The guards of the imperial army took the golden order of carving dragons, and after repeatedly confirming that it was correct, they winked at the guards around them.
The guards nodded, and one of them took out the key and opened the thick iron lock on the door.
These guards stood guard in front of the door as if facing a formidable enemy to prevent others from approaching.
"Let's go." Zhu Gaojie waved to Zhang Yingzhen.
Although Zhang Yingzhen was puzzled, she still followed her obediently.
She felt that she was about to learn a secret buried deep in history.
A dark secret.
…
The main hall is luxuriously decorated, with sixteen mahogany pillars supporting the roof painted with colorful paintings. The flames of hundreds of bronze lamps flicker brightly, and the shrine of Emperor Taizu Gao is enshrined in the deepest part. Time and space seem to have stopped silently at this moment, leaving only the inner voice, which makes people feel awe. There is a faint scent of sandalwood in the environment, which is calm and leisurely. The glass contains tranquility, the secret language of the survival of all things, hidden in the purity of forgetting worries.
What puzzles Zhang Yingzhen the most is why only the throne of Emperor Taizu Gao is enshrined.
Why is the throne of Empress Ma, the wife of Emperor Taizu Gao, missing?
"Your Majesty, where is the person the Emperor asked us to visit?" Zhang Yingzhen asked.
"Wait a minute, she should be coming." Zhu Gaojie twisted a few sticks of sandalwood, lit it with fire from a bronze lamp, and inserted it into the incense altar in front of the throne of Emperor Taizu Gao.
Zhang Yingzhen did as she was told, twisting a few sticks of sandalwood to offer to the incense altar, but suddenly an old and skinny hand grabbed her wrist!
She was so startled that she almost couldn't help shouting.
Zhang Yingzhen looked sideways and saw an old woman who looked a little strange holding her hand.
This old woman was wearing a white linen robe that looked like mourning clothes. Her hair was full of silver, and she had the temperament of the vicissitudes of time. Her figure was thin, as if a gust of wind could blow her apart. What's even more strange is that this old woman has a kind of sadness that makes people feel sad at first glance.
The old woman was not hostile, but looked at Zhang Yingzhen faintly.
"Your Majesty..." Zhang Yingzhen looked at Zhu Gaojie, wanting to ask what was going on.
However, Zhu Gaojie sighed and bowed to the old woman.
Zhang Yingzhen was shocked. There seemed to be few people who were qualified to be respected by Prince Qi.
"Is this the girl the emperor chose for you, or did you choose it yourself?" The old woman looked at Zhu Gaojie and asked in a cold voice.
Zhu Gaojie responded: "This is Princess Qi who was chosen by the emperor for me. She is the eldest daughter of a British noble family."
"He is still as domineering as ever, as if everyone's destiny must be controlled by him." The old woman shook her head, and the sadness in her body almost condensed and overflowed.
She sighed in loneliness, turned and left: "Go back and tell the emperor that I will always stay in front of the throne of Emperor Taizu Gao until my death, and no one can use my name to shake his throne. "
Zhang Yingzhen looked shocked. What did she hear? !
Before she could figure it out, Zhu Gaojie had already taken her wrist and walked out the door.
…
The two walked out of the main hall of the Great Baoen Temple, and the imperial guards immediately locked the door, allowing the secret to continue to be hidden.
Zhang Yingzhen couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, who is that old woman?"
"Didn't you already guess it?" The corner of Zhu Gaojie's mouth raised slightly, "Just as you thought, she is... well, don't tell this matter, otherwise the British government will suddenly collapse overnight, and I will not be able to save it."
Zhang Yingzhen's heart beat faster. Just as Zhu Gaojie said, she had already guessed the identity of the old woman.
From the moment he stepped into the main hall, everything fell into place.
Emperor Yongle built the Dabaoen Temple to worship Taizu Emperor Gao and his biological mother.
But in the hall, there is only one statue of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Gao enshrined.
It's because... the emperor's biological mother is still alive, and she is next to the throne of Emperor Taizu Gao.
It is clearly recorded in "Records of Taizu" that Taizu Emperor Gao and his first wife, Queen Ma, had five sons and daughters: the eldest son, Prince Yiwen, Zhu Biao, the second son, King Zhu Fang of Qin, the third son, King Zhu Fan of Jin, the fourth son, the current emperor Zhu Di, and the fifth son. Zhou Wang Zhu Ju, and his two daughters Princess Ningguo and Princess Anqing.
But in fact, the historical record "Records of Taizu" has been revised countless times by Zhu Di. It was Zhu Di himself who said that Zhu Di was born to Empress Ma.
Zhu Di was the emperor, but he was not the emperor who ascended the throne. Instead, he took the throne from his nephew and rebelled and became the emperor. It is something that is not justified, so Zhu Di needs to let his mother be Queen Ma to prove that he is orthodox and convince the world.
In this way, who Zhu Di's real mother is becomes unimportant.
This old woman was the concubine of Emperor Taizu. She gave birth to her son Zhu Di during the war-torn Zhizheng period. She was not famous, but she firmly raised her son to grow up... When Zhu Di grew up, he rebelled. After ascending the throne, he tampered with history books, took Queen Ma as his biological mother, and hid his mother in the Dabaoen Temple, letting all things disappear.
Zhu Di did a good job, he successfully tampered with the truth.
All the evidence has been erased, and the ordinary mother is unable to fight against the emperor. She endures everything silently and watches with her own eyes the traces of her existence in this world disappear.
After she dies, the flaw in the Great Baoen Temple will disappear, and the emperor will remove these last traces.
Zhu Di needs to convince the world that his mother is Empress Ma, not an ordinary concubine, in order to convince the public.
…
Jiming Temple
Zhu Di stood in the pavilion, looking at the scenery below the mountain, with a cold expression.
"What, do you regret it?" Yao Guangxiao, a monk in black, sat behind him and asked.
"What do you regret?" Zhu Di glanced at the old monk, "Is there anything worth regretting? Do you regret becoming the emperor?"
"Since you said you don't regret it, then you don't regret it." Yao Guangxiao did not defend himself.
Zhu Di closed his eyes lightly, feeling mixed emotions in his heart.
He is the supreme Emperor Yongle!
But...does he really not regret it?
"From the beginning to the end of the Jingnan War, I faced several life and death crises and was on the verge of danger. The Peking Encirclement and Suppression, the Battle of Baigouhe, the Battle of Jinan, the Battle of Dongchang, the Battle of Jiahe... I escaped from death countless times, and survived the rain of swords, guns, and swords. When we come here, if we make a mistake, we will be killed."
Zhu Di closed his eyes and muttered to himself, "I have narrowly escaped death along the way, and now I am sitting in this position, sitting in the position of the Nine-Fifth Supreme Being."
"I cannot bear the title of concubine, so I can only be Empress Ma's son, not her son."
"I will erase all the people, things or things related to her, and destroy all the evidence. I will never admit it. I...have no other choice."
"I don't regret it."
When Yao Guangxiao heard this, he shook his head: "There are few people, and there are few people."
In the Great Baoen Temple, the Qingdeng Ancient Buddha, a mother endured the loneliness late at night.
The emperor sat high on the golden chair, looking down at all living beings, cold and ruthless.
