The Ming Dynasty began in the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

"I come first!"

Just as Liu Zongmin was about to step forward, Hao Yaoqi jumped out first. He grinned at Liu Zongmin and strode over to the side of Duke Zhu Chunchen.

"Hey kid, play with grandpa for a bit!"

Zhu Chunchen trembled in fright, not knowing what the fierce-looking man in front of him was going to do, and hurriedly asked:

"General, what are you doing?"

"Setting up the ball, hahaha..."

Hao Yaoqi laughed loudly and, without saying a word, suddenly grabbed one of Zhu Chunchen's feet and, with a sudden force, hung that foot around Zhu Chunchen's neck.

Zhu Chunchen cried out in pain and hurriedly begged for mercy:

"oops……"

"General, spare my life..."

With his old arms and legs, and having never done yoga before, how could he possibly endure it? He felt like his old legs were about to break...

Hao Yaoqi completely ignored his screams, grabbed Zhu Chunchen's other leg, and forcefully hung it around his neck...

The once mighty Duke of Cheng of the Ming Dynasty has now been reduced to a sphere, desperately screaming and begging for mercy...

Seeing him making a fuss, Hao Yaoqi glared at him and scolded:

"Shut up! Say it again, and I'll turn you into a eunuch!"

As he spoke, Hao Yaoqi gave Zhu Chunchen a hard shove, and the Duke of Chengguo of the Ming Dynasty, who had turned into a sphere, involuntarily rolled several times on the floor...

Zhu Chunchen suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded. He suppressed his discomfort and quickly shut his mouth, not daring to utter another sound. He was truly afraid that the roughneck in front of him would turn him into a eunuch...

The saying "Evil must be dealt with by evil" is absolutely classic.

Who would dare treat Zhu Chunchen like that during the Chongzhen reign? But it was a different story in the Da Shun dynasty. Duke Zhu Chunchen was treated worse than a dog!

Li Zicheng remained silent, sitting upright on his dragon throne, staring with his single eye as he quietly watched his fierce generals mock the treacherous officials of the Ming Dynasty...

Liu Zongmin was not to be outdone, but he didn't like playing tricks and preferred to be direct. He quickly stepped forward and slapped Wei Zaode hard across the face.

"Smack..."

A crisp sound rang out, and Wei Zaode was sent flying more than two meters away, landing right at Gao Yigong's feet...

Influenced by his sister, Gao Yigong was unlike the rough and uncouth Liu Zongmin and Hao Yaoqi. He didn't want to get involved in this kind of thing, but Wei Zaode fell at his feet.

Upon seeing the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty delivered to his door, Gao Yigong, without saying a word, kicked Wei Zaode right next to Liu Zongmin.

Wei Zaode was in so much pain that he almost fainted. He never expected that his initiative to lead officials to persuade him to ascend the throne would result in him being beaten and humiliated.

At this moment, he finally remembered the kindness Chongzhen had shown him and the wealth and glory that the Ming Dynasty had given him. The two were worlds apart, one a paradise and the other a hell.

Not long ago, he was the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty, second only to the emperor, but now he has become a complete clown.

"Spare us! Please stop torturing us! We represent the will of the people and respectfully invite King Li Zicheng to ascend the throne as emperor. What wrong have we done?"

Liu Zongmin almost laughed in anger. He grabbed Wei Zaode by the collar, lifted him up effortlessly, and began slapping Wei Zaode's pale face repeatedly...

"Clap clap clap..."

"You scoundrel, spouting nonsense! You dare represent the people's will? We, the Great Shun Army, are the true embodiment of the people's will! We'll beat you to death, you shameless bastard..."

Wei Zaode was beaten so badly that he saw stars, his mouth and nose were bleeding, and his entire face was swollen up like a pig's head!

After that, the generals of the Shun army stepped forward and gave almost all the Ming officials present a severe beating.

These usually high-ranking Ming officials and nobles were all reduced to clowns today, being mocked and humiliated in various ways by the Shun generals...

"A bunch of shameless scoundrels! Emperor Chongzhen has just passed away, and you're already rushing to urge him to ascend the throne. You're worse than pigs and dogs..."

After being repeatedly humiliated by the generals of the Great Shun Dynasty, the Grand Eunuch Wang Dehua stepped forward and unleashed a torrent of abuse upon them...

Wang Dehua also surrendered to Li Zicheng and personally led Li Zicheng into the Forbidden City. He even scolded them for being shameless, which was simply outrageous!

They desperately wanted to rush forward and kill Wang Dehua, but seeing the Shun army leaders' furious glares, they lost their nerve and could only curse him silently in their hearts...

"Alright, someone, throw them out!"

Seeing that his generals had tormented the group of Ming officials enough, Li Zicheng snorted coldly and ordered them to be thrown out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Wei Zaode and Chen Yan never imagined that their visit to urge the emperor to ascend the throne would result in such humiliation...

The guards obeyed the order and kicked and punched them out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Many of them wept uncontrollably, regretting their actions!

Unfortunately, there's no going back. Liu Zongmin will make these disloyal and treacherous officials learn what cruelty truly means...

Chongzhen 17th year

March 21

With Li Yan's help, Zhu Cilang delivered his father, Emperor Chongzhen's coffin, to the mausoleum of Consort Tian.

Historically, Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhou were both buried in the mausoleum of Consort Tian, ​​which later became the Si Mausoleum, the thirteenth mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Chongzhen was only thirty-three years old when he died, and he did not prepare a mausoleum for himself.

Zhu Cilang didn't want his father to be too lonely, so he arranged for him to be with Consort Tian, ​​so that he wouldn't be alone, which was also in line with history.

During this period, none of the ministers of the Chongzhen court came to see him off; only a few dozen men under Zhu Cilang and more than two hundred men led by Li Yan paid their respects.

Back at their post, Li Yan decided to tell his wife about Zhu Cilang's identity.

Hong Niangzi is fiercely opposed to evil and harbors a deep hatred for Ming Dynasty officials. Once she learns of Zhu Cilang's identity, she may act irrationally, so it is necessary to prepare her mind in advance.

Upon seeing Li Yan return, Hong Niangzi considerately brought him a cup of tea.

"My dear husband, you've worked hard!"

"Is the dog emperor buried?"

Li Yan glanced at his wife, somewhat helpless. If Zhu Cilang heard this, he would definitely be very embarrassed.

He nodded:

"Yes, it has been sent to Consort Tian's mausoleum, and the two will be buried together. This is the decision of the King of Song."

"King Song? What King Song?"

Hong Niangzi was taken aback; she had never heard of a man named Song Wang.

Li Yan smiled slightly and took Hong Niangzi's hand, saying:

"Madam, do you know who Young Master Zhou is?"

Upon hearing her husband's question, Hong Niangzi couldn't help but picture a young gentleman. She shook her head, indicating that she didn't know.

Li Yan took a sip of tea and said in a low voice:

"His true identity is Zhu Cilang, the eldest son of Emperor Chongzhen and the Crown Prince, who has already been enfeoffed as the Prince of Song by the rebel leader Li Zicheng!"

"What?"

Hong Niangzi was so shocked that her mouth dropped open, and she stared at her husband in disbelief with her beautiful eyes...

"If the emperor is so bad, what kind of good person could the crown prince be? What was the rebel leader thinking? Why did he bestow the title of Prince of Song upon the former dynasty's crown prince?"

Realizing what had happened, Hong Niangzi angrily got up, grabbed her sword, and walked out...

Li Yan knew that Hong Niangzi hated Ming Dynasty officials and always called Emperor Chongzhen a dog, but he did not expect her to react so strongly.

Seeing that things were not going well, he quickly got up and grabbed Hong Niangzi's arm:

"Madam, what are you doing?"

"My lord, don't stop me! I'm going to kill that damned prince; we can't leave any future trouble!"

How could Li Yan possibly let Hong Niangzi kill Zhu Cilang? He hurriedly advised her against it:

"Madam, you mustn't! The King of Li Zicheng is a man of great righteousness; we cannot tarnish his reputation!"

"Clang clang..."

Seeing that her husband wouldn't let go, the usually obedient Hong Niangzi could only helplessly throw down her sword and sigh:

"My lord, tell me, what kind of righteousness is this King Chuang's doing? Isn't he afraid of being killed by that treacherous prince?"

Hong Niangzi was a female knight-errant. She was poorly educated and only knew how to eliminate all threats. She did not understand the greater good behind the King's actions.