Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 26: Wonderful and difficult to measure, leaking the acquired image

Empress Dowager Li asked directly, and Zhu Yijun hesitated slightly before speaking.

"…How could the emperor not be happy…"

"You can't hide anything in front of the Bodhisattva!"

Empress Dowager Li opened her eyes and was extremely dissatisfied with his perfunctory answer.

She stared at him sternly, and her tone was also stern: "When he was still in my belly, the emperor didn't recognize him! Over the years, although I have been devoted to worshipping Buddha and not caring about the affairs outside the palace, I know what is right and wrong."

Zhu Yijun, who was nearly forty years old, lowered his head and accepted the scolding. There was nothing much to say about this matter.

Empress Dowager Li was also involved in the incident. It was she who ordered the eunuchs to find the daily records and read them.

As luck would have it, the ancestral rules stipulated that when the emperor favored someone, he had to give a small object as proof.

Zhu Yijun was only tempted at the time and did not expect the hit rate to be so high.

After feeling relaxed, he was in a good mood and gave Concubine Wang Gong a small item.

He denied it at first, but with witnesses and evidence, and Empress Dowager Li eager to have a grandson, Zhu Yijun had no choice but to admit that the baby in his belly was his.

Can I deny it? If I don't, is there another man in the harem who has this ability?
But Zhu Yijun felt very uncomfortable... After all, at that time, he still had a strict master and mother.

Being tempted by beauty is somewhat contrary to the moral education he received, and he is afraid of being advised to "abstain from sex" and "not be promiscuous."

Seeing her son lowering his head and not speaking, Empress Dowager Li asked again: "The dispute over the throne of the country, how many years have the emperor and the court officials been arguing? You still don't want to appoint a crown prince, he is almost twenty years old, and the three rites are not enough! He is the eldest, and he has not yet married. Are the third brother and other grandchildren going to wait like this?"

Sharp questions were thrown to Zhu Yijun.

At first, she seemed dissatisfied with his actions after he took power, and then she spoke frankly about the issue of establishing a crown prince.

Is this non-interference in politics?

Will he still be the emperor?
"All the officials have cried and petitioned for help. The Empress is not blessed, and the Empress has no children. Chang Luo is the eldest, and she is already married. Although this move was ordered by me, the Emperor had already issued an edict." Empress Dowager Li questioned him in confusion, "There is already a Crown Prince, why is the Emperor reluctant to appoint him?"

Zhu Yijun had been hiding from foreign officials for many years.

Over the years, most of the exchanges were just memorials to the emperor.

There are very few situations like this where one is questioned face to face.

The one who questioned him was his mother, the Holy Mother Queen Dowager who had helped him to secure the throne and returned power to him. She was the person he had to respond to.

But he had been kept in the dark about something for more than a month!
Now that he has sworn an oath, it seems as if he still wants to admit that his actions in ruling the country are not enough before knowing the truth, and he has stated that he must make that boy the crown prince.

In the depression of the emperor's dignity being trampled upon and unable to resist, Zhu Yijun, who was still drunk, finally blurted out what he was thinking: "After all, he was born to a palace maid..."

Empress Dowager Li was furious: "The emperor was also born to a palace maid!"

As soon as Zhu Yijun finished speaking, he knew something bad was going to happen. He knelt down and said to Empress Dowager Li: "My son has spoken without thinking, please calm down, mother."

Empress Dowager Li was really angry.

In the past, she was just a maid in the palace.

"You were only six years old at that time, and your father, the emperor's wife, was still alive. Why was you appointed as the crown prince?"

Since her son had already knelt before her, Empress Dowager Li finally took up her former dignity and said sternly: "Although Chang Luo was born to a palace maid, he is blessed by gods and Buddhas, and his mind is already open. In his previous responses, he was thoughtful and intelligent. Who can match him? Now he is willing to take extraordinary risks and fight for the great cause of the Ming Dynasty without caring about his own life! He is not only old and virtuous, but also a master with good fortune and destiny. You have been reluctant to make him the crown prince, but you gave me this reason?"

Zhu Yijun looked at her in disbelief: "Heaven's destiny... the Lord of the calamity?"

"Even if everything he said didn't come true, after hearing what you really said today, I should believe it! If the Ming Dynasty is going to fall, it's probably because you've been slow to appoint a crown prince! People's hearts are unstable, and each has a son. In the end, they killed each other and civil strife broke out. That's why the Liaodong Jiannu entered the Central Plains and destroyed our Ming Dynasty!"

The words were like a knife, cutting straight into Zhu Yijun.

What made him stand there in a daze was the last sentence.

What about the Liaodong Jiannu who took control of the Central Plains?
At this time, a voice came from far outside the back hall of the Cining Palace where the Buddhist temple was located: "Grandson Changluo, please come to see the Imperial Grandmother."

The voice was tired, but still clear.

Zhu Yijun looked over suddenly: It's all him!

Empress Dowager Li stood up suddenly and staggered over to meet him. Zhu Yijun naturally couldn't let his mother open the heavy palace door.

There are no eunuchs or palace maids in the Cining Palace. Only three people with the most respected status in the Ming Empire are inside and outside the palace.

The main door of the rear hall, which faced south and sat north, was opened, and the midsummer sun poured in. It did not shine into the door, but only onto the balcony under the eaves.

Zhu Changluo was standing there.

With the light behind him, Zhu Yijun could hardly see his face clearly.

"The grandson pays respect to the Empress Dowager. The son pays respect to the Emperor..."

While he was about to bow, Empress Dowager Li had already come out to greet him: "Don't be so polite. I'm sorry to have wronged you..."

Zhu Yijun clearly saw that there was a hint of uneasiness and awe in Empress Dowager Li's actions.

His head was still dizzy.

The boy shook his head after being helped up: "My grandson has not been wronged. Now... have you found any results from the investigation?"

The more sensible her grandson behaved, the more guilty Empress Dowager Li felt.

People who believe in Buddhism are ultimately afraid that their previous caution has offended the gods and Buddhas.

Then she looked around and took his hand: "Let's talk inside!"

On the way, he had already started to say: "Grandmother, it's your call! Today we will pick some capable people to serve you in the palace! Starting tomorrow, you should come often to pay your respects to the Emperor, Empress, and your mother. The palace moving ceremony and the three ceremonies should all be held as soon as possible on an auspicious day..."

Zhu Changluo just entered the palace gate and pretended to be stunned for a moment. He turned around to look at his lame and fat father Zhu Yijun who had to work and close the door. Then he stopped and asked in a trembling voice: "Those three people?"

"It's exactly the same person! The victory report from Bozhou has also arrived." Empress Dowager Li clasped her hands together and said repeatedly, "Amitabha, may the Buddha bless you..."

Zhu Changluo "staggered" as if he had received a great shock, and then murmured to himself: "...What should I do...This..."

Empress Dowager Li quickly supported his arm and said, "Chang Luo, what's wrong with you?"

"...My grandson would rather it was fake..." Zhu Changluo said in a bitter voice, "It would be much better if it was fake..."

Zhu Yijun, who closed the door and came to the side, vaguely guessed something, but he didn't believe it. So he stared at the crown prince who was "decided" by his mother and said, "Mother, what's going on? The emperor is still confused."

Empress Dowager Li ignored him, instead held Zhu Changluo's hand and gave him repeated advice.

"Don't worry, Chang Luo! Now that what you said has come true, it proves that what you saw and heard in your dream was not false. This is a warning from the Bodhisattva! Now that you have received this warning and know where the culprit is, and you are the crown prince, it will be easy to deal with. With the blessing of our ancestors and the mandate of heaven, you will be the ruler of the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Yijun limped behind him and asked, "Mother?"

What is the ruler of the Ming Dynasty who will face disaster?
I am the reigning emperor, am I a superfluous person in this palace?

Fortunately, Empress Dowager Li finally stopped ignoring him, but she said to Zhu Changluo, "Why don't you tell the emperor?"

Zhu Yijun sensed a request for instructions.

This is ridiculous!

Zhu Changluo seemed to be still in a trance and could not accept it. He looked up at Zhu Yijun and said, "My grandson lied to my father first..."

"That's not your fault!"

Empress Dowager Li immediately expressed her opinion: "The emperor treated you like that before. In this case, even I, your grandmother, would have to take care of you first. It is right for you to take the blame! The emperor is always drunk and dreaming, and he might kill you in a rage. What will we do if the Ming Dynasty is destroyed because of this?"

Zhu Yijun: ???

Is it not wrong to deceive the king and father?

But he couldn't refute what was said later, because the last time he rushed to Jingyang Palace with a knife after drinking.

"...I still can't believe it...I just thought it was a funny story in a dream, and told it to make Grandmother laugh."

Zhu Changluo told the whole story.

(End of this chapter)