Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 2
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, that little Zai Tian is already 4 years old.The 26-year-old child has to pretend to be himself all the time, no matter what he says or does, he has to act like a 4-year-old child.

"My lord, please slow down," Cui Xi hurriedly said as she came out following the little prince.

"Don't follow me, I want to play alone." Zai Tian stopped, pouted and looked at his nurse.

"I don't follow you, what if you fall?"

"Go away! Go away" Zai Tian said angrily.

"Okay, I'll go away. Be careful yourself." Cuixi had to stop.

At the gate of the Zhumen stone steps of Prince Jin's Mansion, a luxurious Beijing horse-drawn sedan chair was parked beside the bronze lion outside the palace. Prince Gong stepped out of the sedan chair, accompanied by Princess Gu Lun riding a tall horse. Jumped off the horse.

When the guard saw that it was their father and daughter, he quickly opened the door, knelt down and called out: "Good luck, sixth master, good luck, eldest princess."

Prince Chun, who was dressed in a rich robe, was slender and dignified. He heard his servants report that Prince Gong had arrived.He quickly walked out of the living room and said with a smile, "Sixth Brother, it's snowing heavily today, why are you here?"

"It's all right today. Gu Lun wanted to see Zai Tian, ​​so he brought her here. Gu Lun, still called Uncle Seven?"

"Uncle Qi, where's Zai Tian?" Princess Gu Lun asked hurriedly.

"He will be playing with the nanny in the back garden, go find him yourself"

"Seventh Uncle, Ama, I'm going." After finishing speaking, he ran to the back garden.

Prince Gong walked into the living room and sat down on the noble rosewood chair.After a while, someone brought tea, and Prince Chun hurriedly handed over the cigarette pouch. Prince Gong took out a cigar from his clothes, lit it with a match, and took a puff.

"Sixth Brother likes foreign stuff, but I can't get used to that," Prince Chun laughed.

Prince Gong said to several servants: "You all go down."

Seeing Prince Gong's solemn expression, Prince Jin quickly sat down on the seat next to him.

"Old Qi, the emperor is afraid that the emperor will die."

The paper coal in Prince Chun's hand fell to the ground, he bent down to pick it up, and said in amazement: "Really? You entered the palace?"

"The emperor summoned me." Prince Gong was about to say something, "What did the emperor say?" Prince Jin stared at him, and asked anxiously, "The emperor said."

Prince Gong stopped again, took a deep puff of cigarette, stared at Prince Jin sharply, and said nothing.After a long pause, he continued, "Lao Qi, I'm afraid this time it will be the same as in Rehe back then. We brothers will join forces again."

At this moment, Xiao Zaiyan was standing by the pond alone, holding on to the railing, looking at the colorful fish in the water.I muttered in my heart: If I remember correctly, it should be my turn to become the emperor this year, why is there no movement at all.Let me be the emperor, how can I get along with Cixi, the most vicious woman in Chinese history, I have to find a chance to get rid of her.

Cuixi looked at the pampered little prince, and couldn't help muttering: "This kid likes to play alone, and if he talks like this alone, who will he listen to?"

Princess Gu Lun came over, and seeing Cuixi muttering alone, she asked curiously: "Cuixi, what are you muttering here alone?"

Cuixi turned her head and saw that it was Princess Gu Lun, she quickly bowed her head and bowed to Princess Gu Lun and said, "It's the eldest princess who is here, I'm talking about the little prince, he always likes to play alone and won't let us get close to him"

"Really?" Princess Gu Lun smiled and Xiao Zaiyan saw the eldest princess coming, so she hurried to her and said happily to the eldest princess, "Sister, I miss you so much."

"Let my sister hug you first." Gu Lun hugged Zai Tian and kissed his cute little face vigorously.

In the living room, Prince Jin and Prince Gong were still sitting in the living room chatting. Prince Gong said: "The emperor is afraid that his time is approaching. He knows that the Queen Mother does not like Queen Arut. Once he dies, he will worry about Arut's death." The queen will be thrown into limbo, and even the child conceived by the queen will not be kept."

"He wants to entrust Queen Arut and her fetus to you. On the one hand, he can keep Queen Arut's position in the harem, and on the other hand, his flesh and blood can inherit the throne. Your majesty is really smart!" Prince Chun explain.

"Think about it, the Empress Dowager Xi didn't like the queen. If the emperor really died, would I be able to keep her? Besides, in case the emperor died. The queen is only three months pregnant now. It can't be empty all the time. And the one born may not necessarily be Elder Brother!" Prince Gong worried.

Prince Jin paused, frowned and said: "Yes, don't talk about others, I heard that Fifth Brother had already thought about it, and put his son Zai Lian on the throne."

"What about the empress dowagers of the two palaces? Will they choose their own candidates? If so, the world will be in chaos." Prince Gong said.

"We must not let this kind of thing happen. Back then, when Emperor Xianfeng died, Sushun, Duanhua and other Guming ministers wanted to control the government. Sushun even wanted to be emperor in the end. Wasn't it also subdued by our brothers?" Prince Alcohol said.

"Without the cooperation of the Empress Dowagers of the two palaces, we would not be able to deal with Sushun and the others. Do you know? What I am most worried about right now is not others, but the Empress Dowager West." Prince Gong worried.

"Isn't the emperor her own son? She probably won't," Prince Jin doubted.

"You don't know what kind of person the Queen Mother is, do you? Back then, when we arrested Sushun and Duanhua, we didn't intend to kill them, but the Queen Mother took Sushun to Caishikou and beheaded them. Duanhua was exiled in Xinjiang, and many people were punished by the nine clans, her heart is ruthless." Prince Gong looked at him.

Prince Chun nodded, frowning.

The resplendent Forbidden City is shrouded in coolness, the yellow glazed tiles are shining with cold white light, and the tall and magnificent palaces, against the occasional sunlight, are like mountain peaks, desolate and forbidding, with the cold north wind blowing on its beams. Neighing between the painted buildings and the double eaves.

The Forbidden City stands like a huge gloomy old castle on a bright white horizon. The moat that flows endlessly has stopped whimpering, and everything seems to be silent.The soldiers outside the palace stood motionless with no expression on their faces.

After seeing off Prince Gong, Prince Jin walked out of the living room and strolled to the back garden. The sun was setting and the golden rays were shining on the treetops.In the evening, Xiao Zaitian silently looked at the sky alone.Prince Jin hurried to his son and said, "Zai Tian, ​​why are you here alone? Where's Cuixi?"

Cui Xi came over from behind the tree, and hurriedly said: "My lord, I'm here. Princess Gu Lun just left, and my little lord won't let me follow."

"Zai Tian, ​​what are you looking at?" Prince Jin hugged his son lovingly.

Although Zai Tian is only four years old, he has retained all the memories of his previous life, and of course he knows the preferences of this first-generation Prince Alcohol.Casually said: "Ama, my ancestor Emperor Kangxi ascended the throne at the age of eight, and he took over three times. At the age of 21, Ama teamed up with Liubo to clean up Sushun. Keep my Qing Dynasty orthodox! When I grow up, I will also be like Amma is so good. I am four years old and grown up. I want to ask Ama to allow the child to learn horse riding and archery tomorrow!"

Prince Jin stared blankly at his son, filled with emotion in his heart. What he was proud of all his life was to clean up Sushun's gang of rebels.Now that his son said it, it is even sweeter, especially when he is compared with Kangxi, he directly raised his vanity to the point where he looked at his four-year-old child and said: "Son, the Qing Dynasty is troubled now, you take care of yourself!" Studying, in the future, I will help the emperor to bring our Qing Dynasty into the ranks of world powers, so we don’t have to be angry with those foreign devils all the time.”

Xiao Zaitian looked at the excited father and said with a smile: "Ama, you agreed. I want to learn horse riding, archery, and martial arts from Master Luo, and I will protect Ama and Erniang in the future!"

Looking at his dancing son, Prince Jin only nodded slightly, and ordered Luo Minghai, the leader of the martial arts masters in the house, to lead people to make small bows and knives overnight, and teach the little prince martial arts tomorrow.

The setting sun shines golden light on Cixi's palace, which is dazzling, and the lanterns have lit up bright eyes.

At this time, Prince Gong had been led here by Li Lianying. He walked there anxiously, brushed his sleeves, and prostrated himself on the ground: "I pay homage to the Queen Mother."

"The sixth master is here, get up quickly. Little Li, take a seat." Cixi turned around.

"Cha, Sixth Master, please sit down." Li Lianying said.

Cixi looked at him calmly and said: "Master Liu, I invite you here today to discuss something with you."

"Please tell me, Queen Mother." Prince Gong sat down, "Your Majesty's health is not very good these days, and it's getting worse these days." Cixi stared at him, tentatively.

Prince Gong remained silent.

Seeing that he was silent, Cixi said with something in his words: "I heard that Liu Ye has seen the emperor today?"

Prince Gong's heart was shocked, and then he frowned, and said: "Yes, I have seen the emperor today."

"What did the emperor say?" Cixi hurriedly asked.

"The emperor is a little worried about Jiangshan Sheji." Prince Gong hesitated for a while, then stopped.

"Sixth Master, we are not outsiders, tell me, what if the emperor thinks, who is the most suitable to inherit the throne?" Cixi said straightforwardly.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense, and Prince Gong sat there calmly, without appearing flustered.After a while, he said calmly, "I dare not speculate."

Cixi knew that he was hiding something and didn't want to say it, so she smiled and said: "Master Liu, you have nothing to hide from me."

"I dare not"

"I also heard that the emperor intends to pass on to you, the sixth master," Cixi pressed her every step of the way.

"Empress Dowager" Prince Gong looked at her in surprise, "The Sixth Master is now in such a high position, isn't the Sixth Master not at all tempted by the emperor's dragon chair?" Cixi said in a strange way as she walked back and forth on the carpet.

"The empress dowager clearly learned that I really have no intention of disobedience! The empress dowager should know that if I want to usurp the throne and seek power, I could have done so as early as the death of the first emperor Rehe." Prince Gong replied without humiliation .

"That's right, when the former emperor passed away, you were in charge of the national military and political power in Beijing, and Prince Jin Lao Qi was the commander of the infantry in the capital, guarding the safety of the capital and the palace. But they are far away in Rehe, as long as you give an order, Jiangshan Sheji is at your fingertips." Cixi stared at his face.

Prince Gong was silent and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Cixi watched his expression, and after a while, her face became softer.She turned around and sat down, looked at him and said, "Master Liu, I was joking with you, little plum, serve tea for Master Liu. Serve me the Longjing tea that Li Hongzhang gave me, and let Master Liu taste it."

At night, Cixi came to Ci'an's bedroom.Ci'an's bedroom is also magnificently decorated.Ci'an is kind and upright, and Tongzhi is very close to her.Ci'an has no children of her own, so the only prince, Di, loves and takes care of him very much, treating her as her own.As time went on, Tongzhi felt that Ci'an was his own mother.At this moment, the two wanted to sit idly by, Cixi told Tongzhi's illness, and the two looked sad.Ci'an sat on the chair carved with red sandalwood fat jade, sighed: "I never thought that the emperor would be infected with such an incurable disease at such a young age."

"Sister, it's too late to be sad now. We must now think about who will succeed us, so that we can be prepared if the emperor happens." Cixi said urgently.

"Is the emperor's illness really that serious?" Ci'an asked suspiciously.

"I went to the palace just now, the emperor may not survive tonight." Cixi said.

Ci'an was so sad that he sobbed sadly.

"Sister, don't cry. Do you know how many people are staring at the throne? If there is a trouble, the world will be in chaos and the heads will fall! We have to choose the emperor now, otherwise it will be too late!"

Ci'an looked up at Cixi, and asked, "Does my sister have any ideas?"

After a while, Cixi finally said what she had considered: "I think Prince Jin's eldest son, the four-year-old Zai Tian, ​​is very appropriate."

In the evening, in the deserted Hall of Mental Cultivation, Dongnuange, Tongzhi Bedroom, a huge red candle swayed alone in the wind, as if it would be extinguished at any moment.

Tongzhi turned over and screamed with all his strength, "Come here! I'm very sad!"

There was silence all around, and everything seemed to be dead.

"Mother, you are too vicious, isn't I your own son? Tiger poison doesn't even eat your sons, you cut off my food and don't let the imperial doctor treat me to you"

A tear of despair rolled down the corner of Tongzhi's eyes, his voice gradually weakened, and one hand was raised in the air indiscriminately, as if trying to grab something.After a while, his eyes rolled upwards, his hands dropped down physically, and his whole body was motionless.Emperor Tongzhi, who had been dying for several days, finally exhausted the last trace of vitality in his life.

At this moment, the candle flame burnt out the last drop of candle tears, and went out with a bang.Suddenly, the entire palace was plunged into darkness.Li Lianying's ugly, excited face gradually emerged from the darkness, looking particularly ferocious.

A young eunuch rushed out from the closed palace door. He ran down the steps and shouted wildly on the stone pavement of the palace: "The emperor is dead! The emperor is dead!"

(End of this chapter)