I, Kangxi, am here to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming!

Looking at the emperor who was both familiar and unfamiliar to her, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was filled with turmoil.

years ago?

How old was he then? A teenager?

A teenager, right under everyone's noses, not only subdued the largest rebel organization in the country, but also brought the rebel's daughter into the palace to give birth to a son, and even purged the military power of the entire Qing Dynasty.

This is hardly a son.

This is a monster!

This is treating everyone in the world like fools!

"Emperor...you..." Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's fingers trembled.

"Mother, please don't worry." Hong Xiguan straightened his collar, his expression returning to its coldness: "Does it matter to you whether the world belongs to the Zhu or the Aisin Gioro family? Huang Taiji forced you to marry, Dorgon coerced you, what has the Aisin Gioro family ever given you? Apart from that little bit of empty honor, all that's left is scheming."

He walked to the door, glanced back at the old lady, and looked at her with a clear understanding that saw through everything.

"Now that the situation is settled, you only need to remain in the Cining Palace and continue to be the Empress Dowager. Anyone who dares to say a word against you will have their entire family wiped out!"

"As for those Manchu nobles... if they know what's good for them, they might become wealthy men; if they don't, my Red Barbarian cannons won't acknowledge their ancestors!"

After saying this, Hong Xiguan cupped his hands in greeting, turned around, and left.

His silhouette was dashing, and his steps were graceful.

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was left alone in the empty hall, lost in thought.

After a long silence, Su Mala Gu walked up shakily, her voice trembling with tears: "Grandmother, what... what should we do? The Emperor is about to change the world! He's going to dig up the ancestral graves of the Aisin Gioro family!"

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled.

The fear and anger on his face slowly faded, replaced by a cold indifference that seemed to have seen through the fickleness of human nature, and even... a hint of relief.

"Change of the world? Let it change then."

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang started turning the prayer beads in her hand again, a strange smile appearing on her lips.

"Su Ma, have you forgotten how I married Huang Taiji? I was forced into the sedan chair at knifepoint, and later, how did I submit to Dorgon? It was all to protect that good-for-nothing Fulin!"

"This Aisin Gioro family..."

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang opened her eyes, her gaze icy cold: "I have never liked them. They are nothing but a bunch of barbaric bandits who eat raw meat and drink blood!"

She looked in the direction Hong Xiguan had left, her gaze becoming complicated.

Although the emperor has changed, become ruthless and cunning, he is still his own flesh and blood.

More importantly, the prince born to Chen Ke, a Han Chinese woman, genuinely called her grandmother.

As long as my descendants rule the country, what does it matter whether the country belongs to the Aisin Gioro family or the Zhu family?

Anyway, it was those Manchu nobles who suffered!

Suddenly, Empress Xiaozhuang felt her chest no longer feel tight.

This is probably the ultimate form of egoism: as long as I don't suffer losses, I don't care if the world is in chaos!

......

The next morning.

The atmosphere inside the Qianqing Palace was colder than an ice cellar.

Grand Secretary Mingzhu led a group of Manchu scholars, kneeling on the ground in a dense, dark mass.

These people came here today not for the sake of the people's livelihood or national affairs, but for "the face of their ancestors".

Mingzhu, a woman with a clever and shrewd nature, now wore a face as heavy with grief as if she had lost her parents. She crawled forward on her knees, her voice trembling:

"Your Majesty, the suppression of the Three Feudatories and the unification of the four seas is an unprecedented military achievement since the founding of the Qing Dynasty. The Eight Banner soldiers who fought valiantly on the front lines, risking their lives, and especially the imperial relatives who sacrificed their lives for the country, their names should not merely lie in the register of merit!"

"Your Majesty, we humbly request that the Hanlin Academy grant permission to revise the 'Records of the Suppression of the Three Feudatories,' giving special mention to the Eight Banners nobles, so as to proclaim to the world how difficult it was for our Manchu sons to conquer this land!"

Mingzhu spoke with great passion, and the group of Manchu scholars behind him wiped away tears, muttering, "Our ancestors faced great hardships in establishing this dynasty."

This trick is actually quite vicious.

They wanted to use this method to forcibly shackle Hong Xiguan as the "Manchu ruler".

As long as the emperor is moved and expresses his opinion, this absurd idea of ​​"changing the country's name" might be quietly suppressed in this sentimental drama of commemorating ancestors.

This is like a company parachuting in a CEO who wants to implement reforms. Instead of directly opposing him, the long-time employees drag him to watch documentaries about the company's early days, reminiscing about the hardships and appreciating the present, hoping to instill a sense of collective honor in him and thus persuade him to abandon the layoff plan.

Unfortunately, the person in front of them had a darkened modern soul at his core, and was also a traitor with Han Chinese blood flowing through his veins.

Hong Xiguan sat on the dragon throne, resting his chin on his hand, quietly watching Mingzhu perform.

After a long while, he chuckled softly, a laugh that sent chills down everyone's spine.

"To write about it in great detail? Our ancestors had it tough?"

He stood up, walked to Mingzhu, bent down, and his gaze pierced the other's heart like a sharp arrow: "Mingzhu, tell me, what does 'not easy' mean?"

Mingzhu was stunned, and opened her mouth: "Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong, clad in armor and wielding weapons..."

"Alright, stop with your clichés!"

Hong Xiguan abruptly flicked his sleeve, his voice echoing throughout the hall, carrying a rage suppressed for over a decade: "I ask you, since the Jia Shen Incident, in these thirty years, besides your tens of thousands of Eight Banner soldiers, whose people were the millions upon millions who died on this land?"

Before Mingzhu could answer, Hong Xiguan pressed on: "Those heroes who died in Yangzhou, Jiading, and Jiangyin, fighting to protect their black hair and upholding the backbone of the Han people, how many were there? When they resisted foreign aggression and died heroically for their country, did your history books record them as 'loyal and valiant' or 'traitors'?"

These words struck the Manchu scholars like a thunderbolt, leaving them utterly stunned.

For such remarks to come from the mouth of the Qing emperor was simply... simply self-destructive!

"Your Majesty...that's a battle between two armies..." Mingzhu was sweating profusely. How could he dare to discuss such a sensitive topic?

"A battle between two armies?"

Hong Xiguan sneered, "To me, that's called Han integrity. They fought to the death for their ancestors and their civilization—that's truly remarkable! Compared to you Manchu nobles who sit in Beijing, fattened up on Han taxes, yet tremble with fear at the sight of Wu Sangui, who deserves to be recorded in history, who deserves to be celebrated?"

He slammed his hand on the imperial desk, causing the inkstone to tumble and ink to splatter everywhere: "I will revise this 'Record of the Suppression of the Three Feudatories,' but it won't just be about the Manchus. I will write about all the Han Chinese sons who died in this war to protect China! As for those good-for-nothings who only know how to talk about their ancestors all day long, get out of here!"

Mingzhu and the others, like stray dogs, scrambled out of the palace gates.

As Hong Xiguan watched their retreating figures, the fire in his heart burned even more fiercely.

Manchu bloodline? Ancestral legacy?

For him, it was the deepest shame on this land.

Since I am sitting here, I shall personally smash this shell of the Qing Dynasty!