Chapter 73: Still Half Asleep—Let Me Sleep a Little Longer!

Boom!

A sudden clap of spring thunder split the air.

Zhu Qizhen, seated upon the Dragon Throne, shuddered inexplicably. His face darkened at once. “Anyone who dares bring this up will die!”

“Heh, I’d intended to leave some dignity for the former emperor, but since that’s your stance, then let me be executed.” Wang Wen sneered. “You are unworthy of the throne. You usurped the position while His Majesty was gravely ill. I will certainly impeach you before the ancestors with the harshest memorial!”

“The disaster at Tumu yesterday, this usurpation today—if our founding emperors, the Grand Ancestor and Imperial Ancestor, were to hear of this, they would condemn you to eternal damnation!”

“Silence! Zhu Qiyu, he dares call himself Emperor!?” Zhu Qizhen shouted coldly, his gaze sweeping over the court with chilling intensity. Suddenly, he burst into maniacal laughter. “Ancestors? Our ancestors have long been dead! Today, no one can stop me from reclaiming my throne!”

“I have only one decree—kneel!”

“Bow down and submit, and your ranks will remain unchanged. Resist, and your families will be exterminated!”

With a tremendous crash, hundreds of armored soldiers of the Capital Garrison surged forth from all directions, forming an impenetrable ring around the assembled officials.

“Kneel! Kneel before me!”

Zhu Qizhen sat grimly upon the throne, his heaving chest betraying the tempest within him.

Eight years!

Did you ever understand what I endured these eight years?

The Capital Garrison leveled their spears at the court. The faces of the civil and military officials were ashen, yet most began to sink to their knees, albeit with reluctance.

Heaven and earth may be vast, but nothing is more precious than life!

“Getting desperate? Heh! Even if you succeed in restoring your rule, you can never erase the harm you have done this nation!” Wang Wen stood straight as a rod, casting a scornful glance at the usurper on the Dragon Throne.

Clang!

“Insolence!”

“Are you done yet?” Zhu Qizhen snapped, drawing the sword from a nearby guard and striding directly to Wang Wen. He pressed the blade to Wang’s throat, his voice harsh and commanding. “Kneel! Kneel before me now!”

“Go ahead! Kill me!” Wang Wen laughed coldly, stepping forward. “I will go to the late emperor! I will face our ancestors!”

Startled, Zhu Qizhen’s hand trembled, the blade twisted, failing even to grant Wang Wen the death he sought.

Zhu Qizhen erupted in fury. “Ancestors, ancestors! My ancestors have long turned to dust—what do you think you’ll find—”

Slap!

“You wretched cur!”

A host of imperial figures in dragon robes appeared as if from thin air, instantly knocking the bewildered usurper to the ground, beating him with such force that the boards blurred in the air.

“Your Majesty!”

Shi Heng and the others paled in terror and cried out, “Protect the Emperor! Quickly, protect him!”

The garrison soldiers rushed to intervene.

Thunder exploded again, lightning flashing brilliantly.

Shi Heng froze, coughed out a puff of black smoke, and collapsed rigidly to the ground, his limbs twitching uncontrollably.

Crackling bolts erupted once more, forming a ring of electricity over a dozen meters wide.

Zhu Youjian swept his sleeve, turning back with a cold glance at the garrison soldiers. He spoke flatly, “The Grand Ancestor, Imperial Ancestor, and other late emperors are handling matters. Any who trespass will die.”

The soldiers recoiled in terror, stumbling back ten paces or more, hastily positioning themselves between the court officials and the mysterious circle.

The ministers of the Jingtai court were paralyzed with fear. This—this was surely the work of immortals!

All began to scramble backward, terrified of touching even the edge of the electric circle and being struck dead by the celestial thunder.

“Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!”

“I’ll kill you all!”

“Cease—stop at once! I command you, stop!” Zhu Qizhen cried, clutching his battered head, swinging his sword wildly in desperation.

“Scoundrel! Who do you think you’re dealing with?” The Xuande Emperor, Zhu Zhanji, furious at such disgrace, brought a board crashing down upon the usurper’s skull, sending his eyes rolling back in his head.

Hmph!

The sharp-eyed Zhu Di stomped on his wrist, snatched the sword, and stabbed the usurper hard in the backside.

A shriek like a slaughtered pig echoed through the palace.

Only then did the officials realize—the former emperor was being beaten by what seemed to be a gathering of emperors!

Had the ancestral spirits truly manifested?

Wang Wen was dumbstruck. He had seen with his own eyes these dragon-robed figures materialize from nothing, and the thunder was surely beyond the power of mortals…

Moreover, the immortals had claimed themselves as the Grand Ancestor, Imperial Ancestor, and other late emperors—how could there be any doubt?

In a flash, Wang Wen’s eyes grew wet. He knelt and cried out, “Your subject welcomes the manifestation of the Grand Ancestor and Imperial Ancestor! We welcome the sacred spirits of the late emperors!”

The ministers exchanged glances. With the atmosphere as it was, true or not, the only thing to do was bow!

Besides, it seemed exceedingly likely to be genuine!

One after another, the officials knelt. “We respectfully welcome the sacred spirits of our ancestors!”

At last, the imperial forebears spent their wrath and ceased their blows. The usurper lay curled in a heap, twitching occasionally, barely clinging to life.

Zhu Youjian quickly pressed several life-saving pills into his mouth, pulling him back from the brink of death.

“Get up,” Zhu Yuanzhang barked, his gaze sweeping over the ministers.

If not for this wretch insulting his ancestors in open court, he would never have aired the family’s dirty laundry before the entire bureaucracy.

Family scandals should never be revealed, let alone matters of state!

The first to speak, with such bearing and tone, could be none other than the Grand Ancestor himself.

The officials, overawed, quickly rose and stood to one side in silence.

Why are you all just standing there gaping?

Here to gawk at our family’s disgrace?

Have you no sense at all?

Zhu Yuanzhang scowled. “Out! Wait outside. Unless summoned, none of you are to enter! Disobey, and you die!”

“We obey!” the officials chorused, bowing and scurrying out through the Hall of Supreme Harmony, not stopping until they reached the Meridian Gate, each with the look of one who had just escaped death.

Even Cao Jixiang and Zhang Ruan slunk out quietly, heads bowed like whipped dogs.

“Shameless to the extreme!” Wang Wen spat.

“You’re right, Lord Wang!” Cao Jixiang replied obsequiously, cursing his own misfortune. This time, he’d gone too far—he’d managed to disturb the very ancestors! He even considered fleeing the capital with his belongings.

Xu Youzhen squatted nearby, muttering, “I said the imperial omens were off—like a beast in heat! If we’d been a moment later, the former emperor would never have reclaimed the throne.”

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

At least now one could sit in a wheelchair.

Zhu Youjian looked with pity at the usurper and could only conjure a heap of pills and stuff them into the bleeding man’s mouth.

After a long while.

The usurper slowly regained consciousness.

He opened his eyes to find several robust men in dragon robes glaring fiercely at him.

He managed a faint smile and murmured, “Still not awake. Let me sleep a little longer…”

…