Chapter 65: Censor Zhang, Stop Your Magic! Seeking Monthly Tickets
He isn’t seeking death!
He wants to drag our Great Ming Dynasty down with him into the grave!
In just an instant, Old Zhu realized.
And in this moment, he finally understood the terrifying nature of Zhang Biao.
This Censor Zhang’s true strength wasn’t his shamelessness or his madness, but the things in his mind that surpassed this era.
He could meticulously list all the country’s ailments.
He could unscrupulously examine everyone’s undergarments, even checking if the threads inside were aligned.
He could truly do anything without regard for his own life.
Such ability, such ruthlessness, such methods, he had never seen anyone like this in his life, no, in the entire river of history.
“Silence—!”
A roar suddenly erupted.
The sound was so loud it even drowned out the roars from the square and Zhang Biao’s wild laughter.
Old Zhu’s body swayed violently, his withered hand gripping the arm of the nearby eunuch so tightly that he barely remained standing.
His chest heaved, a pathological flush spread across his sallow face, and his sunken eyes burned with a light that was almost madness.
He violently threw off the eunuch’s support, staggered forward a step, and no longer pointed at Zhang Biao. Instead, he swept his finger across the nobles and high officials on both sides of the imperial steps who were still shouting about exterminating demons and clans.
“All of you, shut up—!”
This furious roar, like a tangible wave of sound, made the eardrums of Li Jinglong, Fu Youwen, and others closest to him buzz, and they instinctively shut their mouths, looking at the emperor, who seemed possessed, with faces full of horror.
Old Zhu’s gaze was as cold as ice, fixed on Zhou Ya’s face, contorted with excitement:
“Zhou Ya! You keep babbling about deceiving the masses with demonic words! Plotting to endanger the state! Good! Very good!”
Zhou Ya’s entire body went cold under that gaze, and a sense of foreboding instantly enveloped him.
“Jiang Huan—!”
Old Zhu’s voice was hoarse and sharp, like the cry of a night owl.
“Your servant is here!”
Jiang Huan stepped forward, hand on his sword, his expression extremely solemn.
“For us!”
Old Zhu’s finger suddenly pointed at Zhou Ya, each word squeezed out as if from clenched teeth, carrying a strong scent of blood: “Flay him!”
A gasp—!
The entire place erupted in an uproar!
Almost no one expected that Old Zhu would actually act against Zhou Ya!
Even Zhang Biao and Shen Lang and their group didn’t expect it!
In just an instant, the entire Hall of Supreme Harmony Square fell into dead silence.
Even the cold wind seemed to congeal.
All the shouts of killing, curses, and crying stopped abruptly.
The color drained from Zhou Ya’s face, leaving it as pale as paper. He stared with wide, disbelieving eyes, as if he hadn’t understood what Old Zhu said: “Your Majesty?! I… I am…”
“Didn’t you want to flay and stuff?”
Old Zhu interrupted him sharply, his eyes showing undisguised brutality and an almost uncontrolled madness:
“Weren’t you our loyal subject?! Weren’t you going to exterminate demons and correct public opinion for us?!”
“Fine! I’ll grant your wish! I’ll use your loyal subject’s skin to light up our Hall of Supreme Harmony Square!”
“Let everyone under heaven see! See how we treat loyal subjects! See if we have been deceived by demonic persons!”
“Jiang Huan! Why aren’t you acting—!”
“Your servant obeys the decree!”
Jiang Huan’s body stiffened, a flicker of horror in his eyes, but he didn’t hesitate. He suddenly waved his hand.
Two Imperial Guards, like wolves and tigers, pounced instantly. They dragged Zhou Ya, who had gone limp and was defecating and urinating uncontrollably, as if he were a chick.
“No…! Your Majesty! Your Majesty, spare me! I am wrongly accused! I was eliminating a threat to the nation, Your Majesty!”
“Brother Huang! Brother Huang, save me—!”
Zhou Ya let out a bloodcurdling scream that was not human, kicking his legs wildly in the air.
Huang Zicheng, in a corner, was completely terrified, thinking to himself, How could this happen? How could this happen?!
However, Old Zhu no longer paid attention to anyone. He calmly asked, “Who else?”
“Who else thinks Zhang Biao is a demonic person? Who else thinks we should exterminate nine generations of a family? Who else thinks we should flay and stuff!?”
“Step forward!”
“I will grant all of you your wish today! Let all of you taste what it’s like to be a loyal subject!”
“Let all of you become lamps illuminating this eternal night!”
“Come on—!”
Old Zhu’s roar, like the final cry of a wounded Primordial Giant Beast, filled with a madness that would destroy everything, echoed for a long time over the dead silent Hall of Supreme Harmony Square.
Ru Chang, Fu Youwen, Zhu Neng, Guo Ying, Li Jinglong, and the nobles and high officials who had been righteous and shouting for death and extermination just moments ago, now all kept their heads bowed low, wishing they could stuff them into their crotches.
They could be seen trembling like leaves in the autumn wind, not daring to even take a deep breath.
They finally understood.
The Emperor was not going to kill Zhang Biao.
The Emperor had been pushed to the wall by this madman.
Driven to complete madness.
If this madman was going to burn himself to death by setting fire, the Emperor would use an even crazier, bloodier, and more shameless method to direct this fire onto all of them.
Using their skins, their blood, their nine generations of kin, to be buried with this out-of-control ‘demonic person’.
Zhang Biao had used ‘inviting the Great Ming to die’ to bind himself and the capital officials to the altar, and the Emperor would use ‘flaying and lighting lamps’ to drag all the nobles in court down to hell with him.
If we’re going to die, we’ll all die together.
This was no longer a question of killing or not killing.
This was a contest of who was crazier.
Who was more reckless with their life.
Who cared less about the Great Ming Dynasty in this gamble.
Zhang Biao watched Old Zhu, who was willing to sacrifice all the nobles in court to break the deadlock, and for the first time, the wild smile on his face froze. A look of extreme astonishment and gravity flashed in the depths of his eyes.
This old beggar…
He’s really fucking crazy.
So ruthless! So decisive! So shameless!
“Zhang Biao, weren’t you supposed to be my blade? Weren’t you supposed to kill all the jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards in this court? Then tell us, who here deserves to die?”
Old Zhu’s icy voice sounded again.
Teeth chattering could be heard all around.
Some people were already regretting targeting Zhang Biao.
But Zhang Biao frowned slightly.
Because this was no longer a way to break the deadlock; this was a mutual destruction strategy.
However…
“You’re asking me, who deserves to die?”
He repeated Old Zhu’s question, his tone as calm as if he were asking ‘What’s for dinner today?’
His bone-defined hand, stained with a bit of dust, did not point at anyone on the imperial steps.
Instead, it slowly, steadily, with an unquestionable resolve, pointed at Old Zhu: “Of course, it’s you!”
“What did you say!?”
Old Zhu’s eyes widened, and his killing intent surged.
But Zhang Biao appeared very calm, even with a hint of a sneer:
“You use the Imperial Treasury to manage the nation’s money and grain, treating the world’s wealth as your private property. You have no regard for the country, only your own small family!”
“Your heart is only for your sister and your Biao’er. When they died, you treated the people of the world like livestock!”
“You are bloodthirsty, not fit to be a ruler! You are ungrateful and stingy!”
“If you don’t deserve to die, who does?!”
“Poof!”
Old Zhu’s already unstable body swayed violently from rage and then collapsed.
“Your Majesty—!”
Jiang Huan’s eyes split with rage, and he suddenly lunged forward.
“Protect the Emperor! Hurry, protect the Emperor!!”
The eunuch’s sharp cries tore through the dead silence.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!”
Wails of grief rose from all around.
The imperial physician was almost in tears!
If he could, he truly wanted to utter the most humble, most helpless plea of his life to Zhang Biao.
Censor Zhang, please stop your supernatural abilities!
And in a distant corner, the historian, already shocked beyond measure, trembled as he raised his brush and crossed out all the drafts in his mind, writing crookedly:
【In the ninth month of the Hongwu 25th year, Censor Zhang, struck the Emperor three times in one day, all causing him to faint.】
…
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Also, I’ve read many texts about the Ming Dynasty where Old Zhu is written as a wise and benevolent ruler, which feels very strange. Especially in the late Hongwu period, Old Zhu’s personality was that of a madman.
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