Daming: Brother, there is no future for monks, let's rebel

Zhu Han's eyes were red with anger. Back then, when Wu Liangfu buried gunpowder in Yingtian Prefecture, it was he who led the troops to suppress the siege, but now this scar appeared on the body of the Prince of Yan...

"Fourth Uncle!" Zhu Biao's voice suddenly pierced the night. The prince helped Gu Qingping out of the woods, his white robe stained with grass debris, "The ironclad evidence of the Shanxi merchants smuggling goods is in the Zhangjiakou warehouse."

Zhu Di's face suddenly changed. Gu Qingping suddenly whipped the mule cart and pulled open the canvas to reveal the interlayer - the whole wall of muskets flashed a cold blue light, engraved with Japanese wave patterns.

"What a good way to drive out the Tartars!" Zhu Biao suddenly drew his sword and cut off the wax seal on the shaft of the carriage. "Fourth uncle, why don't you explain where these 300 Portuguese cannons came from?"

Zhu Di suddenly retreated, the sword light shattering the night sky like a silver dragon. Zhu Han rushed up, but saw the other party suddenly rip open his clothes, revealing a chest full of gunpowder.

"Let's die together!" Zhu Di rushed forward with a fierce smile. Zhu Han picked up the fuse with his sword, but the sparks reignited in the strong wind. At the critical moment, Gu Qingping suddenly swung out a soft whip to wrap around Zhu Di's waist and dragged him to the snow pile in the forest.

The blast overturned the mule cart, and in the firelight, Zhu Han saw the white sleeves of the Crown Princess fluttering like butterflies. Twenty years ago on a rainy night, she also wore the same sleeves, but they were stained with the blood of the East Palace attendants.

"Your Highness!" Zhu Han found Zhu Biao covered in blood in the ruins. The prince was holding a half jade pendant in his hand, with dark red oozing from the cracks. It was the piece that Wu Liangfu had stuffed into his hand twenty years ago.

"Uncle..." Zhu Biao suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes gleaming with brilliance, "Hu Ji'an... is in Mobei..."

His bloody fingers drew a map on Zhu Han's palm: "Wala Royal Court... Golden Tent..."

Zhu Han looked at the prince's suddenly purple face and recalled the confessions of the prisoners in the iron mine - "the descendants of the Hu family were fed the heart-eating poison." He ripped open the prince's clothes like crazy, and the cinnabar birthmark on his heart had spread to his throat.

"Biao'er!" Zhu Han's voice trembled. On that snowy night twenty years ago, he had also held the dying prince in his arms like this, using his body temperature to warm the boy's cold body.

"Uncle..." Zhu Biao suddenly grabbed his wrist with amazing force, "Go to Mobei... find..." He made a strange gurgling sound in his throat, and his pupils suddenly dilated, "Find... the jade..."

The prince's last finger drew a crooked "Huai" on his palm, which was exactly the same as the last handwriting of Zhao Fuyin. Zhu Han's eyes were bloodshot, and the body in his arms was gradually getting cold.

Zhu Han led Jiang Li and a hundred Jinyiwei to gallop, and the sound of horse hooves startled the wolves.

The seven-star sword at his waist has been replaced by the gilded scimitar bestowed by Emperor Taizu, and in his arms is the blood-written letter given to him by the prince before his death - "Hu Ji'an has a seven-star mole on his palm".

"Sir!" Jiang Li suddenly reined in his horse, "There's the Golden Tent of the Oirat Army ahead!"

Zhu Han's pupils shrank suddenly. Outside the golden tent stood a nine-foot-tall Sulu Ingot, with a ferocious wolf head embroidered on the flag. He drew his sword three inches from its sheath, and suddenly heard hoarse Chinese words coming from inside the tent:

"Prince Zhu arrived ten years earlier than I expected..."

The moment the curtain was opened, Zhu Han's blood almost froze. Hu Ji'an sat on a wolfskin chair, the seven-star mole on his palm glowing with a strange red light, and the scar with the word Buddha on his chest was crawling with poisonous insects.

"Twenty years ago, on a rainy night, you were standing at the west wall of the East Palace..." Zhu Han pointed his sword at the other person's throat, "What kind of poison did you plant in the prince?"

Hu Ji'an suddenly laughed wildly, shaking the golden tent beams and pillars. "Heart-eating Gu? That's just a trick of Wu Liangfu." He ripped open his clothes, revealing a wound crawling with maggots. "The real Gu... is in the dragon vein of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun."

Zhu Han was shocked. Twenty years ago, during the Hu Weiyong case, the Imperial Astronomical Observatory reported that the dragon veins in the sixteen states of Yanyun were moving abnormally. Zhu Yuanzhang sent him to lead troops to suppress the situation, but he found the skeletons of thirty-six babies at the entrance of the dragon veins.

"Those kids..." His voice was hoarse like a blunt knife cutting bones.

"They are all orphans of the 24 generals of Huaixi." Hu Ji'an suddenly coughed violently, and poisonous insects poured out of his wounds. "Wu Liangfu used their blood to sacrifice the flag, but he didn't expect... the things in the dragon vein..."

He suddenly broke the jade pendant around his neck, and dark red oozes out from the cracks: "Prince Zhu, do you know why the Japanese pirates want to blow up the Qixia Mountain Iron Mine?"

Zhu Han's sword trembled slightly. The iron ore leads directly to the Yangtze River. If the mountain collapses, the silt will block the lifeline of the canal. But Hu Ji'an's expression at this moment clearly hides a deeper secret.

"Because the entrance to the dragon vein... is right under the iron mine." Hu Jian suddenly jumped up, and the sword flashed like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue.

Zhu Han retreated hastily, only to see the other party suddenly pull open the tent curtain - outside the tent were hundreds of prisoners with distorted faces kneeling, each with half a jade pendant hanging around their necks!

"These are the orphans of Huaixi!" Jiang Li suddenly exclaimed, "They have been fed the heart-eating poison!"

Zhu Han's eyes were red with anger. The thirty-six babies he had rescued twenty years ago had now become Hu Ji'an's puppets.

He swung his sword like crazy, but the poisonous insect exploded in the sword light, splashing out dark blue poisonous blood.

"Prince Zhu!" Hu Ji'an suddenly laughed strangely, "Every time you kill someone, the 'thing' in the dragon vein will awaken a little bit!"

Zhu Han suddenly stopped. Twenty years ago, at the entrance of the dragon vein, he did hear a strange roar coming from underground. The envoy of the Imperial Observatory turned pale at the time and said that it was a sign of "Taotie awakening."

"Hu Jian!" He pointed his sword at the man's throat, "What do you want to do?"

"Let the Zhu family rule the country..." Hu Ji'an suddenly laughed wildly, and the scar with the word Buddha on his chest split open, "Blood debt must be paid with blood!"

He suddenly blew the bone flute, and the sound of horse hooves like thunder came from outside the tent. Zhu Han rushed out and saw dark clouds on the horizon, and the wolf-head flag of the Wala cavalry was close at hand.

"Sir!" Jiang Lin suddenly exclaimed, "They are flying... a flag with the word 'Yan' on it!"

Zhu Han's pupils shrank suddenly. At the front of the cavalry, Zhu Di was covered in blood, and the gilded hand warmer in his hand had been replaced by a bloody sword.

Following behind him was actually the Shanxi merchant caravan that was supposed to have been detained in Zhangjiakou!

"Fourth nephew!" Zhu Han pointed his sword at Zhu Di, "You are colluding with Wala?"

Zhu Di suddenly laughed wildly, causing the red tassel on his helmet to fall off: "Uncle, do you know why my father was determined to destroy the Oirat during the battle in Mobei 20 years ago?"

He opened his shirt, revealing the Buddhist scar on his chest: "Because in the Wala king's tent... there is ironclad evidence that Hu Weiyong is collaborating with the enemy!"

Zhu Han was shocked. Twenty years ago, Zhu Yuanzhang sent him to lead an army of 100,000 to fight in the Battle of Mobei, but he suddenly ordered a withdrawal at the last minute. At that time, everyone said that it was because of the lack of food and grass. Now thinking about it...

"Father is afraid." Zhu Di suddenly jumped up, the flash of his sword was like a silver dragon that shattered the night sky, "He is afraid of what Hu Weiyong left behind!"

Zhu Han blocked the attack with his sword, and sparks splashed on the dry grass. On that rainy night twenty years ago, the Huaixi general who was silenced also gave him the same secret letter before his death - there was a hideous Buddhist scar painted on it.

"Fourth Uncle!" he suddenly shouted, "What exactly is the 'thing' in the dragon vein?"

Zhu Di suddenly laughed crazily: "Uncle, why don't you go and see it yourself!" He suddenly blew the bone flute, and the Shanxi merchant caravan suddenly exploded, revealing a dark cave underneath.

Zhu Han's pupils suddenly shrank. The three bloody characters "Huaixi Army" were engraved on the entrance of the cave, and a half crescent moon was drawn next to it - it was the mark of the secret letter that Hu Weiyong had colluded with the Japanese pirates 20 years ago!
"Go in." Hu Jian's voice suddenly sounded. He appeared at the entrance of the cave without knowing when, and the seven-star mole in his palm glowed with a strange red light, "Go and witness... the revenge of the Huaixi Army."

Zhu Han's sword was unsheathed, and the Seven Star Sword suddenly emitted a clear dragon roar. Twenty years ago, when Taizu bestowed the sword, he said: "This sword will roar when it encounters treacherous people." Tonight, the dragon roar shook the sky, and a strange roar came from the ground.

He rushed into the cave holding a torch, followed closely by Jiang Lin and the Jinyiwei. The stone walls of the corridor were covered with moss, and every ten steps there was a blood mark of the word "Huai". The further he went in, the dimmer the light of the torch became, until finally... Zhu Han's blood almost coagulated. At the end of the corridor, there was a bronze coffin, engraved with Japanese wave patterns. Beside the coffin were thirty-six skeletons kneeling, and each skeleton had half a jade pendant hanging around its neck!

"Twenty years ago." Hu Jian's voice echoed in the corridor, "Hu Weiyong fed the blood of the orphans of the Huaixi Army to the Taotie in the dragon vein."

Zhu Han suddenly remembered the crazy prisoner in the iron mine. Before he died, he said: "The dragon vein awakens... The Ming Dynasty will perish..."

"Open the coffin." Hu Ji'an suddenly laughed wildly, "Let Prince Zhu see the 'gift' from the Huaixi Army."

Jiang Lin suddenly drew his sword, but was stopped by Zhu Han. He trembled and opened the coffin lid, and the firelight illuminated the coffin - it was a dried corpse wearing Japanese armor, holding half a jade pendant in his hand!

"This is..." Zhu Han's pupils suddenly shrank. The pattern on the jade pendant was clearly the one that the prince had given him before his death!

"Twenty years ago." Hu Ji'an suddenly appeared beside the coffin, "Hu Weiyong used the blood of the Huaixi Army to make a deal with the Japanese pirates."

He ripped open the corpse's clothes, revealing the Buddhist scar on his chest. "Every time you kill a descendant of the Zhu family, Taotie will wake up a little bit."

Zhu Han suddenly understood why the prince died suddenly. The Heart-Eating Gu was just a cover, the real killer move... was the Taotie in the dragon vein!

"Now..." Hu Jian suddenly laughed strangely, "It's time to let the gluttons have their fill."

He suddenly blew the bone flute, and a deafening roar came from underground. The coffin began to tremble, and the mummy suddenly opened its eyes, with blue flames bursting out of them.

Zhu Han drew his sword, sparks splashed on the mummy, but the opponent was not hurt at all.

"Uncle!" Zhu Di suddenly rushed in, covered in blood, "Get out! This beast wants to..."

Before he could finish his words, the mummy suddenly jumped up and slashed at Zhu Han with its sharp claws like steel knives.

Zhu Di flew over, but was entangled by Hu Ji'an's poisonous insects. Jiang Li led the Jinyiwei to besiege, and the swords and knives hit the mummy, sparks flew.

"Use fire!" Zhu Han suddenly shouted. He remembered what the Imperial Observatory said 20 years ago - "Taotie fears fire."

Jiang Li hurriedly ordered the musketeers to shoot, and the firelight illuminated the hideous face of the mummy. The other party suddenly let out a shrill roar, and the scar with the word "Buddha" on his chest split open, gushing out dark purple blood.

"Quickly seal the coffin!" Zhu Hanjian picked up a torch and rushed to the cave entrance. The mummy suddenly let out a deafening roar, and the tunnel began to collapse. Zhu Di broke free from the poisonous insect, but was hit on the shoulder by a stone.

"Fourth Uncle!" Zhu Han flew up, grabbed Zhu Di's belt and threw him out of the cave. However, he was hit on the back by a rock, and the torch fell to the ground and went out.

In the darkness, he heard Hu Jian's wild laughter: "The Zhu family's empire...is over..."

Suddenly, a burning sensation came from his palm. Zhu Han's whole body trembled, and the sign-in system suddenly activated - [Successful sign-in at Mobei Dragon Vein, obtained "Taotie Blood"].

He gritted his teeth and smeared the blood on the blade of the sword, and the Seven Star Sword suddenly emitted a dazzling light.

"Go to hell!" He shouted and swung his sword, the sword light pouring down like a galaxy. The mummy turned into ashes in the light, Hu Ji'an suddenly screamed, and a poisonous insect burst out of the scar with the word "Buddha" on his chest.

"Impossible!" He staggered back, "How can you have Taotie blood..."

Zhu Han pointed his sword at his throat: "Twenty years ago, you missed one person." He suddenly thought of the disheveled prisoner in the iron mine, and the gap in the jade pendant on the inside of the other's wrist...

"Wu Liangfu." His voice was as cold as ice. "Before he died, he fed me his blood."

Hu Ji'an suddenly burst into laughter, his voice echoing in the corridor: "So what? The dragon vein has awakened..."

He suddenly broke the jade pendant around his neck, and dark red oozes out from the cracks: "The Zhu family... just wait for the world to collect your bodies!"

The coffin suddenly shook violently, and a roar like a landslide came from the ground. Zhu Han was blown away by the air wave, and his back hit the bronze coffin.

He watched Hu Jian being swallowed by the stone, and the last thing he heard was his hoarse curse:

"The blood of the Huaixi Army...will flood Jinling..."

Zhu Han knelt on the altar, with yellow fluid oozing from the wound on his back. Zhu Yuanzhang stared at the jade pendant in his palm, the newly added cracks on it were as dazzling as lightning.

"Biao'er..." The old emperor's voice was hoarse like a blunt knife cutting bones, "Is it really the poison taking effect?"

"Yes." Zhu Han lowered his head and touched his forehead to the ground. "Before His Highness died... he drew a scar on my palm with blood..."

His bloody fingers slid across the floor tiles, and the Fengtian Hall was in deathly silence. Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly coughed violently, and dark purple blood clots appeared on his handkerchief.

"Pass on my secret order." The old emperor's voice suddenly turned cold and stern, "Immediately exterminate the eight major merchants in Shanxi..."

"Brother!" Zhu Han suddenly looked up, "Shanxi merchants are just scapegoats."

The whole court was in uproar. The jade sceptre in Zhu Yuanzhang's hand cracked and said, "What did you say?"

"The Taotie in the dragon vein..." Zhu Han took out the blood-stained account book from his arms, "Twenty years ago, Hu Weiyong fed it with the blood of the Huaixi Army for the purpose of..."

He suddenly stopped. There were hurried footsteps outside the Fengtian Palace. Zhu Di rushed in covered in blood, with frost on his armor: "Brother! Japanese pirate warships appeared in the Bohai Bay, fighting... fighting..."

"What's the banner?" Zhu Yuanzhang stood up suddenly, and the armrest of the dragon throne broke with a loud bang.

Zhu Di swallowed his saliva and said: "Fly... the flag with the word 'Huai' on it!"

Zhu Han's pupils suddenly shrank. Twenty years ago, on a rainy night, the Huaixi general who was silenced had also given him the same secret letter before his death. There was a hideous Buddhist scar on it, and the words "Huaixi Army, never destroyed" were written next to it.

"Go to the dragon vein!" Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly shouted, "I want to personally..."

Before he finished speaking, the Fengtian Hall suddenly shook violently. The beams and pillars cracked, and tiles fell. Zhu Han's sword was unsheathed, and the Seven Star Sword emitted a clear dragon roar.

Zhu Han stared at the jade pendant in his palm. Dark red was seeping from deep within the cracks, as if the prince's blood and tears before his death had not yet dried.

He suddenly remembered the rainy night twenty years ago when the silenced Huaixi general stuffed the blood-stained secret letter into his hands, and the letter paper also had the same smell of rust.

"My Royal Brother, do you know why the gunpowder in the iron ore is engraved with the secret patrol pattern of the previous dynasty?" He raised his bloodstained face, his eyes were like torches, "When Wu Liangfu changed his name to Batur and became the first wizard of Wala in Mobei, he held this ironclad evidence of treason in his hand!" (End of this chapter)