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“Who are you?”

Imperial Consort Sun screamed out loud.

“I am… cough, cough. Having been a eunuch for so long, it’s hard to break the habit of how I speak.”

This person was pale and beardless, and spoke in a high-pitched voice, “Merely a nobody skilled in petty theft, not worthy of entering the eyes of your highness, the Imperial Consort. You might as well spend more time talking with your son, lest you no longer have the chance to see him!”

Thinking of the chaos among the troops outside, Imperial Consort Sun couldn’t help but shudder in fear, hugging the Sixth Prince tightly.

Eunuch Wang furrowed his brows, recalling all the inner servants in the palace, when suddenly an idea struck him.

“You are Feng Zhong, the Palace Cleansing Eunuch from the Imperial Chambers!”

“No wonder Eunuch Wang was valued by the late emperor and served as a trusted minister despite being a eunuch, truly a first for our National Dynasty.”

Feng Zhongxian said admiringly, “I am but a lowly figure in charge of cleaning latrines, as insignificant as the maggots in a cesspool, yet Eunuch Wang remembers my name.”

“I am not like you,” Eunuch Wang said coldly, “who, with the art of facial disguise, can actually sway the succession of the National Dynasty.”

In the midst of their conversation.

The palace doors banged open, and a hundred troops rushed in.

Following them was Prince Qin Zhao Yuan, with the real Chancellor Zhang at his right, holding a bloodied sword in his hand.

“Father, your son has arrived late!”

Zhao Yuan, seeing Emperor Hongchang lying on the dragon bed, instantly shed two lines of hot tears, not knowing whether it was out of grief or excitement.

Eunuch Wang demanded, “Your Highness Prince Qin, why do you barge into the palace without an imperial decree?”

“Eunuch, shut your mouth!”

Wiping away his tears, Zhao Yuan chastised, “I received a secret report from Chancellor Zhang stating that Imperial Consort Sun attempted to harm the emperor and fabricated an edict to place her own son on the throne. I immediately brought troops to rescue, but alas, it was too late!”

In just a few words, he completely denied the political legitimacy of the edict.

In the future national records, it would be noted that Imperial Consort Sun and her accomplices committed regicide and usurpation, with Zhao Yuan leading troops late at night to rectify the chaos.

Duke Cheng looked deeply at Zhang Zhengyang and asked, “May this old man take his leave?”

“Please, Lord Duke.”

Zhang Zhengyang instructed people to clear the way, whispering to Zhao Yuan, “The nobility are tied to the nation’s fortune; Duke Cheng is not a supporter of the Sixth Prince. After the matter is settled, he can be won over.”

Zhao Yuan nodded slightly, his cold gaze turning towards the Sixth Prince, Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi, intelligent and astute, had already guessed what was to come and pleaded in a slightly childish voice, “Second Brother, your younger brother volunteers to renounce the throne. May you spare our lives, mine and our mother’s?”

Zhao Yuan was momentarily startled and hesitated slightly; this brother had always been obedient and got along well with his siblings.

“Your Highness, if you don’t eliminate the root when cutting the grass, it will only cause future problems!”

Zhang Zhengyang reminded, “The Sun family controls the Capital Garrison, and by early tomorrow, a large army will arrive. Then it will be your Highness pleading for your brother to spare your life.”

“Kill!”

Zhao Yuan, no longer hesitating, gave the order with a wave of his hand.

A moment later.

Imperial Consort Sun and Zhao Yi lay in front of Emperor Hongchang, with all other eunuchs and maids in Shangyang Palace dead.

At the hour of Mao.

The officials entered the Imperial Palace and went to the Hall of Supreme Harmony for the early court session.

Since the former Crown Prince’s rebellion failed, Emperor Hongchang personally took charge of the court affairs again.

But due to his frail and weak body, most early court sessions were just a formality, waiting for Eunuch Wang to announce something like “The emperor is unwell,” after which the civil and military officials would each return home.

However, upon entering the Hall of Supreme Harmony, they looked up to see a middle-aged man sitting on the throne.

Feng Zhong, who had been temporarily promoted to Eunuch of the Forecourt, took out an imperial edict in bright yellow and read it aloud. The gist of it was that the late emperor passed away last night, leaving behind an edict naming Prince Qin Zhao Yuan as his successor.

The civil and military officials looked at each other in dismay, not knowing whether to cry or to bow in homage.

Zhang Zhengyang was the first to kneel and cry out long live the emperor.

The others soon realized, and after the customary three kneelings and nine kowtows, acknowledged Zhao Yuan as their new ruler.

…

Chen Family Ditch.

The commander of the defeated troops died devoured by a horde of ghosts, his flesh and blood consumed until nothing remained but his pallid bones.

Zhou Yi paid close attention to the changes in the ghosts, finding that after swallowing living souls and flesh, most of their auras had grown slightly stronger and had acquired a more vicious spirit.

A small portion of these ghostly souls, however, turned into green smoke and dissipated following the commander’s death.

The aggrieved soul of Old Chen, along with the village’s ghosts, all knelt before Zhou Yi and knocked their heads on the ground in gratitude.

“We thank the benefactor!”

Zhou Yi asked, “Do you have any plans for the future?”

Old Chen replied, “We naturally intend to scatter our remaining souls, so we may reincarnate as soon as possible.”

“That’s very good,” he said.

Zhou Yi nodded slightly, knowing that without the stimulation from the Peaceful Home Talisman, the ghosts couldn’t even manage to manifest their forms properly and would scatter within three to five days.

Without objects to attach to, and no way to refine the souls, they wouldn’t even make proper vengeful ghosts.

Old Chen’s ability to maintain his wits and to expel ghostly fog was due to his scholarly pursuits and understanding of principles in life, which made his soul far more resilient and powerful than ordinary people.

Old Chen pleaded, “We need to trouble the benefactor to dig a hole and bury our remains. There is no need for individual graves and gravestones, as no one will come to pay respects in the future anyway.”

Zhou Yi nodded in agreement and resolved to find a Feng Shui treasure spot so that they could be reborn into a wealthy and noble family in their next lives.

Hearing this, the group of ghosts once again knocked their heads on the ground in thanks.

Among the common folk, there were masters skilled in Feng Shui who could find so-called dragon lairs using various formulas and secret techniques; however, to cultivators these were little more than trivial arts. By sensing where the spiritual energy was pure and rich, they could identify these treasured Feng Shui sites.

Afterward.

Leading the way, Old Chen walked in front with Zhou Yi pulling a cart, collecting the corpses from house to house.

The various states of death were too horrific to put into words.

Zhou Yi observed that after collecting the corpses, some of the weaker ghosts dispersed with the wind on the spot, while the stronger spirits became even more transparent.

Having filled a cart with corpses, Zhou Yi found a Feng Shui treasure spot near Chen Family Ditch and stamped his foot to create a large pit.

Once the corpses were buried, the already faint ghosts completely dispersed and were no longer to be seen.

Witnessing this scene, Zhou Yi speculated inwardly, “Perhaps the custom of burying the dead to put them to rest originated from this, to effectively reduce the harm that vengeful spirits and fierce ghosts cause to the living!”

The second cart was half-filled with corpses when it stopped in front of a small farming courtyard.

“This is Shuan Zhu’s home. His daughter Ya’er is just two years old. What a sin!”

Old Chen glanced over the sparse crowd of ghosts and didn’t find Shuan Zhu among them.

Zhou Yi’s brow rose slightly when he heard a breathing sound and said, “Maybe there is someone alive here?”

Excited, Old Chen’s soul fluttered unstably as he darted into the house and back out again.

“Chen Ya’er is alive!”

Zhou Yi pushed the door open to enter and saw two corpses on the bed, the man stabbed in the abdomen and the woman with her neck half-severed.

The couple died embracing each other, their blood staining the bed a dark, reddish-black, with the breathing sounds coming from beneath them.

Zhou Yi lifted the cadavers and pulled back the quilts to reveal a small baby girl wrapped inside.

She appeared to be about two or three years old, pink and tender, as if she were hungry.

As the blanket wrapping her was removed, the baby girl struggled to turn over, crawling onto her mother’s body, frantically grabbing with hands covered in blood, randomly licking them to alleviate her hunger.

“Benefactor!”

Old Chen knelt down again and kowtowed, “Chen Ya’er is the last of our village, I implore the benefactor to give her some food, and raise her to adulthood.”

“Stand up,” he said.

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment. For nearly three decades, he had been solitary and carefree.

He did not wish to bring another into his home, firstly because the Longevity Dao Fruit must not be exposed, and secondly because he had no experience with raising children. A misstep might weigh heavy on his conscience.

However, Zhou Yi couldn’t bring himself to watch the little girl starve to death.

“Old Brother Chen, I have my own unavoidable difficulties, but I will take Chen Ya’er back to Divine Capital and find her a good family,” he said.

“I’ll visit her often, ensuring she lives a life of peace and joy!”