Six Six, Feign Death and Escape

  Zheng Yanfu was the number one good fellow in Cheng City. For many years, he had heard that there was a man named Wang Er in a neighboring county who was not inferior to him in terms of magnanimity and bravery. He wanted to meet him once, but unfortunately had no chance. In recent years, Wang Er's light suddenly dimmed a bit, because Bai Shui had produced a new good fellow named Zhu Ba.

  About Zhu Ba's story, it has been widely spread in Chengcheng Township. Some people say he is very good at fighting and once knocked down more than a dozen villagers in Xigou Village. Others say he was very friendly to his brothers, and some even claim that he was invincible in wit and had defeated Chen Guanyu, the county magistrate of Baishui... Later, after Zheng Yanfu went into the mountains to become an outlaw, another rumor emerged, saying that Zhu Ba helped the remaining maidservants and house slaves of Zhang Douyao's family, saving them from being bullied by government soldiers.

  Zheng Yanfu had always felt guilty towards the maids of Zhang Douyao's family, as most of them were from poor families. When he led his troops in rebellion, many of these maids were insulted and killed by his own brothers. This left a deep wound in his heart that he couldn't shake off. After fleeing to the mountains, he continued to worry about the future of these maids. He also didn't know if the maid who was almost insulted by his three subordinates and rescued by him was safe or not.

  When he heard that Bai Shui Zhu Ba had brought these maids back to the Ma family, he felt a sense of relief and even more respect for Zhu Ba.

  He didn't expect that the hero he admired would turn out to be the one who had been pointing at him all along... He thought back to how he met Zhu Ba, wasn't it when they were part of the wedding procession from Qingliang Temple to Cheng City?

  Thinking of this, who else could this person in front of me be besides Zhu Ba?

  "I really have eyes but fail to recognize heroes!" Zheng Yanfu bowed his head and paid homage to Zhu Ba, this was something he learned from "Water Margin", the storyteller said that when the good men in "Water Margin" met each other, they would all bow their heads and pay homage, indicating that they regarded each other as brothers.

  Zhu Yuanzhang helped him up with a smile, and he was generally satisfied with Zheng Yanfu's attitude. This man was similar to Bai Shui Wang Er, as long as he was trained well, he could become one of his own brave generals in the future, and having such a subordinate was much more useful than having a group of useless soldiers.

  Zhu Yuanzhang did not think that Zheng Yanzhong was just a rustic villager who could not achieve great things. In fact, in the previous dynasty, many of the founding generals of the Ming Dynasty were from humble origins and grew up in the wilderness. Some were even farmers who had never learned how to fight before, but after being tempered for several years, they all became formidable figures. For example, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Zhu Wenrong, Lan Yu... These people had never learned about military campaigns or battles, but through long-term fighting, they grew into famous generals known throughout the land. Because they had courage, perseverance, and a willingness to learn, these three qualities were enough for them to succeed.

  He was confident that with some time and cultivation, both Bai Shuiwang Er and Zheng Yanfu of Cheng City could also become such monsters.

  "Brother Zhu!" Zheng Yanfu habitually used the term "brother" to address Zhu Ba, and he said seriously: "This time I will definitely listen to your words, travel throughout Shaanxi, unite with heroes from all over, and rise up in revolt. But what about this mountain stronghold? The brothers in the stronghold..."

  "Take a few of your most trusted people with you and leave!" Zhu Yuanzhang replied: "Abandon everything else."

  "Give them up? I...I can't do it."

  "Hmph!" Zhu Yuanzhang snorted, "Actually, it's not that you abandoned them, but they've already planned to abandon you. Do you want to make a bet with me? By tomorrow night at the latest, they'll come under Zhao Yu's lead to surround your hut, kill you, and then send your head to the mountains to ask for a reward from the government troops."

  Zheng Yanfu's eyebrows were tightly locked, this sentence Zhu Yuanzhang said for the second time, he believed in what Zhu Wuzhang said, because fact after fact had proven that Zhu Yuanzhang's words would definitely come true: "Then I'll take advantage of the night to escape down the mountain now?"

  "This is not necessary!" Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile: "They want you to die, if you don't die, they will continue to hunt you down the mountain until you are dead. It's better to let them think you're dead, so that you can escape safely. When the government soldiers attacked the mountain during the day, didn't they leave some corpses on the mountain path? You go find one with a similar build to yours and bring it up the mountain."

  "Feign death and escape?" Zheng Yanfu vaguely guessed something, nodded and said: "Alright, I'll go to the mountain path now to carry a corpse up..."

  "Hmm, you remember, arrange it like this next time..." Zhu Yuanzhang instructed in a low voice...

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  The next day, the government soldiers at the foot of the mountain began to use their tactics again, batch after batch of government soldiers shouted in unison at the foot of the mountain: "Surrender!"

  "Zheng Yanfu, you come down from the mountain and surrender, and I will grant you a high official position."

  "Zheng Yanfu, if he refuses to surrender, anyone who beheads him and brings his head down the mountain will receive a reward of 100 taels of silver and have their wife and children enfeoffed..."

  In such a voice, the people in the mountain stronghold were also divided into two factions, continuing to argue endlessly over whether to surrender or not.

  Zheng Yanfu and his loyal followers refused to surrender, while Zhao Yun's group insisted on surrendering and going down the mountain to become high officials. The two sides quarreled several times, almost coming to blows, but fortunately no one drew a knife. However, their opposing intentions were already very clear. Zheng Yanfu observed that only a handful of people, fewer than ten, firmly supported him in his refusal to surrender, while most people stood on Zhao Yun's side, and many others remained neutral, watching from the sidelines.

  He believed more in what Zhu Yuanzhang said, it was not that he wanted to give up on these people, but rather that these people had already given up on him.

  At dinner time that day, the two groups also went back to their respective rooms to eat. Zhao Yu invited Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er to his own table, where he had laid out large bowls of tujiu (a type of Chinese liquor), half a mountain pig's head, and pheasant... it seemed he had brought out all the good things to entertain the imperial envoy.

  "I will continue to persuade Zheng Yanfu, I guarantee that he will be persuaded to surrender." Zhao Yun said gloomily while eating, "Please give me a few more days, two seniors."

  Zhu Yuanzhang sneered and said, "How many more days do you need? You can wait, but I can't. Think about it, as a sixth-grade official, how many things are waiting for me to do? Where do I have the time to stay on this mountain with you? At the latest, tomorrow morning I will leave the mountain."

  "This... " Zhao Yun hesitated for a moment: "Zheng Yanfu is a stubborn man, I'm afraid it will take more than one day to persuade him."

  Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled: "If I were you, I wouldn't try to persuade him..."

  "Why?" Zhao Yujie asked.

  Zhu Yuanzhang said in a low voice, "If you persuade Zheng Yanfu to surrender, he will be promoted to the sixth rank of bailiff, but as for you, at most you can only be seventh, eighth or ninth rank... If you kill him and become the leader of the mountain stronghold, then come down the mountain to surrender, this sixth rank bailiff position will be yours."

  "Ah?" Zhao Yun exclaimed, only now realizing that persuading Zheng Yanfu to surrender was far less beneficial than killing him. Two large drops of sweat instantly rolled down his cheeks, and the expression on his face began to twist in distress.

  "Think carefully!" Zhu Yuanzhang tapped the edge of the table with his chopsticks, making a "tap-tap" sound: "Make up your mind... I don't have time to wait for you, tomorrow morning I must head down the mountain."

  The time for thinking wasn't long, Zhao Yu's knotted expression on his face transformed into ferocity and cruelty: "I understand, you two gentlemen, just wait and watch the good show, tonight I'll lead my brothers to attack his thatched cottage and bring Zheng Yanfu's head back to you."

  Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled and shook his head, saying: "It seems I'll have to leave the mountain before sunset tonight... You can fight among yourselves in the stronghold, but don't hurt me, I'm a sixth-grade official, if I get scratched, you won't be able to take responsibility?"

  Zhao Yun slightly despised Zhu Yuanzhang in his heart, thinking to himself: The officials of the imperial court are indeed afraid of death. As soon as I said that Zheng Yanfu would be killed tonight, this guy was so scared that he wanted to run away immediately... Never mind, if he really got hurt, the imperial court might hold a grudge against me, so let's send him down the mountain instead.

  "Let Zhu Gong wait for my good news at the foot of the mountain!" Zhao Yun said viciously: "Tonight I will kill Zheng Yanfu, tomorrow morning, bring his head down the mountain to surrender, and please ask Bai Hu to speak a few words in front of Yang Hong Qianhu."

  "Alright! Alright!" Zhu Yuanzhang said in a official tone, standing up: "Then I'll take my leave first."

  He and Wang Er stood up, Zhao Yun sent someone to send them to the back door of the mountain stronghold. The sentinel at the gate, named Fu Wuliu, was Zhao Yun's man, who kept saluting Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er. Zhao Yun also made a bow with all his might, accompanying him with careful words.

  The two of them went down the mountain, out of sight of the crowd in the stronghold. Wang Er immediately cursed: "That bastard Zhao Yun, a traitor seeking glory... I'd like to kill him with one slash of my knife."

  "Hah, no need for you to kill him, someone will help you do it." Zhu Yuanzhang led Wang Er into the grass thicket by the side of the road: "We'll just wait here, tonight Zheng Yanfu will also come down this way..."

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  That night, at the third watch, a sudden clamor arose from the top of the mountain stronghold. Many people were shouting and the sound of swords clashing could be heard. Many torches flared up, illuminating the top of the stronghold in a fiery red glow.

  After a while, the thatched hut in the center of the mountain village caught fire, burning fiercely, with flames shooting up into the sky and dyeing a large area of the night sky red.

  Wang Er looked up and said worriedly: "Can Zheng Yanfu escape?"

  "Don't worry, it's all right!" Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "I've already made arrangements with him! He was never in that hut from the start. He just set up a fake body of an official soldier similar to him, wearing his clothes and sitting inside. As for himself, he disguised himself as an ordinary farmer and hid among the crowd to watch the excitement."

  "Will this not be exposed?" Wang Er was a bit curious.

  "No way, it's the middle of the night and my vision is already blurry. I also told Zheng Yanfu to arrange for someone to set fire to the house at the first opportunity, by the time Zhao Yun's people can enter the house, the corpse will be charred beyond recognition, they won't be able to figure it out. This kind of strategy is enough to deal with a group of brainless bandits."

  Two men waited for a while, and soon they heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming from the mountain path. Five figures rushed down from the top of the mountain. The first one was Zheng Yanfu, followed by four young men who seemed to be his loyal followers.

  Zhu Yuanzhang jumped out from the grass by the side of the road, smiling and saying: "Zheng Yanfu brothers, congratulations on regaining your freedom!"