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

Lü Bu and his Bingzhou wolf cavalry also encountered a messenger who had come to deliver an imperial edict.

Unlike Xiang Yu's "civilized" approach, Lü Bu's method was much more direct and bloody.

When the commander of the Imperial Guard arrogantly demanded that Lü Bu kneel to receive the imperial edict, Lü Bu didn't even say a word to him.

He simply rode on his Red Hare and pointed lightly at the commander with his halberd.

The next second, the eight hundred elite troops behind him, like silent ghosts, launched their attack instantly!

There was no charge, no shouting.

The only sounds were the uniform footsteps and the sickening scraping of a drawn ring-pommel sword.

The commander of the Imperial Guard and his dozens of men didn't even have time to utter a scream before they were instantly engulfed in a sea of ​​black swords and shadows.

Blood stained the land along the Yellow River.

Lu Bu slowly urged Red Hare to walk to the pile of indistinct flesh and blood, and picked up the imperial edict that was already soaked in blood from the ground.

His chief strategist, Chen Gong, frowned and said in a low voice, "Fengxian, killing the envoy means a complete break with the court, leaving no room for maneuver."

"A turnaround?" Lu Bu sneered. Without even glancing at the imperial edict in his hand, he directly exerted his strength in his palm and crushed it into a piece of waste paper.

"Gongtai, do you think there's any room for maneuver left since the moment we raised our army and marched south?"

"I, Lü Bu, only recognize one lord, and that is His Highness the Prince of Ying!"

"Now, that old scoundrel Zhu Yuanzhang has captured my lord; he's my mortal enemy!"

"What kind of compromise is needed when dealing with a mortal enemy?"

He casually tossed the wad of waste paper on the ground and crushed it hard with his horse's hoof.

"Pass on my orders!" Lü Bu raised his halberd high.

"The entire army will travel light, with one person and three horses, day and night, at full speed southward!"

"I don't care about Xiang Yu or Han Xin! I, Lü Bu, will be the first to reach the gates of Jinling!"

"I want to ask Zhu Yuanzhang myself, where exactly is my lord!"

"roar!"

Tens of thousands of Bingzhou wolf cavalry, like wolves that have smelled blood, let out a deafening roar and transformed into a black torrent, sweeping southward.

Inside the Fengtian Hall.

After the Imperial Guard with an arrow stuck in his chest finished delivering the message Xiang Yu had asked him to bring back, he breathed his last.

What he brought back was not just an arrogant threat, but a cruel reality.

Imperial power has become a joke.

Imperial edicts are really not even as good as toilet paper.

Zhu Yuanzhang staggered back two steps and slumped onto the dragon throne. He stared blankly at the unseeing eyes of the Imperial Guard, at the imperial edict pierced through his chest.

His prized imperial strategies and the absolute authority upon which he relied to rule the world were shattered into pieces before those arrogant and fierce generals who held military power, leaving not a trace.

"They've rebelled...they've all rebelled..."

He muttered to himself unconsciously, his eyes vacant, as if all his soul had been ripped away.

Just then, another, even more hurried footsteps approached.

Another member of the Imperial Guard rushed into the main hall. He was unharmed, but the fear and panic on his face were even greater than that of his fallen comrade.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" He knelt on the ground, his voice trembling.

"Lü...Lü Bu...he...he killed Commander Sun, who was delivering the imperial edict, and dozens of his brothers...all of them!"

"The imperial edict... he crushed the imperial edict into dust on the spot and threw it on the ground, stomping on it with his horse's hooves!"

boom!

If Xiang Yu's arrow shooting the dragon robe was an insult, then Lü Bu's killing of the envoy and breaking the imperial decree was a naked declaration of war!

He didn't even bother with acting anymore; he simply used the bloodiest method to tell the emperor in Nanjing that he had rebelled!

Zhu Yuanzhang's body jolted violently, and his face, which had just regained its color, instantly turned deathly pale again.

It’s over.

It's completely over.

There's not even a glimmer of hope left.

He, the emperor, had become a completely isolated figure.

He looked around at the silent civil and military officials below, and felt an unprecedented sense of loneliness and fear welling up in his heart.

This vast palace, this majestic Fengtian Hall, was like a magnificent cage, trapping him firmly within its walls.

Outside the cage, however, lay a million-strong army, sharpening their knives and eager to tear him to pieces.

What should he do?

Deploy troops? The troops in the north have rebelled, and the troops in the south have rebelled too. Who else can he deploy?

Negotiation? Even the messenger who delivered the imperial decree was killed; who would want to negotiate with him?

Fear, like an invisible hand, gripped his heart tightly, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

In the midst of this extreme fear, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

"Welcome, Your Majesty..."

"If my brother were to lose even a single hair..."

"Where is my lord?!"

The words of Xiang Yu, the words of Lü Bu, and the intelligence brought by the messenger earlier all pointed to one person in the slogans and demands of the rebels.

Zhu Muying!

They...they all thought Zhu Muying was still alive!

They thought Zhu Muying was just locked up by them!

Zhu Yuanzhang's pupils contracted sharply. He grasped at the last straw, and a strange light reappeared in his eyes, which had been dull and lifeless.

He turned his head sharply and stared intently at the already cold corpse in Empress Ma's arms.

Correct!

They didn't know that Zhu Muying was already dead!

All their actions and all their anger were based on the idea of ​​"rescuing our king"!

That's their only goal!

If... if they knew that the king they wanted to rescue had already been driven to his death by their own hands...

Zhu Yuanzhang's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.

He couldn't imagine the consequences.

That will no longer be "purging the court of corrupt officials" or "respectfully welcoming our king".

That will be revenge!

It was a bloody storm devoid of reason and principles, driven solely by the desire for revenge!

That million-strong army will transform into a million evil spirits crawling out of hell, tearing the entire Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, and all his descendants to pieces and dragging them into an abyss of no return!

Having figured this out, Zhu Yuanzhang's fear instantly transformed into a more specific and intense fear.

He was no longer afraid of the rebels; he began to fear Zhu Muying's corpse!

He was afraid the secret would be leaked!

He looked at Zhu Muying in Empress Ma's arms. He was no longer a son who had died and brought him shame, but a huge bomb that could destroy his entire dynasty!

The fuse for this bomb was in the hands of everyone in the palace who knew about it!

"We can't let them know!"

Zhu Yuanzhang jumped up from the dragon throne, pointed at everyone in the hall, and let out a hysterical scream.

"They absolutely must not know that the King is dead!"

"Seal off! Immediately seal off the palace! Seal off the entire city of Jinling!"

"From this moment forward, no one is to enter or leave! No one is to divulge a single word of what happened in this hall today, what was seen, or what was heard!"

He made a throat-slitting gesture, his eyes filled with ruthlessness.

"Execute the entire family! Exterminate nine generations!"

Like a wild beast driven to the brink, he used the most brutal threats to mask his inner panic.

The entire court, both civil and military, fell silent, trembling with fear.

Zhu Biao looked at his father, who was already somewhat insane, and felt a deep sorrow in his heart.

At this point, instead of thinking about how to quell the unrest and appease the troops, he was still thinking about how to conceal the truth and how to deceive them.

He slowly stepped forward, faced Zhu Yuanzhang, and said in a deep voice, "Father, we can't hide it from you."

"That million-strong army is at the city gates. Their goal is to see Fifth Brother. If we don't hand over a living person, they will find out the truth sooner or later."

"You still have to keep it a secret!" Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted him rudely.

"We'll keep it a secret as long as we can, even for just one more day or one more hour!"

He grabbed Zhu Biao's shoulders and shook him violently, trying to persuade Zhu Biao, and also trying to persuade himself.

"They don't know Mu Ying is dead; their only goal is to rescue her! That will make them hesitant and prevent them from truly attacking the city!"

"Mu Ying... he's our only bargaining chip now! He's our shield!"

"As long as they believe Mu Ying is still alive, we have room to negotiate with them! We have a chance to buy time!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's mind was racing, and his survival instincts led him to instantly come up with what he thought was a brilliant "plan".

"Yes! Negotiation!"

He loosened his grip on the red banner, paced back and forth, and a morbid excitement appeared on his face.

"We can send someone to tell them! Just say... say that Mu Ying is seriously ill! Yes, seriously ill! She's receiving the best treatment in the palace and can't see anyone!"

"We can agree to some of their demands to appease them! As long as we stall for time, things will definitely take a turn for the better!"

The more he talked, the more he felt his plan was flawless, and he even felt proud of his "quick wit".

However, to others, his words sounded utterly absurd.

"Father, do you think they will believe it?" Zhu Biao's voice was filled with helplessness.

"Whether you believe it or not is not important! What's important is that this is an excuse! A reason to make them stop for the time being!" Zhu Yuanzhang roared.

Just then, Empress Ma, who had been silent all along like a statue, spoke again.

"Zhu Chongba".

Her voice wasn't loud, but it lowered the temperature of the entire hall to freezing point.

She looked at the man who was still gloating over his "brilliant plan" with pity in her eyes, as if she were looking at a clown.

"You don't need to go through that trouble."

She slowly and gently placed Zhu Muying's body, which she was holding, onto the cold gold bricks.

Then, she stood up.

She looked at Xu Da, at Chang Yuchun, and at her old brothers from Huaixi who had walked with her through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

"Xu Da, Chang Yuchun."

Her voice was eerily calm.

"Do you still consider me your elder sister?"

Empress Ma's voice stirred up a huge wave.

All eyes instantly turned to her.

What is she going to do?

Xu Da and Chang Yuchun exchanged a glance, both seeing seriousness in each other's eyes.

They stepped forward almost simultaneously and bowed to Empress Ma.

"Big sister!"

"Your Majesty the Empress!"

"good!"

"Since you acknowledge me as your ancestor, then let's send Zhu Yuanzhang to his final resting place!"