"Who are you?"
Consort Sun let out a shriek.
"This one... cough, cough. I've been a eunuch for so long that I can't change the way I speak at a moment's notice."
The man had a pale, beardless face and a shrill voice. "A mere chicken thief and dog robber is not worthy of Your Highness's notice. You should spend more time speaking with your son, lest you never see him again!"
Thinking of the chaos of soldiers outside, Consort Sun trembled in involuntary terror and clutched the Sixth Prince tightly.
Eunuch Wang frowned deeply as he recalled every palace attendant. Then something suddenly clicked in his mind.
"You are Feng Zhong from the privies of the Directorate of Palace Halls!"
"No wonder Eunuch Wang earned the late emperor's favor. To serve as a regent minister despite being a eunuch—truly, you have set a precedent for our dynasty."
Feng Zhong said admiringly, "I'm just a nobody who scrubs latrines, like the flies and maggots in a privy. Yet Eunuch Wang actually remembered my name."
Eunuch Wang said coldly, "I cannot compare to you. With the art of disguise, you have actually managed to sway the succession of the dynasty."
As they spoke.
The palace gates burst open with a boom, and over a hundred soldiers rushed in.
Close behind them came Prince Qin Zhao Yuan. The real Chancellor Zhang stood at his right, holding a sharp sword whose blade still dripped with blood.
"Father Emperor, your son came too late!"
At the sight of the Emperor Hongchang lying on the dragon bed, Zhao Yuan instantly shed two streams of hot tears. Whether they came from grief or excitement, none could say.
Eunuch Wang demanded, "Prince Qin, why have you entered the palace gates without an imperial decree?"
"Shut up, eunuch!"
Zhao Yuan wiped away his tears and barked, "I received Chancellor Zhang's secret report that Imperial Concubine Sun had attempted to murder Father Emperor and forge an edict to put her own son on the throne. I immediately led troops here to rescue him, but alas, I was too late!"
In just a few words, he thoroughly stripped the edict of all political legitimacy.
When the official histories were written, they would likewise record that Imperial Concubine Sun and the others had murdered the emperor and usurped the throne, while Zhao Yuan had led troops through the night to set things right and restore the source.
Duke Cheng gave Zhang Zhengyang a deep look and asked, "May this old man leave?"
"Please, Duke."
Zhang Zhengyang ordered his men to clear a path, then explained to Zhao Yuan in a low voice, "The hereditary nobles rise and fall with the state. Duke Cheng is not a supporter of the Sixth Prince. Once the matter is settled, he can be won over."
Zhao Yuan nodded faintly and looked coldly at the Sixth Prince, Zhao Yi.
Zhao Yi was naturally intelligent and had already guessed what was about to happen. In a voice still carrying a child's innocence, he begged, "Second Brother, your younger brother is willing not to be emperor. Can you spare my mother's and my lives?"
Zhao Yuan froze for a moment and hesitated slightly. This younger brother had always been obedient and well-behaved, and he had gotten along well with all his elder brothers.
"Your Highness, if you do not pull up the weeds by the roots, they will surely become a future calamity!"
Zhang Zhengyang reminded him, "The Sun Family controls the Capital Garrison. At dawn tomorrow, their army will arrive. Then it will be Your Highness's turn to beg your younger brother to spare your life."
"Kill!"
Zhao Yuan no longer hesitated and waved his hand in command.
A moment later.
Consort Sun and Zhao Yi lay before the Emperor Hongchang, while every other palace attendant and maid in Shangyang Palace had been killed.
At dawn.
The civil and military officials entered the imperial palace for morning court at the Hall of Heavenly Mandate.
Ever since the former crown prince's failed rebellion, the Emperor Hongchang had personally returned to governing the court.
Yet his body had become old and frail, so most morning courts merely amounted to taking attendance. Once Eunuch Wang announced something like, "His Majesty's dragon body is unwell," the officials would all return home.
But when they entered the Hall of Heavenly Mandate and looked up, they saw a middle-aged man seated upon the dragon throne.
Feng Zhong, who had been temporarily promoted to palace eunuch, took out a bright yellow edict and read it aloud. Its general meaning was that the late emperor had passed away at midnight, leaving an edict for Prince Qin Zhao Yuan to succeed to the throne.
The civil and military officials looked at one another, unsure whether they ought to weep or bow in homage.
Zhang Zhengyang was the first to kneel and kowtow, shouting, "Long live His Majesty!"
The others immediately understood. They performed three kneelings and nine kowtows, acknowledging Zhao Yuan as the new sovereign.
Chen Family Village.
The defeated army's commander had been devoured by the swarm of ghosts, his flesh and blood eaten clean, leaving behind only pale white bones.
Zhou Yi carefully sensed the changes in the ghosts and discovered that after devouring living souls and flesh, most of their auras had grown slightly stronger, with an additional streak of ferocity.
A small portion of the yin souls, however, turned into wisps of green smoke and dispersed after the commander died.
Old Man Chen's wronged soul led the villagers' yin souls in kneeling and kowtowing to Zhou Yi.
"Thank you, benefactor!"
Zhou Yi asked, "What are your plans for the future?"
Old Man Chen said, "Naturally, we shall scatter our remnant souls and enter reincarnation as soon as possible."
"That would be for the best."
Zhou Yi nodded slightly. Had the ghosts not been stimulated by the House-Protecting Talisman, they would not even have been able to manifest their forms. In three to five days, they would have scattered into smoke and vanished.
With neither a spiritual object to cling to nor a method for refining souls, they could not even become wronged souls or vicious ghosts.
The reason Old Man Chen could retain his intelligence and even wield the art of spewing ghost mist was that he had been educated and understood reason in life. His soul was far tougher and stronger than that of ordinary people.
Old Man Chen pleaded, "We must trouble you, benefactor, to dig a pit and lay our bodies to rest. There is no need to dig separate graves or erect steles. After all, no one will offer sacrifices to us in the future."
Zhou Yi nodded in agreement, saying he would certainly find a geomantically blessed place so that they could be born into wealthy families in their next lives.
Upon hearing this, the ghosts kowtowed and gave thanks again.
Among ordinary people, masters skilled in reading feng shui used various mnemonics and secret arts to seek out so-called dragon lairs. Yet in the eyes of cultivators, such things were merely trivial techniques. Wherever Mana sensed the world's spiritual energy to be clear and abundant was surely a geomantically blessed place.
Afterward.
Old Man Chen led the way while Zhou Yi found a cart and went from house to house collecting the corpses.
The various manners of death were too miserable to bear looking upon.
Zhou Yi discovered that after the corpses were collected, some of the weaker yin souls immediately scattered on the wind, while even the stronger wronged souls became increasingly transparent.
Once the cart was filled with corpses, Zhou Yi found a geomantically blessed place near Chen Family Village and stomped his foot, blasting open a large pit.
After the corpses were laid to rest, those yin souls that had already been faint and indistinct completely vanished.
Seeing this, Zhou Yi vaguely guessed, Perhaps the burial custom of letting the dead rest in peace originated from this. It can effectively reduce the harm that wronged souls and vicious ghosts inflict upon the living!
The second cart was more than half full when they arrived before a small farming courtyard.
"This is Shuanzhu's home. His daughter Ya'er is only two years old. What a sin!"
Old Man Chen swept his gaze over the sparse yin souls but did not find Shuanzhu.
Zhou Yi raised a brow. Hearing breathing, he said, "Perhaps there are still living people here?"
At these words, Old Man Chen's excited soul became unstable. He darted into the house, then flew back out.
"Chen Ya'er is alive!"
Zhou Yi pushed open the door and entered. He saw two corpses lying on the bed. The man had been stabbed in the abdomen, while the woman's neck had been nearly severed.
The two had died embracing each other. Blood had dyed the bedding blackish red, and the sound of breathing came from beneath them.
Zhou Yi moved the corpses aside and lifted the bedding, revealing a little baby girl wrapped within.
She looked two or three years old, pink and tender, and seemed to be hungry.
Once the bedding wrapped around her was removed, the baby girl struggled to turn over, crawled onto her mother, and grabbed about wildly. Her little hands were covered in blood as she licked at them at random to fill her stomach.
"Benefactor!"
Old Man Chen knelt and kowtowed again. "Chen Ya'er is the village's sole surviving sprout. I beg you, benefactor, to give her a bite to eat and raise her to adulthood."
"Get up."
Zhou Yi pondered for a moment. For nearly thirty years, he had been alone and free as the drifting clouds and wandering cranes.
Naturally, he did not wish for another person in his home. First, the Longevity Dao Fruit could not be exposed. Second, he had no experience raising children. If he made a mistake and something went wrong, his conscience would never rest easy.
Yet no matter what, Zhou Yi could not bring himself to watch the little girl starve to death.
"Brother Chen, I have difficulties I cannot help, but I will take Chen Ya'er back to Shenjing and help her find a good family."
"I will visit her often and ensure she enjoys peace, joy, and safety throughout her life!"
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