In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 284 The Desolate Imperial House

Although Lin Rui's conditions can be said to be unique in all dynasties, Chongzhen still did not reply immediately, obviously still unwilling to let the Ming Dynasty die like this.

After returning to Qianqing Palace with a look of despair, the two empresses Zhou and Zhang and their four children hurriedly came to greet her.

Although the food and wine on the table next to it were not luxurious, they were still full. There were neither palace maids nor eunuchs around, just like ordinary people.

In the past few days, Chongzhen would call all his children, the queen, and the emperor's sister-in-law over to eat together every day. Obviously he knew that the Ming Dynasty was running out of time, so he cherished being with his closest relatives. of time.

Empress Zhou, Empress Zhang and the prince obviously knew this. They would prepare meals every day to wait for Chongzhen's return, but almost everyone could not eat much.

"His Majesty…"

"Fifth brother."

"Father..."

"Hey, it's all because of my father's incompetence that makes your life so tiring."

Seeing the worried and nervous faces of the six people, especially the three sons and the youngest daughter, Chongzhen felt a twinge of pain in his heart.

When Queen Zhou and Princess Kunxing heard this, their eyes turned red, but they both held back their tears.

"Okay, the bandits probably won't come in for the time being. Everyone, please sit down and eat first." Chongzhen forced a smile, told everyone to sit down, and then sent away Wang Chengen, who was sobbing behind him.

"Fifth brother, is there still time for Jin Yiwei to escort Xun'er and his four brothers and sisters to Nanjing?"

After finishing the meal, Zhang Yan couldn't help looking at Chongzhen and asked. Queen Zhou also looked expectant.

"It's too late, the bandits have surrounded Beijing on all sides." Chongzhen shook his head helplessly and sighed.

The last glimmer of hope was shattered. Thinking of the fate of the princes and princesses who had lost their kingdoms in the past dynasties, Queen Zhou could no longer bear it. Tears flowed down her cheeks. Soon her cheeks were covered with tears.

The tip of Queen Zhang's nose was also sore, her heart filled with sadness, and her eyes filled with tears.

Seeing the two of them looking like this, Chongzhen felt a burst of self-blame and torment in his heart. He said in a daze: "Today, the traitor sent someone to negotiate and proposed that I should abdicate and subjugate the country. Maybe Xun'er and the others..."

After hearing this, Queen Zhou and Queen Zhang also looked in disbelief.

Especially when I heard that Lin Rui actually allowed the Ancestral Temple to be moved so that the descendants of the Zhu family could continue to worship it without the Ming Dynasty surrendering or His Majesty leading all the civil and military officials out of the city to greet him, I was really shocked and opened my mouth wide.

The next day, seeing that there was no movement from Chongzhen, Wu and his son no longer waited, and directly brought a group of civil and military officials and soldiers to the gate of the imperial city to kneel and remonstrate.

Although a very small number of nobles and civil servants came to guard the imperial city, after all, the number was too small, so they were immediately arrested and thrown into prison. The mansion was also blocked by troops sent by Wu Sangui.

As for the [-] pure troops, they had long been disarmed and imprisoned.

Seeing this situation, Emperor Chongzhen finally gave up all hope, left an edict, and hanged himself with Empress Zhou. Obviously, he could not face the fact that the Ming Dynasty was destroyed.

And all the concubines were directly killed.

Lin Rui was not surprised to learn that Chongzhen still chose to commit suicide. Instead, he admired Chongzhen for being able to end the Ming Dynasty with the death of the king. Such an ending is undoubtedly perfect.

It not only ensured the peaceful succession of dynasties, but also preserved the backbone of the Han Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty. "You and your son go back and tell Empress Zhang and the Crown Prince that I will give them three days to deal with the funeral affairs of Chongzhen and Empress Zhou. As for the funeral, I will not attend it in person. I will not enter the city again until Chongzhen and Empress Zhou are buried. When you enter the palace, remember to maintain order in the city. Anyone who dares to mess up will be arrested and imprisoned. I will be punished in the future."

"Yes! Your Majesty."

This time, Wu Sangui and his son all came. After listening to Lin Rui's arrangement, the father and son also hurriedly promised and then hurried back to the city.

The civil and military officials in the city had been looking forward to it for a long time. When they learned that it would take three days to organize the funeral for Chongzhen, they had no choice but to go back to their homes and continue waiting.

Although Lin Rui gave three days, the funerals of Chongzhen and Queen Zhou were still very shabby.

Because none of the civil and military officials went to watch the mourning, the eunuchs and maids also stayed far away. Wang Chengen and dozens of eunuchs were busy in front of the mourning, while Empress Zhang, three princes and Princess Kunxing knelt in front of the mourning. .

In the end, even Lin Rui couldn't stand it anymore and decided to go and express his condolences in person.

When they arrived at the mourning hall, they saw only five people in mourning clothes kneeling aside with desolate faces in the huge mourning hall. Lin Rui was also made to sigh by this deserted scene.

Empress Zhang just glanced at Lin Rui with a numb face, and did not stop Lin Rui from offering incense. Prince Zhu Cihong and Princess Kunxing, because they were still young, secretly looked at Lin Rui, with a trace of hatred in their eyes, and a hint of hatred in their eyes. With a hint of fear, when Lin Rui looked over, they all lowered their heads.

"Your Majesty, this is Queen Yi'an..."

"This is the prince, and this is Princess Kunxing..."

After Lin Rui finished applying the incense, he came to the side and wanted to say a word of comfort as usual, but found that he was too embarrassed to say what to say, but Wu Xiang on the side introduced him attentively.

"I am true to my word, and I will never break my promise. Don't worry, I don't need you to grovel and surrender. I am here purely to express my condolences."

Looking at the [-]- or [-]-year-old prince and the [-]- or [-]-year-old princess, Lin Rui could only hold back this promise.

"Hong'er, Duo'er, King Hua has come to express his condolences, we must not lose our etiquette."

Zhang Yan said slowly, and the four people hurriedly bent down to thank her.

"Wu Xiang, Wu Sangui, your Majesty treated you and your son well during his lifetime. Now that His Majesty Long Yu has passed away, as ministers, you and your son have not even shown your face. You are quite diligent now."

After all, Zhang Yan couldn't hold back and sarcastically said to Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui. After all, it was the father and son who were jumping up and down these days. It can be said that compared to Lin Rui, Zhang Yan and Princess Kunxing hated Wu Sangui and these ruthless people more. Unrighteous ministers and nobles.

The father and son were also very angry. Naturally, they understood that Zhang Yan wanted to leave a bad impression on them in Lin Rui's heart, but they could not refute, so they had to pretend not to hear.

But there was no guilt at all in my heart. After all, those nobles who had retired from the Ming Dynasty had avoided him and hid far away. Even the abbot of the country did not come. Why did the Wu family come?

"It's indeed a bit outrageous. Let the etiquette department be responsible for hosting the funeral."

Lin Rui looked at the dozen or so eunuchs kneeling outside and couldn't help but nod. Judging from their posture, if he didn't say anything to help, they might not even be able to carry out the funeral, and there wouldn't be enough people to carry the coffin.

Of course, he also knew that the main reason was that everyone was worried that the new emperor would remember him after coming to watch Chongzhen's funeral, so they chose to avoid it.

It's the same inside and outside the palace. At this time, we can see how many people are truly loyal to Chongzhen regardless of everything.

(End of this chapter)