If not abolished

Chapter 1

In the winter of the ninth year of Xuande, the emperor was still ill. Empress Sun was by his side, but the emperor still did not get better. For a time, the people in the court and the harem were in a panic.

The sleeping hall of the Qianqing Palace was filled with kneeling imperial doctors. Empress Sun was sitting beside the dragon bed. The person on the bed was unconscious and sweating profusely. Empress Sun kept wiping the person with a handkerchief but the condition did not improve.

"Is there no way the Imperial Medical Bureau can do anything? Your Majesty is like this now, unconscious. Even if... even if it is the last moment, he has to wake up to deal with the final rules." Empress Sun looked at Zhu Zhanji and had to make a final plan. She could only speak to the imperial physician below.

"Your Majesty is no longer conscious. If you want to use medicine to force him to wake up and deal with things, the Holy Mother Empress Dowager and the Prime Ministers must be by your side before I can use the medicine." The Director of the Imperial Hospital said as he knelt down.

"Then... let's go to Qingning Palace to ask mother's opinion, and then ask the Prime Minister." Empress Sun had no choice but to say.

In Qingning Palace, Empress Dowager Zhang has been extremely worried since His Majesty fell ill. Everyone in Qingning Palace has been fasting and praying for His Majesty. Now, when she heard the news from Qianqing Palace, Empress Dowager Zhang almost fainted on the spot. Fortunately, the nanny beside her supported her, and Master Jingci also rushed over after hearing the news.

"Empress Dowager, we need someone to hold on now, otherwise the situation will become chaotic." Immortal Master Jingci walked forward and supported Empress Dowager Zhang and said.

"You are right. Come, prepare the carriage and take it to the Qianqing Palace. Jingci, please go with me." Empress Dowager Zhang looked at her and said.

"I'm afraid this is against the rules. Now I..." Jingci looked embarrassed.

"It's already this late, what else can the Queen say? She doesn't have time to deal with these things now." As she spoke, Queen Mother Zhang held her hand tightly and walked out.

Jingci didn't know what to say. In her heart, she also wanted to go and see him. In the face of life and death, nothing in the past mattered anymore.

Half an hour later, Jingci helped Queen Mother Zhang to the Qianqing Palace.

Empress Sun stood up and went out to pay her respects. When she saw Jingci coming with Empress Dowager Zhang, she looked unhappy. But she immediately stepped forward and helped Empress Dowager Zhang walk into the bedroom. Jingci had no choice but to step back. Empress Dowager Zhang pulled her hand and said, "Let's go in together."

"Yes."

Empress Sun took a look and felt unhappy but there was nothing she could do. It was not the first time that Empress Dowager Zhang always put Hu Shanxiang before herself at every palace banquet, showing no consideration for her as the empress.

As soon as Empress Dowager Zhang entered, she smelled the bitter smell of medicine that even ambergris could not cover up.

"Imperial Physician, Your Majesty has no other solution?" Empress Dowager Zhang asked again.

"Your Majesty is not conscious now. The Imperial Hospital has already used medicine, but I'm afraid..." The Imperial Hospital Commander didn't say anything else.

Empress Dowager Zhang understood what he meant. This was not the first time she had experienced such a thing. Ten years ago, it happened to her husband, and eleven years ago it happened to her father-in-law. She never expected that in less than eleven years, such a thing would happen to her own son, causing her to lose him before her.

"Then go and invite the Prime Minister and the Duke of England." Empress Dowager Zhang said as she looked at Zhu Zhanji's unconscious appearance.

After Yang Shiqi, Duke of England and others arrived, the imperial physician poured Shengmai powder made of ginseng, Ophiopogon japonicus and Schisandra chinensis into Zhu Zhanji.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhu Zhanji woke up slowly. He could only vaguely see a figure, and it was not clear. He had no strength in his body. After a while, he saw Empress Dowager Zhang sitting beside the bed.

"Mother..." Zhu Zhanji said weakly.

"Your Majesty, the Prime Ministers are all waiting for your words here?"

"Let me sit up." Zhu Zhanji wanted to raise his hand, but it fell back onto the bed as soon as he raised it.

Empress Dowager Zhang asked someone to bring a cushion and helped Zhu Zhanji sit up.

Zhu Zhanji looked around and saw Empress Sun's red eyes. He felt distressed. Then he saw Jingci and frowned. Jingci felt a gaze and stood back. Zhu Zhanji didn't say anything in the end. He turned to Yang Shiqi and the others and said, "I am seriously ill and cannot attend court. In two days, I will ask all the ministers to pay homage to the Crown Prince in Wenhua Hall. At that time, I would like to ask the Prime Minister and all the ministers to assist the Crown Prince together."

"The ministers obey the order."

"I think we can hold out for a while. Ministers, please go back first."

"Yes, I will take my leave."

"The Queen has worked hard these days. Go back to Kunning Palace and have a good rest. The Crown Prince must also be taken good care of." Zhu Zhanji also sent Queen Sun away.

"The Crown Prince has his own servants, and now His Majesty needs someone to serve him, so I cannot leave no matter what." Empress Sun choked up a little at the end. Thinking that this was a breach of etiquette in front of the emperor, she held back her tears.

"You haven't had a good rest these days. What if you fall ill because of this? Go back." Zhu Zhanji said again.

After Zhu Zhanji said this, Empress Sun also understood that His Majesty probably had something to say to Empress Dowager Zhang, so he sent her away. She had no choice but to say, "Yes, I'll take my leave." She bowed to Zhu Zhanji and the Empress Dowager and turned to leave. When she saw Jingci, she glanced at her, and Jingci bowed to her.

After Empress Sun left, Zhu Zhanji looked at Empress Dowager Zhang and said, "Mother, I have something to say to Jingci. Please go to the outer room for a while."

Empress Dowager Zhang was puzzled. She could never have imagined that Zhu Zhanji sent everyone away just to talk to Jingci. She looked at Jingci with surprise, then turned back to look at her son and said, "Talk to Jingci."

Zhu Zhanji nodded.

After confirming that she had heard correctly, Empress Dowager Zhang also walked out. Before she left, she saw Jingci still standing there in a daze, so she reached out and shook her hand before walking out. Only then did Jingci come back to her senses.

For a moment, no one spoke in the bedroom.

Zhu Zhanji saw Jingci standing so far away and felt that it might be a bit tiring to talk, so he said, "Come forward. Standing so far away, I am tired of talking."

Jingci heard this and walked to the bed. She waited for Zhu Zhanji to speak. Zhu Zhanji looked at her and saw that she was standing while he was half lying down. He was tired of looking up to talk, so he patted the edge of the bed and said, "Sit down."

"Ah?" Jingci was puzzled.

"My neck hurts from looking up." Zhu Zhanji said again.

"Yes." Jingci sat on the edge of the bed, but only a little bit, and her posture was a little awkward.

"I... I have done my best for everyone in the world in my life, except for one thing, I have let you down. I am afraid that I will be criticized by people a hundred years later. Back then, I was young and frivolous, and I abandoned the empress in a fit of anger. In the past two years, I have felt more and more sorry for you, and I regret it very much. I was in my prime, but I became ill due to overwork and could not get up. It is probably retribution." Zhu Zhanji looked at her and said.

"Your Majesty, please don't say that. It's Pingni who does not have that blessing. Pingni prays for Your Majesty and the Ming Dynasty every day. Your Majesty will definitely get better." Jingci said.

"I know the condition of my own body well, but I will believe you for now because you pray for the Ming Dynasty. Now I want to ask you, do you hate me?" Zhu Zhanji asked.

"I felt a little guilty at first, but I also understood that I was not favored by His Majesty. Resigning from the position of Queen was another kind of relief for me. Your Majesty and the Queen had a deep affection for each other since their youth, just like Taizu and Empress Xiaocigao, Taizong and Empress Renxiaowen, and the late Emperor and the Empress Dowager. It would be unfair for me to suddenly intervene to anyone."

"The Queen was brought into the palace when she was twelve years old. My mother personally taught her about palace etiquette. She grew up with me. At that time, my grandfather promised to make her the Crown Princess. But who could have thought that my grandfather would make you the Crown Princess just because of a celestial phenomenon in the Imperial Astronomical Bureau? I have never seen you. Marrying you makes me feel sorry for the Queen and the relationship I have had with her for so many years. But I have never considered that you are also a victim of this incident. You were also suddenly made the Crown Princess. You married a person you have never met and have not received the love of your husband."

"Your Majesty, do you know? Since I was a child, I have always aspired to become a court lady like my elder sister, but I never thought I would become a crown princess or even a queen. I lived a life completely different from what I imagined when I was young. When I received the imperial edict, my dream of becoming a court lady was shattered. I cried bitterly. My whole family was worried to death, fearing that I would do something out of the ordinary and bring disaster to the whole family."

"Yeah, now that I think about it, you probably didn't want to do that at the time."

"Later, I learned that His Majesty had a childhood sweetheart of seven or eight years. Then I realized that I would not only marry the prince, but also a man with a young and affectionate girl by his side. Although it was a blind marriage, how could a woman not want to marry a husband who shared the same feelings and ideas with her? And I probably don't have that blessing."

"I'm sorry, Shanxiang. If, if there is a next life, I will give you my respect for the rest of your life."

"Then I'll wait." Jingci smiled at him and said, "Your Majesty must be tired after speaking for a long time, so take a rest. Pingni will take his leave. Pingni will pray for your majesty and the Ming Dynasty every day. May your majesty be blessed with great fortune and our Ming Dynasty prosper forever." After that, Jingci knelt down and kowtowed to Zhu Zhanji and walked out.

Zhu Zhanji looked at his back as he left, feeling that he owed her a lot. "If there really is a next life, I will give it all back to you then."

Two days later, led by Yang Shiqi and others, the ministers paid a visit to Crown Prince Zhu Qizhen in Wenhua Hall.

Empress Sun later heard that Zhu Zhanji had specifically called Jingci to talk the day before, and she was so angry that she smashed a set of tea sets in Kunning Palace.

From that day on, Jingci stayed in Chang'an Palace to pray for blessings.

A dozen days later, Zhu Zhanji died in the Qianqing Palace at the age of 38. His will ordered that all important state affairs be handled by the Empress Dowager Zhang. He was given the posthumous title of Xiantian Chongdao Yingming Shengsheng Qinwen Zhaowu Kuanren Chunxiao Zhang Emperor, with the temple name Xuanzong, and buried in Jingling Mausoleum.

In the same year, Crown Prince Zhu Qizhen succeeded to the throne. The following year, the reign title was changed to Zhengtong. Empress Dowager Zhang was honored as Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Sun as Empress Dowager.

Zhu Zhanji woke up from his dream and didn't react for a long time. Wasn't he dead? How come now, when he sat up and looked, this was not the Qianqing Palace, but the western warm pavilion of the Rouyi Palace in Nanjing where he lived when he was young. What was going on? Zhu Zhanji walked to the bronze mirror and it was actually twelve or thirteen o'clock. Could there really be a next life? He was living a new life...