C79

The three of them sat for a while before Chen Zi said, "Old Manor Lord An still doesn't know Zhen's identity, right?"

An Shicheng said, "I am willing to listen to the details."

Chen Zifu said, "Speaking of which, I'm ashamed! In fact, I'm the late emperor's stepson!"

An Shicheng asked, "Is the late emperor that Your Majesty spoke of Emperor Han Zhao, Martial Emperor Chen You Liang?"

Chen Zi laughed after hearing that. "I didn't expect that the old manor lord would actually know of the previous emperor. I am greatly gratified!"

An Shicheng said, "When Emperor Zhao Wu was still alive, although I didn't know much about him at a young age, I have heard of his fame …"

Chen Zi nodded. "During the Great War of Poyang Lake, the late emperor was defeated by Zhu Yuanzhang, and nearly three hundred thousand soldiers were all killed in the battle, and all of them were left at Poyang Lake. The late emperor was unlucky enough to die in this battle, and after that, his army suffered a crushing defeat.

An Shicheng nodded and didn't say anything. Chen Youguo's defeat, Chen Liang's coming to life, and Zhang Dingliang's escape from the south were certain things, and Chen Zi didn't want to talk about them. Therefore, An Shicheng nodded and didn't say anything.

Chen Zifu paused for a moment before continuing, "I'm not afraid of Old Manor Lord's jokes. After the Han died, that traitor Zhu Yuanzhang actually forcefully took my mother as his concubine. The Imperial Mother originally wanted to repay the Ancestor with her death, but the Imperial Mother was already in her sixties, so the Imperial Mother could only endure the humiliation and submit to Zhu Yuanzhang."

At this point, Chen Zi's eyes reddened slightly. Mu Linger noticed the slight change in Chen Zi's expression and asked, "Your Majesty, why are you mentioning the matters of the past?"

Chen Ziying wiped his eyes with his hand and forced a smile at Mu Yanzhi, "It's alright. How can I not be at ease with the old manor lord?" After saying this, he turned to An Shicheng and continued, "The Queen Mother gave birth to me in October and inherited the late emperor's will to give me the name Zhe. After that, the Queen Mother reminded me to remember the hatred between our country and my family, and was eventually conferred the title of Tan Wang by Zhu Yuanzhang when I was eighteen. At that time, I knew that the chance of restoring my country was almost here.

An Shicheng asked, "Then why did Your Majesty come here afterwards?"

Chen Zi let out a long sigh and said, "Who knew that the heavens would not help me? On the day before the attack, my first uncle, Old Manor An, should have met with General Yu Biao, who unfortunately was involved in the Hu Yong case. The case involved a large area, and not long after, Zhu Yuanzhang found out about it from Yu Biao, so I had no choice but to gather my troops.

At that point, Chen Zi's eyes seemed to glaze over as he let out another long sigh before he continued, "At that time, I knew there was no hope of restoring our country. When my mother heard about this, she hanged herself in the palace. I truly feel ashamed to face the late emperor, I feel ashamed to meet my mother!"

"At that time, I was completely disheartened, so I burned Tan Wang Mansion. I was in a sea of fire and wanted to die, but who knew that the empress ran out of the palace and saved me from the sea of fire, and at the same time the old Grand Commandant led several experts to rescue me from Tan Wang Mansion, and only then did I settle down here. I was unconscious for four whole days after the fire, and when I woke up, I wanted to stay with my father.

An Shicheng nodded his head in agreement, but the chances of his success were slim. He could only ask, "Then why have His Majesty and the old Grand Commandant summoned me here?"

Chen Zi continued, "After I came here, I thought about it for a long time. At the beginning of the world, it was decided that the people did not want to live through the chaos again. I know this very well, so it would be difficult to accomplish anything with just my family's power. So after discussing it with the Grand Commandant, we finally thought of a complete plan!"

An Shicheng said, "I am willing to listen to the details."

"There are two forces in this world today, one of which is the Great Ming Empire established by Zhu Yuan Zhang, the other one is the Jiang Hu force controlled by the Old Manor Lord An. I know that the imperial government was in turmoil at the end of the century, and many martial arts practitioners formed many martial arts factions in order to protect themselves. After many evolutions, these three factions have formed the three main forces of the North and South Martial Forest and the Hidden Yuan Society.

An Shicheng said: "Your Majesty's sincerity can be seen, but just as Your Majesty said, the North and South Martial Arts School and the Hidden Yuan will be in a mutually restrictive situation. Although they will not be able to eat our Thousand Plum Villa, but our Thousand Plum Villa will also not be able to eat them. If only my North Martial Lin family collaborates with Your Majesty, not only will it be difficult for His Majesty to accomplish anything, but in the end, even my Thousand Plum Villa itself will not be able to protect it!"

Chen Ziyun said, "Old Manor Lord is right. This was also the question that I asked the old Grand Commandant, and I wanted to contact the three families to reflect with me, but Wan Chun has always been loyal to Da Ming and couldn't win him over, so later on, we discussed it with the old Grand Commandant and decided to assist one of your three families."

An Shicheng said, "Is it possible that His Majesty can muster up troops to march out of the mountains?"

Chen Ziya laughed, "No, I believe Old Manor Lord has definitely heard of the Six Sword of Zhaoling."

An Shicheng thought, "Today, I saw Zhang Dingbian and wanted to capture him. How could I not know about the godly sword, and Zhang Dingjian must have told him that I have two?" He replied, "Not only have I heard of His Majesty's Six Swords of Zhaoling, but we also have two in our Wan Mei Manor."

Chen Ziya smiled. "Old Manor Lord is truly a straightforward person. Rumor has it that the Six Swords of Ziling together can summon Li Shimin's million Steel Cavalry. Old Manor Lord should have heard of this legend, right?"

An Shicheng said, "This old man knows!"

Chen Ziya said, "But Old Manor Lord shouldn't know the conditions for it to be activated yet, right?"

An Shicheng stared in shock. He had previously known that the six swords of Zhaoling could summon a million master from Li Shimin, but he didn't know the conditions for it. He immediately said, "I'd like to hear the details."