Martial Arts World Assassin

Chapter 166: Powerful Government

Cining Palace.

At nightfall.

A shrill scream came from the palace, scaring the eunuchs and palace maids outside the door so much that they trembled in fear, knelt on the ground, buried their heads and remained silent.

The eunuchs and palace maids felt extremely depressed when they heard the miserable sounds. The emperor had been out of the palace for a few months and had an audience with the Grand Empress Dowager when he came back. It should have been a happy day for the grandparents and grandchildren to reunite, but the Grand Empress Dowager did not have a good face.

The reason was that the Empress Dowager did not agree with the emperor leaving the palace. However, the emperor had already taken power and took the initiative to lead the troops out. The Empress Dowager failed to stop him, so she blamed several eunuchs and scolded them for instigating the emperor to leave the capital.

These eunuch chiefs felt aggrieved and had no way to defend themselves. When the emperor left the capital, they had tried every means to persuade and beg him not to take risks by leaving the palace. In case something happened to the emperor while he was away, they would not be able to chop off enough heads even if they had a hundred.

They were too late to try to keep the emperor, so how could they dare to incite him?
But the Empress Dowager was very angry, and they didn't dare to say a word in their defense.

When the Emperor talked about the new and interesting things he had seen during his absence from the capital, focusing on several assassination attempts he had encountered, the Empress Dowager became furious and beat to death on the spot several eunuch chiefs and more than a dozen implicated eunuchs and palace maids.

The series of screams just now were these unfortunate guys wailing for mercy.

Currently in the imperial palace, there are fourteen chief eunuchs, eight deputy chief eunuchs, one hundred and eighty-nine chief eunuchs, and more than a thousand eunuchs at all levels.

Among so many eunuchs, there are actually only a few personal eunuchs who are familiar with Kangxi's daily life. All of them have been beaten to death tonight, and then Kangxi will promote new eunuchs to the imperial court.

As the saying goes, serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. The new eunuch was concentrating on how to please the emperor and how to avoid angering him. He absolutely did not dare to doubt the emperor's identity.

After the eunuchs and palace maids who were familiar with Kangxi were purged, the Empress Dowager ordered a private talk with the Emperor. She left only one trusted eunuch and drove all the other people out of the palace.

At this moment, the only people left in the Cining Palace were Jiunan, Mao Huanlian, Liu Yufang, and Huang Sixi who pretended to be a trusted eunuch.

On the way back to Beijing, Huang Sixi changed Jiunan and Mao Huanlian's appearance with surgery. Now their appearance is no different from "Kangxi" and "Shunzhi", and they can live in the palace for a long time.

Liu Yufang was captured by Huang Sixi at Longjiaguan. She was the leader of the remnants of the Ming court's Prince Lu and was very determined to oppose the Qing Dynasty. After her uncle Fu Qingzhu told her of the impersonation plan, she learned that the Tartar emperor was dead and Huang Sixi was preparing to sneak into the palace to continue assassinating Tartar nobles. She readily agreed to go with him.

Previously, Huang Sixi led Liu Yufang to sneak into the Cining Palace, captured the Empress Dowager, and replaced her with Liu Yufang.

Therefore, the current "Grand Empress Dowager" is a fake, and she ordered the execution of eunuchs and palace maids with the instruction of Huang Sixi.

Liu Yufang acted prudently. She first looked outside the palace, then said to Huang Sixi, "The Empress Dowager has been in power in the Tartar court for thirty or forty years. There are many eunuchs and palace maids who are familiar with her. We can't kill all of them. I can't show up too often in the future. I have to reduce my contact with people in the palace as much as possible. But if I suddenly stay at home, it will arouse suspicion. Mr. Huang, what excuse do you think I should use to be safe?"

The eunuchs and palace maids who were just beaten to death were all related to "Kangxi". There were too many eunuchs and palace maids related to the "Grand Empress Dowager" and it was difficult to kill them all, so Liu Yufang planned to avoid them.

"I've already found an excuse for you!"

Huang Sixi pointed at Jiunan and said, "Master Jiunan is now the former Tartar Emperor Shunzhi. However, Shunzhi has been a monk for more than ten years and will not return to secular life even if he returns to the palace. Shunzhi only came to the palace this time to visit the Grand Empress Dowager to fulfill his filial duty! In a few days, I will ask Huanlian to issue an edict stating that the Grand Empress Dowager is devoutly worshipping Buddha and intends to accompany Shunzhi to meditate and pray for the country, so as to keep Shunzhi in the palace and not go to Mount Wutai to become a monk!"

The 'Grand Empress Dowager' and 'Shunzhi' had been separated for more than ten years, and they finally met again this time. The 'Grand Empress Dowager' certainly did not want 'Shunzhi' to leave again. If she stayed at home to meditate and chant Buddha for some years in order to keep 'Shunzhi', it was completely normal.

From now on, Liu Yufang and Jiunan will be confined to the deep palace, and their contact with people in the palace will be gradually reduced.

Liu Yufang thought this method was feasible, but she and Jiunan had been living in seclusion for a long time, and pretending to be the emperor with Huanlian would not only make it impossible for her to stay in seclusion, but she would have to show up in public frequently.

In the future, Mao Huanlian will definitely have to take on the important responsibility of presiding over the government and will have to come into contact with important officials of the Qing court every day, which involves many hidden dangers.

Liu Yufang continued, "Miss Mao's appearance is exactly the same as that of the Tartar emperor, but she is a woman after all. If she keeps interacting with Qing officials day after day, I'm afraid she will be exposed sooner or later! Mr. Huang, you are an excellent doctor, and it's easy for you to change your appearance. Why don't you find a young man to pretend to be the Tartar emperor?"

She was about thirty years old and a senior anti-Qing activist. Zhang Huazhao, who accompanied her in the assassination attempt that day, was less than twenty years old. She felt that Zhang Huazhao was more suitable to impersonate "Kangxi" than Mao Huanlian.

Huang Sixi would never let any man enter the palace, because once a man gains power over the world, his ambition will inflate extremely, and then he will turn the fake into reality.

Let alone Zhang Huazhao, even if it was the Golden Snake Hero Yuan Chengzhi or the Wudang Hero Zhuo Yihang, if they were asked to replace the identity of "Kangxi", would they still insist on fighting against the Qing Dynasty? Faced with the world's power and countless concubines in the palace, can they stick to their original intentions?
Huang Sixi is the only one in the world who is determined and will not hesitate to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. No matter how powerful he is or how many women he has, they cannot shake Huang Sixi's will.

Except for Huang Sixi, all other men in the Central Plains are unsafe.

That's why Huang Sixi asked a woman named Mao Huanlian to impersonate "Kangxi".

He said to Liu Yufang: "Last year, the Qing court was still in the hands of several ministers. Kangxi began to rule the country after killing Oboi. He has only been in power for a few months. He is not familiar with the ministers. From now on, Miss Mao only needs to meet with the Qing ministers once every day when she goes to court. She doesn't need to communicate with them too much!"

Liu Yufang was puzzled: "If we don't communicate, the government will fall into chaos, and won't the Qing ministers become suspicious?"

Huang Sixi said: "Emperors Jiajing and Wanli of the Ming Dynasty did not attend court for decades, never met with ministers, and did not see any chaos in the government. This is not a problem and it is easy to solve!"

Jiunan felt quite embarrassed when she heard this. Jiajing and Wanli were her ancestors. These two emperors ignored state affairs and did not attend court all year round, leaving behind a mess. No matter how her father Chongzhen tried to save the situation, it was of no use.

Since she was young, she saw Chongzhen diligent in state affairs and never thought that the main responsibility for the fall of the Ming Dynasty lay with her father. The decline of the government began during the Jiajing and Wanli periods.

Huang Sixi continued, "You can submit a memorial if you have one, or you can leave the court if you don't! All the affairs of the Qing court were written down in memorials by the ministers. Miss Mao only needs to review the memorials every day, and she doesn't need to deal with the ministers at all!"

"Reviewing memorials?"

Mao Huanlian had no idea how to review memorials, so she quickly said, "Brother Huang, you are now a fake eunuch, so you should just stay by my side from now on. You will handle all the memorials!"

In the next few months, Huang Sixi will definitely live in the palace to help Mao Huanlian secure his position as emperor.

However, once the political situation is stabilized, Huang Sixi will go to the local areas and replace local officials one by one. Then Mao Huanlian will have to handle the government affairs on her own.

He turned his head and looked at Jiunan: "Nun Jiunan is a princess of the Ming court. She has been with Emperor Chongzhen since she was young and has a good understanding of various government affairs. In the future, Huanlian, you can ask her to help you review the memorials of the Qing court!"

Mao Huanlian was very surprised: "Master, are you a princess of the Ming court?" Back then, Jiunan was rescued from the palace by Taoist Musang. It was originally under the order of Li Yan, the leader of the Dragon Subduing Society. Later, Li Yan failed in his fight for the world, so Taoist Musang took Jiunan to travel around the world. In order to prevent Jiunan from getting into trouble, he let Jiunan become a nun and concealed her identity as a princess.

Nowadays, almost everyone in the martial arts world knows that Jiunan is the leader of the Iron Sword Sect, but few of them know about Jiunan’s background as a former Ming princess.

Liu Yufang was even more shocked and asked hurriedly, "Master, you were with His Majesty Chongzhen when you were young. Could you be His Majesty's daughter, Princess Changping?"

Chongzhen had only three daughters, one of whom died young, another died in the Jiashen National Disaster, and only Princess Changping survived.

After so many years, Jiunan no longer cares about her life experience: "Chongzhen is indeed my father, but the Ming Dynasty has been destroyed and there is no Princess Changping anymore."

Liu Yufang immediately knelt down in front of Jiunan and said, "Your Highness, please don't say that. We have already killed the old Tartar emperor, the young emperor, and the Empress Dowager. The Qing Dynasty is about to end, and the anti-Qing and restoration of the Ming Dynasty is just around the corner!"

She is a general from the lineage of Prince Lu and has always remained loyal to the Ming court. If this operation to lurk in the palace can be successful, she will still take it as her responsibility to restore the Ming court.

Although the descendants of Zhu Ming had no descendants left, Princess Changping was the legitimate daughter of Emperor Chongzhen. Her status was more orthodox than that of the descendants of the royal family's side branches. She was definitely the best object of Liu Yufang's loyalty.

Liu Yufang added: "As long as His Highness is still here, the Ming Dynasty will never be destroyed! From now on, Yufang will follow His Highness and obey his orders, even if it means death, until the Ming Dynasty is revived!"

Jiunan couldn't help but look at Huang Sixi. Her mind was actually very pure. As long as she could overthrow the Qing Dynasty and take back the Central Plains, she would be satisfied. As for whether she could restore the Ming Dynasty, she didn't have much obsession.

This operation to sneak into the palace was planned by Huang Sixi. She had no selfish motives and followed Huang Sixi's lead in everything.

Huang Sixi smiled at her and said, "The most urgent task right now is to take back the palace. This is your home. You can stay here peacefully. We will first plan to destroy the Qing Dynasty. As for what will happen after the Qing Dynasty is destroyed, we will discuss it slowly later!"

Jiunan raised the corner of his mouth and replied to Huang Sixi with four words: "That's exactly what it should be!"

Huang Sixi's eyes swept over the faces of the three women, and finally said, "You are hiding in the palace, and your responsibility is heavy. Although I have made sufficient preparations to ensure that your identities will not be exposed, things are unpredictable. If there is any mistake in the future, causing your disguise to be discovered by the Tartars, you will have to flee the palace on your own."

Huang Sixi's disguise plan was basically flawless. He did not think there was a risk that the identities of the three women would be discovered in the future, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

Huang Sixi needs to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

He took out three secret manuals and gave them to the three women respectively: "I will teach you a set of martial arts and personally teach you how to practice. As long as you can master it, no matter what unexpected events you encounter in the future, I guarantee that you will be able to escape unscathed!"

Jiunan is a master of her own school. Her study of martial arts far exceeds that of worldly disputes. She was the first to take over Huang Sixi's secret book. The cover read: "Dog Beating Stick Technique!"

Back then in the Yungang Grottoes, Jiunan found the "One Hundred and Eight Postures of Bodhidharma". Huang Sixi had already promised to teach the "Yi Jin Jing". On the way from Mount Wutai to the capital, Huang Sixi had already taught Jiunan the secrets of the "Yi Jin Jing". If he could learn the "Dog Beating Stick Technique", even if Jiunan was surrounded by thousands of Qing soldiers in the future, it would be easy for her to break out.

Mao Huanlian is the successor of Wuji School and has practiced Wuji swordsmanship since childhood, but her internal strength is relatively poor. Her master Fu Qingzhu has not mastered the superior internal strength, so Huang Sixi passed on the "Yi Jin Duan Gu Chapter" in "Nine Yin Scriptures" to Mao Huanlian.

After Mao Huanlian started practicing, his internal strength improved by leaps and bounds.

As for Liu Yufang, the level of martial arts taught by Huang Sixi was lower.

In fact, the three women are in the same palace and their destinies are linked. No matter what happens in the future, they will advance and retreat together. As long as Jiunan and Mao Huanlian thoroughly comprehend the martial arts taught by Huang Sixi, they can completely protect Liu Yufang from disasters. It doesn't matter even if Liu Yufang does not learn advanced martial arts.

In this way, Huang Sixi stayed in the palace for half a month, teaching the three girls the essentials of martial arts.

While practicing martial arts, the three women also began their undercover career in the palace. Huang Sixi not only taught them martial arts, but also accompanied them in interacting with Qing court ministers, eunuchs and palace maids.

Half a month later, they settled down in the palace.

Huang Sixi also took off his eunuch disguise and returned to Prince E's Mansion.

After returning to the capital that day, Fei Hongjin, Fu Qingzhu and Zhang Huazhao all stayed at Prince E's mansion.

Before Huang Sixi entered the palace, he instructed them to send someone to Wujiazhuang, Jin Province to notify Xiaozhuang and Dongxuan to rush to the capital.

When in Mount Wutai, Huang Sixi rescued Xiaozhuang and Dongxuan in Qingliang Temple. After leaving the temple, Xiaozhuang and Dongxuan led the disciples of Xiandu Sect back to Wujiazhuang, and then waited for news from Huang Sixi.

Xiaozhuang was sure that Huang Sixi was the Dragon Subduing Hero. At first, she was not worried that Huang Sixi would be trapped by the Qing army. However, after several months, there was still no news from Huang Sixi, and she couldn't help but become suspicious.

Just when she was about to go out to inquire about Huang Sixi's situation, Fei Hongjin personally rushed to Wujiazhuang and took her and Dongxuan to Prince E's Mansion in the capital.

When Huang Sixi returned home, he happened to meet Xiaozhuang and Dongxuan.

Huang Sixi specially summoned the disciples of Xiandu Sect to the capital, naturally for the purpose of impersonating others.

Prince Kang Jieshu and the chief imperial guard Duolong are suspicious of the identity of 'Kangxi'. In order to eliminate these two hidden dangers, Huang Sixi plans to let Xiaozhuang and Dongxuan replace him.

However, Huang Sixi will handle this matter privately. He will not tell Fu Qingzhu and Zhang Huazhao, nor will he notify Jiunan, Mao Huanlian and Liu Yufang.

From now on, the identities of any anti-Qing patriots who replaced the Qing nobles would only be known by Huang Sixi.

Including when Huang Sixi goes to the local area in the future, he plans to replace all the governors of the provinces in the Central Plains, but the identities of each person will be kept secret.

This is done out of overall consideration. If the identities of these impostors are exposed in the future, only one person will be exposed and other impostors will not be implicated.

If the identity of an impostor in a local area is exposed, it will not affect the palace. If the identity of an impostor in the palace is exposed, it will not affect the local area.

In this way, Huang Sixi can firmly hold power in the government and the country.

(End of this chapter)