Emperor Ming: Your Majesty, you have caused me so much suffering.

On the 16th day of the eighth month of the 14th year of the Zhengtong reign, night fell.

The capital city, the Prince Cheng's residence.

Prince Zhu Qiyu of Cheng locked himself in his room, anxiously awaiting news that could change his fate.

He had read the book "Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty" on the table countless times, and one passage in particular was glaringly offensive.

"If there is no prince in the court, the succession must be made from the elder brother to the younger brother, and the prince born to the legitimate mother must be established. The prince born to a concubine, even if he is the eldest, cannot be established. If a treacherous minister abandons the legitimate heir and establishes a concubine, the concubine must remain in his place and not make any move. He must send a message to the legitimate heir who should be established, and make sure that the legitimate heir ascends the throne."

For Zhu Qiyu, who was born out of wedlock, the essence of confinement lay within him.

There was also a list on a piece of paper next to him. This list concerned the people in the Prince's Mansion. It was the result of Zhu Qiyu's investigation over the past half month.

Zhu Qiyu put down the "Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty," looked at the names on the paper, picked up his pen and marked out the people who were available. In an instant, only a few people remained. Upon closer inspection, he felt it was not right, so he marked them again. This time, the list was empty.

Zhu Qiyu could only get up, place the paper on the tray and burn it. A moment later, a pungent smoke rushed into his throat. He exhaled a long breath of turbid air, looked at the roof beam, and sighed inexplicably.

Where are my trusted confidants?

Two weeks ago, he was a staff member of the Culture and Tourism Bureau. The trend of short videos had swept through the Culture and Tourism Bureau. In order to make a cultural and historical promotional video about Yu Qian, he searched through relevant historical materials. In the end, he couldn't help but feel sad about the final fate of Yu Qian and Zhu Qiyu. He just sighed involuntarily.

If I were Zhu Qiyu, I would do this and that!

As for the ambitious words I uttered, I can't remember them anymore, but these words must have offended some serious deity in heaven, who, based on the principle of "if you can do it, then you do it," sent me on my way!

I woke up to find myself here.

Zhu Qiyu's current situation is extremely dire.

Over the past two weeks, he has gone through countless deliberations and come to a startling conclusion: the original owner of the body, Zhu Qiyu, was a domesticated pig.

Once enfeoffed in the capital, they were not allowed to leave the capital and were completely under surveillance.

When his own elder brother, Zhu Qizhen, went on a military campaign, he didn't even give up the title of regent, directly leaving Zhu Qiyu to guard the capital, and issued an imperial edict along with it.

"Whenever there are urgent or important matters, whether in the capital or elsewhere, a messenger shall be dispatched with a memorial to the imperial court. Other routine matters shall be collected by this department and submitted for approval upon the emperor's return."

To put it bluntly, staying in the capital meant being unable to ask questions, and attending court was like watching a play; one was merely a puppet.

Normally, one can just eat and drink at the Prince's Mansion. If there's nothing to do, it's best not to go out of the Prince's Mansion. Generally, court affairs should be handled by the ministers, and important matters should be reported to Zhu Qizhen for decision-making.

They had absolutely no influence in the capital. The few officials in the Prince's mansion were all scholars who had passed the imperial examinations, and their abilities were mediocre.

The only official who passed the imperial examination was a eunuch named Cheng Jing.

He was originally an official in the Prince of Jin, Zhu Jixi's, palace. He had just taken office when the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Han, Zhu Gaoxu, were accused of conspiring against him. Cheng Jing's unfortunate career had not even begun to end.

Originally sentenced to military service, Cheng Jing worried that this would affect his descendants and was determined to die. Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji respected him as a man of integrity and that he was not deeply involved in the matter, so he changed the punishment from military service to castration, making him a eunuch. Later, he was assigned to the Prince of Cheng's mansion as a clerk and served as a tutor to Zhu Qiyu, making him Zhu Qiyu's half-teacher.

This person was also the closest person to Zhu Qiyu after he came to the Ming Dynasty. After careful consideration, he found that this person was the most intelligent person in the entire Prince's Mansion, and could at least be considered a confidant.

Just as Zhu Qiyu was deep in thought, the door opened suddenly and urgently.

"Who?"

Zhu Qiyu immediately became alert and hurriedly looked in the direction of the door.

"Your Highness, someone from the palace has arrived!" The one who spoke was Cheng Jing.

Zhu Qiyu felt a sudden surge of tension; the inevitable had finally arrived. He composed himself, carefully placed the "Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty" aside, and only after verifying its accuracy did he speak: "Simu (Cheng Jing's courtesy name), enter!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jing gently pushed open the door and entered, immediately noticing a peculiar odor, but he dared not ask any further questions.

Since his illness was cured half a month ago, the prince has been behaving somewhat abnormally. He even addresses me by my courtesy name in private, and does not regard me as a disabled person at all.

This undoubtedly earned Cheng Jing unexpected respect, making him even more deferential to Zhu Qiyu.

"Who is this person? Did they explain why they have come?"

"It's Eunuch Li from the Empress Dowager's side. He didn't say what it was about, but he seemed a little anxious." Based on his first observation, Cheng Jing could only provide Zhu Qiyu with brief information for the time being.

Zhu Qiyu understood immediately. It must be because the infamous Tumu Crisis had occurred, and his puppet had finally come in handy.

"Simu, I may need to go to the palace. Go and inform the Princess that if I leave the palace, she should stay and summon all officials, both inside and outside the palace, to Chengyun Hall. They must not act rashly and must wait for my return. If I do not leave the palace, then it is as if nothing has happened. Go and do this quickly, and then come to serve me."

"Yes!" Cheng Jing nodded solemnly, his expression extremely grave.

Zhu Qiyu rushed to Chengyun Hall and entered alone.

Inside the hall, an old eunuch had been waiting for a long time, looking sideways at the crossbeam, seemingly lost in thought, and clearly not in a hurry.

Based on his past memories, Zhu Qiyu could tell the man's identity just by looking at his profile; it was none other than Li Yongchang, the trusted eunuch of Empress Dowager Sun.

Upon seeing Zhu Qiyu arrive, Li Yongchang gave a slight bow, but showed little courtesy to Zhu Qiyu. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on Zhu Qiyu and conveyed the Empress Dowager's decree, saying, "Your Highness, the Empress Dowager urgently summons you to the palace immediately."

Zhu Qiyu feigned ignorance, asking with suspicion, "It's late, and according to custom, it's inconvenient for me to enter the palace. The Empress Dowager has summoned me urgently; could Eunuch Li please tell me why?"

Having received Empress Dowager Sun's decree, Li Yongchang naturally made no attempt to conceal the truth, revealing a shocking piece of news: "His Majesty personally led the expedition, and the entire army was annihilated!"

Zhu Qiyu was taken aback when Li Yongchang brought up the matter directly. Alarm bells rang in his mind. Such a confidential matter should have been disclosed after Li Yongchang entered the palace. Disclosing it in advance was against the rules.

Zhu Qiyu was merely testing the waters earlier; now it can be concluded that Li Yongchang's visit, besides conveying an imperial decree, likely also served as a test.

"What? Impossible, impossible!" Zhu Qiyu put on an act, waving his hands repeatedly, his face changing drastically, looking incredulous. He stared at Li Yongchang, shaking his head repeatedly, even pretending to stagger. "My Ming Dynasty has hundreds of thousands of troops, while the Oirat only has so many soldiers. How could they be completely wiped out? Stop talking nonsense."

Zhu Qiyu angrily pointed at Li Yongchang, saying that he was just overacting and almost fell for real, and that old man didn't even help him up.

Li Yongchang glanced at Zhu Qiyu and said, "Your Highness, it's true. The urgent message from the border has already reached the palace. Consort Jiao and the officials of the Six Ministries have all entered the palace to discuss matters. Otherwise, I (Note 1) would not have come."

Zhu Qiyu barely managed to steady himself, still seemingly unable to believe it, and stepped forward to grab Li Yongchang's sleeve, urgently asking, "Brother...where is His Majesty? Has His Majesty returned?"

At this moment, Zhu Qiyu actually hoped that Zhu Qizhen would die unexpectedly because of his arrival. If that were the case, it would truly be a cause for celebration.

Zhu Qiyu's fate in history was quite tragic.

After Zhu Qizhen's restoration, Zhu Qiyu was stripped of his imperial title after his death, was not buried in the imperial mausoleum, and was given the posthumous title "Li," known as "Prince Li of Cheng." This was an infamous posthumous title, indicating that Zhu Qiyu was wicked throughout his life, unfilial, unbrotherly, unkind, and unjust, and his depravity was widely known, arousing the indignation of both gods and men.

Even the remains of his own empress were dug up, exposed to the sun, and trampled upon, unable to be laid to rest.

Besides being killed, the female relatives of his ministers were also given to surrendered Oirat generals by Zhu Qizhen to be humiliated. This clearly shows that he was not ashamed of being captured in the north, but instead was grateful to some Oirat people.

It is truly unique in the world to develop feelings for the enemy who destroyed the Ming Dynasty's elite troops and its golden age.

This act, which transcends human ethics and is utterly depraved, was a rare occurrence even for Zhu Qiyu, who searched through historical records.

Upon hearing this, Li Yongchang lost his previous composure and panicked. It seemed that he had not yet found out the emperor's whereabouts before coming to the Prince's residence.

Unable to answer Zhu Qiyu's question, he quickly lowered his stance and replied, "This servant does not know!"

Zhu Qiyu finally found an excuse and launched into a tirade against Li Yongchang.

"What are you all doing? News of the defeat has already arrived, but there's still no word from His Majesty. Or do none of you care about His Majesty's safety?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yongchang's face showed a hint of fear, and he almost knelt down.

As the emperor's servant, if someone were to accuse him of being indifferent to the emperor's life and death, and the person making the accusation was the emperor's own brother, that would be a death sentence.

Stop talking!

At this moment, he didn't bother to test Zhu Qiyu's intentions; he just wanted to get Zhu Qiyu into the palace as soon as possible. Otherwise, if he continued to question him and found that he knew nothing, he might lose his life.

"Your Highness, you should go to the palace immediately; perhaps there is already news from His Majesty."

Zhu Qiyu also breathed a sigh of relief. If he let this old man keep asking, he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't reveal his true colors. After all, he didn't have any feelings for Zhu Qizhen now, and was even thinking about how to kill him. If he pretended for too long, it would seem fake.

"Let's go, enter the palace immediately!"

Li Yongchang hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Your Highness, aren't you going to change your clothes?"

"You're still concerned about these formalities now? His Majesty's whereabouts are unknown. I see you're not worried at all. If His Majesty returns, I will definitely report the truth."

Li Yongchang was sweating profusely. He hurriedly bowed and stepped forward, saying, "Your Highness, this servant is terrified, please come in!"

After saying that, Li Yongchang took off running. This old man was still so agile!

Zhu Qiyu hurriedly followed Li Yongchang. When they came out, he saw Cheng Jing waiting panting beside him, so he waved his hand, signaling to follow.

With Empress Dowager Sun's imperial decree, Zhu Qiyu and his entourage were able to enter the palace without hindrance and quickly arrived at the Wenhua Hall.

Li Yongchang told Zhu Qiyu to wait a moment, then quickly went inside to inform him.

When Empress Dowager Sun saw Li Yongchang return, she coldly asked, "How was it?"

"Reporting to the Empress Dowager, His Highness Prince Cheng must have had some genuine feelings. Upon hearing of the defeat, he was so shocked that he almost fell over. He was especially concerned about His Majesty. However, he was also a bit too eager to enter the palace, and he didn't even change his clothes, entering the palace in his everyday clothes." Li Yongchang didn't dare to embellish the story and reported the facts.

"In your opinion, is the Prince of Cheng's urgency due to concern for the war and the emperor, or does he have other intentions?"

This is a life-or-death question!

Li Yongchang would have dared to answer in the past, but after being frightened by Zhu Qiyu just now, he became more reserved.

"This servant is foolish and dull!"

Empress Dowager Sun, seeing that the officials were still outside the curtain, could only wave her hand helplessly and said, "Alright, let Prince Cheng in first!"

"Summon Prince Cheng to the palace!"

Zhu Qiyu gazed at the Wenhua Hall from outside the palace, his heart surprisingly calm at that moment.

Who controls the rise and fall of this vast land? In this world, who else but me can rule it?

Great Ming Dynasty, here I come!