Golden Ranking Appears, My Empress Turns Out to Be Wu Zhao

As everyone stood stunned, wide-eyed.

Zhu Houzhao's figure slowly appeared.

"You... who are you?"

"Was it you who destroyed Zhao Kuangyin's Dragon Vein Land?"

Before Zhu Houzhao could speak, the old Taoist sitting above questioned him in confusion.

"And who are you people? I didn't expect that this Imperial Mausoleum would hide Land Immortals like you. Zhao Kuangyin really hid you well."

"Are you his lapdogs?"

Zhu Houzhao asked deliberately.

"Nonsense. Zhao Kuangyin and we are mortal enemies. We'd love nothing more than to tear him to pieces!"

"Then who are you?"

Facing Zhu Houzhao's "curiosity", a middle-aged man in white not far away slowly stood up.

He respectfully bowed to Zhu Houzhao.

"I am Zhao Pu. Greetings, Mister."

"I must thank you. By destroying the Dragon Vein just now, you freed us."

"Whatever the case, I owe you a favor."

"Zhao Pu? That name sounds familiar."

"Ah? I remember now. Among those who helped Zhao Kuangyin seize the world and later established the Northern Song Dynasty, you were one of the founding ministers, right?"

"You are actually here?"

"Seems Zhao Kuangyin treated his meritorious ministers quite well!"

Zhu Houzhao said deliberately with an ambiguous tone.

"Nonsense! Zhao Kuangyin, for the sake of his own dynasty, harmed us who followed him for years. Not only that, he made it so we couldn't live or die. Is that what you call treating us well?"

Inside the grand hall, a hot-tempered man fumed with rage.

"Oh? What happened?"

Perhaps they hadn't seen an outsider in many years.

Even knowing that this person was intentionally probing for information, they didn't mind much.

They just wanted to vent the grievances and fury accumulated over the years.

"I remember Zhao Kuangyin back then, performing the so-called 'wine to release military power' move. Although the founding ministers lost much power, they still lived lives of endless glory and wealth."

"Compared to the founding ministers of other dynasties, you seemed quite fortunate."

"So? Still not satisfied?"

"Looking at you now, all of you have reached the Land Immortal Realm."

"If not for Zhao Kuangyin's nurturing, would you have this kind of strength?"

Zhu Houzhao again spoke with "disdain".

"What do you know? Zhao Kuangyin's actions were nothing but schemes!"

"Not long after releasing our military power, he secretly captured us."

"Then imprisoned us in this Imperial Mausoleum. Who knows what kind of evil methods he used, but he actually utilized the Northern Song Dragon Vein and National Fortune to completely control us."

"For over a hundred years, we were locked here, unable to escape this cage."

"Zhao Kuangyin even had people impersonate us and return to our families."

"Through various tactics, he suppressed us. Most likely, our families have long ceased to exist."

"In fact, whether our descendants are still our own, that's not even certain anymore!"

"Such humiliation and disgrace. How could we ever rest until he's destroyed?"

"'Wine to release military power'? Ha, just a farce to make himself look good for treating his ministers kindly."

"But fortunately, later we heard that he and his inhuman brother Zhao Kuangyi fell out."

"The dynasty split in two, becoming mutual enemies."

"When we heard that news, we were thrilled beyond measure!"

"Hahaha!"

At this point, many in the grand hall burst into hysterical laughter.

To Zhu Houzhao, their laughter seemed sick and twisted.

It seemed the years of imprisonment had truly driven them mad.

"Alright, boy. We've told you what you wanted to know."

"Now it's time for you to tell us who you really are."

"What's going on outside lately?"

"Not long ago, we heard the Blue Cavalry Army guarding the Imperial Mausoleum were mobilized."

"Was it because of you?"

"Pity the Blue Cavalry Army. Because of Zhao Kuangyin's ruthless ambitions, they've become something neither human nor ghost."

"Worse off than us."

"They used to be so loyal to Zhao Kuangyin. And this is how he repaid them?"

Zhu Houzhao's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

It seemed even he found Zhao Kuangyin's actions hard to believe.

Logically, a Founding Emperor of a dynasty shouldn't have committed such vile acts.

No.

Based on what Zhu Houzhao knew, Zhao Kuangyin may have had great ambition, but he couldn't have been as despicable as these people claimed.

There must be far deeper secrets hidden in all of this.

For a moment, Zhu Houzhao fell into deep thought.

"Hey, kid, are you not going to answer us?"

Some even showed killing intent in their eyes.

It seemed they felt no gratitude toward Zhu Houzhao for "rescuing" them.

Zhu Houzhao noticed everything.

He already had a plan in mind.

But for now, it wasn't the time to strike.

He needed to uncover more secrets.

"Oh? Right now, the Song Dynasty is being invaded from the north by both the Liao Kingdom and Jin Kingdom."

"At the same time, the west is under joint attack from the Tibet Kingdom and Western Xia Kingdom."

"Internally, there are countless rebel and resistance forces fighting each other."

"As for the current Song Emperor Zhao Ji, compared to Zhao Kuangyin, he's even more useless."

"An utter fool."

"He does nothing all day, and even now as the dynasty collapses, he continues to indulge in pleasures."

"It won't be long before he gets what's coming to him."

Zhu Houzhao shook his head and didn't hide anything, giving a detailed account of the Song Dynasty's current crisis.

Everyone was shaken by what they heard.

Zhao Kuangyin did all he could to build the Song Dynasty, even persecuting them to that extent.

And in the end, this was what became of it?

"Hahaha, what a joke, what a colossal joke!"

"No, I must get out of here. I want to witness the destruction of the Song Dynasty with my own eyes!"

"Right, what about Zhao Kuangyin?"

"From what I know of him, he wouldn't stay idle. He must've taken action by now!"

"Is he still outside, playing his little schemes?"

"Kid, are you lying to me?"

"Seems I've been too soft on you."

"Just right, I haven't fought in years. Let me show you what I can do!"

Suddenly, a muscular man stood up in the grand hall.

With a fierce and twisted expression, he charged forward to strike.

The aura of a Heavenly Human was tyrannical and bloodthirsty.

Clearly, he'd killed countless people while aiding Zhao Kuangyin in conquering the dynasty.

Even after all these years, the bloodthirsty aura hadn't faded.

"Kid, surrender now!"

"You might suffer less pain!"

Zhu Houzhao was unfazed by his words.

Instead, he looked around at everyone present.

All their eyes showed curiosity and mockery.

They had no regard for Zhu Houzhao, their so-called "savior" who gave them back their freedom.

In fact, they looked as if they were watching a show.

Zhu Houzhao sneered inwardly.

As for these people, it was time to change his approach.

Most of them couldn't be allowed to live.

Though they were strong, all reached the Land Immortal Realm.

==========

If subdued, they could serve as powerful fighters.

However, after thinking it through, he decided to completely give up on that idea.

At this stage, he didn't lack talent.

And people like those in this hall, whose nature had warped over the years, could no longer be considered talent.

Like a chicken rib, tasteless to eat, but a waste to discard.

Whoosh!

A terrifying aura swept toward him.

If it were an ordinary cultivator, this blow would leave them seriously injured, if not dead.

Clearly, there was no intention of holding back.

A palm strike was launched.

Zhu Houzhao remained calm, slightly raising his right hand.

His palm turned into a claw, and he firmly caught the attacker's wrist.

A surge of fierce energy entered the man's body.

In an instant, the man's expression changed from disdainful and contemptuous to shocked and terrified.

Looking at Zhu Houzhao, it was as if he saw an unimaginable existence.

"Aaaah!"

A shrill scream echoed through the grand hall.

In just a few seconds.

Zhu Houzhao's vast and unfathomable internal force destroyed the man's internal organs completely.

He pushed with his left hand.

It landed squarely on the man's chest.

Pfft!

Blood spurted out.

The man flew backward.

==========

He crashed heavily to the ground.

Unable to move.

"You... you..."

His finger trembled as he pointed at Zhu Houzhao.

His eyes were filled with despair and confusion.

How could he have died so suddenly?

This mysterious young man was not at all weak or powerless as they imagined.

He was someone they couldn't hope to resist.

This man's strength was countless times greater than even their Ancestors.

Had he known this, he wouldn't have been so reckless as to provoke him, ending up like this.

Compared to death, he even missed the days of being imprisoned.

At least back then, he was still alive.

It seemed he wasn't as brave as he thought, shouting "freedom or death" all those years.

Now it all felt laughably pathetic.

With endless regret and despair, the man's consciousness sank into darkness.

"Ah! This... this... how could this be?"

"He's dead just like that?"

"His strength wasn't the strongest, but definitely upper middle among us!"

"And this young man just killed him in an instant?"

Looking at the corpse on the ground not far away, everyone froze.

They didn't react for a moment.

But soon, chaos erupted among the crowd.

Their gaze toward Zhu Houzhao completely changed.

The previous indifference, even disdain, turned into caution, fear, and deep killing intent.

This mysterious young man may have saved them.

But now, he posed a threat to their lives.

In that case, he couldn't be allowed to live.

No matter what, if the chance arose, they must eliminate him.

Of course.

Not all of them thought this way.

Except for the old Taoist sitting at the top who remained expressionless.

There were also a few others in the grand hall who stayed calm.

They didn't seem too affected.

But even they couldn't help showing curiosity toward Zhu Houzhao.

"You... who are you really?"

"You killed my brother! You deserve to die!"

"Kid, just because you saved us, doesn't mean we'll be grateful to you!"

"How dare you kill one of us? Do you think we don't exist?"