Chapter 6 Chapter 6 The Crown Prince

The ministers have waited, fought, and quarreled for many years, and some people have even lost their lives for this. The grand ceremony for the appointment of the crown prince has finally arrived—— People who heard the announcement from Emperor Wanli were so moved that they wept bitterly. Those who hadn’t heard the news in person rushed to the imperial palace to kowtow, and even counted on their fingers. Since the first time someone came up, please The Wanli emperor canonized the crown prince, the accumulated years and the turmoil that have arisen; some politically sensitive people have already prepared everything, and shifted the focus of the "joint" to the people around Changluo, and even worked hard. Ask about the natal family of Chang Luo's biological mother, Concubine Wang Gong.

Everyone has his own ideas in his heart, and each idea is based on his own standpoint, but no one understands Emperor Wanli's heart - while the ministers are applauding, no one notices the desolation in his eyes and dazed. No one even imagined for him that when he announced this decision, he would lose Concubine Zheng's heart, and his heart must be even more lonely and lonely—— No one even imagined the feelings of Chang Luo and Concubine Wang Gongfei, who have been set by many people as the objects of "betting" in the future-the mother and son, who had been living day by day, suddenly faced the "flying on a branch to become a phoenix" time imbalance.

When she heard about this "happy event" for the first time, Concubine Wang Gong couldn't believe it was true, her eyes froze for a long time, and then she asked the eunuch who sent the message: "Is what you said true?" The eunuchs told her: "It's absolutely true! The Lord Long Live has delivered a decree to the Ministry of Rites, and the order is about to be discussed and established! Moreover, even the date has been personally set by the Lord Long Live, and it is October 15th—the decision Can't go wrong!" Concubine Wang Gong was stunned again, she stared straight at the sky, and after a while she burst into tears, whimpering and saying, "How could this be true? How could it be?"

At the same time, he pulled the eunuch's sleeve and asked: "Long live Lord always disliked our mother and son, how did he change his mind?" The eunuch really couldn't answer, so he had to change the direction and said to her in a nice way: "Your Majesty, it is a great joy for the eldest son of the emperor to be named the Crown Prince. Your Majesty should be happy. I still want to do this." what?" Concubine Wang Gong also came to her senses, she nodded her head again and again and said, "Yes! Our mother and son's hard life is finally over—" Then he laughed: "Chang Luo is finally going to be the prince—"

After crying and laughing like this for a while, the eunuch first made the eunuch shake his head and sigh secretly, but fortunately, she was not completely confused—after crying and laughing, her heart cleared up, and she immediately turned to the eunuch. The eunuch said: "Ah, it happened so suddenly, I didn't prepare a reward for you first—" She took off the only ring from the Empress Dowager, and handed it to the eunuch: "You take this—in the future, the Crown Prince will still depend on you all to serve him well!" The eunuch also knew that she had no private savings, but he refused to accept the ring, and said with her excuse: "Your Majesty has broken the slaves - how dare you accept your mother's things! Serving the crown prince is something a slave could only wish for. If you don’t dare to trouble your mother to make an order, the servants will definitely do their best!”

After a pause, he said: "I only hope that when the empress dowager becomes the empress dowager in the future, she will still remember the slave girl's heart, and the slave girl will be satisfied!" Concubine Wang Gong of course agreed: "Of course!" However, after only half a day, she found that it was too late to say the words of such an agreement—the eunuch had just stepped out, and another person who "reported the good news" came behind—in one day, there were as many as two A dozen people came in and out. The Jingyang Palace, which was originally deserted and deserted, suddenly became bustling like a market; she, who has always been used to not being heard, suddenly had to deal with people constantly, accepting congratulations and flattery from others, not only was not able to adapt, but also made troubles. It was exhausting and difficult to support.

After finally staying through the night and seeing off the last group of people who came, she collapsed on the bed, unable to move for a long time. However, her spirit was extremely excited, so she couldn't close her eyes, couldn't fall asleep, and finally fell into a hazy state, and suddenly there was another cheer in her heart: "Finally I've made it through—" As a result, she fell into insomnia again - after several days in a row, she fell ill before the day of the canonization ceremony. What happened to Chang Luo was another situation. Chang Luo suddenly became the most sought-after person in the palace and court, and groups of "future-oriented" people scrambled towards him, making him at a loss for what to do when he was already slow to react.

He did not hear the words of Emperor Wanli announcing the establishment of the canon, and he did not know this "turning of the times"—he had already left the cabinet to give lectures. On this day, the lecturers Guo Zhengyu and Dong Qichang were lecturing on the scriptures for him, and they were closed all morning. In the study. Both Guo Zhengyu and Dong Qichang are well-educated people with good moral character. Dong Qichang is even famous for his calligraphy; Understood, he listened with all his strength; when the officials were speaking, he sat upright, and his attitude was so respectful that he didn't even let out a breath—so, the eunuchs didn't dare to rush in through the door , but waited respectfully outside the door. After a long time, the number of people increased one by one, adding to a large group of people, densely packed the steps and corridors.

However, once the book was finished and the door inside opened, and Chang Luo was about to walk out, the order outside the door could no longer be maintained. The eunuchs began to squeeze forward, fearing that they would fall behind, and Chang Luo would lose sight of himself; for a moment, the order was chaotic, and people crowded, like a swarm of ants scrambling to get ahead. And Chang Luo, who had never seen a big scene in his life, didn't know what happened, and was suddenly rushed by so many people, panicked, and immediately cried out in fright. While crying, he staggered back and almost fell down again; fortunately, the eunuch Wang An who was waiting on him was quite steady, supported him, and shouted at the eunuchs who kept pushing over: " What are you doing?"

At this time, Guo Zhengyu and Dong Qichang also came out together, helping to stabilize the scene; Guo Zhengyu even put his arm around Chang Luo's shoulder, and patted him gently to stabilize his mood. Wang An and the few eunuchs in the front asked clearly, and only then did he realize that it was a "happy event"—he immediately smiled, and turned to Chang Luo and shouted, "Congratulations, Your Highness!" However, Chang Luo couldn't hear his words at all—Chang Luo was terrified before he knew what was going on. His hands and feet were pale, his hands and feet were cold, he couldn't move, he couldn't speak, and he had a high fever that night, and he couldn't stop talking in his sleep all night.

Seems like an ominous omen— On the contrary, Wang An, who has served in the palace for many years, handled it well—— He knew the seriousness, and knew that this ominous sign must not be leaked out, otherwise, the matter of the crown prince who finally changed his mind after Emperor Wanli would change again, and the impact would be too great and serious; therefore, he simply blocked it. over this matter. Even the imperial doctor was not invited to see it, in order to prevent the rumors from leaking. He closed the palace door tightly and rejected other people, and only took salt water to wipe Chang Luo's body to reduce the fever; he was convinced that Chang Luo's high fever was not a real disease, but caused by a "heart disease" Drugs to reduce fever - he also understands the importance of this period of time to Chang Luo: "Long Live God has already set October 15th, as long as you wait until that day and perform the ceremony, you will not be afraid of anything!" While thinking about it, he stared at the semi-conscious Chang Luo, and prayed involuntarily: "My young master, you must survive until that day! Otherwise, you will eat as soon as you are born." Bitterness is in vain—" Fortunately, Chang Luo finally lived up to his expectations, and his condition gradually improved after a few days, and he could barely get up and stand before the ceremony. On October 14th, Emperor Wanli sent several relatives of dukes and marquises to hold a ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, ancestral temples, and shrines for the canonization of the crown prince. On the second day, the candidates for the chief envoy holding the festival and the deputy envoy holding the treasure at the canonization ceremony were also appointed, and then, an edict to enshrine Chang Luo as the crown prince was officially promulgated—the edict announced at the same time that the canonization of other Prince: Chang Xun is the King of Fortune Chang Hao is King Rui Chang Run is King Hui Chang Ying is King Gui After the reading, everything is a foregone conclusion. For Concubine Zheng, everything is a foregone conclusion. The only thing that surprised everyone around her was: Concubine Zheng didn't cry or make trouble since she heard the news that Chang Luo was made the crown prince and Chang Xun was made the king of Fu! On the outside, she appeared to be very calm, and she didn't even express any opinions; in front of Emperor Wanli, she was even more like usual, with a well-groomed and dressed body, sitting with a smile, only when she was alone When facing the mirror, only a little lonely look came to his brows. In fact, I have carefully calculated with my fingers—— The first time someone made a request to enshrine the crown prince was in the fourteenth year of Wanli, and now—the twenty-ninth year of Wanli—it has been a full fifteen years! She has fought for fifteen years with the many people who advocated the canonization of Chang Luo! And such a long war, she actually lost! It doesn't matter whether she wants to admit it or accept it—the facts are in front of her eyes, and she can't help but look at them; she can't even pretend not to know. Fifteen long years have passed, time will not go back to the beginning again, and the foregone conclusion will not change! She suddenly felt that everything that had happened in the past fifteen years was like a ridiculous dream—she had tried her best to turn things around in this dream; Just a beautiful face is made up more beautifully, deliberately racking his brains to think of words that can please Emperor Wanli, deliberately creating an atmosphere, deliberately buying drugs, deliberately grabbing Emperor Wanli's heart; Deliberately, however, as of today, all of these deliberate efforts have failed. However, she has no sadness, no anger. Some are just a bit of chilliness——a trace of sadness flashed through my heart, neither strong nor passionate, just like a small ice cube in the tip of my tongue; but it’s like my heart is dead, and there is no more Strong feeling. She lay quietly on the bed, alone, pulled up the quilt and covered her face; several maids came over to put down the brocade curtain for her, and also cut off the outside world for her. It's not night yet, but she just wants to curl up in this quilt that is isolated from the world and completely belongs to her, and listen carefully to her heartbeat - in this absurd dream, she has nothing, and now All I can have is the sound of my own heartbeat. However, she has never realized that this absurd dream dominated by her is actually just a small part of the absurdity in the Daming Palace.