Ming Dynasty: A centenarian madman criticizes the Grand Secretary and brings his coffin to court!

The scene above the sky suddenly changes!

The heartwarming scene amidst the swirling snow just now seems to be still vivid in my mind.

But the next second.

That warm feeling was instantly replaced by a suffocating atmosphere of death!

[Scene changes to: The third day of the first lunar month, the tenth year of the Xuande reign.]

Location: Qianqing Palace.

[Event: The eve of the death of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, Zhu Zhanji!]

At that moment, everyone held their breath.

Emperor Xuande? That "Cricket Emperor," a great ruler of his time?

When he died, it must have been a touching scene of the emperor and his minister holding hands and entrusting their children to each other.

wrong!

Big mistake!

In the scene, the night is as dark as ink, and the cold wind howls.

Outside the Qianqing Palace, a full eight hundred Imperial Guards, dressed in flying fish robes and wielding embroidered spring knives, surrounded the hall like a group of silent grim reapers!

but!

What's truly chilling is...!

The blades of this group are not meant to defend against external assassins, nor to protect the emperor internally.

But -

They all pointed in unison towards the East Palace!

It pointed to the sleeping chamber of the Crown Prince, Zhu Qizhen, who was only nine years old at the time and still asleep!

Each knife was honed to a gleaming shine, radiating a resolute killing intent!

With just one command.

These eight hundred swords will rush into the Eastern Palace and kill the future crown prince of the Ming Dynasty...

Mince the meat!

"hiss--!!!"

The Hongwu Plane.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was just praising "Gu the Madman as a good nanny", suddenly gasped and crushed the teacup in his hand with a "crack"!

"this……"

"What are they trying to do?!"

"Has Zhanji gone mad?!"

"That's his own son! That's our great-grandson!"

"Why is he pointing a knife at his own son?!"

Zhu Biao was also terrified, his face turning pale: "Father! Could it be that a treacherous minister is using the emperor to command the feudal lords?"

Before they could even react...

The camera then shifts to the inner hall of the Qianqing Palace.

On the dragon throne.

The once spirited and unparalleled Emperor Xuande, Zhu Zhanji, was now emaciated and barely breathing.

But his eyes.

But it was frighteningly bright!

It shone like a dying lone wolf, exuding a chilling ferocity!

And in front of the dragon bed.

Gu Canghai, dressed in a python robe and with an imperial sword hanging at his waist, sat casually on the brocade stool by the bed.

In my hands...

He was even holding a handful of spiced melon seeds that he'd pulled out from who-knows-where!

"Click, click..."

In this deathly silent palace, the sound of cracking sunflower seeds was more jarring than thunder!

"teacher……"

Zhu Zhanji was breathing heavily, staring intently at the man who had taught him for half his life.

That look in his eyes was incredibly complex.

"I... am dying."

"This Ming Dynasty... will be yours from now on."

Gu Canghai spat out a piece of sunflower seed shell without even lifting his eyelids:

"Okay, I understand."

"Go in peace."

"I'll burn you two paper cricket jars later, filled with top-quality king crickets, so you can have a good fight down there."

"Oh……"

Zhu Zhanji gave a bitter laugh, a cold glint suddenly flashing in his eyes:

"Teacher, I know."

"You have the Nine Bestowments, military power, and prestige."

"My son Qizhen is only nine years old, still a greenhorn who only knows how to play in the mud."

"Now that I'm leaving..."

"If you want to sit on this dragon throne, no one can stop you!"

Gu Canghai finally stopped eating sunflower seeds and tilted his head to look at him:

"so what?"

"Little Ji, are you trying to beg me to spare your son?"

"Or do you still want to put some arsenic in my cup before you die, so you can take me with you?"

"No!"

Zhu Zhanji shook his head violently, so forcefully that the veins on his neck bulged out!

He stared intently at Gu Canghai and let out a low growl:

"I can't kill you!"

"You are a veteran of three reigns, the pillar of the Ming Dynasty! Killing you would cause the Ming Dynasty to collapse!"

"but--"

Zhu Zhanji's voice suddenly turned icy cold:

"Although I cannot kill you..."

"But I can kill my own son!!!"

boom!!!

Upon hearing this, all the viewers outside the canopy felt as if their very skulls were about to be blown off!

crazy!

This is absolutely insane!

If you can't kill the powerful minister, kill your own son?

What kind of carbon-based life form could come up with this logic?!

In the scene, Zhu Zhanji points outside the palace, his face displaying a twisted sense of pleasure:

"Teacher, did you hear that?"

"Those eight hundred axemen outside aren't for you! They're for Qi Zhen!"

"I have given a direct order!"

"If only you, teacher, would frown even once in my presence today!"

"Or maybe half of the word 'anti' will pop out of your mouth!"

"Those eight hundred men will storm the Eastern Palace immediately!"

"Qizhen... that child you watched grow up... that grand-disciple you loved most..."

"Chop it into minced meat on the spot!!!"

Blood seeped from the corner of Zhu Zhanji's mouth:

"My empire!"

"It's better to have the lineage broken! It's better to have no descendants!"

"We absolutely cannot leave a puppet for you to play with!"

"I will make you, this 'Sage of the Ming Dynasty,' bear a stain that you can never wash away for the rest of your life!"

"I want the history books to record in their finest pages: It was you, Gu Canghai, who forced the young emperor to his death! It was you who caused the Ming Dynasty to die out!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"Teacher! In this game of chess... I'm sure to win!"

Madness!

Utter madness!

This is the Zhu family's kind of people! When they get ruthless, they won't even spare themselves!

The orthodox plane.

Zhu Qizhen stared dumbfounded at the狰狞 (zhengning, meaning ferocious or hideous) face of his father on the sky.

A chill ran from the soles of my feet straight up to the top of my head!

"Father...Father Emperor?"

"So that night... I almost turned into mincemeat?"

"You...you're really ruthless!"

Zhu Qizhen trembled with fear and subconsciously touched his neck.

terrible!

Being an emperor is too dangerous!

Not only do they have to guard against external enemies, but they also have to guard against their own father "sacrificing" them?

And the Hongwu dimension.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared wide-eyed, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

In the end, it could only turn into a long sigh:

"ruthless!"

"That's fucking ruthless!"

"This kid... is even more ruthless than we were back then!"

"Killing one's own son to ward off a powerful minister? Such a despicable tactic... only this little brat could come up with!"

however.

Faced with a threat that could break anyone.

What was Gu Canghai's reaction?

Fear? Compromise?

Do not!

on the screen.

Gu Canghai looked at Zhu Zhanji, who seemed to have gone mad, and suddenly...

She rolled her eyes dramatically!

"cut!"

A sneer of utter disdain.

Gu Canghai scattered the remaining melon seeds in his hand onto the ground.

then.

In front of this dying emperor.

He slowly stood up and stretched out one foot.

"Bang—!!!"

One kick!

He kicked over the priceless bowl of ginseng soup next to the dragon bed!

Medicine splattered everywhere!

"Little Ji-ko, oh Little Ji-ko!"

Gu Canghai looked down at Zhu Zhanji, his face filled with disappointment and frustration.

"You're so pathetic!"

"He's been emperor for ten years, how come his vision is still as narrow as a cricket jar?"

"Using your own son to threaten your father?"

"You think your son is some kind of gold nugget? Do you think I have to cherish him?"

Gu Canghai bent down, his face, which was still too young, close to Zhu Zhanji's.

He revealed a smile even more insane than Zhu Zhanji's:

"If you really want to die, then die quickly and painlessly!"

"If I wanted to rebel..."

"Do we still need to wait for you to die?"

"I'll rip your oxygen tube right now! You believe me?!"

Oxygen tube?

What is that thing?

Zhu Zhanji was stunned.

Although he couldn't understand the word, he could feel the arrogance in Gu Canghai's tone... that he regarded imperial power as dirt!

"you……"

Zhu Zhanji was about to speak.

Gu Canghai reached out and grabbed his shoulder, forcefully pressing him back onto the pillow.

"Alright!"

"Stop acting all melodramatic! It's annoying to watch!"

Gu Canghai took out a handkerchief from his pocket and roughly wiped the blood from the corner of Zhu Zhanji's mouth.

The actions were rough.

But a barely perceptible hint of sadness flashed in his eyes.

"Little Jizi".

"Listen to me carefully."

"I'm not rebelling, not because I'm afraid of your eight hundred useless axemen."

"It's not that I'm afraid of being infamous for all time."

"Haven't I been insulted enough in my life?"

Gu Canghai raised his head and looked at the magnificent caisson ceiling of the Qianqing Palace.

It was as if I had traveled through time and seen that ugly monk wearing a tattered robe and holding a broken bowl.

"I won't rebel..."

"It's because I made a promise to someone."

"I promised that shoehorn-faced guy named Zhu Chongba!"

"I promised your damned great-grandfather!"

Gu Canghai's voice became deep and melancholic:

"As long as this Ming Dynasty..."

"It is still the Ming Dynasty of our Han people."

"As long as your Zhu family..."

"There's another one with a penis!"

"This dragon throne..."

"It's not an outsider's turn to sit here!"

"Even if a dog were to sit on it, it would have to be a dog surnamed Zhu!"

Gu Canghai sat back down on the brocade stool, took out a handful of melon seeds, and started cracking them open without a care in the world.

"so……"

"Go to hell in peace."

"The road below is dark, walk slowly."

"When you see your grandfather and your father, please give them my regards."

"Tell them... I'm still holding on to this Ming Dynasty."

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

Zhu Zhanji lay on the bed, watching his teacher who was eating sunflower seeds.

Looking at this man who constantly uses the word "I" and is rude, yet has kept his promises his whole life.

His eyes, which were originally full of hostility, gradually softened.

That frenzied killing intent dissipated.

Instead, there was an unprecedented sense of relief.

"Oh……"

"teacher……"

"You're still so... stubborn on the outside but soft on the inside..."

Zhu Zhanji's voice grew softer and softer.

At last.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Then... Qizhen..."

"I'll leave it to you..."

"teacher……"

"I... am tired..."

Hands, hanging limply.

Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, Zhu Zhanji, has passed away!

He passed away at the age of thirty-eight!

"Click."

Gu Canghai cracked open the last melon seed and tossed the kernel into his mouth.

There was no crying, no wailing.

for a long time.

He stood up and walked to the entrance of the hall.

He looked at the eight hundred axemen outside, armed with sharp blades and still waiting for the signal.

He let out a deafening roar:

"Get the hell out of here!!!"

"Put the knife away!"

"The Crown Prince was terrified..."

"I'll chop you all up and feed you to the dogs!!!"

This roar shook the heavens!

The eight hundred Imperial Guards were so frightened by this overwhelming murderous aura that their legs went weak on the spot, and their swords clattered to the ground!

……

The Hongwu Plane.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the figure in the picture who was cursing and swearing, but who was keeping vigil for Zhu Zhanji in the final moments.

My eyes welled up with tears again.

"Zhongba..."

"This madman..."

I still remember our promise.

Zhu Yuanzhang wiped away his tears, then suddenly burst into laughter:

"That old bastard!"

"They said such nasty things, calling me 'that dog surnamed Zhu'..."

"But in my heart..."

"Cleaner than anyone else!"

More loyal than anyone else!

"but……"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned as he looked at the young emperor Zhu Qizhen, who had just ascended the throne and was still sniffling, in the picture.

"This child..."

"Can it really handle it?"

"This time, Gu Fengzi is probably going to suffer a lot!"