The fire burned until the second day before it gradually subsided.
Zhu Di looked at the ruins with a sad face and said nothing for a long time. Zhu Neng, Qiu Fu and others around him knew clearly that he was pretending, but they had to pretend to persuade him to express condolences.
"Alas...!" Zhu Di sighed softly and ordered: "Be sure to find all the corpses so that my nephew can rest in peace."
Even if he is dead, Zhu Di will not care about it anymore. No matter what, Zhu Yunwen was the emperor, and it is politically correct and necessary to bury him generously.
"Yes, Your Highness." Qiu Fu responded with his hands raised.
Zhu Di sighed and said: "Zhu Neng, Changxing Marquis, and Wu Ding Marquis have all set off, right?"
"Well, we set off last night." Zhu Neng replied, "I guess they will have arrived in Zhenjiang by now, and Cao Guogong has also set off. I will definitely be able to call back the stubborn Ping An, Sheng Yong and others."
After Zhu Di heard this, he was completely relieved. Looking at the huge palace, his emotions gradually agitated.
But before he could get excited for long, he heard news that shocked him.
Jianwen is gone.
Not dead, but gone.
To be more precise, he disappeared.
Zhu Di had a dull look on his face, and then he lost his mind and said, "Look, we must find him. We must dig three feet into the ground to find him."
This time, he was really panicked.
They had already rebelled, so naturally he didn't mind being accused of forcing his nephew to death, but now that he was gone, it made him feel very uncomfortable.
If he ascends the throne here and Zhu Yunwen becomes the king of diligence over there, it will be great fun.
Zhu Di gritted his teeth and said: "We must find him!"
"Your Highness, think twice!" Dao Yan said hurriedly, "The most urgent task is to announce to the world that Jianwen is dead. Otherwise, if we don't protect everything, there will be people who are half-hearted."
He advised, "It doesn't matter whether Jianwen is dead or not. What is important is that the court announced that he is dead. Even if one day he jumps out, no one in the world will believe it."
Zhu Di's face twitched, and he finally nodded helplessly, "Zhu Neng, find your confidants immediately, check all the people who left the city yesterday and today, don't say they are looking for Jianwen."
"I understand the humble position."
Zhu Neng hurriedly clasped his fists and left in a hurry.
"Master, do you think it's possible that Jianwen was burned to ashes?" Zhu Di asked.
"That must be the case." Dao Yan gave him the answer he wanted to hear.
Zhu Di nodded bitterly, but his heart was agitated.
After all, this throne was not earned openly and honestly, and he was extremely guilty.
Seeing this, Dao Yan comforted him: "Your Highness, there is no need to worry about this. You still have a lot of things to do. You should ascend the throne and proclaim yourself emperor as soon as possible to give an explanation for this Jingnan incident. Then, reward those who contributed to the Jingnan incident and stabilize the situation."
Once the overall situation has been decided, even if Jianwen comes back from the dead, it will not help!"
"That's what the master said." Zhu Di slowly calmed down and said loudly: "Come here!"
"The general is here!" Zheng Heng stepped forward and said respectfully: "What are your orders, Your Highness?"
"Go and capture Qitai and Huang Zicheng." Zhu Di said with murderous intent.
"Yes!" Zheng Heng cupped his hands and asked, "Ping An, where are Sheng Yong and the others?"
Dao Yan said hurriedly, "Your Highness, it's better not to leave them alone. Firstly, it can show Your Highness's magnanimity. Secondly, they all hold military power in their hands, just in case..."
Zhu Di nodded slowly and said: "They are also doing things under orders. According to Ming law, it is a public crime and public crimes will not be punished."
After a pause, he gritted his teeth and said, "Catch that Tie Xuan back. He dares to hang the Emperor Taizu's spiritual tablet without permission. I can't spare him."
Dao Yan opened his mouth, but finally said nothing. He understood that one or two heavyweights must die in order to suppress those loyal ministers.
After Zheng Heng took the order and left, Zhu Di called Sanbao and asked him to go to the harem to find Zhu Yunwen's mother, the current queen mother.
Then, he sent someone to Peiping to pick up the little boy.
After arranging everything, Zhu Di stood up and said, "Master, come with me."
Dao Yan nodded and asked with a smile, "But going to Yongqing Hou Mansion?"
Zhu Di also smiled and said softly: "He has helped me a lot."
…
Yongqinghou Mansion.
Li Qing sat in front of the bronze mirror, Wanling combed his hair and red sleeves, and Lianxiang put makeup on him, feeling peaceful and peaceful.
"Sir, you have to learn to draw, so you can use it later." Hong Xiu put down the brush and said softly, "Concubines can't stay with you forever."
Li Qing looked in the mirror and chuckled: "Let's not talk about it anymore. There should be visitors today. Wan Ling should open the door!"
"Well, okay."
When the door opened and the sun shone in, Li Qing felt that everything was so beautiful.
It’s a brand new day!
He didn't have the habit of getting up early. It was already midnight and it was too late to have breakfast. Li Qing only drank a cup of tea and sat under the fruit tree waiting for the visitors.
He did not wait too long, only two quarters of an hour later, the maid hurriedly came to report: "Master, King Yan is here!"
Li Qing nodded, got up and went to the front yard. When he saw Dao Yan was there, he felt sad in his heart.
"Go to the living room!"
"Yes." Zhu Di smiled and nodded, "The guest is welcome."
The three of them came to the living room, the servants brought hot tea, and then left happily.
Zhu Di was the first to speak: "Li Jinglong has already told me that this crisis, if it weren't for you..."
"Your Highness will definitely succeed without me." Li Qing smiled.
Zhu Di smiled and said, "No matter what, I will reward you, and I will reward you heavily;
Tell me, what do you want?
This king will not allow anything!"
Zhu Di is now qualified to say this. Although he has not officially ascended the throne, the overall situation has been decided.
Li Qing thought for a while, "I hope Your Highness can kill less and be more careful. Even if he kills, it will not harm his family."
Zhu Di pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Okay, I will keep my word. Even for Qi Fang and Huang, as long as they are sensible, I will never implicate their families;
But if they insist on not realizing it, they can’t blame me.”
"Your Highness is so open-minded." Li Qing praised sincerely.
He knew that Zhu Di was definitely going to kill someone, and it was the limit for him to go to this extent.
After spending so long in the temple, Li Qing has long lost his original innocence.
Zhu Di smiled and said, "Not counting this, what else do you want?"
"No more." Li Qing shook his head.
The most important thing right now is to stabilize the situation and implement policies. This will have to wait until at least next year. There is no point in saying it now.
"That's not possible." Zhu Di said with a smile, "I have to give you a title no matter what, you can decide on your own."
After a pause, "I know that you are a man of real ability. I hope you can help me and make Ming Dynasty prosperous!"
"I will eat the king's salary and share the king's worries. Your Highness will not tell you, but I will do my duty." Li Qing took a sip of tea, "But I don't care about fame and wealth. If we talk about the hero of the peace, who is the master?"
"Marquis Yongqing is polite." Dao Yan said modestly, "Speaking of which, I would also like to thank Marquis Yongqing for not killing him."
"You two..." Zhu Di said in surprise, "When did you have a relationship?"
Dao Yan smiled and said: "We have no grudges. The so-called Liang Zi is all because of Your Highness."
"Because of me?" Zhu Di wondered, "Why?"
Dao Yan did not explain, but sighed softly, "A poor monk has been practicing Buddhism for decades, but he is not as good as Yongqing Hou Wan Yi!"
He knew the ins and outs of the matter best, and now that he thought about it, he completely understood why Li Qinghui acted like that in the first place.
Zhu Di was confused, but he was not in the mood to understand these things that had nothing to do with the overall situation. He raised his glass and said, "No matter what unpleasantness you had before, after drinking this cup of tea, it will all disappear."
Two people raised their glasses and three people drank together.
After drinking tea, Zhu Di smiled and said, "Old monk, what do you want?"
In the blink of an eye, the master became an old monk... Daoyan slandered and said with a bitter smile: "A poor monk is already this old. What's the use of glory and wealth? I just want the ancient Buddha of Qingdeng to end his remaining life."
Neither one nor the two wanted rewards, which made Zhu Di very embarrassed.
If it were anyone else, Zhu Di would just think he was pretending to be aloof, but he understood the two people in front of him and knew that they really didn't care.
Dao Yan pursues the application of what he has learned, while Li Qing pursues the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Di suddenly felt that these two people were very talented.
Damn it, a monk, a Taoist priest, actually compared with me... Zhu Di said angrily, "How can I be an ungrateful person?
I will reward those who deserve it, but you two have to work hard, and no one can be lazy."
The three of them chatted for a long time until they finally stopped talking in the evening.
…
The next day, early in the morning.
Li Qing came to Fengtian Palace Square early in the morning.
All the ministers knelt on the ground and united to pray for Zhu Di to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.
Ru Yu, the Minister of War, burst into tears and kept shouting: "A country cannot live without a king for a day...!"
Brave and loyal, touching heaven and earth!
But Zhu Di insisted on refusing, saying with all his strength: "This king is just trying to save the country from trouble, and I am not here to be the emperor."
The officials tried to persuade him again, but Zhu Di objected again.
In the case of the third one, Zhu Di had a tangled look on his face. In the end, he couldn't shirk it, so he had to sigh: "That's it, let the Queen Mother make a decision!"
Zhu Di said sadly: "Sister-in-law, my miserable nephew's ears are too soft and he was taken advantage of. He listened to the slanderous words of his ministers Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng, causing great chaos in the world.
Brother, I sent troops to serve the king for the sake of the great Ming Dynasty of our old Zhu family. I didn’t expect... Alas!
My eldest nephew is too stupid and naive to understand my good intentions as an uncle, but...it's a pity that I couldn't save him in time..."
Hanlin editor Yang Rong immediately took out his pen and paper, shook his head and wrote: "Go up, I saw smoke rising from the palace, and I rushed my envoys to rescue him, but it was too late.
The superior cried and said: Is it really true that he is a fool? I came to support you and did a good deed, but you didn't forgive me and why did you suddenly end up like this?"
The title changed from 'Yan' to 'Shang', the meaning is self-evident.
Lu forced a smile and said: "My uncle turned the tide and was a loyal minister of the country. He did not distinguish between loyal and traitorous officials, which led to chaos in the country and loss of life. However... he is dead;
The country cannot live without a king for a day, and I hope that my uncle will not disappoint the ministers and shoulder the responsibility of carrying the country and the country of the Ming Dynasty."
"Sister-in-law, how can you..." Zhu Di looked helpless, "My brother has never thought of..."
"Long live my emperor, long live the emperor!" Ru Yu yelled, pulling her neck, and veins popped out.
"Long live my emperor, long live long live...!" The ministers responded.
"You...sigh!" Zhu Di sighed with helplessness on his face: "That's all, my grandnephew is young, so for the sake of the country and the country of Ming Dynasty, I have to temporarily serve as a supervisor."
The ministers shouted: "The Emperor is wise!"
Rujun immediately took out the edict for ascending to the throne that she had written last night by lighting a lamp and boiling oil, and read it out impassionedly...