Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 570 Lost Soul
Empress Zhang was stunned for a long time, then she smiled and said, "Your Majesty, please don't joke."

"Pah, pah, pah! Don't say such unlucky words!"

"What do you mean by dying soon? Your Majesty can live a hundred years."

Emperor Hongzhi walked with Empress Zhang on the imperial road of Kunning Palace and said to her patiently, "The reason why I didn't tell you is because I was afraid that you would not be able to keep it secret and tell Houzhao about it."

"He's still young, he may not be able to handle such a big thing."

"Haven't you always suspected that I have a woman outside? I'm going to tell you right now. The Imperial Hospital diagnosed me before the New Year. At most, I can survive this year. If I get better, I can survive until next year."

"Well, my health has deteriorated. It has deteriorated a long time ago. I haven't come to the harem these days because I don't want you to notice anything unusual."

Hearing what Emperor Hongzhi said, Empress Zhang was stunned in her place, her eyes suddenly turned red, her body trembled slightly, she shook her head frantically, and said, "Your Majesty, don't talk nonsense!"

"I don't doubt the emperor, and I don't doubt the emperor. Don't scare me. I'm timid... Woo, how come I'm so healthy, why did I suddenly get sick?"

"Are all the people in the Imperial Hospital useless? I'm going to find the Imperial Hospital! I'm going to find Liu Wentai right now, this useless person! He couldn't cure the late emperor, and now he's trying to scare the emperor. I'm going to chop off his head, chop him off!"

Emperor Hongzhi held the excited Empress Zhang, patted her hand gently, and said, "Don't be like this."

"Life and death are determined by fate. The reason I told you this is because I thought that my queen, the mother of the Ming Dynasty, would be able to keep her composure and not get flustered. So after much thought, I told you this news."

"Yan'er, if I leave, you must take good care of me, Prince."

Empress Zhang said in despair, "Your Majesty, don't talk nonsense. It's impossible, it's impossible!"

Empress Zhang still couldn't believe it. She was a healthy person, still so young. Wasn't it just a disease? Wouldn't it be fine if she was cured? Why was she going to die?

This is impossible, absolutely impossible!
Emperor Hongzhi smiled bitterly and said, "You see, if I didn't tell you, you would have suspected it again. Now that I have told you, you don't want to listen anymore."

"Don't tell Hou Zhao. I can still help him now. If he knew my physical condition, I'm afraid he would not be able to concentrate on governing the country."

"I have not yet made adjustments to the court. I will tell him after I have paved all the roads for Houzhao and removed all the thorns."

"Don't be sad, and don't expose your secrets in front of Hou Zhao. Don't let him know about these things now, okay?"

Empress Zhang: "Your Majesty... your concubine... wuwuwu!"

Seeing his wife's heartbroken look, Emperor Hongzhi slowly held her in his arms.

He was so reluctant to leave his wife who had been with him all his life, so how could he bear to get involved with another woman?

If it weren't for Empress Zhang who accompanied him all those years, how could he have survived so many ups and downs.

Now he was about to leave, leaving her alone in the world. As a husband, how could he bear it?

……

Far away on the Japanese island.

Zhu Youju felt the calm before the storm. During this period, many vassal states, in order to avenge the fact that Emperor Hongzhi had forced them to stay on the island, wantonly bullied the local people, abused their power, and made the people of the island miserable!
Although they had covered up all the evil deeds on the Japanese island, Zhu Youlang always felt vaguely uneasy in his heart.

Early this morning, he summoned all the royal brothers and princes to his palace and held a secret meeting.

Zhu Youqi told these brothers and uncles to eliminate all evidence of their crimes on the Wo Island as much as possible, and to shut up the people in the fiefdom. He also warned the local officials to be honest and not to do anything wrong.

This group of princes did not take it seriously. Even if Emperor Hongzhi found out about their affairs on the Wa Island, what would it matter?
Could the emperor still kill these princes and royal family members openly? Unless Emperor Hongzhi dared to bear this infamy!

But think about it with your butt. With Emperor Hongzhi's character, it is impossible for him to do such a thing.

Even if they were eventually discovered by the imperial court, at most they would just be reprimanded and told to correct their mistakes.

As for whether they would lose their power in Japan, they didn't care. Their influence in Japan was already deeply rooted anyway. Any new official who wanted to gain a foothold in Japan had to get their approval, otherwise it would be useless.

Zhu Youqi listened to the optimistic attitude of these princes and vassals, and had a vague sense of foreboding in his heart.

In early summer and June, Hong Zhong, the Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, arrived at Wo Island.

Although many vassal states wanted to host a welcoming ceremony for Hong Zhong, they were all rejected by Hong Zhong. Hong Zhong was very efficient. After all, he came with the emperor's royal flag and was not afraid of the vassal states from the Japanese islands at all.

Soon, he collected the countless evidences of the crimes committed by these princes on the Japanese island. According to the wishes of Emperor Hongzhi and the cabinet, they wanted to kill a prince first to establish their authority on the Japanese island and also to stabilize the people on the Japanese island.

Hong Zhong targeted the eldest son of Prince Ning. The former Prince Ning, Zhu Jinjun, died in the tenth year of Hongzhi, and was later succeeded by the eldest son.

This time, Hong Zhong publicly tried King Ning in front of the entire Japanese people, then made a prompt decision to behead King Ning, and announced that his eldest son Zhu Chenhao would inherit the throne of King Ning.

This happened so quickly that the vassal states of the entire Japanese island had no time to react!

By the time they realized what was happening, the former King of Ning had already died, so this group of vassal states protested on a large scale with their families on the Wa Island!

Hong Zhong's approach was simple and brutal, and he continued to kill King Dai.

After killing two feudal lords in succession and with solid evidence, the feudal lords on the Japanese island finally began to get scared!

They once thought that Emperor Hongzhi had gone crazy. He was not afraid of any public opinion and massacred them, the princes and brothers.

Is he really not afraid that the civil servants will use the ancestral laws to justify their actions?

Or has the current Emperor Hongzhi already retreated behind the scenes, and all matters are handled personally by the Crown Prince?

In the eyes of these princes, Emperor Hongzhi was too kind-hearted to do such things, but Zhu Houzhao was different!

Hong Zhong's killing on the Japanese island had not stopped. Killing the royal vassal was only the first step. He immediately dispatched troops to carry out a large-scale purge of local government offices on the Japanese island.

In just half a month, Hong Zhong had been dubbed the "Hong the Butcher" for he had killed two princes, thirty-six high-ranking officials, seventy local officials, and one hundred and sixty evil clerks.

For a moment, the entire Japanese island was in panic, and the sky seemed to be shrouded in a bloody mist of massacre!
The officials of the royal family protested one after another, but the people of the Japanese island applauded!

The news soon reached the capital, and caused a huge public opinion storm in the capital!
(End of this chapter)