Chapter 11: Eighteen Sons (Part 2)

Wang Dehua's expression changed drastically, finally becoming... perfectly calm, yes, perfectly calm.

The several horses beside him were exceptionally magnificent, naturally selected, and with the eunuchs of the Imperial Stables training them daily to run steadily, these horses were very gentle.

The Fifth Imperial Prince was still a child; seeing these tall, large horses, he felt fear in his heart and dared not approach. This instantly worried Tian Fei, fearing she might provoke Chongzhen's displeasure.

However, Empress Zhou, who followed closely behind, spoke up: "Riding horses is too dangerous. Since Fifth Brother is afraid, Your Majesty, perhaps we should just cancel it."

"Do not fear. With Father Emperor here, how could he be allowed to get hurt?"

Chongzhen smiled, picked up the Fifth Imperial Prince, stepped onto a golden nanmu horse stool, and leaped onto the horse.

In Chongzhen's embrace, the Fifth Imperial Prince stopped fussing; his face remained tense, and his hands could not help but grab the reins.

Chongzhen took the jade whip from Wang Dehua's hand and rode along the carriage road by the moat. He started with a slow, leisurely pace; only when the Fifth Imperial Prince was no longer afraid did he strike with the whip, causing the steed beneath him, named "Taiping Yu," to gallop steadily.

Tian Fei had also wanted to ride and show off, but seeing Empress Zhou's cold expression, she still did not dare to ask for permission.

At this moment, she felt aggrieved. Recently, she had heard rumors that her father, Tian Hongyu, had faced numerous impeachments, which made her tremble with fear. She herself was in the palace but not the Empress, yet she had such a troublesome father causing her trouble!

After mentally scolding her father, she secretly hated those ministers of the state. Day after day, they did not think of helping His Majesty restore the Great Ming soon; instead, their eyes were fixed on them, this group of imperial relatives with not a shred of real power, truly making one feel vexed.

Empress Zhou, naturally unaware of Tian Fei's thoughts, held Princess Zhaoren's hand and, leading the various concubines, personal maids, and several junior consorts, stood silently on this side waiting.

Their gazes all followed tightly the single rider galloping on the carriage road until the Fifth Imperial Prince had had his fill of fun, at which point Chongzhen returned on horseback.

"Your Majesty's horsemanship is superb; truly, you are heroic and divinely gifted!"

Wang Dehua came forward to hold the bridle, unable to stop praising. After dismounting, he pointed to a black steed and said: "Your Majesty, this is a tribute horse newly arrived. Your Majesty has yet to give it a name?"

"Oh?" Chongzhen set the Fifth Imperial Prince down.

His favorite steeds in daily life already had names, such as the "Taiping Yu" he had just ridden; besides that, there were Yulong Mei and Xuan Tai Jun.

"Then let it be called Jiliang Cheng."

Chongzhen thought to himself: The bandits are almost extinguished. If the weather remains favorable in the future, would that not be an auspicious time for restoring the nation's fortune?

Next, Chongzhen and Empress Zhou accompanied the Fifth Imperial Prince in playing with a slingshot for a while, then they set off for Ying Tai.

After finishing the meal, Empress Zhou said to Chongzhen: "Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, you have risen early and slept late, always busy with state affairs. It is rare to see you happy today."

Chongzhen also sighed and, holding Empress Zhou's hand, said: "These past years, I have made you suffer!"

"Your concubine has not suffered..."

Empress Zhou said: "It is just that many affairs in the harem have been neglected. Many maids are already of an advanced age but have not yet been released to be replaced... Moreover, Your Majesty's offspring are still rather few; the Nine Concubines should also be replenished."

In the late Ming Dynasty, the selection of palace maids and female officials had become mixed together.

The standards for selecting female officials were much the same as for palace maids; they were still chosen from virtuous families in the common folk, mostly young women around sixteen years old. After entering the palace, they all had to study, and then official positions were assigned based on individual talent.

In previous years, the Ministry of Rites had submitted a memorial proposing the selection of virtuous women to fill the Nine Concubines.

But at that time, Chongzhen was overwhelmed with troubles; how could he have the mood for such things?

At this moment, Chongzhen did not think much of it and simply agreed: "Very well, you handle it as you see fit!"

Tian Fei, standing aside, remained silent, yet her mind was active: "Why not have my father quickly find some women with both excellent voice and talent? If they can be appointed as Nine Concubines, they can support each other, thereby securing favor!"

Moreover, in the land of Yangzhou, beauties are as numerous as clouds. A few days ago, rumors circulated about a famous opera singer named Chen Yuanyuan in the pear garden, whose voice and talent were unparalleled under heaven... Hmm, let it be decided thus... My son is still young; relying on beauty to serve, with no one in the harem to support him, life is like sitting on a radish..."

After the outing ended, Chongzhen was in high spirits. Upon returning to the palace, he was told that Yang Sichang urgently requested an audience and had already waited for a long time, so he went straight to Wenhua Hall.

On the imperial carriage, a bored Chongzhen inexplicably recalled some folk rumors reported by the Jinyi Wei: It was Liu Bowen's "Bread Song": "Ten thousand sons, ten thousand grandsons, layer upon layer; on the Ancestral Mountain, Zhen Yi walks; Generals and ministers dare not look up to the Heavenly Gate; Eighteen children are born on the sandbar."

And in the thirty-seventh image of the "***", under Gengzi Wind and Thunder Yi, a pig is drawn on a mountain, with a beautiful woman riding on top, and eighteen children below the mountain, one of whom shoots the beautiful woman with an arrow. This implies: Pig and Zhu are homophones; a beauty's face is also the color of vermilion; the Zhu family will perish. Eighteen sons form the character "Li," meaning a man surnamed Li will destroy the Zhu family's realm.

Below the image was written a four-line, three-character poem prophecy:

The beauty dies,

Great chaos ends.

Eighteen sons,

Rule the divine instrument.

After the prophecy, there were four lines of a seven-character eulogy poem:

Dragon fights tiger, filling the world,

Who is the hero unfolding the hegemony?

Eighteen children sit upon Dui,

The nine provinces in chaos, Li succeeds Zhu.

Chongzhen's first reaction upon receiving the report was naturally to know that this was a deliberate attempt by someone to confuse the people, no different from "The Inspector becomes the Son of Heaven" or "Do not say the stone man has only one eye; it stirs the Yellow River and the world rebels."

During the Yongle era, Zhu Yuanzhang's eighteenth son, Zhu Gui, was superstitious about the phrase "Eighteen sons rule the divine instrument" and plotted a rebellion.

During the Chenghua era, there was a man named Li Zilong who was extremely superstitious about the three characters "Li succeeds Zhu," believing he was personally appointed by "Heaven's Mandate" and destined to seize the Zhu family's realm. He colluded with a eunuch, planning to enter the palace to assassinate the Emperor and proclaim his own ascension.

Finally, the conspiracy was exposed, and this foolish fellow and his entire gang were executed.

Since then, any copy of the "***" containing this image prophecy has been called a demonic book. Possessing one is considered high treason; once reported, the entire family is beheaded.

However, recently, natural disasters have increased, especially in the Central Plains where the situation is unstable, and these rumors have spread like madness.

"The nine provinces in chaos, Li succeeds Zhu."

Chongzhen could not help but want to look at the stars in the north, but it was not yet dark, and nothing could be seen. Suddenly, his heart grew heavy, and he began to worry about why Yang Sichang had requested an audience. He thought to himself: "The bandit leader Li Zicheng, after fleeing to Mount Shangluo, has been heard from no more. Could he be causing trouble again? Yes, yes, it must be him; he is not dead at all! These court officials are truly detestable, each claiming he was long ago trapped and died in the deep mountains, or perished by tigers and leopards, or died of plague. But if he were truly dead, how could this demonic rumor stir up trouble?"

He gazed northward, seeing no stars; his gaze had nowhere to rest, so he inadvertently looked at the four ancient cypress trees not far from Hongde Hall. Cypress and hundred are homophones; cypress trees in the courtyard imply longevity. With lifespans extremely long, pine and cypress are indispensable in royal gardens.

Among those four ancient cypresses, one trunk was the thickest, requiring two eunuchs to embrace it.

During the Jiajing era, it had been struck by lightning, and half the tree died from the middle. Yet, by the eleventh year of Chongzhen, that half of the withered branches began to revive, and now its leaves were greener and thicker than any others.

Coincidentally, at that time, Li Zicheng had "defeated and died," Zhang Xianzhong had submitted, and disasters were not as frequent as before. This auspicious sign of "a withered tree meeting spring" once strengthened his conviction that the Great Ming would be restored under his hand.

"These ancient trees in the north must be well cared for... North..." Chongzhen's expression suddenly changed drastically...

"Li Zicheng was born in Mizhi. Mizhi is in the north. And regardless of whether that 'sit' character refers to ruling the Jiangshan or refers to a birthplace, Mizhi is to the west of the capital and cannot be called the 'Dui direction'."

Then "Eighteen children sit upon Dui" makes no sense either. Alas, alas, could "The nine provinces in chaos, Li succeeds Zhu" refer to someone else, not Li Zicheng?

Eighteen sons, eighteen sons... Then among these bandits and local bandits, who else surnamed Li is there?"