaze darted back and forth between the Crown Prince and Shen Shixi.

After the holiday, the Crown Prince left the palace to visit his elder brother, the little beggar Wei Shuo, only to find that their territory had been taken over by a group of big beggars.

The crown prince was startled. After inquiring, he learned that Wei Shuo had actually led his underlings to join the charity.

The Crown Prince went to the charity hall again, but Wei Shuo was not there. It turned out that he worked the night shift at the charity hall and used the money he earned to study at Yongxi Academy.

The Crown Prince went to Yongxi Academy and finally met Wei Shuo.

After chatting for a while, the Crown Prince learned that the charity was actually run by his mother. However, in front of Wei Shuo, he naturally wouldn't say that the Empress Wei Shuo mentioned was his mother.

"Before she became empress, she traveled all over the country and did many good deeds. One of them was to establish a charity. I spun yarn at the charity, spinning for two hours every day. I was provided with three meals a day and four hundred coins a month."

Yongxi Academy waives my tuition. If I study well and rank highly in the monthly exams, I can also get a scholarship of two hundred coins. If I get it, I'll have six hundred coins a month.

The prince was very surprised. He never imagined that there were people in the world who lived such difficult lives and were still so ambitious.

"You're my older brother. If you're short of money, I can give you some."

Wei Shuo patted the Crown Prince on the shoulder, "Fu Guang, don't say things like that to people casually, or you'll easily be deceived. I don't need your help; you're my brother, so it's my duty to help you. I don't need anyone's help either; I'll still amount to something in the future."

"Didn't you want to be a general? Shouldn't you be practicing martial arts properly?"

"I have my family's ancestral boxing style. The academy can practice riding and archery. I heard that the imperial court is going to hold a military examination. I will participate in the military examination when the time comes. I am sure I can do it."

"Fu Guang, would you like to learn martial arts too? I'll teach you my family's boxing style, and we can go fight Xiling together someday."

The prince said, "Very well!"

After the prince returned, he went to his father and asked to learn martial arts.

Li Yuanke handed the crown prince over to Cen Yin. Xi He also wanted to learn, so she followed suit and even pulled the seventh prince along.

Seeing that the Crown Prince was learning, the Ninth Prince also wanted to learn and joined in.

Cen Yin taught a small class of four students.

Of course, right now we can only practice some basic skills.

The third, fourth, sixth, and eighth princes visited the Prince of Xun's residence. The next day, an imperial censor impeached the Prince of Xun and his princes for forming cliques.

Meanwhile, Cen Yin was also reporting to Shen Shixi that the four princes had a banquet at the Prince of Xun's residence, complete with song and dance performances.

During the banquet, Prince Xun asked the third and fourth princes when they would hold their "coming-of-age ceremony," since they were already ten years old.

The "Coming-of-Age Ceremony" was a celebration ceremony for children in the Great Zhou Dynasty before they turned ten, marking their transition from childhood to adolescence. Ordinary families had this ceremony, and the degree of solemnity depended on the family's wealth.

As a prince, if no ceremony was held for his birth or first birthday, then the "coming-of-age ceremony" should not be omitted.

The four princes unanimously thought of the Crown Prince and Xihe, as well as the eleventh and twelfth princes. They had a "third-day washing ceremony" when they were born and a "first birthday ceremony" when they turned one year old. Every year on their birthdays, their father would do everything he could to celebrate.

They are both princes, so why do they have nothing?