This prince’s words are not false. The forr Crown Prince was established without rightful justification, and now that Zhou Mu is favored, it is even more groundless!
Emperor Zhoulin fell back into the Dragon Throne, his old face weary and careworn.
The old accounts of the past have been brought up again, it’s as though they’re slapping his face and uncovering his scars!
"Good! Good! You are truly sothing! Normally, brothers are courteous, and there is a difference between ruler and minister. Now you even band together to force ! This is truly my good Imperial Younger Brother, good Prince, good Imperial Grandson!" Looking at the pressing crowd below, Emperor Zhoulin laughed desolately.
The crowd, seeing him in such a state, felt a flutter of joy. Is this a sign of compromise?
If Emperor Zhoulin compromises, then Zhou Mu will undoubtedly die. With Zhou Mu gone as a formidable rival in the fight for succession, their world would be in their control!
Emperor Zhoulin saw the joy rising on the faces of the people below, and he smiled with a trace of determination.
Now, even as one who holds the highest power, he is driven to a desperate situation!
To go forward would an opening the ancestral temple to choose a new leader, to retreat would an the execution of his most beloved Imperial Grandson!
How could he? How could he be willing?
He would never abandon the Imperial Grandson he had painstakingly nurtured, even at the cost of breaking ties! Even if Great Zhou were to fall, it cannot be!
Great Zhou must be Zhou Mu’s, it must belong to the bloodline of him and Momo!
"Hehe... You think I would grant your wishes? Too naive..." Emperor Zhoulin looked at the joyful crowd, a sharp smile on his face.
The entire court, upon hearing this, suddenly felt a bad premonition, and for a mont, they looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
Being forced to such a point, yet Emperor Zhoulin laughed like this, it was too strange, causing them to feel uneasy!
But Emperor Zhoulin, sitting on the Dragon Throne, straightened his body, his royal majesty fully displayed, looking sternly down upon the crowd, speaking coldly and fiercely, "You want to open the ancestral temple to choose a new leader? To give you the rightful opportunity to covet this position? I tell you, dream on! I will not give you such an opportunity! It is you who forced , so do not bla for being ruthless, making it so you can never rightfully covet this position in your lifeti!"
The crowd was shocked upon hearing this.
"Co, draft a decree, as of today, establish Zhou Mu, grandson of the Zhou Family, as Crown Prince. He shall be appointed in front of the three armies without the need to return to court. Appoint his betrothed, Madam Gu Changsheng, as the future Crown Princess Consort!" Under the panicked gazes of the crowd, Emperor Zhoulin’s aged voice resonated throughout the Imperial Court with unprecedented certainty, "If Great Zhou falls due to this calamity, my Imperial Grandson and granddaughter-in-law shall die gloriously on the battlefield, wrapped in horsehide. If Great Zhou is fortunate to escape this calamity, when the two return to court, I will announce my abdication and welco them to ascend the throne!"
"Your Majesty!"
"Imperial Father!"
"Imperial Brother!"
"..."
In the Imperial Court, the imperial relatives and nobles, civil and military officials were all shocked and turned pale.
The ancestral temple was not yet opened, Emperor Zhoulin was still the Emperor, and his decree was still an imperial edict, legitimate and unassailable, with no one daring to defy!
Prince Liang fell back a step with a defeated look on his face. No matter what, he never expected Emperor Zhoulin to make such a move in the end, even when he was already pushed to the brink with no path of retreat, he actually issued such a decree equivalent to an abdication edict in court! This...
Looking at the frightened and kneeling crowd in the court, Emperor Zhoulin spoke again, "Co, draft another decree, I am aware of tying the fate of Great Zhou to a single person, I am ashad to face the countless subjects of Great Zhou, I resign in apology! Imdiately summon Mr. Ban Shan, the foster father of the Crown Princess Consort in Liuzhou City, to enter the capital. From today, Mr. Ban Shan will handle all matters of the court on my behalf. Mr. Ban Shan’s talent as an elder is unmatched in the world; if there are any rebels or disrespectful ones within the court, they shall be executed!"
Resign in apology?
This...
Such a decree is not the imperial edict of the reigning Emperor, but a posthumous edict of the forr Emperor!
This...
For a mont, the entire court was in chaos and panic!
Emperor Zhoulin’s move was too extre!
Extre to the point of leaving no room for others!
The kneeling crowd all showed signs of shock and disbelief for a mont; no one could believe that this was real, an emperor who actually resigned in apology, this...
This is sothing unprecedented throughout the ages!
And the decree set by the Emperor who resigned in apology before stepping down is an unchangeable posthumous edict!
This...
For a mont, all the imperial relatives and nobles were thrown into turmoil!
Emperor Zhoulin’s move was incredibly ruthless!
He actually did so decisively, an abdication decree was issued, he resigned in apology, and even entrusted all court affairs to Gu Changsheng’s foster father Mr. Ban Shan!
Rebels, executed! The disrespectful, killed!
These are also the posthumous edicts of the forr Emperor!
They suddenly felt a chill down their spines!
"Hehe... You old man, you have a good eye..."
Suddenly, behind the court crowd, a light chuckle arose.
Emperor Zhoulin, sitting on the Dragon Throne and facing the hall doors, was the first to look up.
The crowd in the court also turned their heads upon hearing the sound...
Then, they were all stunned!
The gate of the Great Zhou Chengwu Qiankun Hall, towering several feet high, now had a gigantic snake head hanging above it!
The snake’s eyes were like lamps, exuding a chilling bloodlust, and its blood-red tongue, extending over a ter long, flicked in and out, releasing a storm of blood and stench that swept towards the hall, almost scaring the court officials and Imperial Kin senseless!
That... that... just a single bite from this snake’s mouth could easily swallow a few people whole!
"Ah! Help !"
"Heavens! Soone save us!"
"..."
Upon seeing the scene at the gate, the entire Imperial Court descended into chaos, with court officials urgently huddling together and retreating, and the Imperial Kin crawling towards the Dragon Steps to hide...
What status, what dignity, disappeared in an instant!
"Protect the Emperor! Protect!" The Old Eunuch Han Shan, also stunned by the scene, reacted by imdiately shouting in panic.
Coincidentally, the guards on duty were the very sa miserable ones who often collided with Zhou Mu’s subordinates.
"Dear mother, Captain, what is that thing!" The young soldier trembled, holding a long rifle, stunned and dumbfounded.
A towering Giant Python, its massive body encompassed the entire Qiankun Hall!
This wasn’t rely a python; it was practically a mountain!
"This is it! We’re dood! We’re all going to be snake food!" The leader of the Imperial Forest Army looked anxious, having heard the commotion from the Imperial Court and co to protect the Emperor. If it were an assassin, they might still have a fighting chance, but...
How could they fight this? It was clearly a suicide mission!
However, as mbers of the Imperial Forest Army, they could only advance, not retreat!
Thus, the leader of the Imperial Forest Army, with a heart ready to die, pulled his n forward!
"Huff..."
A breath from the snake, carrying blood rain and wind, blasted toward the advancing Imperial Forest Army!
"Ah!"
"Wow!"
"..."
In an instant, the Imperial Forest Army fell backward en masse like a field of wheat being cut down, collapsing into a heap, the movents eerily synchronized, with no one spared!
"Stand down! I do not wish to create a bloodbath in Great Zhou. If you dare to approach further, I will only have to let you fill the gaps in Gale’s teeth!" The snake head turned towards the plaza in front of the hall, and standing atop it was the silver-adorned Hongfu Su!
Gale Gu, upon hearing Hongfu Su’s words, its snake eyes suddenly lit up, clearly aning, "Co closer, hurry up and fill my teeth gaps!"
Gale Gu’s intense gaze made the fallen Imperial Forest Army in front of the hall cry out, retreating even further!
"Hey, Gale, what kind of hunger are you in? Don’t rush, don’t scare them. When we return to the army, I’ll allow you to feast and eat your fill." Hongfu Su bent down, stroked the snake head, and instructed, "Get down, we still have business to attend to!"
"Boom!" As soon as it heard the promise of food upon returning, Gale Gu moved instantly.
In an instant, there was a tremor in the ground, a loud bang echoed, Gale Gu landed, crashing in front of the Qiankun Hall, smashing the marble ground into a large pit!
In a flash, the snake’s body descended from the Qiankun Hall, and all the glazed tiles on the roof fell without exception!
The glow of the glazed tiles, following Gale Gu’s landing, flickered and changed in an array of dazzling lights, creating a stunning sight!
"The roof! The roof! The roof that was just repaired a year ago!" The young soldier from the Imperial Forest Army saw the roof utterly destroyed, tears filled his eyes. It was a roof they spent three months repairing, only to have it overturned by Prince Bao not long ago and now again by a python?
How could their fate be so bitter? Promised to be part of the Imperial Forest Army, yet inexorably tied to being bricklayers?
"Smack!" A hand slapped the young soldier’s head, and the leader of the Imperial Forest Army angrily rebuked, "At a ti like this, don’t act foolishly!"
After speaking, he trembled in his heart, casting his gaze towards the front of the Qiankun Hall...
"Hiss hiss hiss..."
The snake’s tongue flicked, its body moved, sweeping away the threshold of the hall in an instant.
Gale Gu, feeling particularly aggrieved, lowered its snake head to slither through the several-feet-high narrow door of the Qiankun Hall.
"Cough cough... Gale, you should lose so weight! You’re making quite a ruckus!" Hongfu Su, standing on the snake’s head, looked back and spoke with a hint of sighing. This wasn’t a good sign at all; she had just arrived and already damaged the front of her Sovereign fiancé’s family’s residence. Would she face punishnt upon returning?
The mighty Qiankun Hall, usually accommodating hundreds of civil and military officials and still appearing spacious, now seed remarkably cramped!
Gale Gu felt very aggrieved, resignedly coiling its massive snake body!
Layer by layer stacking up into a small mountain height, drooping its snake head to prevent Hongfu Su from hitting the roof beams of the Qiankun Hall.
The mountain-like Gale Gu occupied all the positions where court officials were supposed to stand. Now, all the civil and military officials and Imperial relatives and nobles squeezed onto the Dragon Throne steps, forming a chaotic pile. So timid ones had already fainted in terror, even being trampled underfoot!
At this mont, everyone’s faces were ashen, and any notions of status vanished into thin air as if haunted by ghosts; they kept retreating, almost climbing onto the Dragon Throne!
Emperor Zhoulin sat on the Dragon Throne, his back pressed tightly against the throne’s backrest, one hand clutching Han Shan’s hand, his face also pale, "You! You! This! This!"
This was truly a massive python! In monts, it could swallow everyone in the hall as if it were nothing!
Atop the snake head, Hongfu Su brushed off the glazed tile fragnts from her clothes, looking down at the panic-stricken crowd, Lady Xu’s lips curled into a smile, speaking words that defied expectations...
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