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

One sentence: "Come and kill!"

Like a mountain collapsing.

The entire court was stunned into silence.

Zhu Muying faced the majestic figure of the Hongwu Emperor head-on, and was not at all intimidated!

"Good! Good! Good!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he laughed. He said "good" three times in a row, taking a step forward with each word, exuding a terrifying aura honed from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Every single official, civil and military, pressed their heads firmly against the cold floor tiles, even their breathing was cautious, for fear of making the slightest sound and attracting the attention of the Hongwu Emperor.

"We've really seen something new today!"

Zhu Yuanzhang walked to the edge of the steps and looked down at his son. His gaze was no longer that of a relative, but rather that of an irreconcilable enemy.

"Our son's gotten quite bold! He's got some nerve! He dares to talk to us like that now!"

"If we say you're dead, you're dead! We won't let you explain, so you'd better shut up!"

"In this Hall of Supreme Harmony, under the rule of the Great Ming Dynasty, we are the heavens! Our words are imperial edicts!"

He was roaring, spitting as he spoke. His once dignified face was now twisted with extreme anger, making him look particularly ferocious.

Standing before him was Zhu Muying, like a pine tree in a storm, who remained dignified and unyielding despite the wind and rain.

He didn't say anything more.

Because he knew that at this moment, whatever he said would be wrong.

Explanation is sophistry.

Silence is consent.

Begging for mercy is a sign of a guilty conscience.

When the emperor harbors murderous intent, even breathing becomes a sin.

His calm demeanor only confirmed Zhu Yuanzhang's suspicion that he was fearless.

Look!

This is the good son he raised!

Shanhaiguan Pass was breached by his troops, and an army of 100,000 men marched in under the banner of "purging the emperor's inner circle," yet he was still standing here, his face unchanged and his heart unmoved!

What incredible courage!

How extraordinary this is...

They don't respect him as their father, nor do they respect him as the emperor!

"Someone come here!"

Zhu Yuanzhang abruptly flicked his sleeve, his voice filled with undeniable killing intent, "Drag him out! Right here outside the Fengtian Hall, at the Meridian Gate! In front of all the civil and military officials, execute him!"

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"

Li Shanchang was the first to get up from the ground, tears streaming down his face, and rushed to the steps of the palace, clinging to Zhu Yuanzhang's leg and refusing to let go.

"Your Majesty, please reconsider! His Highness the Prince is a pillar of the nation, with illustrious military achievements, and is also your own flesh and blood! The situation on the northern frontier is currently unclear, and the authenticity of that blood-written letter is uncertain. You must not make a grave mistake due to momentary anger and destroy your own Great Wall!"

"Get out of here!"

Zhu Yuanzhang kicked him away. Li Shanchang, being quite old, couldn't withstand the blow and rolled several times before crashing into a pillar in the palace. He didn't get up for a long time.

"Destroying one's own Great Wall?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, "Look at him, he's just a ant trying to tear down our Great Wall!"

"His Majesty!"

Xu Da and Chang Yuchun could no longer stand still. They exchanged a glance, stepped forward simultaneously, knelt on one knee, and spoke in a booming voice.

"Your Majesty! We swear on our lives that His Highness the Prince of England has absolutely no intention of rebelling!"

"Your Majesty, please rescind your order and thoroughly investigate this matter! We are willing to immediately lead troops north to quell the rebellion and tear those imposters to pieces to prove the King's innocence!"

They were military officers; they trusted their own eyes, and even more so, they trusted the young man who had fought alongside them in piles of corpses.

If Zhu Mu-ying wanted to rebel, he would have had countless opportunities; he wouldn't have had to wait until today!

There must be a huge conspiracy behind this!

"A guarantee? What are you going to offer as a guarantee?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze was like a knife scraping across their faces. "Did you two already know? Huh?!"

"Don't you all also think that he's more suitable to be emperor than this old man?!"

Those words were truly malicious.

Xu Da and Chang Yuchun turned deathly pale instantly, and cold sweat broke out all over their bodies.

They never expected that the emperor would suspect them!

"Your Majesty! I'm innocent!"

"Your Majesty and the Ming Dynasty are utterly loyal, as the sun and moon can attest!"

The two men kowtowed desperately, their foreheads hitting the gold bricks with a dull thud.

But Zhu Yuanzhang was no longer listening to anything.

Right now, all he can think about is betrayal!

Everyone betrayed him!

Right there in this grand hall, as the emperor and his ministers grew increasingly estranged, and father and son turned against each other, with bloodshed imminent...

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Another series of hurried footsteps, so rapid they made one's heart pound, came from outside the hall!

Everyone's heart skipped a beat, and they instinctively looked towards the entrance of the hall.

Here we go again?!

Then came another Imperial Guard, covered in blood, even more pitiful than the previous one, being dragged into the Fengtian Hall.

One of his legs was gone. The wound was haphazardly wrapped with rags, and blood was still seeping out, leaving a long, shocking trail of blood on the gold brick.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."

The Imperial Guard was barely breathing; his eyes were already rolling back in his head.

"Another...another...urgent delivery..."

boom!

If the first urgent request was a thunderclap, then...

Then the second one is like the sky falling down!

Zhu Yuanzhang swayed and almost lost his balance.

The eunuch beside him quickly stepped forward to support him.

"read!"

Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth and squeezed out a single word.

A young eunuch in charge of relaying the message scrambled over, pulled another blood-soaked report from the Imperial Guard's arms, and read it aloud in a trembling voice.

"Second urgent report from the northern frontier!"

"The one known as... the one called 'Marquis Wen' Lü Bu, has led 30,000 Bingzhou wolf cavalry across the Yellow River three days ago! He is... is heading straight for the capital at a speed of 300 li per day!"

"The prefectures and counties along the way surrendered without a fight! No one dared to stand in their way!"

"What?!"

This time, it was the Minister of War who exclaimed in surprise.

He was completely stunned.

Crossing the Yellow River?!

What does that even mean?!

That means that in the entire Central Plains, from north to south, there are no more natural barriers that can stop this fierce and powerful army!

Between them and the capital city of Yingtian, all that remained was a flat plain!

"besides……"

The little eunuch's voice was already trembling with sobs. He was so frightened by the contents of the report that he almost fainted.

"The one known as 'God of Slaughter' Bai Qi has already besieged Taiyuan! The Taiyuan commander-in-chief... Commander-in-Chief Wu Liang, has surrendered! The entire Shanxi province... has fallen!"

"Han Xin, known as the 'God of War,' has cut off all official roads in Hebei and Shandong! The Prince of Yan's residence in Beiping is... besieged by an army of 100,000!"

One after another, like nightmare news, came out of the little eunuch's mouth.

With each word uttered, the faces of the officials in the hall grew paler.

When the last sentence, "The Prince of Yan's mansion in Beiping was besieged," was read.

With a "plop".

Zhu Di, kneeling on the ground, glared at him coldly.

Beiping!

That was his fiefdom!

His royal palace!

His home!

He had only just returned from Beiping not long ago!

Inside the Fengtian Hall, there was a deathly silence.

Everyone was stunned by the series of bad news.

The entire territory of Shanxi has fallen!

Roads between Hebei and Shandong have been cut off!

Thirty thousand iron cavalrymen marched straight towards the capital!

This is no longer treason.

This is……

The country is doomed!

When did so many unprecedented and ferocious armies suddenly appear in this world?!

Bai Qi?

Han Xin?

Lü Bu?

How could these names, which I'd only ever heard of in plays, actually lead troops and fight their way out?!

Everyone's mind was in complete chaos.

Only Zhu Yuanzhang stared intently at Zhu Muying, the murderous intent in his eyes so strong it was almost tangible.

it is good!

OK!

What a good son he is!

Without a word, they secretly hid such a "big gift" for him in the north!

He's going to burn his Zhu family's empire to the ground!

"Zhu Muying!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was hoarse, like two pieces of iron rubbing together, "What else do you have to say?!"

Zhu Muying slowly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, all that remained in her eyes was an unyielding sorrow.

He knew he was finished.

When these armies, which he himself didn't even know how they appeared, were doing these things under his banner.

He was already speechless and unable to defend himself.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something.

But just then...

"Report—!!!"

A roar, more piercing and desperate than the previous two, suddenly erupted from outside the hall!

A Jinyiwei guard dressed similarly failed to even get into the main hall before collapsing on the threshold of Fengtian Hall.

With his last breath, he forcefully threw what he was carrying into the hall.

It was a round thing wrapped in oilcloth.

"Thump, gurgle..."

The thing rolled to the center of the hall and stopped at Zhu Muying's feet.

Everyone saw it clearly.

It was a human head, its eyes wide open in death.

The face of the severed head was still frozen in shock and disbelief.

"what!"

Some timid civil officials screamed in fright on the spot.

When Xu Da saw the human head, he was struck dumb, frozen in place.

When Li Wenzhong saw the human head, he was utterly devastated!