My Lifetime of Good Reputation!

The moment Zhu Di said "imprisoned monarch," Qianlong's face twisted even further. Wasn't he exactly that now? A monarch held captive. Besides, Zhu Di certainly had enough standing to speak up.

Qianlong wanted to retort, but he didn't know how.

Soon, though, he let out a cold laugh. "A usurper, a vassal prince who rebelled—how dare you squeak and yap? You're no different from Li Shimin, that fratricidal usurper."

Li Shimin: "?!"

Wait, were you trying to get yourself killed? Did I not deserve any respect? You just called me out right in front of me!

Li Shimin took a battle-axe from Cheng Yaojin and headed straight for the Dragon Throne. The ministers along the way didn't dare move a muscle. They all stood rooted in place, looking defiant.

Well, defiance was all they had left.

Li Shimin rested the axe against Qianlong's neck and said with a kindly smile, "Come on. About what you just said—I'll give you a chance to rephrase it."

Qianlong actually wanted to fight back, but he'd been born to a life of wealth and privilege. He'd never fought anyone in his life. How could he match Li Shimin, an emperor who'd won his throne on horseback?

So the axe settled against his neck without a hitch, and Qianlong responded just as smoothly. "Even if you kill me now, I'll still say it. Though you gained the throne improperly, you still ushered in the Reign of Zhenguan, making you a model for emperors throughout history. As the saying goes, nobody is perfect."

"Mm, I like the sound of that. If you can talk, then say some more." Li Shimin was satisfied. He glanced at his formation of generals, feeling thoroughly pleased. Leaving Wei Zheng behind had indeed been a wise decision.

He'd really let himself go this time. Now he could even threaten an emperor into praising him, and nobody was around to criticize him for it.

Wei Zheng had wanted to join the campaign to Overthrow the Qing and Restore the Ming. After all, this was the first expedition into a Foreign Realm in all of history—how could he not be tempted? Unfortunately, Li Shimin had flatly refused to bring him along.

"All right, that's enough. Deal with this fellow, collect the reward, and then we need to go back and promote this across the country," Ying Zheng said, urging them to wrap things up. He still had seeds to take home and plant.

"Oh, right." Li Shimin nodded. He'd remembered, too: high-yield seeds and promoting farming. He'd been enjoying himself so much lately that he'd nearly forgotten why he was here.

They hadn't just fought their way here. Along the way, they'd also gathered some high-yield crops from among the common people. Liu Bing had said he'd provide some, but they didn't know how much they'd get, so they were still collecting crops their own dynasties didn't have.

Of course, they'd also collected some advanced technology, not just crops. Otherwise, the trip would've been a waste.

Did they really think they'd come all this way just to kill people? The returns from killing people were far too low.

Just then, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke. "Listen, I'll give you a dignified way out. You know that crooked-neck tree on Coal Mountain? Go hang yourself from it."

Zhu Yuanzhang still held a grudge. The last emperor of his dynasty had been forced to hang himself from a branch on Coal Mountain. Now that he was here, he'd make this emperor hang himself there, too. That was what he called bringing things full circle.

The one who lost the realm had hanged himself there. Now the one who seized it would hang there, too.

Qianlong wanted to declare that an emperor could not be insulted. But when he saw the four emperors glaring at him, he knew that if he didn't give himself a dignified end, they'd give him one themselves.

And that might mean no dignity at all.

So, for the sake of dignity, Qianlong marched resolutely to Coal Mountain and declared, "Though I die, the Manchu will shall endure."

Then he hanged himself from a branch.

As visions of his life began flashing before his eyes, Zhu Yuanzhang walked up to him and chuckled. "I won't leave you alone. I'll send every last one of them down to join you."

Then Zhu Yuanzhang turned to the generals behind him and asked, "The Forbidden City's gates are all shut, right?"

"They are. We found all the secret passages and hidden rooms, and even plugged up the dog holes," Xu Da replied with a chuckle. "Of course, we also caught all the people who tried to disguise themselves and sneak out of the palace."

If you think this book is good, add it to your bookshelf so you can find it again next time.

"Good. Not one will be spared!" A ruthless glint flashed in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, and he swept his hand outward.

Qianlong's eyes suddenly flew open. His pupils were filled with hatred as he stared at Zhu Yuanzhang. After a while, the hatred in his eyes slowly faded, leaving them dull and lifeless. And so, an emperor's life came to an end.

After that, Zhou Ru handled matters in this world. The Four Great Emperors completed their mission, collected their rewards, and returned to their respective worlds.

Zhou Ru also got to work, doing her best to rebuild a red China with her supporters, Zhang Jiao, and the learned people to whom she had passed on the Red Will.

Liu Bing, of course, had stopped concerning himself with all that. He'd long since returned to his own world to stir up trouble... No, to show off.

After all, the great powers of the Primordial World were waiting to see the fun.

At Yuncheng Military Region Hospital, Zhou Nuo watched the nurse leave her room with a strange look in her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

After she'd driven off the middle-aged man who'd been possessed by a Parasitic Beast, she'd passed out for two days. By the time she woke up, she was in this hospital.

The hospital was very comfortable, and she'd heard that her stay was free, so she was perfectly happy to be here. But why did everyone keep looking at her so strangely?

"Little Right, don't you think everyone here looks at me strangely?" After observing the past two days and confirming there were no cameras in the room, Zhou Nuo waited until no one else was around before quietly talking to Little Right.

"Could they have found out about you, Little Right?" Zhou Nuo asked, looking worried and cautious.

Little Right was speechless. Wasn't it perfectly normal for them to find out? It wasn't actually part of a human body, after all, so it was easy for technology to detect.

While Zhou Nuo had been unconscious, it had already reached an agreement with the humans. Otherwise, how could Zhou Nuo have been allowed to stay here?

It opened its eyes and gave Zhou Nuo a strange look.

The moment Zhou Nuo saw Little Right's expression, she immediately whispered, "Yes, yes, that's exactly the look they give me. You've got it down perfectly, Little Right."

"You must know why they look at me like that. Tell me. You were awake while I was unconscious, weren't you?"

Little Right sighed softly, then looked at Zhou Nuo with a strange, pitying expression. "While you were unconscious, they thought you'd been injured, so they gave you a full examination."

"Mm-hmm. And then?" Little Right's expression seemed odd, but Zhou Nuo was more curious about why the others were looking at her that way.

"Then they couldn't figure out why you'd been attacked, so they needed to look into your daily routine to find out. Your phone was obviously the best place to start."

Zhou Nuo: "!!!"

She sensed something was wrong. It even felt as though the sky had fallen in.

"And the 800G on your phone was unfortunately exposed. On top of that, just as they were returning your phone, the doctor came by and explained that you'd passed out from exhaustion, not because you'd been injured. Put the two together..."

Little Right didn't finish, but Zhou Nuo already knew what had followed. Sometimes, other people's assumptions could be the deadliest thing of all.

She hadn't passed out because she was exhausted!!!

"Little Right! I didn't pass out because of that, you know that! I really was attacked!" Zhou Nuo felt she needed to explain herself.

"Of course they know that. But sometimes, you humans would rather believe the so-called facts that you yourselves consider the most outrageous and scandalous. Then someone tells someone else, and you know how it goes."

"Ah!!! My lifetime of good reputation!!! I'm still a maiden!!!"

Zhou Nuo burrowed under the covers and wailed in despair.