Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 300 The Enemy's Identity: A Lone Wolf (Seeking Votes)

"Heh heh, you rats in the gutter! I, the Emperor, have decreed that I will exterminate your entire clan, and not one of you will escape!"

A new crimson lotus flower bloomed anew in the hands of the sovereign.

Dozens or even hundreds of golden streaks appeared on the two petals, each streak representing a life lineage connected to the beginning of summer and autumn.

The other two petals each have only one golden spot, indicating that his methods have not yet spread along the bloodline of the Beginning of Spring and the Beginning of Winter.

Just as an emperor has his authority, a cult leader has his methods.

The technique the Lord of the State just used was the Blood Lotus Seal, a unique skill from the White Lotus Sect's secret scroll, the Daoist book "Buddha's Discourse on the Supreme Result Treasure Scroll".

They can use fate and bloodline as a basis to curse and kill all of the other party's blood relatives with a blood curse.

They would slaughter the paternal clan, the maternal clan, and even extend their reach to the wife's clan through their children and grandchildren, killing them one by one without letting a single one escape.

Essentially, it is similar to the extermination of nine generations of a family, which involves the fourth generation of the father's family, the third generation of the mother's family, and the second generation of the wife's family.

In particular, the four paternal relatives—his own relatives (mother, father, brothers, sons), his aunts and their sons (cousins), his sisters and their sons (nieces/nephews), and his daughters and their sons (granddaughters/grandsons)—were all killed cleanly.

Although it is a Buddhist magic, the ruler of the state can understand all laws with one method, and can borrow the law from all subjects free of charge, and use all the special skills of the three ranks of officials.

If they hadn't thought the "Edict of Self-Reproach" was foolproof, the four living spirits of the Guishan Book Society wouldn't have dared to confront this monster head-on.

In order to maintain his image as a sage ruler comparable to Emperor Wen and to prevent a collective backlash from the court, Emperor Shaozhi, the eleventh generation of the Ming Dynasty, only controlled the White Scale Guard directly under his command.

Now that the other party is disregarding the rules, it's no wonder he flipped the table.

Sensing the final blood imprint left, the Dharma Image of the Bright King smiled, holding up a flower:

"Is the Nine-Rank System a natural phenomenon that can never be eradicated? You traitors all want to become powerful clans with vast lands and generations of officials? You want your descendants to last for thousands of years?"
Then I will cut off your descendants!
No, I will leave one of your most worthless and dissolute sons in each family. I want to see whether you will pass on the position of "Grand Justice" or not.

This move is the most insidious way to kill someone by destroying their spirit.

If the lineage is not passed down, the dream of a powerful clan will be shattered, and the last descendants will become ordinary people. Even if the people are still alive, the entire family will be no different from having lost its lineage.
Rumor has it that the Guishan Academy will soon be filled with good-for-nothings who possess at least the power of the fourth-grade [Five Temples Divine Treasury]!

Sometimes, idiots are more dangerous than villains.

These people are occupying positions without doing their jobs, and the Nine-Rank System is failing to attract capable new gentry.

Even without the imperial court's intervention, the sheer amount of internal strife and infighting could cause a massive organization to fall apart!

"The White Scale Guards in various regions are monitoring the entire country, and it will take some time before they report the identities of Lixia and Liqiu."

"Let me first see what your status is on the day of Lidong (the beginning of winter)."

One of the eight-armed Dharma figures grabbed Li Dong's body with one hand, while the other two hands each grabbed one end, tearing at his disguise.

With the return of the power of the [Lord of the State], Emperor Shaozhi is now a super first-rank official. There is nothing he cannot do if he wants to. A mere layer of disguise cannot stop his great power.

Unexpectedly, after realizing he had no chance of survival, the other party not only did not beg for mercy, but instead let out a muffled groan and coldly uttered a shocking title:

"Hmph, Your Majesty, you can't exterminate my entire clan!"

Upon hearing the word "Royal Brother," the Emperor's usually arrogant face suddenly changed color. He grabbed him, creating a gust of wind as he rushed into Renshou Palace and closed the palace doors again.

At this moment, Lidong did not need him to violently remove it; it simply removed its disguise on its own.

"It's you?!"

Even though the ruler of the state had some suspicions, he was still somewhat stunned when he saw the other party's true face.

This traitor is indeed no stranger.

And it was none other than his cousin, Han Houxuan, the Prince of Yi, a vassal king of the Great Zhao Dynasty!

This Prince Yi was no insignificant figure among the hundreds of thousands of members of the imperial clan.

When the late Emperor Wuzong died without an heir, it caused quite a stir.

Although the ancestral precepts clearly state that "if there is no prince in the court, the throne must be passed down from elder brother to younger brother, and the heir must be born of the principal wife," the actual situation is far more complicated than the ancestral precepts suggest.

Emperor Wuzong's father, Emperor Xiaozong, was the third son of Emperor Xianzong. His two older brothers died young without leaving any descendants, so there was no need to consider them. The next step was to look at Emperor Xiaozong's younger brothers.

The throne should rightfully be passed to his eldest brother, the fourth prince Xing, but the prince has already passed away, leaving only his eldest son.

The fifth brother, Prince Qi, also died without a son, so there is no need to consider him; however, the sixth brother, Prince Yi, Han Youbin, is still alive and is the oldest of Emperor Xiaozong's living brothers.

So the question is, should the throne be passed to the eldest son of the Prince of Xing, or should the living Prince of Yi inherit the throne?
In hindsight, the answer was already clear.

Although Prince Xing is dead, the right of succession still belongs to his lineage. His eldest son is the only candidate for the throne, who is now Emperor Shaozhi.

Then a second question arose.

If Emperor Shaozhi's lineage also dies out, then to whom should the throne belong?
This is not something to worry about unnecessarily.

Emperor Shaozhi had a total of 13 children, including 8 sons and 5 daughters. However, only his sons, Prince Yu and Prince Jing, survived to adulthood, and both of them were not in good health.

Of his daughters, only Princess Ning'an and Princess Jiashan lived to adulthood; the rest all died young.

That's right, this Jiashan is also the mirror image of the fate of the Jiashan Princess who was arranged to marry Wang Cheng by the Zhu family!
In the Dazhao Kingdom, the adulthood rate of infants is as high as 43%.

The emperor's princes and princesses had the best food and medical care, yet only 30% of them reached adulthood, and only 25% of his sons did!
Even by the third generation, Prince Yu's two sons died young, and the third son that countless people were eagerly awaiting was nowhere in sight. Prince Jing didn't even have a child.

It is not an exaggeration to say that his lineage might suddenly become extinct.

If this happens, the lineage of Prince Yi, the sixth son of Emperor Xianzong, will naturally ascend to the throne.

The Prince Yi, Han Houxuan, before him is very likely to be the next emperor. Even if the court officials choose to adopt a son for the main line to inherit the throne, he would still be a figure like an emperor emeritus. For him, taking the risk of becoming emperor is simply too worthwhile.

With the example set by their lineage, if you fourth sons can do it, why can't we sixth sons?
Unfortunately, now that he has suffered a setback and all hope is lost, he has given up entirely.

"Guishan Bookstore keeps saying that it will support your children and grandchildren, rule without governing, and have a multitude of righteous people in the court."

Actually, I was lying to them. Prince Jing was going to die, Prince Yu was going to die, and I was going to become the emperor.

As long as you have no heir, the throne will rightfully fall to my lineage, that of Prince Yi!

I have two younger brothers, four sons, and dozens of grandchildren. With such a large and prosperous family, the throne should be given to us.

"What a pity, what a pity! The Three Officials are blind, and you escaped again."

Hearing his cousin's dying rant, the ruler's face returned to its initial expressionless state.

However, he had to admit that he really couldn't wipe out Li Dong's nine clans.

On the contrary, he was somewhat relieved that he hadn't immediately activated the [Blood Lotus Seal] on him, otherwise it might have really affected his own family, who were of very close bloodline.

But amidst the relief, he was also burning with rage.

The reason why the Shaozhi New Deal failed was that, in addition to the landed gentry, even the nobles and members of the imperial family, who should have been the core supporters, became enemies of the reformists.

Everyone has their own interests and their own calculations.

Even if they were granted fiefdoms but not land, bestowed titles but did not govern the people, and received stipends but did not manage affairs, it would still be difficult to prevent them from embezzling, breaking the law, and extorting money from their fiefdoms.

The most typical example is that 70% of the land in Chengdu Prefecture belonged to the Shu King's Palace.

Weren't these members of the imperial clan also landlords and powerful families? Naturally, they were also within the selection scope of the Nine-Rank System for officials!

All changes are a redistribution of interests. When interests are infringed, even many of the Han family's vassal kings are no longer the emperor's protectors, but have become the emperor's enemies.

"Die!"

The Lord of the State struck down with his palm, shattering his cousin's ghostly image into countless points of light that vanished without a trace.

Only the other party's final curse echoed in the hall:
"You have exposed the disguise of the Nine-Rank System of Officials, and are now an enemy of the world. We, your successors, will seek revenge from morning till night, and you will never have a peaceful day for the rest of your life!"

The Dharma Image of the God of the State returned to its essence, and as he watched the dissipating spirit image, his face radiated an aura of dominance:

"For the rest of my life, I will be surrounded by enemies and never have a peaceful day."
Then I shall rule all ages, becoming the first immortal and indestructible ruler of the mortal realm among all emperors throughout history!

He turned his head to look at the alchemy room, where his hopes for achieving immortality were hidden.

The alchemy room had long been protected by a tight array and was not damaged in the chaos of battle.

The ruler of the state was confident that as long as he cultivated both his body and soul and achieved immortality, the Great Zhao Dynasty would surely transform into a celestial dynasty in his hands, and no traitor would be his match.

The new policies of Shaozhi are not impossible to restart.

At this moment, the Grand Eunuch Cheng Gong also led his men to kill all the soldiers who were controlled by the "Fish Belly Scripture".

He felt no sympathy for these "tools" who had been pre-arranged in the script.

"Although internal traitors are part of the plan, why were you controlled while others were not?"
Loyalty that isn't absolute is absolute disloyalty! Serves him right!

King Jing, Han Zaizhen, who was hiding in the underground palace, also opened the secret door and came out.

"Father! Are you alright? Cough cough."

He bowed deeply to the God of the State, then looked up to reveal a very pale face. He couldn't help but cough violently twice, with a trace of blood still on the corner of his lips.

Clearly, he was not as skilled as the ruler of the state, who could immediately regain his vitality after the suppression was lifted.

Instead, it has borne an unbearable burden, damaging the foundation of its body, and it is still unknown whether it can recover.

Emperor Shaozhi patted his son on the shoulder and earnestly encouraged him:
"Zaizhen, you did a good job this time."

Your elder brother is often ill and has no children; you should strive to be more virtuous!

"Once Father Emperor refines the elixir of immortality, he will surely take you with him to ascend to heaven."

He looked southeast and listened intently for a while:
"The ambush went awry, but it's actually a good thing."

The malevolent energy that backfired from the people's wishes was reduced by at least 20-30% compared to my expectations, and your pressure is much less, Zaizhen.

Many of those five-colored rat demons went to Minzhou to govern.

It turns out that the Earthly Dragon Goddess [Lady Yan] discovered a high-yield crop, and tonight she and Wang Fugui, the commander of Zhenhai Guard, were cultivating it together, which unintentionally did me a great favor.

That’s interesting.”

Wang Cheng needed to report to the General's Office when he mobilized troops.

The ruler of the state directly accessed the official documents and naturally saw the cause and effect.

Mouth murmured:

"Wang Fugui's promotion to the position of Commander of Zhenhai Guard was already an exceptional promotion, and he should not be rewarded further."

"Those sea gods of the Heavenly Consort lineage, who have also existed for hundreds of years, might be of use to me. Those three celestial palaces that can endure alongside me are my true future subjects."

He didn't notice that when the Prince of Jing bowed and left the palace, his eyes flickered slightly as he looked down at the alchemy room, his gaze as deep as that of the one-eyed man outside!
(End of this chapter)