The sky gradually brightened. The clouds gradually gathered directly above Jingdou and turned the hazy light into a murky darkness. In the messy group of buildings behind the Royal Palace, the eunuchs and serving girls who were resting were still tossing and turning in their dreams. However, some of them had already woken up.
Hong Zhu forced himself to be alert and slapped himself in the face again and again. He wanted to use this action to keep himself calm. He was not on duty in the Eastern Palace, so he had not been silenced by the eunuchs and guards. Even though he was living in the courtyard of the laundry room, he still felt afraid. He didn't know what he would face next.
A sound suddenly came from outside the courtyard. Although it did not wake the people in their dreams, it scared Hong Zhu into rushing to the window. The hand in his sleeve tightly held a poisoned dagger Fan Xian had given him for self-defense. At any moment, he was ready to fight to the death with the people who had come to silence him.
If he fought, it would be difficult for him to escape death. However, if he didn't fight and just allowed himself to be captured, young Eunuch Hong, who was as stubborn as a scholar, would not do it.
His hand was shaking. His ear was pressed against the door, listening to the sounds outside the courtyard. Occasionally, wretched moans and cries rang out. However, those sounds only rang out for a few moments before immediately disappearing.
His face was deathly pale. He knew that someone was killing people outside. The eunuchs and serving girls who lived in the laundry room were basically all servants who served the Eastern Palace and Guangxin Palace. Hong Zhu knew what was happening outside for. He gripped the dagger tightly and bit his lip nervously. He didn't even notice that there was a small cut on his lip.
He didn't know when those people would come to kill him.
He didn't know if he could fight to the death alone.
Hong Zhu nervously waited for the arrival of death.
…
…
After an indeterminable amount of time, there was still no one who came to knock on Hong Zhu's door. Gradually, the noise in the laundry room also disappeared. Outside the courtyard, everything returned to normal.
Hong Zhu swallowed a mouthful of fishy saliva and nervously looked out through the crack in the door. He found that there was no one outside. He wanted to push open the door and go out to see what had happened. However, his body had long become stiff from fear. He couldn't move for a moment.
He squatted down and rubbed his ankle. Summoning up all his courage, he pushed open the door and walked onto the street of the laundry workshop. Somewhat absentmindedly, he looked around and found that the doors of the young eunuchs and palace maids' residences were tightly shut. There seemed to be nothing unusual.
He walked to a yard and cautiously reached out to push.
The door was not bolted and opened with a push.
Hong Zhu looked at the courtyard in front of him. The deathly pale color on his face deepened. Even his lips began to glow with a green light.
He did not see a yard full of corpses, but he did see a few pools of blood in an inconspicuous corner. The yard was empty, and there was not a single person there.
Presumably, it was the same in the other courtyards. The eunuchs and palace maids in these courtyards had all been killed by His Majesty. Even their corpses had been dragged to some secret place and burned under the cover of the darkness before dawn.
His Majesty's hands were indeed bloody.
…
…
Hong Zhu retreated out of the empty courtyard somewhat stupidly and stood in the empty alley of the laundry workshop. He didn't understand why those people hadn't come to kill him. A feeling of having survived a disaster and fear intertwined in his heart, making his entire body tremble.
There was a cracking sound.
A bright light flashed through the depths of the dark clouds in the sky and disappeared in a flash. The sound of thunder rumbled through Jingdou and the villages around it. Immediately after, a strong wind picked up and countless drops of rain fell to the ground accompanied by the wind and thunder.
Hong Zhu stood in the heavy rain and allowed the rain to wash over his face and wet his thin clothes. After a long time, he came back to his senses. Tightly holding the dagger that was like a life-saving straw, he returned to his own courtyard and closed the wooden door tightly, not daring to open it again.
… … …
"Imperial Father, why?!" The Crown Prince glared angrily at his father with an anger that was rarely seen and roared in a loud voice, "Why?"
The Qing Emperor did not reply to his words. He only stared at the empress's dazed face. Placing his hands behind his back, he slowly lowered his head and pressed his face against the empress's.
The empress's body shook for no reason as she watched the middle-aged man she was most familiar with, loved the most, and hated the most come closer to her. She saw clearly the black-bordered golden dragon robe on his body, saw clearly the golden lines on the dragon robe, and smelled the scent on his body. However, she could not see the expression on the man's face clearly. She could not see the emotions hidden under the expression.
Many years had passed, but the empress had never seen the Emperor clearly.
Her body shook again. It was clear that this empress felt fear toward the Emperor from the depths of her bones.
The Emperor leaned close to her ear and quietly said, "You taught a good son."
The empress was startled. She had no idea why such a terrifying thing as purging the Palace would happen today. Hearing the Emperor say it, only now did she know that it had something to do with the Crown Prince. However, the Crown Prince had been very stable and dutiful recently. What trouble could he have caused? Particularly after hearing the Emperor's words, an emotion unique to women made the empress excited. In a sharp voice, she yelled, "My son? Is he not your son? "
The reply to the empress was a crisp slap. The Emperor slowly pulled back his hand and looked at the empress in front of him, who was covering her face and looking at him in disbelief. Coldly, he said, "If you don't want me to depose you, then don't yell here."
Even though his words were gentle, they carried a chill that caused one to tremble with fear.
A glimmer of hopelessness flashed through the empress's eyes. She looked at the Emperor and laughed nervously. "You hit me … you actually hit me? It's been a dozen years … you can't even be bothered to look at me, and now you hit me? Should I … thank you? "
At this time, the Crown Prince saw his mother being humiliated and had already charged over with a wild roar. Blocking in front of the empress, he stared angrily and helplessly at the Emperor and yelled, "Father, enough!"
Although he stood between the Emperor and empress, the Emperor's deep eyes did not seem to see the Crown Prince at all. They passed through his body and stared at the sobbing empress behind him. Faintly, he said, "You cannot lose decorum, do you understand? Empress. "
The empress fearfully raised her head. Separated by the Crown Prince's not wide body, she glanced at the Emperor. Biting her lip, she didn't speak for a moment.
Seeing that she didn't reply, the Emperor furrowed his brows slightly and took a step forward.
If he took another step forward, he would collide directly into the Crown Prince's body.
The Crown Prince's heart had already turned completely cold. He knew what kind of harsh and heartless person his father was. A ruler would never be soft-hearted, particularly at this moment. His father had slapped his mother in the face. This at least proved that he still saw his mother as a person.
But, the Emperor's gaze directly passed through him as if he didn't exist. What did this mean? This meant that the Emperor no longer saw him as a person.
…
…
The Crown Prince didn't understand why his father had become so angry and could not tolerate him. Suddenly, he thought of something. His face became increasingly pale. However, he still stood in front of the empress because he wanted to protect his mother.
Although the Emperor had only taken one step forward, the Crown Prince felt as if the peak of Dong Mountain was descending. A threatening aura erupted from the man in the dragon robe in front of him and directly pressed down on his body.
The Crown Prince seemed to be able to hear the creaking of his knees. He was afraid. He wanted to retreat, but he couldn't. He knew that the Emperor was in a rage. He didn't know what the Emperor would do to his mother in his rage.
Thus, he stood unyieldingly between the Emperor and empress and used all of his strength to resist the threatening aura. His heart was slightly absent-minded. He wondered if this was the aura that an Overlord of a generation possessed. To be able to sit on the dragon chair, did one have to be so iron-blooded and heartless?
"Why?" The Crown Prince held on with great difficulty under the powerful pressure. The veins on his neck bulged. In a sharp voice, he roared, "Father, why?"
This time, the Emperor finally looked the Crown Prince squarely in the eye. Looking at the young man who dared to stand in front of him, a faint light rose in his eyes. His voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his lips as he scolded in a low voice, "Disgusting!"
…
…
The Crown Prince understood. The Crown Prince had proven his guess. The Crown Prince broke down. The Crown Prince's legs weakened. In an instant, he fell to sit in front of the Emperor and began to cry. Tears and snot covered his entire face.
The Emperor didn't look at him again. He walked to the empress's side and coldly waved his hand. Another slap flew out.
The empress gave a wretched cry. She was knocked to the ground by this slap and lay on the low couch.
The Emperor lowered his head and put it next to the empress's ear. Using a voice that sounded like he was grinding his teeth, he said, "I gave this child to you, and you raised him to this state?"
…
…
The Emperor raised his body and coldly walked out of the Eastern Palace. Just as he was about to leave, he turned his head back and glanced coldly and with disgust at the Crown Prince sitting paralyzed on the ground. Disdainfully, he said, "If you had dared to stand in front of me earlier, perhaps I would have given you some respect."
After saying this, this unusually cold and emotionless Qing Emperor flicked his sleeves and left. His figure appeared tall and straight and stern. He was not like a husband or wife at all. Rather, he was just a ruler.
The main doors of the Eastern Palace were slowly closed. The smell of blood still lingered in the hall. Other than the crying empress and Crown Prince, there was no one else. It appeared very quiet.
The Crown Prince suddenly slowly stood and woodenly helped his mother into a sitting position.
With a slap, the empress slapped him across the face. The Crown Prince didn't even dodge. His eyes were filled with despair and struggle. He raised his hand and grabbed the wrist his mother had slapped down a second time. Viciously, he said, "Mother, if you don't want to die, then quickly think of a way to inform grandmother!"
The empress immediately froze.
…
…
In the Eastern Palace and Guangxin Palace, inside and outside the Palace, inside and outside the Palace, inside and outside the laundry workshop, in just an hour, any eunuch or serving girl who had once served in the two Palaces had been completely killed. Other than Hong Zhu, not a single person was left alive. Hundreds of wronged souls had been sacrificed for the Emperor to hide the scandal of the royal family.
Perhaps it was only now that the Qing Emperor had gradually begun to reveal his most iron-blooded, coldest, and most powerful side.
This middle-aged man wearing a dragon robe came alone to Guangxin Palace.
There was not a single eunuch by his side.
Old Eunuch Hong saw that he had come and bowed deeply. He then disappeared without a trace like a ghost.
In the entire Guangxin Palace, only the Eldest Princess inside the Palace and the Emperor outside were left. The two of them stood separated by the thick Palace doors. No one knew what the other was thinking. Would it be death or memories? Would it be a dozen years of knowing each other or a moment of separation? Ruler and official, or brother and sister?
The wind rose.
The dark clouds above Jingdou grew thicker and thicker.
A bolt of lightning struck down. Countless drops of rain poured down.
Sitting on the low couch, the Eldest Princess slowly raised her head and looked at the Palace doors with a cold and laughable gaze. With a creaking sound, the Palace doors were slowly pushed open. A drenched, middle-aged man with long hair flowing down his back slowly walked in. The dragon embroidered on his dragon robe seemed to be struggling in the wet water, wanting to charge out and tear apart everything in the world.
The Eldest Princess, Li Yunrui, looked at him coldly and said, "So, you can also be so wretched."
There was a cracking sound! Thunder and lightning exploded in the sky. The lightning illuminated the dark Royal Palace. In a very short amount of time, it lit up everything incomparably bright.
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