Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 132 A Relentless Nightmare
The emperor is ill.

This news was like a drop of very light ink, silently dripping into the bottomless murky waters of the capital, and then spreading at a seemingly slow but irresistible speed.

The news was announced by Wang Chengen to the civil and military officials waiting outside the Meridian Gate when he canceled the morning court session. His voice was high-pitched and carried the polite yet distant tone unique to people in the palace.

The official statement was as rigorous as ever, yet full of human touch.

"His Majesty spent too long discussing matters with the Duke of England yesterday and has caught a slight cold. He is in poor health and needs to rest for a few days. Gentlemen, please return."

After speaking, Wang Chengen bowed and retreated behind the heavy vermilion palace gate, which slowly closed, separating the inside and outside of the palace into two separate worlds.

The world outside the door, all the noise and whispers, was instantly silenced the moment the palace gate closed, gripped tightly by an invisible hand.

Immediately afterwards, the hand seemed to loosen its grip, allowing the unspoken sighs of relief to rise and fall among the crowd.

For the officials in the capital, the past few months since the emperor ascended the throne have been nothing short of a never-ending nightmare!

The massacre of Shanxi merchants and grain traders, the execution of Zhou Yanru by slow slicing, the bloodshed at the Meridian Gate... each and every one of these events was like a poisoned knife, precisely and cruelly stabbing into the most corrupt and sensitive nerves of this vast empire.

All the officials were like a group of prisoners with nooses around their necks, walking on thin ice with trepidation.

They were terrified that if they did something wrong, they would be targeted by the young emperor sitting on the dragon throne, whose eyes were colder than the winter.

Now, the emperor is ill.

For some officials, this news was like heavenly music.

It means that the string that has been stretched to its limit can finally be relaxed a little.

The courtiers gathered in twos and threes, their faces bearing just the right amount of worry, and their mouths uttering the same old prayers.

"May Your Majesty enjoy good health in the morning."

"Yes, Your Majesty works tirelessly for the country, day and night. You must take good care of yourself."

"We, your subjects, can only pray that Your Majesty will recover soon and regain control of the court."

However, the slight upturn of their lips and the relieved look in their eyes clearly revealed their true thoughts.

This reaction is like the first ripple on the surface of water—insignificant, yet foreshadowing deeper undercurrents.

The fermentation of the ripples began on the third day.

Several Grand Secretaries, led by Qian Longxi of the Cabinet, went to the Qianqing Palace to request an audience, in accordance with the unchanging rules of officialdom for centuries, to express their concerns as ministers.

They were kept outside the palace gates.

What blocked their way was Wei Zhongxian.

This once all-powerful eunuch, though his power had diminished somewhat after the new emperor's ascension, remained a thorn in the side of the civil officials. He stood there, a smile on his face. That smile was as warm as ever, yet it carried a chilling undercurrent that sent shivers down one's spine.

"Gentlemen, you have worked hard." Wei Zhongxian's voice was as gentle as silk. "His Majesty's health has not yet fully recovered, and the imperial physician has advised that he should not be exposed to the wind. It is truly inconvenient for him to receive guests. I will certainly convey your kind wishes to you all."

Qian Longxi and his group were rebuffed and lost face, but they couldn't retaliate. After all, the word "Imperial Respect" was the most important principle in the world.

They had no choice but to hand over the insignificant but necessary memorials, which they had hastily prepared overnight, to Wei Zhongxian and return home dejectedly.

The next day, these memorials were sent back to the cabinet intact.

There was no imperial edict, no return for reconsideration, not even a trace of it.

On the cover of each memorial, a bright red seal in seal script was neatly affixed.

— "览" (lǎn).

I have read your message, but I will not reply.

This action made a few officials with extremely keen political instincts sense something was amiss for the first time.

Previous emperors, even one as negligent as Emperor Wanli, would at least scrutinize a few of the cabinet's draft memorials. This new emperor, however, is known for his diligence, providing detailed comments on every important memorial.

This pattern is too abnormal.

……

The turning point came on the seventh day.

For seven consecutive days, the emperor did not attend court.

For seven consecutive days, no imperial edicts or imperial comments were issued from the palace.

The entire Forbidden City was like a giant beast that had fallen into a deep sleep, eerily quiet.

This goes far beyond the category of "catching a cold".

The officialdom in the capital was like a pond tossed with a huge rock, now boiling over completely.

Two distinct mindsets have officially emerged among officials, clearly divided into two distinct groups.

A small number of pragmatic officials began to feel genuinely worried.

In their view, although the new emperor was ruthless, his new policies, whether in reforming officialdom or developing financial resources, did bring a glimmer of hope to this dying dynasty.

They genuinely believed that this emperor was a rare ruler capable of restoring the dynasty.

They anxiously searched everywhere for information, trying to extract even the slightest clue from the eunuchs and maids in the palace who were related to them. However, the palace walls were high, and this time, all channels of communication were completely blocked.

The less they could find out, the more anxious and fearful they became, not only of the emperor's health, but also of the fact that this hard-won reform would be aborted.

And the Ming Dynasty will return to that old path of endless factional strife, utter corruption, and despair!

……

On the other hand, there was an overwhelming, almost ecstatic joy.

The atmosphere in the Qian family study was completely different.

Qian Qianyi could no longer hide his joy, and his hands even trembled slightly with excitement.

"The Tianqi Emperor fell into the water and died young. Now, Your Majesty has 'fallen ill' at this very moment..." He lowered his voice, a malicious yet excited glint in his eyes, "Since ancient times, few emperors who disrespect scholars and defy ancestral rules have lasted long!"

Qian Longxi was more cautious than him, but his bloodshot eyes also burned with an excited flame.

"We are troubled by the new emperor's ruthless methods and stubbornness, and we, his subjects, have no way to offer any advice. If... this is the will of Heaven..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning couldn't be clearer.

"We can use the pretext of visiting the sick to purge the emperor's inner circle! We can eliminate Wei Zhongxian and his cronies in one fell swoop, restore the ancestral system, and reshape the court!"

They all spontaneously thought of the emperors in the history of the Ming Dynasty who died under mysterious circumstances.

The Tianqi Emperor's "drowning," the Taichang Emperor's "red pill"...

Scenes of palace intrigue fueled a bold yet incredibly exciting idea in their minds—

Should this young emperor, who disregards rules and disrespects scholars, also be included?
If that's really the case...

That was absolutely divine intervention!

It was a perfect opportunity given to these loyal ministers by Heaven to set things right and regain control of the world!
Inside the study, the candlelight flickered, illuminating two faces slightly contorted with excitement, creating an eerie scene.

……

However, this was at the very beginning of the storm.

In the beginning, in a corner unnoticed by anyone, the threads of a storm were also unfolding simultaneously—

The day the emperor 'fell ill'
Imperial Guard Camp.

Three hundred of the most skilled archers and the strongest soldiers were secretly called up.

They quickly changed into black civilian clothes that had been prepared beforehand, with short crossbows at their waists and swords on their backs. Led by a stern-faced guerrilla general, they left the camp silently and soon disappeared into the thick night.

At the same time, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Southern Garrison Command.

Commander Tian Ergeng stood before five hundred elite captains, the most valiant and loyal wolves selected from tens of thousands of Imperial Guards.

His gaze swept over everyone, cold and resolute.

"Remember, you have only one mission—to obey any orders from Commander Li Ruolian!"

Almost at the same moment, in the Ministry of War, a government office that was always piled high with files, an extremely inconspicuous document was going through its final stages in the dead of night.

The content of the official document was unremarkable.

"To assist Governor Sun Chuanting of Shaanxi in suppressing bandits, three thousand elite soldiers have been specially selected from the new army of the Beijing Garrison, led by Lu Xiang-sheng, a senior official in the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War. They must set off immediately without delay."

……

The eerie atmosphere in the capital reached its peak on the fifteenth day.

Under the covert instigation of Qian Qianyi, Qian Longxi and others, several censors of the Censorate and officials of the Six Ministries, who had always considered themselves upright and outspoken, finally could not hold back and took the lead in launching an attack.

They jointly submitted a memorial to the throne.

The title of the memorial was extremely sensational, filled with the kind of relentless determination to fight to the death in political struggle.

— "A memorial requesting Your Majesty to attend court to reassure the people and to thoroughly investigate the crimes of treacherous eunuchs in the palace who have misled Your Majesty."

The spearhead was as sharp as a knife, aimed directly at the Directorate of Ceremonial and at Wei Zhongxian!

In their memorials, they cited classical texts and lamented the great harm caused by the emperor's disappearance, portraying Wei Zhongxian as a treacherous villain who imprisoned the emperor, seized power, and intended to usurp the throne a second time.

This is the first cut.

This was the first blow that formally linked the emperor's "illness" to an ongoing "palace coup."

That was a very precise strike.

It successfully ignited the long-suppressed panic and speculation within the officialdom of the capital.

However, this strike felt like cutting into a wad of cotton.

Wei Zhongxian remained firmly in charge of the Directorate of Ceremonial, as stable as Mount Tai.

He suppressed all the memorials impeaching him, exercising one of the most terrifying powers ever held by eunuchs in the history of the Ming Dynasty—"Keep it in the archives and don't send it!"
Then, through the Directorate of Ceremonial, he casually released a statement to the outside world.

"His Majesty is resting peacefully and is in good health. You, as his subjects, do not think of sharing his burdens, but instead, you are making a racket with nonsense at this time. What are your intentions? Do you perhaps hope that His Majesty's illness will worsen?"

The label of "disloyal and unfilial" was thus casually slapped on him.

It seemed powerless, yet it left those officials with no way to refute it.

Dare you say you weren't hoping the emperor would fall seriously ill?
You do not dare.

Thus, the public verbal attacks were temporarily defused.

But the undercurrents were growing ever stronger.

In the streets, various versions of rumors began to spread like wildfire, like a plague.

"Have you heard? The Emperor was actually poisoned to death by Wei Zhongxian! The one in the palace now is an imposter!"

"No, no! What I heard was that the Emperor contracted smallpox, his face was disfigured, and he's already dying!"

“I have a relative who works in the palace. He says the emperor is possessed by an evil spirit and talks nonsense all day long…”

Rumors are the cheapest and most deadly weapon in the world.

It struck precisely at the empire's most vulnerable nerve.

The entire official system in the capital was in a bizarre state of paralysis, unlike anything seen since the new emperor ascended the throne.

Everyone seemed to be waiting, waiting for the boot hanging overhead to finally fall.

……

This deathly silence was shattered at dawn on the twentieth day.

After more than half a month of agonizing waiting, led by several officials with Donglin Party backgrounds, they finally decided to stop waiting.

They need to take the initiative.

Before dawn, nearly a hundred court officials, dressed in their formal court attire, gathered outside the Meridian Gate.

They didn't make a fuss or shout.

They simply knelt on the ground in perfect unison.

Then they shouted in unison with a volume loud enough to penetrate the palace walls and shake the palace.

"Your Majesty, we respectfully wish you good health!"

"Please, Your Majesty, convene the court!"

"Please, Your Majesty, convene the court!"

This is a carefully orchestrated political pressure campaign.

They wanted to escalate the situation completely, to make the fire burn even brighter, and to force the palace to react.

Qian Longxi, Qian Qianyi, and others did not appear at the front of the line; they mingled at the back of the crowd, observing everything with indifferent and scrutinizing eyes.

The heavy Meridian Gate slowly opened a crack with a teeth-grinding creak.

Wei Zhongxian stood in front of the doorway.

Behind him stood palace guards in gleaming armor, their weapons arrayed like a forest.

Wei Zhongxian's voice remained as cold and icy as ever.

"His Majesty has decreed that during this period of rest and recuperation, no one is permitted to make a sound or cause any disturbance. You are officials appointed by the court and receive the Emperor's salary; what are you trying to do by roaring at the palace gates?!"

"Could it be that they intend to emulate the bloodshed at the Meridian Gate during the Jingtai era?!"

The moment the words "the Meridian Gate massacre" were uttered, a commotion erupted below.

A young imperial censor, emboldened by his youthful vigor, stepped forward and pointed at Wei Zhongxian, angrily rebuking him: "We are following the laws of our ancestors and acting for the safety of our sovereign and father. What crime have we committed? It is you, you eunuch, who have deceived the emperor and obstructed both the inner and outer courts. What are your intentions?"

A fierce standoff ensued.

The officials invoked the laws of their ancestors, and the censors denounced the eunuch faction for misleading the country.

Wei Zhongxian, however, held the "imperial edict" in his hand and refused to yield an inch.

The situation remained deadlocked.

Wei Zhongxian refused to let them in, and the court officials were at a loss; they couldn't very well storm the palace gates! Or rather, given the bloodshed at the Meridian Gate, they dared not!

The farce continued until evening.

The ministers were exhausted and hungry, and finally dispersed in twos and threes, feeling weary.

However, they did not expect that the daytime farce was just an appetizer.

The real killer move came in the dead of night.

The censor who led the disturbance was named Zhao Chenyi.

At midnight that night, there was a heavy knocking on the gate of his mansion.

The steward nervously opened the door and saw more than a dozen Jinyiwei captains dressed in flying fish robes with expressionless faces.

The leader was a centurion.

The centurion didn't even glance at the steward before walking straight into the courtyard.

Hearing the commotion, Zhao Chenyi rushed out of his study, still wearing his coat, and shouted angrily, "Who dares to break into the Censor's residence at night!"

The centurion slowly and deliberately took out a small booklet from his bosom.

He didn't say anything unnecessary; he simply opened the booklet and read aloud in a completely emotionless tone:
"In the 47th year of the Wanli reign, 'Bingjing' was received from the Wang family of Shanxi, along with 300 taels of silver."

"In the second year of the Tianqi reign, five hundred taels of 'charcoal tribute' were received from the Lin family, salt merchants in Huainan."

"In the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, he arranged for his nephew to obtain the position of county magistrate..."

"..."

With each sentence read aloud by the centurion, Imperial Censor Zhao's face paled a little more.

When the centurion finished reading, Ling Chenyi's face turned ashen and his whole body trembled like a leaf.

He collapsed to the ground with a thud.

He knew he was finished.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard, this vicious dog that you might think is asleep just because you can't see it, has once again revealed its deadly fangs!
A similar scene unfolded that same evening at the homes of several other officials who were leading the disturbance.

The next day, all was calm outside the Meridian Gate!

……

The capital city was plunged into an unprecedented, oppressive silence.

Officials attended court like zombies, merely making a brief appearance before hastily departing. After court, they would immediately close the gates and remain inside.

Everyone was afraid that the walls had been overheard, afraid that any word they uttered would become the next confession in the Imperial Guard's prison.

Fear, like a thick fog, enveloped the entire city of Beijing.

Day 23.

The emperor remained "ill".

The Forbidden City, like a colossal beast ready to devour its prey, overlooks the city, which is filled with fear and unease.

Qian Qianyi and others, however, became increasingly active in their thinking.

Fear can breed madness.

The brutality of the Embroidered Uniform Guard made them realize that they could no longer wait.

"A country cannot be without a ruler for a single day."

This idea, like a poisonous weed, grew wildly in their hearts.

If the emperor is truly 'gone'.

They had to get there before Wei Zhongxian.
……

Shaanxi Official Road!

The ancient and majestic Xi'an City Wall is already in sight.

A force of several thousand men is marching rapidly along the official road.

They wore uniform standard-issue swords, brand-new chainmail, and some even carried the latest muskets. Their eyes were cold and stern, displaying a discipline honed through long and rigorous training.

At the very front of the procession, a young man wearing a black cloak and riding a magnificent black horse was gazing into the distance at the ancient capital that stood on the Guanzhong Plain.

The wind, coming from the north, whipped up a sky full of yellow sand and also blew open the black cloak he was wearing, revealing a young face that should have been in the Forbidden City, but was now filled with determination and coldness.

This time, there was no 'as'.
I, the Emperor, will be there in person!

　Originally, there should have been three chapters to be presented at this time, totaling more than 15,000 words, but more than 10,000 words were cut.

　　Lately, my writing has become particularly sharp. Whenever I feel my thoughts are not flowing smoothly, I immediately pick up my pen and make tens of thousands of revisions.

　　However, if I issue an edict before 3 PM, it will be at least 10,000 characters; if it is after 3 PM, it will be at least 20,000 characters.

　　I will say no more, but write hastily by candlelight. If you gentlemen wait until late at night, you may read it again tomorrow.

　　Admire this!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)