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

The trees outside the window began to sway wildly, even without wind.

The pond in the courtyard surged with towering waves.

The clouds in the sky were churned into a huge vortex, and the center of the vortex was directly facing the roof of the sleeping quarters!

"What...what happened?"

"Is...is the sky about to collapse?"

"Quickly! Protect the Emperor!"

The people inside the hall were once again gripped by panic.

They didn't know what was happening; they only felt a terrifying force, powerful enough to destroy everything, gathering above their heads.

At the heart of this force, Zhu Muying remained as calm and composed as ever.

He watched as the colorful spiritual energy of heaven and earth, almost visible to the naked eye, surged from all directions, frantically flowing into his palm like swallows returning to their nests.

Then, slowly, it condensed into a flower in his palm...

A lotus flower, made of the purest energy, crystal clear, radiating seven-colored light...

The lotus flower, only the size of a palm, floated quietly above his palm, slowly rotating.

Each of its petals seems to be carved from the most perfect gemstone in the world, with mysterious patterns flowing across them and exuding a strange fragrance that calms the mind.

The moment the lotus flower appeared, the previously devastating, violent energy vanished without a trace.

The whole world seemed to fall silent at that moment.

Everyone stared blankly at the seven-colored lotus flower floating in Zhu Muying's palm, their mouths agape, drooling without them even noticing.

They couldn't find any words in their minds to describe their feelings at that moment.

If the previous floating golden light could be loosely explained by "extremely high martial arts skills", then...

So now, how do we explain this creation out of thin air, this hand that grows lotuses in the palm of one's hand?

This is not martial arts!

This is definitely not martial arts!

This is……

miracle!

This is a true miracle, something only gods can possess—the creation of all things out of thin air!

"This... is the art of immortality."

Zhu Muying's voice rang out, breaking the deathly silence.

He carried the seven-colored lotus flower and slowly walked to Zhu Yuanzhang, who was still kneeling on the ground.

He knelt down, presented the lotus flower to Zhu Yuanzhang, and said softly in an almost gentle tone:

"Father, look."

"Isn't this lotus flower beautiful?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were fixed on the lotus flower that was so close to him.

He could sense the immense and pure life energy contained within that lotus flower.

Just by smelling the fragrance of the lotus, he felt his blood and energy, which had been depleted from vomiting blood, recovering at an incredible speed.

His mind, which had become somewhat dull from years of working tirelessly for the country, became clearer than ever before.

He even had a delusion.

As long as... as long as he can eat this lotus flower, he can not only immediately restore all his energy, but even... even regain his youth and live for several more decades!

Immortality!

These two words, like the devil's temptation, instantly occupied Zhu Yuanzhang's entire mind!

His breathing became heavy.

His eyes turned bloodshot with extreme greed and desire.

He reached out, his hand trembling, wanting to touch the lotus flower.

However, just as his fingertips were about to touch the lotus flower...

Zhu Muying gently shook her hand, avoiding his touch.

Zhu Yuanzhang's hand grasped at empty air.

He suddenly raised his head and looked at his son with an almost pleading gaze.

"Give it to me..."

His voice was as hoarse as a broken bellows.

"Mu Ying... no, Your Highness... as long as you give this to us... we..."

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang's mind was working at an unprecedented speed.

The throne?

dignity?

face?

Faced with the temptation of immortality, all these things are utter bullshit!

As long as he could live forever, as long as he could rule the world forever, he would be willing to kneel before his son or even bark like a dog!

"As long as you give us this..."

A mad glint flashed in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.

He looked at Zhu Muying and, in an unprecedentedly solemn tone, said, word by word:

"My empire...I will share it with you!"

boom!

This statement shocked the civil and military officials present even more than anything before!

The founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty actually... promised to rule the world together with his son for the sake of a vague and elusive immortality?!

This...this is absolutely ridiculous!

Crown Prince Zhu Biao's face turned deathly pale instantly.

He knew what his father meant by saying those words.

This means that, from this moment on, he, the crown prince, the rightful heir apparent, is... a figurehead.

All eyes were on Zhu Muying.

They were all waiting for his answer.

Faced with the supreme temptation of "sharing the world"—a temptation that no prince could refuse—the princes were forced to accept.

What will he choose?

Governing the world together!

When Zhu Yuanzhang used all his strength to shout out these four words.

He thought he had offered a price that no one in the world could refuse.

He believed that even if his son truly became a deity, he would still be a member of the Zhu family and would eventually develop a slight attachment to the supreme power of the mortal world.

As long as he has greed, then I still have a chance to turn the tables!

He could use his power to bind him back to this mundane world.

He could use the entire power of the Ming Dynasty to exchange for the "immortal arts" in his hands, to exchange for that ethereal yet so close... immortality!

This was the last and strongest trump card he, as an emperor, could think of.

He stared intently at Zhu Muying, his eyes filled with expectation, calculation, and... the final madness of a gambler after betting everything.

However, Zhu Muying's reaction disappointed him once again.

No, it's not disappointment.

It is despair.

After hearing his boastful words, "I will share my empire with you," Zhu Muying's expression remained completely unchanged.

Even his deep, star-like eyes remained completely undisturbed.

He just stared at Zhu Yuanzhang quietly, his gaze as if he were looking at an ordinary person... arguing heatedly over a few coins in the market...

There was no mockery or disdain in those eyes.

Yes, it is just a kind of... pure, higher-dimensional life's... disregard for lower-dimensional beings.

A long time passed, so long that Zhu Yuanzhang even thought he was hallucinating.

Zhu Muying slowly put away the lotus flower that was radiating seven-colored light from his hand.

Then, under Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze, which was almost dripping with blood, filled with boundless greed and reluctance.

He made a move that everyone will never forget.

He opened his mouth.

In Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, that seven-colored lotus flower represented "longevity," "hope," and "the entire country."

Like eating a candy bean.

Just saying...

I ate it.

"Gulp."

A soft swallowing sound, so clear and so... jarring, echoed in the silent bedchamber.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened instantly, his eyeballs almost bulging out of their sockets.

His body froze, as if struck by lightning, completely still.

Only one thought remained in his mind.

He...he ate it?

He actually... just ate it like that?!

That...that's our immortality! That's our empire!

A surge of despair and anger, stronger and more overwhelming than ever before, erupted like a volcano, instantly shattering Zhu Yuanzhang's last shred of reason.

"ah--!!!"

He let out a shrill roar that was not human, and as if he had gone mad, he leaped up from the ground and pounced on Zhu Muying with bared teeth and claws!

"You unfilial son! You rebellious son!"

"Give us back our immortality! Give us back our kingdom!"

He's crazy.

This decisive, cunning, and patient Emperor Hongwu, who had endured his entire life, went completely mad after witnessing "immortality" slip through his fingers.

"Father!"

"His Majesty!"

"Quickly! Stop His Majesty!"

Zhu Biao and Mao Xiang and the others around him were all stunned by this sudden scene. After they came to their senses, they rushed forward and hurriedly hugged the irrational Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Let us go! All of you, let us go!"

Zhu Yuanzhang struggled frantically with astonishing strength; even several strong imperial guards almost couldn't hold him down.

"We must kill him! Kill this rebellious son!"

The entire bedchamber was thrown into chaos once again.

At the heart of this chaos, Zhu Muying remained calm and composed.

He didn't even stand up.

He sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed, quietly watching his father struggle frantically in the crowd, looking like a madman...

He slowly raised his hand and wiped his mouth, as if what he had just eaten was really just a delicious candy.

Then, in a tone even more indifferent, and even more…cruel, he slowly spoke to Zhu Yuanzhang, who was no longer listening to anything:

"Father."

"Your subject knows that you want this."

He pointed to his mouth.

"You want to live forever, you want to possess this world forever."

"but……"

His tone shifted abruptly, and for the first time, a genuine sense of "divine" condescension appeared in his indifferent eyes.

Have you ever thought about this?

"The country and the nation in your eyes, the power over the world."

"The eternal foundation you envision, immortality."

"In my eyes..."

He smiled slightly, a smile that, in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, was ten thousand times more terrifying than the devil's grin.

"Worthless."

Boom!

These last four words, like four merciless iron hammers, slammed heavily into Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.

It utterly crushed his already riddled heart into powder.

"puff--"

Another mouthful of blood gushed out.

This time, there was no more anger, resentment, or madness in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.

Only a deathly silence remained.

Like ashes that have burned out, not a single spark can be seen.

He stopped struggling and let Zhu Biao and Mao Xiang support him.

He slowly raised his head and looked at Zhu Muying with an incredibly empty gaze.

He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.

But in the end, he could only let out a desperate sigh from his throat, like the wail of a wild beast.

Then, his eyes rolled back, his head tilted to the side, and he slumped limply into Zhu Biao's arms.

Passed out.

The founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang.

After experiencing the biggest ups and downs of my life.

After witnessing a miracle and then personally destroying immortality.

Finally, it collapsed.

They did not fall under the enemy's sword, nor did they fall in the struggle for power.

Instead, he collapsed because of a single sentence from his own son.

"I don't care about your empire."

These words will become a nightmare he can never escape for the rest of his life.

This became the final straw that broke the camel's back for this iron-fisted emperor.

Zhu Yuanzhang's fainting spell was like the conductor's baton suddenly snapping at the climax of an incredibly intense symphony.

The entire bedchamber fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone stared blankly at the emperor, who had collapsed unconscious in the crown prince's arms, completely dumbfounded.

"Father! Father, what's wrong!"

Zhu Biao, holding the limp Zhu Yuanzhang in his arms, was so frightened that his voice trembled.

"The imperial physician! Where is the imperial physician? Quickly, summon the imperial physician!"

His roar finally snapped everyone out of their petrified state.

"Quickly! Summon the imperial physician!"

"His Majesty has fainted!"

"Quickly, get the ginseng soup! Get the wound medicine!"

Chaos erupted once again inside the hall. Eunuchs scrambled out, while officials, bewildered and helpless, surrounded them, their faces etched with panic and fear.

The emperor, in front of them, was so angry that he fainted.

This is a huge deal!

If things go wrong, everyone present could lose their heads!

Xu Da, Li Shanchang, and other veteran officials rushed over immediately.

Xu Da grabbed Zhu Yuanzhang's wrist and checked his pulse. The expression on his old face was extremely solemn.

"The blood and qi are rushing to the heart, accompanied by intense anger and a disordered pulse... the situation is dire!"

Li Shanchang was sweating profusely with anxiety. He roared at the stunned officials beside him, "What are you all standing there for! Quickly go and call Liu Shouzhen and the others into the courtyard! If anything happens to His Majesty, we'll all be buried with him!"

In an instant, the entire Prince's Palace was in chaos.

Amidst this earth-shattering chaos, only two people remained absolutely calm.

One is Zhang Sanfeng.

He remained kneeling on the ground, his eyes slightly closed, as if everything outside was irrelevant to him.

He was using his newly reshaped Dao heart to frantically digest, understand, and comprehend the "immortal magic" world that Zhu Muying had just shown, which was only the tip of the iceberg.

The other one, of course, is Zhu Muying.

He remained seated cross-legged on the edge of the bed, watching the farce he had orchestrated unfold with an indifferent expression.

Looking at the Crown Prince, who was holding Zhu Yuanzhang, sweating profusely and completely at a loss.

Looking at the civil and military officials surrounding Zhu Yuanzhang, each one of them seemed to have lost their parents, as if the sky had fallen.

A faint smile once again appeared at the corners of his mouth.

He knew that from this day forward, from the moment his cheap old man collapsed...

This world, this era, is... different now.

The old order established by Zhu Yuanzhang was based on imperial power as the absolute core and maintained by strict etiquette and cruel violence.

Before this "land god," they were utterly vulnerable.

He didn't even need to lift a finger.

All he needs to do is stand there and show how "different" he is from the world.

That was enough to cause this seemingly indestructible empire to begin collapsing from within.

"Fourth brother..."

Just then, a voice, trembling and choked with sobs, came from the crowd.

It is Zhu Biao.

While having someone pinch Zhu Yuanzhang's philtrum, he raised his head and looked at Zhu Muying with an extremely complex, even pleading, gaze.

"Fourth brother... I'm begging you... please... please stop provoking Father..."

Zhu Biao's voice was choked with sobs, a plea filled with fear, helplessness, and despair.

He knelt on the ground, holding his unconscious father in his arms, while looking up at his younger brother who sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed, his expression indifferent as if everything was none of his business.

How could he be so calm?

[Father has been so angered by him, how can he still act like nothing happened?]

Doesn't he have a heart?

An overwhelming sense of sorrow welled up in Zhu Biao's heart.

From childhood to adulthood, he was the most perfect crown prince of the Ming Dynasty. He was gentle, kind, filial, loving to his brothers, and respectful to his teachers. He diligently studied how to be a good emperor, how to balance the court, and how to care for the people.

He believed that as long as he did well enough, he would gain everyone's approval and be able to ensure the smooth continuation of this dynasty that had just emerged from the flames of war.

But today, his proud worldview, learned from Confucian classics, was shattered by his fourth brother in a way he could not understand at all.

immortal.

His younger brother is a deity.

This realization terrified him even more than the thought of his father deposing him as crown prince.

Because the crown prince was deposed, he could still become a carefree prince.

But gods... who can stop gods from doing what they want?

Zhu Muying looked at Zhu Biao's face, which was filled with grief and pleading, and slowly shook her head.

He didn't speak, but simply raised his hand and pointed to Zhu Yuanzhang, who was lying in Zhu Biao's arms with blood still dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Then, he pointed to his heart.

The meaning is quite clear.

It wasn't that I provoked him; he just couldn't accept it.

His greed and fear were the real reasons that brought him down.

I won't take the blame for this.

Zhu Biao understood.

It was precisely because he understood that he felt even more desperate.

He discovered that an insurmountable chasm had formed between himself and his fourth brother. What they said, thought, and cared about were no longer from the same world.

He tried to use their brotherly bond to blackmail him, but the other man didn't care at all.

He tried to suppress him by using the father-son relationship, but the man didn't even care about the emperor's empire.

How can we even talk about this?

There's no way we can talk about this.

"It's over..."

Zhu Biao's heart sank little by little.

He felt that the sky over the Ming Dynasty might really be about to collapse.

Just as everyone in the bedchamber was in a state of panic due to the emperor's fainting and felt suffocated by the confrontation between the crown prince and the king,

A sharp, alarming announcement, like a sword, pierced through the chaos.

"Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!"

The sound came from outside the bedchamber, mournful yet lingering.

Everyone in the hall, including the flustered imperial physicians and officials, seemed to be frozen in place for a moment, as if struck by a spell.

Your Majesty the Empress?

Empress Ma?

Why is she here?!

What time is it now? The palace gates have long been locked. How could a woman from the inner palace leave the palace in the middle of the night and come to the Prince of Ying's residence?

Countless question marks popped into everyone's mind.

What terrified them even more than these questions was the timing.

The emperor had just fainted from anger at the Prince of Ying's residence, vomiting blood, when the empress arrived shortly after.

If you say there's no connection between these things, they'd never believe it even if you beat them to death!

Before everyone could recover from their shock...

The heavy vermilion doors of the sleeping quarters were slowly pushed open from the outside with a creak.

A figure, elegant and noble yet exuding a chilling aura, appeared at the doorway.

The person who arrived was none other than the current Empress, Ma Xiuying.

She wore a nine-dragon, four-phoenix crown and a solemn golden robe, which shimmered and glowed in the candlelight, making her appear incredibly noble. Her well-maintained face was expressionless, and her phoenix eyes were as calm as a bottomless ancient well.

Behind her followed a line of expressionless eunuchs.

The eunuchs were all holding something in their hands.

When the civil and military officials in the hall clearly saw what the eunuchs were holding, their pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints in an instant.

What did they see?

They saw that the head eunuch was carrying a sandalwood tray, on which was a dragon robe wrapped in bright yellow silk!

The second eunuch was holding a brocade box. They were very familiar with the style of the box; it was the box used to store... the Imperial Seal of the State!

The third eunuch held an ancient longsword in his hands. The hilt was inlaid with colorful gemstones, and the scabbard was carved with the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and plants.

Emperor's Sword!

Dragon robe! Imperial seal! Emperor's sword!

Everyone present knew what these three things represented.

That represents imperial power!

Representing the supreme power of this vast empire!

The Empress arrived at the Prince of Ying's residence late at night with these three items. What is she planning to do?!

Everyone's mind went blank, completely exploding.

They all thought of the same thing, a possibility that sent chills down their spines—the most unlikely, yet the most terrifying.

[A coup?!]

[The Empress is planning to join forces with Prince Ying to force the Emperor to abdicate?!]

As soon as the thought crossed their minds, everyone felt a chill down their spines.

Li Shanchang, the founding prime minister who had seen many storms, felt his legs go weak at this moment. He subconsciously glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang, who was still lying unconscious in the crown prince's arms, and then at the empress with a somber face at the door.

Only one thought remained in his mind.

The Zhu family... is about to undergo a major upheaval!

Empress Ma ignored the horrified looks on the faces of the officials in the hall.

She took a step and slowly walked into the bedchamber.

She walked each step steadily and slowly. The hem of her skirt, embroidered with golden phoenixes, trailed on the cold floor tiles, making a soft "rustling" sound, like the death knell of the Grim Reaper, striking the hearts of everyone present.

She walked to the center of the crowd.

Their gazes immediately fell on the man who was surrounded by people, lying on the ground in a disheveled state.

That was her husband.

He was the man who had walked alongside her through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and together they had built this vast empire.

Looking at his pale face and the glaring bloodstains at the corner of his mouth, Empress Ma's eyes remained unmoved.

She glanced at it calmly, then looked away.

It was as if the person lying on the ground was not the emperor of the current dynasty, nor her husband, but a... insignificant stranger.

Her gaze passed over the Crown Prince Zhu Biao, who was holding Zhu Yuanzhang and was already terrified.

Ultimately, the blame fell on her fourth son, Zhu Muying, who had sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed the entire time, as if he were an outsider.

The mother and son looked at each other.

One was the Empress, who controlled the Ming Dynasty's harem and was the mother of the nation.

One of them was a prince who had just overturned the entire court's perception and was given the title of "Land Immortal".

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the even more terrifying confrontation that was about to erupt between the mother and son.

However, to everyone's surprise...

Empress Ma looked at Zhu Muying, and a smile slowly appeared on her face, which had been frozen for a thousand years.

That smile was faint, subtle, and even carried a hint of barely perceptible...kindness and relief.

"Mu Ying".

She spoke, her voice soft and gentle, like an ordinary mother calling out to her child whom she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Mother, I'm here."

These three seemingly casual words instantly made the atmosphere in the entire bedchamber extremely oppressive.

At this moment, Zhu Biao's heart sank to the bottom.

He knew that his worst fears had come true.

His mother chose to stand on the side of her fourth brother.

"Mother, you've come too."

Zhu Muying looked at the woman standing in the crowd, who seemed out of place in the world, and calmly responded.

His tone was as if he were greeting an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

Empress Ma looked at him, and the smile on her face deepened.

"Yes, Mother is here."

As she spoke, she slowly walked to Zhu Muying's bedside.

She didn't look at the officials kneeling on the ground, nor at her husband who was still lying unconscious on the ground, nor at the pale-faced, swaying crown prince.

In her eyes, from beginning to end, there was only her fourth son.

"You've lost weight."