The disaster of the world begins with Dongfang Bubai

Chapter 21 Cao Zhengchun

Deep in the palace.

An old eunuch with gray hair, red lips, and every frown and smile revealing his sinister and vicious nature, stood in front of the bronze mirror.

"Cao Zhengchun, as expected, even if the luck is balanced, the luck will not be too good, and it's another eunuch."

The old eunuch, Xi Mingzhang, moved his mind slightly and began to sort out the many plot lines of this life that emerged in his mind.

Today, as the dynasty enters its middle stage, all kinds of dark sides are gradually exposed and court struggles are becoming more intense.

When the previous emperor passed away, his son succeeded to the throne. The previous emperor's younger brother Zhu Wusi, nicknamed Tiedan Shenhou, was a master of martial arts, but he could not inherit the throne because he was born out of wedlock.

Although he had looked down on his nephew since childhood and had ambitions to replace him, on the surface he was a saint who was loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and sympathetic to the people. Behind the scenes, he was just waiting for the opportunity to usurp the throne.

Ten years ago, before the late emperor passed away and the current emperor took over, the late emperor specially ordered Zhu Wusi to establish the Hulong Villa, with power overriding all court institutions. Holding the late emperor's red seal and the imperial sword, he could behead tyrants and slanderous ministers.

After the death of the previous emperor, the current emperor was afraid of the Iron-hearted Divine Marquis, so he increased the power of the eunuch Cao Zhengchun in the East Factory to compete with the Divine Marquis. However, Cao Zhengchun took advantage of the opportunity to engage in corruption, fraud, and persecution of loyal and good people, doing all kinds of evil.

It is worth mentioning that perhaps it was because Xi Mingzhang’s soul was reincarnated as Cao Zhengchun that he became very good at scheming, and he did not rise to power after the current emperor ascended the throne as in the original plot line.

As early as when the late emperor was in power, he was already the seal holder of the Silijian, the most powerful position among the twelve academies. He was known as the internal prime minister and ranked first in the Silijian.

It should be noted that there is no inner court in the name of the court but it exists in reality. The inner and outer courts are set up in correspondence. The Silijian corresponds to the Cabinet and the Censorate. The eunuch who holds the seal has a position comparable to the chief assistant, and the eunuch who holds the pen has the same position as the second assistant. The person in charge of the East Factory has power comparable to the Left Censor-in-Chief and the second assistant.

The Silijian, an internal official, held the seal and had power similar to that of the prime minister in the outer court. All powers including the dispatch of eunuchs to garrison, recording prisoners and guarding the camps of the three judicial departments were under the control of the Silijian.

But even though he had such great power, it was still inferior to the Huolong Villa, which was the highest authority institution established by the previous emperor.

As a result, he was promoted again by the current emperor and took on the post of East Factory, that is, the eunuch who was the imperial governor of the East Factory, known as the Governor of the East Factory. The eunuchs and the Embroidered Uniform Guards respectfully called him the Chief Governor, the literati called him the Factory Supervisor, the Factory Guard, and respectfully called him the Factory Master.

It was because these two positions were held by Xi Mingzhang alone that he was able to fight against Zhu Wusi's Hulong Villa on equal terms.

Now in the court, the two forces are fighting openly and secretly, and checking and balancing each other.

This is the main plot outline, followed by the four secret agents of Huolong Villa, each of whom has his own love, hate and vengeance.

The last words, of course, are about the four loyal and patriotic spies who discovered Zhu Wusi's ambition to rebel and brought him down.

After Xi Mingzhang roughly understood the plot, he focused his attention on the martial arts of this body. After pondering for a while, he nodded:

"Fifty years of Tiangang Tongzi Gong is quite good, but unfortunately it is no match for Zhu Wusi's Qi-absorbing technique."

A hint of thought flashed in his eyes. "Tian Gang Tong Zi Gong" is a martial art passed down by successive supervisors of the East Factory.

Only a virgin can practice this skill. Cao Zhengchun was castrated into the palace at a young age and maintained his virgin body. After more than fifty years of practice, he finally achieved success.

When this skill is performed, Tiangang Qi is formed outside the body which can defend and attack. Combined with the Vajra body tempered by the Boy's Skill, he is invulnerable to swords and spears, water and fire.

Zhu Wushi practiced the "Great Art of Absorbing Power". In his lifetime, he had absorbed the power of at least two hundred people. His power was unprecedented.

This also made Xi Mingzhang curious. The "Star Absorbing Technique" allowed people to have internal strength for two or three hundred years, which had already reached its limit, while the "Power Absorbing Technique" allowed people to have power for a thousand years. Moreover, this was one of the two magical skills created by the Tianchi Strange Man, and it was mutually exclusive with the other "Vajra Indestructible Magic Skill" which was extremely strong, masculine, and strong.

Only the "Indestructible Vajra Art" can restrain the "Absorbing Power Technique" that absorbs all the martial arts in the world, and only the "Absorbing Power Technique" that absorbs other people's martial arts for my own use can compete with the indestructible, indestructible, and invincible "Indestructible Vajra Art".

Xi Mingzhang was aware of the original plot line. In his opinion, "The Indestructible Vajra Power" was an invincible power in the first and middle stages, but became somewhat mediocre in the later stages. However, "The Power-Absorbing Technique" was mediocre in the early stages, but it changed from quantitative to qualitative in the later stages, and only then did it become invincible.

Both Gu Santong and Zhu Wusi, the descendants of Tianchi Weird Hero, think that "The Indestructible Vajra Art" is more powerful than "The Power-Absorbing Art", which shows what the flaws of "The Power-Absorbing Art" are.

In Xi Mingzhang's eyes, absorbing other people's skills into his own body seems to be able to enhance his skills very quickly, but in fact it pollutes the purity of the Dantian Qi sea in his body and cuts off more possibilities.

Therefore, he was just curious about the principles of the "Absorbing Energy Technique" and had no desire to covet it.

Immediately, Xi Mingzhang sorted out his thoughts, found a quiet room, and began to meditate.

Late at night, the door of the quiet room suddenly opened, and a young man with snow-white hair, crystal clear skin, tall figure, and a majestic aura walked out. It was Xi Mingzhang.

By turning to practice the "Invincible Sutra", his physical appearance has undergone tremendous changes, as if he is the master of the world. Now, when people see him, they will only think that he is a handsome young man with premature gray hair.

"No wonder there are so many masters in this world. Zhu Wushi's methods in the later period are like the magic of immortals. The essence of heaven and earth is many times stronger than that of the Laughing Proud World, but compared with the main world, it is far behind."

Xi Mingzhang pondered silently:

"It will only take a month or two to recover to its heyday when it dominated the world."

At this moment, a middle-aged eunuch hurried into the room and reported with his head bowed:

"Master, there is a warning signal in the palace. An assassin has entered the palace."

"It is true that Confucians use literature to disrupt the law, and knights use force to break the law. There are many masters in the martial arts world, and none of them take the king's law seriously."

As soon as Xi Mingzhang finished speaking, the middle-aged eunuch raised his head and was about to agree, but his eyes suddenly widened as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

How could he see that thirty or forty years ago, not long after he entered the palace, he was already Cao Duzhu, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department?

"What?" Xi Mingzhang said with his hands behind his back:
"My martial arts skills have greatly improved, and I have comprehended the wonderful way of the transformation of heaven and man, and the growth of all things, and I have been able to regain my youth. Are you surprised?"

"The governor is invincible in magical powers. How dare I?" the middle-aged eunuch replied hurriedly.

"Let's go and see who is so blind as to break into the palace at night."

After Xi Mingzhang left, he immediately arranged a large number of troops to guard the Qianqing Palace and the Cining Palace. Later, he asked the palace guards to lead people to encircle and suppress the rebellion, and he went to the Cining Palace under the protection of his attendants.

He was familiar with the original plot and naturally knew that this group of assassins pretended to be the princess and ministers of Izumo Kingdom, and first planned to use the Cining Palace to test the strength of the Ming Dynasty Palace, and then assassinate the emperor.

Xi Mingzhang couldn't help but sigh about this. In a world full of martial arts masters, the so-called secular imperial power is really not taken seriously. It is for this reason that the court also pays special attention to the martial arts world. If something happens, they will send people to intervene.

(End of this chapter)