Chapter 177: Lingchi

Boom!

A huge rock on the cliff was smashed, the fragments tumbled down, and cries of agony rang out.

"Kill!" Zhu Yong leapt from his horse, charging up the cliff with bare fists.

The Brocade Guard and Imperial Troops split into two squads, flanking the cliff on both sides.

The White Lotus Sect followers on the cliff hadn't expected the assassination to fail, let alone Zhu Yong's ferocity, and they were thrown into disarray.

Zhu Yong surged up the cliff, striking anyone he saw—one punch per person—no one could block him.

A man who looked like a leader raised a knife to slash, but Zhu Yong neither dodged nor parried, letting the blade strike his shoulder; the blade penetrated three centimeters into flesh but could not cut further.

The man froze, and Zhu Yong had already seized his wrist and twisted.

"Crack!" a bone snapped, and the man screamed.

"Tell me, where is Zhou Dexing?" Zhu Yong asked.

"N... I don't know..." the man gritted his teeth.

Zhu Yong said no more and twisted his neck cleanly.

The fight ended quickly.

More than twenty White Lotus Sect members—some dead, some captured.

Three crossbow carts were seized.

Chen Heng escorted a captive forward and asked, "Prince, we got it. They're members of the White Lotus Sect's Fengyang branch, and the sect leader is at Guanyin Temple."

Zhu Yong nodded, "Leave half to protect my mother for the ancestral rites, the other half come with me back to the city."

"Yong Er! Be careful," Empress Ma stuck her head out of the carriage.

"Mother, don't worry," Zhu Yong chuckled dimly, flipped onto his horse.

He led fifty Imperial Troops and Brocade Guard, spurring his horse to rush back to Fengyang City.

Inside Guanyin Temple, the sect leader Wusheng Mother was awaiting news.

She was a woman in her fifties, clad in a monk's robe, holding prayer beads, appearing kind‑hearted but actually ruthless.

"Holy Mother, calculate the time; we should have it now," a disciple said.

Wusheng Mother nodded, "If Empress Ma is killed, the world will descend into chaos; then my sect will raise its arms and call, and followers will swarm like clouds…"

Before she finished, the sounds of fighting came from outside.

"What's happening?" Wusheng Mother rose.

A disciple rushed in panicked, "Holy Mother, it's bad! Prince Wu has led men to storm in!"

"What, the assassination failed, hurry, use the secret passage!" Wusheng Mother's face changed.

But it was already too late.

The temple gate was forced open, and Zhu Yong entered, brandishing a blood‑stained hammer.

Behind him, the Imperial Troops were clearing the remaining foes.

"You are Wusheng Mother?" Zhu Yong asked.

Wusheng Mother forced calmness, "Amitabha, why does the layperson trespass upon our pure Buddhist gate?"

"Buddhist gate, does the White Lotus Sect even deserve that title?" Zhu Yong laughed.

He raised the hammer and said, "Where is Zhou Dexing?"

Wusheng Mother, realizing she could not conceal it, said darkly, "I don't know."

"If you don't know, you're useless," Zhu Yong slammed his hammer onto the ground, shattering the green stone slab.

He stepped forward and reached out to grab.

Wusheng Mother slipped a dagger from her sleeve, thrusting toward Zhu Yong's throat.

Zhu Yong didn't dodge, letting the dagger pierce him.

"Clang!" the dagger struck as if on an iron plate and snapped.

Wusheng Mother stared dumbfounded.

Zhu Yong had already seized her neck, lifted her, and said, "One last time, where is Zhou Dexing?"

"Xu... Xuzhou..." Wusheng Mother choked.

Zhu Yong released his grip; she collapsed to the ground.

"Chen Heng, take her down and interrogate harshly," Zhu Yong ordered.

"Yes!"

Stepping out of Guanyin Temple, the sun was bright.

Zhu Yong looked up at the sky and said to Zhang Wu, "Send the order: impose martial law over all of Fengyang, hunt down the remaining White Lotus Sect remnants, and dispatch troops to Xuzhou to pursue Zhou Dexing and Wu Liang."

"Yes, Prince!"

The news quickly reached Yingtian.

Zhu Yuanzhang was reviewing memoranda in Wu Ying Hall when he received an Eight Hundred Li Urgent secret report and slammed the table in anger.

"What a Zhou Dexing, what a White Lotus Sect! How dare they assassinate our sister and son!"

Zhu Biao, standing nearby, his expression turning cold, said, "Imperial Father, I, your son, request your decree to go personally to Fengyang to handle this matter."

"You go..." Zhu Yuanzhang said, looking at him.

"Yes, though my second brother is brave, handling state affairs still requires assistance, and the White Lotus Sect issue is far‑reaching; my going will further deter the scoundrels," he replied.

Zhu Biao said.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "Approved. Take three thousand imperial guards and cleanse Fengyang completely!"

"I will obey your decree," the son replied.

That same day, Chang Yuchun, Xu Da, Lan Yu and other generals also received the news, each submitting petitions to demand battle, urging troops to be sent to Fengyang to quell the unrest.

Zhu Yuanzhang rejected all proposals, allowing only Zhu Biao to go.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew the matter in Fengyang was not merely an assassination.

Zhou Dexing was a fellow native of Zhu Yuanzhang, Wu Liang was the Prefect appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang, and the White Lotus Sect's rise in Fengyang surely had deeper reasons behind it.

These all need to be investigated thoroughly.

At this moment in Fengyang, Zhu Yong had already begun the purge.

The Guanyin Temple was sealed, the warehouses were smashed, and all seven White Lotus Sect strongholds in Fengyang were removed.

Over three hundred sect followers were captured, and countless weapons and Gold and Silver were seized.

The mass burial hill was cleared again, more than five hundred corpses were unearthed and all were properly interred.

After returning from the ancestral tomb, Empress Ma personally recited sutras for these wrongfully dead laborers, liberating their spirits.

The people of Fengyang, grateful, knelt outside the palace of their own accord.

On March 15, Zhu Biao led the imperial guard to Fengyang.

The two brothers met in the palace, and Zhu Biao's first words were: "Second brother, all right?"

"It's fine, those guys can't hurt me," Zhu Yong chuckled.

Zhu Biao patted his shoulder, then went to see Empress Ma.

The mother and her two sons held a private discussion for two hours.

After emerging, Zhu Biao issued an order.

All officials in Fengyang were suspended for review; anyone linked to Zhou Dexing or Wu Liang was detained.

The White Lotus Sect case was personally adjudicated by Zhu Biao.

Over the next half‑month, Fengyang's bureaucracy underwent a great upheaval.

Prefect, deputy, assistant magistrate, county magistrate… more than thirty officials of various ranks fell from power.

The confiscated embezzled funds totaled over one million taels.

The implicated White Lotus followers were scattered across the Jianghuai provinces.

Zhu Biao acted with thunderous authority—those who should be executed were executed, those to be exiled were exiled, those to be dismissed were dismissed.

The people of Fengyang clapped in delight.

On March 30, Zhou Dexing and Wu Liang were captured in Xuzhou and escorted back to Fengyang.

On the day of the public trial, the whole city's populace gathered to watch.

The two confessed without reservation and signed their names.

Zhu Biao pronounced the verdict on the spot.

Zhou Dexing and Wu Liang, for embezzling huge sums, trampling lives, colluding with a cult, assassinating the Empress and Prince Wu, were sentenced to death by slow slicing and the extermination of the Nine Clans.

The core members of the White Lotus Sect were all beheaded, and the followers were subsequently exiled three thousand li.

The verdict spread, and the people cheered.

On April 5, the execution was carried out.

Zhou Dexing and Wu Liang were torn apart by countless knives, screaming in agony for more than a whole day before finally dying.

Their families and co‑conspirators, over three hundred in total, were beheaded the same day.

The bloodstains in Fengyang City took three days to wash clean.

Afterwards, Zhu Biao submitted a memorial to Zhu Yuanzhang, detailing the entire Fengyang incident and speaking frankly.

The new capital project exhausted the people and cost money, and Fengyang's geography was narrow, unsuitable as a capital.

Zhu Yuanzhang received the Memorandum and pondered for a long time.

Finally, an edict was issued.

The Fengyang new capital project was halted immediately.

The already built portion was converted into a palace.

The relocation of the capital was postponed.

The news reached Fengyang, and Empress Ma let out a long sigh of relief.

Zhu Yong scratched his head and said, "Dad, not moving the capital?"

"No, not moving. After this, your father also realized that although the Mandate of Heaven is skewed, the people's hearts are stable; Fengyang is fine, but its foundation is weak," he replied.

Empress Ma said.

Zhu Biao laughed, "Second brother, this time thanks to you, otherwise Mother would have been in danger."

"That's what I should do, that's also my mother," Zhu Yong chuckled.

Guanyin Nu, holding Zhu Huanhuan, came over and softly said, "Husband, when will we answer the heavens?"

"Soon, once the elder brother finishes handling things here, we'll go back," Zhu Yong said.

Outside the window, spring was in full bloom.

This turmoil in Fengyang finally calmed down.

Yet the roots of the White Lotus Sect have not been completely eradicated, nor has the patron behind Zhou Dexing been uncovered.

These are matters for later.

At least now, the sky over Fengyang is clear.