The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 569: Long Talk in the Bedroom
The chief eunuch Dongfang Zhu whispered a few words to the retired emperor. Liu Zhaosun was shocked when he heard it. He quickly put down the memorial he had not finished reading, walked out of the Dazheng Palace, and walked towards the Cining Palace.

The chief steward waved his hand, and two imperial doctors followed him, following closely behind the retired emperor, and left the Dazheng Palace like a tail.

"Weren't the maids supposed to feed the Queen Mother? Why is this happening?"

"Your Majesty, the imperial physician has examined him and said he's fine, but will need some time to recuperate."

Dongfang Zhu followed the emperor breathlessly, explaining anxiously as he walked.

"Your Majesty, do you want to take away a few palace maids from the Cining Palace?" Eunuch Dongfang gestured at his neck.

Liu Zhaosun suddenly stopped and glanced at Dongfang Zhu's face with a cold look.

"You want me to repeat the fate of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty. The root of this is the spread of power of the imperial relatives. Killing a few palace maids will only bring disaster!"

Dongfang Zhulian said he dared not.

"Da Qi is not peaceful. There are many alarms in the north and south, and undercurrents are surging. Many people are hoping for my early death. Dongfang Zhu, don't be like them."

Dongfang Zhu was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the ground, hitting his head against the bluestone slab with a loud bang, and his forehead soon became a bloody mess.

"Get up! If I had doubted you, you would have been dead long ago!"

Liu Zhaosun had no time to care about the eunuch's feelings and continued to stride towards the Cining Palace.

At this time, the outside of the Cining Palace was already full of palace maids. Seeing the retired emperor and others coming from afar, a group of girls knelt on the ground, each of them was terrified and did not dare to look up.

"How is the Queen Mother now?"

Liu Zhaosun shouted loudly.

"What happened to the Queen Mother?!"

Several palace maids in charge knelt down and cried and wailed, their words slurred. The retired emperor pushed everyone aside, broke open the palace gate, and walked straight towards the empress dowager's bedroom.

Empress Dowager Cisi, Concubine Jin Yuji, lay quietly on the bed, and several imperial doctors with white hair and beards stood in front of the curtain.

Liu Zhaosun lifted the curtain, and an imperial physician hurriedly knelt down to pay his respects to Emperor Wuding.

"Tell me, what's going on? I haven't been to the Cining Palace for two days, why did it become like this!" The emperor said, picking up the imperial physician and glaring at him.

~~~~~
At the beginning, when Jin Yuji started a hunger strike, Liu Zhaosun did not care much. The retired emperor thought that it was just the empress dowager throwing a tantrum and using the hunger strike to threaten him, so he should take back his decision and spare the life of his uncle Jin Dajiu.

Although Liu Zhaosun did not know that Jin Dajiu had already raised the flag of rebellion in Junzhou, the charges of him exploiting the people, deceiving the court, and embezzling huge amounts of money were enough to put him to death.

Ever since the Wanggongchang explosion, the time traveler's personality has changed drastically. He seems to be possessed by a killer and kills people without mercy. As long as killing is meaningful, he will immediately send that person on the road.

This is the case with others, and even more so with Jin Dajiu. Liu Zhaosun has been betrayed before, and he doesn't want to be betrayed again.

Therefore, he did not care much about Jin Yuji's hunger strike, and even had some contempt for it. It was not until yesterday when he heard the imperial physician say that the empress dowager was in a coma that the emperor panicked and ordered the maids in the Cining Palace to let the empress dowager eat.

Now, Empress Dowager Cisi is in a coma.

The retired emperor stood before the bed, looking at the unconscious woman before him, his face shrouded in uncertainty. Blame and anger surged through Emperor Wuding, and he remained silent for a long time.

"Queen Mother, is it poisoning or is it starvation that caused the coma?"

One of Wu Youke's disciples stepped forward and replied to the emperor.

He first shook his head, indicating that the Queen Mother's coma had nothing to do with poison, and denied the possibility of assassination.

"The lung qi is blocked and the liver wind is stirring, which is why he fainted. However, it is not serious. He will be fine after a few days of recuperation. Your Majesty, don't worry."

After hearing this, Liu Zhaosun felt relieved and all the scenes he had experienced with Jin Yuji in the past came to his mind.

He turned his back to the crowd and waved gently.

Dongfang Zhu understood what he meant and immediately whispered to everyone to withdraw. The palace maids kneeling around the curtain were hesitant, not knowing whether to stand or kneel.

The chief steward stepped forward quickly and cursed at the frightened maids in a low voice: "The emperor has pardoned your death sentence, why don't you get out of here!"

Chen Yuanyuan, who had been standing by and watching the fun, saw this and knew that she could no longer watch the fun today. Although she was very reluctant, she had to withdraw temporarily. Before leaving, the beauty looked seductive and bowed to Emperor Wuding.

The emperor ignored her.

After everyone in the crowded room had left, Dongfang Zhu walked at the end, looking respectful, and gently closed the palace gate.

"all gone."

Liu Zhaosun talked to himself.

Above the bedroom, lights were blazing, covering the huge step-out bed. The Empress Dowager Cisi lay quietly on the bed, and the bright whale oil lamp illuminated Jin Yuji's pale face. The emperor brought a small stool and sat beside the empress dowager. He gently took her hand and sat there for an unknown amount of time before he began to talk to himself.

"Madam, your brother, Jin Dajiu, deserves ten deaths for what he did in Junzhou. He emptied half of Huguang, did you know that? He also has connections with the Hongguang court. A decisive battle between Daqi and Ming is inevitable. The alliance is just a deception, so your brother must die. Do you know how powerful his followers are? This time, while you were unconscious, this group of people started forcing me to abdicate. They want me to abdicate and let Liu Kan rule."

Liu Zhaosun's eyes were red as he gently stroked Jin Yuji's pale hand and continued, "If they don't die, we will die too. Kan'er will die, and Da Qi will die too. I've been tied to Da Qi's chariot and can't escape. I can only live and die with it. Yuji, don't blame me for being cruel. I'm tired of this position. If possible, I can take you to Australia, Taiwan, or any uninhabited island, just the two of us, to spend the rest of our lives. We've been fighting for more than a decade, and there's never been a single day of peace. Not only are the people tired, but I'm tired too."

Emperor Wuding's eyes were slightly red, and after talking for a long time, he gradually became incoherent. He began to tell Jin Yuji about the first time he met Jin Dajiu after the bloody battle of Hunhe. At that time, Man Gui was still alive and rushed to Shenyang from Jizhen to provide reinforcements.

"The uncle talked about the situation in North Korea and promised me that North Korea would definitely support Kaiyuan in the future. That night, you were still unconscious. I remember I only drank three glasses of wine and left in a hurry. That was the same way, I was still by your side talking to you."

"At that time, everyone worked together, without suspicion, and moved forward courageously. How wonderful it was."

"Oh, right, did you know? That Song Yingxing, the one I pardoned before, was also implicated. But I don't know yet if he's the mastermind. Anyway, of the people I sent to Junzhou, except for Zhu Youxiao and a few civil servants, everyone else was implicated. It's really funny to say that the former Ming emperor was the most loyal to the Great Qi."

Liu Zhaosun sat on a small stool and kept talking until the two whale oil lamps on the wall above their heads gradually dimmed and finally turned into a small black dot, and the surroundings became completely dark.

Jin Yuji gently opened her eyes.

The retired emperor pushed open the palace gate. From the street outside the wall, the sound of roosters crowing could be heard. A hint of paleness appeared in the eastern sky, indicating that it was already dawn.

"Husband, do what you should do. Kill him. He deserves it."

(End of this chapter)