Travel back in time and become Chongzhen, watch me turn the tide

The group that entered was led by a man of medium build, slightly overweight. He wore a rich brocade robe, of fine texture and vibrant color, embroidered with intricate patterns. The robe shimmered in the light, highlighting his wealth and extravagance. His face was round, his complexion slightly yellowed, like the peel of a ripe orange. His narrow eyes, like two slits, occasionally gleamed with a shrewd and greedy gleam, as if constantly calculating, creating a formidable presence. His eyebrows were sparse and short, seemingly casually resting above his eye sockets, giving him a feeling of restraint and strain, like two withered leaves, lifeless. His nose was not high, but the tip was round. His carefully trimmed mustache, with its tips slightly tilted upward, added a touch of sophistication and tact, giving him the appearance of a cunning man.

"Tian Yang...what are you doing here?" When Hou Fangyu saw the person coming, he felt his blood rushing to his forehead, his face turned red, and he shouted angrily.

The person who came was Tian Yang, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and Hou Fangyu was so excited because of the entanglement between him and Li Xiangjun.

Hou Fangyu, persecuted by Ruan Dacheng, fled Nanjing, taking refuge among Shi Kefa's troops like a stray dog. Unable to seek revenge, Ruan Dacheng turned his ruthless hand on Li Xiangjun. Ruan Dacheng, a member of Ma Shiying's faction, and knowing Tian Yang's lustful nature, urged him to take Li Xiangjun as his concubine.

Tian Yang, upon seeing Li Xiangjun's stunning beauty, was instantly captivated and captivated. When he arrived at Meixiang Tower with great fanfare and fanfare to welcome her, Li Xiangjun defied him with a desperate, unyielding devotion, her blood splattering all over her folding fan. Painter Yang Longyou, who happened to be present, quickly picked up the palace fan and, using the blood, painted a few peach blossoms. The name "Peach Blossom Fan" spread far and wide, becoming a poignant and heroic legend.

Li Xiangjun died to prove her resolve, but how could a shameless man like Tian Yang give up so easily and let his reputation be humiliated? In the end, Li Zhenli stepped forward and offered to marry in her place. Tian Yang saw that Li Zhenli was also graceful and beautiful, not inferior to Li Xiangjun in any way, so he put the matter aside for the time being.

Before Tian Yang officially married Li Zhenli, Chongzhen issued a manifesto to suppress rebellion. Ma Shiying and his party instantly fell into panic and were unable to take care of themselves, so the matter was forgotten.

Li Zhenli and Li Xiangjun thought that the matter was over, but they didn't expect that Li Xiangjun accidentally met Tian Yang on the way to Meixianglou. Tian Yang came up and tried to touch him. Li Xiangjun finally got rid of them, but she didn't expect that these people would follow her here.

"What am I doing here?" Tian Yang squinted his eyes at Hou Fangyu, a sneer curled up at the corner of his mouth, that smile full of ridicule and disdain. He said sarcastically, "Of course, I'm here to welcome Li Zhenli back home to get married. This is a beautiful event that has been decided long ago. Don't you, a young boy, know about it?"

"You dare!" After Hou Fangyu returned to Nanjing, he listened to Li Xiangjun's detailed account of the incident. He had already hated Tian Yang's evil deeds in his heart. Of course, he would not give him a good face at this moment. His words were full of determination and anger.

"Oh, Lord Hou, you're so arrogant! How dare you..." Tian Yang's sneer grew stronger upon hearing this. He pointed his fat, short finger at Hou Fangyu and said viciously, "You're just a mere official in the Propaganda and Justice Department, yet you dare to speak to your superiors like that. Don't think that just because you followed His Majesty to Nanjing City, you've become a key figure in policy making. Humph, even so, in my eyes, you're nothing more than an ant. How can you be so arrogant in front of me?"

"You!" Hou Fangyu was so angry that he was speechless for a moment, his chest heaving violently, but he didn't know how to fight back. He knew that his official position was low and he had no confidence in front of Tian Yang, but how could he watch Li Zhenli being abducted by him?

Chongzhen naturally recognized Tian Yang. Although he was traveling incognito, he definitely did not want to meet with the ministers at this time, so he pulled Wang Chengen and hid behind the crowd.

"Li Zhenli, you are the one I am planning to marry, yet you are still showing up here. You are really shameless," Tian Yang turned his head to look at the pale-faced Li Zhenli and said with a sneer.

"I..." Li Zhenli was panicked for a moment and speechless.

In order to save Li Xiangjun that day, she offered to marry in her place and accepted three hundred taels from Tian Yang (one tael is six taels). Now that Tian Yang was humiliating her like this, she could only endure it silently, her heart full of helplessness and bitterness.

"In that case, today is the best day to do it. You will come back with me today." Tian Yangyang laughed wildly, his laughter echoing through the house and making people's ears hurt. He continued, "Tonight I will taste the bride and be a romantic groom!"

"No... no!" Hou Fangyu gritted his teeth and said stubbornly. He knew the responsibility he shouldered. Li Zhenli was marrying in place of Li Xiangjun. As Li Xiangjun's best friend, how could he sit back and watch Tian Yang succeed?

"Lord Hou, you keep trying to stop me, are you trying to test my patience?" Tian Yang's face darkened like the dark clouds before a storm, his eyes narrowed into two almost invisible black lines as he spoke coldly. His eyes seemed to emit two tangible cold rays that could freeze a person.

"This... Sir Tian, ​​that is absolutely not my intention." Hou Fangyu suppressed the rage burning in his heart and tried his best to make his tone humble and submissive, trying to defuse the tense situation. He said, "Sir, please be magnanimous and spare me some face. How about that?"

"Giving you face? Hahaha!" Tian Yang suddenly burst into a deafening laugh, as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world. The laughter was full of contempt and arrogance. He shouted, "Who do you think you are? What have you done to deserve my giving you face?"

Tian Yang believed he had seen through Hou Fangyu. Previously, forced by Ruan Dacheng, Hou Fangyu had fled to Shi Kefa's army, only surviving thanks to a few connections from his father, Hou Xun. With the restoration of Emperor Chongzhen, he had only secured a fifth-rank official position, a doctor. Furthermore, the Propaganda and Cleaning Office, a newly established department, must have been a sinecure he had secured thanks to his limited connections with Shi Kefa, a position of no consequence.

Although he was a member of Ma Shiying's party, Tian Yang was lucky enough not to lose his job due to Ma Shiying's downfall during the change of imperial power. This made him secretly feel fortunate, as if there was a god protecting him and allowing him to escape.

Today was the Mid-Autumn Festival. He drank a few more glasses of wine in the evening. After eating and drinking, he suddenly felt like strolling along the Qinhuai River with a few servants. He wanted to show off his knowledge and have some fun, but he ran into Li Xiangjun by chance, which led to the series of farces that followed.

Although he pretended to be nonchalant, he was still somewhat wary of Hou Fangyu. After all, he had been in the officialdom for many years and was well aware of Hou Fangyu's current experience with Emperor Chongzhen. Therefore, he only dared to target Li Zhenli and did not dare to point the finger at Li Xiangjun, fearing that it would cause greater trouble and bring disaster upon himself.

Moreover, in his eyes, Hou Fangyu was just a minor official of the fifth rank, working in the unheard-of Propaganda and Cleansing Bureau. He must be insignificant in the mind of Emperor Chongzhen. How could he, a dignified Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, take him seriously?

"You..." Hou Fangyu was so confused by Tian Yang's harsh words that he didn't know how to respond. Rage seized him, and his rationality vanished in an instant. He rushed forward, pointing a trembling finger at Tian Yang, and roared, "Master Tian, ​​are you really going to openly and violently seize this woman? Don't you fear the law?"

"Hou Fangyu, you, a mere doctor, how dare you offend your superiors like this!" How could Tian Yang have ever been scolded like this? Adding to the alcohol, his head was buzzing, and his rationality was completely gone. He immediately became furious and roared like thunder: "Come here, take down this fool and take that woman away! Anyone who dares to stop me will be beaten!"

Before Tian Yang finished speaking, the servants behind him swarmed over like wolves, rushing towards Li Zhenli with bared fangs and claws.

"Ouch!" The leading servant just stretched out his hand, but unexpectedly a dark shadow flashed out like a ghost, followed by a swift kick, hitting him in the chest. The servant screamed and flew backwards like a kite with a broken string, falling heavily to the ground, his legs in the air.

"Your Majesty...Mr. Zhu," Hou Fangyu was stunned at first, and then he was pleasantly surprised to find that the person who took action was Emperor Chongzhen. He was immediately overjoyed.

Most of the people present today were young people. Seeing Chongzhen take the lead in the attack, the other scholars suddenly became excited and stepped forward one after another.

Zhang Huangyan, in particular, was as nimble as a cheetah and as agile as a monkey. He charged into the enemy lines, his punches like meteors and his kicks like lightning, single-handedly facing four or five foes without losing the upper hand. He punched his foes in the face, kicked them in the vitals, each strike fierce and brutal, leaving them wailing and helpless, unable to fight back.

Seeing this, Zhu Ge and Zhu Tie did not rush to join the battle, but instead stayed closely guarding Chongzhen, their eyes sharp as torches, scanning the surroundings vigilantly to prevent any possible accidents from happening.

"How dare you... Ouch!" Tian Yangwan hadn't expected these young scholars to defy him, and with such ferocity. He'd only brought a few useless servants with him today. They might have been fine with bullying, but in a fight, they were completely vulnerable. In the chaos, he himself wasn't immune, taking several kicks.

Chongzhen watched all this unfold clearly from the sidelines. Those kicks were actually delivered by Xia Wanchun. Though still young, the young man was clever and brave. Taking advantage of the chaos, he quietly slid around behind Tian Yang, seized the opportunity, and unleashed a series of vicious kicks. Chongzhen couldn't help but smile as he watched, deeply impressed by the young man's courage.

Chongzhen deliberately turned sideways when he kicked the man, so Tian Yang didn't see his face clearly. Even if he had seen his face, he would probably have thought it was someone who looked like Chongzhen. After all, in his mind, how could the emperor appear incognito in this place of prostitution on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival? It was simply a fantasy, absolutely impossible.

"You...you just wait!" Tian Yang saw that the situation was not good. He knew that it would be difficult to succeed today. A good man would not suffer a loss in front of him. He could only leave a harsh word and turned around to escape in shame...

His back looked so disheveled in the night, forming a sharp and ironic contrast with the arrogance he had when he arrived.