Chapter 192: The Chongzhen Emperor's Happy Life (Please Subscribe!)

The Chongzhen Emperor's temporary palace was far grander than the one at Dagu. It not only occupied the relatively spacious office of the Governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, but also had many more palace maids in attendance. When Ma Shiying, Lu Zhenfei, and Lu Jiude entered the temporary palace, they saw many palace maids bustling back and forth. From their looks, they were all quite young, tall and fair-skinned, and more or less carefree in manner. Clearly they had not been brought from Beijing, but had been selected here in Shandong.

Lu Jiude had come from the palace and knew the Chongzhen Emperor's sage-ruler ways very well. In the Beijing court, it was rare to see so many young women. How could this temporary residence in Dengzhou have so many young girls? They must be the Crown Prince's women, surely? At that thought, he made inquiries of the eunuch leading the way.

"Superintendent Lu, these palace maids were all selected on His Majesty's orders!" The eunuch lowered his voice. "His Majesty is not the same as before. Every day he ignores state affairs and just amuses himself with his consorts and palace maids. He couldn't be happier."

What?

Ignoring state affairs and indulging in women — wasn't that the way of a debauched ruler? No, His Majesty could never become a debauched ruler. He must be trying to deceive the Crown Prince, to make the Crown Prince lower his guard.

His Majesty is truly wise! The Crown Prince has surely fallen for it! It seems the Great Ming still has hope.

Lu Jiude thought for a moment, then quickened his pace and hurried toward the rear garden of the temporary palace. Before he even arrived, he could already hear decadent music drifting out.

The eunuch leading Lu Jiude and the others went in to announce them, while Lu Jiude peered inside from beyond a moon gate. He saw the Chongzhen Emperor, already well on his way to debauchery, reclining on his side upon a soft couch, with two beauties beside and behind him pounding his legs and kneading his shoulders. Another girl knelt before him, holding up a tray of fruit. The Chongzhen Emperor, meanwhile, was enjoying the song and dance while tasting some unknown fruit.

And the song and dance this emperor was enjoying seemed far too crude in Lu Jiude's eyes, utterly devoid of artistry — just a few scantily clad young women twisting their bodies to off-key tunes. What was there to see? How could His Majesty watch with such relish?

"Your Majesty, Ma Shiying, Governor-General of Fengyang; Lu Zhenfei, Governor-General of the Grain Transport; and Lu Jiude, Garrison Eunuch of Fengyang, request an audience."

The eunuch's announcement interrupted Chongzhen, who was in the midst of cultivating his sentiments — the Chongzhen Emperor was appreciating the art of the human body, a subtlety Lu Jiude could not fathom!

He had been emperor for so many years, and only now did he realize how many perks an emperor actually had. Why had he never known to enjoy them properly before?

Of course, he was not truly indulging in women now; it was all to lull that unfilial son Zhu Cilang into complacency — this emperor now indulges in women and has no interest in politics, so there is no need to harm him.

Besides lulling Zhu Cilang, the Chongzhen Emperor had selected so many Shandong girls for the palace precisely in order to give Zhu Cilang a few more younger brothers.

Otherwise, with Zhu Cilang as the "only son," his position as foundation of the state would be utterly secure, impossible to depose. If he were deposed, and something happened to the Chongzhen Emperor, the throne would pass to the Prince of Fu! With so many Donglin grandees in and out of court, who would agree to that?

The musicians and dancers withdrew one after another, and the Chongzhen Emperor's entertainment came to a temporary halt. He sat upright upon the soft couch with a solemn expression.

Ma Shiying, Lu Zhenfei, and Lu Jiude were then led before Chongzhen by the palace attendants, and they kowtowed in greeting.

The Chongzhen Emperor looked at the three of them expressionlessly, neither asking questions nor dismissing them, just staring fixedly. The scene was rather awkward.

Ma Shiying and Lu Zhenfei were both virtuous old ministers who had risen to the rank of frontier governors. Their room for advancement was limited; at best they might become Grand Secretaries, but one careless slip could mean utter ruin. So at a time like this, they naturally chose to protect themselves.

If the Emperor does not move, I do not move.

Lu Jiude's thoughts, however, differed from those of Ma Shiying and Lu Zhenfei. He was one of the few good eunuchs utterly loyal to the Great Ming and to Chongzhen. Since the ninth year of Chongzhen he had served continuously at the front as army supervisor, with considerable merit, and his skill in military command far surpassed that of Wang Cheng'en.

If, in history, Chongzhen had recalled him to Beijing in time, perhaps he could have organized a better resistance, and might even have rescued Chongzhen at the last moment.

But Lu Jiude had seen, in the Grand Marshal's Office for Army Supervision, how the two treacherous ministers Ma Shiying and Lu Zhenfei had thrown in their lot with Zhu Cilang. So at this moment he dared not reveal his own loyalty, and could only play the wooden dummy like Ma Shiying and Lu Zhenfei.

Thus the sovereign and his three subjects sat staring at one another, none uttering a word.

The Chongzhen Emperor was not actually in a daze; he was discerning the loyal from the treacherous.

He first turned his gaze to Lu Jiude — he was an unreliable eunuch!

Almost all the eunuchs who had come out from Beijing were the Crown Prince's men. Only Cao Huachun was slightly better, yet he too was a fence-sitting scoundrel — the Chongzhen Emperor had already noticed that Cao Huachun was not so loyal anymore! Though he had not yet detected that Cao Huachun was in fact one of Zhu Cilang's partisans, merely ordered to keep this emperor company in his amusements.

Since most eunuchs were unreliable, Lu Jiude must also be unreliable!

The Chongzhen Emperor then turned his gaze to Lu Zhenfei. Lu Zhenfei was Governor-General of the Grain Transport and concurrently Governor of Huai'an, and that Shen Tingyang was his subordinate, now a trusted confidant of the Crown Prince!

It seemed this Lu Zhenfei was also unreliable!

The Chongzhen Emperor's gaze finally settled on Ma Shiying. After much deliberation, this Governor-General of Fengyang seemed the more dependable one. If he could join forces with Shi Kefa, and together mobilize the generals of Yanzhou and the officials of the Southern Metropolitan Region to petition the Crown Prince to return power to the Emperor, perhaps We might still recover some real authority — at least We would not become the Retired Emperor upon reaching Nanjing.

Having discerned the loyal from the treacherous, the Chongzhen Emperor did not keep Ma Shiying behind alone — the temporary palace was now full of Zhu Cilang's eyes and ears!

However, the Chongzhen Emperor did have a few trusted confidants. The two newly taken palace attendants, Wei Qinghui and Wu Wanrong, were absolutely reliable.

And the palace guard here at the Dengzhou temporary residence was not very strict, so these two women still had a chance to slip out of the palace and deliver secret edicts to Ma Shiying!

The future of the Great Ming now rested on him and Shi Kefa!

"Yaocao, what is this..."

In the inn, Lu Zhenfei, having just finished washing and preparing for bed, sat on the bed, eyes wide, staring in astonishment at Ma Shiying, who had barged in.

He and Ma Shiying were both Governors-General! Even traveling incognito, they had quite a few attendants. Otherwise, with the roads in such chaos, if bandits killed them, who would be held responsible?

So when the two of them met, it was always arranged by their accompanying aides before they saw each other. Who ever slipped in like a thief, and at night no less, when a man was already in bed... what did he want?

Ma Shiying produced a handkerchief from somewhere and handed it over. Lu Zhenfei was dumbfounded. "Yaocao... you, you came in the middle of the night just to give this official a handkerchief?"

If it had been some other gift, that would be one thing. Although Lu Zhenfei was a good official, he was not an incorruptible one who never touched a single coin — otherwise how could he be so close to that profiteer Shen Tingyang? But a handkerchief or the like was not worth anything...

"What handkerchief!" Ma Shiying looked at Lu Zhenfei's strange expression. "This is a handkerchief edict!"

"An ed-edict?"

"Keep your voice down — the walls have ears!"

Lu Zhenfei hastily took the handkerchief and examined it by the dim candlelight. Sure enough, it was a handkerchief edict! On it was the Chongzhen Emperor's own handwriting.

He glanced at Ma Shiying, who was drenched in sweat, and thought: This official is so loyal, so why did His Majesty give the handkerchief edict to Ma Shiying? He is actually a bit treacherous! Your Majesty, you cannot tell the loyal from the treacherous! Fortunately the Crown Prince is covering for you, otherwise what would be done?

"What do we do?" Ma Shiying seemed at a loss. "His Majesty wants us to preserve our strength and await the chance to rally to the throne..."

What "us"?

That means you, Ma Shiying, are to await the chance to rally to the throne! Lu Zhenfei thought: It has nothing to do with me!

"Jianbai, look at this..."

Lu Zhenfei shook his head and returned the edict to Ma Shiying. "Thousand Years has nearly fifty thousand land troops alone, plus ten thousand sailors... and, and he has at least four million taels of silver on hand! How much does Grand Secretary Shi have?"

"Him?" Ma Shiying shook his head. "I doubt he even has four hundred thousand taels. But the ennobled families and meritorious officials in Nanjing have money — forty million taels at least!"

"Hmph!" Lu Zhenfei snorted. "They have money but won't part with it! Otherwise why would Grand Secretary Shi have delayed going north until Beijing fell? Wasn't it simply lack of funds?"

"Jianbai, do you mean we should still stand with Thousand Years?" Ma Shiying asked.

Lu Zhenfei sighed. "I know Grand Secretary Shi's temperament better than you do. Just watch — even when the Crown Prince's army reaches the walls of Yanzhou, he won't make a move. If we follow him, aren't we courting death? As for the ennobled families and meritorious officials in Nanjing — a herd of fat pigs! The Crown Prince is a tiger!"

"Right, right, Brother Jianbai is brilliant..."

(End of Chapter)