Chapter 60

The imperial clansmen surrounding the scene immediately began to stir restlessly upon witnessing this.

Several individuals even started attempting to snatch the Embroidered Spring Blades from the hands of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Just as that clansman brandished his blade to intimidate,

a rapid clatter of hooves suddenly echoed from the distance.

Everyone present felt only a flash of blade light before their eyes.

Immediately after, warmth splashed across their faces.

A thick scent of blood instantly permeated the Altar of Heaven...

The previously restless Altar of Heaven immediately fell into a deathly silence.

No one had expected

that Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian would actually dare to kill.

Especially the Prince of Chu, Zhu Zhu Huakui, standing atop the Altar of Heaven.

Seeing his own child killed, he immediately rushed forward, pointing at Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian's nose and roaring,

"Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian! Do you truly intend to stain the forbidden precincts with blood?!"

"Do you not fear facing our ancestral spirits in the future?!"

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian stared fixedly at Zhu Zhu Huakui and demanded harshly,

"With Great Ming perishing just like this, do you think I could face our ancestral spirits?!"

"If my Great-Uncle believes the throne is so easy to occupy, then I shall immediately abdicate in your favor! I will return to the Central Plains right now to resume my title as the Prince of Xin!"

Zhu Zhu Huakui stared fixedly at Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian.

Ultimately, he had no choice but to kneel before Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian, weeping with tears and snot as he cried out,

"That child was only eighteen this year; he had received his name less than a quarter of an hour ago!"

Hearing Zhu Zhu Huakui's words,

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian could not help but take a deep breath, then looked at Zhu Zhu Huakui with utmost seriousness and said,

"Indeed, he only received his name at eighteen."

"But look at his broad shoulders and thick waist; along this journey, how many emaciated commoners has my Great-Uncle witnessed?!"

"How many starved corpses has my Great-Uncle seen on the road? Need I say more?!"

Even if these imperial clansmen were living in misery,

they were, after all, clansmen of Great Ming.

They had relatives dripping with wealth.

Although they possessed no names,

their lives were still something countless commoners would not even dare to dream of!

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian stood up abruptly, walked to the steps of the Huan Mound, and roared loudly,

"This is what the Zhu family owes the people of the world!"

"If we preserve the Zhu family's rivers and mountains, future generations of the Zhu family can still live in luxury!"

"If we lose the Zhu family's rivers and mountains, our descendants will become starved corpses! We will become remnants of a fallen dynasty, forced to hide our names and identities for generations!"

"We are all blood descendants of the Taizu High Emperor; how can we sit idly by and watch our nation collapse!"

Having spoken, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian turned his head and, almost roaring, issued an order to Lan Yu in the distance,

"All units, return to camp!"

In an instant, the sound of horns echoed throughout the entire Altar of Heaven.

The Huan Mound, which already possessed an echo wall, now reverberated with horn blasts so loud they were deafening!

Under the escort of squads of martial eunuchs,

every single one of these imperial clansmen was locked up by Lan Yu in the newly constructed great camp just outside the city.

62, Lan Yu: These are all fine recruits!

In less than an hour's time,

the once overcrowded Altar of Heaven was left with only Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian on the Huan Mound and the thirty Princes of the Blood of Great Ming.

An autumn breeze brushed against their faces; Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian gazed at the thirty imperial blood relatives behind him.

Gritting his teeth tightly, he immediately bowed deeply in a formal salute and proclaimed loudly,

"Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian respectfully requests my Great-Uncles, Great-Great-Uncles, and Imperial Uncles to return to camp!"

Zhu Zhu Shenxuan, his body trembling slightly, looked at Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian and asked,

"Your Majesty, we... we all hold the rank of Prince of the Blood; must we also go to the battlefield to fight?"

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian's gaze allowed for no questioning as he replied,

"Yes!"

The moment the words left his lips, Wang Wang Wang Chengen walked smilingly up the Huan Mound and ordered men to bring out thirty suits of armor that had been cast long ago from behind the altar.

"Your Highnesses,"

"the Yang Yang Yang Jian slave Nurhaci raised his army with only eighteen suits of armor."

"Today, His Majesty has prepared thirty suits of fine steel armor for Your Highnesses."

"This humble servant hereby wishes Your Highnesses an early victory!"

Zhu Zhu Shenxuan angrily turned away, intending to scold Wang Wang Wang Chengen, but upon seeing the hundred or so Eastern Depot agents standing behind Wang Wang Wang Chengen,

he instinctively closed his mouth again.

Just as Zhu Zhu Shenxuan was losing all hope,

a burst of laughter suddenly arose from among the princes.

Only to see the Prince of Tang step forward on his own, stroking the armor before him as he murmured in a low voice,

"Good, good... With Your Majesty guarding the Great Ming realm, this subject can rest easy!"

Having spoken.

Zhu Zhu Yujian knelt on the ground of his own accord and cried out loudly,

"This subject, Zhu Zhu Yujian, accepts the imperial decree!"

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian looked at Zhu Zhu Yujian kneeling on the ground and said with a heavy expression,

"Uncle Grandfather, please rise."

Upon hearing this, Wang Wang Wang Chengen hurriedly helped Zhu Zhu Yujian up from the ground.

At this moment, Zhu Zhu Yujian looked at the crowd of "relatives" beside him and cried out loudly,

"You all hold the rank of Prince of the Blood within the Great Ming."

"If the state collapses, how could any of us have reason to live?"

A look of ruthlessness suddenly surfaced on Zhu Zhu Yujian's face as he gritted his teeth and said,

"There are only Zhu family members who die in battle; there are absolutely none who flee back alive."

"Your Majesty, this subject returns to camp!"

With that said, Zhu Zhu Yujian took the armor on his own stride and departed without looking back.

The crowd of Princes atop Huanqiu looked at each other in dismay, finally having no choice but to leave under Wang Wang Wang Chengen's "gaze."

One by one, they departed from Huanqiu.

At this moment, only five remained atop Huanqiu: the Prince of Fu, the Prince of Gui, the Prince of Duan, the Prince of Hui, and the Prince of Lu.

The Wanli Emperor, Zhu Zhu Yijun, had five sons who lived to adulthood.

But calculating carefully.

Since the Hongzhi reign, the emperors had collectively enfeoffed only these five Princes of the Blood.

And these five were the relatives closest in bloodline to Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian among all the feudal princes under heaven.

The Prince of Fu, Zhu Zhu Changxun, looked at this great nephew before him and immediately began to weep, tears and snot flowing together.

"Your Majesty, they are not the same as us."

"You and I are truly flesh and blood, closest kin."

"Furthermore, the households of the Prince of Shen and the Prince of Jin boast tens of thousands of people; we are not the same."

"The Prince of Lu's household has merely a dozen or so holders of noble titles in total."

"This subject's household has only two sons."

"If we go to the battlefield, how could there be any reason for us to survive!"