While Zhu Ci was thinking about these things, he suddenly heard Fu ask, "Does Your Highness like this ship?"
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Is Fu really not going to lose money doing business this way? If I had known, I would have asked for a higher price. Conscience? What conscience? What is that? An evil kitty calculating on an abacus. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 79
Zhu Ci said very calmly, "Fuchuan are indeed beautiful."
Most importantly, he also really wanted to organize a merchant caravan for overseas voyages, though of course, that was all part of his future plans.
Immediately after, he heard Fu say nonchalantly, "In that case, let this ship be left to His Highness."
Zhu Ci became instantly alert: "One should not accept rewards without merit. A Fuchuan is so precious; I wouldn't dare accept it."
Fu Qingsheng said softly, "Consider it a gesture to make a friend of Your Highness."
Is making friends always such a grand gesture?
Zhu Ci looked at the Fuchuan and then at Fu; seeing the shocked expressions on the faces of the people behind this young Marquis, he knew that Fu must have come up with this on a whim.
He pondered for a long while before saying, "Fine, I shall count the Marquis of Huating as my friend."
“Huaizhang.” Fu said. “My courtesy name is Huaizhang.”
Zhu Ci followed suit: "Brother Huaizhang, my courtesy name is Xinghuo."
While they were speaking, Zhu Ci was also brought over.
He froze for a moment when he saw Zhu Ci, clearly having not expected that Zhu Ci was still alive.
Zhu Ci turned his head to look at him, feeling a sudden surge of emotion as he noticed that white hairs had already begun to sprout at his temples.
He was only sixteen years old.
Besides that, he was also terribly thin, clearly not eating or sleeping well, perhaps having endured much torment.
Zhu Ci stood there for a moment without moving, Jiang Xueyan, who was behind Zhu Ci, immediately went over to pay respects and said, "Young Master, please follow me."
Zhu Ci glanced at Fu and followed Jiang Xueyan away in silence.
Zhu Ci watched as Zhu Ci was sent off in the carriage, then slightly tilted his head to look at Fu, his eyes shifting as he said, "Since Brother Huaizhang has sent his cousin over, I might as well reciprocate and send two people to Brother Huaizhang."
Fu was somewhat surprised: "Who?"
Zhu Ci turned his head: "Xia Lei, Xi Ya, come out."
Although only Xia Lei had been here before, when he had sent someone to fetch the rockets just now, he had also ordered that Xi Ya be brought along.
Xia Lei and Xi Ya both appeared somewhat dazed when they came out, but at this moment, even if they were fools, they knew they had been exposed; the problem was that they had no idea how they had been exposed in the first place.
Fu was not surprised; neither the Fu siblings nor Xia Lei and Xi Ya were originally trained to be spies.
But he also admitted that he had underestimated Zhu Ci; he had originally thought these few people would be enough, but he hadn't expected that, without even realizing it, everything had been discovered by him.
Fu explained nothing, simply saying, "Alright."
Zhu Ci smiled slightly at him, cupped his hands, said, "It is getting late, we shall take our leave here. Brother Huaizhang, take care."
Fu bowed in farewell and watched Zhu Ci board the carriage, then turned and asked, "Daoist Changfeng, what do you think?"
An old Daoist with white hair and beard held a whisk and slowly walked forward, saying, "The Ziwei Imperial Star, bringing relief and transformation, it's just.."
"Just??" Fu turned to look at him.
Daoist Changfeng frowned slightly, appearing somewhat worried: "It seems a malevolent star accompanies the Ziwei Imperial Star; I fear it portends the rise of a tyrant."
As he spoke, he glanced at the Marquis of Huating beside him, feeling extremely puzzled in his heart—why would this malevolent star manifest in this Marquis?
The Marquis of Huating already possessed the potential to contend for the world; how could he possibly become a malevolent star to accompany the Ziwei Imperial Star?
Most importantly, the Marquis before him showed no sign of being a malevolent star at all.
The old Daoist's hands, hidden in his sleeves, were rubbing together so vigorously they were almost sparking, yet he still couldn't figure it out. Could it be that his cultivation was insufficient?
Fu said nothing. After watching the carriage depart, he turned back toward the cabin. "Let's wait and see."
Even the Ziwei Imperial Star must first survive in this chaotic world.
Even if Zhu Yousong is the Imperial Star, so what?
..
After Zhu Ci boarded the boat, he said, "Find someone to take over this Fuchuan later."
There was a smile in his eyes and at the corners of his mouth as he spoke.
The Marquis of Huating is truly righteous.
Sigh, he had originally thought about teaching Fu a lesson sooner or later, but what could he do when that person had inexplicably planted people around him.
Now.. forget it, forget it. Such generous buyers are rare, since they even gave him a Large Fuchuan, he hasn't lost anything.
A Prime Minister has the capacity to hold a ship in his belly; he, Zhu Ci, has always been magnanimous, so he would not bicker with Fu Huaizhang!
Zhu Ci's good mood lasted until he stepped off the carriage. When he saw Zhu Ci getting down from another carriage, he thought for a moment and asked, "Are you going to rest first and we'll talk tomorrow, or shall we have a proper talk now?"
Zhu Ci remained silent for a long while before saying, "Let's talk first."
He wouldn't be able to sleep without making things clear; in fact, he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time.
Zhu Ci nodded in agreement, "Alright, then let's talk while we eat."
After he finished speaking, he told Gu Rouqian to go rest first. Of course, before Gu Rouqian left, Zhu Ci gave him a casual glance and said, "I know who your teacher is. There are some things that even a teacher is not allowed to know, do you understand?"
Gu Rouqian fell silent for a moment, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, before finally saying, "Lord.. is it really.. His Highness the Crown Prince?"
Oh, this matter hasn't been resolved yet.
Zhu Ci gave a light laugh and said, "Yes, but I don't have time to explain it to you right now. You should go back and rest first."
Gu Rouqian actually already believed it; Zhu Ci's identity was acknowledged by the Marquis of Huating, since Zhu Ci stood together with their Lord, their appearances were fifty percent similar; one could tell at a glance that they were brothers from the same family.
He left in silence, unable to process it for the moment, his mind filled with questions.
As for telling his teacher, he hadn't even considered it.
His teacher was Ma Shiying. After Nanjing fell, Ma Shiying had fled with the imperial carriage, now that the Marquis of Huating had taken the opportunity to rise in rebellion, he had long been unable to contact his teacher.
Zhu Ci led the way to the Rear Office, watching the well-trained retainers patrol and the servants scurry about, all while remaining silent.
This silence continued until the dishes were served.
Zhu Ci even had someone bring over some rice wine, poured him a cup, then said, "Conditions are limited; just make do with this simple meal."
Zhu Ci seemed somewhat emotional, saying in a low voice, "It is.. it is already very good."
Seeing him in this state, the question that had been on the tip of his tongue suddenly became difficult to ask.
He really wanted to ask what Zhu Ci had been doing all this time, why he hadn't been able to topple the foolish ruler after such a long period.
He also wanted to ask why the Qing Army would attack Nanjing, whether it was because of him.
However, at this moment, it felt as though these questions no longer held any meaning.
Even if he got the answer, what use would it be? It had already come to this.
Zhu Ci picked up a chicken leg for him and said, "If you have any questions, just ask them directly."
Zhu Ci fell silent for a long while before asking, "Why.. why did you flee back then?"
Zhu Ci knew he would surely ask this, so he said directly, "If I stayed, I wouldn't know how much longer I would live. You have no way out and are forced to fight for it, but I still have a chance to leave."
Zhu Ci asked again, "How.. how did you escape? Zhu Yousong seems to have sent many people to find you, but none of them could."
Zhu Ci was somewhat surprised: "He's looking for me?"
Zhu Ci said calmly, "Yes, perhaps he needs you, the Crown Prince, to do something. Later, when news arrived that the Qing Army was approaching the city, some people even suggested that he appoint another Crown Prince to stay in Nanjing to act as regent."
Zhu Yousong indeed appointed another Crown Prince, who also stayed behind, which served to somewhat delay the Qing Army's southward advance.
However, in the end, it was Fu's troops that blocked the iron hooves of the Qing Army's southward advance and drove them back.
Zhu Ci let out a sneer. "In that case, then you should know even better why I had to pull a 'golden cicada shedding its skin'."
Zhu Ci paused before asking, "How did you resolve your identity? And then what? How.. did you become the Suzhou Prefect?"
Zhu Ci took a sip of rice wine and said, "My identity.. at that time, I had three. There was the false identity I created before leaving, there was the false identity my mother gave me."
"The Empress?" Zhu Ci was slightly stunned.
Zhu Ci said, "Before this, the Empress had already prepared everything to let me leave. I didn't know what she meant, but I think.. she wouldn't harm me."
Zhu Ci continued to explain how he had escaped and how he had eventually become the Prefect.
Zhu Ci listened, stunned, couldn't help but ask, "How many people are under your command now?"
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: You traitor, this is what you call reciprocity! An evil kitty jumps up and kicks its hind legs. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM~
Chapter 80
Zhu Ci pondered for a long while. "There should be nearly ten thousand people, shouldn't there? It's truly difficult to support them, otherwise I wouldn't have chosen to raid Fu's ships."
Controlling an entire prefecture.. nearly ten thousand people..
If it had been Zhu Ci two years ago, he might not have thought much of it, but having experienced so much now, he only felt that for Zhu Ci to develop from a small mountain village, starting with only about two thousand taels of silver, to his current state in just a few short months, was simply unimaginable.
If one were to look into it closely.. perhaps.. one could only say that some people are simply born different from the rest.
Zhu Ci suddenly remembered hearing someone say back then that Li Zicheng had the bearing of a heroic figure.
Now that he looked at his younger cousin, he was even younger than Li Zicheng and had not even undergone his capping ceremony; how could he not also possess the air of a heroic figure?
Zhu Ci asked, "What do you plan to do next?"