Lily Bai remained silent, quietly waiting.
Sure enough, someone in the crowd immediately called out, "How come a Crown Princess and Crown Grandson just popped up out of nowhere? We’ve never even heard of them!"
Yeah! I’ve never even heard of the Crown Prince! Does His Excellency the President actually have a son? How come he’s never shown his face before?
Nathan Xiao motioned for everyone to quiet down and said, "The older generation knows my second brother really did get married, but something happened back then, so it wasn’t made public."
What happened was—the bride ran away...
Afraid the media would blow things out of proportion, he and Lauren Lan kept their marriage a secret back then.
"When the Crown Prince was six, he fell seriously ill. My second brother, on a monk’s advice, sent him away from the Supreme Emperor’s Estate to avoid disaster," Nathan Xiao explained earnestly. "Now, the Crown Prince is grown, married, and has a child. His wife is someone you all know—Lily Bai, heiress of Bai Corporation. The child in her arms is the Crown Grandson."
Mabel An added, "It’s absolutely true. At my daughter’s engagement banquet, His Majesty the Supreme Emperor introduced Lily and her son to everyone—many of you were there. But before it could be officially announced, His Majesty... had an accident."
Then someone else in the crowd shouted, "Even so, you can’t muddle the royal bloodline! There’s got to be a blood test!"
Yeah! Lily Bai—President Bai—is super popular lately! Her rumored flings with her brother are top trending every single day! Who knows if the kid’s really the Crown Prince’s?
"There has to be a test! The DNA needs to be verified by the authorities!" Most people nodded, agreeing.
"But with both His Majesty and the Crown Prince missing, there’s no way to do the test!" Mabel An looked genuinely troubled.
A senior official in charge of political-legal affairs spoke up: "If the child’s pure bloodline can’t be proven, then he has no right to inherit. By law, only a child whose lineage is confirmed can inherit."
After those words, everyone went silent. Not a single person spoke up.
If the bloodline can’t be proven, then the Supreme Emperor’s throne really can’t be inherited.
"I think, to stabilize public sentiment, we should appoint Kieran Xiao as Crown Prince first," the senior official continued. "His health status is disclosed by the National Imperial Hospital every year. Though he’s paralyzed, it doesn’t affect his ability to have children."
According to our tradition, the legitimate and eldest should inherit. If President Bai can’t prove the bloodline, then Kieran Xiao should inherit the throne.
"If Kieran Xiao inherits the throne, I have no objections," someone else said. "I believe everyone in the country would agree!"
Nathan Xiao, hearing this, angrily retorted, "What nonsense are you all talking? The Supreme Emperor’s heir is right here! He personally acknowledged him. How could that be fake?"
"The Supreme Emperor was likely deceived," General Victor Liu suddenly said. "We do not accept this!"
At this moment, he arrived in Dragon City.
By the way, his nephew is Ryan Liu.
Everyone present was a seasoned player.
They all picked up on something, exchanging meaningful glances.