Beyond the imagination of the commoners in the capital, it took almost less than half a day’s effort. The formerly faint sound of killing in the Imperial City and the armored soldiers shuttling through the streets and alleys from time to time calmed down.
Initially, whether it was Emperor Zhou who wanted to get rid of Young General Yan, the minister who had given outstanding service, or Young General Yan who want to revolt, it should not have been quick. It was as if the battle had ended without much fighting.
So who had won in the end?
In the Imperial Palace, the Zhou clan of the royal family and cabinet ministers in the Imperial Court, who prepared to come to celebrate Fu Cong’s triumphant return, were all quiet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
They did not understand that the guards, who had been preparing to “invite” Old Madam Yan in at the beginning, directly called out that Yan Chu would rebel and arrest the Yan family’s women after they left the palace. And so Yan Chu also rebelled because of this incident.
As if from the beginning to the end, they were like the marionettes drawn by the strings. The man who controlled the puppets was Yan Chu.
“You, traitorous vassal.”
A few very loyal guards shielded the crown prince. He pointed to Yan Chu, who walked towards the imperial palace hall with his sword and silver armor stained with countless blood. He cursed to appear fierce while cowardly at heart.
“Thanks to your Yan family, who kept saying that they were loyal to the monarch and dedicated themselves to serve the country, is this loyal army who served the country like this? Yan Chu, after you die, I’ll see what you look like to explain the ancestors under the nine springs.”
“Pfft—”
Yan Chu chuckled, and it echoed in the empty and silent hall.
“Your Highness Crown Prince, do you want me to remind you, who bought the left prison warden and let him cut the tendons of my hands and feet?”
Yan Chu walked on slowly, his sword against the marble floor, and led out a little spark when friction.
“And Second Prince, do you want me to remind you, who bribed the jailer who had taken care of me at the beginning and let him soak the chili water on the whip that whipped me, and mixed a lot of salt into the unboiled water poured on me?”
Yan Chu did not need to provide evidence, just from two people suddenly pale expressions could prove everything.
“Also, who put the so-called my plotting with the enemy and the treason letters in my camp account, Fu Cong? Or who is also behind him?”
All the people who looked at Yan Chu bowed their heads one by one. In reality, when things got to this point, everyone could understand Yan Chu’s mood. The whole family, who was bending to a task and sparing no effort, until death put an end for the country by turn and would eventually end up as someone who died once they had served their purpose, would hit their hearts’ bottom line and bounce back.
“Yan Chu.”
Emperor Zhou opened his mouth. He looked at his two sons, combined with what Yan Chu had just said, did they even frame up the other party’s treason?
At this moment, the old emperor did not think of his clever and sensible daughter, only thought that his two sons were narrow-minded and could not tolerate this farce caused by Yan Chu.
He thought that he should reprimand Yan Chu at this time because no matter what, Yan Chu should not rebel against him and betray his trust in him. However, if he positively trusted the other, why would he not listen to the other party’s excuses and directly put him into prison, so that his two sons had such a convenient opportunity to start?
He had no face to say anything.
The soldiers of the Yan family army came in a line and brought down the cabinet ministers as well as their wives and daughters in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The crown prince and the second prince refused to leave and tried to resist, but they were directly knocked out and carried out.
Empress Zhou was a woman, and she was taken away by several female soldiers. She was covered in her mouth and could only utter endless moans in an attempt to Emperor Zhou to save her.
Soon, only Emperor Zhou and Yan Chu left in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. From midnight time to the sky breaking dawn, the Hall of Supreme Harmony’s door had opened again.
This time, Yan Chu had a new imperial edict in his hand, which Emperor Zhou voluntarily passed on to him.
After this day, Emperor Zhou became the Virtuous Prince of Zhou and moved to a relatively secluded palace in the harem. All expenses were the same as before, except that all the people who served him were arranged by Yan Chu.
When Zhou Mingzhu married Fu Cong, she should have her own Princess Residence. However, she thought that she was reborn, recognized her sincerity, and merged the Princess Residence with Fu Cong’s General Residence. Therefore, when the former empress of Zhou and the two princes, who were the commoners now, sent to accompany Zhou Mingzhu, they undoubtedly were equivalent to entering the General Residence.
Fu Cong was not dead, but he almost died. He had experienced all the crimes that Yan Chu had suffered. Now he was lying in his General Residence with his tendons of hands and feet broken.
A group of people gathered together, but it was a pity that the General Residence was full of Yan Chu’s people. Even if they thought a lot of devious ideas, they just thought about it in their mind.
“Little Sister, we all depend on you now.”
The former crown prince looked at Zhou Mingzhu, this younger sister born of the same parents, and gave her countless high hopes.
“Big Brother, don’t worry. After Yan Chu marries me into the palace, I’ll try to kill him and take back the Great Zhou he took away.”
Zhou Mingzhu looked at her thin spouse lying on the bed and felt deeply hurt.
“Mingzhu, don’t feel that you have failed me. You do this for the Great Zhou’s sake, for all of us. It’s your sacrifice that can bring us freedom and happiness. No matter what, I only love you.”
Fu Cong’s eyes were loving, but now he looked a little pitiful. When he made this expression, there was no intoxication in the exchange.
However, Zhou Mingzhu did not care. She felt that Fu Cong’s behavior was only temporary. Yan Chu had also gotten the tendons of his hands and feet broken at the beginning, but now he was still healthy and active. And he had destroyed her Great Zhou.
It was able to be seen that the imperial physician’s words unable to be trusted. Fu Cong was better than Yan Chu, and since the other party could do it, Fu Cong would naturally be able to do it. Sooner or later, he would return to his formerly handsome, confident, and at ease appearance.
Furthermore, Fu Cong’s words also touched on her heart. She did not agree to marry Yan Chu because she was clinging abjectly to life, but for Great Zhou’s sake and everyone present, she sacrificed herself and made everyone better.
Fu Cong’s words made her feel that her clinging abjectly to life had become great, and Zhou Mingzhu was happy with the other party’s frank and passionate confession. At least in her previous life, Yan Chu had never said such words to her.
This group of people would have such ideas now. The essence was that Third Lady Yan, who was now the empress dowager, sent Zhou Mingzhu an endless stream of good things. The very few servants in residence heeded Fu Cong and others, but they never violated Zhou Mingzhu’s meaning, except to let her go out or helped her deliver messages.
Everyone thought of Zhou Mingzhu’s identity before and felt that this was Yan Chu’s remaining affection for her. Otherwise, how to explain the empress dowager’s behavior?
They decided to take a retreat for advancement and used Zhou Mingzhu’s pretense to show her kindness, to find an opportunity for Yan Chu to relax his vigilance, and then killed him with one blow and recaptured Great Zhou.
After a month of waiting, they heard that the new monarch had gone to attack Jiang. Everyone thought, including Zhou Mingzhu herself, that the other party might want to conquer the whole world and used the country as a betrothal gift to marry Zhou Mingzhu.
As time went by, Fu Cong’s injuries did not show any signs of improvement but tended to worsen. Yan Chu had the tendon of his feet broken, but he still insisted on continuous rehabilitation every day. Fu Cong fundamentally could not bear this crime. Every time he got off the ground, he directly fell to the ground and had no courage to stand up.
He began to be more and more irritable. Even though he did not dare to lose his temper in the face of Zhou Mingzhu, his expression began to twist. With his increasingly gloomy and emaciated face, Zhou Mingzhu could not help thinking of Yan Chu’s kindness in her previous incarnation.
In the previous life, although the other party would not make her happy with those sweet words like Fu Cong, he gave her countless honors. Even the empress’s sister-in-law also had to respect her to some degree.
In this life, Yan Chu was still infatuated and wanted to use the country as a betrothal gift to marry her later. Even though Zhou Mingzhu hated him for seizing her Great Zhou, she could not help somewhat moved.
Especially in comparison with Fu Cong, Zhou Mingzhu discovered for the first time that Yan Chu was such a strong and unwavering man.
She thought, perhaps this time she could spare the other party’s life, as long as he could promise to return this country to her emperor brother.
Since he moved her heart, Zhou Mingzhu increasingly reduced the number of visits to Fu Cong. She also had no qualms accepting the things sent by Empress Dowager, and dressed herself up meticulously every day, for fear that she would grow old and ugly when Yan Chu came back from victory.
The servants of residence initially agreed overtly. Fu Cong, a disabled person that paralyzed in bed, had no help. Even his elementary excretion was a problem. If he could not hold back, he could only extract his excrement and urine on the bed. Only on that day, Zhou Mingzhu suddenly remembered to come to see him, and the servants who served him would tidy up his room.
At first, Fu Cong still wanted to complain about Zhou Mingzhu. However, when he realized that the accusation was useless and would only make Zhou Mingzhu more tired of himself, he stopped this action, and instead, he sought after Zhou Mingzhu. He analyzed that his inner uneasiness and deep love for her made Zhou Mingzhu feel complacent and could visit him several times.
Day after day, it was cold in autumn and hot in spring, and when Zhou Mingzhu was waiting impatiently, there was a report that Yan Chu had defeated Jiang and returned from victory. Simultaneously interpreting that Yan Chu planned to marry former Zhou’s princess and shared the news of this flourishing period.
Zhou Mingzhu’s heart was firmly determined, including those who had been waiting for nearly a year, Zhou Mingzhu regarded as the sustenance of their life and freedom.
One day, two days, three days, Zhou Mingzhu had been waiting for someone to welcome her into the palace, for the embroidery girls to sew the most beautiful wedding dress for her, and for the artisans to create the most dazzling phoenix crown for her.
She had suffered from staying in this small square world. She wanted to stand high. For the first time, she felt that being an empress was better than being a princess.
But no less than ten days later, she did not have anyone from the palace come, including the empress dowager, who had been sending her things, seemed to have forgotten her existence.
Zhou Mingzhu was a little angry. She felt that Yan Chu was indeed sluggish in his work, and since the other party liked her, instead of staying in this shabby place, he should have left her in the palace when he departed to fight.
She decided that if Yan Chu came to ask her to marry him, she had to give him a good squeeze and forgive him. More than a year of subtle indoctrination had made Zhou Mingzhu deeply believe that Yan Chu loved her, unable to pull away from love.
She and her elder brothers waited and waited, and they hoped and hoped. But they never see Yan Chu or even anyone from the palace come from the beginning to the end. Until one day, outside the Princess Residence, there was a loud and joyful sound, which was only able to be played when the emperor married.
How could joyful sound out before she, this empress, put on her wedding dress?
Zhou Mingzhu was curious, as were the others in this residence.
They all came out of their rooms and ran towards the outer wall of the residence.
“The eldest princess is the former Jiang’s empress dowager. The first day she married Jiang, the old emperor died. You said that the new emperor would not be killed by her when he married her, right?”
“Bah, you want to die.”
“The new emperor made a promise before he married the eldest princess, that he won’t accept polygamy for life. It shows how much the new emperor likes the eldest princess. If someone hears you say bad things about the eldest princess, be careful that your tongue will get pulled out.”
Zhou Mingzhu’s ear was against the wall. She felt that she had a hallucination, the eldest princess, shouldn’t it be her, the second princess? Why would Yan Chu’s bride be that woman, Zhou Mingli?
“Who said it’s not true. It said that the empress’ feeling is also full of frustrations and dashed hopes. In truth, the two loved each other from childhood. It was only because the Virtuous Prince of Zhou made a mess of the affectionate couple and promised the second princess, that poisonous woman, to the new emperor. They only could reluctantly separate. God knows that the malicious woman wasn’t satisfied with the new emperor, such a good unmarried husband. She had an illicit lover in Fu Cong and cooperated with him to frame the new emperor up, making him wronged by everyone. If it wasn’t for because the eldest princess had a political marriage with Jiang as the price to plead for leniency, I’m afraid he would already die at an earlier time.”
This one was gossip that suddenly spread throughout the entire continent during this period, but because it was so genuine, and the most popular gossip material at present, many people believed it was true.
“If it weren’t for that poisonous woman, the new emperor wouldn’t have suffered so much at the beginning, but I’ve to thank her. It’s specifically because of her existence that the new emperor has achieved his present achievements and status. Now that the world is unified, our people can suffer less from war.”
Outside the wall, it was noisy and lively, but inside the wall, everyone’s hearts had chilled. Initially, they still had hope, but now they were thoroughly desperate.
“What do those people mean? You made that letter back then?”
The second prince grabbed his younger sister by the collar and questioned her.
“Pow—”
He slapped Zhou Mingzhu heavily: “Poisonous woman, poisonous woman. If it weren’t for you, Yan Chu would have conquered Ming at that time. He won’t get arrested for treason. Naturally, we also won’t have the opportunity to deal with him. With the Yan family’s loyalty to the royal family, he won’t rebel. It’s all on you. We’re all now like this because of you.”
They could not go out at all. How despairing. What was the fraternity of brothers and sisters b*******? The second prince had entirely ignored it. He went crazy and seemed ready to beat Zhou Mingzhu up.
But the crown prince and the empress of Zhou stood by the wall woodenly, with their empty eyes, without any intention to stop them.
Great joy and great sorrow. It was nothing more than that.
Zhou Mingli was sitting in the palace full of reddish gold. This time was her second time as a bride, which was different from the first one. This time, she was both looking forward and shy. Looking at the burning candles of dragon and phoenix, the temperature on her face rose accordingly.
Yan Chu did not know when he came in. The palace was empty, only the two of them.
Zhou Mingli slightly raised her head and looked at the emperor in the red wedding dress. Her neck was a little sore, but she refused to lower her head.
What happened these days was like a dream, and she did not expect that the other party not only brought her back to her homeland but also truly gave her a home.
She did not dare to think whether Yan Chu liked more or felt more guilty when he asked her to marry him. At that moment, she was selfish. Even if it was just compensation, she also wanted to be that man’s wife and wanted to stand beside him openly, even if it was only a year, a month, or a day.
For Zhou Mingli, she stole everything now.
Yan Chu did not know what the other party thought at this time, but it did not matter. She could steal this happiness for a lifetime.
To share the nuptial wine cups for a lifetime, spring night to old age.
“Bzzt—”
A strange machine malfunction or a sound of poor electromagnetic reception came through Yan Chu’s ears. Yan Chu, who had just fallen asleep, opened his eyes, and his consciousness appeared in the consciousness space.
“007, you finally show up.”
Yan Chu almost knelt to this unreliable system. After so many years of calling the other side, it would not come out. When he finished the missions in his way, the other party came out immediately.
“When you entered this space, it happened to be a millennium system maintenance time. Therefore, there are some small probability failures. The reward for completing missions in the world doubled, and no punishment for failure.”
It was also 007’s fault for ignoring it. It did not expect Yan Chu to fulfill his duties so quickly in the previous world and thought it was too late to send the other party to the next world after it finished the repair inspection. It did not expect that the other party came out early and entered the next world without waiting for it.
This one was its excellent host. It still felt distressed if anything happened, but now it seemed that the other side was dealing with it reasonably well.
“Let me take a look at your mission accomplishment.”
Without receiving the main plot and the memory of the original self, 007 thought that Yan Chu’s mission completion rate should not be expressly high. But this time, he found that he underestimated the other side.
“Ding— Main Mission: unify the Three Kingdoms, become the emperor, 100% completion, 800 bonus points. Side Mission 1: save the lives of the Yan family, 100% completion, 600 bonus points. Side Mission 2: repay Zhou Mingli, fulfill the other party’s wishes, 100% completion, 600 bonus points. Side Mission 3: revenge against Zhou Mingzhu, Fu Cong, and others, 100% completion, bonus points 600-“
“Total reward points 2,600, as a result of the world system malfunction, the reward doubled, and the remaining total points are 6,700.”
This time mission, it could be said to be the bumper harvest. When 007 finished the client’s mission this time, the memory of the small world that was incipiently lacking also appeared in Yan Chu’s mind.
This time, the client of the world was indeed the body he possessed. There was nothing wrong with this person. However, it should be the Yan Chu of the one after Zhou Mingzhu’s rebirth.
In that world, because there was no appearance of Yan Chu, the original self, which his childhood memory was not clear, did not find the subtle difference in inkstone in the so-called letter of colluding with the enemy and treason. Therefore, under the iron evidence, he became a traitor in everyone’s mouth.
At that time, because of his military achievements in the past, Yan Chu had the tendon of his hands and feet broken and sentenced to exile to Qianmo, the most miserable place in the far north of Zhou. At that time, although he felt his wish, he did not reach the level of hatred until he heard that his mother was wronged, raped, could not bear the humiliation, and committed suicide. His paternal grandmother fell gravely ill, never to recover, and died soon because of his mother’s and his affairs afterward. The eldest aunt and his female cousins were criticized all day long because of his and his mother’s matters. The youngest female cousin was attacked and killed by the children of several families who had a long-held feud with the Yan family. However, it was fruitless to redress the injustice. The original self was angry.
The Yan family had been guarding this territory for the Great Zhou’s people for many generations. They thought that he betrayed the country and spat on and cursed him. It did not matter if they humiliated him, but his mother, grandmother, and female cousins were so innocent. What had their sons, husbands, and fathers protected with their lives?
Those cruel and selfish people were merely living demons.
Qianmo was very close to Jiang. Since everyone said that he was conspiring with the enemy and treason, he betrayed them. He wanted to help Jiang and recapture the land that had been guarded by the Yan family. Since they chose to spit on their god of protection, then the said god would take back all the protection they had given them.
He changed his name and surname to sneak into Jiang. He scratched his face and appeared as a disabled tactician. At the same time, he also began to search for the real purpose of him being framed and found out the role played by Zhou Mingzhu behind his back.
For a whole decade, wars broke out frequently in this territory. Jiang and Ming seemed to be guided by famous scholars and helped by gods on the battlefield. Soon, Zhou was eroded by the two countries. However, Ming and Jiang deadlocked on the territory initially belonging to Zhou. At present, you beat two cities away, and tomorrow I would get back another three. There was no winning or losing. The commoners of this former Zhou suffered unspeakable misery.
Several hundred thousand or over one million of Zhou’s commoners were destitute and homeless. They experienced wars, famines, and epidemics. Facing the already defeated Zhou, with Ming and Jiang wreaking havoc on Zhou’s territory, they began to miss the famous, brilliant Yan family on the battlefield. They previously remembered that there was a platoon who led Zhou’s army on the battlefield countless times to resist the invasion of other countries and guard their own.
Now the Yan family was dead, and their homeland was also gone.
At that time, the original self was already crazy. It was just in response to the sentence that Yan Chu heard: “My Yan family is loyal. Since heaven wants to destroy my Yan family, I will destroy this world.” Zhou had defeated, Ming and Jiang should not exist in this world. Everything turned out to be destroyed.
Because of the instigation of the original self, Ming and Jiang caught in the endless war of resistance, and their national strength was extremely scarce. Because of the tremendous war losses, the commoners were almost starving and naked.
Until one day, Jiang’s new emperor came to inspect the border with the empress dowager, who was Zhou Mingli.
Just like this world, the Zhou Mingli in that world chose to politically marry Jiang to give the original self the chance to overturn his case. This time, Emperor Jiang also died on the night of his wedding.
Zhou Mingli’s method was brilliant. After the seventh prince had the last laugh, she secretly encouraged the other princes’ maternal families to unite and pulled down the seventh prince. She fostered and raised the youngest, the barely-three-year-old thirteenth prince as the puppet emperor.
In Jiang, several influential families checked and suppressed each other, but it was Zhou Mingli, this nominal empress dowager, who finally took advantage of it in the end.
She recognized at a glance the disfigured man who always propped on the walking stick in the barracks.
Zhou Mingli took him to a place where he met several surviving female cousins of the Yan family and their children.
After that day, both Ming and Jiang lost a mysterious tactician who started fire everywhere. In a courtyard of a particular household in the former Zhou, there was a man with a cloudy, uncertain temper and a disfigured man who beat his maid named Mingzhu, and his servant called Fu Cong from time to time.
Five years later, Jiang swallowed up the territory of Ming. When Emperor Jiang was nine years old, Empress Dowager Jiang launched a coup to abolish the young puppet emperor and established herself as the empress, and changed the country’s name to Yan.
According to historical records, Empress Jiang, who had a maiden name Zhou, made vigorous efforts to build a prosperous country. The country was peaceful and prosperous during her reign and lived sixty to eighty years. Before she died, she adopted the Prince of Qin’s heir.
The Prince of Qin, the son of the former disabled emperor, born from a mother surnamed Jiang with maiden surname Yan. It said that he was the child of the Yan family, a famous general of the former Zhou.
