Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 297 Yu Qian Meets the True Emperor: Help Him or the Fake Emperor

The night is dark.

The moonlight is dim, the stars are hidden, and only sparse lights are swaying in the cold wind, casting mottled shadows.

Under the Qianqing Palace, the ground heat was faintly radiating, and wisps of hot air curled up in the cold wind, blending with the surrounding cold mist, just like a fairyland. The surroundings were so quiet that only the low hum of the wind passing through the eaves and the occasional light footsteps of the night guards could be heard, echoing in the empty and deep palace.

Inside the palace, however, it was very warm. The candlelight illuminated the entire hall. Emperor Zhu Qizhen was seriously reviewing memorials, and Xiyao stood quietly by his side. The other eunuchs and palace maids were all standing in the corners, some of them couldn't stand the fatigue, but they didn't dare to doze off.

Xiyao tilted her head slightly and looked at Zhu Qizhen, who was writing with his sharp-edged face and extremely focused expression. This was the young emperor of the Ming Dynasty, whose reputation spread far and wide.

Recently, she was at Shuntian University and often heard Western students discussing the emperor. Nowadays, the kingdoms in the West all admired the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. There were even princesses from some kingdoms who wanted to marry into the Ming Dynasty.

"Ah~"

Zhu Qizhen put down his pen and stretched. Xiyao immediately came to her senses, poured a cup of hot tea from the teapot on the stove, handed it to him, and said softly: "Your Majesty, it's late, it's time to go to bed."

"Well, you are tired too, right?" Zhu Qizhen took a sip of tea and smiled gently.

Xiyao's clear eyes were still bright, and she said, "I can still chat with Your Majesty for a while, until Your Majesty is sleepy."

Zhu Qizhen was indeed not sleepy at this moment. He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the cold air outside. Xiyao followed him and whispered, "Your Majesty, I want to ask you a favor."

"Tell me." Zhu Qizhen said with a smile, "You want to go out of the palace for a stroll again?"

Xiyao pursed her red lips and shook her head: "I'm not going for a stroll. I want to go to Shuntian University to study. Your Majesty, don't worry. I don't have to go every day. I go five days in ten days. Sister Ling said that to learn to play the zither, you don't have to go to class every day. When I learn well, I can even play for Your Majesty."

Zhu Qizhen turned around and smiled slightly: "Okay."

Xiyao jumped for joy, looking quite adorable. She boldly opened her arms and hugged the emperor, then let go in an instant, stepped back a few steps, and bowed: "Your Majesty, please forgive me, I was too presumptuous just now."

"Forget it." Zhu Qizhen waved his hand, "You guys go away, I'm going to bed."

Xiyao bowed again and led the palace maids and eunuchs out of the palace. When they were outside the palace, a cold wind blew, and the palace maids and eunuchs were shivering with cold, but Xiyao looked normal, with a sharp flash in her eyes, and a hidden aura flashed by.

……

Jinyiwei, imperial prison.

It was a cold night, and a biting cold wind blew through the gloomy imperial prison. Even the air seemed to have been frozen into a sharp blade, cutting every inch of space.

Inside the cell, the dim oil lamp flickered with a weak light, barely illuminating the cold stone walls and iron bars around it, casting mottled and distorted shadows. The prisoners huddled in a corner, trying their best to retain the last bit of warmth. Their heavy and rapid breathing condensed into white mist in the cold air and then dissipated, just like the slim hope in their hearts.

All around, there was a deathly silence, broken only by the occasional clang of chains or the low moans of a prisoner in the cold. The air was filled with a sickening smell of dampness and death, and several stiff bodies lay quietly in the corner, their faces frozen with the terror and despair of the moment before death.

The Jinyiwei patrolled with expressionless faces, their eyes were as cold as ice, and they seemed to have long been accustomed to all this.

"I'm freezing to death. I can't stand it." Sun Lian, Marquis of Huichang, shouted in the cell.

How could he, who had been living a life of luxury since childhood, endure such an environment? Crouching in the corner of the cell, his body trembling constantly, he recalled the words of his uncle Sun Jizhong in his mind: "If you want to survive, you can't confess everything at once. You have to preserve your own value and hold on until the day when things change outside."

However, he couldn't care less now. After a while, the weather would get even colder, and it would be a question whether he could survive. He stood up suddenly, walked to the cell door, and shouted, "I want to see Master Shi. I remember."

Soon, he was taken to a room with several pots of charcoal burning inside. As soon as he entered the room, he felt warm instantly. Shi Biao was sitting in a chair, drinking a little wine.

"Greetings, Lord Shi." Sun Lian bowed.

Shi Biao smiled and threw the wine jug in his hand to Sun Lian. Sun Lian, whose hands were shaking from the cold, took it and drank several gulps. His face turned ruddy and he felt warm from the inside out.

"What do you remember?" Shi Biao asked with a smile.

Sun Lian wiped the corner of his mouth and said, "Master Shi, I don't know if this will work for you, but it was Old Deer from the Junshan Society who asked me to contact two people, Cao Qin, the adopted son of Eunuch Cao of the Imperial Household Department, and Jiang Tinggui, the son-in-law of Xu Youzhen, the chief minister of the Cabinet."

Shi Biao spat out a mouthful of tea.

Cao Qin is now the co-director of the Left Army Governor's Office, and Jiang Tinggui is now the head of the Ministry of Revenue. Both of them hold high official positions, and the most important thing is that the people behind them are all close ministers of the emperor.

What did the Junshan Society want to do with these two people? To incite rebellion? Cao Jixiang and Xu Youzhen, it is impossible for them to rebel. If there was a new emperor, they would not have been able to reach such a high position.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Shi Biao was furious. "I... I didn't think about it for a while, and I thought it was not important, because I only drank with them once, and the Junshan Society didn't allow me to have any further contact with them." Sun Lian said.

Shi Biao patted his shoulder with a smile and said, "It's good that you remember it. So, you sleep here tonight and think about it carefully."

"Thank you, Lord Shi." Sun Lian bowed happily.

……

The next day, Sunchon University.

Today is also very lively, because the last fleet of the Ming Dynasty from the West has returned. It is already winter, and the next step is heavy snow. The fleet usually has to wait until the beginning of spring before it can be dispatched. This time the fleet brought a group of more than 100 students from the West, all of whom are young people, who came to study in the Ming Dynasty.

After they entered the school gate, they were shocked. They had never seen such a magnificent university. They walked around, full of curiosity and expectation, because they would spend the next two or three years here.

The Western study abroad group came from several kingdoms. The students from the Kingdom of Spain were in the front, led by a young girl with golden hair falling to her slender waist, fair skin, a high nose bridge, slightly upturned lips, forming a graceful arc, and deep and bright brown eyes. She had a delicate face, a calm expression between her eyebrows, and a noble and elegant posture.

"Isabella, this is Ming Dynasty." A man smiled at her, "The university is like our palace."

It turned out that the girl's name was Isabella, and she was a princess of the Kingdom of Spain. However, after her brother ascended the throne, he drove her out of the palace. She returned to the countryside, and by chance, she had the opportunity to study in Ming Dynasty.

From time to time, her eyes looked at a small group behind her. They were Portuguese students, because the Kingdom of Castile where she was was often at war with the Kingdom of Portugal.

Among the Portuguese students, there is also a girl who stands out from the crowd. She has beautiful red hair and wears a luxurious golden palace dress, which outlines her charming and perfect body curves and a graceful and plump figure.

She is Joana, the daughter of the current King of Portugal. She looks very cheerful and confident, and takes the initiative to ask various questions to the Ming officials who receive international students.

After the Ming officials showed them around, they took them to the school building area, assigned them dormitories, and explained various precautions. However, Joana asked anxiously, "When can we see your emperor?"

"His Majesty will come to the school often, and you will have plenty of opportunities to see him in the future." The official said with a smile.

Western students were all very excited and wanted to meet the legendary emperor.

……

The school building area was bustling, but in the back mountain, it was chilly, with withered yellow leaves fluttering in the wind. Under the deserted well, there was actually warmth, and the Zhengtong Emperor and Wu Xingdao walked out of the thatched cottage.

They were waiting for someone. The Deer Mask would bring an important person to meet the Legitimacy Emperor today. Soon, they came out of the passage, one wearing a deer mask and the other wearing a wolf mask.

The Zhengtong Emperor and Wu Xingdao looked at each other and took the initiative to greet him. The Deer Mask and the Wolf Mask bowed to the Zhengtong Emperor and said, "Your Majesty."

"Quick, stand up." The orthodox emperor raised his hand and said to the Deer Mask, "Mr. Shang, I can't wait any longer. Who did you bring to me?"

The Deer Mask took off his mask and he turned out to be Shang Lu. Shang Lu turned to the Wolf Mask and said, "Take off the mask. I have revealed my true face. You don't need to hide it anymore."

Wolf Mask hesitated, then took off his mask.

The moment the Zhengtong Emperor saw his face, he exclaimed: "Yu Qian!"

"Your Majesty, you have suffered." Yu Qian bowed again.

"No, no, no, it's nothing for me to suffer a little." The Zhengtong Emperor's eyes were full of surprise. "I... really didn't expect that it was you, Yu Qian."

He once wrote a letter to Yu Qian, but Yu Qian did not respond at all. He thought Yu Qian had completely sided with the false emperor, but he never thought that Yu Qian was a member of the Junshan Society.

"Your Majesty, it's cold outside, let's talk inside." Wu Xingdao interrupted.

The Zhengtong Emperor nodded repeatedly, enthusiastically grasped Yu Qian's hand, and led him into the house. The room was burning with charcoal, and it was very warm. Yu Qian looked around, looking at everything simple, and said: "Your Majesty, it has not been easy for you these years."

"That's good. The hardest time was in Mobei. I almost died several times." The Zhengtong Emperor laughed at himself. "But, that was all my own fault. I deserve to suffer. Yu Qian, I know that without you in the defense of the capital, the Ming Dynasty would have perished."

Yu Qian shook his head and said, "To be fair, it was because of your Majesty... because of the fake emperor. He firmly supported me at that time, and led the troops himself, boosted morale, and united the whole army, so that we were able to defend the capital."

The orthodox emperor was obviously embarrassed. He smiled and said, "That's right. When it comes to governing the country, he is much better than me. But I am back, and I am the orthodox one. Yu Qian, do you support me or the fake emperor?"

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

(End of this chapter)