Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 197 The Weary Emperor Hongxi

Zhu Zhanhe stared blankly at Emperor Hongxi, who was handing over the Imperial Seal of the State, intending to use it as a blood vessel and a token to approach the alligator dragon. He couldn't help but think to himself: "This uncle is really generous; he's even using the Imperial Seal of the State for fun!"

Zhu Zhanhe immediately agreed without any formality to his uncle, Emperor Hongxi.

“Alright, Uncle, since you’ve asked, then there’s no problem.” Zhu Zhanhe looked at the Hongxi Emperor in front of him, whose eyes were firm but also somewhat reluctant, and without any hesitation, he took the yellow dragon-patterned cloth bag containing the Imperial Seal of the State.

Upon first handling it, Zhu Zhanhe felt that the imperial seal was heavier than ordinary jade. His eyes lit up, and he muttered to himself, "This thing has some weight to it!"
Immediately, Zhu Zhanhe slowly opened the bag, revealing the upper half of the imperial seal's yellow jade dragon carving. Without hesitation, Zhu Zhanhe reached out and grabbed the entire jade dragon carving in one swift motion. He found the imperial seal to be surprisingly warm and smooth to the touch.

Zhu Zhanhe held the dragon carving on the imperial seal in his hand, carefully feeling it. Suddenly, Zhu Zhanhe felt as if the imperial seal in his hand possessed an unparalleled magic power, corroding his calm heart.

Almost instantly, Zhu Zhanhe felt an overwhelming surge of heroic spirit, his blood surging through his body, his heart overflowing with boundless passion, and the universe swirling between his fingers!
Is this what it feels like to wield supreme power over the world?!

Is this the feeling of "being ordained by Heaven and destined for eternal life" that no man can resist?!

In a daze, Zhu Zhanhe grabbed the imperial seal and gently pressed it against the void. This single gesture caused Zhu Zhanhe to lose his composure.

In an instant, the air inside the Imperial Ancestral Temple seemed to freeze.

Emperor Hongxi, who was closest to Zhu Zhanhe, was watching his nephew's fascinating expression after receiving the imperial seal. He was the first to notice the sudden anomaly at the ancestral temple. Emperor Hongxi froze, then staggered back a few steps.

Suddenly, Emperor Hongxi felt something under his feet. Turning his head, he saw it was a prayer mat. Without hesitation, Emperor Hongxi sat down on the prayer mat and began to watch the situation unfold with great interest.

Fan Zhong, who was lying on the back of the alligator dragon and struggling to measure with a jade ruler, noticed the abnormality at almost the same time. He was stunned for a moment, and then his face immediately turned bitter because he remembered that he had encountered this situation in a certain place before. Immediately, Fan Zhong decisively took a full-on horse-riding position and lay tightly on the back of the alligator dragon.

The moment Fan Zhonggang lay down, a tremendous pressure seemed to come crashing down on him!

"Hmm! Hmm!" Unable to hold back, both Emperor Hongxi and Fan Zhong unconsciously groaned, to show the difficulty their bodies were in resisting the enormous pressure.

But this strange phenomenon was far from over. Almost the instant that terrifying pressure appeared, the air seemed to be filled with a deafening dragon's roar!

The dragon's roar was ethereal and intangible, yet it resounded in the ears of Emperor Hongxi and Fan Zhong. The feeling of a giant dragon roaring at them left the two in a daze, their faces blank!

Time flew by, and he didn't know how much time had passed—perhaps a minute, perhaps a quarter of an hour. Finally, a slight movement inside the room caught the attention of Emperor Hongxi, and he snapped out of his reverie.

"Hang up, clatter~" Some faint sounds finally woke up the dazed Emperor Hongxi.

"Hoo~" Emperor Hongxi let out a long breath, as if he had just experienced suffocation. His previously dazed eyes finally regained some focus. Emperor Hongxi subconsciously looked around, only to see that the noise was actually coming from the curtain in front of the ancestral tablets. Emperor Hongxi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But then, Emperor Hongxi's expression changed drastically, a look of horror washing over him. The curtains were moving?! Could it be...?

Emperor Hongxi was overwhelmed with thoughts, and his face filled with horror. He quickly looked up to observe carefully. He saw that not only were the curtains swaying, but the incense and candles offered in the Imperial Ancestral Temple were also flickering!
Even the ancestral tablets seemed to be slightly swaying!
The dragon's roar was real?! Thinking of this, Emperor Hongxi couldn't help but look at his nephew, who had regained his composure. But when he looked up, his lips twitched.

This is because Zhu Zhanhe has now escaped from his mindless fantasy. At this moment, he is tossing the imperial seal in his hand like a pebble and playing with it.

"Uncle~" Zhu Zhanhe was tossing the imperial seal in his hand like a ball when he suddenly noticed the unfriendly gaze of his uncle, Emperor Hongxi. He quickly stopped what he was doing and stood up respectfully.

Unexpectedly, the imperial seal in his hand was thrown out again out of habit. Under the panicked gaze of Emperor Hongxi, Zhu Zhanhe was stunned for a moment, and then finally managed to save the imperial seal just a second before it hit the ground, thus avoiding another wonderful story of having to add a corner of gold to it.

"Cough cough cough, Uncle, look, I've finished making this token. Why don't you take a closer look at the true dragon of my Great Ming?" Facing the unfriendly gaze of his uncle, Emperor Hongxi, he coughed twice guiltily and handed over the imperial seal stained with his own blood.

"He'er, you also..." Looking at the imperial seal handed over by his nephew, Emperor Hongxi couldn't help but twitch his lips again.

Because when Zhu Zhanhe handed over the imperial seal, he held it with the side carved with a coiled dragon facing it, which meant that the side with the inscription was facing Emperor Hongxi.

Zhu Zhanhe, relying on his thick skin and abundant blood, actually used his blood to cover up the side of the imperial seal with the characters on it! This made Emperor Hongxi roll his eyes, feeling exhausted. How did he end up with such an unreliable father and son!

"He'er, isn't there a bit too much blood? With so much blood, will it last long? Or what?" Emperor Hongxi's lips twitched as he couldn't help but ask.

"Uncle, no, the time is always one month."

"As for the bloodstains on the imperial seal, it's because my nephew accidentally made a rather large cut," Zhu Zhanhe said, somewhat embarrassed, raising a finger. Emperor Hongxi took a closer look and saw that the cut was almost as long as his finger, leaving him speechless. However, seeing that the bleeding had stopped, Emperor Hongxi didn't say anything more.

"Give it to me!" Emperor Hongxi carefully took the blood-stained Imperial Seal of the State, his eyes filled with heartache.

"Eh~," Zhu Zhanhe thought to himself, looking at his uncle holding the imperial seal with a pained expression. "You guys must have handled this imperial seal quite a bit! This imperial seal has really suffered!" Zhu Zhanhe secretly glanced at Emperor Hongxi beside him, silently complaining to himself.

At this moment, Zhu Zhanhe suddenly realized that this imperial seal had been handled by countless emperors and eunuchs throughout the ages. If the sweat from their hands were collected, it would probably be enough to submerge the entire imperial seal!

Zhu Zhanhe felt a chill just thinking about it! He was completely different from how he had been just now, gripping the imperial seal with such passion.

(End of this chapter)