Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 652 Emergency Measures

The cicadas outside the window chirped louder and louder, and the sweltering air, thick with dust, clung to my skin.

In the warm chamber of the Hezheng Hall, King Yi Hun, who had effectively relinquished power, was lying alone on a clean couch, reminiscing about his past life while enjoying the bitter taste of gentian root soup.

The figure of his father, across the vast expanse of time, still carried an icy majesty and aloofness. As the second son, Li Hui was already well-versed in hiding behind his elder brother, an unexpected shadow.

Li Hui still remembered a hazy afternoon in the palace gardens. The sun was scorching, and the young Li Hui was playing in the shadows of the corridor. His father's tall figure swept past, carrying a wave of heat, his gaze fleeting like a dragonfly skimming the water, leaving no trace on him. The chill of being completely ignored was more biting than the winter wind.

But fate is so absurd; in the end, it was he, who had been long exiled from sight, who was pushed to the top of that lonely peak.

The flames of the Imjin War engulfed the land, and the King fled north in haste, first to Gaeseong, then to Pyongyang, and finally to Uiju on the border. At this time of national crisis, his stepmother, Queen Uiin, responding to public opinion, urged her father to rectify the state's affairs to reassure the people. The eighteen-year-old Yi Hun was thus thrust into this perilous situation, entrusted with the reins of state affairs and given sole command of the border defenses, traversing the muddy roads of Pyongan, Hamgyeong, and Gangwon as a prince.

Beneath the shattered landscape, the gradually brightening trust in the eyes of the displaced and defeated soldiers made him truly feel his own weight for the first time. Undeterred by hardship, Yi Hui personally braved arrows and stones to oversee the transport of provisions and to comfort the refugees. In the shadow of his father's absence, Yi Hui exerted all his strength and exhausted every possibility to support the crumbling dynasty. At that time, he naively believed that this reckless journey, regardless of life or death, could earn him even a sliver of his father's approval.

However, the merits he fought so hard for ultimately became the deepest icy river between father and son.

Throughout the imperial family and among the common people, praise for his ability to turn the tide arose one after another. The louder the praise, the colder and more resolute the emperor's expression became. It was no longer the look of reliance during wartime, but a deep-seated fear and estrangement.

On the throne, his father's figure grew even more imposing. When his gaze swept over him, it was no longer a fleeting, indifferent glance, but a distant scrutiny. Yi Hui clearly felt that he had become a threat to his father because of his outstanding achievements. He had won the respect of Joseon and the emperor's appreciation, but he had forever lost his father's love.

Beneath this cold, distant barrier lay an invisible, chilling blade, a product of the power struggles within the inner palace of the suzerain state. At that time, the Ming Dynasty, the lofty and inviolable suzerain state, was mired in the quagmire of the "succession crisis," and this vortex of factional strife even spilled over to Korea—the Ministry of Rites repeatedly refused to appoint him as crown prince, citing "the proper order of seniority and adherence to propriety." These cold rejections, in reality, were a projection of the Ming Dynasty's own power struggle for the throne. The cabinet and the Ministry of Rites were fiercely committed to ensuring the eldest son's succession; how could they allow a mere vassal state to set the "bad precedent" of a second son inheriting the throne?
The rejection from the superior nation, like his father's cold gaze, constantly reminded him that even though he had once shouldered half the country, he was still just a powerful heir.

“The heir apparent of a feudal lord must receive the emperor’s mandate before he can be called the heir apparent. Now the heir apparent has not received the mandate, which means the emperor does not approve it, and the world does not know this!” These were the words of the father king to his ministers.

"Why do you call me the Crown Prince and ask how I am doing? You are here temporarily, and you must never come here again!" These were his father's words before his death, and also the first time he was so angry that he vomited blood.

On the first day of the second month of the thirty-sixth year of the Wanli reign (1592), at the hour of Wei (1-3 PM), the father of the king died, and the heir apparent, who had been granted power, received posthumous recognition from the superior state.

Yi Hun ascended the throne, but beneath it lay the frozen ice left by his father, hardened by suspicion.

To melt this ice and secure his position, he had to kill his own brother! Force his younger brother to commit suicide! And then make those who supported them die with him!

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"Your Highness." A knock came at the door, interrupting Li Hui's thoughts.

"Who?" Li Hui sighed tremblingly, raised his hand, and gently wiped away the tears from the corner of his eye with his thumb.

"Your Highness, it is I, Consort Jin." Consort Jin's voice squeezed in through the crack in the door.

"Don't I know it's you?" Li Hui started to get impatient after only the second sentence. "I'm asking who's here!"

"It is His Highness the Crown Prince and Prince Munchang." When the King held power, Lady Kim dared to joke and banter with him. Now that the King had lost power, she was as cautious and timid as an ordinary palace maid.

"What are they doing here? Has the Ming army entered the capital?!" Li Hui's voice was filled with barely suppressed terror.

"I don't think so, I just want to see her," said Lady Kim, shrinking back.

"Then let them get out!" Before Kim Sang-gung could finish speaking, Lee Hun's impatient shout came over.

"Your Highness!" Lady Kim pleaded through the door, "His Highness says he has urgent business to discuss and insists on seeing you. Perhaps, perhaps we should still meet him?"

Li Hui frowned and remained silent for a long while. After the feeling of tightness in his chest subsided slightly, he sighed and said, "Let them in."

"Yes." Lady Kim responded and turned her head.

Before long, Crown Prince Yi Cho and the King's brother-in-law Yoo Hee-bin, who had come to "pay their respects," were led to the King's bedside by the meek and obedient Lady Kim.

Before Li Chu could kneel down, Li Hui stopped him, saying, "Your son pays his respects to his father." "Don't kneel! Speak quickly, and then get out of here!"

Li Chu was startled and quickly said, "Father, Lord Li has not returned yet."

Li Hui was taken aback. "Which Lord Li?"

“That’s Park Consort’s maternal grandfather, Prince Yi Er-chan.” King Yi always respected Prince Yi Er-chan and Park Seung-jong. Even when he had to call them by their given names, he would add the word “Prince” to distinguish them.

"Li Gong'er," Li Hui glanced at the sky outside the window and slowly sat up. "It's been three hours already, hasn't it? Where is the training supervisor?"

"Even the training supervisor didn't come to Changdeok Palace," Yi Cho said, shaking his head.

"Did you send someone to look for him?" A serious expression gradually appeared on Li Hui's face.

“Your Majesty, I have already sent people to his home and other places he frequents to search,” Li Chu said.

"Already?" Li Hui was as perceptive as ever. "You're only sending someone to find him now?"

"Yes." Li Zhu shrank back, instinctively wanting to explain, "But the training camp for the Grand Supervisor is outside the city, so I initially..."

“It shouldn’t take three hours at the most,” Li Hui interrupted him again. “Something must have happened!”

"Then what should we do?" This was the question Li Zhu had come here to ask.

"What do you think we should do?" Li Hui immediately retorted with a question.

"Your Majesty and I don't know what to do, so we took the liberty of coming to bother you, Father." Li Zhu subconsciously pulled Liu Xifen in as well.

"Heh." Lee Hun sneered, but said nothing more: "Immediately seal off the entire city! Especially the south gate, make sure to send a trustworthy person there! The training supervisor is no longer reliable. Before things are cleared up, absolutely do not let the supervisor into the city!" "It can't be, right? Lord Lee is Consort Park's maternal grandfather." Lee Cheok's eyes widened.

Li Hui's face was filled with suspicion. "Under normal circumstances, Li Erzhan would certainly not commit such a treasonous act. But this is a time of great upheaval, and the proclamation doesn't explicitly state that you must ascend the throne. Li Erzhan holds the most elite troops in the capital region; it's inevitable that he might harbor some ulterior motives."

Li Hui suddenly recalled the instructions he had given Li Erzhan in the main hall earlier. He had indeed intended to subtly suggest that Li Erzhan should seize the opportunity to retire gracefully to pave the way for the crown prince. Li Hui believed that his arrangement was appropriate enough, but he couldn't be sure that Li Erzhan didn't want to give up his position at all, and thus had other intentions.

“Father, that was just a proclamation, not an imperial edict,” Li Hui said cautiously. “Besides, if you, Lord Li, were to commit such a heinous act, why not just legitimately lead your troops into the capital and then force the emperor to abdicate and disrupt the government?”

“That makes sense.” Li Hui nodded. “But you can’t be too careful. In any case, don’t let the training supervisor enter before we find Li Erzhan and fully understand the situation.” Li Hui paused, as if suddenly remembering something, and hurriedly asked, “Where is Zhang Wan?”

“Zhang, the military advisor, is still in the Ministry of War.” Li Zhu turned to look at Liu Xifen. “My uncle saw him when he went to the Ministry of War to deliver the imperial decree. What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with Zhang, the military advisor?”

Li Hui didn't respond, but instead glanced at Liu Xifen with a somber expression.

Liu Xifen understood and said with a sigh, "Recently, Judge Li and Counselor Zhang have been getting very close."

"Is there anything strange about this?" Even now, Li Chu still doesn't know what happened when he attended court that day, even though Xuanzheng Hall and Shimin Hall are less than half a mile apart.

“Your Highness,” Liu Xifen explained simply, “they got together because of Jiang Hongli and Jin Jingrui.”

Li Chu's pupils contracted. "What are they trying to do?"

"They wanted to persuade Your Highness to kill Jiang Hongli and Jin Jingrui as soon as possible to avoid the suspicion of the Celestial Dynasty, but..." At this point, Liu Xifen suddenly stopped and subconsciously glanced at the King.

Yi Hun's eye twitched, and his disappointment deepened. He had just wondered if, instead of protecting Generals Jiang and Kim, he had executed them immediately after the slave chieftain sent them back, would the emperor have spared him the responsibility for Joseon's treason?
Li Chu's eyes dimmed. He was inexperienced, not ignorant. After witnessing this subtle exchange of glances, he roughly understood the ins and outs of the matter.

"Sigh," Liu Xifen sighed softly, a sigh tinged with endless contemplation. But then, as if suddenly struck by a thought, he exclaimed excitedly, "Your Highness, Your Majesty! I believe that Li Erzhan and Zhang Wan may indeed have a problem!"

"What do you mean? Tell me quickly!" Li Hui said anxiously.

"Imperial decree!" A look of panic and realization flashed across Liu Xifen's face. "Zhang Wan has refused the decree for promotion!"

"He's trying to sideline himself," Li Hui thought, increasingly convinced that Zhang Wan and Li Erzhan had ulterior motives.

"Probably not," Lee Cho interjected.

"Why do you think it won't happen?" Li Hui countered.

“Because Zhang Canpan didn’t know that the order for promotion came from Father King.” Li Zhu looked at Liu Xifen. “Uncle made it very clear before that Zhang Canpan refused the promotion because the Crown Prince is the regent, and it is not appropriate to promote an official of the second rank or above.”

“That might just be an excuse,” Liu Xifen added. “If Zhang Wan really did conspire with Li Erzhan, then even if it were the king’s decree, he would find another reason to refuse the promotion!”

"That makes sense! Send men to the Uigeumbu immediately and bring Jiang Hongli and Jin Jingrui to the palace!" If it weren't for the emperor's questioning, Li Hui would have only thought Zhang Wan was a loyal minister who followed the rules and served the country faithfully. But with these events, Li Hui was filled with suspicion. In fact, at this moment, apart from his only biological son, Li Hui trusted no one.

“Father, I think Lord Li will not do anything to Jiang Hongli and Jin Jingrui.” Yi Chu still did not think that Li Erzhan would betray him, because he still remembered the eager expression on Li Erzhan’s face when he stopped him at the entrance of Hezheng Hall three hours ago.

Li Hui instinctively wanted to suppress dissent, but the moment his brow furrowed, he realized he had already relinquished authority. "Why?"

"Because Lord Yi recently told me personally that Jiang Hongli and Jin Jingrui cannot be killed. Killing them would only make the Imperial Envoy think that there is something to hide here," Yi Chu said.

"When did he tell you?" Li Hui's expression changed slightly.

Lee Jo's expression froze. "It was right before Father woke up. He and Prince Park said it together."

Li Hui paused for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "Heh. Those two old bastards."

Li Chu lowered his head.

“I understand what you mean,” Li Hui said, “but in any case, Li Erzhan hasn’t come yet, something must have happened. To be on the safe side, it would be best to bring Jiang Hongli and Jin Jingrui to the palace. Also, Hanyang should be sealed off, and the Ministry of War should send people to keep an eye on things. Before Li Erzhan explains the situation clearly, the Training Supervisor must not be allowed to enter the capital!”

"But..." Li Chu wanted to say something more.

Li Hui raised his hand, interrupting him for the third time: "If you don't want to listen, then just get out. Anyway, the affairs of state have been entrusted to you. At worst, we'll die together!"

"No!" Li Chu quickly explained, "Your Majesty, I just wanted to ask who should be sent to handle these matters?"

"You still need to ask me that?" Li Hui glared at Li Chu. "Can't you even find one person you can trust?"

"Yes! Your subject will go immediately." Li Chu shrank his neck, quickly bowed, and left.

"Your Highness, please take care. I take my leave." Liu Xifen quickly knelt down and kowtowed, then strode to catch up with Li Chu.

Just as the two reached the door and were about to leave, Li Hui suddenly remembered something very important. "Come back!"

Liu Xifen immediately stopped and stepped aside. Li Chu brushed past him, bowing his head as he approached his father: "Please instruct me, Father."

"Li Erzhan didn't come, nor did the training supervisor, so is Queen Dowager Jeongyi still in the West Palace?" Li Hui asked anxiously, his tone urgent.

"Yes." Lee Cho nodded blankly.

"I want you to go and invite the Grand Queen here immediately! Go in person!"

(End of this chapter)