If Jinshi Inherited the Throne, What Would His Relationship With Empress Gyokuyou Be?

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The direct evidence is in Volume 15, Chapters 15-16. In the private meeting before the Emperor's operation, the Emperor asks Jinshi whether he would inherit. Jinshi refuses by pointing to the existing Crown Prince, the possibility of a regent, other imperial children, and the political turmoil that would follow his intervention.

The continuation makes the relationship question even sharper. Ah-Duo realizes that the Emperor could publicly name Jinshi and announce his parentage, but that doing so would be a political shock to “Empress Gyokuyou and her clan.” The novel therefore gives us the pressure behind the hypothetical, not a canon Jinshi reign.

For the surrounding succession question, compare why the Emperor might consider Jinshi an alternative to Gyokuyou's son and what Jinshi's accession would change across the court.

The Short Answer

If Jinshi inherited the throne, Gyokuyou would remain his legal wife and become his political counterpart, not his personal enemy. In public terms, she would be the Empress standing beside the new Emperor, while also protecting the position of her son, the existing Crown Prince.

Her political position would be more complicated. Gyokuyou's son is already the Crown Prince, so Jinshi's accession would place the new Emperor in direct control of the future that his nephew was supposed to inherit. Gyokuyou would therefore have every reason to defend her son's safety and status, while Jinshi would have every reason to reassure her that becoming emperor was not an attack on her household.

The most accurate answer is a tense royal alliance: formal distance at the top, shared responsibility for the empire, and a permanent succession problem between them. The novel does not support reducing that relationship to hatred.

Their Public Relationship Before Accession

Before the hypothetical begins, Jinshi and Gyokuyou are already a legally married couple inside the imperial household. Gyokuyou is the Empress, while Jinshi is the royal adult whose identity and succession position carry unusual political weight. Their marriage therefore joins two powerful interests instead of placing them in an in-law relationship.

The palace material also shows why Jinshi understands Gyokuyou's value. He recognizes that she is intelligent, cautious, and capable of surviving court pressure. Their marriage rests on more than ceremony: he sees her political qualities, and she understands that his beauty, authority, and hidden succession weight are all useful and dangerous.

That foundation matters because a later succession conflict would not begin with strangers. Jinshi already knows Gyokuyou as a capable woman whose position carries danger. Gyokuyou already knows Jinshi as the royal figure whose presence can change how every faction calculates.

The broader political structure is explained in the analysis of the Emperor and Gyokuyou's relationship. That article also makes an important distinction: political usefulness does not erase genuine feeling, and political tension does not automatically mean personal hatred.

What Would Change After Jinshi Became Emperor

The first change would be the direction of authority. Before accession, Jinshi is the Emperor's younger brother and a possible alternative successor. After accession, he would be the ruler who decides how the existing Crown Prince is protected, educated, titled, and positioned. Gyokuyou would no longer be speaking to a potential rival from the side of the throne. She would be dealing with the man who now controls the state around her son.

That does not make Jinshi's relationship with Gyokuyou automatically hostile. It makes every act of kindness political. If he protects her son, supporters may call it generosity, while opponents may call it weakness or a temporary bargain. If he limits the boy's faction, Gyokuyou may see a threat even when Jinshi claims to be preventing a larger crisis.

Jinshi would also inherit the problem he was trying to avoid. In Volume 15, he rejects succession partly because the existing Crown Prince already has a place and because his own accession would create unnecessary disturbance. If he becomes emperor anyway, Gyokuyou becomes the living reminder of that cost. She would embody the household whose future Jinshi tried not to displace.

Their Conversation Would Become More Formal

Jinshi could still respect Gyokuyou's intelligence, but he could not treat her as only a private spouse once he became emperor. She would be the mother of a politically meaningful child and the center of a powerful family network. Gyokuyou, in turn, could not rely only on marital trust. She would need formal guarantees, visible protections, and a clear answer about her son's place.

Would Gyokuyou Remain Empress?

Under the legal-marriage premise of this analysis, yes. If Jinshi inherited the throne, Gyokuyou would remain his lawful wife and would stand as Empress beside him. Her title would not automatically change to Empress Dowager, because that title describes a widow of a former emperor rather than the reigning emperor's wife.

The novel does not show Jinshi's coronation or establish every ceremonial detail of this counterfactual. The safer conclusion is that Gyokuyou's senior imperial status and marital position would continue, while the exact court protocol would depend on how the succession was announced and accepted.

That distinction matters. Jinshi would not be taking the throne from an unrelated royal household while leaving Gyokuyou outside it. He would be inheriting while legally married to the woman whose son already occupies the succession line, turning their marriage into the main institution for managing that contradiction.

Why They Would Need a Political Alliance

Jinshi could not rule securely by humiliating Gyokuyou's household. Her son has a formal claim, her family has influence, and her position is already tied to the Emperor's public succession plan. A new ruler who simply crushed that household would create the very factional crisis he had tried to prevent.

Gyokuyou also could not protect her son by treating Jinshi as an illegitimate intruder. The Volume 15 discussion shows that Jinshi is a credible adult alternative precisely because the court already recognizes his royal standing. If he actually inherited, opposing him as though he had no claim would be politically dangerous.

The practical arrangement would therefore be mutual restraint. Jinshi would need to preserve the Crown Prince's dignity and safety. Gyokuyou would need to prevent her faction from turning that child into a banner for rebellion. Neither side would need to trust every person around them, but both would need the other side to remain stable.

This is why Jinshi's refusal to become Gyokuyou's enemy is so important to the hypothetical. He understands that the conflict would not be personal at first. The structure of succession would manufacture it unless both sides actively refused the easiest interpretation.

Why Gyokuyou Would Not Automatically Become His Enemy

Gyokuyou's first concern would be her son's survival, not revenge against Jinshi. The novel repeatedly presents her as politically alert and protective of her household. That intelligence could make her suspicious, but suspicion is not the same as hatred. She can recognize a threat and still negotiate with the person who creates it.

Jinshi's own character points in the same direction. He does not want the throne at Gyokuyou's son's expense, and he is painfully aware that the court turns private choices into public danger. A Jinshi who inherited would be under pressure to prove that his accession was not a campaign against Gyokuyou's family.

Their relationship would resemble a guarded partnership more than a feud. Gyokuyou could become one of the people who keeps the new reign politically grounded, while Jinshi could become the person who guarantees that her child is not punished for being the previous Emperor's chosen heir. Trust would be limited by rank, but cooperation would be necessary for the same reason.

For the factional version of this problem, see whether Gyokuyou can become Jinshi's enemy. The answer there also depends on separating personal feeling from the political forces surrounding a Crown Prince.

What the Novel Does Not Confirm

The novel does not show Jinshi completing a coronation, Gyokuyou receiving an exact post-accession title, or the two of them signing a final political settlement. It also does not say that Gyokuyou would be removed from court, that her son would be imprisoned, or that Jinshi would immediately make her an ally.

What the novel does confirm is enough for a careful hypothetical: the Emperor considers Jinshi as an adult successor; Jinshi refuses because the Crown Prince and other heirs already exist; and Ah-Duo understands that naming Jinshi would strike Gyokuyou and her relatives with enormous force. The relationship after accession must be inferred from those pressures, not invented as a settled future.

So the canon-grounded conclusion is narrow: if Jinshi inherited, Gyokuyou would remain his legal wife and Empress while also being the mother of the displaced or delayed heir. Their marriage would become politically tense but structurally necessary, unless one side chose to turn succession into a personal war.

For the direct succession evidence, continue with who could replace the Emperor, why Gyokuyou's son may not be the only possible successor, and why Jinshi is taken to the Shrine of Choosing.

FAQ

Would Gyokuyou remain Jinshi's wife after he inherited?

Yes. They are legally married, so Jinshi's accession would change the public power of their marriage, not erase the marriage itself. Gyokuyou would remain his Empress and political partner.

Would Gyokuyou become Empress Dowager?

Not automatically. As the reigning emperor's lawful wife, she would remain Empress; the exact ceremonial title would depend on the succession arrangement shown in this hypothetical.

Would Gyokuyou and Jinshi become enemies?

Not automatically. Her son's succession would create a serious political conflict, but both Gyokuyou and Jinshi would have strong reasons to preserve the household rather than destroy it.

Why does Jinshi refuse the throne in the novel?

He points to the existing Crown Prince, the possibility of a regent, other heirs, and the turmoil caused by bypassing a child who already holds the succession position.

Does the novel confirm this future relationship?

No. This article is a canon-grounded hypothetical based on the succession discussion in Volume 15, Chapters 15-16.

Which characters should I ask about this relationship?

You can continue the discussion with Jinshi or Gyokuyou, while keeping in mind that their chat replies are an interactive character feature rather than a replacement for the source text.