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

"Your Majesty! Are you about to do something foolish?"

"Do you know how many battles my fifth brother has fought on the battlefield these past years? He's faced death countless times!"

After saying this, Zhu Biao tore Zhu Muying's prison clothes to shreds!

Scars.

shocking!

From his shoulders to his chest, from his abdomen to his back, his body was covered with scars of all sizes and depths.

It was slashed with a knife; it was long and ferocious.

Arrows shot them, leaving behind fist-sized scars and indentations.

The bayonets created deep, bottomless holes.

New scars pressed down on old scars, pink new flesh and dark red old marks intertwined, like a hellish painting depicting countless deaths and rebirths.

Not a single patch of skin was intact!

The entire square fell into a deathly silence in an instant.

Those civil officials who had just been clamoring for severe punishment of the King of England all fell silent, their faces filled with shock and shame.

They only knew that the King of England was a war god and a prince with unparalleled achievements, but they never thought that behind these glories was such a body riddled with wounds.

Those military officers, such as Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying, had tears in their eyes and their bodies were trembling slightly.

Many of them had fought alongside Zhu Muying and knew the origin of these scars, but when these marks of merit were so nakedly displayed before the world, the impact still made their hearts clench.

The people in the square were completely stunned.

Many of them had fathers, brothers, sons, and nephews who had served in the Northern Expeditionary Army, and they had heard countless tales of His Highness the King leading from the front and being invincible in bravery.

Only today do they understand that those legends were not stories made up by storytellers, but were earned through countless near-death experiences and bloodshed!

Zhu Yuanzhang, sitting on the dragon throne, was completely stunned.

He knew that Lao Wu was a good fighter, and he also knew that he had suffered a lot of injuries.

But he had never seen that there wasn't a single good piece of flesh left on his son's body!

His heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, the pain so intense that he could barely breathe.

This is his son!

He was Zhu Yuanzhang's biological son!

Zhu Biao's tears finally burst forth.

He stretched out his trembling hand and pointed to a huge scar on Zhu Muying's left shoulder, stretching from his collarbone all the way to his armpit, almost splitting his entire shoulder open.

"Father! Do you remember? The Battle of Chelunpo in the northern desert in the thirteenth year of Hongwu!"

"Thirty thousand Tatar cavalry surrounded your dragon banner! It was my fifth brother who, leading three thousand personal guards, fought his way through an enemy force ten times their size and reached you!"

"At that time, a Tatar commander of ten thousand slashed at your back with his sword, and it was my fifth brother who shielded you with his own body from that fatal blow!"

"This strike severed three of his ribs, and was only three inches from his heart!"

Zhu Biao's voice was hoarse with emotion, every word a tearful accusation.

Zhu Yuanzhang's body jolted violently.

Of course he remembered that battle.

That was the most dangerous campaign he had ever led in person.

He was even prepared to die on the battlefield.

All he remembered was the chaos, a blood-covered figure blocking his way, and then being escorted by his personal guards to break through the encirclement.

He always thought that he was just an ordinary bodyguard.

He never knew that the person who took the fatal blow for him was actually his own son, Zhu Muying!

Zhu Biao's accusation struck Zhu Yuanzhang's heart like a heavy hammer, and also struck the hearts of everyone in the square.

All eyes were focused on that hideous scar.

They could see how that young prince, his robe stained with blood, had used his young body to build a Great Wall of flesh and blood for his father and the emperor of the Ming Dynasty amidst thousands of troops.

Zhu Biao pointed his hand at Zhu Muying's right breast.

There was a dent the size of a bowl, and the scar had turned dark purple. One could imagine how terrible the injury must have been back then.

"And here too! The Battle of Xiping in the fifteenth year of the Hongwu reign!"

Zhu Biao's voice grew even more grief-stricken. Pointing to the scar, he roared to the assembled officials and the people, each word a sharp, piercing cry: "At that time, the Western Barbarian rebels held their position high, and our Ming soldiers suffered heavy casualties after a long and arduous siege! It was my fifth brother who personally donned heavy armor, wielded twin hammers, and was the first to scale the city wall!"

"A spiked arrow coated with deadly poison pierced his breastplate, pinning him firmly to the city wall!"

Everyone thought he was dead! But he stubbornly broke the arrow shafts, used his spear to support his body, and fought on the city wall for a full hour! Only when the banners of the Ming Dynasty were planted all over the city behind him did he collapse from exhaustion!

"After that battle, he had a persistent high fever and remained unconscious for seven days and seven nights! The imperial physicians all said there was no hope! It was the Empress Dowager who knelt before the Buddha for seven days and seven nights, kowtowing until her head bled and shedding all her tears, and finally managed to bring him back from the brink of death!"

"Father! Mother!"

Zhu Biao turned abruptly, knelt down facing the direction of Kunning Palace, and burst into tears, crying out, "Father, have you forgotten? Have you forgotten everything?!"

These words were like a bolt from the blue, leaving everyone dizzy and disoriented.

Among the military officers, Marquis Geng Bingwen of Changxing could no longer hold back. This seven-foot-tall man had fought alongside Zhu Yuanzhang his whole life, shedding blood but never tears, yet now he was weeping uncontrollably.

He knelt down with a thud, facing Zhu Yuanzhang on the dragon throne, and shouted hoarsely, "Your Majesty! Everything His Highness the Crown Prince said is true! I was right beside the Prince in that battle! The Prince... he truly risked his life to secure peace for the western border of our Great Ming!"

"We, your humble servants, can all testify!"

Guo Ying and other generals who had participated in the Western Expedition knelt down in unison, their cries shaking the heavens.

They are soldiers, and they have the utmost respect for heroes.

In their hearts, Prince Zhu Muying was an invincible war god and the military soul of the Ming Dynasty!

Now, their military spirit, their war god, has been slandered as a traitor, their clothes stripped off, and their scars, which symbolize supreme glory, displayed to the world like trophies of war.

What a irony this is!

How tragic!

Among the common people, many collapsed in tears.

They may not understand court intrigues, or the complexities of ruler-subject and father-son relationships.

But they understood who truly cared for the Ming Dynasty and who was willing to sacrifice their lives on the battlefield to protect them.

"Your Highness is innocent!"

"You mustn't kill loyal ministers, Your Majesty!"

"Long live His Majesty the King! Long live His Majesty! Long live His Majesty!"

It's unclear who was the first to shout, but then a deafening roar erupted from all directions of the square, forming a torrent powerful enough to shake the heavens and earth, soaring straight into the sky.

At this moment, the hearts of the people completely turned to the prince who was shirtless and silent.

As Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne, he felt as if the roar of the mountains and the roar of the sea were a series of resounding slaps to his face.

Burning pain.

The popular support he was so proud of, the emperor who considered himself the one who understood the people best, was now being abandoned by them in the most direct way.

His hands gripped the armrests of the dragon throne tightly.

He wanted to get angry, to yell at them, and to have the Imperial Guards arrest all these "troublemakers".

But when he opened his mouth, he couldn't utter a single word.

His gaze involuntarily fell on Zhu Muying's back.

There, it was covered with tiny, scattered wounds; it was almost impossible to find a single intact spot.

Zhu Biao stood up and walked behind Zhu Muying.

His hand gently stroked the scars, his voice hoarse beyond recognition.

"These were all left behind when he covered the rear of the army. Every time, he was the last to leave, and every time, he turned his back to the most dangerous enemy."

"Father, you always said that what you hate most are cowards who turn their backs to the enemy."

"But my fifth brother, he always leaves the safest place for his comrades-in-arms, while keeping the sharpest blade for himself!"

"How could a man who would entrust his back to his brothers, a man who would give his life to the Ming Dynasty, possibly rebel?!"

"When he held 300,000 troops in his hands for the Northern Expedition, if he wanted to rebel, could the gates of Yingtian Prefecture have stopped him?"

"When he sealed the wolf's lair, drank from the vast sea, and his might shook the northern deserts, if he had wanted to rebel, would you still be able to sit securely on your dragon throne?"

"He didn't! He never did!"

"He just wanted to be a good son, a good subject, and a good younger brother!"

"But how did we treat him?!"

Zhu Biao turned around, his eyes bloodshot, and for the first time, without any fear, looked directly at Zhu Yuanzhang on the dragon throne.

"Father! You've framed him for 'treason' and are sending him to the executioner's block!"

"My elder brother, when he was wrongfully imprisoned, could only weakly kneel and beg for mercy, utterly powerless!"

"Your father framed your fifth brother; you owe him that!"

"Father, you wrongfully killed a loyal and virtuous man; you owe him!"

"Every scar on his body is a testament to his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty! A testament to his unwavering devotion to you and to me!"

"Today, you're going to kill him on a trumped-up charge?"

Zhu Biao's voice suddenly rose, like a cuckoo weeping blood.

"Alright!"

He suddenly took a step back and stood shoulder to shoulder with Zhu Muying.

"If you're going to kill, then kill me too!"

"Your subject refuses to sit on that cold and lonely throne, stepping over the bones of his own brother!"

"Your Majesty, I have failed my ancestors!"

After saying this, he tore off his crown as crown prince and threw it hard on the ground. Then, he kowtowed heavily to Zhu Yuanzhang.

The whole world came to a complete standstill at that moment.

"Clang—" The crown of the crown prince, which symbolized his status as the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, was made of pure gold and inlaid with dazzling gemstones. It was slammed hard onto the cold bluestone slab by Zhu Biao, making a crisp yet dull sound.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a massive hammer that struck everyone's heart.

The prince smashed his crown!

Requesting to be deposed!

At this moment, by throwing off his crown, he was launching the most direct challenge to imperial power and his father in the most fierce and resolute way!