Chapter 150
Chapter 150
[After Zhu Yuanzhang Returned to the Great Ming – 1]
The girl froze at his words. As if wounded, she stared at him blankly while crystalline tears rolled down her smooth, pale face. The sight was irresistibly pitiful, enough to make anyone want to gather her into their arms and comfort her tenderly.
Zhu Yuanzhang: Damn it, how irritating! You owe money and still act as if you are in the right!!!
The emperors in the space struggled not to laugh. At that moment, the white silk drifted down. Liu Che snatched it first, opened it, and clicked his tongue several times.
*From Kept Mistress to Empress*
The world knew Prince Lu as a man of divine gifts, imposing dignity, and impeccable conduct. No one knew how wanton and depraved he was in private, especially in bed, where he seemed determined to snap her waist in two…
To repay her father’s debt, Tao Chuqing became Prince Lu’s kept mistress. She asked only for a secure life, not wealth or glory. But when Prince Lu prepared to marry his principal consort, she refused to share a husband. She packed her bundle and prepared to flee at once. This girl was finished playing his games!
Who could have guessed that Prince Lu would gallop hundreds of miles after her? With bloodshot eyes, he pinned her against a wall and kissed her savagely. “You are this prince’s consort! How dare you flee without my permission?!”
Liu Che: “…”
Emperor Gaozu: “…”
Ying Zheng: “…”
Li Shimin: “…”
“Excuse me.” Liu Che dropped the white silk woodenly and clutched his chest. “I feel a little sick… Blech!”
For once, the other emperors did not mock him as a pig. Instead, they all pressed hands to their chests and retched in unison. “…Blech!”
Once Liu Che finished, he began complaining. “*From Kept Mistress to Empress*-does that mean Prince Lu later becomes emperor? Is it so difficult for a proper emperor to marry a respectable woman? Why insist on making a kept mistress his Empress?”
Emperor Gaozu said with a headache, “Prince Lu can maintain a mistress outside his residence, so he obviously isn’t impotent. At his age, does he have no princess consort in his household? Even if there is only a Secondary Consort, the throne of Empress still could never pass to this woman!”
Li Shimin had been dead for so many years that he had become more broad-minded. “Origins do not determine greatness. Even an Empress who married twice is nothing unheard of. Liu E was once a kept mistress, and she later became Empress.”
Ying Zheng gave him a sidelong glance and struck directly at the heart of the matter. “Can this Tao woman be compared to Liu E? Liu E had a brain. What does she possess? A graceful figure? A seductive body? Temptation written into her bones?”
Li Shimin had no answer.
Liu Che laughed so hard he could barely breathe. “Even concubines can be bought and sold. She is less than a concubine, yet she packs her own bundle and runs hundreds of miles away. Did she ride fire wheels through the night? Prince Lu catches up with bloodshot eyes-good heavens, one night’s travel changed his very species. The prince became a red-eyed gorilla!”
Emperor Gaozu said speechlessly, “She refuses to share a husband but willingly becomes a kept mistress. Does she imagine a kept mistress is a Bodhisattva enshrined outside the residence?”
Zhu Yuanzhang: “…”
Zhu Yuanzhang listened to the entire exchange with an ashen face.
Never in his life had he been so speechless!
At that moment, the original body’s memories finally arrived.
This dynasty’s name was Ming. Its founding emperor was Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang jolted at the revelation.
He continued through the body’s memories. The founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang had named his legitimate eldest son Zhu Biao as Crown Prince. After the Crown Prince died young of illness, he named Zhu Biao’s son Zhu Yunwen as Crown Grandson. Then came the Jingnan Campaign. Judy… Zhu Di ascended the throne, followed by Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji. The throne had now passed to Zhu Zhanji’s son Zhu Qizhen.
The instant Zhu Yuanzhang saw that name, a murderous gleam flashed through his eyes and his hand began to tremble uncontrollably.
After the old man died and entered the Underworld, he had believed Great Ming would flourish for ten thousand generations. Instead, bad news arrived one piece after another, every calamity caused by his bastard descendants!
After a dazzling sequence of idiotic maneuvers left Zhu Yunwen utterly isolated, the boy finally remembered his imperial grandfather. Every few days, he burned paper and sent sacrificial petitions below, weeping that his uncles bullied him-especially the Prince of Yan, who went far beyond the rest.
In the Underworld, Zhu Yuanzhang flew into a rage. He pulled off his shoe and thrashed the large locust tree outside his gate, imagining it was the bastard grandson’s head.
Then came his fourth son. Although the Jingnan Campaign infuriated the old man, he had to admit that the fourth was better suited to rule than his nephew. Five campaigns against the Mongols during his reign-well done!
After him, Zhu Yuanzhang’s plump grandson Zhu Gaochi reigned less than a year before coming down. Mm, a good child. Zhu Zhanji after him was not long-lived either and died at thirty-eight. His eldest son Zhu Qizhen became emperor at only nine. Fortunately, Grand Empress Dowager Zhang was wise and virtuous. She suppressed corrupt eunuchs, employed worthy ministers, and Great Ming developed well under her care.
After her son’s death, Grand Empress Dowager Zhang held on for seven more years before finally passing away. Zhu Qizhen was sixteen that year, old enough to run, jump, and create spectacular trouble. Once the mountain pressing down upon him disappeared, and with a softhearted mother unable to restrain him, he began leaping in circles like a wild dog released from its chain.
After causing enough trouble in the capital, Zhu Qizhen decided to imitate Emperor Chengzu and his father Zhu Zhanji by personally leading a campaign. He took a host of ministers and more than two hundred thousand troops against the Oirats. Thus did Zhu Qizhen, God of War of Great Ming, surpass even the Chariot God of Gaoliang River from Great Song and accomplish the earthshaking triumph known as the Tumu Crisis. He nearly destroyed Great Ming’s foundation. Two hundred thousand elite soldiers were annihilated, the Emperor was captured, and the military nobility accumulated since the Yongle era was almost swept away in one stroke. Great Ming fell into decline, and its wars against the northern nomads shifted from offense to defense.
One point deserved praise. Throughout this world-shattering catastrophe, Zhu Qizhen, God of War of Great Ming, remained calm and steady, never hurried, arrogant, or impatient. He quickly established warm and friendly relations with the Oirats by helping them urge Ming troops to open their gates and demand property from Great Ming. When he eventually returned, the Oirats who escorted him wept at parting, utterly reluctant to see him go.
The last time such figures appeared, they were Emperors Qinzong and Huizong of Song. How could Great Ming fail to enshrine such an outstanding emperor?
When Zhu Yuanzhang received a sacrificial petition describing the Tumu Crisis, he nearly spat blood on the spot. Heaven bear witness, moments before he had stood with his hands behind his back and mocked Emperors Qinzong and Huizong for their spinelessness. Then his own family produced an equally unfilial descendant!
Zhu Qizhen was not dead yet, so Zhu Yuanzhang could not hit him. The father’s debt must be paid by the son, so he vented his fury upon Zhu Zhanji. First, he suspended Zhu Zhanji and beat him for an entire night. Then he rolled up his sleeves and went to the rear courtyard to sharpen a knife.
When Zhu Di heard that their family had produced such an unworthy descendant, his eyes nearly split with rage. He stormed over to hold his grandson Zhu Zhanji accountable. The moment he entered, however, he found the man hanging from a tree, bruised and swollen, wearing the empty expression of someone who had lost all desire to live.
Alarmed, Zhu Di crept furtively toward the rear courtyard and peeked inside. The old man was sharpening a knife while cursing Zhu Qizhen. He spat after every curse and ground his teeth so hard they nearly threw sparks. Cold sweat covered Zhu Di’s head. Without a word, he slipped away.
The Tumu Crisis nearly exploded half of Zhu Yuanzhang’s lungs with rage. Fortunately, the news was not entirely terrible.
After Zhu Qizhen was captured, Yu Qian and other ministers petitioned Empress Dowager Sun that a nation could not remain one day without a sovereign. They placed Zhu Qiyu, Prince of Cheng, upon the throne and honored Zhu Qizhen in distant Oirat lands as Supreme Emperor. They then organized the defense of Beijing and repeatedly repelled attacks by the Oirat leader Esen. In time, the Oirats found they could squeeze little more profit from Zhu Qizhen and released him.
Yu Qian was loyal, upright, and incorruptible, with clean sleeves and empty hands-a perfect match for Zhu the Skinner’s standards. Zhu Qiyu was not bad either. Sovereign and minister worked in perfect harmony. Compared with his elder brother Zhu Qizhen, he was practically a divine descendant.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded repeatedly. “Now that is a fine minister and a fine emperor!”
The Jingtai Emperor Zhu Qiyu settled his elder brother Zhu Qizhen in the Southern Palace, granting him every comfort and no shortage of beauties. Zhu Qizhen possessed skin as thick as Emperors Qinzong and Huizong combined and promptly fathered seven or eight children.
At the sight, Zhu Yuanzhang knew disaster was coming. “Zhu Qiyu, you idiot! Hurry and kill him. Why keep such a shameful creature alive? One stroke of the blade would settle everything cleanly!”
Sure enough, the Gate Seizure Coup occurred within a few years.
With the support of Empress Dowager Sun and a group of followers, Zhu Qizhen launched the coup and ascended the throne a second time. That very day, he ordered the executions of Minister of War Yu Qian and Minister of Personnel Wang Wen. He then demoted Zhu Qiyu to Prince of Cheng. Not long afterward, Zhu Qiyu died under mysterious circumstances and received the posthumous name Li, “the Unruly.” The core officials of his reign suffered a brutal purge, while treacherous ministers and eunuch factions returned to power.
Zhu Zhanji had learned from his previous beating and hidden himself early. Unable to find his great-grandson, Zhu Yuanzhang instead encountered Zhu Di, who had arrived with the same furious expression. He snatched up a staff and beat his fourth son. When he grew tired, father and son sat back-to-back in the courtyard and discussed how best to deal with Zhu Qizhen once he came down to join them.
Yet no matter how many times they flayed Zhu Qizhen, nothing Great Ming had lost could ever be recovered.
Whenever Zhu Yuanzhang thought of that unworthy descendant, he beat his chest in regret. Later, when Li Shimin entered the Great Song world, Zhu Yuanzhang’s hatred for the shameless conduct of Emperors Qinzong and Huizong burned especially fiercely. Partly, those two bastards truly deserved death. Partly, the sight reminded him of his own unfilial descendant.
Now that Zhu Yuanzhang had arrived in this world and discovered that the Reigning Emperor was Zhu Qizhen, God of War of Great Ming, how could his expression remain unchanged?
But when he examined the original body’s memories more closely, he found subtle differences.
In the Great Ming court Zhu Yuanzhang had personally founded, Yu Qian petitioned Empress Dowager Sun after Zhu Qizhen’s capture and asked that another emperor be installed to stabilize the realm. The throne passed to Zhu Zhanji’s second son, Zhu Qiyu. In this world, however, Zhu Qizhen was Zhu Zhanji’s only son. Now that Zhu Qizhen had been captured…
Enlightenment struck Zhu Yuanzhang. “This world is called *From Kept Mistress to Empress*. Since the Tao woman became involved with the original owner, he must become emperor later. No need to ask. After the Tumu Crisis, they will certainly welcome him into the capital and place him on the throne.”
Once he counted the original body’s generation, the answer became obvious.
The original owner was Zhu Qikun. His father was Grand Empress Dowager Zhang’s second son and the full younger brother of Zhu Qizhen’s father, Zhu Zhanji. That made Zhu Qikun Zhu Qizhen’s younger cousin.
Zhu Qizhen had been captured during the Tumu Crisis, while the Crown Prince Zhu Jianshen was only two years old and utterly incapable of ruling. Among the imperial clan, the original owner possessed the strongest claim by blood.
Seven years earlier, Grand Empress Dowager Zhang had died. Because the court strictly controlled the imperial clan, the original owner’s father could not enter the capital to mourn, despite being the Grand Empress Dowager’s own son and the late Emperor’s full younger brother. He could only grieve from his fief.
The man’s health had never been strong. After hearing of his mother’s death, he remained bedridden for months and soon followed her. As Prince Lu’s legitimate eldest son, Zhu Qikun naturally inherited his father’s princely title and became the next Prince Lu.
The former Prince Lu was Grand Empress Dowager Zhang’s youngest son and greatly beloved by his father and elder brother. His fief lay in Luoyang, Henan Prefecture, a prosperous land flowing with wealth. Combined with rewards from three successive emperors, Prince Lu’s household possessed the greatest fortune among all imperial princes.
This was the fourteenth year of Zhengtong, the year of the Tumu Crisis.
According to the original owner’s memories, news had arrived from the capital half a month earlier that the Emperor had personally gone to war. Surveillance of the regional princes had also intensified.
Judging by the speed of communication in this era, the Tumu Crisis had probably already occurred.
Zhu Yuanzhang’s eyelid twitched. His emotions boiled like a pot of water, steam bubbling furiously from its surface. After a moment of thought, he sneered.
Zhu Qizhen, you little bastard, wait with the Oirats. Your ancestor will teach you how to behave step by step!
Liu Che clicked his tongue and whispered to the others, “Old Zhu is furious. Just wait. Zhu Qizhen has reserved the full flaying package!”
Ying Zheng, Li Shimin, and Emperor Gaozu answered in unison, “I think so too!”
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Tao Chuqing. For the moment, he could exert no power in the capital, so he decided to settle this wretched girl’s matter first.
Seeing him stare directly at her, Tao Chuqing trembled in terror. Tears streamed down her face, and she resembled a frail lotus tossing in wind and rain. “What… what do you intend to do?!”
Zhu Yuanzhang said, “I’m hard.”
Tao Chuqing froze, then flushed scarlet and snapped in shame and fury, “Shameless! You despicable wretch!”
“My fist is hard!” Zhu Yuanzhang said.
Tao Chuqing: “…”
The next instant, Zhu Yuanzhang reached out and seized her neck. “Your father is an imperial merchant. He botched his assignment, missed the deadline for delivering tribute goods, and went bankrupt when his funds failed to turn over. Now he owes me an enormous sum!”
Tao Chuqing had been a pampered young lady at home. When had she ever suffered such indignity?
His hand encircled her slender neck until she could not breathe. Following what had worked before, she repeatedly struck the back of his hand and forced out, “Let… cough… let me go…”
Zhu Yuanzhang released her. Tao Chuqing had only just relaxed when his expression changed. His hand suddenly tightened again, shaking her violently up and down as his face twisted ferociously. “But your father owes me six hundred twenty-three thousand, seven hundred fifty-three taels, seven fen, six li, and three hao. Not one copper may be missing! Otherwise, I will flay all nine generations of your clan! Every last one! Do you hear me?!!!”