However, he was not panicked; at worst, he would withdraw from Huaian and then find a way to take it back.
After finishing his breakfast, Zhu Ci skipped toward the front hall.
As soon as he arrived at the front, he heard Li Cheng seemingly arguing with someone.
“My Young Master gave the order just like that. Do you have an objection?”
My Marquis never agreed to that!
What do the Marquis of Huating's orders have to do with us? We only follow the orders of the Crown Prince!
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Ah, he's actually a sickly beauty. No, I can't be seduced by such beauty! A little kitty limping onto the bed and lying down. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 94
Zhu Ci tentatively touched the ground with his right foot; it was alright, not too painful.
So he endured the pain and slowly walked over, asking, "What is happening that causes such a commotion?"
After he approached, both sides immediately stopped. Li Cheng looked delighted. "Young Master, you're awake."
After he finished speaking, he scurried over to Zhu Ci's side, bowed slightly, said, "Young Master, the Marquis of Huating's men won't allow the land to be divided."
“Oh?”
Zhu Ci looked at the man before him; he did not know this person, though he did not know many of Fu's subordinates either.
He slowly sat in the seat of honor and asked, "What is your name? Why did you stop me?"
Although that man had reined himself in a little, he was still not very polite, merely offering a perfunctory salute and saying, "This humble one is Lu Zheng. Without the Marquis's permission, I would not dare to act on my own authority."
“Hmm?” Zhu Ci leaned back against the back of the armchair and said leisurely, “You say that what I say doesn't count and that I still need the Marquis of Huating's permission?”
Lu Zheng said nothing, his expression clearly showing that he also held Zhu Ci in contempt.
Zhu Ci turned to Li Cheng and said, "Go and distribute the land. Anyone who dares to obstruct will be killed without mercy, no matter who they are!"
Lu Zheng's eyes instantly flared with fury. "You dare!"
“What is there for me not to dare? Even if the Marquis of Huating himself were here today, I would say the same. If you do not accept it, let him come and say it to me personally.”
Lu Zheng hesitated for a moment, glanced at Li Cheng, then turned and strode out.
Jiang Xueyan looked at Zhu Ci with some concern: "Young Master, this.."
Zhu Ci waved his hand. "Don't worry."
He and Fu Zao will eventually have a competition, one of them will have to yield.
Whether it is now or in the future, this matter in Huaian is merely a premature occurrence of what was bound to happen.
He also felt a sense of regret; if only he could have pushed it a little further. With just a bit more time, he would have either died at the hands of the Qing Army, or he would have grown his forces and become much stronger. Perhaps at that time, he would have had more confidence for negotiations.
But it didn't matter now; it wasn't as if he didn't have any chips on the table.
His only hope now was that no conflict would arise in Huaian. This city had endured two bouts of warfare, its social order was already somewhat precarious; if another internal strife were to occur, it would truly collapse.
While Zhu Ci was thinking about these things, he heard Jiang Xueyan say softly, "Young Master, the Marquis of Huating has arrived."
Zhu Ci paused before saying, "Please, invite him in."
Sigh, having just done something so brainless, he felt a bit awkward seeing Fu Chunsheng now.
However, he still had to face the embarrassment; he had to resolve the issue of Huaian's ownership.
Fu's arrival with troops to provide reinforcement truly saved them, but Huaian was not for Fu to defend; how could he face the soldiers he had brought with him to defend the city, handing Huaian over to others so easily?
He took a deep breath and said, "Please, let him in."
A short while later, Fu walked in slowly behind Jiang Xueyan, still wearing his signature veiled bamboo hat.
A sentence flashed through Zhu Ci's mind for no apparent reason: Fortunately, Fu had his face covered.
He was a closeted connoisseur of beauty; it was hard to tell on a normal day, but he only showed it when he encountered his preferred type.
Although he wouldn't lose his composure just because of someone's beauty, it was clearly not a good thing during negotiations.
Especially in front of a shrewd merchant like Fu Huaizhang.
Thinking of these things, Zhu Ci did not let them delay him as he smiled and greeted Fu: "Brother Huaizhang, good morning."
Fu Huaizhang had never heard such a way of greeting; he paused for a moment before saying, "Good morning."
Zhu Ci reached out and said, "Sit."
Fu Lue raised an eyebrow, said nothing, sat down.
Zhu Ci spoke with an assertive tone from the very beginning: "Brother Huaizhang has traveled thousands of miles to come to the aid of Huaian; I am deeply grateful. In the future, should Brother Huaizhang have any needs, Zhu Xinghuo will certainly do his utmost."
Fu listened and asked directly without much comment, "Does Your Highness mean to stay in Huaian?"
Zhu Ci leaned back in his chair, appearing relaxed, but in reality, he was highly tense. He smiled and said, "That is a given. The Tartars will not give up Huaian, I will not give up Huaian either."
Fu heard the double meaning in his words and asked, "Then if the Tartars attack the city again, can Your Highness still hold it?"
Zhu Ci avoided the question: "How can we know without trying?"
“It seems Your Highness lacks confidence as well. In that case, why not yield Huaian to someone who can defend it?”
Zhu Ci narrowed his eyes slightly and curled his lips in a smirk, asking, "Oh? Which brother do you think can hold it, Huaizhang?"
Fu gave a light laugh. "Why must Your Highness pretend to be ignorant? With Your Highness's current military strength, staying in Huaian would be no different from throwing eggs against stones. With Your Highness's intelligence, why seek out such unnecessary trouble?"
“Seeking trouble? Not necessarily.” Zhu Ci slightly raised his chin and said, “When I led my troops to reinforce Yangzhou, people also thought it was like an egg against a stone. Later, when we attacked Huaian, that was also considered like an egg against a stone, now?”
He knew Huaian would be difficult to defend, but no matter how difficult it became, he would not abandon Huaian, he would certainly not surrender Huaian to Fu.
Once Fu occupied Huaian, his control over Suzhou and Yangzhou would effectively be surrounded by Fu; how could he continue to fight? It would be much more straightforward to simply surrender.
Fu asked with a relaxed posture and a hint of a smile, "What if I do not retreat?"
Zhu Ci lowered his eyes and said, "With a great enemy before us, the Han people should join hands and hearts to resist the Tartars together. But if the Marquis of Huating is unwilling to do so, then I have no choice but to fight for what is mine."
Zhu Ci's attitude was extremely firm. In truth, he did not personally like internal strife; internal strife offered no benefits other than the endless exhaustion of strength against the Qing Army, yet he could not bring himself to bow his head to Fu.
The recent disagreement between Jiang Quan and Lu Zheng had already demonstrated that no one in this era would support his ideas and policies; if he did not persist, then everything previously implemented would be for naught. In the end, the means of production would still be held by those scholars and wealthy men, leaving the common people with nothing but the suffering brought by the fires of war.
Zhu Ci was neither willing to accept nor in agreement with continuing the previous policies of Great Ming.
After he finished speaking, silence fell over the room, the atmosphere instantly grew tense.
Jiang Xueyan couldn't help but rest her hand on the dagger at her waist, staring intently at the Marquis of Huating, fearing that he might suddenly strike.
Although she did not know how skilled the Marquis of Huating was, at the very least, her Young Master was at a disadvantage in terms of height.
Not to mention that the Young Master still had injuries on his body.
Fu fell silent for a long moment before suddenly asking, "How does Your Highness intend to contend?"
Zhu Ci raised an eyelid: "No matter how the Marquis of Huating wishes to contend, I will see it through to the very end."
Fu suddenly laughed, "Your Highness is right. With a great enemy before us, there was truly no need for us to be at odds. Since Your Highness values Huaian so much, what harm is there in me yielding Huaian to you?"
Zhu Ci breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, his body relaxing slightly, his tone was no longer so aggressive: "Brother Huaizhang truly understands the greater good."
After he finished speaking, he changed the subject: "I am deeply grateful to Brother Huaizhang for taking care of the affairs within the county these past few days, but I wonder why Brother Huaizhang has come here?"
Fu lost his previous aggressiveness and said, "I have come here for two reasons: first, to fulfill my promise, second, to repay the debt of saving my life."
In a daze, Zhu Ci remembered that when he had come down from the city walls earlier, he thought he had heard Fu Chunsheng say he had come to repay a life-saving debt.
He was somewhat dazed and couldn't help but ask, "A life-saving debt?"
Fu said, "I was severely injured some time ago. If not for the medicine from His Highness the Crown Prince, I fear I would not be in this world right now."
Severely injured?
Zhu Ci understood instantly.
He had been wondering all this time why someone like Fu, who possessed such immense power, would be so obscure in the original book.
He should have posed at least some kind of threat to the male protagonist.
He had once suspected that the world-view in the book was incomplete, but the world he was in had directly supplemented it.
Looking at it now, if it weren't for him, Fu would most likely have been mortally wounded and died just as the Qing Army began its Southward Advance.
Since they were already dead, they naturally could no longer pose any threat to the male lead.
He sat up slightly and asked, "How did you get injured?"
Fu Cai said nonchalantly, "I accidentally took an arrow from Sun Hongji."
Sun Hongji?
Zhu Ci was dazed for a moment; he had not heard that name in a long time.
When he left, the other party was a Commander of the Jinyi Guard; Fu had clearly been in combat with him.
Zhu Ci stroked the armrest of the armchair, remaining silent for a long while before saying, "I dare not claim the debt of saving my life; Brother Huaizhang also paid for it back then."
Fu did not think so. Was this medicine effective? Of course it was.
Although it would lose its effectiveness quickly after being made, it wouldn't become useless immediately.
Moreover, after selling the prescription, Zhu Ci had also given him many medicines. It would still take some time for his own subordinates to manufacture the medicine; even with the prescription, it could not be perfectly replicated immediately.
The medicine he used at that time was the one Zhu Ci had sent, so it wouldn't be wrong to say that the other party had given him the grace of saving his life.
Fu did not continue the topic, merely asking, "Is Your Highness not curious about the outcome of this battle?"
Zhu Ci was curious, of course, but his feelings were also somewhat complicated.
He asked cautiously, "As for now.. how are things with the Imperial Court?"
“There is no longer a court, which is why I am here to fulfill my promise,” he said, glancing at Lu Zheng beside him.
Lu Zheng immediately clapped his hands, someone instantly brought up a wooden box.
-----------------------