Empress Dowager Li closed her eyes and calmed herself down. She then let out an almost imperceptible sigh.
Then, she turned around and looked at Zhu Yijun, whose face was pale and his mouth agape. Her expression was cold.
"Emperor, abdicate …"
Zhu Yijun opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but no words came out.
Shen Yicheng looked happy.
Some of the officials were happy, some were worried, some closed their eyes and sighed, and some cried quietly.
The only one who didn't speak was the one who stood up.
"I gave you a chance. Wang Xijue risked his life to protect not only himself, but also you. I'm so old, but I still put in so much effort. Do you think I'm harming you? I'm protecting you … Sigh …"
Empress Li sighed deeply, her face full of disappointment.
"Mother … Mother … I … I'm the Emperor of the Daming! I'm the Emperor! "
Zhu Yijun suddenly stood up and looked at his mother in disbelief, "Mother, why do you want me to abdicate? Why? Am I wrong? I want to take back what belongs to the Emperor! Am I wrong? They are the traitors, the treacherous ones! They want to hollow out the Daming! They want to destroy the Daming!
I'm the Emperor of the Daming, I'm the ruler of the Daming! They rebel, kill the loyal, and kill the innocent! This is a rebellion! They are traitors! I will never abdicate! I! Will never abdicate! Shen Yicheng! How dare you rebel! Do you have the guts to kill me?! You … "
Empress Dowager Li suddenly raised her hand and fiercely slapped Zhu Yijun's face, interrupting his roar.
This slap was ruthless and accurate. Pa! Zhu Yijun was hit until he saw stars and felt dizzy. He fell on his throne, dizzy and dazed.
"If you weren't so old, I wouldn't let you inherit the throne! You're not growing up! "
Empress Dowager Li trembled with anger. She turned to Shen Yicheng and said, "Give me the abdication edict! Hand over the National Seal! Ai Jia knows that all of you have prepared it. Bring it all out! "
Shen Yicheng kowtowed.
"As you command!"
Soon after, a prepared abdication edict was sent to Empress Dowager Li, along with the national seal that was kept in the Department of Rites.
Empress Dowager Li read through the abdication edict and put it on the table. She picked up the seal.
Her hands were trembling.
She turned her head to look at Zhu Yijun, who was paralyzed on the throne. She suddenly remembered that twenty-six years ago, on a day like this, she had stamped her husband's posthumous edict with the national seal, sent her husband away, and offered her son the throne.
That day, she felt that she was fulfilled and that there was hope for her.
Her husband became the Emperor, and her son also became the Emperor. A woman from a small family became the Empress and Empress Dowager of the Daming Empire. She became the most respected woman in the Daming Empire. This was something that countless women didn't even dare to think about.
In the past dynasties, this was something that only women from noble families could do. She was only the daughter of an ordinary family, but she had done it.
How lucky!
But why, why did this happen? She had achieved the two things that all women in the world dreamed of, but why did she get such an outcome?
It should have been a dream-like happy day. She should have been the luckiest and happiest woman in the entire Daming Empire.
But … why did it become like this?
She sent away her husband, crippled her son, and witnessed the two people closest to her leave her. She single-handedly made the Daming Empire prosper, but in the end, she played a dirge for it.
Everything became a bubble, and everything ceased to exist.
There was nothing to care about. It was enough to get the current result …
The lonely old woman who was about to die, the Emperor who was betrayed by all his subjects.
Enough …
Empress Dowager Li closed her eyes and raised the national seal. She used her slightly trembling hand to press the national seal on the imperial edict.
"Greetings, Retired Emperor!"
The moment he received the imperial edict, Shen Yi knelt on the ground and led the group of officials to congratulate the Great Ming Dynasty. After Ying Zong Zhu Qizhen, this was the second Emperor Emeritus of the Great Ming Dynasty to be crowned Emperor Emeritus.
He was also the second Retired Emperor of the Daming Empire.
But would Zhu Yijun be as lucky as Zhu Qizhen?
The officials hurriedly greeted and made Zhu Yijun the Retired Emperor. Then, Shen Yicheng summoned more than 30 tamed eunuchs and directly carried the paralyzed and absent-minded Zhu Yijun from the throne to the sedan chair. Then, he "set off" and sent them to Yuxi Palace.
That was the place where Emperor Jiajing spent the rest of his life.
Empress Dowager Li had a glorious promotion and became the Empress Dowager, who was one level higher than the Empress Dowager.
But she probably wouldn't be happy because of this.
When Zhu Changluo was escorted to the Palace of Heavenly Purity by Luo Sigong, he still had an indescribably terrified expression on his face. The fourteen-year-old Zhu Changluo still didn't quite understand what had happened. After all, he wasn't favored by his father and hadn't been made crown prince until now. Naturally, he hadn't gone out to study either.
Without studying, without receiving the education of an emperor, Zhu Changluo was just an ordinary youth who could read and write. For Shen Yicheng, this youth who wasn't favored by his father and hadn't learned the art of an emperor was the best candidate for the throne.
Compared to Zhu Yijun's other sons, he was undoubtedly the easiest to control.
When Shen Yicheng saw Zhu Changluo's eyes filled with deep fear, he knew that the Emperor would definitely be Zhu Changluo.
For Zhu Changluo, all of this had happened too suddenly and too strangely. It had greatly impacted his sensitive and fragile heart, and he was on the brink of collapse.
The Palace of Heavenly Purity was also a place that he didn't want to set foot in, because that was where his father, who was filled with dissatisfaction and malice toward him, always called him "the son of the capital." Every time he saw his father, he never received a good expression, nor was he treated well.
There was only scolding and malice.
But today, he saw his grandmother.
Other than his mother, his grandmother was the only one who treated him well.
Perhaps it was because of Zhu Yijun's malice toward Zhu Changluo, as well as the title "the son of the capital," that made Empress Dowager Li feel pity for Zhu Changluo. Empress Dowager Li treated Zhu Changluo gently and kindly, and for the sake of his status as a grandson, Empress Dowager Li had once angrily rebuked Zhu Yijun, "You're also the son of the capital!"
Thus, in Zhu Changluo's heart, the only person who could leave a little bit of a warm impression was his grandmother, other than his mother.
In the heavily-guarded palace filled with strangers, he saw his grandmother.
He practically flew to his grandmother's side, seeking her comfort and protection.
"Good grandson …"
Empress Dowager Li hugged Zhu Changluo, the tears she had been holding back finally falling.
"Grandmother … why did the Imperial Bodyguard bring Luo 'er here? What happened in the palace? Where … where's father? "
Empress Dowager Li hugged Zhu Changluo in her arms with tears streaming down her face.
"Good grandson, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. The Imperial Bodyguard brought you here to make you the Emperor! Hehehe, good grandson, you're going to be the Emperor, you're going to be the Emperor, hehehe … "
Empress Dowager Li laughed and cried at the same time. Such contradictory behavior puzzled Zhu Changluo.
"Grandmother … Emperor? Isn't the Emperor my father? "
Empress Dowager Li glanced at the officials below.
"The Emperor is not your father, your father is the Retired Emperor. They have already decided that you will be the Emperor. Good grandson, you're going to be the Emperor, you … you have to … be … my poor grandson …"
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