My father is Jiajing

The lights of Wanshou Palace shone brightly, illuminating the snow-covered landscape outside.

Everyone was unusually silent that night; no one uttered a single word.

Zhu Zaiji sat quietly on the dragon throne, his face expressionless, and he didn't say a word.

The officials waiting in the hall were in the same situation. Gao Gong and Li Chunfang sat on the left and right sides respectively, with several people sitting behind them. Most of those who were qualified to sit down were members of the cabinet or ministers of the Grand Council, as well as senior ministers of the Six Ministries.

As for the other officials, they were either not high enough in rank to be in the hall, or they could only stand silently, keeping company with those who were seated and waiting for time to pass.

Moreover, during this period, even though their heels ached from standing, no one complained.

"The imperial physician! The imperial physician!"

Just as everyone was silent, an anxious shout suddenly came from inside the study.

Upon hearing the terrified cry, Zhu Zaiji and the other ministers all stood up abruptly and turned their gazes toward the direction of the Jiajing Emperor's residence.

Upon hearing the commotion, Li Shizhen and several imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy immediately rushed into the study with their medicine boxes.

Zhu Zaiji followed suit, nervously trailing behind, and they entered the hall together.

At this moment, Li Fang was wiping away tears in a state of utter confusion, her expression filled with helplessness and fear. It wasn't until she saw Zhu Zaiji arrive that she seemed to find her pillar of support.

Li Fang excitedly walked up to Zhu Zaiji and knelt down with a thud, "Your Majesty, the Emperor..."

Zhu Zaiji reached out to help Li Fang up and comforted her, saying, "The Emperor Emeritus is a lucky man; don't overthink it."

Li Fang nodded repeatedly, as if Zhu Zaiji's words had a magical power that instantly calmed him down.

Lying on the dragon bed, the Jiajing Emperor felt lightheaded, as if his soul was leaving his body.

At that moment, he seemed to see his entire life flashing before his eyes like a revolving lantern:
I saw the childhood of the Prince of Anlu's family. I saw the anxiety of ascending the throne at the age of fifteen, and the victory of my insistence on the Great Rites Controversy. I saw the glory of the Jiajing New Deal, and I also saw my own obsession with Taoist alchemy. Finally, I saw the pride of my son when he made meritorious contributions.
All of this is like crystal bubbles left deep in my memory. Wherever my eyes fall, I can immediately feel the warmth of these memories and the various emotions I felt at the time, whether it was excitement, happiness, sadness, or fear.

"Overlord"

After administering acupuncture to the Jiajing Emperor, Li Shizhen softly called out to him, pulling the emperor back to reality from his reverie.

Emperor Jiajing regained his senses, struggled to concentrate, and saw Li Shizhen standing in front of him.

The Jiajing Emperor chuckled weakly and said, "How much longer do I have this time?"

Li Shizhen looked embarrassed and dared not reply.

The acupuncture he had just administered was stimulating the last bit of potential and spirit of the Jiajing Emperor; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to hold on.

When Zhu Zaiji saw that the Jiajing Emperor had regained consciousness and was able to speak, he quickly went to the Jiajing Emperor's bedside and tightly grasped the Jiajing Emperor's withered hand.

This hand is now ice cold, almost devoid of any normal human temperature. Holding it in your hand gives you a heart-stopping feeling of life slipping away.

"Father, I am here. If there is anything else you want to say, you can tell me."

The Jiajing Emperor strained to look up at his son, whose figure was so close yet so blurry.

The Jiajing Emperor raised his hand with difficulty and pointed to a sandalwood box on the top shelf of the bookshelf.

Upon seeing this, Li Fang immediately understood and quickly went to retrieve the wooden box.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness has brought it over."

The Jiajing Emperor stared at the wooden box Li Fang had brought over, holding his breath as he said, "Open it."

Li Fang quickly obeyed and opened the wooden box.

Inside was a pre-written will.

Emperor Jiajing propped himself up again, using the strength of Zhu Zaiji's hand to sit up, but even this simple action left Emperor Jiajing so exhausted that he almost couldn't breathe.

Zhu Zaiji supported the Jiajing Emperor, using his own body for support so that the Jiajing Emperor could sit more comfortably.

The Jiajing Emperor raised his hand, panting heavily, but at this moment, his breathing was clearly the kind where he exhaled more and inhaled more.

The Jiajing Emperor struggled to catch his breath and said with difficulty, "To the Emperor."

With red eyes, Li Fang respectfully presented the imperial edict to Zhu Zaiji.

Zhu Zaiji also respectfully received it with one hand. The reason he used only one hand was because at that moment, his other hand was still supporting the body of the Jiajing Emperor.

So now he can only accept this will with one hand.

When the Jiajing Emperor saw Zhu Zaiji accept the imperial edict, a look of relief appeared on his face. He then said with effort, "Open it, open it and take a look."

Zhu Zaiji held back his tears, feeling as if a knife was cutting his throat, and responded to the Jiajing Emperor with a choked voice.

"Yes."

Zhu Zaiji opened the edict in his hand with one hand, only to find that it was a blank edict. Zhu Zaiji couldn't help but show a look of astonishment.

At the same time, even Li Shizhen, who was standing nearby, and the ministers of the Grand Council and the cabinet, who were close by, were taken aback.

How could the will be blank?
Their first reaction was that Li Fang had taken the wrong thing!
When Li Fang saw the blank imperial edict, she turned pale with fright, even more terrified than before!

The Jiajing Emperor smiled weakly, "You didn't expect that, did you? My will contained nothing."

After Emperor Jiajing uttered these words, not only Li Fang, but also the other officials in the study breathed a sigh of relief.

But you can't make jokes at a time like this.
They were being so serious when they produced a blank will, which almost scared the person to death!
The Jiajing Emperor continued, "I won't write the imperial edict myself. You can write it. Write whatever you want; consider this my last act of helping you."

When the Jiajing Emperor said those words, Zhu Zaiji could no longer hold back his tears, which streamed down his face.

Although the edicts of the deceased emperors of all dynasties were drafted and outlined by the ministers of the succeeding emperors, they still had to take some consideration for the face of the late emperor and write some nice words.

Furthermore, it must include some content that follows the late emperor's last wishes, serving as the origin of the new dynasty's governing principles.

However, Zhu Zaiji has now been in power for six years, and his position is extremely secure.

Therefore, whether Emperor Jiajing left a will or not did not actually affect the outcome.

However, at this time, he still gave Zhu Zaiji a blank edict. Obviously, he wanted Zhu Zaiji to use his status as the soon-to-be-deceased retired emperor to express some things that Zhu Zaizhen wanted to do but was restricted by ancestral rules.

To pave the way for Zhu Zaiji one last time.

After understanding Emperor Jiajing's intentions, Zhu Zaiji couldn't stop the tears from flowing. He felt truly unworthy of such profound paternal love!
Although he now calls the Jiajing Emperor "father," in his subconscious, he still doesn't truly consider himself the Jiajing Emperor's son.

He still believed that he was Zhu Yuan, who had traveled from hundreds of years in the future and possessed independent thought.

But now, even on his deathbed, Emperor Jiajing was thinking about paving the way for him once again. One can only imagine how distressed and remorseful Zhu Zaiji must have felt at this moment.

Zhu Zaiji's tears fell in torrents onto the blank imperial edict as he cried out in utter anguish, "Your son is unfilial. It's all your son's fault for being unfilial."

But at this moment, Emperor Jiajing seemed to no longer hear Zhu Zaiji's self-reproach.

His gaze suddenly became bright and empty, staring blankly at the void before him and at the coffered ceiling of the palace.

In a daze, the Jiajing Emperor seemed to see his father, Prince Xingxian, standing on a cloud, waving to him.

The Jiajing Emperor stretched out his hand, trying to grab the Prince of Xingxian in front of him.

"Father, have you come to take Cong'er?"

The Jiajing Emperor muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear.

At that moment, he seemed to actually grasp the hand that King Xingxian offered.

The Jiajing Emperor smiled happily, as if he had returned to his childhood in an instant. He said proudly to his father, "Father, I have some great news to tell you. I did not disgrace you. I not only protected Xingfan, but also became the emperor. I even posthumously honored you as the emperor."

Prince Xingxian laughed heartily, overjoyed. He squatted down, picked up the young Zhu Houcong, and said with a smile, "Come on, Cong'er, shall I take you to find your mother?"

Little Zhu Houcong happily nodded, "Okay, let's go find Mother Consort!"

With the passing of Zhu Houcong (the young emperor), the Jiajing Emperor's hand finally fell limply to the ground.

The light in his eyes dimmed in that instant, and he slowly closed his eyes.

Upon witnessing this scene, Li Fang knelt down with a thud and burst into tears!

"The Emperor Emeritus has passed away!"

In an instant, the sound of weeping spread from the palace to the outside world.

Zhu Zaiji held the lifeless body of the Jiajing Emperor, tears streaming down his face, and wept bitterly.

At this moment, all the officials knelt down, banged their heads on the ground, and wept loudly.

Then, the eighty-one tolling of the bell, signifying the emperor's death, resounded throughout the Forbidden City, heralding the beginning of national mourning and the complete end of an era.

At this moment, snowflakes are still falling silently inside and outside the capital, as if these snowflakes are the sorrow left by heaven for Emperor Jiajing.

The snow covers this palace, which witnessed the 45-year reign of the Jiajing Emperor.

An era has come to an end.

After Gao Gong and Li Chunfang bowed their heads and cried for a while, they both stood up at the same time, their eyes red.

The two men bowed sadly to the weeping Zhu Zaiji, saying, "The Emperor Emeritus has passed away. Please, Your Majesty, take heed of your grief and consider the well-being of the nation."

After the two men bowed, the other officials also rose and bowed again to Zhu Zaiji, saying, "Your Majesty, please accept our condolences!"

Zhu Zaiji was in no state of mind to grieve. It felt like being pierced by a thousand arrows. Apart from feeling pain and suffering, he could feel almost nothing else.

Now that the officials are urging him to accept their condolences, he truly cannot. Tears are still streaming down his face, and his throat feels blocked, leaving him only able to sob uncontrollably.

Gao Gong and Li Chunfang exchanged a glance. Neither of them had expected the emperor to be so filial, and they were deeply moved.

However, they could not allow Zhu Zaiji to continue like this, because Zhu Zaiji was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor of all the people. His life was tied to the safety of the country, so how could he be so sad that he would harm himself?

The two men gritted their teeth and stood up, intending to forcibly help Zhu Zaiji leave. "Your Majesty, the Emperor Emeritus has passed away. Please rise and order someone to tidy up the Emperor Emeritus's appearance."

However, Zhu Zaiji did not want to loosen his grip even slightly, because he knew very well that once he loosened his grip, he would never be able to touch the Jiajing Emperor again.

But how could the officials present bear to see the emperor so heartbroken?

Their only thought now was to quickly take the emperor to another hall so that he could calm his grief and avoid harming his health from excessive sorrow.

The officials knelt down again in unison: "Your Majesty, please accept our condolences and consider the well-being of the people."

Li Shizhen and the others helped gently loosen Zhu Zaiji's grip on the Jiajing Emperor's body, and then whispered, "Your Majesty, we are still here. We will take good care of the Retired Emperor."

Zhu Zaiji reluctantly released the body of the Jiajing Emperor. Supported by Gao Gong and Li Chunfang, he left the Jiajing Emperor's study and went to the outer hall.

At this moment, the other people in the palace also rushed over.

Seeing the grief-stricken Zhu Zaiji, Empress Chen quickly came over and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, please accept my condolences. Your father in heaven must not be at peace seeing you like this."

Empress Chen's eyes were also red, and tears were welling up in her eyes.

She felt sorry for Zhu Zaiji.

When Zhu Zaiji saw Empress Chen approaching, he finally couldn't hold back his tears and burst into tears, "Empress, I have no father anymore. From now on, I will have no father."

Empress Chen held Zhu Zaiji in her arms and continued to comfort him, saying, "Your Majesty still has your concubine, your son, and Jun'er. We will always stay by Your Majesty's side."

Empress Chen comforted Zhu Zaiji while crying.

Crown Prince Zhu Yi and Prince Fu Zhu Yijun also looked at the heartbroken Zhu Zaiji with fear. In their memory, their father was always so wise, so powerful, and so calm and collected. He had never been so distraught before.

But now, his own father was crying like a child.

This made them both feel bad.

The two bowed to Zhu Zaiji at the same time, saying, "Father, please accept our condolences. Your children will always be with Mother and accompany you, and we will not let you be sad."

Upon hearing his two sons' voices, Zhu Zaiji looked up and stared at them. At that moment, he finally understood some of the truths.

Zhu Zaiji stretched out his hand and said, "Come, all of you, get up and go see your imperial grandfather again. Remember what he looks like, understand?"

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