Torrential rain poured down, covering the port of Naha, which was full of masts. The once magnificent Shuri Castle was also eclipsed by the storm, which is common in the Pacific Ocean, and seemed to be lost in the power of heaven and earth.

In such bad weather, a team of guards, soaked like drowned rats, surrounded several sedan chairs that were blown to and fro, and braved the wind and rain, trudging along the imperial road towards the northeast of Shuri Castle with difficulty.

Fortunately, the destination was not far away. After walking a mile with difficulty, they came to a circular palace surrounded by high stone walls.

The sedan stopped in front of a vermilion archway outside the palace gate. This archway is similar to the torii gate of Japanese Shintoism, which is a symbol used to distinguish the divine residence where gods live from the secular world where humans live. It reminds visitors that after stepping into this archway, they have entered the divine realm and should be particularly careful in all their subsequent behavior.

Therefore, the nobles in the sedan chairs got off one after another and walked through the Red Archway in the rain.

The servants quickly put raincoats on them, supported the old men, stumbled along the main path to the vermilion gate, and knocked on the doorknob with all their might.

After a long time, a female voice rang out from the gate: "Who is knocking on the door in the rain?"

"Your ministers Shang Zongxian, Shang Hongde, Zheng Zhaozuo and others have an extremely urgent matter and request to see the king!" An old voice shouted with all its might, and one could clearly hear the panic in the voice.

The two princes, Shang Zongxian and Shang Hongde, were the younger brothers of King Shang Yuan of Zhongshan. They also served as regents. Zheng Zhaozuo was a Sansi official. The three were the princes who were in charge of the capital during King Shang Yuan's personal expedition.

The three giants came together in the rain, and the maids inside the gate did not dare to neglect them. After a moment, the palace gate slowly opened. The maids wearing straw raincoats welcomed everyone in.

The spacious courtyard was paved with white stones that symbolized purity, and on top of the high stone platform was a magnificent palace. A flash of lightning streaked across the top of the palace, illuminating the plaque "Wende Maharaja's Palace" clearly.

The state religion of Zhongshan Kingdom was Shintoism. Since the founding god of Ryukyu was a goddess, in Ryukyu Shintoism, only holy women could serve as priestesses and communicate with the gods.

The supreme leader of the nuns in the temples of various places is the great king Wende who lives here. As the "sister god" who protects the king, she issues orders in the name of the human incarnation of the Junshouma god. She is the spiritual leader of Zhongshan State and one of the two poles in the **** system.

This Wende Dajun is the cousin of King Sangwon. She usually stays at home and keeps a low profile. Ministers never set foot in this sacred place. Today, they came together in the rain. Something big must have happened. So after hearing the news, Wende Dajun went straight to the side hall to meet the guest.

Shang Zongxian, Shang Hongde, Zheng Zhaozuo and others were sitting in the hall shivering, and it was unclear whether they were cold or scared.

Suddenly, the palace door opened, and four nuns escorted a beautiful woman with long hair like a waterfall and wearing a white nun's dress to walk in from the wind and rain. She looked extraordinary and had no trace of worldly affairs, as if she was a goddess descending to earth.

"Greetings, Maharaja." Everyone bowed down to pay homage. Although two of them were her cousins ​​by blood, she had been the spokesperson of God on earth since she took office as Maharaja Wende, and even the king had to pay homage to her.

"Please stand up, old gentlemen." Hearing this, the prince walked straight to his throne and knelt down facing south. The women smoothed her long skirt and laid it flat, then stood on either side of her.

"What on earth happened that made you so anxious?" In fact, this Wen De Princess was not very old, at most in her early twenties, but with the blessing of the sacred halo, her every word and action was full of divinity that soothed people's hearts.

"My Lord, something terrible has happened!" Her cousin Shang Zongxian in the secular world stood up and said anxiously, "The king has been kidnapped!"

"What?" Hearing this, the prince lost his composure and his two thick black eyebrows jumped. "Did he lose to the rebels on the big island?"

"No, we were surrounded by the Jiangnan Group's fleet when we returned victorious." Shang Zongxian said in a trembling voice: "The king could not bear to see the sword and fire with the Celestial Empire, so he took the initiative to go to the other side's ship as a hostage in exchange for the safety of his ministers and soldiers."

"Brother Wang..." Hearing this, the Great Prince was both moved and sad. With red eyes, he asked, "Why did the Celestial Empire suddenly take action against a vassal state that had been submissive for two hundred years? How did we offend the Celestial Empire?"

Obviously, she stayed in this palace and knew very little about what was happening outside.

"This..." Shang Zongxian glanced at Zheng Zhaozuo and said, "Let Zheng Qinfang speak."

The "Okinakata" was the rank second only to the royal family in Ryukyu. Zheng Zhaozuo, the Okinakata, angrily told the prince about the previous incident, exaggerating it.

Naturally, what he said was completely different from what Weng Shouxiang had described. He said that it was because his son Zheng Yu, who was in charge of Naha Port, enforced the law impartially and found signs that Weng Shouxiang's son Weng Jisong was colluding with pirates to smuggle. He was looking for evidence, but Weng Jisong found out and led the Japanese pirates into Naha Port, burned the fleet of the Ming Jiangnan Group, robbed a large amount of goods, and killed dozens of people.

"Everyone knows the truth about this matter. If you don't believe me, please ask the two princes!" In order to prove that he was not spreading rumors, Zheng Zhaozuo also asked two royal family members to testify.

"Oh, has the king arrested Weng Jisong?" Hearing that the prince just didn't interfere in politics but was not a fool, he asked the question right away.

"Uh, no." Zheng Zhaozuo paused for a moment and explained hurriedly, "That's because the king considered that Weng Shouxiang was in charge of military supplies and fodder, and he was about to lead the expedition himself, so he didn't want to cause any trouble, so he temporarily suppressed the matter and said that he would make a decision after his triumphant return."

"Your Majesty did say that." Shang Hongde, who had been silent the whole time, said gloomily, "I thought that with the close relationship between our country and the Celestial Empire, it wouldn't matter if we delayed the reply for a while, but I didn't expect the Jiangnan Group to be so overbearing! They didn't even bother to tell right from wrong and severely damaged our 3,000-strong royal army, and detained the king and a group of princes, only letting Mei Shimang come back to report the news!"

The last person kneeling was Mei Shimang, the spy officer in charge of communicating with the Ming people. He quickly repeated what happened in Amami Bay.

After hearing this, the prince finally understood why these princes were so scared. Compared to the capture of the prince and the heavy losses suffered by the royal army, what frightened them more was the overwhelming strength shown by the Jiangnan Group.

All the elite combat forces of Zhongshan Kingdom, 3,000 royal soldiers, were slaughtered without any resistance. What else can Ryukyu do to resist these terrible invaders?

Hearing this, the prince calmed himself down and asked, "Then... Is the king okay now?"

"Then Young Master Zhao did not embarrass the king, and even let the doctor treat him." Mei Shimang replied: "But all the princes and the royal soldiers have been transported to the north. I heard that they will be asked to dig sulfur, but they should be fine for the time being."

After a pause, he continued in a trembling voice: "But Weng Shouxiang was thrown directly into the sea to feed the sharks..."

A flash of lightning lit up the outside of the palace as bright as day, and then a thunderclap exploded overhead. The prince shuddered, not knowing whether he was frightened by the thunder or by the scene described by Mei Shimang.

"As an official of the Three Departments, he just threw Young Master Zhao into the sea?" Weng Jisong was the head of the Weng family, the first of the five major families in Zhongshan State. He was naturally familiar with the prince when he heard about him.

"They said he committed suicide out of fear of punishment." Mei Shimang said angrily, "What a lie! A coward like Weng Qinfang wouldn't have the guts to commit suicide!"

"Yeah." Everyone nodded, thinking that what he said made sense.

"Devil..." The prince clenched his fists and commented on Master Zhao. "What did the devil ask for when he let you go?"

"They only asked me to come back to report the news, but they didn't ask for anything." Mei Shimang said, "But before I left, Master Zhao said that the prince and Zheng Qinfang were very wise and would definitely know what to do."

"Mr. Zhao, do you still know me?" Hearing the prince pointing at him, he didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

"He has people from the Ryukyu trading station under him, so he naturally knows everything." Mei Shimang said, forcing himself not to look at Zheng Zhaozuo.

The two princes were not so cautious. They could not help but cast a questioning look at Zheng Qinfang. Even if the king went north, there were still the two regents. The Ming people skipped them and went directly to Zheng Qinfang, which inevitably made people think about it.

The Zheng family is a descendant of the Fujian people, and they have always regarded themselves as the spokespersons of the Ming Dynasty. Zheng Yu is also sworn brothers with the manager Tang of Jiangnan Commerce. It is difficult to say whether this incident was a collusion between them.

Zheng Zhaozuo sat there expressionlessly, ignoring everyone's questioning looks.

Zheng Xun, who was behind him, wanted to speak up to explain, but his father stopped him with a look.

After a moment of suffocation, the prince broke the silence and said, "If that's the case, then let Zheng Qinfang speak."

"Yes." Zheng Zhaozuo said without distraction: "For now, we must first decide whether to fight or make peace."

"Can Zheng Qinfang be the Yu Shaobao after the Battle of Tumu Fort?" the younger Shang Hongde asked sarcastically.

"Naturally, I am not worthy of carrying Shao Bao Yu's shoes. But the royal capital has been fighting against the Japanese pirates for many years. We have artillery batteries in the north and south and strong cities to defend. We dare not give up easily!" Zheng Zhaozuo retorted firmly.

"What should the king do then?" asked the prince with a frown.

There was another silence in the hall, and no one dared to speak. After the Battle of Tumu, the Empress Dowager of the Ming Dynasty appointed her younger brother, Prince Qin, as the emperor, and the fighting started only after the emperor was replaced.

Otherwise, what’s the point of fighting when our monarch is in someone else’s hands?

Everyone secretly looked at Prince Wen De again. The one who could appoint a new king for Ryukyu was not the Queen Mother, but this young priestess.

She said firmly: "We must welcome the king back. This is the most important thing!"

"Yes, sir!" All the princes and nobles breathed a sigh of relief. They were really afraid of hearing that the prince would also appoint a new king, so they fought to the death.

Now that Shuri Castle’s elite troops have all been lost, how can they hold on?

Ming Yingzong was common, but Yu Qian was not common!

The prince saw the relieved expressions on everyone's faces and asked expressionlessly, "What about the peace talks?"

"The other party has already made the conditions." Zheng Zhaozuo replied in a deep voice: "Find out the truth, make compensation, make thorough reforms, and agree to their stationing troops in Ryukyu."

After a pause, he continued, "But now that the king and the others are in the hands of the other party, their appetite will definitely be even greater. But it is not wrong to follow these four ideas. It is nothing more than going a little further."

ps. I had something to do at home today, so I was busy all day. I started working in the evening. I just finished writing one chapter. I'll write another chapter...