Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 84 Don’t believe me, and don’t believe others! The day of destruction!

The weather in Jinling City is very strange in autumn.

It was clearly still a clear and crisp autumn day, and although there was a cool breeze, it was not too cold and was particularly gentle.

As it was approaching evening, an autumn rain suddenly began to fall.

The autumn wind brings a chill that penetrates deep into the bones, making people shiver.

The coldness in autumn and winter in the south is very different from that in the north.

Humidity and cold air pour into every pore.

The chill seemed to be coming from outside.

Instead, it radiates from deep within the body, from the inside out.

Especially in this rainy weather.

Pedestrians rushed home and lay down to avoid the cold and biting rain.

Some people held up umbrellas, and some put on mourning clothes.

Yang Shiqi had nothing, he did not take shelter from the rain, nor did he rush. He walked slowly in the cold rain, as if he was taking a leisurely stroll in the garden.

In the shops on both sides of the street, people cast strange looks from time to time.

I don't understand why this person is so stupid as to let himself get wet in the rain.

Finally, someone couldn't help but shout, "Young man, why are you getting wet in the rain? Why don't you come to my shop and take shelter?"

Yang Shiqi smiled and said, "Thank you very much! But I won't take shelter from the rain today!"

The man asked again: "Why is this happening? Is there something sad going on?"

Yang Shiqi stood in the rain, his face full of joy, and said with a smile: "There is no sad thing, but there is a great happy event."

The man was puzzled and asked, "If it's a happy event, why would you deliberately let yourself get wet in the rain?"

Yang Shiqi stretched out his hand to catch the rain, looked up at the sky, and said, "When good fortune comes from heaven, it is inevitable that people will be overwhelmed. This rain is just right, and I can calm myself down by getting wet in the rain."

After saying this, he continued walking, letting the wind and rain blow on him, his smile never diminishing at all.

……

After walking all the way back to the Prince of Wu's palace, taking a bath and changing clothes, it was already time to light the lamps.

Yang Shiqi called his servants and asked them in detail about what had happened in the mansion that day.

Afterwards, he went to the newspaper printing place and prepared all the newspapers to be published tomorrow.

Then, he went to visit and comfort Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu, who had been beaten badly.

He walked to the outside of the room where Yao Guangxiao lived, and looked through the half-open window at Monk Daoyan who was meditating and chanting, but he did not go in to talk to him.

After everything was done, it was almost the end of the second watch when he went to the room where Zhu Yunhuan was.

After the meeting, Zhu Yunhuan dismissed his attendants as usual and asked, "How is it?"

"It's done!" Yang Shiqi uttered two words softly.

Zhu Yunhuan frowned slightly and his heartbeat suddenly accelerated a little.

Not only did he not feel happy about this, but he became even more nervous.

He actually wanted to ask how Yang Shiqi performed in front of Zhu and whether he was appreciated.

But Yang Shiqi's answer obviously referred to what he had planned before.

The first time you meet Lao Zhu, are you so impatient to make a move?
He doesn't know how powerful Lao Zhu is. He is dancing on the edge of a knife!
"Could it be that Grandfather Huang believed you so easily?"

Zhu Yunhuan didn't think that Old Zhu was such an easy person to deceive.

"No!" Yang Shiqi shook his head: "Your Majesty saw through what I said at a glance. From the beginning to the end, even to the end, Your Majesty did not believe me at all."

His tone was very determined.

When he met His Majesty the Emperor today, he recalled every word and every expression of the two over and over again in his mind after he left the palace before he dared to draw a definite conclusion.

Zhu Yunhuan was stunned. He did not ask any more questions immediately, but waited quietly for Yang Shiqi to explain himself.

"Your Majesty is worthy of being the true dragon emperor who founded the Ming Empire. Your demeanor, spirit, character and strategy are beyond the reach of ordinary people."

"I was born in poverty, and the people I met before were all mediocre, even stupid."

"When you deal with them, you can't help but look down on the world."

"It was not until I met His Highness recently and His Majesty today that I realized that there are always people who are better than you and there are always mountains that are better than you."

Hey...you don't have to take me with you when you praise Lao Zhu!

Zhu Yunhuan thought secretly in his heart, but did not say anything to stop it.

"Although His Highness is young, he is a genius. He always has wonderful ideas and amazing deeds. He does things that ordinary people cannot imagine. He starts from the impossible, but it is in line with the great way. He has a mighty and unstoppable momentum. We cannot help but admire him."

"As for your majesty!" Yang Shiqi mentioned Zhu and the scenes of today's meeting appeared in front of his eyes. He said, "Your majesty's majesty is unfathomable and your heart is as deep as the abyss."

"When I heard Your Highness talk about His Majesty before, I thought His Majesty was a man of temperament."

When he said this, Zhu Yunhuan interrupted and said with a smile: "Isn't the emperor a man of temperament?"

"Yes!" Yang Shiqi took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty is a person of pure and true character."

"It's just that your Majesty's realm is so high that he has reached the level where he can express his joy and anger to perfection, and his sorrow and happiness freely. He is not comparable to ordinary people with ordinary temperaments."

Zhu Yunhuan laughed out loud.

What a superb way of expressing joy and anger, and sorrow and happiness freely. This is really a very pertinent evaluation!
When ordinary people are extremely sad or furious about something, they often become overwhelmed with passion, their emotions control their brains, and they lose the ability to think calmly.

When I came to my senses afterwards, I regretted it deeply.

But Lao Zhu is different.

Although he also has a variety of emotions, many times his emotional reactions are even more exaggerated and intense than those of ordinary people.

But even when Lao Zhu was most emotional, his mind was still extremely clear and he was thinking extremely calmly, completely unaffected by his emotions.

This is probably an ability that was slowly developed during the long period of hard survival.

Given the situation he was facing at the time, no matter how difficult, dangerous, sad or angry it was, he had to always remain calm!

Only in this way can we successfully overcome difficulties one after another and survive in desperate situations!

Yang Shiqi suddenly remembered something and said, "I saw Your Majesty today and saw that Your Majesty is in good health. He is not at all exhausted and looks very energetic. Your Majesty can rest assured."

Zhu Yunhuan was puzzled and said, "This is strange. The emperor suddenly fainted yesterday and he will not attend court and will not take care of state affairs from today..." He muttered to himself when suddenly there was lightning and thunder in front of his eyes, splitting the fog and suddenly the sky became clear.

Yang Shiqi smiled and said, "As I expected, your Majesty's coma yesterday was probably fake."

"Your Majesty is concerned about your safety and the overall situation of the court."

"He fell unconscious so that the person behind the scenes could come out on his own initiative."

"I didn't expect that His Highness would wake up so quickly. His Majesty then used the excuse of poor health to order His Highness to govern the country."

"So that I can sit in the palace, observe the trends of the government and the public, control the overall situation, and help His Highness clear many obstacles."

Zhu Yunhuan sighed, "Grandpa Emperor is thoughtful and far-sighted, I can't compare to him."

Yang Shiqi added: "When I entered the palace today, I saw many officials gathering in the square outside the palace, saying that they wanted to ask His Majesty to withdraw the imperial decree that you should govern the country."

"That's normal." Zhu Yunxun said, "Grandpa Emperor has officially issued the imperial decree ordering me to govern the country, but today I haven't received a single memorial, and no official has come to see me to report on matters."

This was obviously done on purpose, to deliberately snub him, the Regent King of Wu.

In short, it is to give a warning.

Military generals and nobles would not do this.

But they were just rough people, and they didn't know how to write any memorials when there was no war.

On daily basis, the governance of the court is mainly the responsibility of civil servants.

If Zhu Yunhuan was appointed as the crown prince, they would of course submit a congratulatory message.

But it is different for the regent.

Yang Shiqi smiled faintly and said, "Your Highness, don't worry. They are just using the excuse that your Highness is not feeling well and they dare not disturb you. They are delaying the report and will see how your Highness reacts."

"Secondly, I can also take this opportunity to test whether His Highness is really seriously injured or is pretending to be injured."

"Your Highness, just keep calm and wait quietly."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled bitterly and said, "They must be secretly discussing how to deal with me."

"Unfortunately, I don't have enough people to go and find out the situation."

"Just waiting for them to attack like this is a bit passive."

Yang Shiqi pointed upwards and said, "Although we can't see it, your majesty is watching."

"What they are going to do next may be hidden from us, but not from Your Majesty."

"If the time comes when Your Highness can no longer handle it, Your Majesty will naturally take action."

"Your Majesty summoned me today, firstly to test me, and secondly to let me tell Your Highness that he is in good health and that Your Highness should not worry."

"They think that as long as His Highness is not appointed as the crown prince, he will not be the successor to the Ming Dynasty, and they still have hope of turning the tables."

"Little did you know that now that Your Highness has the protection of His Majesty, he is invincible."

"Besides, the methods they can use are only those few. I will make some arrangements first, so Your Highness does not need to worry too much."

The image of His Majesty the Emperor reappeared in his mind, and he suddenly said, "I asked Your Highness to pretend to be sick before, in order to arouse His Majesty's care and concern, and thus gain profit."

"But today, after entering the palace to see His Majesty, I feel that with His Majesty's shrewdness, I am afraid that Your Highness's feigned injury cannot be concealed from His Majesty."

Zhu Yunhuan's expression changed slightly.

It would be too embarrassing if I pretended to act for a long time and Lao Zhu knew that I was acting and just watched me silently.

It’s so tiring dealing with smart people!
No matter what you do or say, it will always be seen through at a glance. It's so boring!

"It's okay!" Yang Shiqi comforted him, "Your Highness, you can continue to pretend to be injured."

"Not for His Majesty to see, but for those who want to oppose His Majesty and teach His Majesty a lesson when he is regent."

"If Your Highness has been recovering from his injuries and has not recovered, then you can either attack or defend."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slightly, feeling a lot more relieved.

If this were performed for Old Zhu and he understood everything clearly, it would be really embarrassing.

But if it was performed for the officials in the court, even if Zhu Yuanzhang saw it clearly and knew it was all fake, it would not seem to matter.

"What did you say before?" Zhu Yunxun asked again.

Yang Shiqi then recounted everything that had been said and answered when he entered the palace to see the emperor.

However, from beginning to end, he only described the situation without adding any comments or opinions.

After listening to what Yang Shiqi said, Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help but secretly worry for him.

Lao Zhu is so awesome.

Fortunately, I am Lao Zhu's grandson. Lao Zhu is very different in front of his family and in front of outsiders.

If I were Yang Shiqi, I would probably not be able to cope with Zhu Yuanzhang today.

"You just said that His Majesty didn't believe what you said, and he didn't believe it until the end, but you said that the matter was accomplished. Why?"

Yang Shiqi raised the corner of his mouth slightly and said, "Your Majesty doesn't believe me, but you don't believe others either!"

"Your Majesty believes in no one!"

"The seeds of doubt have been quietly planted in your Majesty's heart."

"I'm afraid that after today, His Majesty will have to thoroughly investigate the past events and will closely monitor Concubine Lu's actions."

"No one is perfect in this world!"

"No one can withstand rigorous scrutiny. There will be some problems to some extent."

"And if she still wants to deal with you, that's even more true."

"With your Majesty watching closely with wide eyes, the threat posed by Concubine Lu to Your Highness has been resolved."

"Whenever she attacks His Highness, she will be destroyed!"

……

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PS: When I started writing the last chapter yesterday, I got Yao Guangxiao's age wrong, but I corrected it later. I also added some explanations about the character settings. The readers who read it first may see different content. You can refresh and read it again. Sorry! (This is free word count)

(End of this chapter)