Chapter 89

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Grand General Lan Liang, leading the punitive expedition, departed from Ningyuan on the tenth of last month…"

"…of the two hundred and fifty thousand members of the Huangshi Sect, only Qin Wang, Tang Wang, one General Who Stabilizes the State, three Generals Who Assist the State, and five Generals Who Serve the State remain."

"Below them, twenty-eight Princes of the Blood, three hundred and seventeen Commandery Princes — every other general and centurion perished for the nation!"

Upon hearing this number, Zhu Youjian struggled to his feet from the dragon throne.

As if he had forgotten how to breathe.

His voice trembling, he looked at the scout and asked,

"Of my Zhu family's two hundred and fifty thousand who marched out, only ten returned?"

"The Crown Prince — where is the Crown Prince?"

"Tang Wang sent the Crown Prince to break out of the encirclement; after the Crown Prince broke through, his fate is unknown!"

Zhu Youjian had anticipated that the number would be grim.

But never in his wildest dreams had Zhu Youjian imagined—

That it could be this devastating!

In an instant, Zhu Youjian felt the world spin before his eyes.

He raised his hand to the heavens and cursed in anguish:

"Huang Taiji! I shall not rest until one of us is dead!"

Zhu Youjian's roar echoed beneath Fengtian Sect.

"Where else in my Great Ming do we still have troops?!"

"Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing, Gao Jie, Zuo Liangyu — have their forces set out immediately! Send them all beyond the passes for me!"

"If this vengeance is not avenged, I shall die with my eyes unclosed!"

Having spoken, Zhu Youjian's vision went black, and he fainted on the spot..........

Regardless.

These were his own flesh and blood.

Among them were even several of Zhu Youjian's own paternal uncles.

The imperial physicians who had been standing nearby immediately swarmed forward.

Only then did they rouse Zhu Youjian back to consciousness.

Surrounded by the imperial physicians, Zhu Youjian looked with great difficulty toward the distant scout and asked,

"Where did the army engage the enemy in fierce battle?"

The scout lowered his head and said,

"Reporting to Your Majesty — Xingshan."

With a solemn expression, Zhu Youjian gritted his teeth and ordered,

"To Xingshan. I must go collect the remains of my Zhu family's sons…"

Upon hearing this, Grand Secretary Wen Tiren immediately stepped forward and memorialized:

"Your Majesty, this Xingshan lies north of Ningyuan — it is within the sphere of influence of the Jianzhou Jurchens. For Your Majesty to set out for Xingshan…"

Before Wen Tiren could finish speaking,

He immediately sensed the rather unfriendly gaze Zhu Youjian fixed upon him.

Especially from the Marquis of Lingbi, the Marquis of Huaiyuan, and the others.

One more word from the problem's eyes—

And Zhu Youjian could have Wen Tiren's blood spattered across Fengtian Sect.

"This servant deserves ten thousand deaths…"

With the scout's battle report delivered,

The entire Forbidden City had already been hung with white lanterns.

In less than a single morning,

The news that two hundred and fifty thousand Zhu family members had died in battle at Liaoxi

Had spread throughout the entire capital.

Soon, common folk of their own accord hung white mourning sashes for the imperial clan.

In a moment, the whole city was draped in mourning.

In Zhu Yuanzhang's chat group,

Only one message from Zhu Youjian had been received.

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Great-great-grandfather, this time my Zhu family finally owes nothing more to the common folk of the realm…"

And after that, there was no further word.

Zhu Youjian could spare no thought for the Son of Heaven's ceremonial retinue.

Taking with him ten thousand imperial guards and the civil and military officials, he set out directly toward Xingshan.

Along the way, no few common folk voluntarily followed beyond the passes.

This is the custom of the Han people.

In any village, when a household has matters, the neighbors all come to help.

All the more so this time, when the ones in trouble were the imperial house.

And the imperial house had died for the Han people's Jiangshan.

As for the officials Zhu Youjian had forcibly brought along,

It was because Zhu Youjian could not allow the Damingde Sect to have died in vain…….

82, Zhu Youjian: "Who are your accomplices?"

Beneath the Dongzhimen Gate of the capital.

The Eastern Depot, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the martial eunuchs had already changed into plain clothes and white armor.

All the civil and military officials, whether they agreed or not, were seized by Wang Chengen and dragged straight to Dongzhimen Gate.

Zhu Youjian, dressed in a martial cap, sat astride a horse at the head of the officials.

His eyes hollow as he gazed into the distance toward the northeast.

The common folk beneath Dongzhimen Gate, watching Zhu Youjian set on leaving the pass, could not help but feel a swirl of emotions.

Just as Zhu Youjian's carriage was about to pass through Dongzhimen Gate.

Clan elders of the local Shuntian Prefecture, clutching their dove staffs, spontaneously blocked the way outside Dongzhimen Gate.

By Ming regulations, those over eighty were granted a first-rank title of nobility, exempted from bowing to officials, and bestowed a dove staff.

At this moment, these dove staffs represented all the common folk near the capital.

More than a dozen octogenarian elders, every one of them with hot tears in their eyes, looked at Zhu Youjian and blocked his carriage, saying

"Your Majesty, beyond the pass the fierce invaders are battering at the border; the Son of Heaven's precious body cannot be risked in person."

Zhu Youjian, his eyes lifeless, reined in his horse, and stared at those clan elders as he said woodenly

"The Crown Prince is still in Liaoxi… alive, I must see him; dead, I must see his corpse."

"But Your Majesty, the bandit rebels in Shaanxi-Gansu—"

"The capital—let Li Zicheng have it!"

Having spoken, Zhu Youjian paid no further heed to the clan elders before him and walked out of Dongzhimen Gate on his own.

In the bitter, biting wind, a few—28—flakes of snow drifted down from the sky.

Grand Secretary Wen Tiren, terror on his face, gazed at the heavy snow beyond the city walls in the distance.

At last he mustered his courage, walked up before Zhu Youjian, and forced a weeping tone as he said

"Your Majesty, beyond the pass is bitter cold; we ministers are already advanced in years and cannot endure the jolting of carriages. If we truly reach Xingshan, I'm afraid more than half of this whole court of civil and military officials will be dead or wounded."

Zhu Youjian, mounted on his horse, stared at Wen Tiren before him in silence for a long while.

Only then did he ask, somewhat puzzled,

"How old are you this year, Elder Wen?"

Wen Tiren was taken aback by the question, then cupped his hands and said

"This minister has already passed his half-century."

Zhu Youjian, hearing this, reminded him gently