Chapter 332: Not Hanging Himself — Trying Drowning Instead? (Fourth Update)

This is bad. Someone in Nanjing is making trouble?

Those scholar-officials waiting in Nanjing to sit the jinshi examination have finally seen through the Crown Prince's true colors, and they're going to cause trouble on New Year's Eve?

The several generals present who had accompanied Zhu Cilang to inspect the new army camp at Xiaoling Guard all thought of the same thing at the same moment — the examination candidates making trouble. All things considered, they were the only ones in Nanjing likely to cause trouble. Perhaps these scholars had heard that the Crown Prince was soon going to levy harsh taxes, so they had stepped forward to struggle against him. But they certainly would not succeed — by doing this, they were simply delivering themselves up to have their homes confiscated and be banished!

"What's going on?" Zhu Cilang turned his gaze back to Huang Xiaobao and demanded sharply, "Is someone plotting rebellion?"

Even as he asked, he was thinking to himself: it would be best if all the plotters this time were great landlords — then he could confiscate more land!

Huang Xiaobao nodded, then shook his head again, leaving Zhu Cilang utterly baffled. Just as he was about to press further, the young eunuch finally got the words out in full.

"His Majesty — it's His Majesty who is unwell! This morning, while His Majesty was strolling with Consort Wei by the garden pond at the detached palace, he accidentally fell into the water."

Ah!

The Emperor fell into the water?! And in the rear garden of Xipu, no less — this is suspicious!

Who did it?

A crowd of gazes all turned at once toward the great filial son of the Ming, Zhu Cilang!

Zhu Cilang was a bit stunned himself. He had not sent anyone to murder the Chongzhen Emperor! Although he had wanted to be emperor for some time now, heaven and conscience bore witness — he was a filial son, and had never thought of killing his father to seize the throne. If he did such a thing, would he not have to worry every day thereafter about his own son rebelling? He would never set that kind of precedent!

And besides, that old madman Zuo Liangyu still had not been dealt with — who knew whether he might bring troops to cause trouble?

Zhu Cilang drew a breath and asked Huang Xiaobao, "How is His Majesty? Has he been pulled out?"

Huang Xiaobao shook his head. "He has not been pulled out."

Ah! Not pulled out? How is that possible? Did everyone just stand by and watch him drown? Was the Chongzhen Emperor really that detested?

"F-Father, has the Imperial Father passed away?!" Zhu Cilang's voice trembled as he spoke.

Was he about to become emperor, just like that? Becoming emperor was all well and good, but Chongzhen's manner of death was far too suspicious — now he could not wash himself clean even by jumping into the Yangtze. Zhu Cilang thought to himself: No, history must be rewritten. We cannot say Chongzhen died by falling into water; we must say he died from indulgence in women. That is the standard way for a debauched ruler to die.

"He hasn't passed away either," Huang Xiaobao said. "Young Master, have you forgotten? His Majesty can swim — he climbed out by himself!"

Right — the Chongzhen Emperor could swim! His elder brother, the Tianqi Emperor, had suffered precisely from not knowing how to swim: while boating on a pond within the imperial palace, he fell into the water and nearly drowned. Although he was pulled out, his lungs were injured and he was left with a lingering ailment; two years later he died of illness.

So the Chongzhen Emperor, having learned that lesson, had learned to swim — and his skill in the water was quite good! Zhu Cilang himself had been ordered to learn to swim, and had been taught by Qiu Zhizhong, the current eunuch garrison commander of Xiaoling.

"Then Imperial Father is all right?" Zhu Cilang relaxed slightly. "As long as he's all right, as long as he's all right."

"He is not all right!" Huang Xiaobao shook his head. "Young Master, it is the dead of winter now! The water was freezing. His Majesty fell into cold water, caught a chill, and is now bedridden!"

Bedridden? How is that possible? Zhu Cilang thought to himself: the Chongzhen Emperor's constitution is so robust — one dip in cold water and he's done for? Could it be that he has lately been overindulging in women? That will not do!

Zhu Cilang frowned deeply and said to Wu Sanfu, "Sanfu, you will preside over the rewards and the banquet shortly!"

Today was New Year's Eve. Zhu Cilang might be black-hearted, but he was not stingy — working people 997 or 996 was one thing, but the silver owed was always paid in full. So after today's review concluded, the plan had been to distribute year-end bonus red envelopes and hold a banquet.

But the Chongzhen Emperor had to go and slip into the water. Really now — he was about to retire and become the Retired Emperor, so how could he be so careless? Who knew whether he would get through this? What if he did not? There were still so many consorts in the rear palace, most of them newly taken — would every one of them be widowed just like that?

Zhu Cilang, who only wanted his father to enjoy an early retirement of financial freedom, hurried back to the Xipu detached palace, where the atmosphere was truly tense.

Tian Shuchen, the supervising eunuch of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, and Chen Shifang, the superintendent of the Eastern Depot, had already entered the Xipu detached palace with a large force of the Imperial Guard — this was the order Zhu Cilang had sent by fast riders before leaving Xiaoling Guard!

Right now he feared nothing so much as someone using Chongzhen's fall into the water as a pretext to stir up trouble — some attempt to seize the palace gates or the palace itself. That would be hard to handle!

So he had made plans for the worst and ordered his Imperial Guard into action to protect the Chongzhen Emperor. This Imperial Guard had been reorganized from the Guard Battalion and the Pure Army. It was jointly controlled by the seal-holding eunuch of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, the superintendent eunuch of the Eastern Depot, and the captain of the guard. However, not all of the Pure Army troops in the Imperial Guard were Tian Shuchen's old subordinates; they also included young and able-bodied eunuchs from the Pure Army of the Southern Capital and the Central Capital. The Pure Army, which had originally been the most dead-end branch of the Ming eunuch system, had under Zhu Cilang achieved a loser's comeback and become the most promising eunuchs — and therefore the most reliable eunuchs.

Since Xipu was under the control of the Imperial Guard, Zhu Cilang had nothing to worry about. He rode straight in, all the way to the Chongzhen Emperor's bedchamber.

Outside the bedchamber, he saw a "makeshift divine physician" pacing in circles — Divine Physician Zeng was also a hero of the makeshift days! He was now the head of the Imperial Academy of Medicine and had also been granted the military rank of assistant commissioner in the Marshal's Office.

Seeing him circling in the courtyard, Zhu Cilang grew somewhat alarmed. He quickly dismounted and went up to ask, "Zeng Four-Eyes, is my Imperial Father failing?"

Divine Physician Zeng was startled by the question and looked at Zhu Cilang with great astonishment. Only after a moment did he react. "Thousand Years — His Majesty will not allow this subject to examine him."

Won't allow an examination?

"What about the other imperial physicians?"

Divine Physician Zeng shook his head. "He won't see any of them. Thousand Years, what is to be done about this? He is ill but refuses to be examined — how can this be good?"

Zhu Cilang frowned. "If you haven't examined him, how do you know he's ill?"

"This subject heard it from the palace maids attending him. After His Majesty fell into the water, he choked on the icy water and caught a chill, and now he cannot stop coughing."

"Ahem, ahem, ahem."

Speak of coughing, and coughing arrives!

Zhu Cilang's frown deepened. He did not rush in to pay his respects to his father, but instead swept a glance at Chen Shifang.

The Eastern Depot superintendent took the order and immediately entered the Chongzhen Emperor's bedchamber with two armed young eunuchs. After a moment he came out again with hurried steps and nodded at Zhu Cilang.

And at that moment, the coughing grew louder still — a cough delivered with truly robust vigor!

Zhu Cilang burst into loud wailing, crying as he shouted, "Imperial Father, you must not die! Your son still wants to serve you with all filial devotion!"

(End of Chapter)