"Um?"

"Why is it your dad who came forward?"

Brother Hongji looked at Guan Ya blankly. Yang Zheng’s sudden action not only surprised the enemy, but also confused the friendly forces.

"What does old bean mean?"

Guan Ya lowered her voice and said, "I don't know. Don't worry about him for now. Go and keep an eye on those assassins. Be ready to attack at any time."

She used her eyes and gestures to point out the seven assassins in the crowd one by one.

The killing-stopping official, Xiao Yuan, and Xie Lingxi changed their clothes in tacit understanding, taking off their complicated and gorgeous dresses and putting on ordinary people's clothes.

Sun Miaomiao spat out the sixth-level vengeful spirit Yin Chuanmei, and then used a secret method to condense the spirit servants into a whip, which he whipped heavily on Jun Chuanmei, and ordered: "Drag them into the illusion."

The beautiful and charming Yichuan Mei moaned and prostrated herself on the ground: "Thank you for your gift, Master. Thank you for your gift, Master, please whip me again."

All the girls in the carriage looked at Sun Miaomiao, as if they had not expected that she was such a Sun Liushui.

Sun Miaomiao's cheeks flushed with shame, and she quickly explained: "The spirit servant that Yuanshi Tianzun sent me had to be whipped before he could do his job. What does Yuanshi Tianzun's perversion have to do with me?"

While she was quibbling (explaining), Yin Chuanmei had already emerged from the carriage and began to secretly influence the seven assassins.

The Palace Master, Xie Lingxi, and Xiao Yuan changed their clothes, opened the car door, got out one by one, blended into the crowd and waited for an opportunity to act.

Except for the Palace Master of Stopping Killing, Xiao Yuan and Xie Lingxi are both mere transcendents, and the one who can ambush in the crowd and assassinate the tyrant must be a master of the Saint Realm (minor grandmaster).

But it doesn't matter. The advantage of Spirit Realm Walkers is that they have a wide variety of props and can launch sneak attacks without any moral principles.

As long as Yin Chuanmei drags the assassins into the illusion, the target will be doomed unless it is the mountain god.

At this time, the crowd was in an uproar. Seeing Yang Zheng forcefully stop the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the sky, the people, who had already lost hope, suddenly had a glimmer of hope in their eyes and ignited the fire of hope.

A city defense general of the junior master level led three soldiers forward and said with a cold attitude: "Prime Minister Yang, please, don't embarrass me. The national master and so many people are watching us."

The implication is that with the imperial teacher in charge, you can't cause any trouble; with so many people watching, if you don't want to lose face, you'd better retreat tactfully.

Yang Zheng kicked the general in the chest and abdomen with such speed and force that the young master had no time to react. He was thrown backwards like a sandbag, and rolled over and over after landing, rolling more than ten meters before stopping.

Now even the second row of civil and military officials were in turmoil. The city defense troops who were responsible for stopping the people and maintaining order turned back in astonishment, watching their own official crawling up in embarrassment.

“clang!”

The general drew out his sword, his face twisted, half in pain, half in anger.

Seeing this, Zheng Wenhan no longer tolerated it and tore off his face, shouting: "Yang Zheng disobeyed the emperor's order and plotted rebellion. Capture him immediately. If he dares to resist, kill him without mercy!"

The general smiled coldly and rushed over with two rows of soldiers.

"How brave!"

Zhang Yuanqing tore off a piece of skin as thin as a cicada's wing on his cheek and shouted, "Lian is the emperor of the dynasty. How dare you kill him?"

The general who was leading his subordinates and running with knives suddenly stopped and looked at Zheng Wenhan!

"Your Majesty, the ministers are even more agitated. Even these officials who have been in the political arena for many years are confused at the moment. How did Grand Secretary Yang Zheng suddenly become Your Majesty?"

Among them, Zheng Wenhan's confidants looked at each other, and chose to wait and see, or remained silent, or pretended to be deaf and dumb.

Zheng Wenhan said sternly, "You are such a lunatic. How dare you pretend to be His Majesty and disturb the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heaven? How can the Heavenly Family save its reputation? Come on, kill this beast immediately."

These words were said to the assassins outside the field, indicating that they could take action.

Zhang Yuanqing reached into his arms with his right hand, opened the inventory, took out a square, bright yellow, and translucent jade seal, held it high, and shouted with the same momentum as Zheng Wenhan: "Here is the imperial seal!"

With his other hand, he took out a double dragon jade pendant of the same texture from his "bosom" and stared at the ministers: "Don't you recognize the jade seal? Don't you recognize my personal jade pendant?"

"Is it really your Majesty?"

"Why is your majesty here?"

The ministers who did not know the truth were shocked and bowed down one after another, shouting: "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Zheng Wenhan's trusted ministers could only kowtow as well.

Only Zheng Wenhan was left standing there, not knowing whether to kneel or not, and he kept looking at the people outside the square.

Why haven't the Shenrui Army taken action yet?

The assassin he arranged was also silent.

Not good!

As a master of political intrigue, Zheng Wenhan knew that his plan had been foiled by the incompetent emperor. Since the assassin did not appear at the first opportunity, he would never appear.

Huh? He actually disguised himself as Yang Xiang and sneaked in...

Wang Beiwang thought that the emperor was cowardly and did not dare to show up in person, so he entrusted Yang Zheng to stop it.

He was just cursing the emperor for being stupid and foolish in his heart. How could he stop Yang Zhengming when his words were not justified?

"Is it really that dog emperor?"

"Burning a child with fire is a foolish act, and will be punished by heaven!"

"A tyrant! A tyrant!"

At the edge of the square, the people of the capital city started to make noises, and the sounds of abuse and accusations were endless. They were not afraid of being charged with disrespect at all, as they were used to being cursed.

Since Zhao Shun ascended the throne, the accusations and insults from the people have never stopped, but the court turned a blind eye and never punished anyone. The Imperial College even allowed students to criticize the emperor at banquets, poetry gatherings and other places where people could talk freely.

Young students also regarded criticizing the emperor as a politically correct act and a way to demonstrate their own noble character.

Listening to the noisy voices of the people, and the outrageous sounds that he had deliberately indulged, Zheng Wenhan had an idea. Now that anti-imperialist sentiment was running high, he could completely follow the will of the people, take advantage of the situation to denounce the tyrant, and depose Zhao Shun from the throne.

As long as the national teacher supports him, everything will be possible.

Whether to declare himself emperor or support a puppet will be considered later.

But if the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony fails, the Imperial Master might...

The originally bustling scene suddenly became quiet. The people were shocked and confused and stopped protesting and cursing.

They began to whisper and talk among themselves.

Wang Beiwang, who was mixed in with the people, was stunned at first. He knew that the root cause of the emperor's downfall was the assassination of the Zheng family, not the work of spies from the Northern Dynasty. He didn't understand why the emperor didn't expose Zheng Wenhan's conspiracy on the spot.

Then he had an idea and figured it out. This was to reassure Zheng Wenhan, so as to prevent the powerful Prime Minister Zheng from doing something desperate.

Zhang Yuanqing continued loudly: "The ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven was not my intention, and burning a child is even more against human ethics. The Northern Dynasty is coming with great force, and the emperor is guarding the country. The king dies for the country, why should an innocent child be killed?"

"Stop the ceremony of offering sacrifice to the heaven and send the child back home."

There was complete silence.

The two rows of civil and military officials stared in amazement at the emperor's impassioned speech, unable to believe that these words came from the mouth of this incompetent ruler who indulged in sensual pleasures and ignored state affairs.

Especially the sentence "The emperor guards the national gate and the king dies for the country" is chilling and moving.

Wang Beiwang's blood boiled after hearing this. If a king wants to die for his country, so can an ordinary man!

The uproar sounded again, but unlike the angry curses just now, this time there was surprise, surprise and excitement, especially among the parents whose children were chosen. They were instantly excited, their hearts pounding, and while they were excited, they were also worried that it was a dream.

Zhang Yuanqing, sensing the change in people's mood, took the opportunity to display his magician skills and encouraged the people: "All parents whose children are chosen to be sacrificed to the heaven can come in and take their children back. Anyone who dares to stop us will be regarded as treason."

The parents, whose emotions were manipulated, got hot-headed and forced their way through the city defense troops and ran towards the platform.

Seeing this, the city defense troops looked at each other in bewilderment, wanting to stop it but not daring to.

Oops!

Zheng Wenhan's heart trembled, and he looked up at the national teacher floating in the air, but he saw that the national teacher's gaze was neither on him nor on Zhao Shun, but on the people.

Zhang Yuanqing glanced at Zheng Wenhan, and also raised his head, staring at the high-ranking Imperial Master, and said loudly: "Imperial Master, you love the people like your own children, and you are my elder brother. Do you think I am doing the right thing?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a powerful divine sense scanning his body repeatedly, as if it wanted to scrape him clean inside and out.

The Imperial Master continued to look at the people in silence without responding.

The young parents hurriedly ran up to the wooden platform and found their child among the dazed children. They didn't dare to check the child carefully or stay any longer, and returned to the crowd with the child in their arms as if they were running for their lives.

The father was chasing his wife holding the child, and halfway through, he suddenly stopped. After a moment of hesitation, he turned around and kowtowed: "Thank you very much, Your Majesty, thank you very much, Your Majesty..."

With this beginning, the parents in the crowd broke through the defense line of the city defense army together, ran to the platform in twos and threes, and brought back their children. Some children whose parents were not present were brought back by neighbors or elders in the family.

In the crowd, a beautiful girl suddenly knelt down and shouted, "Your Majesty, be merciful. Long live Your Majesty."

The parents who brought their children back were filled with gratitude and joy. They were the first to respond, kneeling down and shouting "Long live the children!"

Their actions triggered a mass effect, with more and more people kneeling down, tens of thousands surrendering and shouting "Long live the people!"

Lingxi is so cooperative!

Zhang Yuanqing was overjoyed. At the same time, a reminder sounded from the spiritual realm: [Ding! Congratulations on completing the side quest 1: Win the hearts of the people! Reward: Dragon Qi Body Protection]

[Ding! The side quest is activated - win the hearts of the people.]

Zhang Yuanqing heard a faint and clear dragon roar in his ears. Wisps of light yellow light escaped from the tops of the people's heads and gathered into an unsolid five-clawed golden dragon, which crashed into his body.

Then, a message appeared in my mind: [Name: Dragon Qi Body Protection]

【Type; Consumables】

【Function: Guard】

[Introduction: The dragon energy formed by gathering the hearts of the people can resist poison, curses, and resentful spirits. It has its own hidden effect. If you kill the person protected by the dragon energy, you will be attacked by the dragon energy and suffer the five decays of heaven and man.]

[Note: Only the emperor and the masters of Taoism can control the dragon energy. ]

The reward for winning the hearts of the people is the dragon energy protection? Such a strong buff, it is the nemesis of the witch and the night wandering god!

Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up, and he went to a private room in a restaurant a hundred meters away.

Xu Chang Lao was surprised and said, "I didn't expect that the tyrant emperor was actually so courageous and wise. If he had realized it a few years earlier, how could the Southern Dynasty be in this state? How could he be in this state? It's too late now."

The emperor guards the national gate, the king dies for the country... Gang leader Duan stood by the window, gazing deeply at Zhao Shun's figure.

After a few seconds, he frowned: "What do you mean?"

The leader of the gang began to care about the safety of the emperor? Xu Chang Lao saw through the leader's mind and sighed: "The emperor is unwilling to expose Zheng Wenhan's conspiracy because he dare not push him too far. Zheng Wenhan is powerful. Once he is desperate, the situation will be completely out of control. But if he does not expose Zheng Wenhan's rebellion, it means that he will pretend to be in harmony with Zheng Wenhan. Zheng Wenhan has many ways to make your majesty die in a reasonable way."

Gang leader Duan knocked on the window frame with his fist and said angrily, "I am no match for the national teacher."

In the square outside Tianji Tower, Zheng Wenhan's thoughts turned

Since the imperial teacher did not make any statement, he could only keep his troops in place.

Moreover, the incompetent monarch obstructed the national master's ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, and the national master would not let it go.

"What a shame!"

Suddenly, a roar resounded throughout the scene.

Zhang Yuanqing looked at the crowd of people and roared at the top of his lungs, "My palace actually allowed spies from the Northern Dynasty to come and go freely. The eight thousand imperial city officials are all useless! After this disaster, I suddenly realized that in the temple, there are rotten wood officials, and under the palace walls, there are beasts eating salaries, people with wolves and dogs are in power, and servile people are in power, so that the people suffer and the country is facing a catastrophe."

"The Imperial Master is a master of nature and knows all the secrets of heaven. He will keep me safe. If I die in the Tianji Tower, it means that the Imperial Master wants me to die. I will die without regrets!"

After these words were spoken, the imperial teacher, who had never shown any emotion before, finally changed his expression.