Forbidden Autumn, Summer, Winter and Spring Rebirth

Chapter 189 185. New Emperor (Finale)

After Shen Meizhuang and Concubine Jing left, the emperor motioned Hongzhou to come closer. He raised his hand and touched Hongzhou's head, and said weakly: "Hongzhou, don't be sad. The world is handed over to you by your father. Don't be afraid. You have learned very well what I taught you. You will definitely do better than me. I believe in you." After saying this, the emperor was already out of breath.

Hongzhou nodded with tears in his eyes, and then three ministers came in. The emperor forced himself to cheer up, as he still had a lot to say.

At the end of the hour of Chou, Hongzhou suddenly burst into tears from the inner room, and everyone was immediately panicked.

Soon, three ministers slowly walked out of the palace and solemnly announced the news of the emperor's death. Instantly, the entire palace fell into grief.

When the imperial concubine and other imperial concubines heard the bad news, they burst into tears. Inside and outside the palace, the sound of weeping shook the sky.

The next day, the late emperor's body was laid in the Qianqing Palace. The entire palace was dressed in mourning, and all that was seen was white.

Under the gaze of several ministers, the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department took out the imperial edict from behind the "Zhengda Guangming" plaque, and Prince Zhuang Yunlu read it out in public.

"The sixth prince, Hongzhou, is kind-hearted and filial. I personally taught him lessons and taught him. I have shown him more kindness than usual. Now that a great event has happened, I have appointed him to succeed me as the emperor."

As soon as the edict was issued, no one objected. Hongzhou knelt on the ground and took the edict solemnly.

They stood up, knelt down, and shouted "Long live the emperor".

Despite their busy schedule, Concubine Jing and Shen Meizhuang still remembered what the late emperor had entrusted them with, and went to the Ministry of Punishment overnight, where they met the haggard Concubine Mu.

Late at night, the Ministry of Punishment carried out a corpse, and from then on, there was no more Concubine Mu in the palace.

As for the Third Prince's Mansion, there was a concubine named Mo who was kept outside and was brought back to the Mansion because she was pregnant. This is a story for later.

On the way back, Concubine Jing sighed, "After all, doing this is not doing justice to the emperor."

"Sister, please don't dwell on this matter. This is also Hongzhou's intention. If you let us deal with it, will you be so cruel as to kill two people with one body?"

"Of course I can't bear it." Concubine Jing answered after a long time, and finally stopped bothering with the matter.

The funeral of the late emperor lasted for seven days. Seven days later, the new emperor ascended the throne and changed the reign title to Qianhe.

Concubine Jing was canonized as the Empress Dowager and moved to the Cining Palace.

The Imperial Noble Consort was given the title of Imperial Noble Dowager Consort, the Noble Consort Hui was given the title of Noble Dowager Consort, the Chang Consort was given the title of Chang Dowager Consort, and so on. They all moved to Shoukang Palace and the Six Western Palaces.

Xia Dongchun lived in the same palace with Concubine Ji and Concubine Qi, while Concubine Huang lived in the same palace with Concubine Hui, and the rest all lived in Shoukang Palace.

The fourth beile was conferred the title of Prince of You, and the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth princes were all conferred the title of beile, and their palaces were established at the end of the year.

Princess Qiongwei and Princess Jinghe were named Princesses of the First Rank and the First Rank, and a princess palace was built in the capital by imperial decree and opened at the end of the year.

Order, in compliance with the Emperor's last wish, the wedding date of the Third Prince and Prince You remains unchanged.

Xia Dongchun did not feel that these days were any different and continued to live his life as usual. Before he knew it, a hundred days had passed since the emperor's death.

After the hundred-day memorial ceremony, the new emperor and all the beile and princes have finished their mourning period. The wedding of the third beile and Prince You is just around the corner, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs is making intensive preparations.

There is no one in the new emperor's harem, and all matters are still managed by the empress dowager. She complains bitterly every time they meet. Shen Meizhuang does not want to pick up this mess again, so she naturally stays away from her.

After having lived in fear in this palace for more than ten years, he has just had a few days of freedom, and he feels as if all his energy has been drained away. Even his bones feel weak all day long and he has no energy at all.

Because the previous emperor had just passed away and the mourning period had only been less than a month, the wedding ceremony of the Third Beile and Prince You was simple, but the new emperor finally issued an edict, allowing Concubine Qi to personally preside over the wedding at the Third Beile's mansion, while the presiding officer for Prince You's wedding was the Imperial Noble Concubine. The Third Prince and the Fourth Prince were both conferred Beile titles, but the new emperor only promoted the Fourth Prince to a higher rank upon his accession, and the Third Beile remained a Beile. This matter had already spread some rumors. Now that the two princes were getting married at the same time, it was the Imperial Noble Concubine who personally went to the Prince's mansion to preside over the wedding, which overshadowed the Third Beile.

Such a difference cannot help but make people think more, and the officials in the court saw it more deeply. I am afraid that the future of these three princes is bleak.

There were also old ministers who, relying on their long seniority, raised objections to this matter during the court, and their implication was that the emperor was unfair and biased.

Hongzhou just smiled without saying anything, and cast his eyes on the ministers standing below. Grand Secretary Ortai spoke first, saying that the emperor was following the teachings of the previous emperor, and the ministers could all testify to this.

So the old minister left in dismay, but Hongzhou did not let the matter go. Instead, he fined the old minister one month's salary for reckless negligence as a small punishment and a big warning.

The old minister felt insulted at once, and he did not show it on his face. He missed the morning court the next day due to illness.

The emperor immediately assigned three imperial physicians to visit the old minister's residence to treat him. He also opened his private storehouse and gave him countless precious medicinal materials.

Everyone in the court and the country praised the new emperor's virtue.

The matter was not over yet. The imperial physician replied that the old minister was fine, but he needed to be taken care of because of his advanced age. The emperor waved his hand and allowed him to rest for three months, and his salary would be paid as usual. He then gave half of the power to the old minister.

Within three days, the old minister appeared in the morning court again, tremblingly performed the solemn salute, and shouted that he was grateful for the emperor's kindness and would not dare to be lazy for a single day. He was willing to devote himself to the Qing Dynasty until his death.

The emperor was deeply moved. He stepped down from the throne and respectfully helped the old minister up. It was truly a touching picture of the emperor and his ministers getting along well with each other and being in the same boat.

Although this matter has been exposed, there is no reason to take back the power that has been divided. The old minister has his grievances unspeakable, but the officials in the court see it clearly and take it as a warning.

In the first month of the third year of Qianhe, the emperor got married and married Irgen Jueluo Jiarou, the eldest daughter of Altai, the governor of Shandong, as the Empress Dowager. He entered the Forbidden City through the Daqing Gate and moved into the Kunning Palace.

In August of the same year, a beauty contest was held with great fanfare, and a total of ten beauties were selected.

Fucha Linlang, the daughter of Li Rongbao, the governor of Chahar, was made Depin and was granted the right to live in Changchun Palace.

Wuya Zhaoqi, the daughter of General Fubiao, was made a noble lady and granted the right to live in Yongshou Palace.

Zhangjia Juntong, the daughter of Grand Secretary Akundun, was made a concubine and was granted the right to live in Jingren Palace.

Zhang Fengyun, the daughter of the third-class earl Zhang Ruoai, was conferred the title of noble lady and granted the right to live in Zhongcui Palace.

Yu Lingxian, the daughter of the newly crowned number one scholar Yu Minzhong, was made a concubine, and lived with Feng Qinyan, the daughter of the Hedong prefect, in Qixiang Palace.

The remaining four were all given the title of concubines, and lived in pairs in the Yanxi Palace and Chuxiu Palace.

In June of the fourth year of Qianhe, the empress gave birth to her eldest son, and the emperor named him Yongji, which means the country and the people.

After the empress finished her confinement, the empress dowager handed over all the power in the harem to her, and moved to the Old Summer Palace with the imperial concubine to live permanently.

In the fifth year of Qianhe, Concubine Hui died, and Wen Shichu, deputy director of the Imperial Medical Bureau, resigned from his post.

In the same year, the seventh prince Hongmin was conferred the title of Prince of Tong and took Concubine Chang out of the palace to take care of her.

The Ninth Prince also took Concubine Ji out of the palace to take care of her.

A new chapter belonging to the new emperor Hongzhou slowly unfolds, and the war in the Forbidden City continues without the smoke of gunpowder. (End of the text)