Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 481 Empress Chengxiao Gongsu Mingde Hongren Shuntian Qisheng Zhao 2
"Change your clothes!" Empress Dowager Zhang softly called to her maid, helping her to dress herself again in the attire that symbolized her status as Empress Dowager!
Subsequently, Yang Shiqi, Yang Pu, Fan Zhong and others entered the Cining Palace one by one to meet the Empress Dowager who had devoted her life to the Ming Dynasty!

Finally, the Empress Dowager summoned Yu Qian, the Vice Minister of War! This was because Yu Qian was the person Empress Dowager Zhang truly wanted to see this time! Furthermore, Yu Qian was also the person her son, the Xuande Emperor, entrusted to her before his death—the one who could save the Ming Dynasty from collapse!

"Your subject, Yu Qian, pays respects to the Empress Dowager!" Upon entering the palace gates, Yu Qian saw Empress Dowager Zhang, dressed in a phoenix robe and sitting upright. For a moment, Yu Qian's heart trembled.

Yu Qian knew that the scene before him indicated that the Empress Dowager was nearing the end of her life! This was a final burst of energy before death!
"Minister Yu, please rise!" Empress Dowager Zhang looked at the upright official before her with a kind expression.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Yu Qian slowly rose, his brows furrowed. Clearly, Yu Qian was deeply saddened upon learning of the Empress Dowager's impending passing.
“Minister Yu, before my son passed away, he left me a Golden Dragon Token!”

"At noon today, I passed the Golden Dragon Token to Empress Dowager Sun!" Seeing Yu Qian's furrowed brows, Empress Dowager Zhang didn't waste any time and went straight to the point, telling him the whereabouts of the Golden Dragon Token!
"Thump!" Upon hearing the Empress Dowager's words, Yu Qian's heart skipped a beat, and his expression changed! But he quickly regained his composure.

Seeing Yu Qian's calm expression, Empress Dowager Zhang didn't mind and spoke again!

"Minister Yu, our Great Ming Dynasty and the Dragon Kingdom are truly brotherly nations!"
Last year, the Empress Dowager of the Dragon Kingdom wrote a letter to me.

"I wonder if Vice Minister Yu could help me with this?" Empress Dowager Zhang turned around, picked up a letter from the table, and handed it to Yu Qian.

"Your Majesty, I obey your decree!" Seeing the resolute expression on Empress Dowager Zhang's face, Yu Qian knew there was no way to avoid it, so he had no choice but to reach out and accept the letter that was handed to him.

After a moment's hesitation, Yu Qian resolutely opened the letter in his hand.

He carefully examined the letter in his hand. The contents were nothing more than descriptions of the customs and culture of Jialong Kingdom and interesting stories about the royal family.

But suddenly, Yu Qian's pupils contracted sharply! Because he saw something shocking!
Empress Dowager Wei of the Dragon Kingdom said to Empress Dowager Zhang of the Ming Dynasty: Emperor Longwu of the Dragon Kingdom once predicted that within sixty years from the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty, there would be a disaster that would overthrow the dynasty!

At this moment, Yu Qian also understood the meaning behind Empress Dowager Zhang's request for him to read this letter!

“Minister Yu, before my son passed away, he told me that if the country were to fall, you would be one of the people who could save the Ming Dynasty from disaster!”

After all, one of the three Yangs has already passed away, and now you are the youngest of the officials left behind by my son!

"I want to ask you~! Is what's said in the letter really true~??" Seeing the change in Yu Qian's expression, Empress Dowager Zhang's heart skipped a beat. Although all the signs indicated that the matter in the letter was most likely true, Empress Dowager Zhang still harbored a glimmer of hope!

However, seeing Yu Qian's expression, Empress Dowager Zhang still felt a chill run down her spine! Because Yu Qian's reaction indicated that the contents of the letter might be true!
"Your Majesty, I do not know!" After a long silence, Yu Qian tightly gripped the letter in his hand and said with difficulty that he did not know either!

"I am going to die too!"
"I wonder if you know the secret in the edict left by Emperor Taizong?" Looking at Yu Qian's resolute expression, Empress Dowager Zhang remained silent for a moment before looking at him earnestly.

The reason for this question is that Empress Dowager Zhang needs to find out whether the Ming Dynasty, which her father-in-law, husband, son, and grandson have protected for generations, is really going to end!

She has gone to the underworld so that she can give the late emperor and the others an explanation!
"Your Majesty, this secret was only known to Emperor Taizong before his death! Emperor Renzong also only knew it before his death! The late Emperor also only knew it before his death!"
This secret was only known to emperors before their death, when the succession to the throne was at stake!
Moreover, this secret must not be passed on to future emperors! It must be brought into the mausoleum! Looking at the increasingly listless Empress Dowager Zhang, Yu Qian remained silent for a moment before speaking with difficulty!
"So what?!" After hearing Yu Qian's words, Empress Dowager Zhang knew that Yu Qian had softened his heart! And she herself had to do something!

Yu Qian chose to remain silent in response to Empress Dowager Zhang's question.
"I am also about to meet with Emperor Renzong!"

I also need to tell my son and husband how things are going in the Ming Dynasty!
The Golden Dragon Token has been passed down to Empress Dowager Sun. In times of national crisis, she will take out the Golden Dragon Token in court! If she doesn't take it out in times of crisis, there is still the late emperor's edict in the Imperial Ancestral Temple!

"I have already made my final arrangements!" Empress Dowager Zhang looked at the stubborn Yu Qian, quite pleased with his loyalty. However, she still made her stance clear: she had already made her final arrangements and would not be doing so.

In other words, Empress Dowager Zhang was clearly telling Yu Qian that she would not pass on this secret!

"Your Majesty, the late Emperor Taizong's edict: Jianlong abdicates!" After a moment of silence, Yu Qian knelt on the ground, took out a golden dragon ring from his robes, and presented it to Empress Dowager Zhang.

"This is...?!" Empress Dowager Zhang was taken aback when she saw the ring Yu Qian was showing her. She then took the ring in her hand and examined it for a while before handing it back to Yu Qian.

"This is the Prince of Han~"
This is Emperor Longwu's token! With this token, you can have an audience with Emperor Longwu!
That Golden Dragon Token was something the late emperor retrieved from Emperor Longwu!

"With the Golden Dragon Token, the Dragon Emperor can make a full-force attack once!" Yu Qian said in a low voice, holding the Alligator Dragon Ring in his hand.

"I see!" Empress Dowager Zhang nodded after hearing Yu Qian's words. With the strength of the Dragon Kingdom, if the Ming Dynasty were in danger, there was still a great chance of helping the Ming Dynasty to restore its rule!
"Wait a minute!!!" Suddenly, Empress Dowager Zhang's mind raced! She realized the problem! When Emperor Taizong left his will, Emperor Longwu was merely the Crown Prince of Han! How could he possibly help restore the Ming Dynasty?! Could it be that Emperor Taizong or Emperor Longwu possessed some kind of precognitive ability?!

"Your Majesty!"

"The dragon abdicates!" After a brief silence, Yu Qian spoke slowly and deliberately, seeing that the Empress Dowager Zhang had come to her senses.

"Kenryu abdicated the throne?"

"The Golden Dragon Token?!" Empress Dowager Zhang immediately thought of the Golden Dragon Token! But what right did the Crown Prince of Han have to help the Ming Dynasty restore its kingdom? Was it merely the Imperial Guards commanded by the Golden Dragon Token?!
"Your Majesty!"

"It's not the Golden Dragon Token!" Looking at the hesitant Empress Dowager Zhang, Yu Qian knew that he could not fool this shrewd Empress Dowager, so he silently closed his eyes.

"What is that?" Zhang asked hesitantly.
"Your Majesty, it's not the Golden Dragon Token!"

Kenryu abdicated!

"You're talking about a dragon!" Yu Qian immediately opened his eyes, staring intently at Empress Dowager Zhang, and said in a trembling voice.
"Dragon~?"

"What dragon~?" For a moment, Empress Dowager Zhang didn't react and asked with some surprise! After all, she had never seen a dragon before, and for a moment, Empress Dowager Zhang really didn't understand!

"Your Majesty!"

"In the tenth year of the Xuande reign, a true dragon with a body length exceeding thirty zhang appeared!" Looking at the still somewhat hesitant Empress Dowager Zhang, Yu Qian spoke again with a mysterious tone!
"A true dragon~?"

"Over thirty zhang in length?" Perhaps it was the time for her last burst of lucidity, or perhaps Yu Qian's words were too astonishing, but at this moment, Empress Dowager Zhang still hadn't turned around.

(End of this chapter)