Zhu Yuanzhang: My second son is invincible!

Just as the protective shield was about to break, Xu Da was about to order the reserve team to replace it when Zhu Li suddenly moved.

He placed one hand on the edge of the crenellation, gave a gentle push, and flipped himself over the city wall.

"Your Highness!" Zhang Han exclaimed.

Zhu Li didn't turn around. As he fell through the air, he pressed his left hand against his left arm.

A large bronze shield appears.

He landed on the shield, which carried him down the steep slope like a skateboard, moving so fast that it left a trail of afterimages.

Everyone, both on and below the city walls, was stunned.

Is this... a person rushing down?

Xu Da's pupils contracted, but he quickly regained his composure and shouted, "Crossbow carts, provide cover! Aim at the bear demon!"

Zhu Li has already reached the bottom of the slope.

He jumped off his shield, pressed his right hand against his left arm, and the bronze axe came into his grasp.

The bear demon had just shattered the golden light shield and was about to roar when it saw a human carrying an axe walking towards it.

The bear demon felt insulted.

It abandoned the city wall, turned around and pounced on Zhu Hui, its bear paw slamming down with a stench strong enough to shatter stone tablets.

Zhu Hui looked up at the approaching bear paw, and very seriously gripped the axe with both hands, gently lifting it from bottom to top.

The movements were still like chopping wood.

The axe blade sliced ​​across the bear's paw, its arm, its shoulder, and its head.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

Then, the bear demon's enormous body split in two, neatly cleaving in two, and fell to the left and right.

Blood gushed out like a waterfall, and internal organs spilled all over the ground.

Zhu Hui stood in the pool of blood, his axe untouched by any drop of blood.

He turned his head and looked at the remaining demons.

The wolf demons froze on the spot, fear appearing in their green eyes for the first time.

Zhu Hui thought for a moment, then slung the axe over his shoulder and said earnestly, "Shall we continue fighting? If not, I'm going back."

……

A hundred miles away, deep in the swamp.

On the altar, Xiang Liu's nine heads opened their eyes simultaneously.

The central leader slowly turned towards Juyong Pass, and the figure standing in the pool of blood was reflected in the eighteen eyes.

It saw the axe blow.

Simple, direct, and without any frills.

As the axe blade slashed through, space itself underwent a subtle distortion.

That is... a cut at the level of laws.

"As expected... it's Xing Tian's aura," Xiang Liu, the leader, murmured hoarsely.

A head nearby spoke up, "Should we retreat?"

Another head objected: "How can a million-strong army retreat without a fight?"

The third head sneered, "Want to try that axe strike?"

The nine heads began to argue, their roars echoing through the swamp, frightening the nearby goblins into trembling fear.

Finally, the leader silenced all other voices.

"Tomorrow, I will personally test him... If he is indeed the successor of Xing Tian, ​​we will immediately withdraw our troops and return to Beiming."

"What if it isn't?" a head asked.

The leader's eighteen eyes flashed with ferocity as he said, "If not... we will flatten this pass and wash away the blood for a thousand miles."

……

On the city wall, Zhu Hui was pulled up by Zhang Han in a basket.

He was covered in blood, but it was all demon blood; he hadn't even broken his skin.

Xu Da strode over and looked Your Highness up and down, asking, "Is Your Highness alright?"

"It's alright, Uncle Xu. I heard that the bear demon's paws... can be used to make bear paw soup?" Zhu Hui put his axe and shield back into his tattoo.

Xu Da: "..."

The generals: "..."

Beyond the pass, the demon race had retreated like a tide, leaving only corpses scattered on the ground.

As the sun sets, it dyes the Great Wall blood-red.

Zhu Hui looked at the sunset on the horizon and suddenly touched her stomach: "I'm hungry."

.............

That night, Zhu Li sat in his tent, where Qingmei and Qingzhu laid out bedding for him and brought him hot water to soak his feet.

Zhang Han stood guard outside the tent, his back ramrod straight.

Chen Nian returned from inspecting the camp and whispered, "His Highness's axe blow on the city wall today has spread throughout the entire army. Now the soldiers are all saying that His Highness the King of Wu is a god descended from heaven."

"That's how it is," Zhang Han said, feeling proud.

Inside the tent, Zhu Li was soaking her feet, holding a wooden plaque in her hand, and carving words on it with a dagger.

That was a little trinket he made for Zheng Daya. Before he left, the little girl hugged his leg and cried, saying she was afraid her brother would be eaten by a monster.

Zhu Li promised to bring her a gift back.

"Your Highness, aren't you afraid?" Qingmei asked softly.

"What are you afraid of?" Zhu Li asked without looking up.

"A million demons, and ancient ferocious beasts..."

Zhu Hui stopped carving, thought for a moment, and then said, "Don't worry, my axe is sharp."

He spoke so matter-of-factly, as if the million demons were no different from cabbages in the ground.

Qingzhu smiled, pursing her lips: "Your Highness is truly..."

They're really carefree.

But for some reason, looking at Zhu Li's profile as he focused on carving the wooden plaque, the two maids felt inexplicably at ease.

Yes! Your Highness's axe is sharp.

That's enough.

……

A thousand miles away, in Yingtian, at the Eastern Palace.

Zhu Biao sat in his study, a thick stack of memorials piled up in front of him.

The candlelight illuminated his gentle profile, but there was no trace of weariness in his eyes.

Footsteps sounded outside the door, and the personal eunuch whispered, "Your Highness, Jiang Huan requests an audience."

"Enter."

Jiang Huan, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, entered silently, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, the latest secret report from the Northern Border."

"speak."

"Today, His Highness the King of Wu descended from the Juyong Pass alone, slaying a bear demon with a single axe, thus intimidating the demon race. Xiang Liu has already made unusual movements a hundred miles away, as if confirming His Highness's presence."

Zhu Biao put down his vermilion pen, a smile appearing on his lips, and said, "Second brother is still as straightforward as ever."

"Commander Xu has already made a plan: if Xiang Liu appears tomorrow, His Highness the Prince of Wu will be the vanguard."

Zhu Biao was silent for a moment, then took out a brocade box from the drawer, pushed it to the table, and said, "Send this to the Northern Border and give it to Commander Xu. Tell him that if things become unbearable, then open this box."

Jiang Huan accepted it with both hands and said, "Yes."

"Also, have you compiled a list of those in the court who are secretly hoping for trouble for my second brother?" Zhu Biao raised his eyes, his gaze suddenly becoming sharp.

"The list is complete. There are seventeen people in total: six civil officials, eight sons of noble families, and three distant relatives of the imperial clan."

Zhu Biao picked up another memorial, which was the one from the Censorate impeaching the Prince of Wu for leaving his fiefdom without permission and overstepping his military authority.

He picked up his vermilion brush and wrote eight characters at the end of the folded document:

"Those who spread rumors and mislead the public deserve to be punished."

After approving the order, he tossed the folded document to Jiang Huan and said, "Arrest people according to the list, imprison them in the imperial prison, on charges of... treason."

Jiang Huan's eyelids twitched and he said, "Your Highness, isn't this crime too severe? According to the law, it should result in the execution of nine generations of one's family."

Zhu Biao said gently, "Then let's exterminate three generations. Last time, Father Emperor said to exterminate nine generations, and I even advised against it. This time... three generations is enough."

He spoke casually, as if he were talking about what to eat tonight.

Jiang Huan bowed and said, "Your subject understands."

This is His Highness the Crown Prince.

In front of His Highness the King of Wu, he was the most protective elder brother.

In front of his court officials, he was a benevolent crown prince.

But in the face of the enemy…

He is a heartless glutinous rice ball who can talk about "exterminating three generations of relatives" as naturally as "drinking a cup of tea".