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

"Good! Good! Good!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said "good" three times in a row, but the murderous intent in his eyes had become so intense that it was almost tangible.

Zhu Muying's methods instilled in him, an emperor who had controlled the lives and deaths of people for decades, an unprecedented sense of panic and anger.

He stopped thinking about what Zhu Muying's trump card was.

Who cares what cards he has up his sleeve!

In the face of absolute power, all schemes and tricks are nothing but paper tigers!

Today, he will use this army of 500,000 to crush Zhu Muying, along with all the rebellious officials and traitors behind him who dared to defy him, into dust!

He wanted to show the world who the true master of the Ming Dynasty was!

"Hey girl! Biao'er!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze suddenly shifted to Empress Ma and Zhu Biao, who were standing behind Zhu Muying, and his voice carried a complex emotion.

"Come back now! Stand beside us!"

"We can pretend today's events never happened. Whether Zhu Muying lives or dies is none of your business! It has nothing to do with our Crown Prince, or our Empress Dowager!"

"Now, we must nip these traitors who dare to challenge imperial authority in the bud!"

This was his final ultimatum, and also his last act of tenderness.

He could disregard the bond of raising him and kill Zhu Muying.

He could disregard the bond between ruler and subject and kill Xu Da and Chang Yuchun.

But he couldn't bear to part with it.

He couldn't bear to kill the woman who had accompanied him from a beggar to the emperor.

He couldn't bear to kill the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, whom he had devoted half his life to nurturing.

Empress Ma trembled violently upon hearing his words.

She looked up at her husband, who was both familiar and unfamiliar, on the city wall, and tears blurred her vision once again.

To nip it in the bud?

Who is he going to kill?

Kill Mu Ying?

Those were the children she watched grow up, the children she dug out of a pile of corpses, the children she loved even more than her own!

Should we kill Xu Da and Chang Yuchun?

Those were his old brothers who fought alongside Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the world. She watched them marry and have children, risking their lives to bring about the Zhu family's rule today.

How could she just stand by and watch them die?

"Jungpachi..."

Empress Ma's voice was hoarse and filled with pleading, "Please stop... I'm begging you... Don't kill anymore... We're our own people, why are you killing your own people?"

"One of our own?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, "Sister, look carefully! Now they're the ones rebelling against us! They're the ones trying to seize our empire!"

"They aren't!"

Empress Ma cried out, "They were just... just forced into it by you!"

"That's enough!"

Zhu Yuanzhang sternly interrupted her; he didn't want to hear any more.

His gaze shifted to Zhu Biao, his voice growing stern: "Biao'er! And you? Are you going to join them in their recklessness? Don't forget, you are the Crown Prince! The future Emperor! Are you going to defy your father for the sake of a traitorous minister?"

Zhu Biao's face was pale, his lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word.

On one side was his father, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who gave him life and raised him.

On one side was his mother who saved and protected him, and his brother who was like a sibling to him.

What should he choose?

He felt like he was being torn apart.

Seeing his wife and children's reaction, the last bit of warmth in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes vanished.

He knew they wouldn't be coming back.

"Good...very good..."

He muttered to himself, his eyes becoming empty and crazed.

Since none of you are willing to come back, then don't blame us for being ruthless!

He abruptly turned around, no longer looking at the disturbing scene below the city, but instead turning his gaze to the silent civil officials around him.

"Hu Weiyong! Fang Xiaoru!"

His voice, as if from the deepest hell, sent shivers down the spines of all the civil officials.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty is here!"

Hu Weiyong and a group of civil officials tumbled and fell to their knees, their bodies trembling like leaves in the autumn wind.

They were so terrified by the dramatic scene of father and son fighting and ruler and subject turning against each other that they were almost scared out of their wits.

Now that the emperor has called their names, they feel as if they have already stepped into the gates of hell.

"Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty, please calm down!"

Hu Weiyong kowtowed repeatedly, his mind blank, only able to repeat this sentence.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked down at them, his eyes filled with disdain.

These were the civil officials he relied on, who usually quoted classics and discussed current affairs in court, speaking eloquently and persuasively.

But when it really came down to the critical moment of fighting, they were terrified, like a flock of chickens waiting to be slaughtered.

waste!

They're all useless!

However, even waste has its uses.

Fang Xiaoru.

Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze fell on a middle-aged scholar kneeling at the front.

Fang Xiaoru's body jolted, and he abruptly raised his head.

Unlike other officials, although his face also showed fear, a flame burned deep in his eyes.

That was the stubborn, almost obsessive flame that belonged to scholars.

"Your subject is here!"

His voice trembled slightly, but it was full of energy.

"Have you prepared what I asked you to prepare?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked coldly.

Fang Xiaoru took a deep breath and pulled out a scroll of yellow silk that had already been written on from his wide sleeves.

"Your Majesty, everything is ready!"

"good!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. "Then now, read it aloud to those treacherous officials below the city! Read it aloud to all the people of the world!"

"Let everyone know what kind of person Zhu Muying really is! Let everyone know that I, Zhu Yuanzhang, am the true Son of Heaven, destined by Heaven!"

"My lord, I obey your order!"

Fang Xiaoru raised the yellow silk, stood up, and walked to the crenellations of the city wall.

He was a pure Confucian scholar. In his view, the proper order of ruler and subject, father and son, was the fundamental principle of heaven and the basis for maintaining the order of the entire world.

Zhu Muying, no matter how great his achievements or how much injustice he suffered, should not have challenged the authority of his sovereign.

In Fang Xiaoru's view, what he did today was utterly rebellious and a traitorous scoundrel!

Therefore, he wrote this proclamation against the traitors with heartfelt emotion, every word written with tears of blood.

He would use his pen as his sword to eliminate evil forces for His Majesty and for the Ming Dynasty!

Fang Xiaoru unfolded the yellow silk, took a deep breath of the cold air mixed with wind and snow, and then, with all his might, transformed the righteous spirit in his chest into a loud voice that resounded throughout the entire city of Jinling.

"May all your armies and my subjects be aware!"

"There is a traitor named Zhu Muying, originally a commoner from Huaixi, who was fortunate enough to be born into the Zhu family by His Majesty's grace and was granted the title of Prince Ying, an honor rarely seen in history!"

His voice, passionate and resonant, with its unique rhythm, stood out clearly on the deathly silent battlefield.

The people and soldiers below the city gate instinctively stopped talking and looked up in the direction from which the sound came.

"However, this thief harbors wolfish ambitions and treacherous intentions! Instead of showing gratitude and repaying kindness, he becomes arrogant and disrespectful to his sovereign and father!"

"His Majesty summoned him back to the capital under the pretext of his wedding, an act of imperial grace intended to fulfill the bond between father and son, and the duty between ruler and subject. This traitor, however, harbored resentment and secretly plotted treachery, using a substitute as a pawn to escape his fate, faking his death to deceive the Emperor, and scheming against the throne!"

"That's the first crime!"

Fang Xiaoru's voice grew louder and louder. He pointed at Zhu Muying below the city wall, like a judge listing his crimes.

"After faking his death, he lurked in the shadows, bewitching people and sowing discord between the emperor and his ministers! This caused the Empress to be heartbroken and the Crown Prince to be caught in a dilemma! It also caused the Duke of Wei and other founding heroes to work for him, and in a fit of rage, they besieged the capital!"

"This is to lead one's relatives into injustice, one's ruler into cruelty, and one's meritorious officials into disloyalty! Their intentions are despicable!"

"That's the second crime!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and the others all turned extremely pale.

Fang Xiaoru's words were extremely malicious!

They were indeed enraged by Zhu Muying's "death," which led them to take their actions today.

Now that Fang Xiaoru has said this, they have truly become simple-minded pawns being used by Zhu Muying.

"Now, this traitor has revealed his true colors, openly displaying himself! He's using meritorious officials to bolster his own position, confronting the court—if this isn't rebellion, then what is?!"

"That's the third crime!"

By this point, Fang Xiaoru's face was flushed, and he was extremely agitated.

He raised the yellow silk in his hand high, and with his last ounce of strength, he uttered a deafening cry: "His Majesty is benevolent and cannot bear to see the good and the bad destroyed. However, the laws of the land are merciless, and the principles of Heaven are clear! All soldiers and citizens of the Great Ming should distinguish right from wrong and draw a clear line between themselves and this traitor!"

"By the mandate of Heaven, we shall punish the traitor!"

"Execute this traitor to cleanse the court of corrupt officials!"

"Execute this traitor to cleanse the court of corrupt officials!!"

The last eight words, like a thunderclap, exploded in the sky, echoing for a long time.