Dream Picking Records

Chapter 379: The Confrontation between the Two Princes

"None of you assassins seem to have the highest talent ceiling of Xue Fu Tu. Is the Holy Pavilion empty now?"

After Wang Xiao subdued Wei Guo, he shifted his focus again, cooperating with his avatar to successfully capture the two of them. However, just as he was about to seek information about the assassin's organization, the two's Yuan Shen exploded directly, and even his attempt to suppress them was useless.

The remaining two people, a man and a woman, saw that the other party's assassination mission had failed, and immediately changed their strategy and started a life-and-death fight regardless of the consequences.

With their tacit cooperation, Yu Ling chose the opposite conservative strategy, and thus gradually fell into a disadvantage, but he did not seem to be in a hurry at all.

The two were also veterans of the assassin organization and had keenly perceived this information. After exchanging glances, the man disappeared in an instant.

Yu Ling subconsciously judged the other party's thoughts based on the fluctuations, and used the big bell in his hand to protect the Queen and others.

An unexpected scene happened. The man did not choose to assassinate them. Instead, he suddenly appeared behind Yu Ling silently, pointing his sword at the back of his head.

"Oops!"

At the critical moment, Yu Ling forced his body to the right.

"Pfft!"

The man pierced his shoulder with a bloody sword, and murderous aura raged through his limbs.

The woman took advantage of the situation and tried to stab him, but Yu Ling roared, resolutely severed his left arm, and charged forward. Even though she was a killer, she was stunned for a moment and didn't react, and was hit in the chest by his right fist, which radiated divine light.

Yu Ling didn't pause, ignoring the man's movements behind him. He instantly caught up to the woman flying backwards. A mid-air kick sent her flying, forcing her to place her arms across her chest to block it. The sound of a broken bone was particularly clear. The woman endured the excruciating pain and slipped away into the void, following the distance she had gained by falling.

"Boom!"

After the heaven and earth shook for a while, the blocked space was no longer isolated, and the barrier began to disintegrate.

The two killers realized that something was wrong and immediately chose to retreat. However, while the mantis was stalking the cicada, the oriole was waiting behind them. Someone had already set up a tight net outside the barrier they had set up.

Seeing that there was nowhere to escape, the two men gave a desperate fight, but the result was obviously futile. With the cooperation of people from outside, they could not cause any trouble.

At this point, all those who came to assassinate were caught in one fell swoop.

"Father!" The Queen flew to a white-haired old man and knelt down. "I am an unfilial daughter. I haven't visited you in all these years!"

"Father understands. I'm glad you can get through it!" The old man gently helped her up, with only joy on his face.

"Grandpa!"

"Yu'er! You..."

The white-haired old man was named Wang Jie, a descendant of Wang Yangming. He was overjoyed to see Queen Wang, but he never expected Zhu Xiaoyu to be resurrected as well. The old man looked him up and down, fearing it was all just an illusion.

"Okay, okay, okay! Let's go home first. There are people waiting at home. We have to let them know the good news as soon as possible!"

At the same time, Yu Changzhou took the elixir given by the queen and applied it to Yu Ling.

"Uncle Ling, your arm..."

"It's just an arm, no big deal. I was too careless. Just consider it a lesson learned."

Unlike Yu Ling's smile, everyone felt depressed. The price was too heavy.

Wang Xiao reminded himself in his heart that the old are always the wisest, especially the killers, whose insidiousness and cunningness are beyond his imagination.

On the way back to Wang's house, the Queen and Zhu Xiaoyu accompanied Wang Jie to visit Yu Ling's injuries. At this time, everyone learned that it was the Emperor Ming who asked the Wang family to patrol secretly along the way and provide support to prevent anyone from being in danger.

As for Zhu Xiaokun and others, as soon as they arrived at Wang's house, they were escorted back to the imperial city by Ling. Wang Xiao and others rested temporarily in Wang's house.

A few days later, in the sky prison, Emperor Minghuang and Zhu Xiaokun were separated by only a door, yet it seemed as if there were thousands of mountains and rivers between them.

Zhu Xiaokun looked like he had accepted his fate and did not say anything to admit his mistakes or beg for mercy.

The light in Minghuang's eyes disappeared, as if everyone had lost hope in him.

"Tell me why."

"Your Majesty, what do you want me to say? Why did you choose to join two treacherous ministers, or why did you kill the Queen and the Crown Prince?"

Zhu Xiaokun chuckled at the Emperor Minghuang's silence, "It seems Your Majesty wants to know. Then... I will tell you everything!"

He suddenly stood up and approached the cell door. "Why did you give birth to me? What's the meaning of my existence? A substitute? Or maybe not even a substitute? I admit that my talent is not as good as his, but I practiced hard day and night, and you have never even looked me in the eye! Am I not your son?"

The Emperor Ming was speechless. He admitted that he had indeed paid less attention to Zhu Xiaokun, but he had no bias in his heart.

"Huh, I... Father is just afraid that if we get too close, you'll be persecuted by the treacherous people."

"Oh, is there any point in pretending to be so hypocritical at this point? If you weren't so obsessed with war, how could he be seriously injured and dying? We are just tools for your conquest."

"You are wrong...brother. You are you and have never been anyone's substitute," Zhu Xiaoyu walked out from the side and came to the side of Emperor Minghuang.

"I don't have a brother like you!"

Zhu Xiaokun suddenly roared, even louder than when he faced Emperor Minghuang just now.

"War is never a war of one person. Whether active or passive, our starting point is that we don't want the people of the Ming Dynasty to be persecuted or their interests to be infringed." Zhu Xiaoyu was not annoyed and continued to speak slowly.

"What a way to ensure the interests of my people. Do I have to sacrifice myself and myself for their sake?"

"That's right!" Zhu Xiaoyu's voice suddenly rose. "Someone is bound to sacrifice at some point, even you and me."

"Why? I won't accept this! The pressure I bear is a thousand times, ten thousand times heavier than theirs. Why should I be forced to make sacrifices?"

"Is your burden heavy? Haha, a mortal toils day and night to support their family, sweating profusely under the scorching sun, their hands and feet cracking in the bitter cold of winter. Isn't that stressful? A cultivator takes risks and gambles everything for a tiny bit of cultivation resources. Isn't that stressful? A soldier travels across the country on a single transfer order to resist an invasion, risking his life. Isn't that stressful? And you, living a life of luxury, don't have to worry about life. You don't have to worry about cultivation resources. You only need to slowly cultivate to prepare for the unknown war. Why should your pressure be heavier than theirs?"

"Because I'm the crown prince, I carry the entire Ming Dynasty on my shoulders! It's the future of the Ming Dynasty!"

"You are the crown prince, and I was once a crown prince too. Why would I cover the team's retreat? Isn't my cultivation higher than theirs? Isn't my future brighter than theirs? In times of crisis, people like us only think about preserving ourselves and sacrificing others. Are we worthy of this position? Some of them may not be obvious at the time, and who can predict the future? If they stay, they will die. But if I say so, both sides will keep hope."

Zhu Xiaokun was speechless for a moment, and then he continued to refute from other angles and make excuses for himself.

"One day, sooner or later, we will all be submerged by the external black tide. But I have chosen the most correct path for the Ming Dynasty! I have preserved the hope of survival!"

Former Crown Prince Zhu Xiaoyu shook his head. "Your wish is to become someone else's slave? Better not to."