Zhengde's eyes wandered, and he didn't know where to look, "The two of them...... Once mentioned a candidate, Raozhou Mansion Huaixian King has a surviving son, Huaixian King Houtao died in the second year of Zhengde, the posthumous son Zhu Zaiku took the throne, is the Huaigong King, this year is not yet seven years old. It is said that Princess Huai is said to be extremely virtuous, never arrogant to the child, invited a famous teacher to teach him martial arts, the child is also quite famous in the local area, at a young age was called virtuous and virtuous, both civil and military. Yang Yiqing and Zhang Lun felt that this son was suitable for succession as the emperor's heir. I sent someone to secretly investigate what they had said, and they did not exaggerate, and this son was a good candidate. ”

Song Nan nodded and said: "I have heard of this, the last time I went to Jiangxi to secretly investigate the arson of King Ning, there were many county kings in Jiangxi, but I have not heard of King Huaigong's rebellion, it seems that King Huaigong is very clean, which is very rare in Jiangxi." ”

Zhengde nodded and said, "What do you think?" King Huaigong is not too young. ”

Song Nan said: "The minister has no objection, as long as the emperor thinks it is suitable, I think the reason why Yang Yiqing and the British Duke recommended this candidate is because King Huai and the emperor are both in the same vein as King Yan, and they are similar in blood; Judging from the generational cycle order of 'Hou Zai Yi Chang You', King Huaigong is the emperor's son and nephew, and he is a good candidate for the succession of the emperor. The second is that this son has a good name, and he can clean himself and not mess with King Ning, which is even more rare. This third, with all due respect, King Huai has died, and there will never be a matter of his father taking over the government after the new emperor ascends the throne, so Zhu Chenhao used to have such an idea and wanted to use his son to succeed as the heir to monopolize the government; To sum up the above three points, the minister thinks there is no problem, I don't know what the emperor thinks? ”

Zhengde nodded slightly and said: "What you said is reasonable, I also take this section into account, since you have no objection, then the candidate has been decided, and I have also solved this major matter, you must assist him well in the future, let him be a good emperor, don't ...... Don't be like me. ”

Song Nan said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, why do you say this." ”

Zhengde covered his mouth and coughed a few times, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and then gasped: "I have a third thing, I know that there is a broken connection between you and the imperial sister, and after I die, the imperial sister ...... Alone, the future will be tormented. The royal sister is twenty-three years old this year, and she has long been ...... After the age of marriage, and the matter between her and you has also damaged her reputation, you ...... this matter Negative ...... Great responsibility. ”

Song Nan said ashamedly: "The minister should die, the minister has a request." ”

Zhengde said: "You...... Go ahead. ”

Song Nan said: "The minister asked the emperor to decree that the minister should marry the princess and let the minister make up for his mistakes." ”

Zhengde said slowly: "Do you want to set up Mrs. Zuo?" This is nothing in my Ming Dynasty, are you not afraid of verbal criticism and criticism? ”

Song Nan said: "Even if the minister is pointed out by Wanfu, he can't abandon the princess, but the emperor can forgive the minister's improper behavior and fulfill the minister's wishes. ”

Zhengde sighed and was silent, and the room was filled with Zhengde's heavy and difficult gasps. After a long time, Zhengde suddenly shouted: "Song Nan, I said that you wrote, and I made an edict." ”

Song Nan hurriedly got up, and the little palace maid who had been standing aside hurriedly found a pen, ink, paper, inkstone, grinded the ink and laid the paper, Song Nan held the pen and hovered, waiting for Zhengde to speak.

Zhengde leaned on the head of the bed, his eyes were lonely, the blood on his face began to fade, and his hands and feet trembled uncontrollably, but he still said words sentence by sentence. He said a word, Song Nan wrote a sentence, and after a while, the edict was written.

"Bring it...... Let me see it. Zhengde said vaguely.

Song Nan hurriedly unfolded the edict in front of Zhengde, Zhengde's scattered gaze moved over the edict, and he sighed and said, "Bring the pen." ”

Song Nan handed the cinnabar pen to Zhengde's hand, Zhengde couldn't hold the pen in his hand, and with Song Nan's assistance, he barely drew a circle below, and the cinnabar pen fell on the paper with a click, staining the blank space below with a big red dot.

"I'm leaving......" Zhengde's breathing began to become rapid, his face became more and more gray, and his breathing became heavy, with a whirring sound in his throat, like a mountain wind blowing through the pine waves, like a cold current sweeping through the treetops.

"I'm leaving......" Zhengde repeated.

Song Nan held Zhengde's hand and called out with tears: "Emperor, Emperor." ”

Zhengde's hand also held Song Nan's hand tightly, and his nails pinched into Song Nan's flesh: "Song Nan...... Remember...... Promise me...... Otherwise...... I don't blink to death. ”

"The minister remembers the words of the emperor, and the emperor can rest assured ......"

"I ...... This life...... It's too short, like the fireworks in front of the Qianqing Palace on the Shangyuan Festival...... It was quickly extinguished, and Song Nan ...... Lo and behold...... Fireworks...... It's beautiful. ”

"Your Majesty...... The emperor ......" Song Nan called in a low voice.

"Pull back the curtains and let me ...... Look at the ...... out there Sun. ”

Song Nan hurriedly got up, brushed and pulled open the heavy curtains, and the strong light suddenly filled the house, and in the back garden of the warm pavilion facing the back window, the green trees were swaying, the spring flowers were really red, and it was a good spring scene. A few bees buzzed around the left side of the window, hovered for a moment, and buzzed away.

Zhengde looked at the spring light outside, his eyes were full of nostalgia, his stiff lips squirmed, Song Nan leaned his ears to listen carefully, but he heard Zhengde say softly: "This world is ...... It's wonderful, I ...... I really don't want to...... Leave. ”

After saying these two sentences with difficulty, his hands and feet began to spasm, Song Nan panicked, but he didn't know where to start, he only watched his face turn purple, and the sound of heavy breathing disappeared, Song Nan softly reached out to probe his snort, and there was no breath at all.

Song Nan sat on the edge of the bed dejectedly, his eyes were confused, tears rolled down, and he hid his face and lost his voice in pain.

……

……

Outside the Palace of Nourishing the Heart, hundreds of civil and military officials surrounded by the Queen Mother Luan have arrived, and nearly 1,000 people who have mobilized fork and knife hands and guard officers with knives have also arrived, under the command of Zhang Wei and Tan You, the front and back of the Palace of Nourishing Heart were quickly surrounded by these soldiers and horses, with a tense posture.

Empress Dowager Zhang immediately went to the Heart Nourishing Palace after getting off Luan's drive, but was quickly persuaded by Yang Tinghe and others.

"Queen Mother, Song Nan broke into the Palace of Nourishing Heart, and he had a firearm in his hand, if he broke in rashly, he was afraid that it would be disadvantageous to the emperor, and he would be persuaded to persuade Song Nan to come out and do the trick."

Empress Dowager Zhang was stunned: "Do you really think that Song Nan will be unfavorable to the emperor?" ”

Yang Tinghe said: "Before today, the old minister may have the same opinion as the Queen Mother, but Song Nan broke into the city gate today, and then disobeyed the Queen Mother's decree and broke into the Heart Palace, so that the ministers and others had to worry. This person's heart is like a deep pool and unpredictable, and the minister thinks that it is better to be careful. ”

Empress Dowager Zhang was silent, and said for a while: "Okay, just follow you, be careful, don't annoy this person and let him hurt the emperor." ”

Yang Tinghe arched his hand and said: "The old minister obeys the order." ”

Yang Tinghe turned around and whispered a few words to Fei Hong, Liang Chu and others, and the three of them came to the top of the main entrance of the Heart Cultivation Hall surrounded by dozens of soldiers, Yang Tinghe stood up and shouted: "Song Nan, please go out of the hall to speak, your trip today is really inappropriate, if you frighten the emperor, you will be a sinner through the ages, the Queen Mother and the civil and military officials are waiting for you outside the palace to come out to explain the reason, you must not be impulsive." ”

The hall was silent, and Yang Tinghe shouted again: "Song Nan, the old man knows that you can hear it, you want to see the emperor and see it, the emperor needs to recuperate, don't bother him, you need to discuss and decide major affairs in the court and China." ”

There was still no answer in the temple.

Yang Tinghe was a little embarrassed, and finally said angrily: "Song Nan, as an important minister of the imperial court, you act regardless of the system, take hostages and forcibly break into the Heart Cultivation Palace, this is already a mortal crime, if you don't know how to restrain yourself, you know what the consequences will be." persuade you to come out and speak, you are a minister of great merit in the court, and the Queen Mother will remember your merits and will not be severely punished; But if you insist on going your own way, taking advantage of the emperor's critical illness and having the idea of holding the emperor hostage, it will really be an unforgivable sin. ”

There was some commotion among the ministers, Yang Tinghe directly called Song Nan's act of breaking into the Heart Cultivation Hall as wanting to hijack and hurt the emperor, this big hat is not small, this is a crime that no kind of credit can bear.

There was a noise in the hall, and after a while, Song Nan's figure appeared in the corridor of the front hall of the Heart Cultivation Palace, beside him, dozens of guards with knives followed him step by step, Song Nan suddenly didn't realize it, and walked towards the outside of the hall step by step with a calm expression, followed by a little palace maid who hung his head and was silent, and he didn't know what this palace maid was doing with him.

"It's out, it's out." The ministers were in a commotion and whispered.

Yang Tinghe glanced sideways at Zhang Wei and Tan You, the two of them understood, and gave an order in a low voice: "Listen to the order, but as soon as the order is given, arrest this person immediately." ”

Song Nan came to the steps in front of the Heart Cultivation Palace, stood still, and condescendingly glanced at the dense hundreds of officials and soldiers outside the hall, and everyone saw the chill in his eyes, it was like a cold sharp knife cutting at everyone's face, making people feel chills.

"Song Nan, the Queen Mother is here, and you haven't seen the Queen Mother yet?" Yang Tinghe said in a low voice.

Song Nan glanced at him coldly, and his eyes fell on the Empress Dowager Zhang, who was standing not far away, his eyes were full of pity and contempt, but he still bowed down and said, "Minister Song Nan has seen the Empress Dowager." ”

Empress Dowager Zhang shouted: "Song Nan, what did you do to the emperor?" ”

Song Nan said indifferently: "Does the Queen Mother really care about the emperor?" ”

Empress Dowager Zhang said angrily: "Bold, what are these words." ”

Song Nan said in a deep voice: "The Queen Mother may really care about the emperor, okay, since this is the case, I will tell the Queen Mother about the current situation of the emperor, and the emperor will ...... It's gone. ”

"What?"

"The emperor is dead?"

"What's going on?"

The ministers were in an uproar, and Empress Dowager Zhang, Yang Tinghe and others were stunned in a daze.

"That's it...... Seriously? Yang Tinghe said in a trembling voice.

Tears flowed out of Song Nan's eyes, silent, Yang Tinghe lifted his robe and walked into the hall, and after a while, his sad cry came: "Your Majesty, ......"

The ministers finally believed that what Song Nan said was true, so in an instant, the crying in front of the Heart Cultivation Hall shook the sky, and the ministers prostrated on the ground and kowtowed to the Heart Cultivation Palace, and the crying was deafening.

Empress Dowager Zhang stood with her mouth open, tears rolling in her eyes, and suddenly, she screamed: "The emperor is fine in the morning, Song Nan, the emperor died after you broke into the emperor's bedroom, saying, what did you do to the emperor?" Ladies and gentlemen, if you don't order someone to take him down and torture him, will you want the mourning family to do it yourself? ”

The ministers immediately stopped their grief, and Liang Chu Fei Hong and the others all pointed at Song Nan and shouted: "Yes, say, how did you plot to kill the emperor?" Although the emperor is seriously ill, he will not die so soon, you must have broken into the emperor's room and done something wrong. You thief, how can you tolerate you today? ”

"Say, say it quickly."

"This thief has to be cut with a thousand knives, and he dares to murder the emperor."

"Knowing people and knowing faces but not knowing hearts, it turns out that this person is the biggest rebel."

Some civil officials were clamoring, pointing at Song Nan's angry shouting with tears on their faces; More people remained silent, and people with a little insight didn't quite believe that Song Nan would kill the monarch for no reason, and Song Nan did it for no reason.

Song Nan sneered: "Sure enough, this heinous crime fell on me Song Nan, I am afraid that it is inevitable that the whole house will be beheaded, I knew that you would do this, you people, I can see through you." Before and after the emperor's funeral, I am not the only one around the emperor, this Liu Palace person has been waiting, you should ask her, how the emperor died. ”

Only then did everyone's eyes notice the little palace maid beside Song Nan, and Empress Dowager Zhang asked sharply: "Liu Yu'er, tell the mourning family how the emperor was killed?" Don't be afraid, the mourning family is in charge of you, and you don't have to be held hostage by others. ”

The little palace maid Liu Yu'er had never spoken in front of so many ministers and so many people, and at this moment she was at a loss and frightened, Song Nan said softly: "Liu Palace people, but say what you see and hear, don't make it up or hide it." ”

The little palace maid Liu Yu'er took a few deep breaths, stabilized her mood and raised her head boldly, quickly glanced at the black head in front of her, and said in a low voice: "This lord did break into the emperor's bedroom with a firearm, and ordered the slave maid to tie the hands and feet of several fathers-in-law and sisters in the house, and his mouth was also blocked. ”

"Sure enough, Song Nan, you are really against the sky." Yang Tinghe said coldly.

Song Nan frowned and said, "Listen to her or listen to you?" ”

Yang Tinghe snorted coldly and stopped talking, and the little palace maid Liu Yu'er continued: "The emperor was originally unconscious, but after this lord entered the room, the emperor woke up soon and talked a lot with this lord, and the slave maid couldn't understand what they were talking about. After that, the emperor suddenly became bad, and after saying a few words, he ...... Convenient...... It's time for the funeral. ”

There was silence on the field, although the words of the little palace maid were brief, but everyone could already make up the situation before the emperor's death, saw Song Nan, said some words, and maybe passed away peacefully after explaining some aftermath, so it seems that the emperor seems to be waiting for Song Nan to return, and after seeing Song Nan, he will be relieved to die.

"Liu Yu'er, is that the situation? If you deliberately hide any details, the mourning family will not spare you. Empress Dowager Zhang said coldly.

The little palace maid knelt on the ground and said: "Queen Mother, if the slave maid dares to hide something, the Queen Mother will cut the slave maid with a thousand knives." ”

"Didn't Song Nan coerce the emperor or anything? Don't be afraid, the mourning family here is your master, he may threaten you to say these things, but he is not in charge here, you don't have to be afraid of him. Empress Dowager Zhang said to herself.

The little palace maid said: "Queen Mother, the slave is telling the truth, this adult didn't do anything to the emperor, the emperor was very good to him, and the two of them said a lot." ”

Empress Dowager Zhang's face was displeased, and she was about to speak again, but Song Nan said coldly: "Empress Dowager, don't you think your behavior is a little ridiculous?" What is the intention of insisting on putting the charge of the emperor's death on me? ”

Empress Dowager Zhang realized that she was indeed a little unreasonable, so she stopped saying a word and turned her head to look at Yang Tinghe, Yang Tinghe had been listening quietly and did not speak, but in fact, his heart was already uneasy. The emperor was actually sober before he died, and he also talked a lot with Song Nan, and the content of what he said was naturally the arrangement of state and family affairs, which was really worrying.

"The old minister thinks that the matter of Lord Song will be put aside for the time being, the emperor has been mourned, and there are many important things to be done at present, and the emperor's funeral must be prepared quickly, and the most important thing is that the emperor's previous edict on the successor needs to be promulgated immediately. After the promulgation of the new emperor's candidate, the ministers must immediately welcome the new emperor into Beijing; There are so many things that need to be prioritized. The minister asked the queen mother to allow the old minister to immediately announce the edict at this moment. ”

Empress Dowager Zhang sighed and said, "Accurate." The edict was announced first, and then the news of the emperor's funeral was announced, and the cabinet lords were divided to prepare for the new emperor and the emperor's funeral, and the soldiers and horses of the five military governors must ensure the safety of the capital during the mourning and the new emperor's accession to the throne, and if necessary, a curfew could be imposed. Military and political officials in all localities are strictly ordered not to move, to strictly guard the border towns of the prefectures and capitals of their headquarters, and not to move troops and horses at will, and those who violate them will be severely punished. ”

Yang Tinghe nodded and promised, and did not slack off at the moment, took out the edict that had not yet been read out in the palace from the hands of the accompanying scribes, and shouted: "The emperor's edict." ”

The ministers knelt down in hula, and they all bowed their heads to listen. Song Nan's loud laughter sounded, resounding throughout the audience, shocking Empress Dowager Zhang and the ministers both confused and angry. Yang Tinghe said angrily: "Zhenguo Gong, when the emperor's edict was read, you didn't kneel down to listen to the order, but laughed wildly, how can this be reasonable!" Don't kneel down and listen to the edict yet......"

Song Nan laughed endlessly, reached out and took out a roll of paper from his arms, and said loudly: "Lord Yang wants to read the edict, coincidentally, I also have an edict of the emperor to read here, this is really bizarre, how could the emperor make two edicts?" ”

Yang Tinghe was shocked in his heart, he didn't expect that the emperor actually left an edict for Song Nan, and he didn't know how to deal with this situation for a while. The ministers who didn't know the inside story were also dumbfounded, how did they come out with two edicts? No matter how confused the emperor is, he will not make two edicts, what happened in this? What the hell is going on here?

"Before his death, the emperor made an edict word by word, recorded it by himself, and signed it by the emperor, and this is the emperor's edict. And where the edict in Yang Shoufu's hand came from, I don't know. Song Nan said coldly.