Ming Dynasty: Emperor Wanshou is cultivating immortality!

Not willing?
No, I do. I really do!
It can be said that it is something I think about even in my dreams.

But Prince Yu never expected that his father suddenly summoned him into the palace not to punish him, nor to make him pay the price for Zhu Youjian's behavior...

Instead, he wanted to crown himself the crown prince!
What a surprise!

This is called a surprise!
For a moment, Prince Yu felt that all this was so unreal that he almost thought he was in a dream.

The cool touch of the carpet and the feeling of his heartbeat at this moment told him that this was not a dream, but reality.

I don't know why my father really wants to make me the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty.

"Your son is willing!" All the thoughts flashed through his mind almost instantly, and Prince Yu agreed without any hesitation.

As to whether this violated the original agreement with Prince An and constituted an act of betrayal, Prince Yu felt no burden at all.

It was simple!
Because he didn't betray.

All the faults were caused by that unfilial descendant, Zhu Youjian.

In fact, if you dig deeper, Zhang Juzheng is still to blame.

Before this, Zhu Yijun had said in front of Zhang Juzheng that if the person behind the scenes was really targeting Prince An's Mansion, or Prince An was implicated and pushed to the forefront because of Zhang Juzheng's proposal to abolish the innate cultivation system.

So if Prince An's Mansion is destined to be eliminated, Prince Yu's Mansion will be the first to swallow up all the forces of Prince An's Mansion.

Now everything is very clear. Zhu Youjian just wants to completely cut off the relationship between the Prince's Palace and the Prince An's Palace.

The two royal palaces were destined to cut off ties with each other and become enemies. In that case, he would strike first.

Besides, now that my father wants me to be the crown prince, what is there to hesitate about? If I don't agree, I'm a fool!

"But, father..." Although he thought a lot in his mind and agreed immediately, the doubts in his heart still made Prince Yu unable to help but want to ask for clarification.

"I don't understand why..." However, before he could finish his words, Jiajing spoke first, saying, "Why do you suddenly become the crown prince?"

"Yes." Prince Yu glanced at Jiajing and lowered his head.

Listening to my father's calm and emotionless tone, I suddenly had a bad feeling for no reason.

For a moment, the joy of being named the crown prince by his father slowly cooled down.

"Since you are now the crown prince, there are some things you should know..."

In a calm tone, Jiajing began to tell Prince Yu about his natal laboratory and his natal weapon, secrets that only he and Lu Fang knew.

Listening to Jiajing's narration, from the very beginning, the innate experiment of Li Ming and Li Baole, father and son, an accidental discovery, to the "fruit", "nutrients", and "program chain" theories proposed by Li Shizhen and others, and finally the development of innate weapons.

It was not until Jiajing decided to release his innate weapon to the entire world of immortal cultivation in order to completely destroy the world of immortal cultivation.

Prince Yu's heart sank little by little.

Of course, he had long known about the imperial court's release of a strange plague in the world of immortal cultivation, and he also knew that the consequence of doing so would cause the immortal system of the world of immortal cultivation to completely collapse.

The reason why he was in a heavy mood was that once this matter was exposed, his father, the Immortal Emperor who founded the Immortal Dynasty, would no longer be so sacred and flawless in the eyes of the world.

Originally, everyone had speculated that it was the emperor himself who did this, but some things absolutely cannot be revealed.

But now his father told him about this matter, which made Prince Yu feel more and more uneasy.

"This is the memorial submitted by Hai Rui. You can take a look at it." Jiajing raised his hand, and Hai Rui's memorial fell in front of Prince Yu.

Looking at the memorial in front of him, Prince Yu was stunned for a moment, but he still picked it up and started reading. Soon his face turned pale.

At this moment, he finally understood what price Prince Yu’s Mansion would have to pay this time!

Slowly closing the memorial, Prince Yu raised his head and looked at Jiajing, who was sitting above the Taotai with a calm expression.

"Oh," he suddenly laughed, his laughter full of sadness, and he slowly stood up and said, "The tiger is the king of all beasts, no one dares to offend its anger. Only the love between father and son, looking back at each step."

"This is a poem by Prime Minister Wang Guangyang during the Hongwu Dynasty," Prince Yu said, gazing at Jiajing, "I have a question for Your Majesty now. Do you remember when it was given to me?"

Your Majesty, I am your servant.

At this moment, Prince Yu already knew his own fate, and he no longer had any affection for his father.

From this moment on, he and Jiajing were just the emperor and his subject.

"Zhu Zaigui..." Upon hearing Prince Yu's address to him, Jiajing's eyes instinctively fixed and his voice became deeper. However, he was interrupted by Prince Yu before he could finish his words.

"Your Majesty, please call me Prince!"

Seeing that Prince Yu, who was always honest and full of anger, actually had such a brave side, a strange look flashed in Jiajing's eyes.

"It doesn't matter if your Majesty doesn't want to answer." Prince Yu said in a cold and distant tone: "My father gave me and my fourth brother a painting and wrote a poem that day. I think he must have been very disdainful of Wang Guangyang."

"The tiger is the king of all beasts. How can an ant guess the thoughts of a king? Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs, and it takes every step forward without looking back. These are just wishful thinking of an ant!"

"Prince Yu!" Jiajing said in a low and cold voice.

"I said, Your Majesty, please call me the Crown Prince!" Prince Yu's voice also rose, and then he sneered: "Your Majesty, are you going to execute me just because I told you a few truths?"

"No, Your Majesty will always weigh the pros and cons. This prince is still useful, and it is not in the best interests to execute him at this time." After saying this, Prince Yu threw down the memorial in his hand and said:

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I will definitely fulfill my duties as the Crown Prince. However, please do not forget one thing!"

"Use both kindness and force!" After saying that, he turned and left.

Jiajing naturally knew the meaning of Prince Yu’s last words, “Don’t forget to use both kindness and severity.”

Prince Yu’s meaning was very simple.

I have taken the responsibility. As the crown prince, I will shoulder all the responsibilities.

However, father, please don't forget that the reason I took on this matter was because of the descendants of the royal family behind me.

I can sacrifice myself for my father and the court, but my descendants must be well.

This grace that belongs to me must be given to me!
"...Boom!" Above the sky, muffled thunder rumbled, making people's hearts frightened. Outside the hall, the rain was heavy.

Jiajing stared blankly at Prince Yu who was walking away. After a long time, he was brought back to his senses by Lu Fang's exclamation.

"Master, please calm down, master, please calm down..." Lu Fang knelt in the main hall, bowing his head repeatedly.

At that moment, he was actually distracted and didn't know when Lu Fang returned to the hall.

Jiajing only knew that he had just watched Prince Yu's back gradually walking away, and at that moment, the feeling he had for the four words "a lonely and helpless man" became even more profound.

The immortal path is lonely, the kingly path is lonely!
"Lü Fang, draft the edict..." After hearing Jiajing's words, Lü Fang naturally knew that the edict his master was talking about was about enthroning the crown prince.

"Yes." Lu Fan did not dare to delay and hurriedly took a pen from the desk beside him and started writing.

Well, the edict for appointing a crown prince has a general format, and Lu Fang, the eunuch in charge of the seal, naturally knows how to write it.

Prince Yu came out of Yuxi Palace.

Almost in an instant, the spiritual consciousness guarding outside the West Garden once again went in all directions and landed in the homes of the powerful in the court.

The Yan Mansion is located in the small courtyard of the ancestral temple.

"Dad, Prince Yu has returned home, but not a single piece of news has been leaked out of the palace. What's going on?" Yan Shifan looked up at Yan Song, who was sitting behind the desk, with a puzzled look on his face.

In the past, specific news would have been heard from the palace by this time.

At this time, there is still no news, which can only mean one thing, that is, the palace has blocked the news.

This made Yan Shifan a little uncomfortable. In the past, whenever the emperor gave an order, he would let the eunuchs in the palace reveal some information, either openly or secretly, and let the ministers guess and act on it.

If you do it well, then you are not fulfilling your duty as a subject, and that naturally means you don't understand it well enough.

It can be said that Jiajing and his ministers have always maintained such a mode of elimination.

This suddenly changed the pattern. Not only did Yan Shifan feel uncomfortable and confused at the moment, but everyone else felt the same way. No one was sure what the emperor meant.
Of course, this feeling of being unable to guess or understand something is more due to the uneasiness of the unknown.

At this moment, everyone knew that Prince Yu’s Mansion had angered the emperor, and no one knew how many people would be affected by the emperor’s rage.

"Wait, there should be news soon..." Yan Song looked at his son Yan Shifan and said something to comfort him.

Prince Yu's Mansion.

"Father, does Grandpa Emperor have any…"

As soon as Prince Yu entered the mansion, Zhu Yijun, Zhang Juzheng and others immediately came to greet him.

There was no expression of joy or anger on Prince Yu's face. After seeing Zhu Yijun and others, he paused slightly. After his gaze stayed on Zhu Yijun, Zhu Changluo and Zhu Youxiao for a moment, he walked towards the backyard without saying a word.

"Buzz!"

Almost at the moment when Prince Yu stepped into the backyard, a huge magic circle appeared, enveloping the backyard and prohibiting anyone from approaching.

"...This?" Upon seeing this, Zhu Yijun and others looked at each other, and their hearts sank.

Their intuition told them that Prince Yu's visit to the palace this time was probably not a good thing.

Only Zhang Juzheng looked up at the magic circle that enveloped the entire backyard, and then thought of Prince Yu's expression when he returned, and seemed to be thinking about something.

Time passed by minute by minute, and the ministers waited anxiously, and before they knew it, it was already late at night. Of course, at this time, all the ministers in the world were paying attention to the movements in the capital.

For the provincial governors, the trends of the upper echelons determine their future development direction.

When you are in the officialdom, you must keep your eyes and ears open and always keep your nerves sharp. Because only in this way can you go further and further in your official career.

In a flash, it was the next day.

However, this time, what the ministers of the country were waiting for was not the news from some minor eunuchs in Yuxi Palace, but an imperial edict.

"So said the Emperor, by the Will of Heaven."

"I believe that the way of heaven is running, and the holy son and grandson of the gods will inherit the throne; Kunyuan carries all things, and Yuanliang Chuer will inherit the ancestral temple. Looking up at the sky and observing the signs, looking down at the people's public opinion, my three sons are carrying the sun, with dragon faces, and the sky is magnificent."

"Since he was granted the title of Prince Yu, he has strictly followed the rules of the Qing Palace, visited him every morning and evening, and regularly lectured on classics and history."

"He is kind and humble, and he is upright and respectful. He is the best among my heirs and is worthy of inheriting the throne."

"In the past, my great-grandfather, Emperor Gao, chose the most virtuous and capable when appointing a crown prince; and my great-grandfather, Emperor Rui, placed particular emphasis on the eldest son in the line of succession."

"I have inherited the legacy of the great emperors and ruled the world. I now accept the will of heaven and obey the will of the people. I strictly follow the rule of the Imperial Ming Ancestor's Instructions that 'if there is a legitimate heir, the heir shall be appointed; if there is no legitimate heir, the eldest son shall be appointed'. I hereby announce this to the world of the Ming Dynasty." "From now on, I appoint my third son, Prince Yu Zhu Zaigui, as the Crown Prince and grant him the golden book and golden seal. On the auspicious day of December in the 170th year of Jiajing, the ceremony of enthronement will be held in the Fengtian Hall."

"I order the Ministry of Rites to prepare the nine-guest ceremony with crowns, robes, and dragon robes; I order the Cabinet to draft an imperial edict to be announced to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, in order to honor the spirits of our ancestors."

"I hope the prince will improve his virtue day by day, respect heaven and follow the example of his ancestors, work diligently and love the people, and never Don't forget the hardships that the past emperors went through in starting their businesses;"

"You, the civil and military officials, should work together to assist us, support the state, and protect the great foundation. Announce this to the whole world, so that everyone will know it."

"The last day of November in the one hundred and seventieth year of the Jiajing reign..." After reading the last line with excitement, Yan Shifan couldn't help but take a deep breath, staring straight ahead with his eyes wide open. After being stunned for a long time, he turned his head and looked at his father Yan Song who was lowering his head.

Yan Shaoting, who was sitting nearby, also had a dazed look on his face, with a look of disbelief in his eyes.

Is this how he was appointed crown prince?
Why did it happen so suddenly? Didn't Prince Yu's Mansion plot against the emperor and pay a price? Could the price be becoming the crown prince?

"Shifan," Yan Song, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up, looking at Yan Shifan and his son and said, "From today on, tell everyone in my Yan family, whether it's the court politics or the immortal clan business, if they come across Prince Yu's Mansion, they must take a detour."

"There must not be any conflict of interest!"

"...Dad?!" Yan Shifan was stunned when he heard his father Yan Song's words, and opened his mouth to say something.

In his opinion, even though Prince Yu has now been named the Crown Prince, there is no need for the Yan family to worry so much, right?
Besides, he was just the crown prince of the Immortal Dynasty. From the moment he was appointed crown prince, it could have been thousands or even tens of thousands of years.

During this period, his Yan family's immortal clan probably had already produced countless immortals who ascended to heaven.

There are probably several immortals in the family.

The stability of the court will also require the help of the immortals like them in the future, right?
So what if Prince Yu is the crown prince?

In the future, after inheriting the throne, he will ascend to the upper realm sooner or later. At that time, when the new emperor ascends the throne, won’t he need the support of the immortals like them?

Therefore, although he was surprised that Prince Yu was named the Crown Prince, he was not worried at all.

However, what Yan Shifan did not expect was that his father Yan Song would react so violently.

It seemed as if she was extremely wary of Prince Yu.

Is it that serious? When the Yan family supported King Jing in the past, King Jing was banished from the capital, and King Yu was about to inherit the throne. At that time, the Yan family still competed with King Yu.

It can be said that they were not afraid at all. In case Prince Yu became the emperor in the future, their Yan family would be punished later.

At this time, the future is much stronger than that time. I didn't expect
However, seeing that Yan Shifan wanted to say something, his serious tone became heavier than ever before.

"Do as I say!"

Seeing his father Yan Song's intense reaction, although Yan Shifan didn't understand, he also knew that it was best not to offend his father at this time.

Then he exchanged a glance with his son Yan Shaoting, and the two of them bowed and said:
"My son (grandson) understands."

Of course, it was not just Yan Song's family who were shocked by the edict to appoint the prince.

At this moment, the whole world was in an uproar.

No one could have imagined that the position of the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty would be decided so early.

No one could have imagined that the position of crown prince would fall on Prince Yu.

For the common people, this decree of enthronement was mostly just for fun, and they discussed it and treated it as a topic of conversation.

But for officials of all ranks in the Ming Dynasty, this means a lot.

Before this, everyone believed that the position of the crown prince might not be determined in the next hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years.

After all, nowadays, all officials who hold the position of provincial governor know that the Ming Dynasty will invade the world of immortal cultivation in the future.

It is still unknown how long it will take for everything to be settled, and during this period, the emperor may very likely have other children.

These heirs will inevitably have to go through even more brutal struggles in the future before the crown prince can be finally determined.

However, what they never expected was that the position of crown prince would be established so easily.

Moreover, the person who got the position of crown prince was actually Prince Yu, whom they had not been optimistic about before.

Why don't you think highly of Prince Yu? The reason is very simple.

Firstly, Prince Yu has decided to join forces with Prince An. Officials in particular from Prince Yu's faction all know that Prince Yu wants to support Prince An to become the crown prince and eventually ascend to the throne.

Therefore, many officials from Prince Yu's Palace had already begun to move closer to Prince An's Palace, either openly or secretly.

Even regarding this phenomenon, Prince Yu's Mansion did not interfere too much unless it involved trusted officials in important positions.

The relationship between Prince An's Mansion and Prince Yu's Mansion is so close that they are almost like wearing the same pants.

Officials from the two factions are even closer.

Some local government officials can even share what they have and support each other.

Secondly, that was the emperor’s attitude earlier.

Even before the nine princes were born, everyone thought that the future crown prince would be between Prince Yu Zhu Zaigui and Prince Jing Zhu Zaizhen. But after the emperor took concubines and conferred titles on the princes, rumors spread in the court that the emperor had given up on the two princes.

Although the rumor was later dispelled through some ambiguous actions, in the eyes of the ministers, the emperor did so only to balance the power among the kings.

In fact, the candidate for the future crown prince will definitely not be between Prince Jing and Prince Yu.

But no one expected that within just a hundred years, on such an unexpected day, the position of the crown prince was decided, and it was Prince Yu!

For a moment, all the officials were confused.

I don't understand why the emperor chose Prince Yu to be the crown prince.

Of course, at this moment, the ones who could not accept it the most were Prince Jing, Prince Gong, Prince An, Prince Ning and other kings.

Especially King Jing!
From the very beginning, he and his third brother had been competing for the position of crown prince, and until now, they have been chasing and surpassing each other.

Whether it is scheming and cunning, or the power in the court.

Or maybe it was political tricks or means of controlling his subordinates, Prince Jing did not think that he was worse than Prince Yu. But he did not understand. It was obvious that this time the people in Prince Yu's mansion had plotted against his father, causing an uproar in the world.

The common monks were even more resentful!

As a result, Prince Yu not only did not suffer any punishment, but was instead established as the crown prince by his father.

It's not fair. It's so unfair.

King Jing Zhu Zaizhen could not accept this!

In Prince Jing's palace.

"Bang!" At the moment when tables, chairs, doors and windows exploded, several eunuchs in the Foundation Establishment Stage were blown away.

Then, the angry roar of Prince Jing Zhu Zaizhen was heard, "Get out of here, all of you!"

At this time, in the government courtyard.

Prince Zhu Yijin, dressed in white, stood quietly, looking at the hall that had turned into ruins, without saying a word.

"Your Highness, this..."

The eunuchs looked anxiously at the Crown Prince Zhu Yijin, hoping to find a backbone.

As for the other people in the palace, they were all staying in the yard under Zhu Yijin's arrangement.

Like Prince Yu's Palace, the power of Prince Jing's Palace had gradually shifted from Prince Jing to Crown Prince Zhu Yijin.

The only difference is that Prince Yu had long given up hope of becoming the crown prince, and he agreed to cooperate with Prince An only to fight for the position of crown prince for his son Zhu Yijun, nothing more.

But King Jing was different. His goal had never changed, which was to fight for the throne.

Prince Yu, who had no intention of competing for the throne, became the crown prince, while Prince Jing, who had always aspired to be the crown prince, saw his hopes dashed.

This feeling of gap is indescribable to outsiders.

At this moment, no one could understand his father's mood better than Zhu Yijin.

"Everyone, please leave." Zhu Yijin glanced at the frightened eunuchs and maids and said softly.

"Yes!" After getting the prince's permission, the eunuchs and maids quickly retreated, leaving Zhu Yijin alone in the yard.

With an idea in his mind, Zhu Yijin stepped forward, entered the ruins, and went towards King Jing Zhu Zaizhen who was standing in the middle.

"Father," Zhu Yijin took a deep breath and said in a subdued tone, "This may not be a good thing..."

"Hmm?" Upon hearing his son Zhu Yijin's words, Prince Jing Zhu Zaizhen, who was originally emitting a violent aura, suddenly turned around and said:

"What's the meaning!"

"These are just some of my reasonable guesses," Zhu Yijin did not finish his words. After a pause, he began to say, "The imperial court used a strange plague in the world of immortal cultivation, while in the world of Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng proposed to abolish the life cultivation system."

"From what I know about the Emperor, he has been tempted since the moment the idea of ​​abolishing the Innate Cultivation System was proposed. However, this matter requires someone with enough weight to do it. Naturally, this person could be Zhang Juzheng or the cabinet."

"Even, this matter could be the emperor himself."

"For the emperor, it doesn't matter whether the method is glorious or not, or whether it will bring a stain to him, the holy and flawless Immortal Emperor who founded the Immortal Dynasty!"

"The emperor has never been a person who cares about these things." Zhu Yijin said, and under the gaze of King Jing who was gradually regaining his spirits, he continued: "But someone cares!"

"Hai Rui?" King Jing asked.

"That's right." Zhu Yijin said, shaking his head slightly, "But these are not enough for the emperor to care about."

"What the Emperor really cares about is the abolition of the life-cultivation system. Once this national policy is implemented, the Ming Dynasty will inevitably fall into turmoil."

"Therefore, someone must be held accountable for this!"

"This person's identity and status must be sufficient, so..."

"Crown Prince?!" King Jing blurted out, and at the same time he couldn't help but take a breath of cold air, and whispered to himself in disbelief:

"Is Father going to give up on my third brother?!"

"..." (End of this chapter)