Xu Li was still in the middle of her rant when the emperors decided her fate.
And soon, three days later, the emperors led their armies into the Forbidden City. Looking at its grandeur, Zhu Yuanzhang complained to the emperors beside him, "Look, just look! This is the imperial palace my fourth son built. Think how much it must have cost the people! Ah, the poor common folk."
The other emperors: "..."
Who had Zhu Yuanzhang learned this shameless act from? He used to be such an old stick-in-the-mud.
Thinking this, Li Shimin and Ying Zheng both looked at Liu Che.
Liu Che seemed to read their minds. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Careful, I'll sue you for slander!"
"Heh..." The two emperors both gave a dry laugh.
Following behind Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao watched his father turn toward the other emperors with an expression that was ostensibly reproachful but clearly boastful. His father looked so much like a crooked-mouth Dragon King that Zhu Biao was speechless.
Father, even if you want to say this palace cost the people too much, at least try to pull the corners of your mouth down. I'm walking right behind you, and I can see that grin stretched all the way to your ears.
As a man determined to become a Great General Who Conquers the North like his big brother, Zhu Di had come along for this Overthrow the Qing and Restore the Ming scenario.
He now understood why, lately, his father had kept dragging him off to beat him for no reason, and why his mother had looked so pleased. If his own son could achieve this much, he'd be pleased too.
Looking at the magnificent palace, he wore the exact same expression as Zhu Yuanzhang.
He even thought, Good! Hit me! He felt his Indestructible Divine Skill had already reached mastery, and he really wanted to shout at Zhu Yuanzhang, "Oh, my dear father, whip me! Don't spare me just because I'm a delicate flower!"
And if one beating wasn't enough, he could take a few more.
Zhu Di glanced at his brothers beside him and saw the envy and jealousy in their eyes. He chuckled to himself. After all, his brothers didn't even have a chance to get whipped.
"Ah, I never imagined that my future self would be so extravagant. It's truly inexcusable. I deserve a beating. Father, when we get back, I'll come bearing brambles and beg your forgiveness." Zhu Di couldn't help but launch into a remorseful confession.
But he didn't look remorseful at all.
Zhu Yuanzhang gave Zhu Di an approving look. These emperors were no fun; none of them had played along. Thankfully, his fourth son had set him up perfectly. Very good, very good.
Zhu Yuanzhang was just about to pretend to scold him, if only to show off a little, when Zhu Shuang suddenly found the courage to cut in. "What good does it do? The land was still taken by a foreign tribe."
Clearly, Zhu Shuang could no longer hold back his jealousy and had blurted out his thoughts. After all, he was Zhu Yuanzhang's second legitimate son. If his eldest brother hadn't become emperor, then Zhu Shuang should have been the one. It certainly shouldn't have been his fourth brother.
Even knowing that he'd died young, he still couldn't help feeling aggrieved.
As the saying went, you feared your brother living a hard life, but you also feared him driving a luxury car. If Zhu Di had been doing poorly, Zhu Shuang would've helped him and felt sorry for him. But Zhu Di had it far too good. Had he gotten the protagonist's script in some feel-good story?
So why had Zhu Shuang become a mere background character?
It was worse than being killed!
At those words, the other three emperors looked at him in astonishment. Well, this kid's got guts. He dares to undermine his own father.
Liu Che put on the same smile Zhu Yuanzhang had just worn. "Oh, Zhu Yuanzhang, are all your kids this brave?"
Zhu Yuanzhang's smile froze on his face. He looked at Zhu Shuang with a gaze that said he wanted to pull out a riding crop on the spot and make up for the boy's unhappy childhood.
"Zhu Yuanzhang, you can put up with that? If it were me, I couldn't." Li Shimin, inexplicably inspired to stir the pot, sidled up to Zhu Yuanzhang and thoughtfully offered him a riding crop. "I usually use this when I beat my kids. Want to give it a try? It packs a real punch."
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the riding crop in Li Shimin's hand. The corners of his mouth and eyes twitched, and a vein bulged on his forehead.
Seeing trouble brewing, Zhu Biao hurried over to his father. "Father, we're almost at the Golden Palace Hall. Don't let the foreign tribes see us making a spectacle of ourselves."
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately took the offered out. He restrained his urge to beat his child right then and forced himself to sound calm. "We're about to meet that so-called Venerable One of Ten Completions. We have more important things to do."
After speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang shot Zhu Shuang a vicious look that said, When we get back, I'll teach you a proper lesson.
Zhu Shuang was utterly confused. He wasn't usually this stupid. He'd never do something like that. What was going on? Had jealousy really gone to his head?
Seeing his father's expression, he shivered. He had a feeling that once they got back, he'd be stuck in bed for eighty or a hundred days.
Soon, the group arrived at the Golden Palace Hall. Qianlong and his ministers were inside, doing their utmost to show that they still had their dignity.
Even though they were the only Qing people left in the entire capital, they would preserve what little dignity they had left.
"You've come!" Qianlong sat high on the throne, looking at the people entering the hall as he spoke with an air of authority. But the seething hatred and venom in his eyes ruined his imposing presence and twisted his expression.
"Yes, we've come." Liu Che looked at Qianlong with a solemn expression.
"You should never have come!"
"But we've come all the same."
Qianlong fell silent for a moment before speaking. "State your terms."
The emperors blinked in confusion. What? They'd already fought their way to his doorstep, and now he wanted to discuss terms? Did he think this was some kind of game?
"Do you think we came here to play a siege game? Do you think you can still sit there now?" Li Shimin felt that Qianlong's way of thinking was bizarre.
"You're not from this world, after all. You'll eventually leave. Rather than eliminate us and plunge the realm into chaos, why not leave us here to keep it stable?" Qianlong looked as though he were acting for the good of the people. He was practically radiating compassionate virtue and golden merit.
Hearing such shameless words, Zhu Di—still brimming with righteous anger—pulled a record of the Qing's many massacres from his robes and flung it at Qianlong. "Dare you look at the evil you've done and repeat what you just said?"
Zhu Yuanzhang had given the book to his sons to read. Naturally, he had given it to Zhu Di above all, since Zhu Di's line had failed to hold onto the realm and let a foreign tribe take it.
He needed his sons to understand how disastrous it would be if a foreign tribe took the realm.
Qianlong glanced at the book on the floor and sneered. "We did it for the sake of stability. Rebels only plunge the realm into chaos. Better to kill them outright than to pretend to negotiate."
"And who do you think you are? This is a conversation between emperors. What right do you have to interrupt?" As he spoke, Qianlong looked toward Zhu Yuanzhang. "Zhu Yuanzhang, you failed to teach your son. No wonder the princes rebelled after your death."
"I am Emperor Yongle, Zhu Di!" Zhu Di stared coldly at Qianlong. "Am I qualified now, Captive Emperor?"
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