Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 687 Peeking into the Will of Heaven
As dusk approached, the first cool breeze of the day blew through the woods.

In a small, almost forgotten dilapidated temple north of Yanshu Post Station, Lord Lingyang, Li Zong, stared dejectedly at the broken window frame.

The half-open door creaked open. Uncle Ju Hong pushed the door open and placed a wooden tray in front of Li Zong. "Your Highness, dinner is ready."

Li Zong blankly withdrew his gaze, looked at the pot of wine on the tray, and felt a little happier.

It's good to have alcohol; at least with alcohol, I can sleep.

"Uncle." Li Zong took the flask of wine, pressed the stopper with his thumb, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp.

"Please speak, Your Highness," Ju Hongqiang forced a smile.

"Uncle." After drinking the wine, Li Zong's eyes regained some of their luster. "Take my head to Hanyang in exchange for peace."

Gu Hong's nose suddenly stung, and tears welled up in his eyes. "Your Highness, please don't say that."

"Stop calling me 'Your Highness'!" Li Zong roared, but quickly deflated. "Please stop calling me that. It's an unjust title; I'm no longer capable of anything."

"No! No! It's far from that time!" Ju Hong crawled to Li Zong's side, using both hands and feet. "The imperial envoy is going to the capital today, and Hanyang is no longer under their jurisdiction!"

“But what can I do?” Li Zong slumped to the side, letting out a few bitter laughs. “According to the original plan, we should have contacted the imperial envoy and gained his trust before this. But now I’m like a rat, hiding in this dilapidated temple in the middle of nowhere, barely surviving, not even daring to attend the welcoming ceremony. It’s over, it’s over. This gamble is lost, completely lost!”

"It's all that old dog Li Gui's fault, he keeps coming up with terrible ideas!" Ju Hong's eyes suddenly turned fierce. "What 'following the will of Heaven'? What 'why not give it a try'? These ridiculous ideas have left us with absolutely no way out!"

“Uncle, this can’t be blamed on Master Li, it can’t be blamed on him,” Li Zong sighed, shaking his head and waving his hands. “In the end, it was because I was too hasty. If I hadn’t been so eager for quick success, I wouldn’t have agreed to leave the city, wouldn’t have agreed to the kidnapping, and wouldn’t have insisted on releasing Li Erzhan after we caught him!”

"Your Highness." The more Li Zong acted this way, the more distressed and guilty Gu Hong felt.

“Alright, Uncle,” Li Zong composed himself and looked him straight in the eye. “I’ve thought it through carefully. Judging from the current situation, I have absolutely no chance of succeeding. The only uncertainty is whether I’ll die sooner or later. Get me some more wine later, and once I’m drunk, cut off my head, take it back, give it to Li Chu, and then pin everything on me.”

"Your Highness!" Gu Hong exclaimed in surprise. He had initially thought Li Zong was simply dejected, but it turned out that Li Zong had truly developed a suicidal intent. "You don't need to be like this, things haven't come to that point yet."

"We're here, we're here!" Li Zong raised his hand to interrupt him, then gulped down another mouthful of wine. "I'm the only member of the royal family who didn't attend the welcoming ceremony today! Even putting aside everything else, the mere charge of disrespecting the Celestial Empire by refusing to attend the ceremony is enough to get me into serious trouble. Only if I die now, exonerating you, Uncle, and the others, can you all be safe!"

"No, Your Highness, no! You're oversimplifying things. This is a rebellion, a rebellion! That treacherous tyrant, Li Hui, is always ruthless; he and his bastard will surely wipe us out." Gu Hong urgently grabbed Li Zong's shoulder. "Besides, we're not completely desperate yet; we still have a trump card in our hands!"

"A guiding star?" The wine didn't intoxicate him, but his own state of mind did; Li Zong's eyes began to glaze over. "What guiding star?"

"Have you forgotten?" Gu Hong's face gradually contorted with a twisted fanaticism. "Last year, we spent a fortune to have Envoy Park Yi-seo send two tribute women to the capital!"

"Hiss!" Li Zong gasped, his pupils constricting instantly. "That's right! How could I have forgotten about that?" Li Zong pondered for a moment, his bright eyes quickly dimming again. "But those Park sisters were just pawns scheming for the future, fighting for status. What can we expect from them? We can't just write to them and ask them to whisper sweet nothings in the Emperor's ear, can we? More importantly, we don't even know if they're favored or have any official status yet."

“Your Highness, we don’t really need to rely on them at all!” Gu Hong stared intently into Li Zong’s eyes. “We only need to subtly leak this matter out, and those civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty will be hesitant to act. And in the current situation, as long as the Ming officials don’t do anything to us, Li Hui and his son won’t dare to do anything to us either!”

"Yes! Absolutely! The situation is different now, and we don't need to hide it anymore!" The hope of life brought light back to Li Zong's dazed eyes. Although he was determined to die, no one wants to die if they can live. "Tomorrow, tomorrow you should go and pass on this message."

"Yes!" Seeing the light return to Li Zong's eyes, Ju Hong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

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As dusk fell, Cui Mingji rode a sturdy mule, stepping through the fallen leaves and branches of the forest, to the entrance of the small temple where he was hiding.

Cui Mingji heard a rustling sound. He knew it was the guards hidden in the shadows scrutinizing him. Cui Mingji stopped the mule and spoke up, "Don't be nervous, it's me!"

The rustling sound grew louder as the lead guard emerged from the shadows, having put away his bow and arrows. "Mr. Cui, you've come again?"

Cui Mingji helped the mule down from its saddle and took the reins. "The first of the three principles of a gentleman's self-examination is to be loyal in his duties. As long as Your Excellency is still alive, of course I will come."

"As expected of a scholar, well said." The head guard reached out to help Cui Mingji lift the mule, and said hesitantly in a low voice, "Mr. Cui, do you think you can still succeed?"

"Yes!" Cui Mingji said decisively. "It's definitely possible!"

"Really?" A glimmer of light appeared in the guard's gloomy eyes.

"If there was absolutely no hope, why would I have joined in the first place?" Cui Mingji smiled at the guard.

"Then please go up quickly, Your Excellency is up there." Although Cui Mingji didn't say a word of truth, the guard still smiled.

"Then I'll leave my mule in your care." Cui Mingji waved his hand and started walking.

"Yes!" The guard nodded heavily behind Cui Mingji.

Cui Mingji walked all the way to the entrance of the small temple with the lights on, and just as he raised his hand to knock, the door opened from the inside.

"Greetings, Mr. Cui." Ju Hong opened the door frame and bowed respectfully to Cui Mingji.

“Mr. Cui.” Li Zong also stood up and bowed to Cui Mingji.

"I am not worthy of the title 'Master'. Please just call me Ziqian, Your Excellency and Brother Renfu." Cui Mingji quickly returned the greeting with a cupped hand.

"Where is that old scoundrel Li Gui! Why didn't he come?" After letting Li Erzhan go for nothing, Ju Hong's attitude towards Cui Mingji and Li Gui completely reversed.

“Li Gong has gone to deal with Park Seung-jong,” Choi Myung-gil said calmly. “He probably won’t be able to come today.”

“It’s Park Seung-jong again.” A shadow fell over Koo Hong’s face. “Hasn’t Park Seung-jong suspected him yet?” “I don’t know.” Even if it was a temporary measure, Choi Myung-gil was unwilling to lick the boots of someone like Park Seung-jong. “Brother In-bo, you should ask him yourself next time you see him.”

"See you next time? Hmph. I wonder where we'll meet next time." Gu Hong instinctively wanted to say something that showed his doubt towards Li Gui, but he was afraid of provoking Li Zong, so he quickly stopped himself.

"Alright. Let's get down to business." Li Zong sighed softly. "How's the matter of the suburban welcome going? What's written on the imperial edict?"

Cui Mingji sat cross-legged in front of the lamp opposite Li Zong, and Gu Hong also sat down beside them.

"In general, the welcoming ceremony at the outskirts was the same as before, with only a few twists and turns." Although Cui Mingji had lost his official rank, he was still a registered Confucian scholar who had passed the imperial examination and was eligible to participate in the highest-level "welcoming ceremony." Although he was ranked last and almost impossible to see or hear the conversations of the people in front, and was not qualified to enter the Muhua Pavilion to enjoy the cool air or kneel to receive the imperial edict, since he was present, he still understood the basic situation.

"What twists and turns?" Li Zong looked at Cui Mingji, flames dancing in his eyes.

"The deposed king was forcibly taken to the Muhua Pavilion by the Ming army," Cui Mingji said succinctly.

But Li Zong was puzzled: "He was forcibly taken to the Muhua Pavilion by the Ming army? He wasn't here in the first place?"

“That’s right.” Cui Mingji nodded. “Judging from the way it looked, the Crown Prince originally intended to lead the officials to welcome the imperial envoy to the outskirts of the city by himself and kneel to receive the imperial edict. But later, the welcoming ceremony was suddenly suspended. It wasn’t until the deposed prince’s carriage arrived at Muhua Pavilion under the escort of two Ming troops that the welcoming ceremony was resumed.”

"So, in other words," Li Zong's brow twitched, "the imperial envoy forced Uncle Wang to attend the meeting?"

“I think that’s how it should be,” Cui Mingji nodded.

"Your Highness!" Gu Hong exclaimed excitedly, "They've outsmarted themselves!"

"Too clever by half?" Li Zong turned to look at Ju Hong.

“These past few days, hasn’t that little brat Li Zhu been putting on an act of ‘sacrificing family for the greater good’? All he’s trying to do is distance himself from his father. Today, he led the court officials alone to welcome the imperial envoy outside the city, clearly trying to add another layer to his act. Unfortunately for him, the envoy isn’t buying it at all!” Gu Hong looked at Cui Mingji and nodded at him. “Isn’t this a case of being too clever for his own good?”

“That is indeed possible.” Cui Mingji nodded slightly in response.

“That’s for sure!” Ju Hong said excitedly. “We absolutely cannot let those two dogs be cut apart so easily! Now that we have a seed planted here, we have to find a way to make it take root and sprout!”

"This is probably not a good idea." Cui Mingji looked at Li Zong and shook his head.

"Why!?" Ju Hong's eyes changed, and he leaned back.

Choi Myung-gil smiled slightly at Koo Hong: "Brother In-bo, why do you think the Emperor sent such an imperial envoy to Korea?"

“Of course we’re here to demand an explanation!” Ju Hong said without hesitation.

"The purpose of sending troops to punish us is secondary." Cui Mingji waved his hand. "The Emperor has gone to great lengths to mobilize a large number of troops from the capital, Shandong, and Zhejiang to go to Korea. In the end, there is only one purpose: to make Korea coordinate with the various garrisons in Liaodong, advance from the east and west, and wipe out Korea! In other words, sending troops to punish us is just a tool for the Emperor to send troops to monitor Korea!"

"Therefore, for that Supervisor Yuan, the most important thing right now is undoubtedly to stabilize the domestic situation, and then restore production and prepare the army as much as possible to support Liaodong. He will certainly be happy to see things that are beneficial to him, and he will definitely try to suppress or even stop anything that is irrelevant to him or even harmful."

Cui Mingji turned to look at Li Zong and took a deep breath:

"Your Excellency, do you think that with the six ministries of the central government collectively pledging their loyalty and the five guards and one supervisory office smoothly handing over power, that Supervisor Yuan would actively get involved in the power struggle within the imperial clan and undermine the heir apparent's position?"

"I...I..." Li Zong's pupils dilated violently. "I don't think so."

"What should we do then!" Although Gu Hong also felt that Cui Mingji's words made a lot of sense, he still couldn't help but get agitated. "Are we just going to let that little brat get through this period smoothly and then smoothly take power?"

"No!" Cui Mingji declared resolutely once more. "I suspect that the Emperor may not want the Crown Prince to succeed to the throne!"

"Your Majesty?" Surprise and urgency flashed in Li Zong's eyes simultaneously. "How did you know His Majesty's intentions!?"

“Imperial edict!” Cui Mingji’s tone gradually turned serious. “The contents of today’s imperial edict are very subtle.”

"What's subtle about it?" Li Zong immediately asked, and Ju Hong leaned forward to get closer.

"I have received the Mandate of Heaven, and I rule over the eight directions with benevolence and virtue, covering all vassal states." Cui Mingji lowered his head, rubbed his forehead, and quickly recited the copy of the imperial edict he had seen on the notice wall by the city gate after the welcoming ceremony.

Although Li Zong and Gu Hong were anxious, they could only wait quietly for Cui Mingji to extract the so-called subtlety from the original text of the imperial edict, as if reciting a sutra.

Fortunately, Cui Mingji was a young genius and quickly recalled the imperial edict issued to Li Chu: "Crown Prince Li Chu has a good reputation. He shall temporarily assume the administration of the state and oversee the military and civil affairs of the eight provinces. All major events such as sacrifices and court ceremonies shall be conducted in the manner of a prince."

"What's so subtle about this?" Li Zong didn't understand, and only felt a wave of discouragement.

“If the Emperor intends for the Crown Prince to hold power, why not simply let him succeed to the throne, instead of allowing him to act as regent, temporarily hold power, and exercise temporary authority?” Cui Mingji counted three words on his fingers in the lamplight. “Is it necessary to say the same thing three times?”

"Isn't that a bit far-fetched?" Li Zong chuckled.

“If that’s all there is to it, it does seem a bit far-fetched,” Cui Mingji said, gazing at Li Zong through the play of light and shadow. “But think about it, what are the Emperor’s reasons for appointing the Crown Prince as regent?”

"Crown Prince Yi Chok," Yi Jong thought for a moment. "Has no bad reputation?"

“That’s right!” Cui Mingji said, clasping his hands together. “In the past, imperial edicts always used phrases like ‘having always been respectful and obedient’ and ‘having always been loyal and virtuous’ as reasons for conferring titles, but why is it ‘having never had a bad reputation’ this time?”

"That's debatable!" Ju Hong exclaimed excitedly, his eyes shining.

(End of this chapter)