King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 774 Emperor Collapse
Coming to the cubicle, Yang Qingyin picked up the baby in the cradle, and the crying sound disappeared instantly.

"Yuan'er, look, who's here? It's daddy!"

Looking at his eldest son smiling at him, Zhu Xianming couldn't help but smile. Zhu Jingyuan was indeed very cute at this moment.

He walked forward and touched the child, then took the child from Yang Qingyin's hands and held him for a while. The two chatted and laughed about the child's bright future.

Soon Zhu Jingyuan fell asleep, so the two of them carefully put the child back into the cradle. Just at this moment, the sound of drums and music was heard outside.

Zhu Xianming was a little surprised, but Yang Qingyin was already walking out excitedly. She turned around and saw her husband was still there, so she turned back and pulled Zhu Xianming out.

"Qingyin, where are we going?"

"Silang, of course we're going to Fengtian Palace!"

"Why go to Fengtian Temple?"

"How could you have forgotten again? Today, the Grand Master... is going to enthrone you as the Crown Prince!"

"Grandpa wants to enthrone me as the Crown Prince?" Zhu Xianming couldn't believe it, but he was already filled with ecstasy in his heart.

Reuniting with his first wife was already a great joy, and being canonized as the Crown Prince by his grandfather, Zhu Xianming felt that he had no regrets in his life.

"Yes, everyone from the six ministries of the cabinet has arrived, and they are waiting for you to come... Let's go!"

Afterwards, Yang Qingyin pulled Zhu Xianming out, and they walked faster and faster, making it difficult for Zhu Xianming to keep up.

"Qingyin, slow down...slow down!"

"Shiro, the time is almost up, hurry up... hurry up!"

"Okay... ahem... hurry up..."

Zhu Xianming was already out of breath, but he still held his wife's hand tightly and rushed towards the gray palace ahead.

"Silang, hurry up, or we'll be late..."

"Qingyin, I'm old, I can't keep up..."

Without even catching his breath, Zhu Xianming fell down.

Inside the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Xianming suddenly opened his eyes, breathed rapidly and spat out a mouthful of blood, then he collapsed backwards from his chair.

The memorials presented on the imperial desk were stained with blood, and some of them had not yet been completed.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

The eunuchs serving on both sides were horrified and rushed forward to serve and support him, while others immediately went to call the imperial physician.

A few breaths later, before the imperial physician arrived, Zhu Xianming narrowed his eyes and tried his best to command: "Call... the crown prince, all the kings, all... all the officials..."

The twentieth year of the Zhengtong reign, July 28, 12:30 pm.

Outside the prince's residence, a large group of guards led by two people appeared. The two leaders were Lu Yuxin, a captain of the Dragon Guard, and Zhang Lin.

Those who came with the team included Cheng Ying, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, Deng An, the eunuch in charge of the Eastern Depot, and Zhang Ping'an, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Stables.

Cheng Ying had the highest status here, so he was the one to enter the mansion to pay a visit, while the others were asked to wait outside.

At this time, Zhu Jinghong had fallen asleep. After being awakened by the eunuch, he went to see Cheng Ying who had come to his house.

"Your servant kowtows to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Cheng Ying originally came to convey the emperor's order, but after meeting Zhu Jinghong, the first thing he did was to kowtow.

"Eunuch Cheng, what are you doing..."

"Your Highness, the Lord summons you to the palace!"

"Entering the palace at this time? Why?" Zhu Jinghong asked.

Cheng Ying replied, "Just now the Lord vomited blood, and he urgently summoned Your Highness and all the kings and officials to the palace!"

Because the situation was too urgent, Cheng Ying came hurriedly to summon him, and he didn't know the more specific details.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jinghong was horrified. He had already noticed something.

"Your Highness, please change your clothes quickly and follow me into the palace!"

Zhu Jinghong did not dare to delay and replied, "Okay!"

For an occasion like tonight, formal attire was of course required, so Zhu Jinghong immediately ordered them to change clothes.

While he was busy, Baochai had already arrived and informed the other women.

When everyone arrived one after another, Zhu Jinghong had already dressed in the Yin'an Hall and was ready to set off for the palace.

Baochai came forward, and on her left and right were Daiyu and Yang Jingting, and behind them were Xiangyun and other women.

"When you go ..."

Baochai only said half of her words and swallowed the rest. After all, it was still uncertain what the old emperor would do tonight.

But at this moment, all the women looked at Zhu Jinghong with complicated eyes. To be precise, fear exceeded love.

The Crown Prince, but if he goes one step further... he will be the master of the Chinese land, the king and father of hundreds of millions of people.

Zhu Jinghong looked calm and said, "My father has summoned me to the palace, so just wait patiently!"

What he said was to wait patiently, instead of asking everyone to go back and rest, which actually explained the situation.

Afterwards, accompanied by a group of eunuchs, he walked out of the Yin'an Hall, and Baochai and others had to follow him out.

When they reached Yin'an Gate, Zhu Jinghong stopped and looked back at Baochai and the others. They were now leaning against the entrance of the main hall, and under the moonlight, they all looked solemn.

"Go back!" Zhu Jinghong called out, and then walked out of the palace gate.

After Zhu Jinghong left, Baochai asked everyone to return to their seats. Yang Jingting asked in a low voice: "Sister Bao, there is such a big scene tonight, I think it is..."

Looking at the empty Yin'an Gate, Baochai replied, "Alas... let's not talk nonsense. Go back to your room first and wait for the news!"

"Yes!"

After Yang Jingting left, Daiyu came over and said, "I'll go back first!"

Nodding, Baochai replied, "Well... sleep for a while if you can. I'm afraid we'll be busy next time!"

When Zhu Jinghong came out of Yin'an Gate and arrived in front of Chengyun Hall, more people appeared outside.

The Imperial Guard, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Five Cities Army have each sent troops to ensure that the prince can enter the palace safely.

The number of escort troops tonight was at least three times more than before. Many of them made up excuses to come and protect the emperor. Only those who were on duty and could not leave, and those who had not received the news yet, failed to appear in front of Zhu Jinghong at this moment.

"I kowtow to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. May you live a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!"

Although there were many generals present, the task of welcoming Zhu Jinghong into the palace was assigned by Cheng Ying, Lu Yuxin and Zhang Lin, so they had communication with Zhu Jinghong.

When Zhu Jinghong signaled everyone to stand up, Lu and Zhang came forward, knelt down, and invited Zhu Jinghong to get into the sedan chair.

There was no time to waste, so Zhu Jinghong got into the sedan chair and was carried towards the imperial city.

The emperor summoned all the kings and officials, and the news had been delivered to various mansions one after another, so when Zhu Jinghong packed up and left, people from other mansions also left their mansions and entered the palace one after another.

This also means that the core members of these high-ranking families already know what happened tonight.

Those who lived in the mansions along Zhu Jinghong's way to the palace had already arranged for their clansmen to leave the mansions in advance and line up outside the mansion gates.

When Zhu Jinghong's sedan chair passed by, all these people bowed and saluted, which had never happened before.

Sitting in the sedan chair, feeling the world changing step by step, Zhu Jinghong felt very complicated.

There is excitement and excitement, complacency and pride, and of course, fear and anxiety.

After the team marched for a while, Zhu Jinghong lifted the curtain and looked outside. There were soldiers holding torches standing guard on both sides of the road, and there were three layers of guarding inside and outside.

But after looking for a while, he suddenly shouted: "This is the wrong way, this is not the way to Donghuamen!"

You could tell he was a little nervous, because the closer it got to the final moment, the more likely it was that something unexpected would happen, causing his ten-year plan to fail.

At this time, Cheng Ying's voice came from outside: "Your Highness, this is not going to Donghua Gate, but to Daming Gate!"

"Da Ming Gate?"

After he muttered this, Zhu Jinghong understood and said nothing more.

About twenty minutes later, Zhu Jinghong's sedan chair arrived at the Daming Gate.

This is the main gate of the imperial city, which is majestic and magnificent.

Nearly four hundred soldiers from the Imperial Guard who were on duty here lined up outside the palace gate, and when Zhu Jinghong approached, they knelt down and kowtowed.

"I kowtow to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. May you live a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!"

As the sedan chair entered the Daming Gate, the soldiers standing guard along the way kowtowed like waves to express their highest respect to Zhu Jinghong.

What he saw along the way made Zhu Jinghong truly feel what it felt like to be an emperor.

It can be said that his mentality underwent a tremendous change during the journey from the Crown Prince's residence to the Imperial City, which he himself was not fully aware of.

The guards at Chengtian Gate and Duanmen, like the garrison at Daming Gate, lined up to welcome Zhu Jinghong into the palace.

Finally, the sedan stopped outside the Meridian Gate. According to the rules, Zhu Jinghong should walk further inside, after all, he had not yet been granted the grace of riding in the palace. But at this moment, there was already a sedan waiting for him outside the Meridian Gate, and waiting beside him was Gu Cheng, the chief steward of the Qianqing Palace.

After paying respect to Zhu Jinghong, Gu Cheng said, "The Lord has given His Majesty an order to ride in the sedan chair into the palace!"

Looking around, except for the armored guards on duty, the rest of the garrison troops, Jinyiwei, flag bearer guards and eunuchs were all kneeling on the ground.

This made Zhu Jinghong truly experience what it means to look down on the world.

Zhu Jinghong was lifted up onto the sedan chair and then entered the Meridian Gate.

As the sedan chair moved forward, Zhu Jinghong asked, "Who else has arrived?"

Gu Cheng replied: "Reporting to Your Highness, three cabinet ministers, three hall officials and seven assistant ministers from the six ministries, and members of the royal family..."

The reason why someone arrived first was because Zhu Jinghong took a detour to enter the palace from the Daming Gate, and his residence was not the closest to the palace.

At this moment, Gu Cheng answered very carefully, he was considering his own future.

In the original Prince Xiang's Palace, in addition to the three chief eunuchs, there were a dozen eunuchs in charge, and under them were dozens of foreman eunuchs.

These people must be eyeing the key positions in the twenty-four offices of the inner court, so Gu Cheng is under a lot of pressure to take up the job.

After the emperor passed away, he, as the chief steward of the Qianqing Palace, had to move to another position. He might be sent to a certain academy to serve as the seal-keeper, or he might be assigned to guard the imperial tomb.

The right measure depends entirely on Zhu Jinghong's thoughts.

Soon, when Zhu Jinghong arrived outside the Qianqing Palace, many civil and military officials had gathered outside the Qianqing Gate. Of course, the ranks of these people were not very high.

Seeing him coming, everyone came to pay their respects, but Zhu Jinghong walked straight into the Qianqing Gate.

There were also quite a few people inside the Qianqing Gate. Their official ranks were much higher and they also kowtowed and bowed to Zhu Jinghong when they saw him.

When he walked up the steps, the corridor of the Qianqing Palace was already filled with the nine ministers of the six ministries, the generals of the Five Military Commanderies, and of course the royal family.

These people were the same. When they saw Zhu Jinghong coming, they all bowed and kowtowed to him.

Zhu Jinghong walked past the crowd and entered the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, where his brothers were. A quick glance showed that only a few people had not arrived, including Zhu Jingyuan.

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Because Zhu Jinghong was thirteenth in age, everyone present except Zhu Jingchun and two others was older than him, but at this time they all bowed respectfully.

Zhu Jinghong was about to speak when Gu Cheng reminded him, "Your Highness, the Lord is waiting for you in the East Warm Pavilion!"

Nodding, Zhu Jinghong turned and walked east. At this moment, he could faintly hear the sound of crying, which made him feel a little nervous.

When he arrived outside the East Warm Pavilion, Zhu Jinghong saw many concubines and several princesses guarding inside. Near the imperial bed were Concubine Jia and Princess Jing'an Zhu Yunsheng.

On the other side of the imperial bed, there were several imperial doctors standing, looking terrified and anxious, but unable to do anything.

"Greetings to Your Highness!"

When they saw Zhu Jinghong arriving, everyone at the scene bowed to him, because Zhu Jinghong could decide everyone's life and death, honor and disgrace.

When he arrived in front of the imperial bed, he saw that the emperor was breathing weakly and there was blood at the corners of his mouth and on his clothes. Zhu Jinghong knew that the situation was not good.

Gu Cheng had already told him the relevant details on the way, so he didn't ask any more questions.

"Brother Thirteen, Dad..."

Zhu Yunsheng could no longer utter anything else. She held her handkerchief and cried softly, but her tears did not respond at all.

Zhu Jinghong sighed, not knowing how to comfort her, so he came closer to the imperial bed.

Zhu Jinghong called out softly twice, but the emperor did not respond at all. Only the slowly rising and falling of his chest proved that he was still alive.

"How is your Majesty?" Zhu Jinghong looked at one of the imperial physicians.

"Reporting to Your Highness, His Majesty has been overworked, and the disease has entered his body, and his lungs are about to fail. This is..."

There was no point in saying anything further, so the imperial physician knelt down and said with tears in his eyes, "I am powerless and unable to save the patient. Your Highness, please punish me!"

Zhu Jinghong is not an unreasonable person. He knows that the current medical conditions are like this and these things cannot be blamed on the doctors.

"Back off!" Zhu Jinghong said calmly.

"Yes!"

Zhu Jinghong then sat beside the imperial couch, waiting for his father the emperor to give final instructions.

As for other arrangements, he had ordered Deng An, Zhang Ping'an and others to make them on the way into the palace just now, and they must ensure that the army did not act rashly and that there was no chaos in the city.

His orders had already been conveyed to the imperial guards and the Beijing camp. As for the Five Cities Army and the Imperial Guard, they were currently under his direct control.

As time passed, more and more officials and royal family members arrived. There were more and more people inside and outside the Qianqing Palace, but everyone was very quiet.

Half an hour passed quickly, and when Zhu Jinghong learned that Lao Liu had not arrived yet, he ordered someone to bring him over.

Just at this time, word came from the East Warm Pavilion that the emperor had woken up, so Zhu Jinghong immediately walked in from the main hall.

Originally all the concubines were in the house, but after Zhu Xianming's order, only Concubine Jia and Zhu Yunsheng stayed, and everyone else was called to the side hall.

"Dad, are you feeling better?" Zhu Jinghong asked with concern.

"Thirteen?"

"Yes...my son is here!" Zhu Jinghong replied.

"You finally... came. Daddy saw your mother. Your great grandfather said... that he wanted to enthrone me... as the crown prince!"

These words sounded a bit incoherent to Zhu Jinghong, but he did not interrupt his father's story.

After talking for a while, Zhu Xianming changed the subject and continued, "Thirteen... you have been hiding your incompetence since you were young, and your cunning... is rare in ancient times..."

"But to rule the world, one needs benevolence... You should be on your guard..."

"You must...love your subjects, be tolerant of your brothers...don't...accuse them at will..."

When he said this, Zhu Xianming's breathing was disordered and his voice was extremely weak. He might run out of breath at any time, so Zhu Jinghong didn't dare to interrupt him casually.

"I... have had merits and faults in this life. I wanted to use my merits to cover up my faults, but later I realized... merits are merits... faults are faults!"

"You should be more kind than me... Don't... be like me!"

"Son, I understand and will keep it in mind!" Zhu Jinghong burst into tears.

As for Zhu Yunsheng, she cried even harder when she heard these words, but she didn't dare to interrupt at this time.

"Over the years... you have expanded the territory... and spread your power overseas. I now hand over the Ming Dynasty to you... Dad... you can now face our ancestors with peace of mind!"

Zhu Jinghong nodded again, but he felt mixed emotions.

Seeing his father's weak breath, Zhu Yunsheng couldn't help crying out: "Dad..."

However, Zhu Xianming did not respond. After taking a few deep breaths, he ordered, "Tell them... to come in!"

"Yes!"

Gu Chengli immediately went out to pass on the message, and then more than twenty princes, ministers from the six ministries, and generals from the Five Military Commanderies who arrived at the scene all knelt in the warm room.

At Zhu Xianming's request, Zhu Jinghong helped him up so that he could sit on the bed and meet the court officials.

"I entrust... the country to the Crown Prince. I hope that you, my dear ministers... will be loyal... to the master and ensure that the Ming Dynasty... will be forever... forever strong!"

The emperor had a particularly hard time saying this sentence as he was coughing non-stop at this moment. Zhu Jinghong supported his father and helped him breathe smoothly.

"Your Majesty, I will obey your command. Long live the emperor!"

All the princes, civil and military officials present bowed to Yu Di and shouted "Long live the emperor", each of them with tears in their voices.

At this moment, Zhu Xianming, who was nestled in his son's arms, tightly grasped Zhu Jinghong's hands, and said with a wandering look: "Thirteen, Sheng'er...your mother...is here...to pick me up!"

"Dad..." Zhu Jinghong couldn't help but shed tears.

At this moment, Zhu Xianming clenched his hands instantly, and with his last bit of strength he turned his head and looked at Zhu Jinghong with burning eyes.

"My son...should be...Yao...Shun!"

After saying this, Zhu Xianming's head slowly dropped and his clenched hands slowly loosened.

At this moment, with a smile on his face, without regrets and with hope, he left the world he had ruled for twenty years, accompanied by the love of his life.

A legendary emperor passed away.

"father……"

Zhu Jinghong wailed, still holding the old emperor in his arms.

Zhu Yunsheng, who was standing by, also rushed over, leaned over his father and cried inconsolably, his grief evident in words.

In the past two years, she lost her mother and brother, and now she has lost her father. She is the saddest person in the palace.

At this moment, all the important officials in the palace burst into tears. The cries spread instantly, and soon the whole Qianqing Palace was filled with crying.

Everyone knows that an era has ended and a new era has arrived.

(End of this chapter)