King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

As soon as Empress Zhou finished speaking, the air suddenly stagnated. Everyone seemed to have paused, their pupils slightly contracted, their Adam's apples rolled but they could not make any sound. Wang Chengen tightly grasped the gold thread on his cuffs with both hands, his joints turned blue and white due to excessive force, and fine beads of sweat oozed from his forehead. He subconsciously raised his eyes to look at the direction where the emperor was, but he could only see the translucent barrier covering the top of the Forbidden City in a chaotic halo.

"If your majesty..." Empress Zhang swallowed back her words, and the gilded armor left red marks on her palms. The palace maids behind her had already lost their legs, and the tips of their embroidered shoes left tiny marks on the floor tiles. Only Shen Lian stood there, the black iron wrist guard collided with the scabbard and made a slight sound, and when his cold eyes swept through the crowd, it seemed to penetrate everyone's soul.

"Send the order!" Shen Lian's voice was like an ice spike that pierced the silence, "Yulin Guards, immediately set up the Nine-Star Dragon Trapping Formation." Following this order, twelve bronze swords were unsheathed at the same time, and the night-shining pearls inlaid on the hilts formed a star map, but the moment they touched the invisible barrier, they exploded into fireflies all over the sky. The four guards rushed on the strong wind, and their black iron boots stepped on the bluestone slabs to create sparks, but they could never break through the flowing light curtain.

Zhu Youjian's sword appeared and disappeared in Liu Changqing's purple flame. The dragon-patterned jade pendant on his wrist suddenly burst into golden light, deflecting the oncoming purple sword light by three inches. When the fragments brushed his cheek, blood beads fell into the moat and splashed small ripples. "Senior brother's 'Burning Heaven Sword Art'" he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and sneered, "It's three times better than ten years ago." Before he finished speaking, the entire Hall of Supreme Harmony suddenly trembled violently, and the eight-treasure necklace hanging between the beams and pillars collided and made a clear sound.

Outside the barrier, Feng Yuxiu was using her Emei spear to cut a deep wound that could be seen to the bone. Blood flowed down the arm guard, but turned into smoke the moment it touched the barrier. She staggered back two steps, watching her fellow disciples get injured one after another, and suddenly pulled out the jade hairpin from her hair and stabbed it into her palm: "Break!" Ten blood-colored sword energies soared into the sky, but were twisted into blood mist when they penetrated the barrier. In the distance, there were screams one after another, mixed with the clang of weapons colliding, which was even more thrilling than the Tongguan battle that year.

Liu Changqing's attack became more and more fierce, and the purple net woven by the sword light trapped Zhu Youjian in the center of the Gai. The latter suddenly turned around and threw out twelve copper coins. The coins instantly ignited yellow flames and formed an eight-diagram array. The moment the purple flame hit the golden light barrier, the surface of the entire moat suddenly boiled, countless fish turned upside down, and a strange dark red pattern appeared on the water surface. Shen Lian's embroidered spring knife hummed in the sheath, and he could clearly feel the tremor coming from the depths of the earth veins - that was not a move that mortals could perform at all.

"Hold your breath!" Meng Hao suddenly stopped Feng Yuxiu from acting impulsively. The young guard's pupils were still reflecting the sword shadows in the sky, and his Adam's apple rolled rapidly: "But Your Majesty..." Before he could finish his words, he was blown away three feet by an invisible energy. Queen Zhou walked forward slowly, and the teacup in her hand stopped steadily in front of the emperor's desk, "Remember, the only one who can save Your Majesty at this moment is himself."

Feng Yuxiu's throat seemed to be grasped by an invisible hand. He stared blankly at the purple and yellow sword lights interweaving in the barrier, his pupils dilated uncontrollably. The trajectories of those sword shadows were exactly the same as those recorded in the "Secret Records of the Martial World". What was even more strange was that every time they collided, tiny sparks would explode in the air, as if the entire palace was burning.

"Feng Yuxiu!"

Shen Lian's voice penetrated the illusion. Feng Yuxiu suddenly came back to his senses and found three pairs of eyes fixed on him - Shen Lian's scabbard was glowing coldly, Meng Hao's white jade ring was slowly turning, and even Wang Chengen, who was kneeling at the bottom of the steps, looked up and cast a sinister look at him.

"You..." Feng Yuxiu stood up in a panic, and his clothes tripped over the incense burner and he almost fell. Xu Changnian supported him in time and whispered, "Be careful of ambergris."

A violent cough interrupted his words. Feng Yuxiu then noticed the smoke floating in the hall. The green smoke rising from the gilded incense burner was twisted into a hideous ghost face. He suddenly realized something and pointed at the barrier with a trembling finger: "Look outside the window!"

Everyone turned around and saw nine black iron chains hanging from the eaves, with copper bells tied at the end making a sharp sound. The teacup in Queen Zhou's hand trembled slightly, and the brown tea soup rippled on the rim of the cup: "This is the warning signal of the palace protection formation, indicating that..." She suddenly shut up, and the gilded armor made a sharp friction sound in her sleeves.

Empress Zhang slammed the round fan in her hand to the ground. "How disgraceful!" Her peacock blue cape rustled in the breeze. "Your Majesty just gave you a jade pendant the day before yesterday, and you dare to be disrespectful in public today!" The four strong women pounced on him like hungry tigers, grabbing Feng Yuxiu's limbs with their calloused hands. Feng Yuxiu's screams could be heard in the distance, mixed with the sound of swords breaking through the air and porcelain breaking.

Shen Lian's Embroidered Spring Knife was placed across Feng Yuxiu's throat. The dragon pattern on the hilt glowed green in the dim light. He whispered, "Tongue."

Feng Yuxiu's blood froze. He looked at his reflection on the blade, and cold sweat slid into his eyes, blurring his vision. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of half of the bright yellow under Empress Zhou's skirt - that was the hem of the Emperor's twelve-chapter pattern!

"stop!"

Queen Zhou's shout made everyone freeze in place. She walked forward slowly, and the red gold armor and the green jade hairpin collided with each other, making a clear sound: "Princess, you have worked hard in teaching the younger generation." She turned to Shen Lian and nodded, "Please ask Brother Lian to take care of the scene."

Shen Lian sheathed the knife with amazing agility. He deliberately let the sheath brush against Feng Yuxiu's shoulder, and the man immediately shrank his neck as if he had been burned. Empress Zhang wanted to speak again, but she saw a scholar in a green robe coming out from behind Empress Zhou - he was the head of the Ministry of Punishment in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"According to ancestral rules, anyone who disturbs the Holy Emperor shall be punished with eighty strokes of the cane." The scholar's voice was like a rusty gear turning, "but this is a special period." He raised his eyes and looked in the direction of the barrier, where the purple sword light suddenly surged, casting a pale shadow on his face.

Feng Yuxiu took the opportunity to break free and retreat to the corner, his back pressed against the cold marble pillar. He could feel Shen Lian's gaze still on him, as if he wanted to dissect his soul. The cold wind seeping from the cracks in the wall blew up the memorials on the desk. The papers with "Border Emergency Report" written on them fell on Liu Changqing's purple sword light, and a string of dark blue flames ignited.

"Your Majesty, be careful on your right side!"

Zhu Youjian's exclamation penetrated the barrier. Everyone turned their heads to look, only to see that the purple sword that was supposed to chop the emperor was strangely deflected, drawing a strange arc in the air. Feng Yuxiu suddenly discovered that the emperor's sword handle was wrapped with half a blood-stained silk ribbon - it was clearly the brocade that only the harem had!

The teacup in Empress Zhang's hand suddenly exploded. She stared at the silk ribbon dancing in the sword light, her nails digging deep into her palms: "It's impossible that the batch of silk was locked into the imperial storehouse last week." Before she finished speaking, the whole palace suddenly shook violently, and the golden lacquer of the dragon on the beams and pillars fell off, revealing the dense cracks inside.

Shen Lian suddenly pressed the jade tiger talisman on his waist. He could feel the vibration coming from underground getting stronger and stronger, as if countless ants were gnawing at the foundation. When he turned to look at Queen Zhou, he found that she was pressing the blood-stained ribbon to her lips - this action was exactly the same as the night before the assassination of the previous emperor ten years ago.

The bronze lampstand at the corner of the hall suddenly burst into flames, and sparks splashed on Feng Yuxiu's newly cut silk sleeves. He stared at the winding bloodstains on the ground, his Adam's apple rolling up and down - that was splashed when the "one foot of red" was executed just now. The eunuch who was carrying out the execution had already retreated to the corner of the wall with the stick. The bloodstains extended from the ankles of the woman being punished all the way to the danchi, soaking the three-inch thick gold bricks into dark red. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your mercy!"

Before Shen Lian finished speaking, Feng Yuxiu's cold sweat had already slid down his spine into his belt. He knew how much reluctance was wrapped in this thank you, just like the rainy night three months ago when he knelt outside the Yangxin Palace holding the blood-stained secret letter, and he also had such vanity. At that time, Queen Zhou's embroidered shoes rolled over the back of his trembling hand, and the lotus on the tip of the jade hairpin pricked his eye sockets.

"On weekdays," Feng Yuxiu's last words suddenly choked. He thought of the row of crabapple trees in the west corner of the Imperial Garden. Every year during the spring equinox, petals fell all over the cracks in the blue bricks, and there would always be palace maids squatting on the ground to pick them up, saying that they would dry them and make tea. Those bright red petals would fade to pale white after being exposed to the sun, just like the figure crawling on the ground at this moment - the curled up body was beaten to pieces by the stick, and the thigh bones made a tooth-grinding cracking sound.

The moment Liu Changqing's sword passed by Zhu Youjian's neck, the sharp sound of swords colliding could be heard outside the hall. When Zhu Youjian twisted his opponent's wrist with his backhand, blood dripped down the sword groove onto the dragon-patterned carpet, and the smudged trace was surprisingly similar to the "one foot of red" just now. He suddenly realized something, and a taste of rust rose in his throat - ten years ago, the master held his hand like this and pressed the bloody sword tip against the same carpet.

"Brother, your body is very suitable for sword practice." Liu Changqing shook his wrist and stepped back three steps, his purple sword robe rustling under the agitation of his true energy. He deliberately let the broken sword pass by the emperor's ear, and looked at the other party's instantly tense spine, with a mocking arc at the corner of his mouth: "How come you can't even keep this body?"

Zhu Youjian's sword stopped half an inch from the opponent's throat. He could feel the surging Qi in Liu Changqing's body, like the thunder before a rainstorm. The incense burner in the corner of the hall suddenly fell over, and the hot incense ash splashed on Xu Changnian's shoulder, but the man seemed to be unaware and held down Feng Yuxiu who wanted to get up. The smell of blood mixed with agarwood filled the air, reminding people of the severed limbs soaked in the medicine jar in the backyard of the Imperial Hospital.

“Dang—”

The sound of the ambergris censer hitting the ground woke up Feng Yuxiu from his trance. He saw Shen Lian's embroidered spring sword had been unsheathed at some point, and the cold light flashed across his trembling fingertips. The broken pieces of the teacup that Empress Zhang smashed were still piercing Wang Chengen's palm, and blood beads flowed down along the lines of the armor, forming a small stream on the blue brick floor.

Zhu Youjian suddenly smiled. This smile made Liu Changqing's pupils shrink suddenly - it was not a fake smile, but a real madness soaked in despair. The emperor's sword began to tremble, and the sword light turned from golden to dull earth color, as if it had lost its soul. Liu Changqing took the opportunity to push out the purple flame with his fingers, but it strangely dissipated in mid-air when it touched the other party's sleeve.

“Hold your breath!”

Meng Hao's shout and the crisp sound of the porcelain bottle falling to the ground rang out at the same time. The calming incense in Queen Zhou's hand suddenly burst into a few sparks. She subconsciously raised her hand to block it, but saw countless firefly-like starlight escaping from the cracks in the barrier. These starlights gathered in the air and formed the image of Zhu Youjian when he was young, holding a broken sword and slashing at an enemy in the void.

Feng Yuxiu finally broke free and retreated to the corner. He touched the secret box hidden in his sleeve, and his cold jade face pressed against his throbbing temple. In the distance, the faint sound of clappers came from outside the palace wall, and the sound of the night watch drum at the hour of Xu passed through the three layers of gates, tightly entwining this life-and-death struggle with the night in the deep palace.

Liu Changqing's sneer was particularly clear in the agitation of his true energy. The veins on his neck bulged, the five fingers of his left hand clawed at the air, and the dragon pattern on the hilt of his right hand suddenly opened its bloodshot eyes. Zhu Youjian felt the hair on his back stand on end - this was the third time he sensed the murderous intent surging in the other party's body, and it was three times stronger than the previous two times.

"Really?" Regnar's response was low and like the friction of metal. This man who always liked to wipe the dagger at an angle that others could not see was now using the scabbard to scratch five parallel grooves on the blue brick. Zhu Youjian glanced at the gradually deepening grooves and suddenly remembered that when his master was holding his sword handle before his death, he also repeatedly rubbed a certain angle on the sand.

Liu Changqing suddenly shouted, and the sound waves shook the copper bells outside the hall. The purple flames rising from his body condensed into a lotus shape in mid-air, and the twelve petals bloomed one after another, making a high-frequency buzzing sound. Zhu Youjian felt a hot air flow into his nasal cavity, and a fishy and sweet smell surged in his throat - this smell was exactly the same as the sandstorm poisonous miasma he encountered in Mobei three years ago.

"Brother's body is suitable for sword forging." Liu Changqing's sword passed by Zhu Youjian's throat, cutting a three-inch gash on the dragon robe. Blood flowed down along the cloud pattern embroidered with gold thread, dyeing the originally bright yellow fabric dark red. Zhu Youjian suddenly grabbed the sword blade with his backhand, letting the blood drip along the palm lines into the groove of the sword guard, which actually emitted a strange blue-green fluorescence.

The hall suddenly fell into an eerie silence. All the guards' breathing, the friction of armor, and even the crackling of the burning incense burner disappeared. Zhu Youjian could clearly hear his own heartbeat and the roar of Liu Changqing's chest, both of which maintained exactly the same frequency. When he realized this, the muscles in his right arm began to twitch uncontrollably.

“Hold your breath!”

Meng Hao's shout seemed to come from the deep sea. Zhu Youjian suddenly came back to his senses and found three pairs of eyes fixed on his bleeding wrist - Shen Lian's Xiuchun Knife had been unsheathed at some point, and the dragon pattern on the hilt was glowing; Xu Changnian's fingertips on Feng Yuxiu's shoulders were trembling slightly; even the palace maid holding the tea tray in the corner had her pupils shrunk to the size of a needle tip.

The round fan in Empress Zhang's hand cracked. She stared at the beating blood vessels in Zhu Youjian's neck, and suddenly remembered that twenty years ago, the late emperor was killed by someone outside the hall with a sword that shattered his heart. "Your Majesty!" She rushed to the throne with a crying voice, but Empress Zhou held her wrist: "Be careful of the backlash of the dragon's energy!"

Shen Lian's eyes swept across the mess in the hall. He noticed that Feng Yuxiu's arrow sleeves were stained with fresh blood, Wang Chengen's armor had three cracks, and Feng Yuxiu's boots were stained with agarwood ash, which was unique to the harem. These details made him frown slightly - this seemingly sudden change was probably premeditated.

Zhu Youjian suddenly smiled. This smile made Liu Changqing's pupils shrink suddenly, and the tip of the sword instinctively retreated half an inch. The emperor's sword stopped at the opponent's throat, and Liu Changqing's distorted face was reflected on the sword: "Junior brother, do you know why the sword tomb of ancestor Mo Yuan was chosen in the netherworld?" Before the voice fell, the whole hall suddenly trembled violently, and the golden lacquer of the Panlong on the beams and pillars fell off, revealing the dense cracks inside.

Liu Changqing took the opportunity to form a sword with his fingers, and the sword light condensed by the purple true energy actually penetrated the three palace walls. Zhu Youjian looked at the strange trajectory of the sword tip in the void, and suddenly remembered the annotation left by his master at the end of the sword manual: "The body of extreme yin can break all kinds of sword formations." He turned his hand and stabbed the bloody sword blade into the ground, and a black viscous liquid gushed out of the three-foot-deep wound. (End of this chapter)