Chapter 1: Assassinating the King and Killing the Sovereign

"Fire! Fire! Quickly, put out the fire! Catch the assassin, catch the assassin! The one in the black robe is the assassin!"

The clamor outside the hall woke a groggy Zhu Yijun. He opened his eyes blankly, seeing a large bed with a three-sided screen-style frame. The sandalwood was dark with a purplish hue, appearing ancient and profound, emitting an elegant luster. Under the candlelight, one could discern several five-clawed golden dragons carved into it.

"Hiss, it hurts." Zhu Yijun rubbed his forehead; it seemed he had bumped it. His rubbing motion paused, and he stared blankly at his own tender hands, somewhat incredulous. These were entirely the hands of a child.

He had drunk heavily yesterday; could it be that it had the effect of returning to one's youth?

He slowly stood up and surveyed his surroundings. Above him were carved beams and painted rafters; beneath his feet were golden bricks covering the floor. Behind the five-clawed golden dragon screen was a long desk. On either side of the desk were two crane-shaped palace lamps. Under the flickering lamplight, smoke curled, and the chill of the late spring frost blew past the tip of his nose, carrying the scent of sandalwood.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this subject is late in coming to save the sovereign! Is Your Majesty unhurt?" A clean-shaven man, dressed in bright red eunuch robes, ran hurriedly into the hall.

Hearing the commotion, this eunuch had rushed to the Qianqing Palace at top speed. He was panting for breath, and in the late spring chill, two dragons of steam were spraying from his nose.

As the eunuch crossed the threshold, he seemed to have tripped in his haste. He fell heavily, rolled once on the ground, and then, with great fluidity, knelt. Crawling forward, he said with heart-wrenching grief, "Your Majesty, this subject deserves to die! This subject came too late, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Yijun, almost by instinct, spoke, "Da Ban is here?"

He frowned and took a sharp breath of cold air.

His forehead began to throb with a dull pain again, his skull felt swollen, and waves of dizziness surged. Countless images filled his vision, flashing by rapidly.

"Is Your Majesty alright?" The eunuch kneeling on the ground hurriedly stepped forward, wanting to support Zhu Yijun's swaying body.

Zhu Yijun, however, reached out and pushed the eunuch's hand away. Supporting himself on the armrest of the armchair, he sat down slowly and said, "I am fine, just bumped myself."

Seeing this, the eunuch trembled all over. With a shrill, duck-like voice, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Imperial physicians! Quickly, summon the imperial physicians! His Majesty has been injured by an assassin! Quickly, report this to the Empress Dowager!"

"How is my son?" A noblewoman walked in from outside the door, asking urgently. Behind the noblewoman followed two rows of palace maids, standing silently, holding palace lamps, standing perfectly still without daring to raise their heads.

The eunuch immediately knelt again, his face full of sorrow, and said, "Reporting to the Cisheng Empress Dowager, the imperial physicians have already been summoned. When this subject ran over, I did not see the thief."

"Empress Dowager, this group of rebellious subjects is too arrogant!"

"How is my son?" The noblewoman ignored the eunuch's greeting entirely, hurried to Zhu Yijun's side, extended a trembling hand to support the ten-year-old child's hand, and slowly uncovered the wound.

Fortunately, there was only a barely visible red mark.

The massive stream of information in Zhu Yijun's mind finally stopped pouring in. The images before his eyes stopped flickering, and he understood the situation.

He had transmigrated.

He had transmigrated to become the supreme Emperor of the Great Ming, only ten years old. He had transmigrated to the nineteenth day of the first lunar month of the first year of Wanli.

The late Emperor Longqing had ascended to the heavens last year in the sixth month, leaving behind three ministers to assist the state: Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, and Gao Yi. By this time, Gao Yi had already passed away, and Gao Gong had been expelled from the Grand Secretariat. Of the three ministers, two were gone, leaving only Zhang Juzheng.

And the eunuch before him, with thin lips, a high and segmented nose bridge, a narrow forehead, and a somewhat sinister look, was the young Emperor's Da Ban, the old ancestor of the palace, and the Director of the Ceremonial Secretariat, Feng Bao.

And the noblewoman with a look of concern was the young Emperor's biological mother, the Cisheng Empress Dowager Li.

At this time, Zhang Juzheng, Feng Bao, and Empress Dowager Li

had already formed an unbreakable political alliance, overseeing all state affairs.

The ten-year-old young Emperor was like walking on thin ice. The ruler was young and the state was in doubt; he could not yet personally govern. All matters, large and small, in the court had nothing to do with him, the Emperor.

His situation was extremely difficult. Empress Dowager Li's discipline was extremely strict; sleeping late or rising late would invite reprimands. If his conduct was slightly improper, Empress Dowager Li would have Zhang Juzheng offer blunt remonstrance, write a self-reproach edict, and make the young Emperor kneel before the late Emperor's spirit tablet, reciting it several times before she would be satisfied.

It was common for the Emperor not to write his own self-reproach edicts.

And the eunuchs in the palace, relying on Empress Dowager Li's majesty, excessively held and restrained the young Emperor.

At this moment, Zhu Yijun held his head and looked at the extremely submissive Feng Bao, his eyes narrowing slightly. This was a dog of a slave who was arrogant before and humble after.

Feng Bao shouldn't have been a eunuch; he should have been a movie star.

In front of Empress Dowager Li, this fellow was respectful and fawning to the extreme, but in the young Emperor's memories, everywhere was filled with hatred and fear for this Da Ban, Feng Bao.

Excessive holding and restraint referred precisely to this Da Ban Feng. He would scare the young Emperor with Empress Dowager Li all day long, and at every turn, he would falsely accuse him, painting the young Emperor as a mischievous brat with poor conduct, causing Empress Dowager Li great worry.

Wishing for one's son to become a dragon is the expectation of every mother in the world, and Empress Dowager Li was no exception. Especially since the late Emperor Longqing had passed away, leaving the vast world in the hands of a ten-year-old child, and Empress Dowager Li was the person primarily responsible for the young Emperor's education, Zhu Yijun could understand Empress Dowager Li being a bit strict.

But what did this Da Ban Feng mean by using his power to bully and restrain the young Emperor, and setting traps for him?

Once, this Da Ban Feng had sent a palace maid to sneak into the young Emperor's bed in the middle of the night. The next day, when the young Emperor woke up, he sensed something was wrong. Sure enough, Empress Dowager Li, who lived in the same Qianqing Palace, immediately learned of the matter and had the palace maid beaten. The young Emperor was dragged before the late Emperor's spirit tablet; the Empress Dowager knelt on the ground crying, and the young Emperor also knelt on the ground crying.

In the short ten years of memory, this type of incident had happened at least three times.

Why did Feng Bao want to bully a ten-year-old child and set traps for him?

Actually, it was very simple. If the young Emperor was held in his palm, and Empress Dowager Li could be fooled and blinded by him, who in the palace would dare to defy him, Da Ban Feng?

Zhu Yijun could even understand the motivation for this dog of a slave doing this.

The young Emperor Wanli could endure it, but Zhu Yijun absolutely could not.

Empress Dowager Li kept pacing back and forth anxiously. Her steps were somewhat hurried. Such a major event had occurred in the palace, and for a moment, she had lost her composure. The most critical thing was, her son had escaped this time, but could he escape the next?

And this imperial palace, with its high walls and deep courtyards, was guarded everywhere by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. How did that thief break into the Qianqing Palace and even startle the imperial carriage!

All these things made Empress Dowager Li somewhat at a loss. She was only a twenty-seven-year-old woman, not even thirty years old.

Her husband had left early, leaving such a large Great Ming to her ten-year-old son. The late Emperor Longqing had ascended to the heavens six months ago. During this time, Empress Dowager Li had used all her strength to maintain the safety of the mother and son, but such a disaster had still occurred.

In the future, where would they go?

The fire outside the hall had been completely extinguished, and the imperial physicians had been invited into the palace to take his pulse.

As soon as the imperial physician withdrew his hand, Empress Dowager Li asked impatiently, "Imperial Physician Chen, how is my son?"

The imperial physician hurriedly bowed his head and said, "His Majesty's pulse is four to five beats per breath, neither floating nor sinking, neither fast nor slow, neither strong nor weak, neither large nor small. The rhythm is steady, calm, and gentle. There is no major issue. He bumped his forehead; in... a few days, he will recover completely."

The imperial physician's expression hesitated slightly, but in the end, he stopped speaking. The pulse was indeed steady, His Majesty was in good health, and the wound on the forehead would have healed even if looked at later.

But the problem was, a ten-year-old child, suddenly encountering such a drastic change, with an assassin breaking into the heavily guarded imperial palace to assassinate him in his sleeping quarters—as the young Emperor who had been assassinated, having such a steady pulse was the biggest problem.

But could the imperial physician say this? Naturally, he could not.

He was just an imperial physician; the decoctions of the Imperial Hospital could not even guarantee the Emperor's health.

"Thank you, Imperial Physician." Empress Dowager Li signaled for a palace maid to take out an ingot of silver to reward the imperial physician. Looking at the swelling on her child's forehead, grief welled up from within. She pulled Zhu Yijun to her side, her tone carrying a hint of sobbing, and whispered, "My poor son, let mother see the wound."

Zhu Yijun was held in the Empress Dowager's arms and whispered, "Mother, child was sleeping soundly when suddenly I smelled a foul odor. As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw a burly man in a black robe standing before the bed, holding a dagger, stabbing down at child."

"Child jumped up to dodge, knocked over the table and chairs, and that's how I bumped my head. The palace maids and little yellow-gate eunuchs outside the hall heard the commotion and rushed in. Before child fainted, I only saw the assassin climb out of the window frame and escape. When I woke up, Da Ban Feng had arrived."

"Mother, please do not blame child."

Empress Dowager Li was immersed in grief. Hearing Zhu Yijun speak this way, she stopped sobbing and asked suspiciously, "Where does this come from? Why would mother blame my son?"

Zhu Yijun looked at the table and chairs knocked over on the ground, which no one had cleaned up, and said with a hint of terror, "Child knocked over the palace table and chairs, and I ask mother not to blame child for being unceremonious."

Knocking over tables and chairs would also face punishment; this was no joke.

Empress Dowager Li's requirements for the young Emperor's conduct were strict to the extreme. Whatever he did had to meet the standards of an Emperor. Even when walking, he could not let the jade hooks, jade pendants, jade hangings, and tooth ornaments on his body collide. He had to walk steadily and look imposing.

Such ungraceful actions were usually regarded as unceremonious.

Zhu Yijun was using his greatest advantage: he was only ten years old; he could pretend to be pitiful.

Who isn't a movie star?

"My son!" Hearing this, Empress Dowager Li was even more grief-stricken. Tears streamed down her face. She hugged Zhu Yijun tightly, her tears dripping onto the young Emperor's body.

Empress Dowager Li's crying gradually faded, only occasionally twitching. Her grief had reached its peak, and she could no longer make a sound, only sobbing continuously, crying in a muffled way, until she was unable to speak.

The late Emperor had passed away early, leaving behind an orphan and a widow. Gao Gong in the Grand Secretariat had said, "How can a ten-year-old crown prince govern the world?" It seemed he wanted to enthrone a feudal prince. The court was filled with factions attacking each other, fighting to the death. Now, her child had even been assassinated right under her nose as Empress Dowager!

This biological mother, the Great Ming Cisheng Empress Dowager, lived in the Qianqing Palace to look after her child because the Emperor was young, yet an assassin had still broken into the Qianqing Palace.

These ministers had received great favor from the state, yet they did not think of exhausting their loyalty to serve their master, only knowing how to fawn over powerful ministers and despise their master. Now, they had even handed over the knife!

Empress Dowager Li hugged Zhu Yijun's head and said forcefully, "My son, do not be afraid, do not be afraid. Mother promises you, this kind of thing will absolutely not happen again! If it happens again, mother will fight them to the death!"

"Do not be afraid, do not be afraid."

The atmosphere had reached this point. The movie star Zhu Yijun squeezed out a few tears and comforted her, "Child is the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming. Child is not afraid, and there is no need for mother to fight to the death. When child grows up, child will fight them to the death. Mother, do not cry. If mother cries again, child will also cry."

"My son." Empress Dowager Li felt even more grief-stricken upon hearing this.

"Da Ban Feng, when I was assassinated, where were you?" Zhu Yijun asked suddenly while Empress Dowager Li was immersed in grief.

Empress Dowager Li suddenly raised her head, her eyes red, staring straight at Feng Bao, and said sternly, "Eunuch Feng! When His Majesty was attacked, where were you!"

"Dang" refers to the gold ornament on a eunuch's hat, meaning a great eunuch.

An unbreakable, impregnable political alliance?

Based on Zhu Yijun's experience of living two lives, this was a fallacy.

The two words "political alliance" and "unbreakable" should not be put together in the first place. ===== CHAPTER 2 =====