28: Chapter 28: Enough with the nonsense! If you're not happy, I'll chop off your dog's head!

Domineering, extremely domineering.

There were no convoluted political compromises, no muddling, compromising power balances. Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong slammed the rules directly into everyone's faces; if you want to reason, I'll smash your faces with facts; if you want to talk about influence and background, I'll use my blade to chop off your heads.

"The Prince is wise!" General Wang Bi, his face flushed with excitement, was the first to kneel on one knee, his voice booming like a bell. "We are willing to be the sharp blades in your hands, to eradicate all corruption in the world! Whoever dares to cause trouble, I will be the first to twist off his dog head!"

General Fu Youde, Chang Sheng, General Feng Sheng, and the rest of the Huaixi Nobility exchanged glances, all seeing the fervor in each other's eyes, and they all knelt down in a rush: "We are willing to die for you!"

The sound shook the roof tiles, and the killing intent soared to the heavens.

The civil officials looked ashen; they finally understood the situation before them. This young man sitting on the rosewood chair was not some poor wretch forced into rebellion. He was a madman who was even more unreasonable and reckless than the Hongwu Emperor. The Hongwu Emperor still needed to fabricate charges and find excuses to kill people; this lord simply put a blade to your neck and asked if you submitted.

Behind the screen, Zhu Yuanzhang could no longer hold his teacup steady.

Tea sloshed out, spilling a few drops on the back of his hand, but he was completely unaware. This founding Emperor, who had spent his life in battle and was deep in thought, felt a monstrous storm rising in his heart at this moment.

Investigating the farmland in Jiangnan.

He, Zhu Yuanzhang, had schemed his whole life. To pave the way for Imperial Grandson Zhu Yunwen, he had racked his brains to purge the military group. But he knew clearly in his heart that those scholars and big landlords in Jiangnan were the poisonous turtles sucking blood from the Great Ming. It was just that he was old and couldn't stir up trouble anymore. He was afraid that if he pushed these people too hard, the world would fall into chaos, and the new ruler wouldn't be able to hold the line.

But what about this kid? His first move, his first fire, was directed straight at the hardest bone.

"Such courage, such spirit..." Zhu Yuanzhang muttered to himself, his withered lips trembling slightly. He looked at the young man standing with his hands behind his back outside the screen, and in a trance, he seemed to see himself from decades ago, raising the banner of rebellion on the walls of Haozhou, swearing to drive the Mongol Yuan out of the Central Plains.

No, this kid was even more ruthless than he had been back then. Back then, he had nothing to lose, but this kid, having already controlled the situation, insisted on offending the aristocratic clans of Jiangnan to the death. Because he knew where the root of the Great Ming's illness lay.

"Eunuch Wang Fu." Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly spoke.

Eunuch Wang Fu hurriedly stepped forward: "This servant is here."

"Tell me, if this kid really investigates Jiangnan thoroughly, how much silver can he scrape out?"

Sweat broke out on Eunuch Wang Fu's forehead; this was not something a eunuch like him could easily respond to. He could only offer a fawning smile: "The Emperor, the Third Imperial Prince's methods are thunderous. This servant estimates that the national treasury might be burst by the silver."

Zhu Yuanzhang ignored the eunuch's flattery, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

In the court, the intimidation was enough. Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong walked back to the rosewood chair and sat down, his expression softening slightly.

"What I said just now was for those parasites of the nation," Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong changed his tone, no longer so aggressive. "As long as you officials keep to your duties and serve honestly, you may continue to hold your offices. I will not cause you trouble without reason."

A slap followed by a sweet date—an age-old trick, but under the absolute deterrence of force, it happened to be the most effective.

The tense nerves of the civil officials relaxed slightly.

"But I will say this in advance." Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong's tone shifted sharply, the blade raised again. "If I find out that anyone is colluding behind my back, tipping off local officials, or cooking the books to deceive the imperial court... I guarantee that there will be a place for him at the execution ground outside the Meridian Gate where criminals are skinned and stuffed with straw. Exterminating the nine clans is also just a matter of a single word from me."

The civil officials, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, felt their hearts jump back into their throats.

"Dismissed."

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong did not give them any room for negotiation, cleanly throwing out those two words.

The eunuch's shrill voice followed: "Dismissed—"

The civil officials felt as if they had been granted amnesty, their legs shaking so hard they could barely stand. Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng was carried out of the hall by Qi Tai and Fang Xiaoru. He left in a daze, muttering to himself, "No, no, I must go see the Grand Imperial Heir!"

The vast Fengtian Hall was cleared in the blink of an eye.

The morning light shone through the tall hall doors onto the golden bricks, and the residual heat of the earlier confrontation still lingered in the air.

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong did not leave. He remained seated on the rosewood chair, reached out to pick up the teacup on the side table, leisurely skimmed the foam, and took a sip.

The hall was silent.

After a while, Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong put down the teacup. He stood up, turned around, and faced the empty dragon throne and the huge yellow pear wood screen behind it.

He adjusted his attire, bowed slightly, and performed a standard greeting for a grandson.

Immediately after, he raised his head, and a meaningful smile appeared on his young, handsome face.

"The Emperor."

"Are you satisfied with hearing this play from behind?"

Behind the screen.

Zhu Yuanzhang's hand, holding the teacup, froze in mid-air. Eunuch Wang Fu's eyes nearly popped out, and his legs went weak, causing him to kneel directly on the ground.

This kid had known all along that The Emperor was hiding behind?!

Zhu Yuanzhang slammed the teacup onto the table with a dull thud. He was not angry; instead, a flame ignited in his cloudy old eyes. He stood up, pushed away Eunuch Wang Fu's hand, pulled back the curtain on the side of the screen, and strode out.

The old man and the young man, separated by a few steps, their gazes collided in the air with a boom.

"When did you know I was behind there?" Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was low and hoarse, revealing neither joy nor anger.

"From the moment Eunuch Wang Fu said 'It is all up to the Third Imperial Prince to decide'," Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong answered without hesitation. "If you were truly too ill to get out of bed, the Imperial Guards around the hall would never have been withdrawn by half. You withdrew the men because you wanted to see my predicament when besieged by civil officials. Since you wanted to watch a show, I naturally had to perform it well."

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at him intently, then suddenly laughed toward the sky.

"Hahaha! Good! What a great performance!" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed until tears almost came out. He pointed at Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong. "You are using the Jiangnan clans as a target; aren't you afraid of truly forcing the scholars of the world into rebellion and making the Great Ming's empire unstable?"

"Whether the empire is stable or not does not depend on the mouths of scholars, but on the blades of the soldiers and the bowls of the common people." Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong met Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze without flinching. "If they dare to rebel, I will let them know that the Great Ming's blades are sharper than the Mongol Yuan's!"

Zhu Yuanzhang restrained his smile. He looked at the grandson before him who had completely torn off his disguise, feeling a complex mix of emotions. Heaven had truly given him a difficult problem, but also a tremendous surprise.

"Good." Zhu Yuanzhang spat out one word and turned to walk out of the hall. "Investigate the Jiangnan farmland as you please. If any major trouble arises, I will cover for you. But if you can't find anything, I will break your legs."

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong watched that hunched but still domineering back and replied loudly: "Your grandson obeys the decree."