Ye Tingyun awoke to find the emperor had fallen asleep once more.
Silence filled the room.
He was thinking about Ye Tinglan when he suddenly sat up on the bed. Facing him was the Empress Dowager's extremely grave gaze.
"Imperial Grandmother..."
Ye Tingyun opened his mouth, momentarily stunned.
The Empress Dowager seemed to come to her senses, the solemnity on her face receding slightly as she immediately stepped forward with concern.
"Yun'er, do you feel any better?"
His heart condition, treated by Feng Yinwan years ago, had not recurred for a long time. The sudden appearance of this anomaly was enough to show how deeply Ye Tinglan's death had affected him.
A dull ache still lingered in his chest, but Ye Tingyun had no mind to attend to it. He merely pressed his pale lips together and shook his head.
"Imperial Grandmother, I am fine."
The Empress Dowager frowned, her worry undiminished.
After gazing at him for a moment, she said solemnly, "Yun'er, I have something to tell you."
Ye Tingyun nodded absentmindedly, but he was completely shocked by her next words.
"Father wants to name me heir?!"
The Empress Dowager looked at him, her eyes calm. "Your father has already left an imperial edict. After he passes away, he wants me to hold the decree and help you ascend the throne. At that time, you will be the new Emperor of our Jing Dynasty."
This news was too explosive, and Ye Tingyun was temporarily rendered speechless.
"Imperial Grandmother, I..."
He had never thought of this!
It felt like a heavy burden had suddenly been placed upon him, and Ye Tingyun instinctively wanted to refuse.
But the Empress Dowager's gaze was fixed on him, allowing no room for him to evade.
"Yun'er, the current situation does not allow you to act on your whims any longer. This concerns the safety of the court. You must pull yourself together and help me protect this regime!"
The emperor was ill, and Ye Tinglan had been killed. There were few left in the court who could bear this responsibility.
At such a juncture, as the crown prince, he had to step forward and take responsibility.
This heavy responsibility made Ye Tingyun feel somewhat at a loss. However, when his gaze met the white hair at the Empress Dowager's temples and her increasingly stooped figure due to fatigue, his chest felt as if it were filled with cotton, suffocating him.
Imperial Grandmother was old; this was an undeniable fact.
She was already over sixty, yet she was still trying her best to bear the heavy burden of the court. And he, what right did he have to cower behind and comfortably enjoy the layers of protection built by others' lives?
He should never forget that he was a prince, and even more so, a descendant who should contribute to this.
His heart sank with each passing moment. Ye Tingyun responded, his voice muffled but carrying a strangely clear determination.
"Imperial Grandmother, I understand."
When Feng Yinwan returned to the palace, the sky was already beginning to lighten. The commotion that had lasted all night in the palace finally began to subside.
The starry sky above was still dim. As she entered the courtyard, a ray of dawn light fell from the sky, allowing her to see the lonely figure sitting on the steps.
Ye Tingyun was hunched over, his head bowed between his knees. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there. When he looked up upon hearing the movement, his eyes were unusually calm.
Feng Yinwan noticed something was amiss with him, paused, and immediately called out softly.
"Ye Tingyun?"
This call seemed to awaken his senses. Ye Tingyun blinked in a daze and asked in a muffled voice.
"Where did you go?"
Compared to before, he was now excessively calm.
Feng Yinwan's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly at his words but she still patiently replied, "That mysterious person made another move tonight. We pursued them out of the city..."
"Third brother is dead."
His voice cut across her words.
Feng Yinwan's heart jolted, but she saw him look up at her and repeat word for word.
"Third brother is dead."