51: Heads rolling (please collect and read)

Chapter 51: Heads Rolling (Please Bookmark and Follow)

The first day of the tenth month, the fourth year of zhengyong.

The nine generations of Yang Reverse, Yang Xuansu, were executed.

On this day.

Outside the Meridian Gate, direct descendants, maternal relatives, paternal relatives, and other kinsmen of Yang Xuansu—except Consort Shu and a few others—were all beheaded.

Heads rolled, and blood flowed like a river.

At the vegetable market execution ground.

In addition to Yang Xuansu's nine generations, former Ministers of Revenue and Personnel, along with their nine generations and involved officials, were also beheaded!

Over fifty executioners worked day and night, taking a full four days to sever the heads of all those implicated!

The officials of all ranks and relatives implicated in Yang Xuansu's treason case numbered more than forty thousand people!

At first, many people went to watch the spectacle.

A large number of ignorant women and children even scrambled for the fresh blood, dipping mantou, steamed buns, cured meat, and other food in the sinners' blood to take home for their gravely ill elderly and children to eat.

Hoping to use this method to cure severe illnesses.

However, by the third day, no one dared to approach the Meridian Gate or the vegetable market execution ground.

The reason was simple: far too many people had died!

Almost the entire street was drenched in blood and minced flesh, with a suffocating stench of blood soaring into the sky.

The mortuaries and mass graves outside the city were also overflowing.

In the end, at the suggestion of an anonymous person, a huge fire was set to burn the mass graves.

The raging flames burned continuously, taking four to five full days to slowly die down.

This filled the area with the aroma of roasted meat, making the eyes of countless wild wolves and stray dogs turn green from gorging, and they frequently attacked living passersby.

With over forty thousand people beheaded, the entire imperial court was silenced like winter cicadas; no one dared to disobey Emperor Zhengyong's commands anymore.

Many opportunists and flatterers sang praises and eulogized Emperor Zhengyong.

The eleventh day of the tenth month, the fourth year of zhengyong.

Consort Duan Xu Qingluan gave birth to a daughter. Emperor Zhengyong was overjoyed, bestowing the name 'Zheng Yuxuan' and title 'Princess Tianxuan'!

Legend has it that when Princess Tianxuan was born, the Big Dipper shone brilliantly across the night sky, even concealing the moonlight behind clouds and illuminating the sky.

Inside the room, azure clouds rolled like a Phoenix, with the faint sound of a phoenix cry echoing.

Zhao Chenghong, Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, requested an audience and presented a memorial: "The star Tianxuan of the Big Dipper shines as bright as the moon, portending great chaos under heaven. Its ruler is female; female is Yin and female is the hen. Heaven and earth are inverted, and the world will fall into great turmoil!"

Emperor Zhengyong was furious. He reprimanded the Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, stripped him of his office and titles, and demoted him to a commoner.

Three days later, Zhao Chenghong, former Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, accidentally slipped into the water and drowned. The ministers were shocked and terrified, submitting memorials to cry out against the injustice.

"Your Majesty! The astrological signs are determined by Heaven, and cannot be ignored!"

"Your Majesty! Princess Tianxuan portends chaos across the world. We beg Your Majesty to reconsider!"

"Your Majesty! Consort Duan Xu Qingluan has given birth to a calamity star, threatening great upheaval. We beg Your Majesty..."

"Your Majesty, Qing Province has suffered drought for four consecutive years. We ask Your Majesty to make a decision!"

"Your Majesty! Wu Province is plagued by locusts, spreading across hundreds of thousands of li..."

"Your Majesty! Nan Province suffers from flooding, submerging thirty thousand qing of fertile land and destroying five hundred houses..."

Over these past few days, Zheng Yi received more than a dozen memorials almost every day claiming Xu Qingluan gave birth to a calamity star that would cause world chaos.

Unfortunately, all of them were shelved without response. Zheng Yi also refused to meet with the grand secretaries, causing widespread uproar in court as everyone denounced Consort Duan Xu Qingluan for bewitching His Majesty and bringing ruin to the nation and its people!

Some court officials even submitted memorials demanding that Xu Qingluan's authority to manage the inner palace be revoked and returned to the Empress.

"His Majesty arrives~!"

Inside Xianfu Palace, Xu Qingluan sat cross-legged, circulating her internal energy.

Hearing the announcement, she immediately rose and threw herself into Zheng Yi's arms like a young swallow returning to its nest.

"Your Majesty~"

"Has my Beloved Consort's body recovered a bit?"

Zheng Yi asked while embracing Xu Qingluan.

Though they had all given birth, the Empress, Consort Shu, and Consort Bi were somewhat voluptuous, feeling plump when held and carrying a rich milky fragrance that fascinated Zheng Yi deeply.

Xu Qingluan, on the other hand, was able to walk out of bed just a few days after giving birth, looking nimble and robust with no sign of having just delivered a baby.

Seven days later, she was even capable of holding a saber to Cultivate, startling Zheng Yi into quickly stopping her from practicing saber techniques, forcing her to rest in her room all day.

"Your Majesty, I have good news to tell you~!"

"Oh? What good news?"

"I... made a Breakthrough!"

"What Breakthrough?"

Zheng Yi said in surprise, a thought dawning in his mind: "Your martial cultivation?"

"Mm!"

"Hss..."

Zheng Yi gasped cold air. What on earth, Xu Qingluan made a Breakthrough so quickly?

A nineteen-year-old first-rank Martial Artist was already rare, let alone reaching the Grandmaster Realm!

Wait, no, Xu Qingluan was twenty now.

Still, a twenty-year-old Grandmaster Realm Martial Artist was exceedingly rare—not just in the entire Great Yu Martial Forest, but even counting the Martial Forests of other countries!

"Mm!"

Seeing Xu Qingluan nod forcefully, Zheng Yi could hardly believe his ears.

So fast?

Were Xu Qingluan's talent, bone structure, and Aptitude really that formidable?

Or was it... Innate Pure Yin Qi!

First it was Consort Bi, and now Consort Duan Xu Qingluan.

Those four strands of Innate Pure Yin Qi could enhance the mother's cultivation.

But they had vanished into the air, hadn't they?

Or rather... those four strands of Pure Yin Qi did not disappear, but merged into the world!

Because they were in the imperial palace, being closest to the source, the cultivation of Martial Artists within the imperial palace—or rather, the inner palace—boosted even faster.

Innate Pure Yin Qi... Spiritual Qi?

Spiritual Qi resurgence?

Every child born integrated a strand of Innate Pure Yin Qi into this world, which was what Cultivators called a 'Spiritual Qi resurgence'?

"This..."

I am actually driving the Spiritual Qi resurgence?!

This was the only thought that surfaced in Zheng Yi's mind.

However, this was merely his conjecture; it still needed verification.

Suppressing his thoughts, Zheng Yi said, "Beloved Consort, what do you think about the criticism in court these past few days?"

"Criticism in court?"

A flash of Evil Qi passed through Xu Qingluan's eyes as she said, "It's just that some ministers want the Empress to return to power. What I should do depends on Your Majesty."

"Oh?" Zheng Yi grew interested and said, "Why depends on me?"

Xu Qingluan was the daughter of Xu Mujun; from childhood she had a stern character and hated evil like poison.

When she was merely thirteen or fourteen years old, she had already killed with a saber and roamed the Jianghu under the protection of personal guards.

Wanting her to make compromises or bow her head in defeat was absolute foolish dreaming.

"If Your Majesty believes them, I will lock myself in Xianfu Palace and consider myself in the cold palace to the outside world."

"As for internally..." Xu Qingluan glanced at Zheng Yi and whispered, "I will sneak out of the imperial palace and go find my father to take my side!"

"And what else?"

"If Your Majesty does not believe them..."

Xu Qingluan grabbed Zheng Yi's arm and said, "Then I will stay in the inner palace forever and accompany Your Majesty~!"

"You little vixen."

Zheng Yi smiled and patted her head, saying, "I can discern the truth. The court's commotion this time is merely a scheme orchestrated by Lu Xiangqing."

"The war between your father and Wu Country... he lost."

"Huh?" Xu Qingluan widened her eyes in disbelief. "Father actually lost? How is that possible?"

"Precisely because of this defeat, all those monsters and demons in court jumped out."

Zheng Yi sneered, "But there's no need to worry. It's just a minor setback, and I have my own arrangements."

"If my father-in-law had kept winning, no court officials would dare to speak out."

"Just losing once brought out so many people."

"It seems the imperial court is still the court of the influential families..."

The thirtieth day of the ninth month, the fourth year of zhengyong.

Another person suspected to be a Cultivator appeared in Wu Country. Disguised as a common soldier during a battle between the two armies, they launched a surprise attack on Xu Mujun, causing him to suffer a defeat and retreat.

Peace talks between the two nations failed, and the Great Yu army retreated. The two armies faced off with Canglong City and Heishan City serving as strategic points.

Just as Zheng Yi was wondering why another Cultivator appeared in Wu Country, Xu Mujun provided the answer himself.

It was another Mortal very similar to Eastern Cloud Wind, who used the power of an ancestral Magical Artifact and a sneak attack to injure him.

However, the injury was not severe, and he would recover after a few months of recuperation.

"Eastern Cloud Wind... ancestral Magical Artifact?"

"Does Wu Country also have captive descendants of Cultivators?"

Brothers, asking for monthly passes!