The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Wang Wen glanced at the black and white characters on the imperial desk.

Then, he casually picked up the dragon-shaped jade seal from the table. Under the watchful gaze of Emperor Zhaode, who dared not be angry or speak out, he held the jade seal in his hand, turning it over and over, admiring the eight square and uniquely beautiful floral, bird, fish, and insect seal characters on the bottom, as well as the cracks on the edge repaired with red gold...

At this moment, the dilapidated Chuigong Hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and every second felt as long as an entire winter.

The silent terror, like a raging torrent, shook the hearts and minds of everyone.

Many people are seriously considering whether, if this General Huainan were to turn around and kill His Majesty, raise the imperial seal and declare himself emperor, they should either prostrate themselves in a grand gesture or kneel and kowtow three times and shout "Long live the Emperor!"

The legitimacy of the Chai family's imperial succession was completely lost on the night Emperor Zhaode strangled Emperor Hongtai with his own hands...

Emperor Zhaode was able to sit firmly on the throne primarily because he possessed absolute military power within the imperial city and even throughout the entire Kaifeng Prefecture.

Secondly, it was because he united the interests of the majority of people in the court.

When his military power was no longer absolute, his throne began to waver...

After an unknown amount of time, Wang Wen, having lost interest, casually placed the dragon-shaped jade seal back on the imperial desk.

At this moment, apart from Emperor Zhaode, countless people breathed a long sigh of relief, their hearts filled with mixed feelings of disappointment and relief.

Ignoring the strange atmosphere in the main hall, Wang Wen expressionlessly picked up the white paper from the imperial desk and put it in his pocket. Without saying a word, he turned around and strode down to the hall. As if eating a fruit platter, he impaled the armored corpse in the center of the hall onto a silver spear. Then, he leaped and rushed out of the Chuigong Hall through the large hole in the roof.

As soon as he left, the atmosphere in the hall instantly plummeted to freezing point.

Emperor Zhaode slowly stopped trembling. His pale face, marked with clear fingerprints, first turned red, then quickly turned purplish-black. His bloodshot eyes, scanning the many eunuchs and imperial guards in the hall, radiated a terrifying, venomous killing intent.

Every eunuch and imperial guard whose gaze fell upon him felt a chill run down their spine, as if they had fallen into a bottomless, dark abyss, and instantly broke out in a sticky, cold sweat.

'broken! '

They screamed in utter terror, "We're going to die! We're going to die! We're going to die!"

Given the emperor's cruel, ungrateful, and ruthless nature, how could they possibly survive after witnessing him in such a wretched and utterly disgraceful state?!
At this moment, all the eunuchs and imperial guards in the Chuigong Hall wished they could dig a hole and bury themselves to avoid Emperor Zhaode's gaze...

"Wow..."

As expected, Emperor Zhaode, in a fit of rage, slammed his hand on the imperial desk and roared hoarsely like a crowing rooster, "Guards! Fork all these good-for-nothings out of the palace! The carriages..."

"Boom."

The roof of the hall shattered again, and Wang Wen returned, holding his silver spear upside down, and smashed a large crater in the center of the hall once more.

His cold gaze, fluttering in the wind, fell upon Emperor Zhaode, who stood on the throne, neck stiff and crowing like a rooster. The word "crack" stuck in Emperor Zhaode's throat, impossible to swallow or spit out, nearly suffocating him…

He stared at Wang Wen's piercing gaze, and his purplish-red face turned deathly pale at a visible speed, revealing crisscrossing finger marks once again. Instantly, a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

On the other hand, the eunuchs and imperial guards who had escaped the calamity and were in dire need of a quick-acting heart medicine no longer concealed their hatred for Emperor Zhaode. They were all breathing heavily, their eyes red as they stared at Emperor Zhaode in the hall.

Especially the imperial guards who had risked their lives to save the emperor, the steel swords they gripped were trembling violently...

That's not fear!
Rather, they were about to lose control of their urge to rush up and chop that bastard to pieces!

"We risked our lives to protect you, and you turn around and try to tear us apart? Are you even human?"

The silent cries erupted in a deafening roar amidst the deathly stillness.

"Go!"

'Kill him!'

You treat me as a national scholar, and I should repay you as a national scholar!

You treat me like dirt, I will repay you with the hatred of an enemy!

Wang Wen stared coldly at Emperor Zhaode in the hall, his heart torn between conflicting emotions...

His return was not because he wanted to play tricks on Emperor Zhaode.

Emperor Zhaode wasn't the top courtesan in a brothel, so what's so interesting about him?
He came back just to remind him that there might be droughts in various places this year, so he should be careful not to exploit the people.

Although this went against his usual principles of "out of sight, out of mind" and "none of my business," he figured that since he was already there, it wouldn't hurt to say another word.

If he said just one more word, he might be able to save countless ordinary people struggling on the brink of life and death. Why not do it?

Little did he know, upon his return, he would happen to overhear Emperor Zhaode's incompetent rage...

This made him wonder, with such a thing sitting on the dragon throne, could the world really be any better?
He didn't intend to kill Emperor Zhaode on this trip...

Because killing this thing would make many things more complicated.

As for the idea of ​​rebelling and seizing the throne, although he often joked about it, he had never actually thought about it in a real sense.

It's not that he didn't want to be emperor...

What man hasn't dreamed of being drunk on a beautiful woman's lap and wielding the power of a king?
Wang Wen, of course, was no exception.

But if he has to step over the corpses of millions of people to reach this dragon throne.

That wouldn't be very interesting...

Ultimately, Wang Wen is not lacking in ambition, but he is not ruthless or vicious enough!

He lacked the ruthless spirit of a hero who thinks, "What do I care about the deluge after I'm gone?"

Therefore, he did not intend to kill Emperor Zhaode.

I am unwilling to harm millions of innocent people for my own selfish reasons.

Similarly, it's also because of those millions of innocent people...

He felt that this thing really had no reason to continue living in the world.

'This is such a hassle!'

He sighed inwardly, shook his head and muttered, "Heaven's sins can be forgiven, but self-inflicted sins cannot be escaped," and strode toward Emperor Zhaode with his silver spear held upside down.

Emperor Zhaode stared into his icy gaze, his heart pounding with fear, but he forced a fawning smile: "General Wang, please listen to me..."

Wang Wen shook his head: "I won't listen!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he lightly swung his silver spear, the tip of which flashed like a silver fish swimming upstream, aiming for Emperor Zhaode's neck.

Just then, a wisp of black energy shot through the wall from behind the dragon throne, flew to Emperor Zhaode's side, and extended a dark, snake-headed scepter, blocking the silver spear.

"Fellow Taoist, it's over!"

A mysterious figure, dressed in an elaborate garment made of countless colorful strips of cloth, with pheasant feathers in his hair and a painted mask on his face, stood beside Emperor Zhaode and spoke in a deep voice.

Emperor Zhaode shuddered, suddenly snapping back to his senses. He darted behind the mysterious figure, screaming frantically, "Kill him! Kill him now! Whatever you want, I'll give you..."

Wang Wen looked down at the thin, short, and mysterious figure in front of him, blinked, and his divine eye saw behind him a huge black snake head with dark golden tiger-like vertical eyes, baring its fangs and flicking its tongue at him as if in response.

He said softly with a half-smile, "If you had just kept quiet and kept your heads down, I wouldn't have bothered with you. Who gave you the courage to... bare your teeth at this general!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a torrential storm of white and purple lightning suddenly exploded from his body. A sharp "hiss" sounded in the void, and black gas sizzling and emitting blue smoke swept up Emperor Zhaode as he fled frantically.

"That's it?"

A bolt of lightning struck first, catching up with the black mist and cleaving it in two with a precise shot. The rear segment of the black mist landed and transformed into Emperor Zhaode, whose face was contorted, while the front segment fled through the wall without looking back.

Wang Wen calmly left a divine thought mark on the emperor, stopped, and looked at Emperor Zhaode, who was sitting on the ground with his legs spread apart, looking completely bewildered.

Emperor Zhaode looked up and immediately came to his senses. Terrified, he scrambled to his feet and scrambled back under the dragon throne, crying, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I'll give you anything you want! The Imperial Seal of the State! Yes, the Imperial Seal of the State! I'll give you the Imperial Seal of the State too!" Wang Wen said softly, "I heard that you killed the old emperor. Is that true?"

Emperor Zhaode's face was a mess of tears and snot as he shook his head frantically, trying to explain, "It wasn't me, it was Prince Qin who harmed Father Emperor, yes, it was him who harmed Father Emperor, and he even spread rumors to slander me..."

Just then, one of the eunuchs or imperial guards in the hall whispered, "He's the one who killed the late emperor!"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhaode immediately grabbed the dragon throne and poked his head out from behind the imperial desk, roaring furiously and venomously, "Insolence! Insolence! Guards! Quickly throw these treacherous officials out..."

"Keng."

A soft, buzzing sound, like the buzzing of a bee, abruptly silenced Emperor Zhaode's roar.

The silver spear touched the ground, and streaks of blood slowly gathered along the mirror-like spearhead, forming a single drop of blood that fell to the ground.

"Boom."

Zhao De tilted his head, and his disheveled head rolled to the ground, bouncing out from under the imperial desk and tumbling down the golden steps to the area below the main hall.

Emperor Zhaode, who had been on the throne for only half a year, was beheaded.

It was as easily crushed as a bug...

All the eunuchs and imperial guards in the hall stared blankly, their gazes shifting between the bloody, grotesque human head and the expressionless Wang Wen in the hall.

Their absurd and astonished gazes seemed to say, 'Oh, you really killed someone!'

Emperor Zhaode had been suppressed by Emperor Hongtai for far too long, and his heart had long been twisted beyond recognition. So much so that after gaining power, he could no longer even pretend...

The father is unkind, and the son is unfilial.

Every cause has its effect; whoever commits evil will bear the consequences.

Wang Wen's divine sense followed the black aura that had rushed out of the imperial city and was desperately hiding and creating confusion in Kaifeng Prefecture. He calmly asked, "Which prince in the capital is the most reputable over the age of twenty?"

The Chuigong Hall was completely silent. All the eunuchs and imperial guards were in a daze, as if they couldn't hear his voice.

"say!"

Wang Wen raised his voice.

The eunuchs and imperial guards looked at each other in bewilderment, as if waking from a dream.

Wang Wen had no choice but to repeat it again.

The group of eunuchs and imperial guards were stunned for a moment. Suddenly, one of them realized something and looked up at him in astonishment: "No way, you've gone to such lengths, are you really planning to return the throne to the Chai family?"

Wang Wen grew impatient and said in a stronger tone, "Don't make me repeat myself a third time, speak!"

The eunuchs and imperial guards dared not be distracted, and each of them racked their brains to recall the few princes of the imperial clan they knew.

Soon, a royal guard whispered, "Prince Qi has been placed under house arrest in the capital."

Wang Wen replied without hesitation, "Except for the King of Qi!"

A group of eunuchs and imperial guards racked their brains, looking at each other in bewilderment.

After a long while, a young eunuch hesitated and whispered, "I overheard Chief Eunuch Guo reporting to the Crown Prince a few days ago that the Prince of Shu has been escorted back to the capital."

Upon hearing the word "Shu," Wang Wen felt an inexplicable sense of goodwill: "What kind of person is this King of Shu?"

The group of eunuchs and imperial guards looked at each other, until Wang Wen's brows slowly furrowed, before a young eunuch mustered his courage and said, "It wasn't anything special. During the grand banquet in the palace on New Year's Eve of the eighteenth year of the Hongtai era, one of my fellow villagers accidentally bumped into him and was dragged away and beaten to death on the spot. Even the thin coffin was something we had to scrape together privately..."

"Then let's choose another one!"

Wang Wen frowned more and more, thinking to himself, "What kind of people are these guys?"

At this moment, the eunuchs and imperial guards in the hall were no longer so afraid, and they began to whisper and discuss among themselves.

"The King of Chu is a good man. I once accompanied Eunuch Qin to the King of Chu's residence to deliver an imperial edict, and the King of Chu even gave us a reward."

"Not bad my ass! Have you forgotten that on the Lantern Festival of the sixteenth year of Hongtai, the King of Chu abducted a commoner on Qianmen Street and then murdered her entire family?"

"Isn't that thing just a rumor?"

"Only a spineless idiot like you would think it's a rumor. My brother works in DL City, and they handled that case. Do you think I wouldn't know whether it's a rumor or not?"

"Just get to the point, why are you swearing at people..."

"And what about the King of Zhao?"

“The Prince of Zhao is no longer suitable. The eunuchs in the Prince of Zhao’s residence used to be replaced almost every two years… Besides, wasn’t the Prince of Zhao enfeoffed? He’s not in the capital.”

"makes sense……"

"What about the Prince of Tang? Isn't the Prince of Tang kind and generous? When the late emperor was alive, the jobs in the Prince of Tang's residence were the most sought-after. Not only were there always rewards, but if the job wasn't urgent, there would also be a banquet. Moreover, whenever I saw His Highness the Prince of Tang, he was always kind and gentle, and I rarely heard him make things difficult for the eunuchs around him."

"If the Tang emperor fails, then the empress and her humble family will be subservient..."

Wang Wen, already impatient, couldn't help but curse as he heard this: "Are you out of your mind? Do you think we're choosing a crown prince here? And this 'lowly family'... it's the Prince of Tang! Send someone to come and clean up this mess, uh, I mean, to clean it up!"

As a lowly person, he naturally had no concept of "dragon sons and grandsons".

If there is any such thing, it's that kings and nobles are not born with a special destiny!
The reason he still wanted the Chai family to clean up the mess was naturally because of the concept of "righteousness".

Although this thing is invisible and intangible, in the feudal era when Confucianism was prevalent, it was a real mountain weighing on everyone's hearts.

If he were to seize the Chai family's power now... there's no doubt he would start a massacre!

Throughout the court and the country, if not a massacre with corpses strewn across the fields and rivers of blood flowing, Wang Wen would never be able to secure his throne!
The Great Zhou Dynasty is currently beset by internal and external troubles, facing both extremes. If he were to raise the butcher's knife and carry out a large-scale purge...

I wonder what percentage of the population will be left in the world once he has secured his rule.

He's a cultivator, yet he's committed such a terrible sin. Isn't that cutting off his own path to immortality?

Besides, after this incident, he's completely given up on himself...

The Emperor of Great Zhou certainly won't do that right now.

But he was determined to become the Supreme Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty!
From now on, whoever sits in the Golden Palace will have to act according to his wishes. Anyone who dares to displease him will be made to die on the seventh day after death!

Whether it's one emperor or two emperors, it's all the same...

……

"But the Tang Emperor is only eighteen years old this year..."

Someone said in a low voice.

These people have now realized that this... could very well be a windfall!

"Eighteen is enough!"

Wang Wen made the final decision, waving his hand: "Go and call people quickly. I'll stay here. If anyone has any objections, let them come and confront me."

As he spoke, he looked at the imperial guard who had just said that the Tang Queen Mother's family was a humble household: "You, stop looking, it's you. Hurry up and clean this place up, it's all bloody, don't you feel disgusted?"

"Send someone else to get me some food right now, I haven't even had lunch yet!"

"Damn it, if it weren't for you bunch of bastards, I'd be home by now..." (End of Chapter)