My father is Jiajing

West Garden, Hall of Diligent Governance.

This is the new palace that Zhu Zaiji selected this year.

This is a palace located on the shore of Nanhai Lake in Xiyuan.

The reason for choosing this location was that Zhu Zaiji did not like the dull and boring environment inside the Forbidden City.

Of course, Zhu Zaiji certainly couldn't say that as a public reason.

He moved here under the pretext of being closer to take care of the retired Emperor Jiajing.

Although the current Jiajing Emperor has miraculously extended his lifespan for a period of time thanks to the meticulous treatment by Li Shizhen and other highly skilled imperial physicians.

However, this continuation is ultimately limited.

After all, the current Jiajing Emperor is already over sixty years old and no longer young and vigorous.

Moreover, he spent too much time refining and consuming elixirs in his early years, and even though Li Shizhen and others tried their best to help him detoxify, it was impossible to completely reverse his physical condition.

Therefore, the Jiajing Emperor is now nearing the end of his life.

Looking at the increasingly emaciated Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Zaiji was honestly not feeling good either.

After all, over the years, ever since he resolved the "father-son suspicion" with the Jiajing Emperor, even though Zhu Zaiji's conscious memory still contained the influence of another period of life's memories and emotions.

However, Zhu Zaiji could not help but be moved when faced with the selfless and affectionate father-son relationship with the Jiajing Emperor.

He believed that since he had inherited all the honor and benefits of the original owner, he should naturally also inherit the original owner's responsibilities and fulfill his filial duties to the Jiajing Emperor.

Therefore, Zhu Zaiji now goes to the Wanshou Palace, where Emperor Jiajing resides, almost every day to serve him medicine, talk to him, and listen to him recount the past over and over again.

This is a normal psychological phenomenon as people age.

Even the emperor, who is high above all others, is no exception at this point.

"Father, let me do it."

Zhu Zaiji had just come from the Qinzheng Hall by the South Sea when he saw the Jiajing Emperor, who was about to get up to find something.

When Emperor Jiajing heard Zhu Zaiji's voice, he hesitated for a moment before slowly turning around. He squinted his already cloudy eyes and looked at the person carefully. After a while, he finally recognized who it was.

"So it's San'er."

Zhu Zaiji came over to help the Jiajing Emperor, then looked at the eunuchs serving in the study with displeasure, "How are you taking care of the retired emperor?"

After being questioned by Zhu Zaiji, the eunuchs were so frightened that they immediately knelt on the ground, begging for mercy repeatedly: "Your Majesty, please forgive us! Your Majesty, please forgive us!"

Just as these eunuchs were begging for mercy in fear, the Jiajing Emperor waved his hand and said, "It's not their fault. I told them not to move."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zaiji immediately became anxious and said, "How can this be? Their biggest job is to take good care of you and help you with whatever you want to do. How can you let them watch from the sidelines? What if they get hurt?"

Hearing Zhu Zaiji's words, the Jiajing Emperor couldn't help but laugh. "It's alright, I can still move. Compared to that scoundrel Huang Jin who has no loyalty or filial piety, I'm much better."

When Huang Jin was mentioned, although the Jiajing Emperor spoke ill of Huang Jin, he couldn't help but feel sad and distressed inside.

Because Huang Jin passed away in his sleep a few days ago.

That day, Emperor Jiajing was still waiting for Huang Jin to come over. As usual, he helped Huang Jin with the small matters in the study and told him stories from the past.

But on that day, Emperor Jiajing waited and waited, but Huang Jin never appeared.

It wasn't until noon that the servants who served Huang Jin came in a panic to report Huang Jin's death.

After hearing this news, the Jiajing Emperor remained silent for a long time, without saying a word.

Meanwhile, Zhu Zaiji, who was at the Wenhua Hall, was also shocked to learn of Huang Jin's death. He had never expected that the healthy Huang Jin would leave before the Jiajing Emperor.

So, at that time, Zhu Zaiji issued an edict ordering the Directorate of Ceremonial to take charge of Huang Jin's funeral arrangements, and at the same time hurriedly came to Wanshou Palace to visit the Jiajing Emperor.

It should be noted that Huang Jin is the only person who has accompanied Emperor Jiajing from childhood to old age.

Now that Huang Jin is gone, the Jiajing Emperor seems to have become the loneliest and most pitiful person in the world, without even a single person to talk to or accompany him to the end.

Therefore, it is conceivable how much of a blow Huang Jin's departure was to the Jiajing Emperor.

Therefore, Zhu Zaiji took this opportunity to directly order his palace to be moved from Wenhua Hall to Qinzheng Hall, which is closer to Wanshou Palace.

At the same time, Zhu Zaiji also vacated a palace next to the Qin Zheng Hall to serve as the new residence of the Grand Secretariat in the Western Garden, allowing them to work nearby and handle government affairs in a timely manner.

Zhu Zaiji helped the Jiajing Emperor sit on the daybed, poured him a cup of tea and placed it beside him, before asking, "Father, what were you looking for just now?"

The Jiajing Emperor looked up at Zhu Zaiji and said in a normal voice, "I'm looking for paper and pen. When Huang Jin was alive, I said I would give him a celestial talisman so that he could become an immortal with me."

"Although he has passed away before me without any regard for loyalty or filial piety, I cannot forget this matter. So I was just looking for paper and pen to write a celestial register for him, so that he can take it with him on his journey and help me prepare a place in heaven first, so that when I become an immortal and go there one day, it will be easier for him to get familiar with the new environment."

As Zhu Zaiji listened to Emperor Jiajing's words, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

The current Jiajing Emperor no longer uses the title "朕" (zhen, meaning "I" or "the Emperor") and acts like an ordinary old man.

Therefore, in order to adapt to the changes of the Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Zaiji also changed his original form of address and started calling him "father" instead, a term he had never been able to use before.

So, if you ignore Zhu Zaiji and the Jiajing Emperor's identities and their positions, and just listen to their current conversation and how they address each other, you would think they are just an ordinary father and son.

But in fact, these two are the supreme emperors who now control the present and future of the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Zaiji said, "Alright, I'll find you the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. Once you've finished writing, I'll send someone to personally deliver it to Huang Jin."

The Jiajing Emperor nodded and said softly, "Alright."

Zhu Zaiji got up and went over to find paper and pen for the Jiajing Emperor, and also brought over a small table for writing, so that the Jiajing Emperor could more easily get up and write.

After finishing these tasks, Zhu Zaiji helped Emperor Jiajing grind the ink, spread out the paper, and also placed a paperweight on top.

Then Zhu Zaiji helped the Jiajing Emperor sit down and said, "Father, everything is ready. Now you can write the immortal register for Huang Jinchi."

The Jiajing Emperor squinted his already presbyopic eyes and looked around again. He first reached for a golden nanmu eyeglass case, took out the crystal reading glasses inside, and put them on shakily. Only then did he feel much better and be able to see things clearly.

"Where is the brush?" The Jiajing Emperor looked around but couldn't see the wolf-hair brush that was right in front of him, so he asked in confusion.

Zhu Zaiji was very patient with this situation. He helped the Jiajing Emperor take the wolf-hair brush and handed it to him.

"The pen is here, Dad."

Emperor Jiajing took the wolf-hair brush from Zhu Zaiji. He carefully checked the tip to make sure there were no burrs or splits before bending down to write the celestial register he had prepared for Huang Jin on the small table.

The very first line, written by the Jiajing Emperor, was quite conventional: "The Sacred Dao and Immortal Register of the Supreme Mysterious Capital Realm!"
The way this sentence is written is also very particular, and it is almost modeled after the format of Taoist talismans that are popular nowadays.

However, the phrase "Supreme Mysterious Capital Realm Sacred Dao Immortal Register" written by Emperor Jiajing is different from ordinary Daoist registers.

Because most Taoist registers begin with "Taishang" or "Shangqing" and end with "Taishang Jinglu", while the immortal registers that Emperor Jiajing wanted to write also began with "Taishang".

However, what he wrote was the "Mysterious Capital Realm" Sacred Immortal Register mentioned in the Taoist title he bestowed upon himself.

It is evident that the "Xuandu Realm" celestial realm, which was artificially created by the Jiajing Emperor, was indeed intended by him as his future ascension to immortality.

Therefore, the immortal register he wrote to Huang Jin was also described using the term "Mysterious Capital Realm".

After writing the title of the celestial register in the opening section.

Emperor Jiajing began writing the first part of the book.

The content of the first part is actually not complicated.

It also follows the format of Taoist talismans.

He wrote a larger version of the character "奉" (Feng), placing it in a single, upright space.

Then he started writing his own Taoist name on a new line, which was the decree of the god worshipped in the celestial register and the source of the legitimacy of this celestial register.

The Jiajing Emperor continued writing: "By imperial decree of the Supreme Great Luo Heavenly Immortal, Purple Extreme Longevity, Holy Wisdom, Illuminating Spirit, Unifying the Origin, Proving Response, Jade Void, Supreme Master of the Five Thunders, Great True Man of the Mysterious Capital Realm, Emperor of Ten Thousand Years of Longevity":

"This disciple, Huang Jin, Dharma name Qingde Miaozhong Zhenren, is from Luoyang, Henan Province."

"He inherited the Dao of the Supreme Mysterious Capital Realm and is a second-generation disciple of the Longevity Emperor."

These two sentences serve a similar function to an ID card, explaining the name, Taoist title, place of origin, source of the Taoist teachings received, and identity of the person receiving the ordination.

It allows people to clearly see at a glance which family the person receiving the ordination belongs to.

After finishing those parts, Emperor Jiajing began writing the main text.

The main text is also written in imitation of the content of the Daoist talismans.

"Now I am granted the 'Supreme Mysterious Capital Realm Sacred Dao Immortal Register', and I am appointed to the Mysterious Capital Realm, in charge of the Supreme Mysterious Capital Realm's authority to administer rites, subdue ghosts, and communicate with the gods."

"Those who wear this talisman will be summoned."

"The Six Ding and Six Jia Divine Generals of Xuandu" (later accompanied by talismanic patterns).

“Xuan Du Five Directions Thunder Department Officers and Soldiers” (later accompanied by talismans and divine patterns).

Zhu Zaiji watched as Emperor Jiajing solemnly wrote this immortal inscription and meticulously drew his own unique talismanic patterns on the back. These were the means by which Huang Jin could command these so-called divine generals and soldiers after ascending to the Xuandu Realm.

Seeing this, Zhu Zaiji couldn't help but admire Emperor Jiajing's obsession with becoming an immortal.

You should know that people who can make this kind of thing are either legitimate Taoist sects with a proper lineage, or they are just some unorthodox and evil sects coming up with a deceptive trick.

Now that the Jiajing Emperor himself is writing the talismans and drawing the symbols, it is clear that this is even more sinister than ordinary evil practices.

The key is that no one can call this kind of evil thing evil when they see it; in fact, they have to keep praising it and saying that it is the orthodox talisman of the Xuanmen sect.

Otherwise, you'll get yourself into trouble in no time!
After all, these are immortal talismans created by the emperor; who would dare say they are fake?

No one would dare say it's fake.

Therefore, the talisman that Emperor Jiajing wrote for Huang Jin can, in a sense, be considered a genuine Taoist talisman.

As for how many immortals Emperor Jiajing's Xuandu Realm will be able to recruit to ascend to work in the future, that's another matter entirely.

After all, as far as Zhu Zaiji knew, his Xuandu Realm Immortal Realm only had one emperor, the Jiajing Emperor, as well as several eunuch immortals and some ministers who had been bestowed with Taoist titles by him.

However, whether these eunuchs and ministers who received Taoist titles from him were willing to "ascend" to Emperor Jiajing's Xuandu Realm of Immortals in the future to become divine servants was another matter entirely.

After watching Emperor Jiajing carefully dry the immortal register he had painstakingly written, Zhu Zaiji also carefully helped Emperor Jiajing retrieve a private seal engraved with Emperor Jiajing's Taoist name, and then helped Emperor Jiajing stamp the immortal register with the seal.

After doing all this, Zhu Zaiji said to the Jiajing Emperor, "With this celestial register, Huang Jin will surely ascend to immortality and continue to serve you in the celestial realm."

The Jiajing Emperor nodded with satisfaction. Writing this immortal register had indeed taken a lot of his energy.

Now, listening to Zhu Zaiji's words, he felt the same way.

The Jiajing Emperor said, "This is all I can give Huang Jin now. As for the other things that should have been given, they were already given while he was alive."

Zhu Zaiji said, "Yes, I am very moved by Father's affection for Huang Jin. He served Father his whole life and received all the glory before and after his death. This can be considered a story that will be praised for all time."

The Jiajing Emperor nodded in deep agreement. In his heart, the relationship between Huang Jin and him was indeed a timeless tale.

Moreover, the two had known each other for decades, and had gone through a series of identity changes from Anlu to the capital, so their bond was undeniably deep.

Now that Huang Jin is gone, leaving only the lonely Jiajing Emperor, how could he not bestow upon Huang Jin the greatest and most profound honors?
Therefore, this seemingly absurd talisman was actually Emperor Jiajing's most sincere trust and reliance on Huang Jin.

It should be noted that other senior eunuchs who served Emperor Jiajing in the past at most received a Taoist title bestowed by the emperor. This was the first time such a celestial register had been granted.

It is evident how much trust Huang Jin enjoyed!
The Jiajing Emperor said, "Hurry up and send someone to deliver this to Huang Jin. Don't let him wait foolishly. Otherwise, if he gets tricked into reincarnating by the Black and White Impermanence again, I won't be able to find him."

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