Simultaneous Transmigration: My Strength Comes Entirely from My Own

Page 116

That enormous hand seemed capable of devouring everything, making the sword shadows appear so insignificant in comparison.

He dared not slacken in the slightest, and with a sudden wave of his hands, the sword shadow instantly split into countless tiny sword energies, which pierced towards the giant hand like a torrential rain.

The sword energy collided fiercely with the palm in mid-air, bursting into countless sparks, and the air was filled with the smell of burning.

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

However, the enormous hand remained as steady as Mount Tai, as if no amount of sword energy could shake it in the slightest.

Cold sweat was beading on Zheng Daban's forehead; he knew he was in dire straits.

Just then, Luke suddenly withdrew his palm, and the force of his palm vanished instantly, as if it had never existed.

Zheng Daban was stunned. Before he could react, Luke had already appeared in front of him and gently patted his chest.

Zheng Daban felt a gentle force surge into his body, instantly suppressing his internal energy. He was frozen in place, unable to move.

With just this one move, Luke subdued Zheng Daban. Zheng Daban's internal energy surged wildly, but he was unable to break through Luke's restriction and could not help but show a look of dejection.

"I'm really getting old and useless. Do whatever you want, Your Excellency. I don't think we can stop you. But you should think carefully. His Majesty's safety is a matter of national importance. If anything goes wrong, the country will be in chaos and blood will flow like rivers. Please be cautious."

Zheng Daban's words were not a threat, but rather an assertion of a fact.

If Zhu Houzhao were to die unexpectedly today, his successor, regardless of whether he knew how Zhu Houzhao died, would inevitably start a war to legitimize his succession and to satisfy his own ambitions. This war could be external or internal, but without a doubt, many people would die. The phrase "the whole world in mourning," used to describe the death of an emperor, is never an exaggeration.

Chapter 211: Martial Arts Crossover: You bastard, you actually dared to steal!

An emperor can die of illness, old age, or, like most Ming emperors in official history, be easily soluble in water, or even die of a stroke while riding a horse.

But the one thing it cannot do is be killed.

An emperor who can be killed undoubtedly undermines the sanctity of the imperial profession and threatens the regime.

Whoever succeeds him will try his best to eliminate this existence that undermines his sanctity, or launch a massacre in order to restore his sanctity.

Luke released Zheng Daban's hand, freeing him from restraint, and laughed.

"Hehehe, Your Excellency is overthinking it. Although there are countless examples of regicide in history books, I have no interest in doing such a thing."

Throughout history, there have been countless instances of regicide, but most of them occurred at the end of dynasties, when the court lost its authority, as the powerful ministers called it, or when the country was destroyed and the family was ruined.

Although the Ming Dynasty is no longer at its peak, it has not declined either, and is far from that point.

Luke's words undoubtedly put Zheng Daban at ease. In fact, if he had risked his life just now, Zheng Daban was confident that he could have severely injured the masked man in blue in front of him, but that would have been all.

Zheng Daban was well aware of one thing: even if the opponent was severely injured, he was not someone Cao Zhengchun could withstand. He feared that the opponent would be able to get close to Zhu Houzhao within ten moves.

Fortunately, the other party did not seem to have any malicious intent.

Zhu Houzhao suddenly laughed and said, "You're overthinking it, my lord. Although I am the emperor, I am just an emperor. Why would anyone want to kill me for no reason? But can't you two hold back a little when you're fighting? This is my imperial garden!"

In the latter half of the story, Zhu Houzhao suddenly wailed, veins bulging on his forehead.

Cao Zhengchun's lips twitched, wishing he could cover Zhu Houzhao's mouth on the spot.

Although Cao Zhengchun had witnessed Zhu Houzhao's erratic behavior countless times, he was still terrified by his young emperor's audacity.

It's fortunate that the late emperor only had one son; otherwise, with his personality, how could he have ascended the throne?

Zheng Daban had long anticipated Zhu Houzhao's unreliability.

This kind of unreliability isn't necessarily a bad thing; it makes people more likely to lower their guard and open up to you.

It doesn't matter if he's a bit unreliable, as long as he has knowledge. Zhu Houzhao's understanding of military strategy and tactics was quite good. In the Ming Dynasty, he was one of the best after Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong. Emperor Xuanzong was better than Zhu Houzhao in terms of experience.

Considering that Emperor Xuanzong was personally taught by Emperor Taizong and had actually been on the battlefield, Zhu Houzhao's talent was actually superior to Xuanzong's. Therefore, Zheng Daban was quite tolerant of him.

Although Luke's impression of Zhu Houzhao was also that he was unreliable, it was only from his past life. Who knew he could be this unreliable? His lips twitched, but fortunately, the mask covered his face, so no one could see it.

"Eunuch Cao, I heard you have a Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom in your possession. I urgently need it. Would you be willing to part with it?"

Joking aside, Luke ultimately chose to ignore Zhu Houzhao's words and spoke to Cao Zhengchun instead.

Upon suddenly hearing Luke call his name, Cao Zhengchun's body stiffened slightly, and then he broke out in a cold sweat, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Your Majesty, there is absolutely no such thing! Your Majesty is wise!"

Although Cao Zhengchun possessed Tianxiang Doukou, he intended to use it to scheme against Zhu Wushi and would not give it to anyone else. Although the plan had not yet been launched, preparations had already begun.

Most importantly, the origin of this Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom is suspicious; he stole it from the Empress Dowager's palace. How could he possibly admit to such a thing? If it were to be made public, it would be a crime punishable by death and confiscation of his property!

"You mean they went to all that trouble to break into the palace, and then went to great lengths to fight Zheng Daban, all to frame you?"

Zhu Houzhao's face darkened, and he bluntly exposed Cao Zhengchun's lie.

Zhu Houzhao certainly knew about Tianxiang Doukou. It was a gift from his father to his mother. His uncle had once asked his mother for some. At that time, he had just ascended the throne and was in a position to bestow favors and win people's hearts. Naturally, he would not miss such an opportunity to win over his uncle.

The problem is, even though he had already agreed, when his mother went to look for the Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom, she discovered that it had mysteriously disappeared.

Zhu Houzhao did not suspect that Luke was lying in order to frame Cao Zhengchun.

There's absolutely no need for that. To put it bluntly, given the strength Luke has demonstrated, it's completely unnecessary...

What is Cao Zhengchun anyway? Just a servant. Zheng Daban wouldn't have needed much effort to kill him, let alone defeat Zheng Daban's men. He simply doesn't have the qualifications.

"You bastard, you actually dared to steal!"

From Cao Zhengchun's expression, Zhu Houzhao could tell that Cao Zhengchun had indeed taken the item. He immediately flew into a rage and kicked Cao Zhengchun in the chest.

Cao Zhengchun rolled on the ground a few times, causing his hat to fall off and his white hair to fall loose, covered with weeds, making him look extremely disheveled.

Even if Zhu Houzhao broke his leg, he still couldn't move Cao Zhengchun, given Cao Zhengchun's strength.

However, Cao Zhengchun understood this young emperor quite well. When he showed his emotions, nothing serious might happen; at most, he would make you suffer a little physical pain, but he wouldn't hold it against you afterwards.

However, if his expression is calm and indifferent, as if he isn't angry at all, then you should be careful.

After the late emperor passed away, Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne. Cao Zhengchun's position was once under great threat, and this threat came from Liu Jin, the head of Zhu Houzhao's personal eunuchs when he was the crown prince!

This fellow was actually just a knife in Zhu Houzhao's hands, a knife he prepared for himself to seize power.

Given Zhu Houzhao's personality, he would never have done something like discarding a useful tool after it has served its purpose.

However, as Liu Jin's power grew, he became increasingly arrogant and ignorant of his own limitations. He not only accepted bribes on a large scale, but some even called him "Nine Thousand Years Old" and "Emperor."

What is the establishment of an emperor?

The second emperor was the one who did not sit on the dragon throne.

Zhu Houzhao could tolerate Liu Jin's corruption and bribery because he knew that eunuchs had no offspring and money was their greatest security. He also didn't mind Liu Jin's corruption, since he was only after those self-proclaimed upright officials who were actually corrupt and power-hungry.

However, the phrase "establish an emperor" was a taboo subject for Zhu Houzhao. Therefore, when Zhu ignored Liu Jin's memorial on ten major crimes, Zhu Houzhao simply uttered three words.

"Kill them!"

Chapter 212: Martial Arts Chronicle: The Past Contest Between Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Wushi

Eunuchs were the emperor's servants. No matter how much power they wielded in the court, and how much they could decide the life and death of millions with a single word, all their power came from the emperor.

So when the emperor decided to revoke this power, he only needed one sentence to take their lives.

However, Cao Zhengchun couldn't understand why Zhu Houzhao didn't blame him for stealing royal property, especially the legendary "Heavenly Fragrance Cardamom" which was rumored to have the power to bring the dead back to life.

However, what Cao Zhengchun didn't know was that Zhu Houzhao tolerated him because he still needed Cao Zhengchun to check Zhu Wushi.

Of course, after learning of Zhu Wushi's true strength, Zhu Houzhao would not expect Cao Zhengchun to actually restrain Zhu Wushi.

However, in the imperial court, unless you have the absolute power to overturn the table, no matter how high your martial arts skills are, you still need to abide by the rules.

Clearly, Zhu Wushi doesn't have the power to overturn the table yet; Zheng Daban is able to suppress him completely.

The rules in the imperial court are simple: politics. Politics is about balance. Cao Zhengchun was a pawn used by Zhu Houzhao to balance the power of Zhu Wushi.

You know what, this piece is actually quite useful. It's been used to fight Zhu Wushi back and forth for the past few years.

In fact, Zhu Houzhao was not initially wary of Zhu Wushi.

When Zhu Houzhao first ascended the throne, everything was in complete chaos. The handling of state affairs and the abuse of power by civil officials were problematic. Although his father had the reputation of Emperor Xiaozong, he was ultimately too lenient with the civil officials, which fostered their greed. This boomerang eventually ended up sticking in his own body.

Of course, Emperor Xiaozong did not do nothing; he spared the lives of Zhu Wushi and Cao Zhengchun.

One of them was a member of the royal family and the top martial arts expert in the royal family, while the other was a eunuch who had grown up with Emperor Xiaozong since childhood and was also the top martial arts expert in the palace, second only to Zheng Daban. The two of them working together were enough to counterbalance those court officials and achieve a political balance.

However, Zhu ignored the pursuit of fame and reputation, maintained excellent relationships with civil officials, and earned a continuous reputation for goodwill.

Zhu Houzhao thought this was wrong, as there were only two people in history who had done things this way.

One was Zhou Gongdan, and the other was Wang Mang.

The Duke of Zhou was a sage in the eyes of Confucius. What virtue or ability did Zhu Wushi possess to be comparable to him?

Wang Mang appeared benevolent and righteous on the surface, but in the end he usurped power from many rulers. Most powerful ministers were like Wang Mang and Cao Cao, while people like Zhou Gongdan and Huo Guang were ultimately a very small minority.

Moreover, Zhu Wushi possessed the legal right to inherit the throne, which made Zhu Houzhao wary.

Zhu Houzhao could not allow an imperial uncle to associate with civil officials and attempt to enter the center of power.

Therefore, he quickly supported Liu Jin and used Liu Jin to eliminate those court officials who were aligned with Zhu Wushi.

After Liu Jin's ambitions grew, Zhu Wushi seized the opportunity to eliminate him, and did so by using Zhu Wushi's memorial as a pretext.

This move, combining offense and defense, was incredibly clever. Even Zhu Wushi was quite surprised, because he never imagined that Liu Jin, who held immense power in the court, would be killed by a single memorial from him.

It was only after reviewing the events that Zhu Wushi was able to deduce Zhu Houzhao's thoughts.

Zhu Houzhao had received a proper imperial education after all. Although he was usually unreliable, imperial tactics were almost instinctive for him.

Of course, given Zhu Houzhao's personality, as long as it doesn't threaten his throne, he wouldn't hold a grudge if you fought with him in private.

However, Zhu Wushi's goal was the throne.

Unfortunately, Zhu Wushi was, after all, just a prince, and a son of a concubine at that. Although he received a better education than ordinary people, it was only in terms of being a subject. The emperor saw far more than he did.

Zhu Wushi was not a genius; he was just good at disguising himself and being patient because of his personality. He was blinded by a leaf and could not see Mount Tai.

After being tricked by Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Wushi finally began to take his nephew, whom he had previously disregarded, seriously.

Therefore, in recent years, Zhu Wushi began to shift his focus to the martial arts world and secretly collect intelligence on border generals, trying to bring them under his control. After all, if he made moves in the court, it would easily arouse Zhu Houzhao's vigilance. Today there is Liu Jin, who knows if there won't be Zhang Jin or Wang Jin in the future? Since he wanted to do something big, he naturally had to proceed slowly.

It was during that time that he connected with Wan Sanqian and established the Number One Manor in the World.

As a politician, although he was fond of martial arts, Zhu Houzhao did not think that some martial arts figures could pose any threat to his throne, so he ignored these matters.

But in reality, Zhu Wushi might not even look down on these江湖草莽 (jianghu caomang, meaning rough and unruly people). It was mainly for show, to make others believe that his attention was on the jianghu and not on the court. But in fact, judging from the intelligence he secretly collected on the ten generals of the border, he had already made preparations for a coup.