Chapter 107: Thunder Roars Relentlessly—Do Not Challenge My Limits!

That night. Within the Imperial Palace.

Thunder crashed and bolts of lightning struck!

"Blasphemy! Utter blasphemy!"

Zhu Youjian was incensed. As the thunderous punishment rained down, over a dozen eunuchs who had attempted to set fire to the bedchamber collapsed, their bodies convulsing uncontrollably on the ground.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, are you unharmed?" Wang Cheng'en rushed over in a panic, his hat and shoes scattered everywhere.

*Are you trying to farm loot drops here?*

Zhu Youjian glanced at him coldly and commanded, "Conduct a thorough investigation. If you find the culprits, execute them. If you cannot find them, then go to Jiangnan and kill until you do!"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Shall this servant prepare another bedchamber for you?" Wang Cheng'en was so worried he was on the verge of tears.

"No need."

Zhu Youjian shook his head, his figure vanishing on the spot. He dared not sleep here any longer.

Wang Cheng'en heaved a sigh of relief, which was immediately replaced by an unprecedented murderous intent. He shrieked in a rage, "Damn you all! Guards! Come here! Tear these animals apart, bone by bone! I want them to suffer a fate worse than death!"

"Yes, Director!"

Countless agents of the Western Depot emerged from the shadows.

...

Inside the pocket dimension.

Zhu Youjian stood solemnly upon a large table, eyes closed and ears blocked, muttering to himself. As his body rotated, the entire pocket dimension began to spin. The sight was magnificent and grand, as if a monumental ritual were slowly unfolding.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, pick whichever one I go!"

Zhu Youjian opened one eye, gazed at the dragon chair before him, and muttered, "Jingtai or Tianshun?"

"Fine, fine, fine—you are the one!"

His figure vanished from the pocket dimension. In the blink of an eye, he appeared in the Jingtai timeline. It was also deep in the night. Zhu Youjian took two steps toward the Jingtai Emperor’s bedchamber before suddenly stopping. He twitched his ears, stomped his foot in disappointment, and sighed, "Indecent! Truly indecent!"

"Time to leave, time to leave. I'll go find the kid to play with."

Eastern Palace.

A tiny figure leaned against the steps outside the hall. Little Zhu Jianshen stared into the deep night sky with dark, obsidian eyes, lost in profound thought, looking exceptionally serene.

"Still awake at this hour?" Zhu Youjian sat down beside him with a mischievous smirk.

The jump scare he imagined did not happen. Little Zhu Jianshen slowly turned his head and stared at him silently.

Zhu Youjian blinked and hesitated, "You..."

"Ah!" Little Zhu Jianshen shrieked suddenly.

*Whoosh!*

Zhu Youjian was startled right back into the pocket dimension. He collapsed onto the Chongzhen dragon chair, panting heavily, and muttered with lingering fear, "What is wrong with this ancestor? Why is he acting crazy in the middle of the night?"

On the steps, little Zhu Jianshen sat dazed, terrified to realize that when he had wanted to scream just now, no sound had come out! Only now did he finally react.

"I... I think... I have a stutter?"

???

Inside the pocket dimension, Zhu Youjian was dumbstruck.

Case closed! The Xianzong Emperor’s stutter was actually caused by Chongzhen scaring him?!

Zhu Youjian moved, reappearing beside little Zhu Jianshen. He handed over a medicinal pill and said with a sheepish grin, "This will cure your stutter!"

The pill was swallowed. Little Zhu Jianshen tilted his head, watching him quietly without a word.

Zhu Youjian gulped. "Well, little ancestor, I have some matters to attend to in my palace, so I'll be off!"

This child was too terrifying! It was better to go to the Zhengtong era and sleep while cuddling the two-year-old Zhu Jianshen.

"Okay, good, great-grandfather!"

A crisp, melodious young voice echoed through the quiet Eastern Palace. Little Zhu Jianshen’s eyes crinkled with a smile as he patted his backside and went inside to sleep.

...

Zhengtong era.

Dawn was breaking. Two-year-old Zhu Jianshen was smacking his lips in a deep sleep, with nineteen-year-old Wan Zhen'er keeping watch throughout the night.

"You're this small and you already need a woman?" Zhu Youjian gritted his teeth and left.

He returned once more to the Jingtai-Tianshun timeline.

Southern Palace.

The Tianshun Emperor, Zhu Qizhen, was snoring like thunder, scratching his rear end as he slept soundly. There was no resentment over losing the throne, no fighting spirit to reclaim it. He was living quite comfortably.

Exhausted from the night's chaos, Zhu Youjian collapsed and fell asleep.

The next morning.

The "Fortress Emperor" groggily opened his eyes to find a man in his thirties sleeping next to him. Zhu Qizhen yawned, mumbling, "Not awake yet... sleep a bit more."

Then, a murmuring sound came from the hall.

"I enjoy killing in my dreams..."

*Thump!*

"Can't a man get any sleep?!" Zhu Youjian’s eyes were bloodshot. He waved his hand in anger and pulled the Fortress Emperor into the pocket dimension.

At this moment, on the table in the pocket dimension, the Fortress Emperor—who had long since woken up and was still feigning sleep—cautiously stretched his legs. When he didn't touch anyone, he thought in terror, "I must have scared him away, right?"

He peeked open his eyes.

*Huh?*

The Fortress Emperor leaped up, looking around in shock. "No, where did you bring me? Is this still the Great Ming Dynasty?"

...

Noon. In the Southern Palace.

The sun shone down on his rear end. Zhu Youjian scratched himself and woke up. He felt refreshed after that sleep. He stretched and sighed, "What a beautiful day!"

"Wait, did my ancestor go out?"

"Leaving without even saying hello, how distant."

Zhu Youjian muttered a few words, then with a thought, returned to the Chongzhen era.

The fire had not been lit. Instead, thunder rumbled incessantly.

In the capital, Wang Cheng'en gripped his rifled musket, fighting his way from the west side of the city to the east. He had killed forty-two people, his eyes bloodshot with slaughter. His hoarse, shrill voice echoed through the capital:

"I depart tonight for Jiangnan! All powerful clans and noble families involved in Western trade, prepare for the Emperor’s wrath!"

An hour later, over twenty civil officials and merchants came forward to surrender, trembling. They crazily shouldered all the blame, their confessions uniform: they claimed to be orphans of former ministers, seeking revenge for their families against the Imperial House.

Upon investigation, these people were indeed relatives of the civil officials and nobles whose estates had been confiscated the previous year; their identities were transparent to an absurd degree. Furthermore, they were all lone individuals, with no trace of other family members left.

As soon as these twenty-plus people confessed, the court officials submitted memorials.

"Your Majesty, you must not slaughter the innocent!"

"We beg Your Majesty to think thrice. To wage war without just cause and rashly pressure the people of Jiangnan will only cause the world to turn against you and incite further chaos."

"I offer my life as a protest!"

"..."

Zhu Youjian’s face remained expressionless. "Then die."

The official took a deep breath, swallowed an unknown object, and instantly turned blue. He convulsed for a moment, bled from his seven orifices, and dropped dead in the throne room.

How ruthless! A fifth-rank official, dying just like that! Was this the extent of their power?

Zhu Youjian’s eyelids twitched. The court was filled with officials who had served for less than a year. Even if he held the Cabinet in his grasp, if the clerks beneath them were a united front, the central government could be paralyzed at any moment!

Wang Cheng'en silently ordered the body to be dragged away.

"Submit all records from the last two hundred years regarding the voyages to the West. I will refrain from further purges in Jiangnan," Zhu Youjian said, his face void of emotion. "Do not test my bottom line!"

*BOOM!*

Inside the hall, thunder rolled. The hair of the civil and military officials stood on end as a numbing sensation gradually intensified.

(My benefactors, please give me some 'electric' support too! I've flopped, crying my eyes out!)