Chapter 2841: Passing Away

A slender figure who resembled a lady from an ink painting slowly walked over. She wore a white palace dress, and her hair was fixed in place by a simple white jade hairpin. She exuded an air of loftiness and distance.

But when she met eyes with Zu An, her eyes rippled as if a peach blossom flower’s petal had fallen on the surface of a calm lake.

“Paying respect to Empress Yi'an,” the other palace maids and eunuchs greeted her.

Even the Fifth Elder had to bow as well. This lady was clearly of a higher stature than her in this world. Even though she was reluctant to lower her head, she couldn’t talk back to Empress Yi'an, or else she would risk exposing her identity and triggering a series of unpredictable chain reactions in this dungeon.

The various powers in the Myriad Worlds had learned this lesson from piling up corpses.

Zu An, through conversing with Isabella, had gotten a rough idea of the key figures in the imperial palace.

The previous emperor had no sons, so his empress had taken charge and invited his younger brother to inherit the throne. That younger brother was none other than the Chongzhen Emperor.

Due to that, the Chongzhen Emperor was extremely respectful to his imperial sister-in-law. As the two of them were of the same seniority, it wouldn’t do for his sister-in-law to be respected as the empress dowager, so she was respectfully addressed as Empress Yi'an instead.

To avoid exposing their identities, everyone treated her with utmost respect.

But that alone couldn’t shock Zu An so much. What astonished him was the fact that the esteemed Empress Yi’an was actually Zheng Dan!

Zu An didn’t let his astonishment show. He racked his mind, wondering if it could be another person in the Myriad Worlds who simply resembled Zheng Dan.

Empress Yi’an continued addressing the Fifth Elder as if she didn’t recognize Zu An. “Our empire is in crisis. Noble Consort Tian, I implore you to watch your words and actions, lest unsavory rumors start spreading.”

Fifth Elder Lilith was displeased, but she could only lower her head and apologize. “I’ll heed your teaching, imperial sister-in-law.”

She didn’t want to continue being lectured, so she turned around and left.

Isabella was about to leave with Zu An when Empress Yi’an said, “Lil’ Ninth, your mother seems to be looking for you.”

“Ah?” As much as Isabella didn’t want to part ways with Zu An, she had no choice but to leave for the time being. She sent a telepathic message telling Zu An to meet her outside the imperial city. She still had many things she wanted to tell him.

Only then did Empress Yi’an assess Zu An. “I hear that Lord Hong has contributed to our great empire by quelling the Shanxi rebels. It’s our Great Ming’s blessing to have a competent subject like you.”

Zu An’s heart sank. Is it just someone with the same face?

Then, he noticed her twitching pinky. Such a gesture wouldn’t have meant much to palace maids and eunuchs, but Zu An’s eyes lit up. That was how Dandan had teased him back then when he woke up in the morning.

Empress Yi’an continued speaking with a dignified air. “Lord Hong, do you think Great Ming’s sun can continue illuminating the darkness?”

Others thought that Empress Yi’an was worrying about national affairs, but Zu An had the latter half of the passcode.

“I’m sure it can. I’ll march into places where even the sun cannot reach,” Zu An replied.

Empress Yi’an smiled. “I’m glad to hear that from you, Lord Hong.”

With that, she departed with her entourage.

A eunuch was going to escort Zu An out, but he discreetly knocked out the eunuch and hid him behind a fake mountain before sneaking into Empress Yi’an’s bedroom. Unsurprisingly, the latter had already sent off her palace maids and eunuchs.

“Dandan!”

After a brief exchange of gazes, Empress Yi’an couldn’t hold herself back anymore and leaped right into Zu An’s embrace. “Ah Zu, I thought I’d never meet you again! Wuuu...”

Feeling the tears on his chest, Zu An hurriedly consoled her. To his surprise, Zheng Dan suddenly leaned in and kissed him.

It didn’t take long for the atmosphere to heat up.

“I don’t think this is good. You’re the imperial sister-in-law now, whereas I'm an official. If they discover us...”

“Don’t worry. I'm of elevated stature in the palace. No one dares to come to my palace.”

“What about the eunuchs and palace maids?”

“I've sent them off. They won’t return anytime soon.”

“But...”

“Didn’t you say that you can enter even places where the sun can’t reach? You seem to be getting more timid as you grow stronger.”

That provoked Zu An. Naturally, he had to prove her wrong.

Zheng Dan’s arrogance slowly gave way to pleas of mercy. The cold palace suddenly felt warmer, and even the flowers outside the window began to blossom.

...

Zu An returned to the fake mountain where he had knocked out the eunuch and hypnotized the latter using the Soul Transference Method before leaving the imperial palace.

Isabella was overjoyed to see him. “Where did you go, big brother Zu? I thought you had left.”

“I went for a walk to see if I could find Chuyan.” Zu An felt sheepish. He couldn’t possibly tell her that he had slipped into the imperial palace to have a tryst with the empress.

“Big brother Zu, you treat big sister Chu so well.” Isabella suddenly frowned and began sniffing. “Hm? Something smells fragrant.”

Zu An knew Zheng Dan’s fragrance had gotten onto him. Worried that Isabella would notice it, he hurriedly changed the topic. “Little sister Bella, I've received an imperial edict and will be rushing back to Shanxi. I’ll have to count on you to help me investigate Chuyan’s whereabouts.”

The distraction worked on Isabella, who said, “Leave it to me. The First Elder has granted me command of the imperial guards to survey the officials and the feudal kings. I’ll tap into their information network to look for big sister Chu, and I’ll inform you the moment I receive any news.”

Zu An patted her shoulder. “Bella, you must take care of yourself. I fear that things won’t go as smoothly as expected in this Order Ceremony.”

“You too!” Isabella didn’t question Zu An’s remark. After what happened in the Deity of Death’s trial, she had absolute trust in Zu An’s judgment.

After they parted ways, Zu An invoked the imperial edict and returned to Shanxi with a grim expression.

Zheng Dan also entered the Order Divine Palace and completed a few trials before being transported here. Many familiar faces are gathered here. It feels as if some unknown power is orchestrating this.

He recalled Hong Chengchou’s plight and felt as if he was walking on a tightrope, where a misstep could lead to him falling down a cliff.

Isabella, Zheng Dan, and Tang Tian’er are in Great Ming, and I still don’t know where Chuyan is. There’s no way I can side with the Manchus.

Before confronting the boss beyond the borders, I should first deal with Li Zicheng.

The first thing he did was to put together an army. He led them to different places to quell the peasant rebellions and banditry.

The experience he'd amassed made him highly competent in fighting wars. To top things off, he had the Red Madame and Li Yan spying on his behalf. It didn’t take him long to vanquish the rebel groups that were gaining momentum. Even prominent rebel leader Gao Yingxiang was executed.

These battles built up an intimidating reputation for him. The rebellion began to lose steam, and morale in Great Ming soared.

While Li Zicheng fled into the mountains with eighteen cavalrymen[1], Zu An didn’t think much of it. It wasn't the same Great Ming that he knew, after all. With the aid of the Order faction, the imperial court rebuilt its economy and lifted the additional taxes[2].

With that, the rebels struggled to recruit more members to join their cause, so Li Zicheng couldn’t pose a threat anymore.

But shocking news was suddenly announced from the border.

Augustus and his Holy Knight Order’s elites were wiped out during a fight against the Manchus, leaving the borders in a precarious position.

“Impossible!”

Zu An was dazed when the news reached him. Despite their poor relationship, he had to concede that Augustus was extremely strong. In terms of individual prowess, he was even stronger than First Elder Oberon. How could someone like that die in battle?

—

TL note: A quick explanation of history

The Ming dynasty was ruled by the Zhu imperial clan, which was a Han clan.

Under the Wanli Emperor and Chongzhen Emperor’s rule, they notoriously put in place three taxes (the Liaodong military levy, the bandit subjugation levy, and the troop training levy) that caused great suffering among the people.

A famous Ming academic named Gu Yanwu wrote that “In that era a mu of land is worth 7 to 8 liang, whereas the tax itself already charges 10 liang.”

In history, Li Zicheng proclaimed himself King of Xinshun and founded the Shun Dynasty. He led 300,000 troops and successfully conquered Beijing. With that, he proclaimed himself emperor.

Great Ming thus fell.

A month later, Wu Sangui (Second Elder Hermes), who guarded the Shanhai Pass, allowed the Qing Manchus to pass right through this critical chokepoint. The Central Plains area is famously hard to guard due to its flat land, so guarding the chokepoints is of utmost importance.

By June, Li Zicheng was overthrown, and the Qing Manchus took over.

—

TL Note:

I’ll highlight places where details conform to or diverge from history, so that you know whether the ‘outsider butterfly effect’ has taken place, or if they're just marching down the same path.

—

(JUST INTERESTING TRIVIA TO ME)

Actually, Empress Yi’an led quite the dramatic life as well.

Her husband, the Tianqi Emperor, was illiterate (supposedly due to a learning disability) and highly dependent on his wet nurse Madame Ke and eunuch Wei Zhongxian.

Wei Zhongxian issued edicts on behalf of the Tianqi Emperor to place people he favored in positions of power while demoting officials who opposed him. His power was said to rival the emperor. He was considered to be the most notorious eunuch in history.

Madame Ke, despite being a wet nurse, was known to travel around in an extravagant sedan and with a huge procession comprising over a hundred people. She put on airs no humbler than the emperor. She starved and mistreated concubines whom the Tianqi Emperor had favored, causing them to suffer from miscarriage and even die. That was why the Tianqi Emperor had no offspring. Empress Yi’an reportedly suffered from a miscarriage because of her.

Empress Yi’an had actively tried to curb their influence but to no avail, as her attempts fell short due to the Tianqi Emperor protecting them.

When the Tianqi Emperor passed away, she pushed for the Chongzhen Emperor to take the throne. When the Chongzhen Emperor claimed the throne, he swiftly dealt with Madame Ke and Wei Zhongxian.

In the end, when Li Zicheng conquered the capital, Emperor Chongzhen ordered Empress Yi’an to commit suicide. The empress died by hanging.

1. This went according to history. ☜

2. In history, the additional taxes weren't lifted until Great Ming fell. When the Manchus took over, they lifted the taxes, saying that they had caused much suffering among the people. ☜

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