Ming Dynasty: He was ordered to give lectures in prison, but Lao Zhu eavesdropped and made people nu

Chapter 726 Dragon Blood Stained Phoenix, Severed After Three Generations
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly coughed violently, and purplish-black blood splattered onto his dragon robe.

He tore open his clothes, revealing a spiderweb-like blue pattern on his chest—each "spider web" leading to a certain direction outside the palace.

"A fine tactic." The emperor grinned maliciously, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Using the resentment of the criminals I executed as a catalyst, and the 'Pulling Machine Gu,' which feeds on dragon energy, as a medium." He suddenly snapped three blue silk threads from his chest, instantly killing the three corresponding "Golden Guards." "But you overlooked two things."

The sound of wooden wheels rolling over bluestone slabs came from outside the palace. Twelve eunuchs slowly pushed a screen-cart inlaid with bronze mirrors, each mirror reflecting a different "Wang Wenlong". His true form was hidden in the shadows behind the third screen-cart, and the corpse-controlling bell in his hand had already developed cracks.

"First," Zhu Yuanzhang drew Jiang Huan's embroidered spring knife and plunged it into his heart, the blade instantly turning gold, "I am the true Son of Heaven!"

A dragon's roar echoed through the heavens, and the gold lacquer on the blade peeled away, revealing ancient seal script—it was the long-lost "Crimson Sky Sword"! Where the sword flashed, all the blue threads snapped instantly. The "Golden Guards" outside the hall collapsed like puppets with broken strings, blue centipedes crawling from the seven orifices of each corpse.

"Secondly," the emperor suddenly hurled his sword at the palace beam. The Crimson Sky Sword pierced through three layers of brackets, pinning a dark figure to the highest golden pillar. As the figure struggled, it unfurled a Taoist robe embroidered with runes—it was none other than Qingxuzi, Zhang Sanfeng's junior brother, who was supposed to be in seclusion on Wudang Mountain!
Empress Ma's soft sword followed closely, its tip piercing the Taoist's robes. Dozens of small figures bearing birth dates and times fell to the ground, the top one clearly bearing Zhu Yuanzhang's birth date and time! However, the figure was now soaked in her own golden blood, and the cinnabar-written birth date and time were melting away.

"You've forgotten." Zhu Yuanzhang pulled the Chixiao sword from his heart, yet not a drop of blood flowed from the wound. "My Empress Ma was the best physician in the Red Turban Army."

Qingxuzi suddenly burst into wild laughter, the sound of metal scraping against metal mingling with his voice: "Your Majesty thinks this is the end? Look at Quanzhou!" His skull suddenly split open, revealing a palm-sized, crimson centipede. "The treasure of the Bingchen ship has long been..."

Jiang Huan's embroidered spring blade cleaved the Taoist in two, but the centipede transformed into a fireball that shot into the sky. The fireball exploded in the night sky, forming a giant "林" (Lin) character. At the same time, a muffled thunderous cannon roar came from the southeast—Quanzhou Port was on fire!
"Mu Ying is in danger." Empress Ma quickly sealed her vital acupoints. "The Lin family's true target is not the palace, but..."

Her words were interrupted by a sudden tremor in the ground. Countless mounds of earth rose from beneath the golden brick floor of the Wuying Hall, as if a giant beast were turning over underground. Zhu Yuanzhang's Chixiao Sword was plunged into the ground, and its blade immediately became scorching hot.

There's something underground!

Just as Jiang Huan uttered the shout, the entire patch of ground suddenly ripped open. Three crimson centipedes, as thick as water buckets, burst forth from the earth, each carrying a skeleton soldier wearing Chen Han's armor on its back. Even more terrifying, within the poisonous mist spewed by these centipedes, countless blue specks floated—all miniature versions of the Qi-Pulling Gu!

“Protect the emperor!”

The remaining Imperial Guards formed a human wall, but wherever the poisonous fog passed, their armor melted like wax. One guard, having just inhaled the blue mist, immediately turned his blade to slash at his comrade. In the chaos, a third centipede lunged at Zhu Yuanzhang, its mouth opening to reveal a dense array of human teeth—teeth from prisoners executed over the years!
The Crimson Sky Sword clashed with the centipede's mouthparts, sparks flying. Zhu Yuanzhang was forced back three steps, his dragon boots crushing the countless Gu worms on the ground. The centipede then spoke in a human voice: "Zhu Chongba, do you still remember that rainy night at Poyang Lake?"

The emperor's expression changed drastically. Thirty-five years ago, on that stormy night, he had personally shot Chen Youliang to death on the dragon boat. But the venomous resentment flashing in the centipede's eyes now was exactly the same as the look in that warlord's eyes before his death!
"Playing tricks!" Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of blood mist onto the Crimson Sky Sword. The inscriptions on the sword lit up one by one, eventually converging into the two ancient seal characters "Slay Demons." The sword light was like a rainbow, cleaving the centipede and the skull on its back in two. In the foul-smelling rain of blue blood, a piece of ship plank engraved with the characters "Bingchen" fell out.

Empress Ma suddenly collapsed to the ground. The red lines on her arm had spread to her shoulder, and her fingertips began to turn an eerie blue. Even more terrifying, a tiny, pinprick-sized wound had appeared on her chest, slowly oozing golden blood—the blood of Zhu Yuanzhang, the true dragon!
"Hey girl!"

The emperor discarded his sword and embraced his wife, only to see the empress smile bitterly as she loosened her collar. Below her collarbone was a fresh "Bingchen" brand, identical to the insignia on Chen Youliang's flagship years ago. "So that's how it is..." Empress Ma's pupils began to dilate. "What the Lin family salvaged wasn't gold or silver, but Chen Youliang's curse."

Suddenly, the sound of orderly footsteps echoed outside the palace. The real Imperial Guards had finally broken through the encirclement, with Geng Bingwen, covered in blood, leading the charge. Seeing the Emperor and Empress's condition, the old general immediately took out a jade box from his robes: "Your Majesty, this was hastily made overnight by the Imperial Medical Academy."

Zhu Yuanzhang knocked the jade box over. The pills rolled to the ground and transformed into dozens of tiny red insects, which quickly scurried back into Geng Bingwen's sleeve!
“Very well.” The emperor grabbed the old general by the throat with one hand. “Even you have betrayed us?”

Geng Bingwen's face suddenly split open—beneath the human skin was a grotesque face covered in scales. The monster hissed and stuck out its forked tongue, on which was stuck a fish scale, the scale bearing the mark of the Lin family's merchant ship.

The Crimson Sky Sword pierced the monster's jaw from bottom to top. Zhu Yuanzhang picked up Empress Ma and leaped onto the palace beams; the ground below was completely shrouded in blue mist. One by one, the remaining Imperial Guards defected, even Jiang Huan began slashing his own arm with a knife—the copper sphere inside his body was releasing some kind of black liquid.

"Chongba," Empress Ma weakly clutched her husband's collar, "throw me into the centipede cave. True phoenix blood can break..."

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly recalled a folk legend: Chen Youliang, before his death, cursed the Ming Dynasty, saying, "Dragon blood stains the phoenix, and the dynasty will be cut down after three generations." He looked down at the golden blood on his wife's chest, then at the spiderweb-like blue markings on his own chest, and suddenly burst into wild laughter.

"Well done, Chen Youliang! Well done, Lin family!" The Emperor bit his wrist, dripping his own blood onto Empress Ma's lips. "But you've all forgotten, Ma Xiuying and I—we're a couple who fought our way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood!"

Suddenly, the Crimson Sky Sword emitted a dragon-like roar. Zhu Yuanzhang, carrying his wife, leaped down from the palace beam, the sword tip pointing directly at the crack in the golden brick floor in the center of the Wuying Hall. There, beneath the initially torn ground, half a shipwreck mast could be vaguely seen—the wreckage of the Bingchen!
The sword light and phoenix blood simultaneously plunged into the crack in the ground. In an instant, the entire Forbidden City's ground rippled like waves. All the centipedes let out a shrill scream, and blue flames erupted from their mouthparts. Even more astonishingly, the rebel soldiers controlled by the Gu worms knelt on the ground one by one, crimson flames bursting from their seven orifices—it was actually the "Nirvana Fire" secret technique that Empress Ma had used in the Red Turban Army when she was young!
As the first rays of dawn pierced the sky, not a single enemy remained alive before the Wuying Hall. Zhu Yuanzhang held his wife, whose body was growing cold, with the Chixiao Sword planted beside him. The sword reflected the sky in the direction of Quanzhou—the beacon fires there had long since died down, replaced by a large banner bearing the character "Mu" (沐).

"Your Majesty," Jiang Huan, covered in blisters, crawled over, holding a secret letter he had found on the monster, "the Lin family didn't collude with the Japanese pirates, they were..."

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't even glance at the letter. He gently closed Empress Ma's still-open eyes and took something from her tightly clenched palm—half a fish tally soaked in blood, which matched the half brought by the messenger from Taizhou.

"Draft an imperial edict." The emperor's voice was eerily calm. "Effective immediately, a thirty-mile sea voyage is to be declared along the coast. All ships with two masts or more must be burned."

He took one last look at his wife's peaceful face and reached out to wipe the golden blood from the corner of her mouth. As the drop of blood fell to the ground, it transformed into a phantom of a fire phoenix, crying out as it soared toward Quanzhou.

The real revenge has only just begun.

(End of this chapter)