I play the role of Jiajing in Zongwu: What crime have I committed?

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houcong slowly stepped forward, circling around Xiao Jingyan as he spoke.

"I have granted you the title of a Prince of the Seven Beads, bestowed upon you the favor of your mother, and tacitly approved the support of a group of ministers for you."

"I gave you everything, but what have you given me in return?"

"For the sake of Lin Shu, you don't even care about the dignity of the royal family, and you even think about raising someone else's child. It's truly chilling."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingyan showed no remorse whatsoever; instead, his eyes blazed with intense hatred.

"Because I am a human being with flesh and blood, unlike you, who are inhuman and cold-blooded."

Chapter 207 No one left alive

Instead of getting angry, Zhu Houcong laughed, a laugh that sent chills down one's spine.

"Hehehe, this is the emperor."

"I will teach you one last lesson: Imperial power cannot tolerate the slightest challenge."

"Lin Shu, that traitor, is just like his dead father. Back then, Lin Xie supported Xiao Jingyu, and now this little beast wants to support you."

"But they will never understand that it is up to me, not them, to decide who becomes the crown prince."

"Seeing you all banding together, I have no choice but to eliminate you all, step by step."

"To tell you the truth, the reason you are here today was all my doing."

"The reason why you are like this is because you drank the Love Silk Entanglement that the late Empress Dowager tricked Li Yang into drinking."

"From now on, I will not spare any of the three of you, including your mother, Jingyan."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingyan trembled all over and gritted his teeth.

"You beast, you even dared to lay a hand on my mother?"

Zhu Houcong sighed and said helplessly.

"You are in me, and I am in you; this is where all things go wrong."

"Now I have no choice but to painfully cut out all of you rotten flesh and festering sores."

As he said this, a cruel smile appeared on his lips, and his eyes were full of mockery.

It was like a cat playing with a mouse.

"Make your move. I'm giving you a chance to resist."

No sooner had the words been spoken than three figures sprang up simultaneously without hesitation.

The three formed a tripartite balance.

Xiao Jingyan aimed straight for Zhu Houcong's throat, while Nihuang attacked his lower body.

Mu Qing didn't hesitate either, aiming straight for Zhu Houcong's heart.

Three deadly moves sealed off all of Zhu Houcong's escape routes.

"Oh!"

Zhu Houcong sneered, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

He slowly raised his hand, and a blinding golden light suddenly burst forth from his palm.

The next second, a long sword, gleaming with gold, materialized out of thin air.

The sword was wreathed in crimson sword energy that resembled a swimming dragon.

It was the Crimson Sky Sword Qi obtained after consuming the Crimson Sky Sword Pill.

He suddenly swung his sword, and a crimson sword aura swept out.

clang!clang!clang!

With three crisp sounds, the weapons of the three men were simultaneously thrown from their hands.

Without pausing, the golden sword in his hand suddenly transformed, splitting into three serpentine strands of light that shot out into the air.

"go with!"

At his command, three light ropes wrapped around the three men as if they were alive, binding them tightly in the blink of an eye.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

Seeing that they were being controlled, Xiao Jingyan and the other two struggled desperately.

But they found that no matter how hard they tried, the light rope wouldn't budge.

Zhu Houcong slowly stepped forward, looking down at the three of them from his elevated position.

"Stop struggling. Without the strength of a Grandmaster, you cannot break free."

As he spoke, a terrifying pressure emanated from his hands.

"I have said that imperial power is inviolable."

"Now that things have come to this, you can die in peace."

After he finished speaking, a flash of blood appeared, and the three of them were instantly separated from their bodies.

It has lost all its vitality.

Just then, the corpse of the gray-robed old man from the Mu Prince's Mansion fell from the sky and crashed into the house.

Zhu Shou and Xuanwu, the two puppets, remained suspended in mid-air, staring at the large hole in the roof, their expressions calm and undisturbed.

Zhu Houcong snorted coldly, crushed the gray-robed old man's head with one foot, and then turned and left.

Just one day later, Consort Jing also died mysteriously in Zhiluo Palace.

The following is recorded in the "Annals of the Jiajing Era" in the History of Liang.

In the winter of the second year of the Jiajing reign, on the eve of Prince Jingyan's wedding, he happened to witness Lady Mu, Nihuang, having an affair with a wanted criminal in a secret room.

The king rebuked him in anger, but was murdered by the Mu siblings and died an unnatural death.

Consort Jing was devastated upon hearing the news and hanged herself in her chambers.

Upon hearing this news, the emperor was furious and deeply grieved.

He then issued an edict to exterminate the Mu clan and their nine generations of relatives, ordering the execution of the entire family.

The historian said:

The Mu family, who had received imperial favor for generations, developed the heart of wolves and jackals.

Princess Nihuang was unfaithful and committed adultery; Mu Qing disregarded the emperor and murdered a prince.

The complete annihilation of the entire family is truly the cycle of Heaven, and retribution is inevitable.

...

Time flies like an arrow, and in the blink of an eye, it is already the beginning of the third year of Jiajing's reign.

Cold comes and summer comes, spring passes and autumn comes.

Like sand slipping through one's fingers, day and night vanished silently amidst the red walls and green tiles of the imperial palace.

Since the deaths of Prince Jing, Xiao Jingyan, and Consort Jing, the court officials have become increasingly worried about the emperor's changes.

The Jiajing Emperor, who was obsessed with Taoist cultivation, has now gone even further, completely neglecting state affairs.

Not only did he not attend court, but he also spent his days secluded in the Wanshou Palace, indulging in Taoist practices.

Not only that, he also ordered the construction of Xuandu Temple and Chaotian Temple.

This provides more convenience for Taoists.

As the saying goes, what the superiors do, the inferiors follow; a wave of Taoist cultivation swept through the entire Daliang.

Numerous rumors and gossip circulated among both the government and the public.

Some secretly speculated that it was very likely that the death of Prince Jing had touched upon the emperor's most hidden fears.

After all, life is unpredictable, and no one knows whether tomorrow or an accident will come first.

The sudden deaths of his loved ones made the emperor realize the fragility of life.

Even the most noble and powerful cannot escape the inevitable cycle of life and death.

Therefore, the emperor's desire for immortality became even more intense.

Only then will they devote themselves to mystical cultivation in order to become immortals.

This can be seen from the Taoist name the emperor recently adopted.

"Supreme Great Luo Heavenly Immortal, Purple Extreme Longevity Saintly Wisdom Illuminating Spirit Unifying Origin Proof Response Jade Void General Master of Five Thunders Great True Man Mysterious Capital Realm Longevity Emperor."

This honorific title, which is thirty-four characters long, reveals the emperor's obsession with ascending to immortality.

Besides indulging in metaphysical alchemy, the emperor was also misled by the bewitching words of Taoists.

They actually attributed the successive deaths of the deposed Crown Prince Xiao Jingxuan and Prince Jing Xiao Jingyan to the proverb, "When two dragons fight, one will surely be injured."

He bluntly stated that the emperor's dragon aura was too strong, which caused it to clash with the princes, ultimately leading to tragedy.

These absurd words touched upon the emperor's deepest anxieties.

To prevent the royal bloodline from suffering this misfortune again, the emperor issued an edict.

From then on, the princes were forbidden from meeting the emperor, and the system of "a king not meeting a king" began.

In addition, the once powerful Xuanjing Division was severely weakened by the Chiyan Rebellion, so the emperor simply reorganized it completely and renamed it Jinyiwei.

It also granted them the power to supervise officials and arrest those plotting rebellion.

To intimidate his ministers, he further promoted four martial arts grandmasters—Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—to command.

This made the Embroidered Uniform Guard the most feared force in the imperial court.

However, the real undercurrents in the court lay in the open and covert struggle between Crown Prince Xiao Jinghuan and Prince Yu, Xiao Jingting.

The emperor seemed to be intentionally trying to check and balance things, so he handed the Embroidered Uniform Guard over to Prince Yu, which made the Third Prince even more powerful.

A standoff between two powerful figures had clearly formed in the imperial court.

Inside the Wanshou Palace, Zhu Houcong stood with his hands behind his back, coldly looking down at the human pig Lin Chen.

He tormented Lin Chen for a year, until his last bit of patience finally ran out.

He opened one hand, and golden light suddenly appeared in his palm, condensing into a three-foot-long sword.

A flash of sword light, and blood splattered three feet.

The master of Langya Pavilion has thus perished.

Zhu Houcong wiped the blood off his sword and looked westward.

"It seems we have no choice but to start slowly, beginning with Yangzhou!"

Chapter 208 The Three Flowers Gathering at the Top of the Head Is an Illusion

Watching the eunuchs clean up all the traces left by Lin Chen and leave Wanshou Palace.

Zhu Houcong's eyes flickered slightly.

The next second, a perfectly round golden pill suddenly appeared in his palm.

This pill was a Great Heavenly General Pill obtained after the reorganization of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

He forced a drop of crimson blood from his fingertip, which slowly dripped onto the golden core.

In an instant, the cinnabar pattern burst forth with dazzling golden light.

As the radiance faded, a new Grandmaster appeared before them.

Immediately afterward, Zhu Houcong's mind stirred.

Two golden pills, shimmering with rosy light, appeared in his palm.

These two pills were the Huanrong Pills he had obtained when he logically quoted the words of Emperor Jiajing.