Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 78 The emperor’s power is supreme, training his son at the Meridian Gate!
It rained heavily all night.

Prince Yu's body had long since collapsed and he fainted. When he was sent back to the palace, he developed a high fever.

Zhu Houcong gave him ginger soup and ordered the imperial physician to go to Prince Yu's mansion for treatment.

Chenshi hour.

Xu Jie was brought out of the imperial prison by Chen Hong, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, and led into the abode. However, he knelt down six feet away from the cushion and said, "Your Majesty, your humble servant Xu Jie kowtows to the Emperor!"

After kneeling down, Xu Jie was immediately shocked. He saw the stack of papers that Shen Yishi had thrown on the ground not far from him!

It is clearly written on it that he colluded with Lan Daoxing, the abbot of Chaotian Temple, and made false statements about the summer drought in Zhejiang.

Unlike Yan Song and his son Yan Shifan who were still well-informed in the imperial prison, after the crimes of Xu Jie and the Xu family of Songjiang Prefecture were exposed, few people entered the imperial prison to visit Xu Jie.

Especially last night, the victory report and the truth about the breach of the Xin'an River in nine counties came to Beijing on the same day. Yan Maoqing, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice and a former diehard of the Yan Party, went to the imperial prison to inform Yan Song and Yan Shifan that their death was approaching, but no one told Xu Jie.

Xu Jie's despair at this moment was simply indescribable.

The veil was drawn up.

There is no longer any barrier between the emperor and his subjects.

Zhu Houcong opened his eyes and looked at Xu Jie, knowing that he had seen the stack of papers by Shen Yishi on the ground: "If you don't see it clearly, pick it up and read it again."

Xu Jie immediately kowtowed and said, "I am guilty, and the guilt is all mine. Please forgive my son and my family, Your Majesty."

"You love your son deeply, Xu Jie. You understand me and my family affairs. You know that I can't forgive you, your sons, or your family. I originally thought so too."

Zhu Houcong's face turned cold. "But, last night, someone knelt in front of the Yuxi Palace in the heavy rain for half a night until he fainted. This changed my mind."

Xu Jie's expression moved, and he immediately thought of Prince Yu, and he couldn't help feeling warm in his heart, but then he thought of the emperor's temper, and a look of horror appeared on his face.

"I am the emperor and also a father, but I have never taught Prince Yu anything. Prince Yu is what he is today because of you."

Zhu Houcong's tone was very calm, neither salty nor bland, and one could not tell whether he was happy or angry. "Prince Yu knows that I will not kill him, or even easily dethrone him, because the ministers of the world will not allow Prince Jing, who has not yet given birth to an heir, to become the only prince. Therefore, Prince Yu can act recklessly and fight me.

This kind of courage is rare among the princes of the Ming Dynasty. Xu Jie, you have taught him well.

However, you seem to have forgotten to teach Prince Yu what imperial power is!
"According to the ancestral system of Emperor Taizu Gao, I cannot kill Prince Yu, but I can depose Prince Yu from the throne and make Zhu Yijun a prince, or I can adopt Zhu Yijun to Prince Jing."

Xu Jie raised his head, his face filled with fear, "Your Majesty, you must not do this."

"There is nothing in this world that is absolutely impossible! I don't want to do this, but you are forcing me to do this step by step."

Zhu Houcong looked at Xu Jie closely and said, "Of course, I won't do this unless it is absolutely necessary.

I will personally teach Prince Yu what you didn't teach him, but I need to borrow something from you."

Xu Jie's throat rolled and he said in a hoarse voice: "Your Majesty, what is it?"

Zhu Houcong did not answer Xu Jie's question, but instead asked knowingly: "How many sons do you have in your family?"

Xu Jie suddenly felt as if he was swallowed by darkness. His hands and feet were cold and his vision went dark. "Your Majesty, I have three sons. The eldest son is Xu Fan, the second son is Xu Kun, and the third son is Xu Ying. The third son was beheaded by the emperor's sword in Jiangnan for his crimes, so I still have two sons."

"Very similar to me. I also had many sons before, but now, there are only two sons, Prince Yu and Prince Jing."

Zhu Houcong said in a hoarse voice, "Xu Jie, you have served me for many years. Even if you have no merit, you have worked hard. My son has also pleaded for you. I don't want to kill you."

The death penalty is pardoned!

Xu Jie was neither happy nor thankful. He knew that the emperor's next words were the key.

"But if I let you go back home, and one of your two sons ends up being as guilty as the deceased Xu Ying, how can I feel at ease with the people of the world?"

Xu Jie.

Xu Fan and Xu Kun.

And the entire Xu family of Songjiang Prefecture committed a heinous crime.

If Emperor Zhu Houcong let the Xu family off like this, and if they continued to harm the people of the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't his act of letting them off become a laughing stock?
Xu Jie finally understood the conditions for the emperor to let him go. His eyes suddenly became wet and he lowered his head.

Kill the son and destroy the whole family!
Then what is the point of living like this?
But when the words of refusal came to my lips, I couldn't say them.

If the emperor had not wanted to teach Prince Yu the principle of the supremacy of imperial power, he would not have let him go.

Zhu Houcong did not urge him at this time. He looked outside the door of the temple and at the open south window.

What is deep is those eyes, and what is even deeper is the boundless sky.

In this world, is it the Emperor’s will that is hard to predict, or is it the will of Heaven that is hard to predict?
"Your Majesty, at noon, I will be training my son at the Meridian Gate!" Xu Jie was dejected. After getting the answer he wanted, Zhu Houcong looked at Chen Hong and said, "I will not watch it. Please ask Prince Yu and the civil and military officials to watch the training on my behalf."

"Yes."

……

It was just after noon, the time when the sunlight was the brightest in the day, and there was not a single cloud in the sky.

The heat of the early summer poured down unrestrainedly, illuminating the broad Jinshui River with a gleaming brightness, like a stream of molten iron being poured from a crucible into a smelting channel.

Outside the noon court gate.

All the civil and military officials have come. They only gather once a year, so the officials are both familiar and unfamiliar with each other.

The civil officials were on the left, the military officials were on the right, and Prince Yu sat in the middle.

After taking the medicine, Prince Yu's high fever subsided and he barely regained consciousness. He received an imperial decree and was carried here by people from the East Factory.

Xu Jie appeared.

Xu Fan and Xu Kun followed behind.

Everyone's attention was drawn to that. No one could have imagined that Xu Jie, who had committed such a heinous crime, would one day walk out of the imperial prison.

Four imperial guards slowly approached, carrying a guillotine.

When the ministers thought of the imperial edict's "instructing children to watch the ceremony", their faces changed.

The guillotine was placed in front of Xu Jie. Xu Jie's eyes were red, and he waved to his eldest son Xu Fan, "Xu Fan, come here!"

Under the bright sunlight, Xu Fan looked at the guillotine but his whole body was cold. It took him a long time to walk a few steps before he came in front of Xu Jie. He shouted "Dad" in shock and fear.

"Son, let me ask you, does the ruler want his subject to die?"

"I must die!"

"Father wants his son to die?"

"You must die!"

"it is good."

Xu Jie stepped aside and said, "Don't trouble me. Lie under the guillotine. My Xu family has committed a great crime. If you two brothers die here, the people of the world will feel at ease."

As soon as these words came out.

The civil officials and military generals all opened their eyes wide with a hint of confusion in their eyes, and they even wondered if they had just heard it wrong.

Prince Yu struggled to get up and wanted to say something, but his already weak body was now seriously ill and he had no strength at all.

Xu Fan was sweating profusely and raised his hands slightly, "Dad, please don't get angry, let's..."

Before he could finish the word after "we", he heard Xu Jie curse "you beast" and kicked Xu Fan on the leg.

Xu Fan was caught off guard and his feet slipped. He fell backwards and lay on the ground, with the back of his head hitting the step.

There was a loud "click" and the brain burst out!

Xu Fan, die!

Xu Jie looked at Xu Kun again and called out, "Xu Kun, come here!"

Xu Kun was shaking so much that he couldn't control himself. He walked up to Xu Jie and shouted, "Dad!"

"Don't follow your brother's example and don't make things difficult for your father." Tears rolled down Xu Jie's eyes.

"Yes!"

Xu Kun took two steps back, kowtowed three times to Xu Jie, expressing his gratitude for his upbringing, then walked to the guillotine and lay down.

Xu Jie's hand was pressing on the guillotine, his chest heaving like a mountain valley, tears flowing unstoppably. He wiped away his tears, raised his hand and chopped down the guillotine.

Two points for the corpse!

Xu Kun, die!

(End of this chapter)