After waking from a dream, he found himself as Zhu Houzhao, the Crown Prince of the Great Ming. The Hongzhi Emperor of Great Ming was the third son of Emperor Xianzong. During his eighteen-year reign, the people prospered and the empire flourished, winning the admiration of all under heaven. The Empress was Lady Zhang, and the Crown Prince, Houzhao, was only fifteen years old. In the seventh month of that year, Emperor Hongzhi fell ill, and his condition grew worse by the day. He summoned Liang Chu, Grand Secretary of the Jingshen Hall; Yang Tinghe, Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall; Liu Jian, Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Hall; Xie Qian, Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion; and a group of other senior officials to the palace to receive his final instructions. When they had all assembled, the Emperor said, "I have summoned you all for no other reason than that my illness has become critical. The medicines have had no effect, and I fear that I may soon journey to the Southern Branch in my dreams, never to meet with you again. The length of one's life is ordained by fate and cannot be changed by human effort. But the future of the empire weighs heavily on my mind, so I have summoned you to the palace to entrust you with my final affairs.
This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.
If the Ming Dynasty had not entered the Little Ice Age, it would be unclear whether the name Aisin Gioro existed. Ha ha.