Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 20: Moving the Palace, Fasting

"Mother... why is this happening? If you postpone the lecture because of fasting and worshiping Buddha, won't the foreign ministers rise up to protest?"

Zhu Yijun couldn't digest the meaning of this for a moment.

On the one hand, the lecture had to be postponed, but the reason of worshiping Buddha was even more difficult to be accepted by the ministers who came from Confucian schools.

As for the palace move...

Although Zhu Yijun was unwilling, he did not say it explicitly.

Because this means that foreign officials will know that Queen Mother Li has intervened in the issue of the crown prince, and will even convey her will to the outer court.

Although this will implied that the eldest prince would move to Ciqing Palace and take a step closer to the position of crown prince, it also meant to temporarily confine the eldest prince.

The so-called fasting and worshiping Buddha means that one must not leave Ciqing Palace even a step.

Under Zhu Yijun's gaze, Empress Dowager Li walked to the Bodhisattva, knelt down, kowtowed, and whispered: "Buddha, please don't blame me..."

The atmosphere was weird and Zhu Yijun was confused.

The Empress Dowager Li then stood up and helped Zhu Changluo up, saying, "Don't complain."

"My grandson doesn't dare."

Zhu Yijun then saw the face of this rebellious son. He looked dazed, with faint traces of tears on his face.

"Mother?" He had many questions in his mind.

"I have my own plans." Empress Dowager Li said solemnly, "Since the emperor has never heard of these three people, that's good. Just in case, I have to let the emperor know. I will personally inquire about it and order people to investigate whether there are any officials inside and outside the palace who have secretly passed on information from outside the palace to Jingyang Palace in the past year!"

Zhu Yijun looked at his mother in disbelief, then looked at Zhu Changluo who was in a daze.

"Amitabha..." Empress Dowager Li said those harsh words, and then as if she was a little scared, "There is one more thing... Since I have made such a big move, please ask the emperor to order people to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, so as to pray for the country and the people of the world. The most important thing is to send people to the Cishou and Wanshou temples to burn incense."

Zhu Yijun was completely stunned.

That was the fourth year of the Wanli reign. Zhu Yijun was still young, and the government was firmly in the hands of Empress Dowager Li, Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao.

In order to pray for the afterlife of the late Emperor Longqing and for the early birth of a prince for her son who was about to grow up, Empress Dowager Li took the lead in donating the regular offerings given to her as an example, and used the silver donated by the royal family, nobles and others to build the Cishou Temple.

Since then, Empress Dowager Li has built more Buddhist temples such as Wanshou Temple in various ways.

There is something special about Cishou Temple: it was during the construction of the temple that the story of Bodhisattva Jiulian appearing in Empress Dowager Li’s dream came about.

Therefore, Jiulian Bodhisattva is enshrined in Cishou Temple.

Cishou Temple was built because Empress Dowager Li wanted to elevate her own status and pray for blessings at the same time, so it was finally named Cishou. It also includes the blessing and respect from Zhu Yijun, who had not yet taken power at the time, for his mother.

The Wanshou Temple, which was built in the fifth year of Wanli, was built entirely for Zhu Yijun, who was about to get married and take power, hence the name "Huguo Wanshou".

Donations by the Empress Dowager and the royal family, and the inscription "The Imperial Order to Build the Wanshou Temple" written by Zhang Juzheng, were all intended to build momentum and establish an image for the emperor who was about to take power. They also showed that the Empress Dowager Li had no intention of continuing to control the government.

He specifically mentioned going to Cishou Temple and Wanshou Temple to burn incense, and even put this matter together with the sacrifices to heaven, earth and the country, and said that it was a more "important" matter.

Zhu Yijun didn't understand.

Empress Dowager Li shook her head and said, "Your Majesty, please don't ask any more questions. If I don't believe it completely, then it will do me more harm than good. However, it is better to believe it than not to believe it. Therefore, Chang Luo fasted and worshipped Buddha, and sent people to various temples to burn incense. This can also show that my Zhu family is sincere and has no intention of offending the gods and Buddhas."

"...The emperor can't know now?"

Zhu Yijun didn't like this feeling, so he stared at Zhu Changluo.

"When did mother harm you?" Empress Dowager Li shook her head. "Yijun, be patient. We have the names and hometowns of the three people. It won't be difficult to investigate. I'm sure there will be results soon."

She changed her usual behavior and used a familiar name, as if to coax Zhu Yijun.

Hearing his sincere and loving tone, Zhu Yijun was silent for a moment, and then said: "If we move without talking about it, the outsiders will definitely make suggestions. Mother, why don't you find some excuse to delay it for a month or two."

When the imperial edict was conveyed to the outer court, he was not sure whether it was the result of careful consideration or a momentary confusion on the part of his mother.

After all, her behavior just now was very wrong, as if she was in a panic.

"No! The move to Ciqing Palace must be done as soon as possible, tomorrow!" Empress Dowager Li became strong again, "The emperor does not need to have any doubts. If the three people are not found after investigation, the emperor does not need to be in a dilemma. I will make the decision and send him to Fengyang."

Zhu Yijun was so shocked that his mouth opened wide, but he saw that Zhu Changluo was still in a daze.

Fengyang? What is that place?
Only those who committed serious crimes among the royal family would be demoted to commoners and imprisoned there for life.

Zhu Yijun had understood what Empress Dowager Li meant: no matter what happened next, she would first express her willingness to make him the heir. If it was proven that this rebellious son was talking nonsense, then Empress Dowager Li would insist on deposing him. But he did not want to be in such a passive position.

In this case, doesn't the outcome of the national foundation dispute have nothing to do with his will?

"Mother..."

He wanted to test it again, but unexpectedly, Empress Dowager Li turned around and knelt down to worship the Buddha, muttering to herself: "Buddha, please forgive me, Bodhisattva, please forgive me..."

The whole person seems very conflicted and torn.

One moment strong, the next moment fearful.

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but feel extremely angry: every time this rebellious son made trouble in front of his mother, he would be restricted in every way!

After a while, Empress Dowager Li stood up again, looked at Zhu Yijun and said decisively: "Your Majesty, please don't ask for now. If there are any sins, it is your mother who will bear them first. Let's do this. If the emperor thinks that your mother is inappropriate to issue this imperial decree, then move to the back and find a way to fool the foreign ministers for a while."

"…The emperor knows."

I heard her point out that it was inappropriate to issue an imperial decree, and then she said that she would bear all the sins alone.

Since his mother cares so much about him, should Zhu Yijun still resist?

"Emperor, go and make the arrangements first. Remember, don't alert anyone else about this matter, and don't tell Yikun Palace too much!"

"..."

Zhu Yijun thought, you want to imprison this rebellious son immediately, and you want to personally investigate the Jingyang Palace, how could the palace not know about it?
If this news gets out, I don’t know how much trouble will befall me.

But Empress Dowager Li obviously no longer cared, or had not thought it through.

"Emperor, please go first. I will talk to Chang Luo later."

Zhu Changluo recalled the warning look he gave him before he left and the unwilling back he saw when he left, and his heart was calm.

After thinking for so long, he realized that this was the only way to quickly achieve his goal while causing the least harm to his country and family, and at the same time laying the foundation for his smooth ascension to the throne in the future.

For this reason, Zhu Changluo didn't care even if he took advantage of their belief in some mysterious things and linked the matter to gods and Buddhas.

Just as he had persuaded, Queen Mother Li acknowledged the hidden danger, and this would only be a secret between the three royal generations.

In the future, he won't be bound by these.

Zhu Yijun was temporarily excluded from the secret, and this feeling was naturally extremely uncomfortable for him as the emperor.

But he still had to listen to and do what Empress Dowager Li said.

Go and investigate the matter of those three people... Since he has to keep his mouth shut and understand the rules, it should naturally be Chen Ju.

Go call Chen Ju first to make arrangements. He also has to arrange for the eldest prince to move to Ciqing Palace tomorrow.

The date was not the auspicious date requested by the cabinet, but since Empress Dowager Li didn't even care about this and didn't want to hold any ceremony, why should she care? At most, she could choose an auspicious day later to arrange the formal move.

After a busy period, Zhu Yijun finally went to Yiku Palace.

During this short period of time, Zhu Yijun was also infected by Empress Dowager Li's seriousness and fear of loss.

When facing Zheng Mengjing, he did not immediately tell what the matter was.

He only mentioned a piece of news that would be known to everyone in the palace tomorrow: the eldest prince would move to Ciqing Palace tomorrow.

When Zheng Mengjing heard this, it was like a bolt from the blue.

Although it has been delayed from the end of March to the end of May, once we actually move, the significance it represents will be extraordinary.

Empress Dowager Li strikes again!
If she continues to interfere in national affairs so frequently, what hope is there for her to gain status through her son in the future?
Zheng Mengjing gritted his teeth and said nothing: If we move to Ciqing Palace tomorrow, then how can the work done by Wei Gang be of any use?
Her worried look was not noticed by the emperor who was also worried.

Even if he could see it, Zhu Yijun would only think that she was sad because the eldest prince was about to move to the palace.

The Imperial Household Department was busy late at night and arranged for people to go to the Ciqiong Palace to clean and decorate.

They thought there would be a big battle tomorrow, but until the next morning, only the eldest prince went there.

Even Wang An didn't follow.

On the other hand, in Ciqing Palace, there were only a few old eunuchs and palace maids from Cining Palace.

What does this mean?
(End of this chapter)