Chapter 1

Su Changqing slowly regained consciousness from his coma, only to realize that he was still alive. He opened his eyes and found himself lying in a small room surrounded by antique-style carved railings and curtains.

He couldn't help but reach out and touch the white curtains fluttering in the breeze, "It's not cloth, it's silk. The material is really good. But why am I not in the hospital, but here?" Su Changqing thought, puzzled.

However, his eyes soon fixed on his outstretched right hand, "Why has my hand become so white and delicate? This isn't right." Su Changqing's mind began to race.

As a construction worker who had been working on construction sites, Su Changqing's hands were definitely not the ones he was seeing now.

"I just didn't dodge in time and got hit by a cement truck backing up. Do I need a new pair of hands?" Su Changqing extended his other hand, examining it repeatedly, his mind filled with all sorts of strange thoughts.

"Your Highness, please change your clothes. There is an imperial edict ordering you to enter the palace for an audience with the Emperor." A soft, effeminate male voice suddenly came from outside the silk curtains.

Faced with this bizarre scene, Su Changqing was momentarily at a loss, holding his breath.

Seeing no response from inside the curtains, Wang Cheng'en, who was standing outside, became a bit anxious. He asked a small eunuch standing nearby in a low voice, "Has His Highness not risen yet?"

"The eunuch replied nervously, "Your Excellency, His Highness has indeed not risen." Wang Cheng'en turned to look at the silk curtain door, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped forward, saying, "Your Highness, please forgive this old servant's rudeness."

At this moment, Su Changqing finally let out a long breath. Just as he did, the silk curtain door on the right was pulled open, and a young man with a pale face and no beard, wearing a red robe and a black hat, suddenly appeared before him.

"Isn't this the Ming Dynasty eunuch costume I've seen in TV dramas? Who the hell is playing such a big joke on me?" Su Changqing was about to shout and call out the person who was playing a trick on him.

Just as he was about to sit up and speak, the eunuch suddenly took a few steps back and turned to say, "What are you all standing there for? Quickly go and help His Highness change his clothes. Eunuch Wang is still waiting outside the hall."

The eunuch's actions interrupted what Su Changqing was about to say. It seemed that this "Eunuch Wang" was someone very important. After he spoke, several palace maids immediately pulled open the silk curtains on both sides and began dressing him.

These palace maids worked efficiently, as if they were used to dressing others. Each one had a specific task, and they made him feel no discomfort at all.

This kind of high-level treatment made Su Changqing lose his focus, temporarily forgetting what he wanted to do. He then realized that the warm pavilion he was lying in was actually a bed.

After Su Changqing was dressed in a robe and a black gauze hat, he got off the bed and found himself in a large room.

Before he had a chance to observe the room's decorations, he was escorted out by the eunuch who had given the orders.

When he stepped outside the hall, he realized it was already close to dusk. Another middle-aged eunuch was pacing in the courtyard, looking anxious.

Upon seeing Su Changqing and the others, he immediately stopped, straightened up, and said loudly to Su Changqing, who had not yet reached him, "By imperial edict, Prince Xinyi is ordered to enter the palace for an audience with the Emperor."

Hearing the eunuch's words, everyone around Su Changqing knelt down, but Su Changqing, still confused, stood there, staring blankly at the eunuch who was announcing the edict.

Wang Cheng'en, kneeling to one side, was frantically gesturing to Su Changqing, but Su Changqing didn't even look at him.

Wang Tigan, who had finished announcing the edict, found the Prince's dazed expression somewhat amusing but also somewhat exasperating. However, with Emperor Tianqi's illness worsening and the empire in crisis, he couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

"Whether I can escape this crisis depends on this young prince," he thought, and then softly reminded, "Please, Prince Xinyi, receive the edict."

"Receive the edict?" Su Changqing, still dazed, repeated the words. Worried about Emperor Tianqi's condition, Wang Tigan didn't want to waste any more time with the young prince. He mumbled something and then said, "Hurry up and get up, and serve Prince Xinyi to enter the palace and report."

Soon, Su Changqing was numbly carried into a sedan chair by several eunuchs. As he felt the swaying of the chair, he realized that what he was seeing was neither a dream nor a prank.

He had been transported to another time, and this unexpected fact left Su Changqing at a loss. Memories of this body's past began to flash through his mind.

As Su Changqing tried to piece together these images to understand what era he was in, the sedan chair stopped after about an hour. Supported by the eunuchs, Su Changqing stepped out and found himself in the Forbidden City. Before he could fully analyze the memories of this body, he was led into a large hall and then into a warm pavilion.

Inside the warm pavilion, a beautifully dressed palace lady was attending to a young man who was half-reclining on a bed.

Seeing the young man lying in bed, pale and sickly but trying to smile at him, Su Changqing suddenly felt a lump in his throat and tears began to stream down his face.

"Is it my brother?" the young man lying in bed asked, glancing at the eunuch beside him. A quick-witted eunuch immediately brought a chair and placed it about four or five steps away from the bed.

The sickly young man shook his head, and the eunuch moved the chair closer to the bed until it was right next to it. The young man then smiled contentedly and said, "Come, my brother, sit here so we can talk."

Su Changqing, in a daze, walked to the bed and sat down, his mind blank. "The literati (Donglin Party) cannot be trusted; don't listen to their nonsense." "Zhongxian is diligent and loyal, capable of handling major affairs."

As he spoke, Su Changqing suddenly felt a hand touch his head. He looked up, and through his tears, he saw Emperor Tianqi smiling at him. Suddenly, Tianqi seemed to regain his energy and grabbed Su Changqing's hand, saying, "Come, my brother, you must be like Yao and Shun."

Hearing these words, a series of images flashed through Su Changqing's mind. They were of the young man on the bed, who had just ascended the throne, talking to this body.

At that time, the body was just a child, looking at the young man in the yellow robe with envy and tilting his head to ask, "Can I do this job?"

The young man stroked the child's hair with a doting smile and said, "After I've been on the throne for a few years, I will let you have it."

The memory of this scene, which seemed like yesterday, made Su Changqing sob uncontrollably. He left his chair and fell to the ground, saying, "Your servant is guilty."

Struck by a bolt of lightning, Su Changqing suddenly understood. "So, I am the one who worked tirelessly, who was diligent and cautious, who had white hair and wrinkles by the age of 20, who sold all the palace's possessions and had Empress Zhou do the laundry and cooking (because they couldn't afford palace maids), and who, even after Li Zicheng looted the palace, was still praised as not being a bad ruler, but isolated and often in trouble, with few loyal and honest officials."

Shocked, Su Changqing's mind became a jumble, and he didn't hear anything else Emperor Tianqi said. Soon, Tianqi's brief burst of energy was exhausted, and under the persuasion of the palace lady, he reluctantly let Su Changqing leave. This was the last time Tianqi, in his lucid moments, saw his brother.

In a daze, Su Changqing was carried back to the residence he had left earlier by the eunuchs.

After getting out of the sedan chair at the entrance of the residence, Su Changqing stared at his home, where two life-sized white marble lions stood guard on either side of the main gate. Looking up, he saw a golden plaque with the words "Prince Xinyi's Residence" on the 12 door studs.

"If I could bring this house back with me, wouldn't I be rich?" As the sorrow of being Zhu Youjian's body faded, Su Changqing's thoughts began to work again.

Seeing the future Emperor of the Ming Dynasty staring blankly at the sign in front of his residence, Wang Tigan, who had accompanied him back, tentatively called out a few times, but Su Changqing clearly didn't hear him.

The eunuchs inside the residence had already opened the main gate to welcome Prince Xinyi back, so Wang Tigan stopped trying to talk to Su Changqing.

After being called by Wang Cheng'en a few times, Su Changqing finally snapped out of his daze. He looked at Wang Tigan, who was standing respectfully to one side, and the eunuchs who were panting from carrying him, and finally spoke, "What is your name, eunuch?"

Wang Tigan looked at Su Changqing in surprise and said, "This old servant is Wang Tigan, and I dare not be so presumptuous as to be addressed by Your Highness."

Seeing Wang Tigan's expression, Su Changqing realized he had asked a stupid question. Looking at the eight eunuchs behind Wang Tigan, who were looking at the ground and not daring to glance at him, he remembered that he was now in a feudal society, not the modern China where everyone was equal.

Although the Ming Dynasty was more liberal than the Qing Dynasty, that was relative to the literati. The common people without official titles were still treated like grass by the powerful families. The term "commoner" was a self-deprecating joke in modern times, but here it was a real description of the Ming people's living conditions.

Su Changqing stopped talking and turned to Wang Cheng'en, who was standing nearby, and said, "Do you have any money? Give these eunuchs a reward."

Wang Tigan became even more suspicious of Su Changqing. The Prince Xinyi he knew was close to the literati and distant from eunuchs, but today's behavior was very unusual. If he hadn't known the Prince since he was young, he would have thought this person was an imposter.

However, as a seasoned eunuch in the inner palace, Wang Tigan quickly thanked Su Changqing for the reward. Wang Cheng'en, though he found the Prince's behavior strange, assumed it was due to brotherly affection. After distributing the reward as ordered, he bowed to Wang Tigan and hurriedly followed Su Changqing into the residence.

Wang Tigan felt the silver in his pouch, about two taels, and stood in front of the closed main gate of the residence, deep in thought, before turning to leave with the eunuchs.

As Su Changqing rounded the screen wall and walked through the green and gold-decorated corridor, he encountered a group of people coming to welcome him.

Seeing the three beautifully dressed women standing in front of him, Su Changqing couldn't identify who they were in relation to Zhu Youjian. Just as he was feeling frustrated, the slender woman in front asked with concern, "How are you, Your Highness? I heard you had a headache at noon and went to rest early. Is there anything wrong with your body after the urgent visit to the palace?"

"Yes, Your Highness. I was just worried about you with Zhou Sister and Yuan Sister," the most beautiful woman on the right said, unable to contain herself.

Su Changqing noticed that when this woman spoke, the woman she called "Zhou Sister" frowned, and the woman on the left, surnamed Yuan, only observed him carefully without speaking.

Not knowing how to address or treat these three women, Su Changqing mumbled a few words and then, citing fatigue, bid them farewell and returned to his private chambers alone.

Once inside the place where he first arrived in this era, Su Changqing immediately ordered the attendants on duty to leave, so he could be alone for a while.

After raising his voice a couple of times, the attendants gave up on trying to persuade the irritable Prince to follow the rules of the residence.

Looking at the empty hall, Su Changqing thought it was no different from a temple in the modern era, except for the lack of statues and the addition of a bed that looked like a small room.

After thinking for a while, Su Changqing climbed back into the bed and lay down with his clothes on. He closed his eyes and prayed, "God, Buddha, or whoever sent me here, please send me back. You've got the wrong person. I don't want to be transported through time. I have to attend a project inspection tomorrow. Besides, I don't know how to make guns or steel. I have no interest in waiting 17 years to say that famous line under a crooked tree..."

When Su Changqing woke up, he realized that no gods or Buddhas were listening to him. He roughly dismissed the attendants who wanted to help him wash and change, and lay in bed with his hands behind his head, staring blankly at the silk curtains above.

"Emperor Tianqi is about to pass away. This emperor, who was later vilified by literati as a carpenter, was actually a smart and humane ruler.

If he hadn't fallen ill from falling into the water, the Ming Dynasty might not have fallen. From the 42nd year of Emperor Wanli to the 4th year of Emperor Tianqi, there was an 11-year drought in the north, followed by earthquakes, the Yellow River breaking its banks, locust plagues, and the mysterious explosion at Wang Gongchang.

Despite all this, the empire still managed to struggle on. Wasn't this the achievement of the carpenter emperor? To be honest, a person who loves carpentry must have at least some knowledge of mathematics and basic logic. Otherwise, how could his creations be praised as ingenious by his contemporaries?

After Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he believed the rumors of the Donglin Party and cut off his own support. He was then confined within the palace walls, becoming a lifeless statue. In the era of Chongzhen, when the Donglin Party dominated the court, the Jurchen family eventually led hundreds of thousands of barbarians to change the course of the empire.

This was not only a tragedy for Chongzhen but also for the Han people. In the 60 years of war from the fall of the Ming to the early Qing, the Han population dropped from nearly 200 million to just over 50 million. This was truly a great calamity for the Ming."

Su Changqing's greatest understanding of the late Ming was that the eunuchs and the secret police were always looking for ways to make money while doing their jobs; the literati who supported these eunuchs, known as the eunuch party, were always looking for ways to do their jobs while making money; and the so-called upright Donglin Party members were those who neither did their jobs nor allowed others to do them.

Actually, it's not hard to understand. The eunuchs and the secret police were dependent on imperial power. If the Ming Dynasty fell, they would lose their livelihood. So they were the most loyal to the imperial family.

The eunuch party members mostly came from middle and lower-class families and struggled to pass the imperial exams to change their and their families' fates. But once they became officials, they found that being a clean official meant starving, and being a corrupt official was impossible because most of the wealth was already in the hands of the gentry and aristocracy. Supporting the eunuchs against these gentry and aristocracy was just for their own private gain.

The Donglin Party members, who came from gentry and aristocratic families and considered themselves upright, neither did their jobs nor allowed others to do them. By the late Ming, the system had collapsed, and the wealth and local governance were controlled by the gentry and aristocracy. For them, there was no better time than the present. So they were the least willing to see any changes. Those who dared to challenge their interests, like Zhang Juzheng, saw their entire families destroyed after his death.

Suddenly, the outer door made a sound, and a series of hurried footsteps approached Su Changqing's bed. "Your Highness, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Should I call a doctor?" Empress Zhou's anxious voice reached Su Changqing's ears.

Su Changqing couldn't lie down anymore. He sat up, pulled open the silk curtain door, and got out of bed. "Why are you here? There's no need to be so alarmed. I just felt upset after seeing the Emperor's condition yesterday and didn't want to get up today."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, his bare feet touching the cold tiles, Su Changqing looked at Empress Zhou, who was trying to remain calm.

Seeing Zhu Youjian's wrinkled clothes and bare feet, Empress Zhou frowned and scolded the attendants, "How dare you be so disrespectful? Quickly help His Highness change his clothes and then come to me for punishment."