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

He was shrouded in black armor, and his face was covered by a plain bronze mask, revealing only a pair of cold, emotionless eyes.

It was the attire of the most mysterious scout unit under Zhu Muying's command.

The scout was carrying two bloody objects.

He walked to the center of the main hall and stopped less than ten feet away from Zhu Yuanzhang, then loosened his grip on his arm.

"Gurgle..."

The two severed heads rolled onto the smooth, mirror-like gold bricks of the main hall, leaving two glaring streaks of blood as they tumbled along the way.

Finally, they stopped in front of Zhu Yuanzhang's dragon boots, one on the left and one on the right.

One of them had his eyes wide open, his face frozen with the unbelievable terror of dying.

The other one had a distorted face, filled with resentment and bitterness.

Time stood still at that moment.

The moment Zhu Yuanzhang saw those two familiar faces, his pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints.

His body swayed violently, all his strength drained away. If it weren't for the dragon throne behind him, he probably would have collapsed to the ground.

Jiang Huan!

Mao Xiang!

He would recognize these two people even if they were reduced to ashes!

These are his two sharpest knives!

They were his two most trusted and capable dogs, hidden in the shadows!

The Commander and Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

Now, their heads, like two rotten watermelons, were thrown at their feet.

"what……"

A roar, inhuman and groaning, escaped Zhu Yuanzhang's throat. He pointed at the two severed heads, then at Zhu Muying, his body trembling like leaves in the autumn wind.

He wanted to say something, to question, to roar, but the anger was stuck in his chest and he couldn't let it out. His face turned purplish-red, and his eyes bulged outwards due to bloodshot eyes, making him look extremely frightening.

It’s over.

His last trump card was gone.

His only hope of turning things around was completely shattered by his good son in the most direct and cruel way!

Although the civil officials on the city wall did not recognize who the two people were, they knew from the emperor's expression of utter despair that these were definitely two very important figures.

Their hearts sank to the bottom.

Just how many more tricks does this King of England have up his sleeve?

How did he manage to do that?

How could the emperor's trump card be revealed right under everyone's noses?

Looking at the two severed heads, Li Shanchang's usually calm and collected old eyes revealed genuine fear for the first time.

He suddenly understood.

From the very beginning, this was not an equal game.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought he was the hunter and Zhu Muying was the prey.

In reality, Zhu Muying was the true hunter. He had already dug a trap and laid a net, waiting for Zhu Yuanzhang, the "prey," to walk into it step by step.

"Your Highness!"

The scout wearing the bronze mask ignored Zhu Yuanzhang's reaction. He knelt on one knee and reported to Zhu Muying in a flat, monotone voice.

"The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Jiang Huan, and his deputy commander, Mao Xiang, have already been beheaded!"

"As Your Highness ordered, all 327 of his trusted imperial guards were executed; not one escaped!"

"boom!"

The scout's words struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

Jiang Huan and Mao Xiang are dead!

Along with his more than three hundred trusted confidants, they were all killed!

How could this be considered an assassination?

This was clearly a premeditated and precise purge targeting the entire top echelon of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

Zhu Yuanzhang could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the dragon throne, panting heavily, his eyes unfocused, instantly aging twenty years.

"Father, aren't you curious about how I knew about your plan?"

Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer, but stared at him intently with eyes full of resentment and incomprehension.

Zhu Muying didn't mind. He was chatting with an old friend and continued in a relaxed tone, "Actually, you did a very good job. You mobilized the Embroidered Uniform Guard, blocked the news, and even eliminated many of my spies in the palace beforehand."

"Unfortunately, despite all your careful planning, you overlooked one crucial point."

"You shouldn't have let Mao Xiang personally lead men to my residence to 'search' and find those five hundred so-called 'privately owned armors'."

"Those five hundred suits of armor were of excellent workmanship, and each was engraved with the mark of the Armory Bureau, clearly official products. Such evidence is enough to condemn me to eternal damnation."

"Father, that was a brilliant move."

Zhu Muying's words made everyone present prick up their ears.

In particular, military generals like Xu Da and Lan Yu had previously found the charge of "possessing armor in secret" too suspicious, and now, after hearing Zhu Muying's explanation, they immediately understood the trickery involved.

This is a frame-up!

It was the emperor himself who ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to frame his own son!

Empress Ma's body swayed violently, and her face turned deathly pale instantly.

She looked at her husband in disbelief, her eyes filled with disappointment and pain.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao gripped the Chengji sword at his waist tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

Looking at his father, who sat on the dragon throne with a pale face, he felt an unprecedented surge of anger and sorrow.

Is he really capable of going to such lengths for power?

"You...you're spouting nonsense!"

Like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, Zhu Yuanzhang sprang up from his dragon throne, roaring menacingly, "Those five hundred suits of armor were found in your residence! The evidence is irrefutable! You still want to deny it?!"

"quibble?"

Zhu Muying laughed, a laugh filled with utter contempt.

"Father, do you really think I would be so foolish as to leave such an obvious handle on myself in my own residence?"

He clapped his hands again.

The scout in the bronze mask took out a thick scroll and a small object wrapped in yellow cloth from his pocket.

He stepped forward and respectfully presented the two items to Zhu Muying.

They did not immediately go to receive the scroll and the yellow cloth bag.

His gaze remained fixed on Zhu Yuanzhang, as if he were looking at a clown making his last, and most futile, struggle.

"Father, do you know? From the moment Mao Xiang led his men into my palace, you had already lost this game."

His voice was calm, yet filled with undeniable confidence.

"I spent three years in the northern frontier. I didn't learn much else, but I did develop quite a bit of tracking and counter-tracking skills."

"Mao Xiang thought he had done it perfectly. He secretly smuggled the armor out of the armory, found a secluded house to store it, and then, under the cover of night, secretly moved it into my mansion's storeroom."

"But he didn't know that from the moment his men first came into contact with that batch of armor, they had already been under the surveillance of my scouts."

"Every road they took, every person they met, every word they said, and even how long they lingered in which outhouse, were all meticulously recorded."

As Zhu Muying spoke, she finally reached out and picked up the thick file, weighing it in her hand.

"This contains all the details of Mao Xiang and Jiang Huan's entire process of framing each other, from planning to execution. It includes their financial dealings with officials in the Bureau of Arms and Weapons, as well as every secret order you issued to them through the eunuchs."

"Father, would you like to take a look yourself?"

He held up the dossier, facing Zhu Yuanzhang, and waved it at him from afar.

Those seemingly light movements were as heavy as Mount Tai in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.

His mind went blank with a "buzz".

How is that possible?!

How is this possible?!

His plan, which he thought was perfectly secret, was exposed to this rebellious son from the very beginning.

He was like a self-righteous fool, whose every move was clearly seen through, yet he was still smug, thinking he had everything under control!

The immense humiliation and fear, like two invisible hands, gripped his throat, making it difficult for him to even breathe.

"No...impossible...this is absolutely impossible!"

He screamed incoherently, trying to convince others, but even more so, himself, "You're bluffing me! You must be bluffing me! This is all fake!"

"Forgery?"

Zhu Muying heard something funny and laughed again.

"Father, I am not as despicable as you."

He opened the small thing wrapped in yellow cloth.

All eyes were drawn to it.

Inside the yellow cloth was a small jade seal.

The seal was made of a warm, smooth, and translucent material, clearly not an ordinary item.

At the top of the seal, a lifelike little beast is also carved.

The moment Zhu Yuanzhang saw the seal, he was struck dumb, frozen in place.

He recognized the seal!

This is his personal seal!

It was a seal he used specifically to handle the most confidential and shady matters!

This seal was always kept by his most trusted personal eunuch and was never separated from him!

it……

How could it have ended up in the hands of this unfilial son?!

"Father, do you still recognize it?"

Zhu Muying played with the small jade seal, her tone full of amusement.

"Is this the seal you used on the secret edict that ordered Jiang Huan and Mao Xiang to frame them?"

"Unfortunately, the old eunuch who kept this seal for you has a very bad habit: he loves to gamble. To make matters worse, he's heavily in debt from gambling and is being chased relentlessly."

"So, I sent someone to 'help' him pay off his gambling debts. In return, he only needed to do one small favor for me."

Zhu Muying raised the jade seal, held it up to the sunlight, and squinted at it.

"That is, every time you finish using this seal, please use the special ink to make an extra copy for me."

"Father, guess how many of those shady imperial edicts you personally issued have I amassed?"