The others, concerned about Emperor Mingde's health, didn't dare to intervene too seriously, but Earl Yongle desperately clung to Emperor Mingde's thigh and refused to let go. "Your Majesty, calm down! This may be a misunderstanding. You must not act impulsively, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Mingde struck Earl Yongle with his sword: "Get out of here! If anyone dares to stop me, I'll chop off his head with one blow!"
Feeling the resistance around him, Emperor Mingde cried out in anger.
Those who were just following the trend were suddenly frightened and dared not move.
They suddenly remembered the decisiveness and killing of Emperor Mingde when he first came to power.
Holding a sword, he killed the noble families, the royal family, and the rebels.
He struck out with every sword strike without hesitation, using his sword to carve a bloody path to the dragon throne.
However, because they have been cultivating themselves for so many years, they almost forgot the emperor's temper.
Now that so many years have passed, the emperor seems to have changed, yet also seems to have not changed at all.
If they were really killed here by mistake today, where would they go to seek justice?
King Zhuang was about to lose his life, and even those who had originally stood on his side began to waver.
King Xuan and King Yi stood aside and looked at each other, neither of them moved.
They are still confused now.
The three of them were fighting fiercely before, but they didn't expect that King Zhuang would just say it would collapse. They found it hard to accept.
With no one to stop him, Emperor Mingde rushed towards King Zhuang with his sword in hand.
"Father! I know I was wrong! Please forgive me this time!"
King Zhuang was so frightened that he started crying and snotting. He no longer cared about his face and crawled on the ground, hugging Emperor Mingde's legs.
"Go to hell!"
Emperor Mingde looked at his useless appearance, and the murderous intent in his eyes became even stronger.
He raised his sword high and was about to chop it down, but King Zhuang's desire to survive was overflowing, and seeing the other party's ruthless look, he suddenly stretched out his hand and used all his strength to push Emperor Mingde aside.
"This is all your fault! It's fine that you're partial to that sickly prince! The prince is dead! He's been dead for so many years! And you actually want to train that sickly son to sit on the throne! God is merciful, the sickly son is also a sickly son! Not to mention living to the age of the prince, it's even a question whether he can even make it to adulthood!"
"This is all retribution!"
"As for the remaining princes, my third brother's mother is from the Duke of Cheng's mansion, whose in-laws are prominent and have many retainers. My fifth brother's mother is from the Duke of Cui's mansion, an even more prestigious, century-old family. Countless scholars would stand up to speak for him with just one shout. But I am the only one! What am I? My mother is from a merchant family, and my in-laws have only a name but no real power!"
"The battle for the throne is either him or me. If I don't fight, I'm just asking to be killed! Can't I even give myself a little leverage?! What have I done wrong?"
The tension in King Zhuang's head suddenly broke when he knelt on the ground, hugging Emperor Mingde's thigh, and saw the murderous intent in his eyes.
"Ask them, who doesn't want to be in power? Who hasn't had some evil thoughts in their mind? You're using me as an example today, isn't it just to intimidate them? Just because I come from the lowest social class, do I deserve to be a stepping stone for others?!"
Prince Zhuang also broke down emotionally and yelled hysterically at Emperor Mingde.
As soon as these outrageous words were spoken, Earl Yongle, who had been struck by the sword, fell into complete despair.
There's no hope! This time there's really no hope.
King Xuan and King Yi's faces suddenly turned dark. King Zhuang did not forget to drag them into the water even when he was about to die. He was really their good brother!
"Your Highness, please understand!"
The two men knelt on the ground and said in unison.
Emperor Mingde looked at the frantic Prince Zhuang, and then heard him confess it himself. He laughed out loud, "Great! You're truly my good son, finally speaking your mind! So I forced you to do all this, didn't I?"
"It's you! If not you, who else would force this?! You're already this old and you still don't know how to step down. You sit tight in your high position and watch us fight each other without stopping us. Isn't it just to keep your position secure? This is all forced by you!"
King Zhuang's eyes were bloodshot, and he pointed at Emperor Mingde as if he was ready to fight to the death.
Even if he couldn't survive today, he had to vent his anger.
"Someone! Hold him down!"
Emperor Mingde looked at King Zhuang's unrepentant expression and gave an order.
A group of guards rushed in from the door, grabbed King Zhuang and pressed him to the ground.
Emperor Mingde stepped forward with a stern face, sword in hand: "I have already given you a chance."
"The Yongle Earl's Mansion colluded with the remnants of the previous dynasty and captured many young boys and girls and sent them to the former Grand Master to be trained as assassins. I am holding back for your sake."
"Unfortunately, I didn't expect that my fourth son would be so ambitious and would not hesitate to collude with foreign tribes to get me out."
King Zhuang looked at Emperor Mingde in disbelief. He didn't expect that Emperor Mingde had already known about this matter.
Emperor Mingde raised the sword in his hand high and said, "I will send you down today to spare you from torture. This will also be considered as fulfilling the father-son relationship we have in this life."
"No--"
Before King Zhuang could finish his words, his entire head was chopped off by Emperor Mingde.
Prince Xuan and Prince Yi's faces turned pale and they stood there in a daze. They never expected that Emperor Mingde could be so cruel as to attack his own son.
It was the first time for some of the civil officials in the court to see such a bloody scene. Some of them could not bear the shock and rolled their eyes and fainted.
Earl Yongle covered the wound on his shoulder and looked at Emperor Mingde in horror.
"Come here! Draft an edict!"
"Prince Zhuang Zhongli Changqi colluded with the enemy and betrayed his country. He was stripped of his title, demoted to a commoner, and after his death he was not buried in the imperial mausoleum! His family..."
Emperor Mingde closed his eyes, as if he couldn't bear it, and finally spoke: "All his family members, over three years old, will be killed!"
"The Yongle Earl's Mansion participated in the rebellion and will be stripped of his title. All nine clansmen, regardless of age or gender, will be imprisoned and executed in three days! All others who participated will be killed! Concubine Lan failed to supervise properly, so her title will be stripped and she will be given a white silk scarf!"
After Emperor Mingde finished speaking, he dropped the sword in his hand and staggered.
Eunuch Liu quickly stepped forward to support him. Emperor Mingde turned around and left without even looking at the people in the hall.
After he left, the hall fell into deathly silence.
The group of people didn't even have the heart to discuss, and all left the hall with pale faces.
The Duke of Zhenguo walked out of the hall and breathed a sigh of relief. Someone followed him, it was Cao Zhongling.
He looked up at the sky and sighed, "The weather is going to change."
The Duke of Zhenguo echoed, "Yes! Things are about to change..."
After they finished talking, they went their separate ways and walked out of the palace.
I don’t know what made the emperor change his decision now?
When Ji Feng got home, he excitedly told Ji Changying and the others about this matter.
Ji Shilin and others were stunned.
Oh my god!
They thought that the master was discussing official business seriously in court, but they didn't expect that there was danger to their lives. The emperor just said to kill people and they killed them!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
