Volume One, Chapter 57: The Successors
Zhu Youjian stood solemnly before the late emperor’s tomb in the faint morning light. The mausoleum was grand and austere, surrounded by towering pines and cypresses.
He stepped slowly inside and approached the ancestral tablet. Wisps of incense smoke curled upward, casting a soft glow on his thoughtful face.
“Father...” Zhu Youjian whispered, “What exactly do these twelve jade pendants mean?”
He withdrew the pendants left by Wang Cheng’en from his chest, examining them carefully in the morning light. The jade was smooth and lustrous, inscribed with bold characters.
An elderly eunuch approached with a trembling gait. “Your Majesty...”
“Who are you?” Zhu Youjian asked.
“I am an old servant who attended the late emperor,” the eunuch replied. “I was by his side at that time.”
“Do you know the origin of these pendants?”
The eunuch glanced at the jade, his expression shifting suddenly. “This... this is...”
“Speak!” Zhu Youjian commanded sternly.
The eunuch knelt. “Your Majesty, these were tokens bestowed twenty years ago by the late emperor to the key ministers of the Donglin faction.”
“Why were they given?”
“Because...” the eunuch swallowed hard, “the late emperor said the Ming dynasty’s realm cannot rest on one man alone.”
Zhu Youjian narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“The late emperor said... the court and the gentry are like those in a boat. Only by working together can they overcome hardships.”
“So these twelve jade pendants...” Zhu Youjian pondered.
The eunuch nodded. “They represent the pact between the late emperor and twelve noble clans.”
“What pact?”
Before the eunuch could answer, he suddenly clutched his throat.
“Stop him!” Zhu Youjian shouted.
But it was too late. The eunuch pulled a small paper packet from his sleeve and shoved it into his mouth.
With a thud, he collapsed to the ground.
Zhu Youjian sneered coldly. “Another one.”
He crouched down, searching the eunuch’s body thoroughly.
In the boots, he found a note.
Unfolding it, he read: “Who in the world can rival me?”
“Interesting,” Zhu Youjian smirked. “Even the eunuchs know to carry poison.”
He also discovered a small booklet in the eunuch’s robe.
Flipping through it, he found records from twenty years ago.
“Before the late emperor passed...” Zhu Youjian read aloud, “he summoned the heads of the twelve clans...”
He continued scanning: “They agreed to a shared sovereignty...”
Just then, footsteps sounded outside.
An aged palace maid hurried in. “Your Majesty...”
“And who are you?” Zhu Youjian asked.
“I also served the late emperor,” the maid said. “I was in the Cining Palace then.”
“Do you know about these pendants?”
The maid glanced at the jade and sighed. “Yes. I was present that day.”
“Speak.”
“It was three days before the late emperor’s death,” she said. “He summoned the twelve clan leaders to establish an agreement.”
“What agreement?”
Before she could finish, she clutched her throat.
Zhu Youjian, growing numb to the scene, said, “Search her.”
Sure enough, they found poison and a note on her person.
The note bore the same four characters: “Who in the world can rival me?”
Zhu Youjian looked at the two corpses on the floor and chuckled coldly.
He opened the booklet again and read on.
“The late emperor said...” he recited, “the realm belongs to the people...”
“The twelve clan leaders knelt...”
“Swearing a common oath...”
“Who in the world...”
He closed the book and stood before the ancestral tablet.
“Father...” he murmured, “What are you truly trying to do?”
The incense smoke drifted without reply.
Zhu Youjian looked again at the pendants: “Twelve jade pendants, twelve noble families...”
He was about to speak when a commotion arose outside.
An elderly eunuch entered. “Your Majesty...”
“Who are you?” Zhu Youjian asked impatiently.
“I was the late emperor’s personal eunuch,” he said.
“Then you must know about these pendants?”
The eunuch glanced at them and suddenly laughed. “Your Majesty, you will never know the truth.”
Then, he pulled out poison and swallowed it.
“Again!” Zhu Youjian sneered.
He was too tired to search the body this time. It was always the same note.
Zhu Youjian stood before the ancestral tablet, gazing at the pendants as the morning light grew stronger, streaming through the window lattice.
“Who in the world...” he whispered.
At that moment, another old palace maid entered.
She looked at the corpses and then at the pendants in his hand.
“Your Majesty...” she said softly, “Do you wish to know the truth?”
“Are you here to poison yourself too?” Zhu Youjian sneered.
“No,” she shook her head. “I came to tell you what the late emperor said before his death.”
“Speak.”
“The late emperor said...” she looked at the pendants, “this realm does not belong to one person alone.”
“This realm is...”
Before she could finish, she clutched her throat.
Zhu Youjian, now numb, said, “Search her.”
Again, poison and a note were found.
Once more, the same four characters: “Who in the world can rival me?”
The maid fell with a strange smile on her lips.
Zhu Youjian gazed at the scattered corpses and the pendants in his hand.
“Father...” he muttered, “What kind of snare is this?”
He glanced at the bodies and suddenly laughed bitterly. “Your Majesty, do you know? These twelve pendants...”
Before he could finish, another muffled sound echoed.
Zhu Youjian no longer bothered to look.
Turning to leave, he suddenly heard a voice behind him.
“Your Majesty...” another palace maid spoke, “I know everything...”
“Bang!”
Another corpse dropped.
Zhu Youjian stood before the ancestral tablet, surrounded by dead bodies.
Each of them had tried to tell him the truth.
Yet each had poisoned themselves.
Each left the identical note: “Who in the world can rival me?”
Just as he was about to exit, another eunuch entered.
“Your Majesty...” the eunuch smiled, “Do you truly wish to know the truth?”
“Speak.” Zhu Youjian had grown accustomed to this.
“It’s simple...” the eunuch began, “These twelve pendants...”
Before finishing, he laughed loudly. “Your Majesty, you will never know the truth!”
Then, another muffled sound.
Zhu Youjian shook his head and turned to leave.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind.
“Your Majesty...” another palace maid said.
“Bang!”
Another corpse fell.
Zhu Youjian was numb.
He looked over the bodies and finally understood.
These people were merely actors in a play.
Their lines were all the same.
Their endings were all the same.
At that moment, an elderly eunuch entered.
“Your Majesty...” the eunuch smiled, “Do you know why we all must die?”
Zhu Youjian turned. “Why?”
The eunuch laughed.
Before he could speak, another muffled sound.
Zhu Youjian looked at the eunuch’s corpse and sighed.
Once more, the same four characters: “Who in the world can rival me?”
He turned and left the mausoleum without looking back.
From behind came a voice: “Your Majesty...”
Zhu Youjian ignored it and kept walking.
“Bang!”
Another muffled sound.
Another body collapsed.
Zhu Youjian stepped out into the rising sun.
Behind him, in the mausoleum, a voice called: “Your Majesty...”
“Bang!”
Another muffled sound.
Another body fell.
Inside the tomb, incense smoke curled around a floor strewn with corpses.
Each corpse bore a note with the same four characters:
“Who in the world can rival me?”
An old palace maid stood at the tomb entrance, watching Zhu Youjian’s retreating figure.
She smiled, pulling a small paper packet from her sleeve.
“Your Majesty...” she whispered, “You will never know the truth.”
Zhu Youjian sat in the main hall of the Eastern Depot, a stack of registers before him. These were records from the palace archives dated twenty years ago.
“These...” he flipped to the first page, “are the great noble families of that time?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” an elderly eunuch said with a trembling voice, “These were the honored ministers during the late emperor’s reign.”
Zhu Youjian examined the names carefully.
“Xu family, Zhou family, Zhao family...” he read aloud, “Where are these clans now?”
“Some in Nanjing, some in Yangzhou, and others...” The eunuch’s words were cut off as he clutched his throat.
“Again!” Zhu Youjian sneered.
The eunuch collapsed, blood pouring from his orifices. A small paper packet fell from his sleeve.
“Search!” Zhu Youjian ordered.
The guards found a note on the eunuch’s body—once again, the same four characters: “Who in the world can rival me?”
At that moment, an old palace maid entered.
“Your Majesty...” she said shakily, “I know something.”
“Speak.” Zhu Youjian looked at her.
“These twelve families...” she began, “were the pillars of the Donglin faction. The late emperor gave them the pendants because...”
Before she could finish, she clutched her throat and fell.
Zhu Youjian, now accustomed, said, “Continue the search.”
Sure enough, the maid also carried poison and a note.
Zhu Youjian resumed scanning the registers. Suddenly, he found a familiar name.
“The Wen family...” he sneered, “So that’s how it is.”
He turned several pages and noticed a common mark beside each family name.
This mark matched exactly the symbol on the back of the jade pendants.
“I see,” he smirked coldly, “This is the Donglin faction’s emblem.”
An old palace maid approached slowly.
“Your Majesty...” she said.
“You know something too?” Zhu Youjian asked.
“These twelve families...” she said, “are not only the Donglin faction, but also...”
Before finishing, she collapsed.
Zhu Youjian looked over the corpses and continued reading the registers.
At that moment, another eunuch entered.
“Your Majesty...” he said.
“You want to die too?” Zhu Youjian sneered.
“No.” The eunuch shook his head. “What I want to say is, the descendants of these twelve families...”—