The next morning, the palace servants had to work very hard to wake up Wanli, who was snoring loudly.

Half asleep, Wanli vaguely saw the anxious face of his third uncle Li Jin.

"Uncle, come, let's drink together..." Wanli said with a chuckle.

"What are you drinking? The Queen Mother is going crazy!" Li Jin stamped his feet anxiously and ordered the palace servants, "Hurry up and wash the emperor's face and change his clothes. The Queen Mother has ordered the emperor to come to the audience immediately!"

"What does my mother want to see me for?" Wanli sobered up and asked, "Who made her so angry?"

"Who else could it be? Your Majesty." Li Jin said with a bitter face, "The Queen Mother already knows about what happened in the Western Palace last night."

"Ah? Who told the secret?" Wanli rubbed his aching head with both hands and said, "I want to cut off his tongue!"

"Let's talk about those things later." Li Jin kept urging, "Hurry up, or something bad will happen if you're late!"

~~

Wanli sat in the imperial carriage for a while before he realized that things were getting serious.

"Isn't this the way to Ningshou Palace?"

"Yes, let's go to Fengxian Temple." Li Jin said with a gloomy face.

"What?" Wanli was sobered up and asked, "My mother made such a big deal?"

"That's right." Li Jin sighed, "The Queen Mother is really angry this time. Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."

"Sun Hai, go and invite the benevolent and holy Empress Dowager!" Wanli shouted immediately, but he saw neither Sun Hai nor Ke Yong. All the confidants who usually surrounded him were gone.

He panicked and quickly covered his stomach and shouted, "Stop, my stomach hurts."

"Your Majesty, don't panic. The Queen Mother has already asked the Queen Mother Rensheng to come over." Li Jin knew what he was thinking.

"Oh, so that's it..." Wanli finally calmed down a little and stopped shouting about having diarrhea.

~~

Fengxian Hall is the emperor's ancestral temple dedicated to his ancestors. Apart from the three festivals a year, the emperor would only report major life events in the back hall, such as establishing a queen, enthroning a crown prince, farming, and visiting the tombs.

As for the Empress Dowager, she would never come here easily, so when Wanli heard that his mother had come to Fengxian Hall, he panicked like a dog.

If Empress Dowager Chen, who had always protected him, had not been there, he would never have dared to step into this dangerous place.

After entering, Wanli was still shocked by the scene before him. He saw his mother, Li Caifeng, who had taken off her phoenix crown and pearls, and removed her chastity robe and bridal robe. She had her hair loose and was wearing a plain skirt. She was kneeling in front of the shrine of the emperors and empresses of the Ming Dynasty, covering her face and crying.

Empress Dowager Chen knelt on the yellow cushion beside her, wiping her tears and comforting her softly.

Li Jin slowed down his pace and walked into the palace. He came to the side of the two queen dowagers and reported softly, "The emperor has arrived."

"Mother..." Emperor Wanli, who followed him in, called out timidly.

"Kneel down, you evil creature!" Empress Dowager Li shouted without even turning her head.

Empress Dowager Chen quickly turned around, pointed at Emperor Wanli, and asked him to admit his mistake immediately.

"Mother, I know I was wrong..." Wanli quickly knelt behind the two empresses and said repeatedly: "I was confused for a moment, and I will never dare to do it again..."

"Shut up! That's not the first time!" Empress Dowager Li hardened her heart and didn't look at him. She raised her head to the shrine of her ancestors and recounted all the absurd and licentious behavior of Emperor Wanli in the past year.

"I heard a few days ago that the emperor has been fond of touring the Western Palace at night and having fun all night long. So I asked Eunuch Feng to tidy up the Western Palace and not allow the palace maids to do anything seductive, thinking that the emperor would know how to restrain himself. Who knew that he did not repent at all, but instead became even worse and abused the palace maids, doing the same things as Jie, Zhou, and Yang of Sui..."

Li Caifeng was heartbroken and burst into tears when she spoke: "I have devoted my heart and soul for eighteen years and taught him strictly for nine years, but he has brought up such a tyrant and tyrant. I am so ashamed of my ancestors. I wish I could just kill myself!"

Empress Dowager Chen quickly held her back and cried, "Sister, don't do that. The emperor has been benevolent and filial over the years and is praised by everyone as a wise ruler. You can't deny him completely just because he made a mistake once."

"In the past, it was because Feng Bao and I kept a close eye on him, and Mr. Zhang taught him strictly, that we were able to control this evil creature!" As the saying goes, no one knows a child better than his mother. Empress Dowager Li made a frank judgment:

"Now that he has grown up and has become independent, and I have returned to the palace, he no longer wants Feng Bao to follow him around all day. Even Mr. Zhang has given up, and there is no one to control him anymore, so he has shown his true colors!"

"Not really, Jun'er is still a child." Queen Mother Chen advised.

"He is eighteen years old and has been the emperor for nine years. How can you say he is still a child?" Empress Dowager Li pointed at Wanli behind her and said angrily: "What he did, can a child do it?!"

Queen Mother Chen was suddenly speechless.

Wanli had no way to refute, tears streaming down his face, and he could only beg his mother to give him another chance.

"It's too late!" Empress Dowager Li said coldly, "Since our ancestors already know what a tyrant you are, I must establish a new ruler for the Ming Dynasty before you do too much harm!"

"Ah?!" Wanli was immediately struck by lightning. He never expected that his ridiculous night would result in such a tragic ending of being gloriously laid off.

"Not at all!" Empress Dowager Chen was so frightened when she heard this that she prayed to her ancestors, "My sister only said this in anger. Please don't take it seriously, please don't take it seriously."

Then she said angrily, "Sister, don't be rash! The emperor of the Ming Dynasty cannot be changed at will! It will shake the country and change the world!"

"I read in history books that there are precedents for deposing and enthroning a ruler!" Empress Dowager Li straightened her neck and said, "Feng Bao, bring me the Book of Han."

Eunuch Feng quickly presented a copy of the Han Shu. Empress Dowager Li unfolded the page she had folded last night, threw it to Wanli and said, "Read it!"

Wanli quickly wiped his tears, picked up the book and saw that it was "Volume 68: Biography of Huo Guang", and he began to read it while crying.

When he read to the part where 'Guang and all the ministers went to see the Queen Mother Bai and explained in detail why the Prince of Changyi could not inherit the ancestral temple...', Wanli could not read any further and burst into tears out of fear.

"My son..." Empress Dowager Chen cried while hugging Wanli in pain. Wanli also hugged Empress Dowager Chen tightly, fearing that if she let go, he would be taken away and placed under house arrest.

"Sister, you can't change the emperor just because you're impulsive!"

Empress Dowager Li looked at Empress Dowager Chen holding the emperor as if they were her own daughter, and she could not help but feel angry again, gritting her teeth and saying:

"We have the Queen Mother, Huo Guang, and Prince Lu, who has the same father and mother as him. Is there anything that cannot be replaced?"

"Then you should kill both of us..." Empress Dowager Chen burst into tears. She was already weak and sickly, and she was so excited that she almost fainted. She looked at Empress Dowager Li and said, "Sister, please..."

Empress Dowager Li was silent for a long while, then nodded and said, "Sister, you have a point. The matter of deposing and enthroning is the foundation of the country and concerns all the people. It is not appropriate for us women to make decisions on our own. Let's listen to what Mr. Zhang has to say."

"Go and invite Mr. Zhang!" she ordered Feng Bao.

"Yes." Feng Bao hurried over.

"Sister, let's go back first and don't disturb our ancestors anymore." Empress Dowager Li said to Empress Dowager Chen:

"Let this evil beast kneel here and reflect on his actions!"

"Oh, okay..." Empress Dowager Chen then let go of the emperor.

~~

Dashamao Hutong.

Under Li Shizhen's careful care, Old Lady Zhao's condition has improved significantly in the past few days. She can now sit up, has an appetite to eat, and is even clamoring to get out of bed.

"After taking two more doses of medicine, the old lady's illness will be cured." After finishing the consultation, Li Shizhen wrote a prescription and left immediately.

He was using new medical knowledge to rewrite his "Compendium of Materia Medica", but he was already in his sixties and could not afford to waste even a moment.

Zhang Juzheng had Doctor Li sent away, and then said to Zhao Hao, "You should go back and rest as well. You haven't been home for days."

"Xiao Jing is not here, so I have to fulfill my filial duty for him." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "Besides, the old lady likes me so much..."

"You are an adult, yet you are still so talkative!" Zhang Juzheng showed a fleeting smile, and his face quickly returned to seriousness.

Zhao Hao was about to say goodbye and leave, but he saw You Qi walking in quickly, followed by Feng Bao, who was sweating profusely.

"Brother Tinglin, what happened?" Zhang Juzheng frowned.

"Come in, let's talk inside." Feng Bao said breathlessly.

Zhang Juzheng nodded, and immediately let Feng Bao into the study. He ordered Zhao Hao to serve him and You Qi to guard outside.

"Empress Dowager Li wants to depose the Emperor!" As soon as the study door was closed, Feng Bao announced this earth-shaking news.

"What?!" Zhang Juzheng stood up suddenly, his body moving without any wind. "What's going on? Explain it to me!"

Feng Bao then told him everything that happened yesterday and today, and then lowered his voice and said, "Brother, the emperor's stay or departure is up to you."

After listening to this, Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard and remained silent for a long time before he calmly asked, "Brother Tinglin, what do you think?"

"We dare not interfere in this matter." Feng Bao waved his hands, but could not help but say, "The Queen Mother's reaction was a bit extreme, but she was also very righteous. The Emperor has indeed changed over the years. He did all the dirty things under the inducement of those little brats. We have not told the Queen even one of them."

"So, it was Brother Tinglin who reported what happened last night to the Empress Dowager?" Zhang Juzheng suddenly asked in a low voice.

"Well..." Feng Bao said awkwardly, "The Queen ordered me to secretly monitor the Emperor and report to him every day."

"Why is this?" Zhang Juzheng frowned even more tightly.

"Prevent him from repeating the same mistakes and picking up bad habits, and becoming another Emperor Longqing." Feng Bao sighed, "As the saying goes, a dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, and a mouse's son will dig holes. How can Your Majesty not be worried?"

As he spoke, he sighed and said, "Prince Lu is now the same age as the Emperor when he ascended the throne. Do we have to start all over again?"

How could Zhang Juzheng not hear the hidden meaning in his words?

If Prince Lu had taken over, he and Feng Bao would have been able to jointly control the government for another ten years...

It would be a lie to say I'm not moved.

But he caught a glimpse of Zhao Hao shaking his head slightly, and Zhang Juzheng immediately realized: "How is it possible? Don't misunderstand the queen's intention!"