Miss Sanqi Ma

  Zhu Yuanzhang's martial arts skills were not particularly impressive, and he did not rely on them to conquer the world in his previous life. Although he knocked down a villager with one punch when fighting in Xigou Village, that was only equivalent to an elite soldier facing off against an ordinary person. If he were to take to the battlefield and face off against a fierce warrior with refined martial arts skills, Zhu Yuanzhang might not necessarily emerge victorious.

  Zheng Yanfu's strength had clearly surpassed that of an ordinary soldier, and could be considered as a fierce general. His powerful slash was something that Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't dodge.

  However, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't need to dodge. He simply stood still and calmly watched Zheng Yanfu's knife chop towards him, without even furrowing his brow. The distance between Zheng Yanfu and him was several meters, so for this knife to reach Zhu Yuanzhang, he had to take a big step forward, then use the foot that stepped out as the supporting point of force to make the power real.

  This step took a heavy and powerful stride, which should have been firmly grounded. However, when Zheng Yanfu's front leg landed, he felt a sudden emptiness in his lower body... It turned out that the landing point was not solid ground, but a small pit filled with soft grass leaves...

  He was shocked in his heart, but the foot that had stepped out was like a wave of water that had gone out, and there was no reason to stop halfway. He wanted to pull it back, but he couldn't, and could only let his feet sink into the pit, his body suddenly tilting to one side. This feeling was just like when people are walking down stairs, and they think there's still one more step at the bottom, but instead their foot lands on empty air... It felt as if the entire center of gravity had lost its support, and the feeling of emptiness was extremely terrible.

  His entire body's balance was completely destroyed, the knife he chopped out became twisted and turned, without any power, his feet tangled together, stumbled two steps, almost fell down.

  "Not good! I've fallen into their trap......" Zheng Yanfu's heart was racing with anxiety. Earlier, he had seen that Zhu Yuanzhang was much shorter than him and his body wasn't as robust, so Zheng Yanfu had become somewhat complacent. Adding to this, he had been suppressing his killing intent and had drunk blood wine, so his mind hadn't been thinking clearly. Now, after careful consideration, he suddenly realized that if the other party dared to wait for him here and claim they would take him to see the official, they must have made preparations!

  But now it's too late to think about anything, Zhu Yuanzhang can't let go of such a good opportunity. He had dug a pit in the ground beforehand and was waiting for this perfect moment... Just as Zheng Yanfu stumbled and his head fell back, Zhu Yuanzhang took a step forward, swinging out the wooden knife at his waist, blade and scabbard together, with a "plop" sound it chopped down on the back of Zheng Yanfu's neck.

  Zheng Yanfu felt a blackness in front of his eyes, the pig-killing knife slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, and his body went limp and collapsed...

  "What a pity! Zheng Yanfu of Chengcheng, your rebellion would have been remembered in history, but with my appearance, this event will not happen again." Zhu Yuanzhang tore off several strips of cloth from Zheng Yanfu's clothes and used them to tie up his hands and feet. He then carried him on his shoulder back to the Qingliang Institute.

  The cool night wind blows gently, and the withered trees and weeds make a rustling sound.

  Not far from the walk, Zheng Yanfu woke up and struggled on Zhu Yuanzhang's shoulder for a few times. He found himself tied tightly, and the butcher knife had fallen to the other's waist. Suddenly, he was furious: "The court's running dog, kill me!"

  "I won't kill you!" Zhu Yuanzhang said in a low voice: "I will hand you over to Zhang Douyao, let him deal with you. And I will get a large reward for meritorious service and may even be promoted by the government."

  "You scoundrel, running dog, loyal dog!" Zheng Yanfu cursed angrily: "You want to kill all the people in our Chengcheng County..."

  "Bang!" Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly punched Zheng Yanfu's stomach, the force of this punch was not small, and it shocked the latter's internal organs as if they had shifted positions. Zheng Yanfu's body arched, his face contorted in pain, and he didn't come back to his senses for a long time, his angry curses stopping abruptly.

  "I don't have time for idle chatter with you, and even if I did, you wouldn't understand." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "So, shut up too."

  He carried Zheng Yanfu to the side of the Qingliang Temple, carefully tied him up again, tore off a piece of cloth from his clothes and stuffed it into his mouth, then threw him into the bushes. This man must be left alive for Zhang Douyao, so that he can force out which villagers are planning to rebel, after the government arrests these would-be rebels, they will reward Zhu Yuanzhang's merits.

  These villagers committed the crime of treason, and after being caught, they had no choice but to die. Zhu Yuanzhang still had some sympathy for them, but he wouldn't let Zheng Yanfu or these villagers off just because of that sympathy. Because sympathizing with them would only lead to indulging them in becoming bandits, turning from kind-hearted villagers into cruel outlaws, and ultimately meeting a bad end, which would also drag the entire Ming dynasty down with them.

  Zhu Yuanzhang is not a Bodhisattva, he has no intention of saving them, what he wants to save is the goal of the Great Ming Dynasty, with his eyes on all the mountains and rivers and the altar of the land.

  After hiding Zheng Yanfu in the bushes, he slowly walked back to Qingliangyuan, planning to rest for a night and leave the wedding procession early tomorrow morning, taking Zheng Yanfu to Chengcheng County to report his merits.

  As soon as he entered the Manjusri Hall, Wang Er immediately came up to greet him, smiling and saying: "Brother, you're back so quickly, what's the result of your investigation?"

  "It didn't yield any results." Zhu Yuanchang smiled and said, "That person walked for a while, suddenly stumbled and disappeared. I'm not familiar with the road, afraid of getting lost, so I didn't dare to follow."

  "Ah!" Wang Er patted his shoulder and laughed, "Never mind, who cares who he wants to kill? I think that guy is a good fellow too. If he's going to kill someone, it won't be a good person anyway. What business is it of ours?"

  Two people were chatting casually, and by the side door, a figure of Fang's guard flashed out. He obviously heard Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er's conversation, coldly saying: "Even following someone will get lost, useless guy... I told you not to do this useless work, rest early, tomorrow we still have to escort Miss's carriage, don't be so spiritless."

  Wang Er glared at Fang Huwei for a moment, and Zhu Yuanzhang gently pulled his sleeve, signaling him not to argue with Fang Huwei.

  The two lay down to rest again. The matter of capturing Zheng Yuanfu, if it were anyone else, would definitely be too excited to sleep, but for Zhu Yuanzhang, a man who had gone through countless hardships and dangers, this was just a small matter like sesame seeds and green beans. His mood was not affected at all, and as soon as he lay down, he fell fast asleep.

  On the second day, early in the morning, before dawn, the rooster had not yet crowed, Zhu Yuanzhang woke up from his sleep... He got up gently, afraid of startling Wang Er and the porters beside him, tiptoed to the door of the hall, opened it with the lightest movement, and slipped out...

  Although the sky had not yet brightened, the morning air was still very fresh and cool, with a slight chill. Zhu Yuanzhang left the Clear and Cool Temple and headed towards where Zheng Yanfu was hiding. The dew on his pants made him feel a refreshing coolness.

  Just a few steps away, the sound of rustling footsteps suddenly came from ahead, as if someone was walking through the fallen leaves in the forest. Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly startled, wondering if Zheng Yanfu had managed to break free from his restraints. No way, I tied him up very tightly.

  He listened carefully again, and the footsteps in the woods were very light and weak, not like Zheng Yanfu's heavy footsteps, but rather a woman's footsteps. Moreover, there was more than one set of footsteps, two people were walking in the woods.

  It's a good thing it wasn't Zheng Yanfu, Zhu Yuanzhang breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking forward.

  Passing by a withered tree and two mountain rocks, two women suddenly appeared in front of him. With the faint light of dawn, Zhu Yuanzhang vaguely made out that one of the shorter women was his little maid, Zi Xincui. She was wearing a blue maid's uniform today, her head hung low, as if she had just cried.

  The woman walking in front of her could only see the back, about 15 or 16 years old, wearing a silk dress, emerald green, with cloud-like black hair hanging down from the back of her head, making her look gentle and elegant. Unfortunately, she was facing away from Zhu Yuanzhang, so he couldn't see her face, but just by looking at this back, he knew that she was an outstanding woman. Zhu Yuanzhang immediately guessed: This person... should be Ma San Niang, who had been raised in the inner chambers and was unknown to anyone.

  Hearing footsteps behind her, Ma Jia San's younger sister didn't turn around. She just whispered to Zixin Cai: "Who has come?"

  Zi Xincan glanced at Zhu Yuanchang and replied in a low voice: "Miss, it's Zhu Baige, the manager of the side house."

  "Oh, it's him after all..." The Third Young Miss still had her back to Zhu Ba's direction and didn't turn around, only slightly raising the volume of her gentle voice: "Zhu, good morning!"

  "Good morning, miss," Zhu Yuanzhang said with a respectful tone.

  "Zhu, about this matter..." Third Miss said with a slightly melancholic tone: "Originally, I didn't plan on explaining it to you, but since we've run into each other here so early in the morning, there are a few things I'd like to say to you... Are you willing to listen?"

  Zhu Yuanzhang cursed his bad luck in his heart. He had come out early to do some proper business, but was stopped by a woman who wanted to talk. This was a complete waste of time - what could she possibly have to say that would be worth listening to? However, the young lady greeted him, and as someone in a subordinate position, he couldn't be rude, so he said in a low voice: "Please instruct me, miss."

  The third sister sighed and said: "A few days ago, I ordered the maids in the backyard not to come looking for you. Do you blame me?"

  "This... how dare a lowly person like me blame Miss." Zhu Yuanzhang thought to himself: Woman, let me go and do my proper duties, don't say these useless things, wasting my precious time.

  Third Miss said in a low voice: "The group of maids in the inner courtyard, they all grew up with me and are as close to me as sisters. They liked you, I was originally very happy, wanted to help them matchmake, so I sent Zixincai to help mediate. But... your ambition is high, looking down on them, I'm afraid they'll be heartbroken, can't get off the stage, so I didn't allow them to come find you. Actually, you really have skills, able to force County Master to retire and return to his hometown, I think... they probably aren't a match for you..."

  Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely bored in his heart, these emotional and loving things, when Empress Ma died in the previous life, he had already become indifferent, and this life even more so.

  Third Miss is apparently because she's about to get married, feeling a bit down, so when she talks, it doesn't end. She continued: "The other day, Zi Xingcai also told me that you didn't want to help me think of a way to refuse the marriage... Ah... Apparently still blaming me! Now I'm going to leave the Ma family, hoping you won't blame me anymore..."

  She suddenly turned her body around, facing Zhu Yuanzhang directly, and said in a low voice: "Before I get married, I'll take one last look at the man my sisters like, to see what he's really like."

  As soon as she turned her head, her face immediately appeared in front of Zhu Yuanzhang...

  Zhu Yuanzhang took a glance, and suddenly felt his heart, liver, gallbladder, and intestines all shaking violently at the same time. His blood surged and rushed, almost causing him to cry out in shock! Miss Ma San's face was astonishingly familiar, with those eyebrows, eyes, lips, and that faint look of sorrow, all identical to Zhu Yuanzhang's most beloved woman from his previous life, Empress Ma.

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