Having children earns benefit, start competing for dominance in the world by marrying a wife

Hearing Lu Chen mention the matter of the Empress, Mu Zixuan instantly understood why Lu Chen had gone to Chu Yuqin the night before without asking her to serve him in bed.

She was well aware of the position Chu Yuqin held in Lu Chen's heart. Lu Chen seeking out Chu Yuqin was surely to discuss matters regarding the Empress.

Whenever the subject of the Empress came up, Mu Zixuan couldn't help but sigh inwardly; she truly didn't want to get involved in such affairs again.

Unfortunately, it wasn't up to her wishes. As Lu Chen's royal consort, she was bound to be involved in these matters.

Lu Chen glanced at Mu Zixuan's reaction and then said directly, "My intention is for Feng'er to become the Crown Prince, but I will not establish an Empress."

Hearing this, Mu Zixuan breathed a sigh of relief. She instantly grasped Lu Chen's intention.

Ever since Lu Chen's harem had grown, he had always emphasized harmony in his harem. He did not wish for any woman to struggle for power and advantage in it.

Lu Chen's choice not to establish an Empress was most likely to prevent the Empress from becoming a target, and on the other hand, it was probably also meant to signal to the women in the harem that he would never appoint an Empress, so they shouldn't aspire to climb any higher.

Lu Chen continued, "Although there will be no Empress, I will establish an Imperial Noble Consort. From now on, in my harem, the only distinction will be between the Imperial Noble Consort and Noble Consorts. Below the rank of Noble Consort, there will be no further rankings."

Hearing this, Mu Zixuan thought to herself that it was exactly as she had anticipated; everything Lu Chen did was for the harmony of the harem.

Mu Zixuan then said, "I will defer to Your Majesty's decision on this matter."

Lu Chen asked, "Zixuan, are you not upset that I haven't made you Empress?"

Hearing Lu Chen's probing words, Mu Zixuan quickly replied, "Your Majesty, in truth, I have no interest in the position of Empress. Not only do I have no interest, but I also don't wish to be involved in the struggle for it."

"Your Majesty is also aware of the incident that occurred with the Mu Family. I have grown weary of those affairs and don't wish for my children to be embroiled in them either. I only want to see my children grow up safely."

Lu Chen sighed and said, "I also do not wish to see my children embroiled in such affairs. After all, I faced life-and-death crises numerous times when I was younger. I no longer wish to witness brother against brother, father against son. Yet, given my current position, my children will inevitably be dragged into some matters in the future. I can only hope that Feng'er grows up quickly under my protection, to stand on his own so that, in time, others will no longer entertain different ideas."

Mu Zixuan instantly understood Lu Chen's thoughts. He wanted to use the time while he was still alive to solidify Lu Changfeng's position as his heir apparent. As long as Lu Changfeng's position was secure enough, it would naturally negate the ambitions of others.

At that moment, Lu Chen said, "All right, let's not discuss this any further. Let's eat, or the food will get cold."

Afterward, the four of them stopped discussing the topic of the Empress and Crown Prince and began talking about their children.

After dinner, all four went to the bathhouse to bathe. Once they finished, they proceeded to the large bed in Wind Cloud Palace.

To punish them for distancing themselves from him, Lu Chen made Mu Zixuan and the other two kneel for almost an entire night, and he also whipped them. Their cries could be heard from outside the Wind Cloud Palace.

Dawn was breaking, and only then did Lu Chen let them go. Following his discipline, Mu Zixuan and the other two assured him they would never dare to distance themselves from him again.

In the morning, Lu Chen had some porridge and went to the Imperial Study Room to deal with state affairs.

The list of ministerial appointments was yet to be drafted, so he would be busy for the entire day.

Not long after Lu Chen had arrived at the Imperial Study Room, Zhuge Zhongguang once again came to continue discussing the court structure and the matter of appointing officials with Lu Chen.

As Lu Chen was busy, the officials who had followed him to Yan County from the Capital city were also trying in every possible way to ingratiate themselves with the original ministers of North Country, especially Li Rui.

As a Great Scholar of the Wenyuan Pavilion, Zhuge Zhongguang was someone Lu Chen could summon at any moment, resulting in him living close to the Imperial Palace. Thus, it was difficult for the ministers to meet him, and they also didn't dare to blatantly curry favor with Zhuge Zhongguang so close to the Imperial Palace.

Most ministers chose to curry favor with Li Rui.

At this very moment.

Within the Li Mansion.

Li Rui sat in the hall, sipping tea and sighing, seemingly troubled by something.

Just then, a servant hurriedly ran in, "Master, another person has arrived, and they say he was an Assistant Minister in the former court."

Li Rui quickly waved his hand, "Do not see me, do not see me, just say I am sick and still lying in bed."

Li Rui was no fool; he was very well aware of the Brocade Guard's capabilities. If he really met those officials from the capital city, he wouldn't even know how he died when the time came.

At this thought, Li Rui couldn't help but feel emotional. Who would have thought that he, Li Rui, would have such a day? When the North Prince came to North City, he was just a simple Prefecture Governor. While he lived a better life than the common people, he was far below those officials in the capital city.

Who would have imagined that in just a few short years, he too had become a person of high rank and great power? Now it was those officials from the capital city who came to ingratiate themselves with him.

Li Rui felt somewhat fortunate in his heart. Fortunately, when the North Prince came to North City, he did not go against the North Prince just because he saw him as worthless. Instead, he handed over his military power to Lu Chen at the first opportunity and actively cooperated with Lu Chen to accomplish the reform of North City.

Of course, the most crucial point was when Lu Chen gave the officials of North City the choice to leave or stay, and without hesitation, he chose to stay in North City.

If he hadn't made the right decision on any one thing at the time, it was hard to say if he would even be alive now, let alone have the status he had today.

He had now come to understand Lu Chen's character; although Lu Chen seemed to devolve power in every aspect, entrusting most matters to his ministers, Lu Chen's control over the court was extremely terrifying.

Lu Chen was different from traditional monarchs. Lu Chen made decisions only on the broader strategy, and then left all matters to his ministers to handle, while having the Brocade Guard supervise their execution.

If it were another emperor, attending court would be about trivial matters. But with Lu Chen, they only discussed state affairs, and weren't allowed to bring up trivial complaints.

As Li Rui was lost in thought, another servant suddenly came in. The servant rushed up to Li Rui and said, "Master, someone from the palace has come!"

At that word, Li Rui instantly snapped back to reality, his face turning deathly pale from fright. He knew that today's events would certainly catch the Emperor's attention, but he hadn't expected the Emperor to send someone so quickly.

However, Li Rui quickly regained his composure. He thought to himself that he hadn't actually accepted any gifts from those officials from the capital city, not even seen them, so the Emperor sending someone was likely just a reminder, not a summons for punishment.

With that in mind, Li Rui immediately said, "Please bring the person in quickly."

Soon, the servant brought in a female guard. Upon seeing Li Rui, she took out a Golden Waist Token and said directly, "Lord Li, his Majesty has a message: if officials from the capital city visit, you may have proper contact with them and explain the rules of the officials in North Country to them."

Upon hearing this, Li Rui was stunned.

He had initially thought that the Emperor was reminding him not to form factions, but he hadn't expected the Emperor to even allow him to meet those officials from the capital city.

Li Rui quickly grasped what the Emperor meant; the Emperor intended to use him as a mouthpiece to let the ministers from the capital city know in advance what should be done and what not, so that they could integrate into the new court more quickly.

Li Rui then said, "Please convey to his Majesty that I will certainly complete the task he has entrusted to me, making those people understand what they should do and what they shouldn't."

Hearing Li Rui's response, the female guard didn't say much and left straight away.