With less than two weeks until Bai Ruyi’s 24th birthday and dedication ceremony, noble families, as well as mid- to high-ranking officials from all across the empire, streamed into the capital in droves.
As for the exact reason they’d been called to gather, they had not yet been told formally. Due to the timing, some supposed it had something to do with the First Prince, but they were also aware that the Second Prince had now also reached adulthood. Was one of them about to be proclaimed the Crown Prince at long last?
It was only after reaching their destination that many of them heard whispers of what it could really be about.
In the privacy of their own residences in the capital, groups of people discussed the matter among themselves, the separate conversations not varying much in su
