Chapter 164: The Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, Reborn — Part II (Seventh Update, Begging for Monthly Tickets)

The so-called Imperial Ancestral Temple was, of course, not the one outside the Meridian Gate of the imperial city in Beijing — that temple had already been burned down by Li Zicheng's men!

However, when Zhu Cilang fled Beijing, he had still ordered that all the ancestral tablets inside the temple be packed up and brought along. After arriving at Haisha Island, he found a small separate courtyard outside the traveling palace and set up a temporary Imperial Ancestral Temple there. He also appointed Li Jizhou, formerly the Bureau Director of the Eastern Palace Dispensary, as the seal-holding eunuch of the Palace of Divine Supervision, specifically responsible for guarding the ancestral tablets.

By the time Zhu Cilang left the traveling palace and arrived outside the gate of the temporary Imperial Ancestral Temple, Li Jizhou was already properly dressed and waiting there on his knees with two junior eunuchs to welcome him.

Seeing Li Jizhou, Zhu Cilang strode up to him, bent down, and asked in a low voice, "Is what I told you to prepare ready?"

Li Jizhou said, "Ready, ready, all done just as the Crown Prince instructed!"

"Good!"

Zhu Cilang straightened up and strode into the temporary Imperial Ancestral Temple, with Wu Sanmei following him in.

Inside the temple, lamps blazed brightly, and the ancestral tablets were arranged in neat rows on the offering table. Once inside, Zhu Cilang did not kneel, but stood there with his arms crossed in a grand, unapologetic manner.

Wu Sanmei, beside him, obediently knelt down, and only then noticed that Zhu Cilang was standing. She whispered a reminder: "Thousand Years, are you not going to kneel?"

"Kneel?" Zhu Cilang snorted. "Kneel for what? Starting from Old Four Zhu, there hasn't been a single one worth a damn!"

Huh?

What kind of talk was that?

Wu Sanmei was stunned! Old Four Zhu must be the Chengzu Emperor of Culture, right? That was an ancestor! Who spoke of their ancestors like that?

Zhu Cilang's tone suddenly turned incomparably majestic, and in a scolding voice he said: "The frontier princes were all penned up and raised like pigs! Replacing the nine frontier princes with the Nine Border Garrisons — could that ever substitute for them? If the Prince of Liao and the Prince of Ning were still there, could the Tartars have risen? And what's this 'the Son of Heaven guards the national gate' — nonsense! Clearly it was the nine-border national gate guarding the Son of Heaven!"

What was going on? Wu Sanmei stared blankly at Zhu Cilang, and a rumor she had heard somewhere surfaced in her mind — the Crown Prince has been possessed by the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor!

Zhu Cilang had fallen silent now, just standing there with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the rows of tablets. No matter how one looked at it, something was off.

Wu Sanmei, that sweet simple girl, stopped bowing to the ancestors too. She simply turned around and knelt to Zhu Cilang instead, staring dumbly at her man, her heart in a flutter of anxiety.

No one knew how much time passed, but outside the temple it grew more and more clamorous. It seemed many soldiers of the Hard-Working New Army who had received orders had already gathered outside the temple.

Zhu Cilang, standing there like an iron tower, suddenly stepped forward, walked to the tablet of the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, in the center of the offering table, reached out, and from behind the tablet pulled out a folded length of cloth. Then he turned around and said to the sweet simple Wu Sanmei: "Sanmei, stand up and take this."

What was this?

Wu Sanmei quickly pushed herself up from the floor with her hands. Because she had been kneeling for quite a while, her legs ached, but she paid it no mind and limped over to take the cloth.

"Thousand Years, what is this?" Wu Sanmei asked.

"This is Our battle banner," Zhu Cilang said. "Bestowed by the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor! Sanmei, unfurl the battle banner!"

"Oh." Wu Sanmei quickly unfurled the banner and held it up. Looking closely, she saw it was a red flag with seven black characters on it: The Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, Reborn!

Zhu Cilang then turned his head to look out the window. The sky seemed to be brightening a little, and the clamor outside the temple had grown louder. He turned back and looked at Wu Sanmei: "Sanmei, turn the banner around so the side with the writing faces outward, then raise it high above your head."

Wu Sanmei hurriedly did as Zhu Cilang instructed, raising the banner bearing the words "The Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, Reborn" high above her head.

"Good!" Zhu Cilang said. "Follow Us out, and be careful as you walk — don't fall."

"This humble consort understands."

Zhu Cilang turned and strode out, first leaving the room, then the courtyard. Outside, it was already a sea of people, mostly soldiers of the Hard-Working New Army in red battle robes, along with some court officials and nobles drawn by the commotion.

The Chongzhen Emperor had actually come too, but he was not wearing imperial robes; instead, he had changed into the plain cloth clothes of a commoner. Beside him were Empress Zhou, Selected Lady Wei, Selected Lady Wu, and Cao Huachun, all in disguise, so no one had noticed him.

"The Thousand Years has come out!"

"The Thousand Years has come out!"

"Greetings to the Thousand Years!"

Some people had already spotted Zhu Cilang and were shouting as they performed obeisance to him.

A table and a chair had already been moved out by Li Jizhou and several junior eunuchs and placed outside the temple gate. Zhu Cilang had Wu Sanmei climb onto the table, where she held the "The Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, Reborn" banner high. Zhu Cilang himself stood on the chair and called out loudly to the soldiers below: "Rise! At ease!"

Several loud-voiced proclamation officers immediately relayed his words. The kneeling people rose one after another and looked up at Zhu Cilang and the banner behind him.

At that moment the sky was still very dark, and those standing farther away could not make out the characters on the banner at all. Only those standing right in front of Zhu Cilang could see clearly, and they were all taken aback.

Zhu Cilang spoke again, loudly: "The Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, has just manifested his spirit and bestowed a battle banner upon Us! It is this very banner of 'The Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, Reborn'! Holding this battle banner high, We shall be invincible in battle!

Gentlemen, follow Us to kill the Tartars!"

The proclamation officers repeated Zhu Cilang's words word for word, loudly, over and over, so that the people outside the temple all heard the gist of it.

Everyone knew that the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, had manifested his spirit and given Zhu Cilang a battle banner, on which were written the seven characters "The Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, Reborn."

Was this really true?

The people gathered outside the temporary Imperial Ancestral Temple all began to ponder. The Crown Prince really was somewhat miraculous! Originally he was just a child raised deep in the palace, and no one had heard he was particularly formidable. Yet from March until now, how many great things had he accomplished?

With ability like this, a dream from the Great Ancestor alone surely wasn't enough! It must be that the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, had possessed him. That was why there was this "The Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, Reborn" banner!

Of course, not everyone was fooled by Zhu Cilang. The Chongzhen Emperor, for once showing rare sagacity, had already seen through Zhu Cilang's act of putting on a divine show. But before he could step forward and expose Zhu Cilang's true face, someone had already taken the lead in cheering.

"The Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, Reborn! The Great Ming is invincible under heaven! Long live the Great Ming!"

Then more and more people joined in the cheering.

"Long live the Great Ming! Long live the Great Ming! Kill the Tartars!"

Outside the temple, everything was boiling over, everyone cheering.

Only the Chongzhen Emperor was trembling with rage, but he could no longer expose Zhu Cilang, because no matter what he said, no one would hear him now.

Outside the temple, only the sound of cheering remained!

Seeing the boiling excitement before him, Zhu Cilang was finally satisfied. He nodded and loudly ordered: "Bring the horse! We shall personally lead the Hard-Working heroes to kill the Tartars!

Also, pass the order to all generals to report to the ferry dock for orders!"

"Yes!"

"Reporting to the Prince and the Janggin: the pontoon bridge has been repaired, and the army can cross the river at any time!"

A company commander of the Han Bordered Yellow Banner knelt on one knee before the grim-faced Geng Zhongming and Duolong, the foremost warrior of the Manchus, reporting on the repair of the pontoon bridge — because Yu Daren had fled with his troops, Duolong had not ordered the bridge destroyed, but instead had it repaired. The soldiers of the Han Bordered Yellow Banner had worked for two or three watches, and only when the sky was just beginning to brighten did they finish repairing the bridge.

Though the bridge was repaired, the element of surprise no longer existed. That group of crafty Ming soldiers guarding the bridge must have already reported the arrival of the Great Qing's heavenly troops to the Chongzhen Emperor and Zhu Cilang.

And with the time lost repairing the bridge, the Chongzhen Emperor and Zhu Cilang must have long since boarded ships and put out to sea!

However formidable the Great Qing's heavenly troops were, that was on land! Once out at sea, they would be no match for the Ming navy and its sea bandits.

The moment he thought that Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang must have already fled, and that he had not only come up empty-handed but had also lost more than two hundred Han Bordered Yellow Banner troops, the foremost warrior of the Manchus could not contain his fury. His face livid, he gave the order: "Cross the river! Strike Dagukou. Once the city falls, spare neither old nor young — kill them all!"

"Kill!"

The Manchu warriors gathered around Duolong and the officers of the Plain Yellow Banner's Han troops all answered in a roar. Slaughtering a city to vent fury or to strike terror was nothing unusual in Manchu campaigns—these men had long grown accustomed to it.

(End of Chapter)