Ma Yi, the leader of the imperial guards, was also a martial arts master with great mastery of hidden power. The literati in the palace did not dare and could not stop him. Only the first person who was ordered to be killed resisted desperately, but was still detained and knelt on the ground.
The sharp sword with a cold glow was raised and lowered, and a round head with an official hat rolled to the ground and turned several times.
The head blinked, and finally the pupils dimmed, and it died with its eyes open.
Blood spurted out from a neck as big as a bowl, splattering five steps away and staining the red carpet on the ground even darker.
Before everyone could react, the commander of the imperial guards stepped up to another person, raised his sword and brought it down again, killing another person on the spot.
Xi Heng sat on the dragon chair, picked up a grape, put it into his lips, and bit it directly.
A sweet and sour taste filled the mouth, and silence enveloped the entire court.
After a while, an elderly man in the court actually had some courage. He pointed at Xi Heng and shouted in a trembling voice:
"Tyrant, incompetent ruler! The ruler who ruined the country!"
"and who are you?"
"A tyrant ruler kills loyal and good people, and a tyrant ruler harms the country!" It was obvious that the other party did not intend to answer.
"Forget it, it doesn't matter who it is." Xi Heng waved his hand and said casually: "This person dared to insult the emperor, behead him immediately!"
"Yes!" Ma Yi drew his sword and chopped.
Another head rolled down and rolled on the ground for several times before finally stopping, revealing a hideous face.
The other ministers seemed to have become numb and dared not say a word.
"Read it again." Xi Heng realized the benefits of power and said to the eunuch again.
"Yes." The old eunuch felt the emperor's might and obeyed the order subconsciously, then took out an imperial edict and said, "I have received your command..."
A few minutes later, the crimes committed by the official named Cai Yuan were read out. When Xi Heng got to the end, he felt it was too complicated.
All the words used to rebuke treacherous ministers were used in this imperial edict, it is almost impossible to list them all.
Xi Heng pressed his temple, glanced at the panicking and trembling officials below, and asked:
"Where is the treacherous minister mentioned in the imperial edict?"
"Your Majesty..." The old eunuch's mouth was dry and his voice was hoarse: "The old treacherous minister just now was Cai Yuan. He has been killed by Your Majesty."
"...Then I didn't kill the wrong person." Xi Heng nodded after a few seconds.
Perhaps the treacherous minister already knew that he would not survive today, so he just wanted to show off his eloquence a little bit.
After some silent contemplation, Xi Heng looked at the numerous civil officials who were in awe and said, "Do you have anything else to report?"
No one dared to make another sound.
If they export now, they might be the next ones to be killed.
"Regarding the matter of the Ever-Victorious Army just now, I will not change the order. Let them continue to march south to capture Jinshi City." Xi Heng said.
If the order is given now, no one in the palace will dare to resist.
Xi Heng went to nominate and question officials again. The officials who were called all trembled and answered cautiously, being very careful in their words and actions.
After all, the bodies of the three ministers were right in front of him and were not cold yet.
After a while, Xi Heng asked the old eunuch to continue reading another imperial edict, which frightened many of the ministers below and made them retreat half a step.
But this imperial edict was different from the previous ones. It was a letter of appointment. The three treacherous ministers who occupied the high positions were dead, so naturally someone was needed to take their places.
After the old eunuch finished reading, the promoted ministers received the imperial edict one by one. Xi Heng first ordered the palace guards to leave the palace and search the houses. After a while, he talked about adjourning the court.
After all the court officials had left, Xi Heng collapsed on the dragon chair and let out a breath, then he took the crispy snack handed to him by a palace maid and savored it slowly.
When the old eunuch saw that the court was quiet, he knelt down every morning and evening and said:
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for eliminating the thieves for the people of Great Zhao. Your Majesty has worked hard and made great contributions!"
"What hard work and great achievements do you mean? Now I just feel that the imperial star is swaying and the stars are high..."
Xi Heng looked up at the ceiling, his eyes seemed to pass through the dome of the hall carved with golden dragons, and saw the Purple Star in the sky becoming dimmer.
Although he had gained considerable power in the court with the support of the imperial guards, and had killed three prime ministers, these three high officials must have had considerable influence, either from a powerful family in the capital, or from a civil servant group composed of their students and disciples, etc.
Afterwards, these people will definitely launch a severe revenge, and as a new emperor with little support, she will not be able to resist at all.
"After today, those officials in the court will definitely say one thing in front of others and do another behind their backs..." Xi Heng said to himself:
"When he is in front of her, she obeys him in everything, but outside the court, where the emperor cannot reach her, she remains the same."
"But it doesn't matter."
Xi Heng always felt that he would not live long, and after reloading the game, he would not have to worry about such troublesome things.
"It's so hard to be an emperor..."
To check and balance the factions of officials, one must not directly turn against the civil servants like today, but also seek support from many forces, to ensure the people's livelihood, and most importantly... to have a strong enough force.
If you are a Hua Jin warrior, you don't have to worry about being assassinated by powerful officials. Hua Jin can stimulate the circulation of Qi and blood at all times, and protect your body with Hua Jin internal energy. Even if you are accidentally poisoned, the poison can be forced out immediately.
If he controls an army of hundreds of thousands, he can simply kill anyone who disobeys his orders and then support other capable people to replace them.
Now Xi Heng can only command the two or three thousand guards in the palace. If she really wants to be a tyrant and lets the guards kill people at will, even if she is not assassinated to death later, it will not be long before there will be multiple rebel uprisings on the scale of the Tianliang Righteous Army in various places, and the Great Zhao will not be able to be saved.
"The king of a fallen country...what he said is quite true." Xi Heng sighed lightly.
He has already lost the hearts of the court officials. If he continues to live in the palace as before, the Great Zhao will be in ruins in a few years.
"If you still want to be the emperor, you need to have strong enough power or have the support of a powerful force."
"This life, let it be like this." Xi Heng finally thought to himself, turned to look at the old eunuch on the side, and began to seek strength as he had just thought:
"Old eunuch, you said before that you were a Huajin warrior. What martial arts did you learn?"
"Your Majesty, the martial arts I practice is called Tiangang Tongzi Kung Fu." The other party did not hide it.
"Tongzi Kung Fu?" When Xi Heng heard the name, she felt that this technique was of no use to her.
"Tian Gang Tong Zi Gong is a profound martial art that cultivates both internal and external skills. It cultivates pure Yang Qi and blood, protects the body and strengthens the body. It takes both internal and external factors into consideration, and is both offensive and defensive." The old eunuch said, "If your majesty needs it, I can bring the secret book to you immediately, but..."
"explain."
"To practice this skill, one needs a strong body. Your Majesty, as a woman, cannot practice it." The other party shook his head.
Xi Heng guessed it and asked again: "Where in this palace is there any martial arts that can transform energy? Or is it the peerless martial arts mentioned in martial arts legends?"
"Peerless divine skills are like clouds in the sky, visible but elusive. Even among a million people, no one can comprehend them. Your Majesty should give up this thought." The eunuch shook his head: "As for the method of transformation, there are three in your Majesty's study. The first is Liuhe Youlong Palm, the second is Geng Jin Gang Sha Fu Method, and the third is Heluo Yulong Sword Method."
Xi Heng nodded, but did not listen to what the other party said. He said first: "So it means there is a peerless magic skill, right? Take me to see it first."
The old eunuch said, "If your Majesty insists on seeing it, please follow me."
After saying that, he walked directly to the rear porch of Taixiao Palace.
...To go to the Imperial Study, you should leave through the main entrance, right?
Xi Heng pondered silently, then stood up and followed.
Sure enough, the old eunuch did not take her to the imperial study, but brought her to the office behind the Taixiao Palace.
Xi Heng walked around the large storage shelf filled with all kinds of precious treasures behind the study door and entered the dazzling office.
"The peerless magic skill is right here?" Xi Heng still remembered that he had worked here for the entire afternoon yesterday.
"That's right, your majesty." The eunuch replied respectfully, and took down a copy of "The Immortal Scripture" from the bookshelf next to the long desk where the emperor worked.
"This book is one of the so-called peerless magic skills in the martial arts world, but in the past hundred years, no one has been able to glimpse the martial arts skills from the words in this book. Even the late emperor, who was extremely intelligent and perceptive, failed to succeed after studying it carefully for a long time."
Xi Heng took it curiously, opened the revised cover and took a look. The pages inside looked dry and yellow, and the handwriting on them was messy and difficult to distinguish.
“I can’t see clearly at all.”
"Your Majesty, please turn to the back. The late emperor revised this book and added annotations," the man next to him replied.
Xi Heng said "oh".
After turning two-thirds of the way through, I saw some neat, thin, and beautiful handwriting, which read:
"The blood sea and life gate are calm, without opening and closing the door, the spirit is calm, and the mind is not thinking about the outside world. The spirit is calm and the essence and blood are scattered, which is life..."
"One intention is the truth, the mysterious closed field is the bottom, lifting gold to the mysterious is gold, closing and knocking teeth is jade, locking the six roots is immovable..."
Xi Heng read the first few sentences slowly, his expression gradually becoming embarrassed.
She found that she knew every word in the book, but the sentences formed by them were difficult to understand no matter how she read them.
"Is this the peerless magic skill? It really is a kind of beauty that should have been peerless long ago." She held her forehead and said. "Who can understand it..."
"Forgive me for being frank, but even if you understand this 'Immortal Scripture', there is no martial arts to practice in it. All you get are some methods of circulating internal energy that seem to be true but are actually useless." said the old eunuch.
“……”Xi Heng understood.
Even if she obtained this peerless martial art, it would be difficult for her to get a glimpse of the internal martial arts skills required to directly become a peerless master in the world.
"Perhaps we can get some results by studying it slowly, but it doesn't mean we will definitely gain anything..." She put it down and said, "Go take a look at Hua Jin martial arts."
"Your Majesty, are you going to switch to other martial arts? Is it because the highest level of martial arts you are practicing now is only dark power?" the old eunuch guessed.
"Yes."
"Switching to a new martial art is too time-consuming and laborious. Furthermore, if the two martial arts have very different intentions and temperaments, it is very likely that one will go astray during the transition. The qi and blood will attack the heart, causing a serious illness at best, and death on the spot at worst. I hope Your Majesty will proceed with caution!" the eunuch said seriously.
"I can't do anything about it." After a court battle, Xi Heng had developed this habit of calling himself: "The highest level of the Bloodline Sword is only the Dark Force."
"Bloodline Sword?" The old lady heard the name and vaguely remembered something. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Bloodline Sword is a martial art practiced by Princess Qianqiu... She was also troubled by it and tried to deduce this martial art to the level of transformation."
"Princess Qianqiu, my aunt?" Xi Heng responded: "Did she gain anything?"
The old eunuch shook his head and said, "The princess joined the army, intending to find the essence of the sword of killing in the years of war in the north, but she eventually fell into the enemy's trap and fought with the enemy to death on the battlefield."
It seems there is no need to ask.
Xi Heng turned around and said, "Let's go to the Imperial Study. I want to look for those three books on Hua Jin martial arts."
"Yes, sir." The eunuch followed.
Xi Heng arrived in front of the Taixiao Palace, sat back on the chariot with dragon and phoenix carvings on its surface, and surrounded by imperial guards, he slowly walked towards the book storage not far away.
The carriage rose and the sedan chair came down again. When she got off, she saw many palace maids and officials from the imperial study lined up in two long rows, greeting her very respectfully and nervously.
Xi Heng nodded calmly and walked over. Under the guidance of the eunuch, he came to the fourth floor of the library, where the most rare books were kept.
The eunuch used a precious key to open the dark golden iron box, revealing a light yellow book tied with a thick red rope, with five large characters "Liuhe Youlong Zhang" written on it.
"The Wandering Dragon Palm is a martial art used by the children of the royal family of Great Zhao. It is a martial art that combines softness with strength, and hardness and softness. Practicing this martial art can unify one's mind and spirit, cure illness and prolong life. The palm technique is divided into yin and yang, and there are endless changes. The moves are compact and linked vertically and horizontally, with continuous intention, strength and energy." The old eunuch explained:
"The Wandering Dragon Palm has 8864 moves, and the moves are interconnected, allowing for a myriad of variations. When performed, it is majestic, graceful and steady, like a flying dragon or a flying phoenix, so it is called the Wandering Dragon Palm."
"The change from using sword to using palm is too big, I won't practice it." Xi Heng said directly.
"Then your majesty, please read this one." The eunuch took out a martial arts secret book with a platinum cover from the side:
"This is the Geng Jin Gang Sha Fu method, which was practiced by the children of the royal family of the previous dynasty, and was once called the 'War King's Martial Arts' by the people of Jianghu. It uses a long axe weighing more than 100 kilograms as a weapon, and relies entirely on strong force to win. It is the pinnacle of hardness and strength. Although each move does not change much, it is extremely powerful and indestructible. If this method is practiced to perfection, it can be achieved by one person guarding the pass and ten thousand men cannot open it."
"It sounds impressive." Xi Heng took a closer look.
"However, only those with a strong and sturdy physique can master this skill. Otherwise, even if you can hold a giant axe, if your body is not strong enough, it will be difficult to use even the basic moves steadily."
"A big and strong man?" Xi Heng looked down at his thin and skinny body.
Her frame is not that big to begin with, so even if she works hard at working out, she won't be able to become 'burly'.
Also, I don't know if the body will be inherited after the save is loaded...
"It's better for me to maintain my current figure and not exercise." Xi Heng shook his head again.
"Then there is only one book left." The eunuch bowed and returned, taking out another secret book with a dark blue cover from the iron box in the back library: "This is the Heluo Fish Dragon Sword Technique. It is rumored that it was written by a Taoist priest who specialized in astronomy and fortune-telling. He suddenly realized it when he was looking at the twenty-eight constellations and the Milky Way in the sky. There are four parts of the sword technique secret book: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise, and a total of four swords are practiced."
"The White Tiger is a hard sword that is fierce and powerful, the Vermillion Bird is a soft sword that is as soft as silk, agile and elegant, the Black Tortoise is a heavy and blunt sword made entirely of black iron, and the Azure Dragon is a mediocre and ordinary wooden sword." The eunuch said, "If you practice these four sword techniques one after another, you will achieve the realm of perfection. If you can perfect them, your sword technique will be ranked among the top five in the world today, but..."
"Just what?" Xi Heng was originally looking forward to it, but these two words disrupted her thoughts.
"This Heluo Fish Dragon Sword Technique requires a very high level of comprehension to learn." The old eunuch said, "And the martial artist must be proficient in the numbers of the creation of heaven and earth, and the changes of heaven and earth. Only by peeping into these numbers of heaven to understand the creation, evolution and operation of all things can one learn this sword technique."
"Days?" She blinked.
"That is to say, if you want to learn this sword technique, you must first learn the 'Five Qi Transformation Diagram', 'The Relationship between the Eight Trigrams and the Nine Palaces and the Twenty-Four Solar Terms', 'The Position Diagram of the Qi between the Left and Right of the Sitian in the Quan', etc.... Understand the Great Derivations of Yin and Yang, and understand the changes of Taichu, and then learn various mathematical classics, such as 'Pythagorean Triangle', 'Calendar and Calculation in Brief', 'Calculation of the Abacus', 'Yizhi', 'Xiangshu Kuijie', 'Taixuan Chanmi', etc...."
"Huh?" Xi Heng was stunned.
Why is it that the more I listen, the less I understand?
"I practice martial arts, but I also need to learn mathematics?"
