Chapter 16
Because Prince Xiang died in the Qianqing Palace and died after tasting medicine for Emperor Hongde himself, according to the emperor's will, Prince Xiang's funeral was more grand and dignified than those of other princes.
King Xiang devoted himself to Taoism during his lifetime. He set up an altar in front of the mourning hall and invited two groups of Taoist priests to chant scriptures and offer sacrifices.
There were endless cries of grief in front of the coffin.
There were crowds of guests coming to pay their respects.
In this situation, it was not appropriate for Zhang Xihua to stay alone and say something to comfort Zhu Mingji.
After burning incense and expressing condolences in the mourning hall, Zhang Xihua came out.
Just after walking a few steps out of the door, Zhang Xihua heard Deqing's voice behind him.
"Master Zhang, please wait. The Empress has ordered me to invite you to have breakfast with the Crown Prince." Deqing sighed. "The Crown Prince hasn't eaten much in the past few days and has lost a lot of weight. Neither I nor the Empress has tried to persuade him to eat. I'll have to ask Master Zhang to eat again later."
After Zhang Xihua agreed, he followed Deqing to the prince's residence.
Zhu Mingji was already sitting at the round table in the flower hall, stirring the bird's nest porridge in the bowl with a spoon, looking like he had lost his soul.
The words Zhang Xihua had prepared were on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't utter them. He simply snatched the spoon from Zhu Mingji's hand, scooped up a spoonful of bird's nest porridge and placed it to Zhu Mingji's lips, "Open your mouth."
Zhu Mingji pursed his lips.
Zhang Xihua directly pried open his mouth and forced a mouthful of bird's nest porridge into it, then covered his mouth and said, "Swallow it."
This operation left Deqing stunned.
Deqing thought that only Zhang Erlang would dare to treat his own prince like this, but the prince had been fooled by Zhang Erlang since he was a child.
Only after Zhu Mingji swallowed the first mouthful of bird's nest porridge did Zhang Xihua take down the hand that was covering his mouth.
"Mingji, I know you are sad, but birth, aging, sickness and death are the normal course of human life—"
Before Zhang Xihua could finish her words, she was hugged by Zhu Mingji who was sitting next to her.
His tears fell on her shoulder.
Zhang Xihua raised her hanging hand and gently patted his back.
"Don't hold back your tears like this. Cry out loud, Mingji, cry out loud."
When Zhang Xihua heard his sobbing, her eyes also became sore.
After having breakfast with Zhu Mingji, Princess Xiang summoned Zhang Xihua to talk to her alone.
Princess Xiang's eyes were also red and swollen, revealing her sorrow.
"Mingji and you have always been close. He doesn't have brothers to support him, so you are like a sibling to him. But there is something Godmother must tell you. The prince came to the palace not only to visit His Majesty, but also because the Jinyiwei discovered the assassination of Prince Jing at Mantingfang. The two female assassins are related to my Prince Xiang's Mansion. The prince went to apologize to His Majesty."
Zhang Xihua was stunned. He didn't expect that he was also involved in the death of King Xiang.
"On the day that Prince Jing was assassinated by Man Ting Fang, the prince knew that Ming Ji had stolen his private seal to mobilize the assassins. Ming Ji told his father that he and Prince Jing had fallen for the same girl, Man Ting Fang, and that jealousy over that girl led to the assassination. His father was furious that day and had Ming Ji hung up and beaten for two full hours, having anticipated that the truth would be revealed one day. But the prince and I both know that Ming Ji is not that kind of playboy, but we can't get him to tell us what he wants to keep secret. Even to this day, he refuses to tell me why he sent those two female assassins to assassinate Prince Jing." Princess Xiang took Zhang Xihua's hand, "Now that his father is gone, there are some things that even I, as a mother, can't persuade Ming Ji to do. At least he can still listen to your advice. Can you promise your godmother to be more tolerant of Ming Ji, and no matter what the future holds, don't easily say such hurtful words to Ming Ji that would break up the friendship?"
"Your Majesty, actually, on the day when Prince Jing was assassinated—"
Zhu Mingji came in suddenly and interrupted Zhang Xihua who was about to tell the truth.
"Before Prince Jing was assassinated on the day of Mantingfang, Erlang had advised me not to fight Prince Jing to the death out of spite and inflict losses on both sides, but I didn't listen to Erlang's advice."
Zhu Mingji knelt before the Princess of Xiang's throne and said, "Mother, it was I who killed my father."
He suddenly raised his bloody left hand hidden in his sleeve, with only four fingers left on it.
Princess Xiang screamed and almost fainted from fear, crying, "Son, where is your index finger? Where did your index finger go?"
"Today I have made up my mind. If I fail to live up to the expectations of my father, I will have no place to be buried." Zhu Mingji used his clean right hand to wipe away the tears rolling down the cheeks of Princess Xiang.
Zhang Xihua's face was as pale as paper. She knew that she owed Zhu Mingji a life.
How can she repay it in full?
In later generations, a nickname of Zhu Mingji was circulated in the Ming history fan circle, calling him the Nine-Fingered Emperor, but no one knew the origin of his nine fingers.
Only at this moment did Zhang Xihua understand that by cutting off that finger he was repaying his parents' kindness and bidding farewell to his carefree youth.
Zhang Xihua fell to the ground and kowtowed, tears dripping onto the ground.
"I can also swear to my godmother. The heavens, the earth, the sun, and the moon can see my heart, and the gods of the ten directions can bear witness to my feelings. I regard Mingji as my brother and my best friend. I, Zhang Xihua, will be loyal to my brother my entire life and will never let him down. If I, Zhang Xihua, break this oath today, my entire Zhang family will end without descendants."
Princess Xiang stretched out her arms and embraced Zhu Mingji and Zhang Xihua in her arms, tears streaming down her face.
"You are all my good sons... You are all my good sons..."
*
Prince Xiang’s Mansion, the residence of the Crown Prince.
Zhang Xihua watched the doctor bandage Zhu Mingji's wound. When they were alone in the inner room, she deliberately said angrily, "In ancient times, the second patriarch of Zen Buddhism cut off his arm to seek the Dharma. You have only learned the basics and cut off your index finger."
"Aren't you afraid that if your arm is broken, you won't be able to beat you in a fight in the future?" Zhu Mingji was afraid that Zhang Xihua would say some sensational words, but he was not afraid of talking back to him.
"I was the one who started the assassination of Prince Jing in Mantingfang. Your father should not have gone to His Majesty to apologize, and you should not be the only one to bear the responsibility for your father's death." Zhang Xihua got to the point.
"I can afford it, but can you?" Zhu Mingji couldn't bear to see Zhang Xihua blaming herself.
"You have to bear the responsibility even if you can't afford it, just like what I owe you, you have to pay it back even if you can't pay it back." Zhang Xihua said.
"Erlang, I've seen you shoulder enough burdens since you were little. You started learning at the age of five, studying diligently day and night, and never missed a day of school no matter how serious your illness. The honor you get from the imperial examination will at least be yours. But you've been accumulating money over the years and sending it to the palace to help your eldest sister build relationships. You've even sacrificed yourself to help your second sister and Zhu Mingqing reconcile, and you've always been determined to support the Zhang family. In my opinion, these are all thankless tasks for you, but you're still gritting your teeth and shouldering them, and I can't bear to see them." Zhu Mingji looked at Zhang Xihua, "Sometimes I wonder, if you were a young lady, would you have less to shoulder? Would I be able to help you share some of the burden with you?"
Zhu Mingji suddenly lifted Zhang Xihua's chin, lowered his head and kissed the corner of Zhang Xihua's lips.
It turns out her lips are really kissable, sweet and soft.
Zhu Mingji gently pushed the somewhat bewildered Zhang Xihua away again and laughed at himself: "I suddenly understand a little bit about the ups and downs of a boat."
Zhang Xihua, blushing, suddenly understood what he meant by saying that he had the right to help her share the burden.
But the first time she traveled through time, she was reborn as a woman. History has acknowledged Emperor Huiyuan's preference for her, but she thought those ten years were very difficult.
Zhang Xihua called him a "bastard" and ran away.
*
That night, Zhu Mingji had a dream.
In his dream, he was wearing a dragon robe and was looking for a secret decree he had prepared in front of a row of bookcases, intending to burn it. He searched all the secret compartments but could not find the secret decree that ordered Chen Fuzhou, who was stationed at the border, to lead his troops to defend the king.
Deqing reminded him, "Your Majesty, Madam Zhang said she has a way to bring the secret edict to General Shen on your behalf. I have already handed it to Madam Zhang."
He grabbed Deqing by the collar, his eyes bloodshot.
"What did you say? She's still sick. How can I let her waste her energy and effort to find a way out of this deadlock for me?"
He wanted to rush out of the hall and go to Yuxi Palace in the Western Garden to ask her to return the secret decree.
Deqing hugged his legs and said, "Your Majesty, today is your wedding day to Empress Yuan. Even if you went to the Western Garden, it would be too late. Empress Dowager Zhang has already gone to Yuxi Palace herself, and Madam Zhang has already drunk the poisoned wine."
"You little bastard!" He kicked Deqing, trying to break free. "Those old bastards in the cabinet are in cahoots with Empress Dowager Zhang. It's fine they kept it a secret from me, but you kept it a secret from me too. They already forced me to depose her, and I complied and enthroned Yuanshi as empress. Why are they still trying to force her to death?"
"Madam Zhang begged me to persuade His Majesty to stop." Deqing endured the pain and clung to his legs tightly, not letting go even when he was dragged across the ground. "Madam Zhang said that as long as the secret decree can be delivered, once Empress Dowager Zhang falls, His Majesty will no longer have to be constrained by others."
"Deqing, please let go of my hand and let me see her for the last time." He was extremely anxious, and his voice was trembling. "Deqing, you know she is the most important person to me. I know she has done you a great favor. I don't blame you for listening to her, but I just want to see my first wife. This is the last time I see her... This is the last time I see her..."
Deqing couldn't resist his pleading and finally let go.
He rushed to the Yuxi Palace in the Western Garden. Not long after Empress Dowager Zhang and her entourage left, the palace maids were already kneeling on the ground inside and outside her bedroom.
He saw her and kept wiping the black blood from the corners of her lips.
She leaned in his arms, dying.
"I knew Deqing couldn't stop you. I have asked Empress Dowager Zhang for mercy. After my death, my body will be sent back to my hometown for burial."
She placed her lips next to his ear and said, "The secret edict is in my belly. Qingque and Feiyue, who carried my coffin back home, will let General Shen see it. My Majesty, please do not be sad and cry. When you sit in the Mingtang Hall, I will transform into a gust of wind to meet your majesty."
He was already sobbing, "Without this secret decree, I would have driven Empress Dowager Zhang out of the palace sooner or later. If I had known, I would have stayed by your side all the time. Ningning, are you in pain?"
"I'm not in pain." She tried to raise her sleeve, wanting to wipe his tears, but she was too weak. "I've been suffering from a chronic illness since childhood, and I've borrowed these twenty-four years from heaven. Mingji, you've always been kind to me. Don't blame yourself for my death. Even if I hadn't drunk the poisoned wine sent by Empress Dowager Zhang, I would have only lived a few more days. But my death today can help you relieve your worries and difficulties, and I die without regrets."
She closed her eyes, but couldn't open them.
"You once asked me what my name would be six hundred years from now. My name is Zhang Xi—"
Before she uttered the last word "Hua", she died in his arms.
Zhu Mingji also woke up from his dream here.
*
In the year 2101, in the intensive care unit of Aoki Hospital.
Zhang Xihua, lying on the hospital bed, had various tubes inserted into her body and an oxygen mask on her face.
Zhang's mother sat beside the hospital bed and clicked on a holographic projection pop-up window. It was her son Zhang Xuanhua requesting a video call with her.
Zhang's mother clicked the button to agree.
Zhang Xuanhua: "Mom, I've confirmed with the Time Management Bureau that my sister has indeed traveled back to the Hongde period of the Ming Dynasty. Do you think she remembered something and deliberately traveled back to find Zhu Mingji?"
[Mother Zhang]: "Your sister probably doesn't remember anything. We've already read the memory chip in her brain, and it's the altered memory. Your sister only thinks that she and Zhu Mingji will end badly. Why would she deliberately travel back to find him?"
Zhang Xuanhua: "Mom, have you asked Dad? Did Dad's research team launch Project T002, just like Project T001, to send my sister to the Ming Dynasty to obtain research data?"
Zhang's mother: "Your father said that the research data your sister brought back this time will serve as supporting data for the T002 project's thesis. Your sister's time travel this time must have been accidental. I hope your sister doesn't suffer from depression again like she did last time. Your father's junior fellow apprentice, Chen Fuzhou, was also sent to the Hongde period of the Ming Dynasty by the research team after your sister's time travel. Fuzhou is there to take care of your sister. Moreover, your sister this time is not Zhang Wanning, an orphan with congenital heart disease and asthma. Your sister should not die at the age of 24 like she did last time."
Zhang Xuanhua: "Master Xiaochuan has already been there twice. Mom, can you please ask Dad to have the research team send me to the Ming Dynasty as well? I promise to take good care of my sister."
[Zhang's mother]: "Your father is afraid that extremists like you, who are known for their openness, will arbitrarily interfere with history. That's why he doesn't trust you to go."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
