On the evening of April 27, the queen collapsed.

Zhu Xiaoqi cried to death, not according to the etiquette, but really cried. The sadness of a person who really loves himself in this world is not something that those who are ordered to cry by others can understand. Of course, he didn't faint from crying this time, but his voice quickly became hoarse, and when others cried in the end, he could only cry silently.

The death of the empress was a blow to the emperor, who was already not in good health. At the beginning of May, the emperor also fell ill, and although he was taken care of by Concubine Zheng, his condition became more and more serious.

On the third day of the sixth month, the crown prince and his son were summoned to the pilgrimage. The emperor was no longer very neat in speaking, but he was sane, he asked Xu Guangqi what he taught, Zhu Xiaoqi of course replied that it was "The Book of Rites", and highly praised Xu Guangqi, and by the way, thanked the emperor's grandfather for his concern for his learning.

Concubine Zheng Guifei was serving beside her, Zhu Xiaoqi secretly observed, and found that her gaze at the prince was very complicated, sometimes hateful, sometimes begging, sometimes afraid, she didn't care much about Zhu Xiaoqi, and when she looked at him, her eyes were not gentle or cold.

That night, the military department gave Yang Lian's house in the matter, and the atmosphere was more solemn. Zuo Guangdou, Zhou Jiamo, Liu Yixie, Han Yi, plus the master, a total of five people. The emperor was seriously ill this time, and they felt that they should discuss the future.

Zuo Guangdou was the first to speak: "Actually, the emperor is seriously ill, there is no problem at all, Wen Yu is making a bit of a fuss." Now that the crown prince's position is stable, King Fu has long been a vassal domain, and the succession of the crown prince to the throne is naturally a good thing for our Donglin lineage. ”

Zhou Jiamo said: "The position of the prince, my Donglin people have made great efforts, and the prince's accession to the throne should enable my Donglin people to occupy a large number of positions, which is a good thing." ”

Yang Lian frowned and said: "I'm afraid that Concubine Zheng Guifei will not give up, if there is a sudden edict to succeed King Fu, then we can only stare in vain." So I think two things are more important, one is to marry a good internal official, the prince's companion Wang An, loyal to the prince, can let him move in the palace, and not let Zheng Guifei isolate China and foreign countries, and the other is the cabinet, we have to go to Fang Congzhe and ask him to often take the minister to see the emperor, so that Zheng Guifei will not be able to produce any demon moths. ”

Han Yi agreed: "In this way, it will be foolproof, the crown prince will take the throne, and he will reuse the Donglin party." ”

The group discussed the specific method for a while before they went home. Thinking of the wonderful scene of Donglin holding great power after the crown prince ascended the throne, he couldn't wait for the emperor to ascend to heaven immediately.

The next day, Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou found Wang An. Wang An was originally the companion of the crown prince Zhu Changluo, of course he hoped that the prince would ascend the throne, so the two sides hit it off, Wang An promised to give the prince a chance to meet the emperor, and did not let Zheng Guifei have the opportunity to do anything else, Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou guaranteed that after the prince ascended the throne, he would be the eunuch of the master of ceremonies and the pen. After leaving the palace gate, Yang Lian said with a smile: "Eunuchs are unreliable, and first make peace with him, don't let him have a chance to become bigger." Zuo Guangdou nodded again and again, civil officials generally don't believe in the ministers, but there is no way to leave the ministers, which is a very contradictory thing.

Then the two went to find the first assistant Fang Congzhe, and as soon as they met, Yang Lian said directly: "The emperor is seriously ill, and the first assistant should take the minister to greet him." ”

Although Yang Lian is only a seventh-grade petty official, he is a person who will not offend the minister, and Fang Congzhe is the first assistant. Fang Congzhe said: "You also know that the emperor has always disliked the minister's inquiry, and last time he said that he didn't want to see the minister to visit the patient, so I could only inquire about the emperor's condition through the chamberlain, but there was no news." ”

Yang Lian said in a fierce voice: "You have been to the emperor a few more times to meet you, now is an extraordinary time, if the throne cannot be passed on normally, we will all be sinners at that time." ”

Fang Congzhe actually disagreed in his heart, the prince has been planning for more than ten years, and there are still any problems that cannot be passed on normally, even if an edict is issued now and a replacement is enthroned, he will not get the support of the minister, but he understands that the Donglin people want to make a contribution to the dragon, if they don't listen, they will make trouble for themselves together, so he promised to go to greet him often.

Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou came out satisfied. Zuo Guangdou said: "If you are not the same way, you are an enemy, and after the prince succeeds to the throne, this old guy must be driven out." ”

Yang Lian frowned, stopped talking, sighed, and walked out with him.

The emperor's condition was good and bad, and on July 19, he was suddenly able to walk on the ground and eat a large bowl of rice, which was the best news in more than two months. The next day, things took a turn for the worse, and the emperor was unable to move or speak.

Although he knew the news, the emperor did not summon him, and the prince could only take Zhu Xiaoqi to guard outside the palace, and there was no way to enter. At this time, an old eunuch came over, and Zhu Xiaoqi recognized it as the prince's companion Wang An. Wang An said to the prince: "The emperor is critically ill, and the prince should be by the emperor's side at this time, please come with the ministers." The prince was overjoyed and followed Wang An in, but no one asked anything along the way. When the three of them arrived at the Fengxian Palace, Wang An said: "Donglin Yang Lian and others asked the slave maid to tell the prince that the people of Donglin have always supported the prince. The prince nodded lightly, and then took Zhu Xiaoqi into the hall, walked all the way to the emperor's bedside, and stood up again after giving a salute. Zheng Guifei's eyes flickered, but she didn't say anything, the emperor slept on the bed, his eyes closed, motionless. The crown prince called softly, "Father." The Emperor's eyes opened a line, then closed them again. The prince relieved himself and asked someone to bring the seat, and the two of them sat next to the dragon bed.

In the evening, everyone ate something indiscriminately and continued to keep watch. Concubine Zheng said to Zhu Xiaoqi: "Brother is tired, let's sleep first." At this moment of witnessing history, how could he sleep, shook his head and said: "The emperor's grandfather is not in good health, and his grandson can't sleep." "No one dared to sleep when the big hat was buttoned, so on the night of the twentieth day of the seventh month, everyone sat in this hall and watched the emperor sleep.

Zhu Xiaoqi is in excellent spirits, he doesn't sleep all night and doesn't feel anything, it seems that the exercise these days has indeed had an effect. Everyone ate something casually for breakfast, and the prince went to the toilet to change with Zhu Xiaoqi, and he really didn't dare to be a little careless at this critical moment. Concubine Zheng Guifei helped the emperor up and carefully poured him a little ginseng soup, and the emperor actually drank it, and then woke up.

He opened his eyes, glanced at Concubine Zheng first, and then turned his gaze to the crown prince. The crown prince prostrated forward, and the emperor said: "You are very good, you will be able to be a good emperor." Then he looked at Concubine Zheng again: "Make Concubine the queen." After saying these two sentences, he seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and his body softened.

Wang An stepped forward to take a closer look at the emperor's face, stretched out his hand to probe in front of his nose for a while, and said sadly: "The emperor has died." At this time, I heard a very sad scream, and then Zheng Guifei fainted.