Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 645 Nightmare
Nearing three o'clock in the morning, Emperor Chongzhen, who could no longer bear the pain, fell into a drowsy sleep. In his dream, he had a strange dream. He seemed to suddenly see the capital being broken and the palace about to be attacked. Faced with the fall of the capital and the sea of ​​fire in the city, the panicked emperor hurriedly rang the Jingyang Bell to summon his ministers to the palace to guard and disperse the rebels.

However, no one came to the empty hall even though the Jingyang Bell rang again and again. Emperor Chongzhen was filled with grief and indignation. He drew his sword and cried out, "All officials in the world can be killed!", but he could do nothing about it.

As the shouts and cries of killing in the city grew closer, he was desperate and went to the harem with a sword. He forced his queen and imperial concubine to hang themselves, and personally killed several concubines and princes, including his favorite little princess. After doing all this, he took Wang Chengen out of Shenwu Gate and went to Coal Hill in the north. When he reached Coal Hill, looking at the war and rebels in all directions, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but burst into tears. Finally, he found a crooked tree and ended his life with a piece of white silk.

When the white silk was tied around his neck, the strong feeling of suffocation made Emperor Chongzhen struggle involuntarily. However, no matter how hard he struggled, his neck became tighter and tighter. Finally, he could not breathe, his vision went black, and then he fell into darkness...

"what!"

With a sudden scream, Emperor Chongzhen woke up from his dream and turned over. He opened his eyes wide and his forehead was covered with sweat. For a moment, he didn't even know where he was. Was the dream just now real or fake?
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, how are you?" Wang Chengen called out anxiously, and it took a while for Emperor Chongzhen to calm down. He turned his head slightly to the left, and saw Wang Chengen looking at him with an anxious and nervous expression. Seeing his face, Emperor Chongzhen felt a little relieved. He recalled the nightmare just now, and remembered that Wang Chengen was the only one who accompanied him to the end.

"Your Majesty, are you okay? I will go and call the imperial physician..." Wang Chengen was frightened. He was dozing off outside the palace just now while Emperor Chongzhen was resting inside. He heard Emperor Chongzhen suddenly shouting in a daze. The sharp voice was filled with incomparable despair and resentment, which woke Wang Chengen up immediately.

Wang Chengen rushed in to check the situation without thinking, and when he saw Emperor Chongzhen sitting up, staring blankly ahead, his eyes showing fear, his face pale, and his forehead covered with sweat, Wang Chengen didn't care about etiquette anymore. He hurried to check what happened to Emperor Chongzhen.

After shouting for a long time, Emperor Chongzhen finally came to his senses. Wang Chengen suspected that Emperor Chongzhen was possessed by a demon. When he was about to ask the imperial physician to see him, Emperor Chongzhen stopped him and told him not to go.

"Your Majesty, let's ask the imperial physician to take a look. Otherwise, I will make you a bowl of soothing soup. Your Majesty has been too tired these days. I feel really bad for you."

"No need. I know my own business. I just had a nightmare." Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand and said to Wang Chengen, "Wang Banban, help me up. I want to take a walk."

Wang Chengen responded and hurriedly helped Emperor Chongzhen up. Emperor Chongzhen walked a few times with unsteady steps before he gradually felt some of his strength returning.

Emperor Chongzhen stopped and looked at Wang Chengen, who was bending over to support him, and saw his head full of white hair at a glance.

Emperor Chongzhen was a little dazed. He remembered that when he was still Prince Xin, Wang Chengen was by his side. At that time, Wang Chengen was not as old as he is now, and his hair was still black. But he didn't know since when, Wang Chengen's hair turned so white, and he looked much older.

"Wang Banban."

"The slave is here!"

"How long have you been with me?"

Wang Chengen calculated in his mind and said, "I followed the emperor at the beginning of the second year of Tianqi. At that time, the emperor had just been conferred the title of Prince Xin. It has been nineteen years now."

"It's been nineteen years. I couldn't believe such a long time has passed in the blink of an eye..." Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but sigh. Nearly twenty years had passed in the blink of an eye, and the companion who had accompanied him back then had also grown old.

"Wang Banban, you are old."

"Your Majesty, I am already fifty-four years old this year, how can I not be old? But Your Majesty, don't worry, your Majesty, I am still in good health and can serve you for many more years."

"Yes, you are fifty-four, too. As the saying goes, fifty is the destiny of life. You have already lived through four years, how can you not be old? Not only you, but even I am old."

"Your Majesty is in his prime, how can he be called old? I absolutely do not agree with this statement. Your Majesty is still young." Wang Chengen said hurriedly, but he felt sad in his heart. As the most trusted eunuch around Emperor Chongzhen, he accompanied Emperor Chongzhen almost every day, watching him grow from a little baby to a teenager, and from a teenager to Prince Xin, and then to rule the world and become the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

In terms of age, Emperor Chongzhen was certainly not old. He was not even thirty years old yet. But in terms of appearance, years of hard work made him look much older than his peers. He had white hair on his temples and looked like a middle-aged man in his forties.

But Wang Chengen didn't dare to say such words. As the saying goes, serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. Even if Emperor Chongzhen trusted Wang Chengen, Wang Chengen knew that he was just a servant. How could he say something that touched the emperor's heart? Just when Wang Chengen wanted to flatter him, Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "I am old, and I am about to turn thirty. I have white hair on my temples, but I am not blind. How can I not see it?"

“Your Majesty…your servant…your servant…” Wang Chengen didn’t know what to say and looked very frightened. He couldn’t understand why Emperor Chongzhen suddenly became so sad today?

Patting the back of Wang Chengen's hand that was supporting his arm, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly said, "Wang Banban, you are a loyal person and the one I trust the most. I owe you a lot in the past. Sometimes when I think about it, I often wonder if I am too harsh on you. Please don't blame me for the grievances I have caused you..."

"I dare not. I have never blamed the emperor. I am loyal to the emperor. Heaven and earth can bear witness to this!" Wang Chengen was terrified. Emperor Chongzhen had never said such words to him before. Why did he suddenly say such words today? Was it possible that Emperor Chongzhen wanted to punish him? Or did Emperor Chongzhen know that he had secretly embezzled money? Was he going to punish him?

Wang Chengen couldn't stand still at that moment. He immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Emperor Chongzhen repeatedly, looking extremely frightened.

Seeing Wang Chengen like this, Emperor Chongzhen felt very uncomfortable. What he said just now was meaningless, he just spoke out of his feelings. But he didn't expect to scare Wang Chengen, and he didn't know how to explain it for a while.

Moreover, as an emperor, it was impossible for Emperor Chongzhen to explain for a eunuch, so he sighed helplessly, asked Wang Chengen to stand up, and walked aside without saying anything else.

Wang Chengen's head was swollen after being hit. Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen had no intention of punishing him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He got up from the ground and stood respectfully beside Emperor Chongzhen, with his hands hanging down, his head slightly lowered, and said nothing.

Seeing him like this, Emperor Chongzhen felt even more unhappy. It was said that the emperor held great power and was the most honorable person in the world, but he himself was not happy being the emperor. Over the years, he had worked diligently and conscientiously, only sleeping two or three hours a day, and working hard for state affairs. However, the world did not get better at all, and rebellions broke out everywhere, with internal and external troubles continuing.

There was no one around him who could speak the truth. They all wore masks and no one knew what they were thinking. It was true that the king was alone. He was the most miserable person in the world. If Emperor Chongzhen could choose again, he would rather continue to be the Prince of Xin than the emperor.

But this thought only flashed through his mind. Since he had become the emperor, he had no way out. No matter how difficult it was, he had to continue to be the emperor. This was Emperor Chongzhen's helplessness and his mission. He didn't know what his final outcome would be. Could the Ming Dynasty be revived in his hands? Or would he end up like in the nightmare just now, with his country destroyed and his own death?

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen could not help but think of Zhu Shenzhui who was now besieging the capital, and he hated him even more. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty was actually forced into this state by a mere clan member. This had never happened since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

Where on earth did Zhu Shenzhui come from? And where did he get such a powerful army? Jinyiwei, Dongchang, including the cabinet, various ministries and local governments of the court, are all bastards! Zhu Shenzhui's rebellion this time is definitely not a temporary one. Just based on his army and strength, it is enough to show that he has been preparing for many years.

After all these years, no one noticed it? No one reminded me? This eventually led to the current situation.

Suddenly, Emperor Chongzhen thought of Wu Mengming, the co-director of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who was sent by him to manage the imperial prison. In the past few days, Emperor Chongzhen had forgotten everything else because of the siege of the capital. Now he suddenly remembered that when Wu Mengming returned to Beijing, he seemed to have said that some royal family members in Shanxi intended to rebel.

At that time, Emperor Chongzhen did not believe it at all. In addition, the eunuchs he sent, including the local Jinyiwei and the governor's office, all claimed that this incident never happened. Although he later sent Li Guofu to Shanxi to deal with the Hengtong incident, Emperor Chongzhen did not make this decision mainly for the royal family. Instead, he thought that if Hengtong was resolved, he could get money from the rich Hengtong and solve the urgent financial problem. As for blackmailing the royal family, it was just an excuse.

But there has been no news since Li Guofu left, but Zhu Shenzhui suddenly appeared, and led his troops to the capital under the banner of clearing the court and pacifying the national crisis. Now that he thought about it, Wu Mengming seemed to know something, and Emperor Chongzhen was excited. He was about to ask Wang Chengen to ask Wu Mengming, but before he could say anything, a cannon suddenly rang out, startling Emperor Chongzhen.

"Where does the sound come from? Where are the cannons firing?" Emperor Chongzhen suddenly stood up and asked.

"This... maybe this isn't a cannon? It sounds like it's coming from the north..." Wang Chengen was also startled. Although he subconsciously thought it was the sound of a cannon, he felt that it wasn't the sound after thinking about it carefully, because the sound was too close and seemed to be not far from the Qianqing Palace. If it was the sound of a cannon outside the city, it would definitely not be able to reach here.

As soon as he finished speaking, another cannon shot was heard. This time, both Emperor Chongzhen and Wang Chengen heard it clearly. It was definitely the sound of cannons and nothing else. Moreover, the sound did come from the north, not far from the imperial palace. Then the cannon shots continued to sound, one after another, like heavy drums beating on their hearts.

"Quick! Go check it out. Where is the cannon firing? What's going on? Report it to me quickly!" Emperor Chongzhen couldn't sit still at this time. The cannon sounds so close must be from the capital city, and not far from the palace. What's going on with the cannon? Could it be that the thieves have entered the capital? Emperor Chongzhen really didn't dare to think about it anymore, and hurriedly asked Wang Chengen to find out clearly.

Wang Chengen responded immediately and prepared to investigate, but before he could leave the Qianqing Palace, he saw several eunuchs running in from the north, crying and shouting, "It's bad! It's terrible! The villains have entered the capital and are bombarding the Shenwu Gate with cannons..."

(End of this chapter)