Ming Dynasty: At the beginning, the house was ransacked and the ancestral temple was burned down.

Chapter 107: Feeling sorry for the emperor? Xiao Wanli is determined to quit the court!
  "Quick! Go kill him! By the way! Don't let him know that I am going to kill him!"

"Just...just let him...just let him die unconsciously..."

Zhu Yijun's mood was sometimes excited, and sometimes depressed.

All in all, it's very 'confused' over and over again.

His Majesty the Emperor's panicked appearance really surprised Zhang Cheng.

Since he was sent by His Majesty the Emperor to 'communicate' with Wang Xijue in the afternoon, he didn't know what exactly happened in Cining Palace at that time.

After listening to the descriptions of Chen Ju and others, Zhang Cheng only felt more confused.

All in all, how did His Majesty the Emperor manage to fall over even on flat ground while being supported by someone?

Could it be that it’s really that evil? Will the person who was knelt down by Zhang Chonghui really be in bad luck within three hours?
  Zhang Cheng was very surprised and puzzled, but no matter how puzzled he was, there was not so much time left for him to be surprised.

Because the 'murderous mission' His Majesty the Emperor gave him 'secretly' seemed very urgent...

……

Zhang Cheng left to 'kill' Zhang Chonghui.

His Majesty the Emperor specifically gave instructions not only to avoid being discovered but also to allow Zhang Chonghui to die unknowingly.

This kind of "want and want at the same time" is really difficult to handle.

However, no matter how 'difficult' it is, Zhang Cheng has to do it. Anyway, for him, as long as Zhang Chonghui is dead, he can do the job.

After all, dead people can't talk.

……

After Zhang Cheng left, Zhu Yijun's mood became a little more stable.

"He is not Zhang Juzheng... Zhang Juzheng is dead..."

Zhu Yijun repeated this sentence in his heart. In fact, he was also mumbling it, but he didn't react to it.

The eunuch accompanying the driver was replaced by Chen Ju again. Seeing His Majesty the Emperor's nagging expression, Chen Ju's eyes were complicated and his eyes became wet without even realizing it.

"Why are you crying?" Zhu Yijun noticed that Chen Ju was secretly crying and asked out of curiosity.

"Your Majesty, this slave..." Chen Ju lowered his head and did not dare to look at Zhu Yijun, sobbing: "This slave does not dare to say..."

"Speak!" Zhu Yijun ordered, and at the same time, he finally stopped murmuring.

"Your Majesty...servant..." Chen Ju wiped his tears and said distressedly: "If you say something transgressive, I feel sorry for you..."

Fortunately, there are only two masters and servants, Zhu Yijun and Chen Ju, in the main hall at this moment. If anyone else was there, they would probably be shocked when they heard these words.

After all, why should a slave like him feel sorry for someone who is his master?
  Don't you worry about eating "light" radish and "salty"?
  Chen Ju cried very sincerely. It is worth mentioning that he was not pretending.

Zhu Yijun has seen and got used to seeing many people "acting" since he was a child.

The servants who served him around him, the courtiers who respected him as 'sage king and father' in the previous dynasty, and the concubines who were inseparable from him in the harem.

Such many people always wear various masks when facing the emperor Zhu Yijun.

Even his favorite Zheng Mengjing is like this, and even his biological mother, Queen Mother Li, is like this.

In fact, this is not the case. After all, the emperor Zhu Yijun also had to wear a mask when facing others.

This is true for everyone in the world, whether they are ordinary people like ants or the aloof emperor and saints.

This is a rule, and it is a well-established rule.

It's been a long time since Zhu Yijun saw someone as sincere and sincere as Chen Ju, who has no "acting" element.

This aloof saint and father-in-law had not heard for a long time that someone 'dare' to say to him that he felt sorry for him.

He is the Son of Heaven, and the Son of Heaven is a saint, a king and father whose authority is granted by heaven. It has always been the case that only the emperor's father, who is above the throne, cares about his people. How can any of the people care about his father? Such a thing is contrary to Tiangang.

But in the Ming Dynasty, which is already aging, in this Ming Dynasty where 'the emperor is not the king' and 'the minister is not the minister', the so-called 'rebellion against Tiangang' seems to have long been gone. It can be said.

Looking at Chen Ju who lowered his head and sobbed, Zhu Yijun said nothing, nor did he ask the other party why he felt sorry for his emperor.

In a blink of an eye, he looked at his 'remnant leg', which had some muscle atrophy, and the answer was already clear.

Yes, as a high-ranking emperor in the eyes of the world, he is actually a cripple. This should indeed be quite distressing.

Zhu Yijun didn't know whether his people would really feel sorry for him, the 'Cripple King'. He only knew that he felt sorry for himself.

Maybe he was too 'self-moved'. Unknowingly, Zhu Yijun recalled the 'familiar' look he saw in the afternoon.

That familiar look in "once upon a time" was actually what Zhu Yijun was most looking forward to seeing.

But time has changed, and Zhu Yijun is no longer as 'moved and excited' as he was back then when he saw such 'familiar' eyes again after so many years.

Some are left with embarrassment, embarrassment, and panic...

Zhu Yijun didn't know how to describe the discomfort that made him feel like there were bugs crawling all over his body, even in his skin. He only knew that that 'familiar' look made him uncomfortable and uncomfortable.

That is a kind of shamelessness, and also a kind of shamelessness. What's more, Zhu Yijun used to be sincere, but now he is unwilling to give up.

In embarrassment, Zhu Yijun didn't know why, but he began to think carefully about whether there was any... distress in that 'complicated' look?
  "How is that possible...he's not really him..."

Almost unconsciously, Zhu Yijun blurted out.

He knew that Zhang Juzheng was dead. I also know that Zhang Chonghui is not Zhang Juzheng.

But he was still feeling complicated, still restless, and still at a loss.

"Your Majesty, what did you say?" Chen Ju raised his head and asked with red eyes. He was too engrossed in crying just now and didn't hear clearly what His Majesty the Emperor was saying.

"Nothing." Zhu Yijun just shook his head tiredly, as if escaping, and sighed: "I'm tired."

……

It was getting dark, and this was the moment that the young Emperor was most looking forward to in the whole day.

However, tonight's emperor, Zhu Yijun, changed his usual habits. Instead of reading the signs or reading and practicing calligraphy, he covered himself with quilt early and got ready to sleep.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Zheng is here to see you." Chen Ju reported to Zhu Yijun, who was lying on the bed and preparing to fall asleep.

Zhu Yijun turned over and said calmly: "Just say that I have fallen asleep."

Chen Ju stopped trying to persuade her, and after agreeing, he prepared to 'send off' Concubine Zheng.

But just before Chen Ju retreated and left, his Majesty the Emperor suddenly said something vaguely. Only two breaths later, the snoring sound was already heard.

Chen Ju didn't hear clearly what His Majesty the Emperor said. He only heard a name that had not been mentioned for a long time.

It seems to be called...Sun Hai?
  ……

"Sun Hai, it's snowing again."

The eleven-year-old Emperor Wanli squatted on the threshold of Xinuang Pavilion in the Qianqing Palace, and the young eunuch Sun Hai, who was about the same age as him and had delicate features, was talking to him.

"Yes, Your Majesty, it's snowing again." Sun Hai was wearing very thin clothes, and his delicate little face was so pale from the cold that it turned purple.

Looking at Sun Hai's trembling and weak appearance, little Wanli, who was dressed roundly and warmly, raised his nose and said with a smile:
  "I asked you to talk back to Feng Daban! Are you punished? Are you cold? You deserve it!"

Facing the little emperor's ridicule, Sun Hai just smiled weakly and did not defend himself.

"It's not warm anymore. It's a reward." Xiao Wanli threw the Tang Pozi in his hand into Sun Hai's hand, turned around and ordered the other palace people around him:

"You all, go and find me a warm and fragrant soup! Whoever finds the warmest and fragrant one will be rewarded heavily by me!"

As soon as they heard the words 'heavy rewards', almost all the attendants' eyes lit up.

Except for a few "eyeliners" who were "dutiful", almost all of them rushed to find the "warmest and most fragrant" Yubaozi.

"I'm hungry. You go find me some food. It's enough that Sun Hai is here to serve me." Xiao Wanli ordered the few "eyes" who refused to leave. His Majesty the Little Emperor has given instructions. Even if these Feng Bao's spies don't want to leave, they have no choice but to leave.

Everyone who was in the way was gone. Xiao Wanli seemed to be very satisfied with his 'results'. He asked Sun Hai somewhat proudly: "How is it? Am I good?"

"Awesome!" Sun Hai hugged the warm Tang Pozi tightly and nodded desperately, with a trace of reddish color finally appearing on his pale face.

"Alas..." Xiao Wanli suddenly withered after showing off. Looking at the heavy snow falling in the sky, he hugged his knees and sighed:

"Sun Hai, it's so cold and the snow is so heavy. I don't want to go to court, and I don't want to hold a banquet either."

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was 'monitoring' around, Sun Hai hurriedly got closer to the warm little emperor to get more warmth. At the same time, he replied:

"Your Majesty, since you don't want to, then don't go."

Little Wanli did not avoid the other party's approach, but sighed again: "Oh, I can't help but not go if I don't want to go... The queen mother will not agree, and Mr. Zhang and the others will not agree..."

Seeing that the little emperor was so frustrated, Sun Hai rubbed the warm Tang Pozi and sighed with emotion: "I don't know whether to live or die":
  "Your Majesty, as the Emperor, you can't help yourself. I feel so sorry for you."

"Feeling sorry for me?" Xiao Wanli's eyes widened. He looked at Sun Hai's thin clothes, and then at his own rich and colorful clothes, and a strange feeling came to his heart.

Before he could find out the 'source' of this 'weird feeling', Xiao Wanli saw Sun Hai sniffing and gave him advice:
  "Your Majesty, why don't you use the excuse of heavy snowfall, cold weather, and difficult journey to stay out of court for a few days! In this way, you will not only be able to avoid going to court, but you will also be able to claim to be considerate of your ministers!"

Sun Hai's suggestion directly earned a blank look from Xiao Wanli.

"Come on, I've done this trick a long time ago." Xiao Wanli sighed:
  "Have you forgotten last winter? The snow was so heavy at that time. I ordered the ministers not to attend court, thinking that I could stay lazy for a few days. But what happened? Have you forgotten?"

It seemed that what happened on 'that day last winter' was not very good, and Xiao Wanli let out another long sigh.

Wanli may never forget "that day" of "that year" in his life. It was a snow disaster year when the capital was covered with snow, and it was a cold day when the sky was covered with snow.

At that time, Wanli had already issued an imperial edict to leave the court for a few days in advance, and was ready to have a few days of "holiday" with his ministers in the capital!
  However, on such a snowy holiday day, Xiao Wanli, who was able to stay in bed for the first time for the first time, was 'pulled' out of his warm bed early in the morning.

Because someone is coming to court.

And there was only one person who came to court.

That is Mr. Zhang of Xiao Wanli, Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the cabinet!

Yes, on that day when the capital was severely cold, with snow accumulating many feet, and people and horses could not move; on that day when the ministers of the capital all rested at home to "take shelter from the cold".

Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, went to work in the Forbidden City very dedicatedly.

There was only Zhang Juzheng.

Roll it, roll it, who can roll it better than Zhang Taiyue?
  Emperor Wanli may never forget the scene in which he and his highness Zhang Juzheng looked at each other speechlessly on the dragon throne in the huge Jinluan Palace on a cold morning.

"Oh...it's better not to leave the court. What if Mr. Zhang comes to court alone again..."

Recalling the 'scene' that happened 'last year', Xiao Wanli had a headache. After all, the scene was quite embarrassing. . .

Little Wanli still doesn't know how his Mr. Zhang came to be because the snow that year was so heavy and the snow was so deep that even cars and horses couldn't move.
  Looking at the little emperor talking to himself, Sun Hai turned his not-so-smart mind, thought about it carefully for a long time, and then asked back:
  "Your Majesty, you didn't order the imperial court to be discontinued last year. Did you remember it wrong?"

"Impossible! How could I remember it wrong!" Xiao Wanli replied firmly.

"But it's really not the case!" Sun Hai also retorted to his master with a 'no rules': "You really didn't issue an order to withdraw from the court last year. I really remember this!"

Facing Sun Hai's "unruly" look, Xiao Wanli was not angry, but asked regretfully and "deliberately":

"Sun Hai, I remember you were quite smart before. Why have you become stupid since you became a eunuch?"

Sun Hai no longer dwelled on the matter of quitting the imperial court last year, and instead looked down with resentment. In the end, he could only sigh a long time: "Alas..."

Seeing that Sun Hai was so 'sad', although Xiao Wanli could not 'empathize' with him, he still comforted him in a 'kind-hearted' way and said:
  "Don't feel bad, it means you will be childless for the rest of your life! As long as you serve me wholeheartedly, I will support you for the rest of your life!"

Sun Hai expressed that he was very touched by the little emperor's comfort. After all, he was once the late emperor's male favorite, and he almost had to be buried with him after his death.

Thanks to His Majesty the Young Emperor's intercession, Sun Hai was able to exchange his life for "two taels of meat".

"Your Majesty, I have an idea!" Sun Hai's eyes suddenly lit up, and he gave his 'savior' an idea again, saying:

"Your Majesty, since you are afraid that Zhang Shoufu will come alone again after resigning from the court, why don't you just pretend to be sick?"

"What? Pretending to be sick?" Xiao Wanli seemed to be frightened by Sun Hai's suggestion. He shook his head in fear and replied:

"How can this be done! Mr. Zhang said that cheating and kidnapping is a villain's behavior! I am a gentleman!
  Mr. Zhang also said that a gentleman must be upright and aboveboard! You absolutely cannot do this kind of deception! "

The little emperor refused so righteously, and Sun Hai was at his wits end. As a eunuch, he didn't know much about palace etiquette. He didn't think too much and rolled his eyes silently. Silently said:
  "Then you should go to court and attend the feast honestly."

"Hey you! Sun Hai, how dare you, a slave, talk to me...to me like this!" Emperor Wanli seemed to be angry, and reached out to snatch Tang Pozi from Sun Hai's hand.

Seeing that the 'little' warmth was about to be taken away, Sun Haidang's knees softened and he knelt down, begging for mercy: "I was wrong!"

"Are you aware of your mistake? It's useless!" Xiao Wanli put his hands on his hips and looked around calmly. Seeing that there was indeed no 'eyeliner' from Feng Bao around him, he then calmly approached Sun Hai's ear and said, Voice:
  "How to pretend to be sick? Teach me!"

……

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty? Please wake up, something happened!"

"Sun Hai, don't make trouble, tell me how to pretend to be sick..."

"Your Majesty? What are you talking about? Something happened to Eunuch Zhang Cheng!"

"Ah? Who is Zhang Cheng...what? Something happened to Zhang Cheng?"

Zhu Yijun, who was still half asleep, suddenly woke up in an instant!

In front of him was no longer Sun Hai's frail, pale and delicate face, but Chen Ju's old, beardless face covered with ravines.

"What's wrong with Zhang Cheng?"

Zhu Yijun sat up and asked calmly.

It seemed that Zhu Yijun had entered the 'state', but in fact, his thoughts were still wandering in the 'dream' from more than ten years ago.

Zhu Yijun has not had such a peaceful dream for a long time. In the dream, there was no stern Zhang Juzheng, no nagging Empress Dowager Li, and no Feng Bao who was always monitoring him.

There is only Sun Hai, the only one who has no rules and is not very smart, but can always come up with various ways to please him wholeheartedly.

It's a pity that Sun Hai has already died, in the seventh year of Wanli when Zhu Yijun first issued the "Edict of Sin".

It was in the eighth year of Wanli that the emperor quit the court due to heavy snowfall in the capital.

Zhu Yijun smiled bitterly in his heart. No wonder Sun Hai in the dream said that he remembered it wrong. It turns out that Sun Hai was already dead at that time...

Sun Hai died miserably. He was beaten to death with sticks in front of Zhu Yijun's eyes.

Seeing his childhood friend being beaten to death, all the young Emperor could do was watch.

Because he, the emperor, made mistakes, and if the emperor who is above the emperor makes mistakes, it cannot be the fault of the emperor, king and father alone.

Someone has to take on the 'main responsibility' and take the blame for his 'father'.

This person can only be Sun Hai, Zhu Yijun's personal eunuch.

Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun made a mistake, but the main fault did not lie with 'him' as the emperor, but with the eunuch Sun Hai who flattered and made trouble for the emperor.

This was written in Sinji's edict, and it was also the cause of Sun Hai's death.

Sun Hai has been dead for more than ten years, and Zhu Yijun seems to have almost forgotten that there is such a person who dares to say that he "feels sorry" for his emperor.

What's more, now, Zhu Yijun has no time to dwell on the past, because what Chen Ju said next can be said to have shocked him!

"Your Majesty, I don't know why Eunuch Zhang Cheng has to go to the Meridian Gate to see that boy Zhang Chonghui! It's okay to just meet him, but I don't know what went wrong. Eunuch Zhang Cheng actually..."

Chen Ju looked as if he had seen a ghost. After he hesitated for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said:

"Eunuch Zhang Cheng was actually stabbed a dozen times by that boy Zhang Chonghui!"

(End of this chapter)