Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

The Imperial Palace outside Weihui City.

Lu Chen stood by the window, looking at the central area of ​​the palace not far away, where the Jiajing Emperor's bedroom was located, and only sparse light was visible at this time.

It was already late at night when Lu Bing and Lu Chen arrived at the imperial palace. Emperor Jiajing was already asleep, so it was impossible to disturb him. Lu Bing arranged for Lu Chen to rest in the room where Lu Wei had originally lived.

However, Lu Chen did not take the time to get some sleep and prepare to meet the emperor the next day, as Lu Bing had expected.

Because something big is going to happen tonight!

In another dimension of history, the fire at the Weihui Imperial Palace occurred in the early morning of February 28th!

There are no detailed records of when or where the fire started.

However, Lu Bing carried the Jiajing Emperor out of the fire at the fourth watch of the night, which is the hour of Chou, between one and three in the morning.

According to historical records, the fire was caused by a candle accidentally left behind by a palace maid, which ignited the curtains.

Before being led into the Weihui Palace by Lu Bing, Lu Chen thought it was a real palace, or at least a temporary renovation and reconstruction of a wealthy family's residence.

Upon entering this area, Lu Chen discovered that the so-called "palace" was merely a temporary structure built to receive the emperor, with all the buildings being simple wooden structures designed for easy assembly and disassembly.

It is estimated that all the "palaces" along the way will be demolished after the southern tour ends.

While simple all-wood structures are convenient, they can easily lead to disaster if a fire breaks out.

The wind has picked up outside, and it's quite strong, so the fire will inevitably spread very quickly.

Lu Chen estimated that from the initial fire to the raging fire that spread throughout the entire palace, it may have taken less than an hour, or even less than half an hour.

Lu Bing rescued the Jiajing Emperor from the fire between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., so the earliest time the fire started was probably between midnight and 1 a.m.

Just over a month ago, I was still discussing crystal glassware business with Xu Dong, a businessman, at Shuangyu Port in Zhoushan.

Even after his impersonation of "Lu Chen" was exposed, he simply went to sea and followed the path that Wang Wufeng and Zheng Yiguan had once taken in another dimension.

At this moment, he was already very close to the Jiajing Emperor, the supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty.

Judging from the fact that Emperor Jiajing's southern tour entourage arrived in Weihui on February 27, at least so far, the history of this plane has not been significantly altered by the butterfly effect it caused.

What can I do tonight, and what should I do?

It won't be long before this palace is engulfed in flames; a decision must be made as soon as possible.

Just like in another dimension, did Lu Bing rush into the fire and carry the Jiajing Emperor out?

The person he was about to impersonate was the posthumous son of Prince Xingxian, the only younger brother of Emperor Jiajing.

If we were still at the post station, it would be one thing, but now that we have arrived at the imperial palace, how can we remain inactive when the palace is on fire and our brother is facing a life-or-death crisis?

No, I have to go to the fire with Lu Bing.

Once you reach the fire scene, what choices should you make?

After the fire spread throughout the entire palace, the scene was extremely chaotic. In another dimension of history, many palace maids, eunuchs, and even low-ranking concubines died in this fire.

With his mental power, it would be easy for him to do something in this great chaos, and no one would be able to see anything.

This is my chance to get up close to the Jiajing Emperor, and it may even be my only chance.

Under normal circumstances, even at the ceremony of bestowing the title of prince, the Jiajing Emperor would keep a distance from him, and it would be almost impossible for him to get within three meters.

Should we take advantage of this opportunity to secretly harm the old Taoist priest?

They didn't even need to do anything; they just needed to cause some trouble for Lu Bing on his way to the fire.

The fire must have been extremely dangerous to have killed so many palace servants.

Even arriving just a few minutes or even tens of seconds late might not have given them a chance to rescue the Jiajing Emperor before the fire engulfed his palace.

The life and death of this Daoist emperor were now in his own hands.

If the Jiajing Emperor were to die in this fire, would it be a good thing or a bad thing for me?

At this time, his identity had not yet been confirmed, and the only person qualified to do this was Emperor Jiajing himself.

Without the emperor's public recognition, no matter how much one resembles the emperor, there will be many variables.

The Lu family's current status is based on the Jiajing Emperor's favor. Once the emperor dies in the fire, the Lu family will inevitably lose power.

Moreover, Lu Bing himself was in charge of the security of the palace.

Lu Bing's act of carrying the Jiajing Emperor out of the fire was a great achievement, and it was impossible to hold Lu Bing responsible for the fire afterward.

But if the emperor had truly been burned to death, Lu Bing would not have been able to escape blame.

The Lu family rose to prominence due to the favor of Emperor Jiajing, which had long been the envy of many. In another dimension of history, not long after Emperor Jiajing's death, the Lu family was purged.

What a terrible crime it was for the emperor to die in a fire due to dereliction of duty.

How could the Lu family's political enemies possibly let this go!

If the Lu family falls, it will be difficult to prove that Lu Chen's birth mother, Wang, was a maidservant by the side of Emperor Jiajing's wet nurse.

Without this irrefutable evidence, I would be in a very passive position.

It's not enough to just look like the Jiajing Emperor when he was young; there are people who look alike but are not related by blood.

The case of the fake crown prince during the Hongguang reign of the Southern Ming Dynasty is a bloody example.

After the Jia Shen year, a young man fled to Nanjing and claimed to be Zhu Cilang, the crown prince of Chongzhen. Many eunuchs and palace maids who had stayed in Beijing and had seen the crown prince wept and knelt before him. Emperor Hongguang, Zhu Yousong, also declared, "If he is the real crown prince, then he is my son."

But not long after, someone pointed out that the boy was an imposter, and the Hongguang Emperor immediately ordered a thorough interrogation.

The boy quickly confessed, saying that his name was "Wang Zhiming" and that he was the grand-nephew of the imperial son-in-law Wang Bing.

"Wang Zhiming" reversed is "Ming Zhi Wang" (meaning "King of Brightness"). How dare the grandson of a prince consort name his child such a name?

This name is remarkably similar to that of Zhu Cijiong, who used the alias "Wang Shiyuan" and lived until the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty.

In the official history of another dimension, this "Wang Zhiming" is called an imposter and a fake crown prince, but there have always been many doubts in the historical community. Until Lu Chen transmigrated, it was still an unsolved mystery.

Zuo Liangyu, the Ming general who was stationed in Wuchang, even launched a campaign to attack Nanjing by sailing down the Yangtze River under the pretext of "saving the crown prince and purging the court of corrupt officials".

Although the mutiny ended with Zuo Liangyu's death midway through, the people of Nanjing generally sympathized with the "Crown Prince" and believed that the court was incompetent.

On the eve of the fall of Nanjing, the people even stormed into the prison and proclaimed this "Wang Zhiming" as emperor.

The attitude of the Qing army commander-in-chief, Dodo, was also very strange. He escorted Wang Zhiming and the Hongguang Emperor Zhu Yousong to Beijing together and beheaded them at Caishikou in Beijing.

The "Crown Prince Zhu Cilang of Chongzhen," who was worshipped by many eunuchs and palace maids who had seen the Crown Prince in Beijing, was transformed into the imposter "Wang Zhiming."

If the Jiajing Emperor were to die in the fire tonight, and the Lu family were implicated and brought to their downfall, what would become of me?!