Chapter 29: The Succession of the Heir Apparent

Shangguan Zishu knelt in the center of the hall the moment he heard the announcement. "Thank you, Father, for your high regard. I shall certainly strive to live up to it and shoulder the responsibilities of the heir to the Shangguan family."

Seated to the side, Yu Zhaoyang could hardly conceal her smile. Watching Shangguan Zishu kneeling in the hall, preparing to receive the seal of the heir, her heart felt as radiant as a blooming flower. From this day forward, she was the wife of the heir. The mere thought of this title made her want to announce it to the entire world. Her fate had finally changed, and the Lady of Nanhua no longer had a place in it.

Thinking back to her previous life, when the Lady of Nanhua looked at her as if she were a mere ant, she felt an urge to kill. Yet, back then, she had been forced to endure the Lady’s mockery and ridicule in silence. She would never again have to lick her wounds alone as she had in her past life; she would become someone superior to all others.

How fortunate she was to have traded marriages with her second younger sister. That sister, long accustomed to being bullied by her, would continue to live at her mercy. Even if she had to put on an act for now, it mattered not; she would be the wife of the heir, while her sister would be, at best, the wife of the eldest son. When her husband eventually inherited the throne, she would be a Princess, a first-rank Princess of the royal blood. Such status was incomparable to that of a mere wife of a first son. After all, in her previous life, a noble lady would never have married a secondary son of the Prince’s estate.

Yu Yuanzheng watched the shifting expressions on Yu Zhaoyang’s face and could easily guess the triumph hidden within her heart.

"This is the seal of the heir. Keep it well. It must not be lost." The Prince picked up a small brocade box from the table and handed it to Shangguan Zishu, who received it with solemnity.

"This is a treasure of the Shangguan family. I hope that in your hands, it may be unlocked, allowing you to achieve great feats on the battlefield and strike such fear into our enemies that they dare not invade again." The Prince uncovered a tray, revealing a square black box, roughly two feet in length, width, and height. Its material looked somewhat like iron, and it featured a combination lock.

What on earth was this? She had never heard of such an object. Shangguan Zishu accepted it with equal gravity. "I shall do my utmost, Father."

"Rise. From today, you are the seventh-generation heir of the Shangguan line. You must not show the slightest slack. Guard this iron box well. If it is lost, you will not only be a sinner against the Shangguan family but a sinner against the Great Wei—a sinner against our eighty million people."

"Yes, I will guard it with my life. I will strive to unlock it."

"I shall station ten secret guards at your residence as a precaution. You must grow quickly and learn to stand on your own. Only then will these guards be fully turned over to your command. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Father." Shangguan Zishu kowtowed three times with great sincerity before rising and returning to his chair with the tray.

Yu Zhaoyang could not wait to touch the iron box. In her previous life, she had spent eight years in the Prince’s estate, and this box had never been opened. The heir and the Lady of Nanhua had exhausted every method, yet it remained shut until the enemy invaded. That war had ultimately ended in the ceding of two cities to secure peace.

But now that it had fallen into her hands—now that Heaven had granted her the chance of rebirth—she was certain she was the chosen one. She would surely unlock it, assist her husband in building his legacy, and once they attained power, who in the Great Wei, save for the Emperor himself, would dare to challenge them? At the thought of such a glorious future, the corners of Yu Zhaoyang’s eyes lifted in irrepressible delight.

The couple stared at the iron box with curiosity.

"Ziqi is my legitimate son with the Princess, and the biological grandson of the Duke of Weiguo. After the Princess and I have passed, his branch of the family shall inherit forty percent of the estate’s assets." The Prince looked at everyone present as he announced this secondary decision. It was an expression of his love for his legitimate son and his devotion to the Princess.

"What? Your Highness, how can this be? How can the estate’s property be divided this way? The heir is to inherit the title, but if forty percent of the assets are given to Ziqi, what will Zishu have to sustain the estate? Besides, with Ziqi in his current state, it is a question of how long he will even live. Do you intend to give forty percent of the family wealth to a widow?" The Second Old Madame rose to her feet, shouting as she struck the floor with her cane.

Yu Yuanzheng could not fathom how a woman of only fifty-some years could be so frail as to need a cane at all times. Furthermore, why was she so agitated about the property being divided for her own household? It was not as if it were being taken from her own portion.

The Prince listened, his expression unreadable. "Ziqi may not be the heir, but he is my legitimate son nonetheless. Does the Second Old Madame wish for me to treat him as a commoner?" The Prince’s voice carried a clear edge of anger.

"Your Highness, do not forget that when Zishu inherits the estate, if he lacks sufficient wealth, how is he to maintain the expenses of a Princely household? Do you know the monthly costs of running this estate? When the second son's wife asked the Princess for a mere thousand taels to renovate the courtyard of the second branch, she was refused on the grounds that the monthly budget was fixed and no funds were available."

"And what amount does the Second Old Madame deem appropriate?" The Prince narrowed his eyes.

"When the family is eventually divided, Ziqi will likely be dead. Giving a widow ten thousand taels or so to see to her own living would be more than enough to fulfill the obligation of her marriage into this house." The Second Old Madame looked at Yu Yuanzheng with nothing but disdain; she held not a shred of sympathy for her.

"Second Old Madame," Yu Yuanzheng stepped forward, asking hypothetically, "if my husband had not met with his accident and remained the heir, may I ask how much property would have been appropriate for the second brother to receive?"

"This is no place for you to speak," the Second Old Madame snapped, casting a cold glare at her.

"Father, if we follow the rules of the house, had the heir not changed, how much wealth would the second brother have received?" Yu Yuanzheng was determined to get to the bottom of this today.

"In those days, the late Prince gave his younger half-brother only a three-courtyard residence, fifty thousand taels of silver, two shops, and a farm of three hundred mu," the Prince explained coolly.

"So, that is all the property the second uncle will receive when the family is divided?" Yu Yuanzheng smiled sweetly. She was setting a trap for the Second Old Madame and the second branch.

"You little whore! I’ll teach you a lesson!" The Second Old Madame understood immediately. Enraged, she swung her cane directly at Yu Yuanzheng with a dexterity that showed no sign of her advanced age.

But the Prince would never allow her to succeed. He lunged forward and snatched the cane from her hand.

"Sit down!" The Prince was truly angry this time. Previously, out of respect for his brother, he had tolerated the Second Old Madame’s frequent and unruly outbursts. But since Ziqi’s accident and the marriage of his two sons, she had become a different person. She no longer inquired after Ziqi, yet she fawned over Zishu as if he were her own grandson. He had known she was merely currying favor with the future heir, and he had endured it. But to treat Ziqi’s wife in such a manner was utterly unbecoming of an elder.

"This household is still under my command, and this is final," the Prince declared, leaving no room for argument.

"Father," Yu Yuanzheng sobbed, kneeling before the Prince and Princess to demand justice, "why did the Second Old Madame call me a whore? I am still a maiden. A 'whore' generally refers to a prostitute, yet I am the daughter of the second branch of a noble house, having been raised strictly within the inner chambers. How could I be a whore? My mother, though the daughter of a merchant, was well-versed in poetry and books, and she never neglected my upbringing. She taught me the virtues of a woman, the decorum of a lady, and the precepts for women. Furthermore, I have heard from the Princess that the Second Old Madame was also the daughter of a minor official’s concubine; did she never receive an education? Why is her speech so foul? Is it because I am no longer the wife of the heir that I am to be treated with such contempt?"