Hundreds of civil and military officials and nobles wore official robes and white belts around their waists, and led the following teams out of the city in Zhou Heng to welcome the dragon body of Emperor An into Beijing.

The main gate of Zhengyang Gate was wide open, Zhou Heng's cyan prince's clothes were covered with white clothes, and the coffin of Nanmu was supported by gold silk to enter the city from the main gate of Zhengyang Gate.

Emperor Zhi finally returned home.

Gu Quan and Cui Zhenyi respectfully invited Zhou Heng to officiate.

Generally speaking, the presiding priest is the one who inherits the throne.

Zhou Heng refused.

The ministers knelt down and pleased.

Zhou Heng refused again.

Gu Quan kowtowed and shed tears: "The first emperor collapsed for more than a month, there was no king in the country, Zeng first stared at him, and the prince of Jin refused to inherit the unification, did he want the people of the capital to be trampled by Zeng Xian's iron hooves?" ”

In front of the successor, it is not a comfortable nest, but a burden of a thousand gold. This is also the reason why the ministers unanimously chose the adult prince to succeed to the throne. Imagine, if you choose Zhou Ling, who is only fourteen years old, or Zhou Peng, who is only ten years old, how can you compete with the fierce and cruel Zeng Xian? Don't forget, when Emperor An was nearly thirty years old, he led 200,000 elites, but he was defeated by Zeng Xian, and no one survived.

Now that there is a low mood in the capital, even the 200,000 elites have been wiped out, what else can resist Zeng Xian's iron cavalry? Many people packed up their bags and were ready to flee the capital at any time and take refuge in the south. The southward migration faction led by Huo Mengli even believed that as long as they moved south, they could survive.

All this requires a brave and resourceful person to stand up and take on it. And this person is obviously none other than Zhou Heng, the king of Jin in the prison country. Even those who secretly supported Zhou Kang felt that when Zhou Kang rushed to the capital from Luoyang, they were afraid that Zeng Xian's iron hooves would have ransacked the capital. Therefore, many people turned to support Zhou Heng. After all, the most important thing is to survive.

Therefore, there was no second voice in the court, and the ministers all tried their best to recommend Zhou Heng to succeed him.

Looking at the ministers who knelt on the ground, Zhou Heng said: "What you invite, this king should obey." It's just that this king is ranked fourth, and there are two brothers on it. ”

Since ancient times, unless the old emperor dies and the crown prince succeeds to the throne, no matter who wants to be the emperor, he will have to go through three requests and three resignations. Ascended the throne as emperor under the circumstances of "last resort".

Zhou Heng resigned. The ministers thought that it was just following the ancient rules, and most of them were ready for the new emperor to ascend the throne, but they didn't expect Zhou Heng to resign for the fourth time, and he said that there were two surviving brothers above.

The courtier's heart jumped suddenly. What does King Jin mean by this?

Most of the courtiers turned their minds. Think about how to convince him. Gu Quan preemptively said: "Before the first emperor set out on the expedition, he entrusted him with state affairs. Originally, he intended that the prince would succeed to the throne, and he also asked the prince to focus on the society and the people. Focus on the ancestral foundation, and don't shirk. ”

It was Zhou Heng who went to Antito, not Zhou Kang and Zhou Mao.

The ministers said in unison: "Please also ask the prince to take the country's society as the priority, and don't shirk." ”

I've resigned so many times, and if I continue to resign, Zeng will come first.

Zhou Heng has to resign again, and the queen is here. These days, the queen washes her face with tears every day, her eyes are crying, and she sees things vaguely, and she is supported by two palace people and walks in slowly.

See Zhou Heng and Baiguan.

The queen supported Zhou Heng in vain, and then bent down to make a blessing salute, and said: "When the first emperor was here, he once said that Xiaosi had a wisdom root. When he set out on the expedition, he also entrusted him with state affairs, saying, only the small four prison countries, I am the most assured. Now that the first emperor has collapsed, he also asks the fourth child to inherit the unification and live up to the trust of the first emperor. Xiao Si must avenge the first emperor and avenge the 200,000 dead soldiers. ”

Zhou Heng lowered his head and thought for a while, then bowed down and said, "The younger brother leads the decree of Yi, and he will definitely live up to the trust of the imperial brother and the imperial sister-in-law." ”

That's the promise.

The ministers cheered: "Long live! Gu Quan cried with joy and said, "The Great Good Dynasty is hopeful!" ”

Cui Zhenyi was a little stunned, King Jin is about to become the new emperor?

Cui Keyin accompanied Shen Mingzhu in Yongle Palace, listened to the cheers outside, and asked Lu Ying to come out to see what was going on.

Shen Mingzhu immediately fainted when he received the bad news of Emperor Zhi'an, and after being rescued by Wang Zhongfang, his hair was all white all of a sudden, and he was bedridden ever since.

Yesterday evening, when I heard that Emperor Zhi'an's coffin had arrived, he took Cui Keyin's hand and said, "You told King Jin that I want to accompany Emperor Xian." ”

Only by dying can he treat each other affectionately.

Cui Keyin immediately refused, and said, "The first emperor in the spirit of heaven must not want to see you like this. It is the right thing to recuperate, take care of your body, and live instead of the first emperor. ”

Shen Mingzhu saw that Cui Keyin was not allowed, so he took advantage of the unpreparedness of others and wanted to commit suicide with scissors, bluffing all the palace people into losing their souls.

Cui Keyin couldn't, so she had to promise her to tell Zhou Heng that if Zhou Heng didn't allow it, she would have to recuperate well and stop messing around.

Now the state affairs are handled by Zhou Heng, and the funeral of Emperor An is naturally presided over by Zhou Heng, as long as Zhou Heng agrees, the ministers will not allow it. Shen Mingzhu responded.

Zhou Heng disagreed, and said: "Since the Qin Dynasty replaced the burial with terracotta figurines, there has been no precedent for the burial of concubines and palace people in all dynasties. The imperial brother is benevolent and resolutely does not want to see Concubine De looking for death and life. You tell her that the royal brother is watching her from the sky, and if she is not happy, the imperial brother will be unhappy too. ”

Shen Mingzhu listened to Cui Keyin's words, and was silent for a long time, just crying. At dinner, under the persuasion of Cui Keyin, I ate a small half bowl of porridge.

These days, she always refuses to eat, if it weren't for the addition of century-old ginseng to the medicine, hanging this breath, I am afraid that she would have starved to death.

The cheers outside made her a little dazed, took Cui Keyin's hand, and said, "Is the emperor back?" ”

Cui Keyin grabbed her hand with her backhand and said, "Lu Ying has already gone to inquire, you wait a while, you will find out soon." ”

Emperor An can no longer enter from the main gate of Yongle Palace as usual, and he is very affectionate with her.

Lu Ying came back soon, this is Yongle Palace, Shen Mingzhu is like this again, she couldn't help but smile, but the corners of her eyebrows and eyes were still full of joy, and said: "Back to the princess, the prince agreed to succeed to the throne at the invitation of the queen and all the adults." ”

Although this is to be expected. Cui Keyin still said happily: "Really? ”

"It's more real than real gold. The palace people cheered because of this, and now the prince and all the lords are discussing the funeral of the first emperor in the Qinzheng Palace, and the Qin Tianjian has seen the auspicious day of the zodiac, and the enthronement ceremony will be held three days later. The Ministry of Rites has gone down to prepare. ”

Emperor An was in the prime of life, and collapsed unexpectedly, the mausoleum has not been repaired, and it can not be buried at this time, so it can only temporarily stop the Lingzong Temple, and then choose a day to bury after the mausoleum is repaired.

Cui Keyin was happy and sad at the same time, when she married him, she didn't expect that he would one day ascend the throne as emperor. It is a great joy that he can be an idle prince and live peacefully, where did he think that Emperor Zhi'an would listen to Wang Zhe, and in the end it was like this.

There was a cry in his ears, Shen Mingzhu covered his face with the quilt and cried: "Your Majesty! ”

In the future, it will be Zhou Heng's world, and the traces of Emperor An will gradually fade until no one remembers it. Even if you remember, you will only remember the shame of the defeat of Sheephorn. Shen Mingzhu only felt unbearable heartache and cried bitterly.

Cui Keyin persuaded him again and again, promising that he would treat Emperor Zhi'an's concubines well in the future, and all daily expenses would be the same as before.

Shen Mingzhu cried for a while, wiped his tears, lifted the quilt, and said, "You don't need to say it, I also know that you can be trusted, and you won't watch us survivors lack food and clothing." I just feel uncomfortable, I want to cry, just cry. (To be continued.) )