Chapter 143: Quiet Contemplation

The Chongzhen Emperor sat on the dragon throne watching the Donglin Faction perform their monkey tricks, and after listening this way and that, he couldn't find any substance in it at all — utterly useless.

In fact, after sitting on the dragon throne for so long, the Chongzhen Emperor felt his backside starting to ache. Watching a censor on the court floor spray spittle in all directions, ranting about how Wu Sangui had deceived the sovereign and defied authority, and how his crimes warranted execution, the Emperor finally waved his hand in impatience.

Wang Dehua breathed a sigh of relief at the sight and quickly shouted in his shrill voice for the court to adjourn.

To be honest, even he, a eunuch, could tell that the words spoken by these esteemed ministers in the hall had little nutritional value — no wonder the Emperor grew more troubled the more he listened, and had nearly dozed off just moments ago.

The censor who had been speaking at the most exciting part heard this and, forgetting all about saving face, hurriedly joined the civil and military officials in shouting long live the Emperor ten thousand times, only breathing easy after watching the Chongzhen Emperor and Wang Dehua return to the inner palace.

"Your Majesty, the memorials have all been gathered into the warm chamber." Wang Dehua finished speaking with the utmost respect, then stepped aside to clear a path for the Chongzhen Emperor back to the winter warm chamber.

According to the Donglin Faction's reasoning, Wu Sangui's actions had brought shame upon the court's face, and since it concerned the dignity of the Great Ming imperial house, they were all unanimous in recommending an immediate military expedition to punish Wu Sangui.

In the Chongzhen Emperor's view, this was clearly another pack of ill-intentioned fools — if face had been lost, that was his own business as the Emperor, and what the hell did it have to do with them? Why should the Donglin Faction be in such a panic when the Emperor himself wasn't?

Just as he was thinking this, the Chongzhen Emperor, who had just heard Wang Dehua's words and was about to nod, suddenly heard several birds chirping in the treetops, so he turned and said:

"Enough. Summon Fang Zhenghua and have him accompany me for a stroll."

Wang Dehua was somewhat reluctant in his heart, but he could understand what the Emperor was thinking.

Last time there had been an incident outside the winter warm chamber — a madman who suddenly burst into the palace had nearly beaten the Chongzhen Emperor to death, so it was only natural that he still bore the shadow of that memory.

At the time, Fang Zhenghua, who was then seal-holder of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, had saved the Emperor in the nick of time, thereby earning great merit and being promptly promoted to the high position of eunuch director of the inner depot, deeply favored by the imperial grace — the Chongzhen Emperor took him everywhere he went to guard against any mishap.

Though Wang Dehua was somewhat displeased, there was nothing much to say about it, so he bowed and withdrew.

Before long, Fang Zhenghua, having received the news, hastily set aside his current affairs and rushed over with more than a dozen of his most trusted young eunuchs, prostrating himself in fear and shouting:

"I have kept Your Majesty waiting — your servant deserves death!"

The Chongzhen Emperor waved his hand, his mind clearly not on the same frequency as Fang Zhenghua's. "Come accompany me for a stroll. Affairs have been complicated lately, and my mind is in a tangle — it's time to clear my thoughts."

"Your will be done!" Fang Zhenghua hurriedly fell in step with the Chongzhen Emperor, speaking as he walked: "Rest assured, Your Majesty — your servant has arranged everything in the vicinity. I guarantee there will be no mishap whatsoever."

Face meant nothing to the Chongzhen Emperor now — if he listened to the Donglin Faction and attacked Wu Sangui at this moment, he wouldn't know how to spell the word "death."

In fact, the Chongzhen Emperor knew in his heart that Wu Sangui's control of Shanhai Pass, as in history, was the result of his own panic when he had first arrived — at the time he had only thought of rushing Wu Sangui to the capital to protect the throne and save his life, without a single thought for this consequence.

By the time he had calmed down enough to remember this matter, that scoundrel Wu Sangui had already been at Shanhai Pass for over half a month — the yellow flowers had long since gone cold.

The Chongzhen Emperor never imagined that those few words he had casually spoken without thinking back then could now cause such great trouble for himself and the court.

The combat effectiveness of those tens of thousands of Guanning troops and cavalry under Wu Sangui's command was very likely blown up by the Jianzhou barbarians — the things written in the Ming histories were fine to skim but couldn't be taken seriously.

In fact, Wu Sangui had long garrisoned Ningyuan, and he and the soldiers and civilians there were as solid as an iron plate. According to intelligence from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Guanning army had even replaced their armor and weapons — they had probably long since become Wu family's private army.

In history, those Wu army generals, in order to follow Wu Sangui in surrendering to the Tartars, had abandoned even their families left in the capital. Now, throwing out a bit of silver and expecting them to abandon darkness for light? Dream on.

So the Chongzhen Emperor felt that to deal with Wu Sangui, he could only proceed steadily — stabilize him first, and once the new army or the main forces arrived, he would without mercy chop off that bastard's head and use it as a chamber pot.

King of Yunnan, I've got your ten clans extermination waiting for you right here — where do you think you can run?

Considering that this scoundrel Wu Sangui had in history surrendered the pass to the Jianzhou barbarians, he couldn't be pushed too hard — at least on the surface, appearances still had to be maintained. The Wu Xiang and Chen Yuanyuan in his hands had to be put to good use.

If he carelessly pushed Wu Sangui over to the other side, then he would truly become the tyrant king reviled by later generations — a disgrace to transmigrators!

The more the Chongzhen Emperor thought, the more his head ached, until he simply stopped thinking altogether. Looking up, he saw before him a rather quiet courtyard within the palace, one that seemed to have an air of being aloof from worldly strife.

But this courtyard was also somewhat unusual — it was ringed by quite a few guards and eunuchs from the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, as if guarding some major criminal.

"What's going on here?"

"Your Majesty truly has a forgetful nobleman's memory — locked in here is Li Yan, the military advisor of the Great Shun bandits!" Because his status had risen and he had grown increasingly familiar with the Chongzhen Emperor, Fang Zhenghua's speech was no longer as stiff as before — he would occasionally crack jokes to lighten the mood.

Letting out an "oh," the Chongzhen Emperor finally remembered. He thought to himself that he had originally planned to find some time to chat with Li Yan, but who would have thought that with all this busyness he had forgotten about it completely.

But since he had inadvertently wandered here today, there was no harm in going in for a look.

"The Emperor arrives!"

The guard shouted, his voice not loud but sufficient to carry throughout this tiny courtyard. Li Yan sat on a chair in the middle yet remained completely motionless — clearly he hadn't heard.

Li Yan didn't look at all like an imprisoned criminal — he wore a plain blue robe, and when the Chongzhen Emperor suddenly walked into the room, he saw him holding a copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, reading with rapt absorption.

The Chongzhen Emperor was in no hurry either. Sorting through his thoughts, he sat in the courtyard until nightfall.

Li Yan read in such absorbed solitude that sometimes he clapped his hands in delight, and other times he sighed endlessly. The Chongzhen Emperor had never seen such a person before and was quite curious about him.

Suddenly, while stretching, Li Yan felt something amiss behind him. Turning to look, he was startled out of his wits — from who knows when, the Chongzhen Emperor and a squad of guards had been standing behind him.

When he had first been locked up, Li Yan's heart was full of resentment and fury. He had only waited for the Dashing King in his heart to march on Beijing to rescue him, so that he could keep his useful body and repay his old master.

But that wait had stretched on for half a year. Li Zicheng never came, and the Chongzhen Emperor never came either — only different young eunuchs arriving each day from the winter warm chamber with memorials.

Those memorials had now piled up into a small mountain, and Li Yan had never once touched them. Looking at the Chongzhen Emperor who had suddenly appeared before him, for some reason Li Yan opened his mouth — the words of abuse he had rehearsed ten thousand times in his mind would not come out.

The Chongzhen Emperor naturally understood Li Yan's hatred for him — this was not something that could be explained away in a few words.

The desire to kill Li Yan from the beginning had long since faded considerably. Sitting quietly in this rare tranquil courtyard within the palace for an entire afternoon, the Chongzhen Emperor had in fact already thought through many matters that outsiders found chaotic.

The Chongzhen Emperor had come quietly and left lightly, patting his backside without taking away so much as a wisp of cloud. Without looking back, he walked out of the courtyard, leaving only a bewildered Li Yan behind to his wild thoughts.