I was to be executed by Zhu Yuanzhang, and Empress Ma smashed Zhu Yuanzhang's jade seal.

As he spoke, he tried to pick her up and stand up.

However, as soon as he exerted force, he felt a piercing pain in his knee.

He looked down and realized that the spot where he was kneeling was stained red with blood from his forehead and mouth.

Blood and snow water mixed together and froze into ice, firmly binding his knees and dragon robe to the ground.

He can't move.

This discovery struck him as absurd.

He, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was frozen in the square of his own palace by his own blood.

"Haha...hahahaha..."

He laughed again, laughing so hard he was doubled over, tears streaming down his face.

"Karma...this is all karma..."

He had laughed enough, and he had cried enough.

He stopped struggling and just knelt there quietly, letting the biting cold slowly seep into his body.

His consciousness began to blur.

He went back to the past.

This time, he returned to the battlefield.

That was during the decisive battle with Chen Youliang at Poyang Lake.

That battle was so fierce that the sky darkened and the sun and moon lost their light.

The lake water was stained red with blood.

He was in command of the battle from the main ship.

Suddenly, a stray arrow shot from the enemy ship, heading straight for his face.

His attention was entirely focused on the battle, and he didn't notice the arrow at all.

He was about to die on the spot.

At this critical moment, a figure suddenly rushed over and stood in front of him.

is her.

She's his sister.

The arrow pierced deeply into her left shoulder, and blood instantly stained her clothes.

"Girl!"

He went crazy on the spot, his eyes turned red.

He grabbed her and screamed for the medic.

She, however, comforted him instead.

"I'm fine... Chongba... Don't get distracted... Winning this battle is the most important thing..."

Her face was as pale as paper, and her lips were trembling, but her eyes were unusually firm.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at her, his heart breaking.

He immediately ordered the entire army to charge forward, sparing no effort to defeat Chen Youliang!

He won that battle.

But he almost lost her.

After the war, the army doctor removed the arrow from her shoulder.

Because the wound was too deep and there was no anesthesia, she fainted several times from the pain.

But she didn't utter a single cry of pain from beginning to end.

When she woke up and saw him sitting by her bedside, her first words were, "Did we win?"

He held her in his arms and cried his heart out.

He vowed that he would never let her get hurt again.

However, he broke his promise.

He not only hurt her, but also made her...

He lost his life.

"I'm useless... I'm really useless..."

Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly banged his head against the cold body in his arms, mutilating himself.

"If I can't even protect my own woman... what kind of man am I..."

"What kind of emperor am I...?"

His consciousness grew increasingly blurred, and the scenery before his eyes began to spin.

He felt like he was going to die.

It's okay to die.

If I die, I can go see her.

As he thought this, he slowly closed his eyes.

Just as he was about to lose all consciousness.

A thought, like a bolt of lightning, suddenly cleaved through his chaotic mind.

wrong!

wrong!

His sister is made of steel!

She survived such a severe arrow wound back then!

She survived a difficult childbirth, almost dying!

How could she have died so easily?

"The heart meridian has been severed"?

fart!

Those quack doctors know nothing!

They're a bunch of useless trash!

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes snapped open, and a mad flame reignited in those eyes that had been dull and lifeless.

He remembered.

He recalled those folk tales.

Some highly accomplished individuals are able to fake their death.

He held his breath for seven days and seven nights, and then came back to life.

There are also some miracle doctors who have the ability to bring the dead back to life.

As long as a person isn't completely dead, they can be snatched back from the clutches of death.

What if his sister...?

Could this be the case as well?

Was she just too tired and fell asleep?

She has only temporarily stopped breathing and has no pulse?

The moment the thought popped into his head, it grew wildly in his mind like weeds.

Correct!

That must be it!

His sister was incredibly lucky; how could she have died like that?

She must be waiting.

She's waiting for someone to appear who can save her!

And he, Zhu Yuanzhang, was determined to find this person for her!

The decree he just issued was correct!

We are calling upon renowned doctors from across the land!

As long as the person isn't completely dead, there's always a way!

A powerful will to survive and a strong sense of hope instantly filled his body.

He was no longer depressed or desperate.

He must live!

He wanted to see his sister open her eyes again with his own eyes!

"Someone come here!"

He roared again, his voice hoarse but full of power.

"Someone come here! Bring us some ginseng soup!"

He can't die!

If he dies, who will take charge?

Who will supervise those imperial physicians?

He has to hold on!

He will wait until the day his sister wakes up!

His roar startled everyone around him.

They saw that the emperor, who had just been like a dead man, had suddenly come back to life.

Although he still looked disheveled, his eyes, like before, were filled with undeniable authority and...

Crazy.

A eunuch scrambled and stumbled to the imperial kitchen.

Zhu Yuanzhang lowered his head again, looking at Empress Ma in his arms.

His eyes became incredibly gentle, yet incredibly firm.

"Hey girl, wait for us."

"Even if it means tearing a hole in the sky, we'll save you!"

"No one can separate us, not even the King of Hell!"

As he spoke, he lowered his head and, with his already chapped and bleeding lips, clumsily, yet with utmost devotion, kissed her cold lips.

He was conveying his beliefs and strength to her in this way.

He firmly believed that his sister was not dead.

She was just asleep.

She will definitely wake up.

Most definitely.

The ginseng soup was quickly served, carried by a bold chief eunuch who knelt carefully before Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Your Majesty, the ginseng soup is here. Please...please drink it while it's hot."

The steward's voice was trembling uncontrollably.

Zhu Yuanzhang ignored him, his eyes still fixed on Empress Ma in his arms, as if the whole world consisted only of the two of them.

He held her, motionless, like a statue frozen in the wind and snow.

The chief eunuch knelt on the ground, holding the tray high in his hands. After a while, his arms began to ache, but he dared not urge him or move. He could only endure it with great difficulty.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze.

Just when everyone thought Zhu Yuanzhang would not react, he suddenly spoke, his hoarse voice coming from underground.

"Feed her."

"what?"

The steward was stunned and didn't react.

"Let's tell her to drink it!"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes glaring fiercely at him, his gaze like that of a dying beast, full of violence and madness.

The steward was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground with a thud, spilling the ginseng soup he was holding.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty...The Empress...she has already..."

"What's wrong with her?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted him sharply, "What do you want to say?!"

"This servant...this servant dares not..."

The steward was so frightened that he kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead hitting the cold gold bricks with a dull thud.

"You dare not?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, "You've got some nerve! You even dare to curse our Empress!"

He extended the hand that wasn't holding Empress Ma, pointed at the steward, and spoke in a cold, emotionless voice.

"Drag him out and chop him up."

Immediately, two palace guards stepped forward and dragged the steward, who was already urinating and defecating in fear, away like a dead dog.

Soon, a piercing scream came from afar, then abruptly stopped.

The entire Baiyuping was completely silent.

Everyone was shocked by Zhu Yuanzhang's ruthless methods of killing without hesitation.

"Our girl won't die! She's a celestial being descended to earth, she won't die!!"