Six Eight, kill or not kill

  The next morning, Zheng Yanfu took four loyal followers to bid farewell to Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er. He was going to roam Shaanxi as Zhu Yuanzhang had said, striving to unite more heroes to join the rebellion together.

  Zhu Yuanzhang knew that he would definitely succeed, or even if he didn't do this, by the autumn of next year, many righteous armies would rise up at the same time, such as the originally scheduled White Water Wang Er Uprising, Fu Guo Wang Jiaxin Uprising, Yi Chuan Wang Suogua Uprising, An Se Gaoying Xiang Uprising, and Han Nan Wang Daliang Uprising.

  However, Zhu Yuanzhang still let Zheng Yanfu go, the reason is simple, he needs to borrow Zheng Yanfu's mouth to spread the name of Bai Shui Zhu Ba, and make his influence exist quietly in the internal of the rebel army, when the heroes rise together, he can use his reputation to do many things.

  After sending off Zheng Yanfu and his gang, Zhu Yuanzhang and Wang Er walked back on the road to Ma's house.

  Zhu Yuanzhang didn't change much, but Wang Er changed a lot. He learned many things on this trip and it's hard to digest in a short time. Zhu Yuanzhang knew he needed some time to sort out his thoughts, so he didn't disturb him either. ?? Late Ming Zhu Chongba 68

  The two of them rushed back to the Ma family ahead of the government soldiers. Zhu Yuanzhang casually and randomly reported the situation in the nearby villages to Ma Qianjiu, and managed to muddle through without arousing any suspicion from anyone.

  Half a day later, the officers and soldiers returned to the Ma Mansion again. Yang Hong displayed Zheng Yanfu's charred corpse in front of Second Young Mistress, and Akira confirmed once more that it was indeed Zheng Yanfu's body. Second Young Mistress wailed loudly at the sight of the charred remains and held a memorial service for her family members, thus settling this vendetta. With a satisfied heart, Yang Hong carried the several thousand taels of silver given to him by Second Young Mistress back to Xi'an Prefecture to report his achievement.

  Not long after, the imperial court appointed a new magistrate to Cheng City. The Zheng Yanfu rebellion that took place in the seventh year of Tianqi ended with this conclusion. In everyone's heart, Zheng Yanfu was already dead.

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  One morning several days later, Zhu Yuanzhang was teaching boxing in the courtyard. Recently, more and more people came to learn from him, not only a group of young men from Xigou Village but also many poor people from other villages with various motivations.

  Some were really here to learn boxing, and in their hearts, they had the idea of learning skills to kill officials and rebel. Some wanted to use boxing to protect their families and defend their country. Others pretended to come and learn boxing, but actually came to mix and eat, as the world was difficult, many ordinary people could not make a living, and when they heard that Bai Shui Zhu Ba Ge was generous and willing to help the poor, they flocked here to ask for food.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was not unaware of their intentions, but still took his own monthly silver allowance to buy food and distribute it among them. For Zhu Yuanzhang, money was just a number; what truly mattered was his reputation. These people took advantage of him for food and drink, while he used their mouths to spread the image of himself as generous and charitable - why not?

  Wang Er often came to help him teach people boxing. After returning from Dongzi Cliff, Wang Er was silent for a long time. When he regained his spirit, he became more powerful than before. He vaguely felt the intention of Zhu Yuanzhang's training for this group of people. Therefore, when he replaced Zhu Yuanzhang to teach boxing, he was very serious and would strictly require the disciples who learned boxing.

  Those who practiced boxing for a few days and couldn't hold on made Wang Er think of Zhao Yun and his gang... He had no good face for such people, those who were not determined enough would be driven out by him, and he played the role of a gatekeeper for Zhu Yuanzhang.

  The good people who come in are taken care of by Zhu Yuanzhang, and the bad people who leave are driven out by Wang Er. This way, not only is Zhu Yuanzhang's reputation for being generous and open-handed maintained, but also the remaining team members are all the best.

  This day Zhu Yuanzhang finished teaching boxing, the sky was already completely dark, he returned to his small house, took off his clothes and threw them on the table, revealing his bare upper body. There were already three smelly clothes thrown on the table, all of his spare clothes were here, this is going to be a big trouble... Tomorrow is laundry day again.

  At the thought of doing laundry, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyebrows furrowed deeply, he should be nicer to the maids at home.

  At this time, the door of the small house suddenly rang softly, and a timid female voice outside asked: "Zhu Ba Ge, are you there?"

  "Hmm?" Zhu Yuanzhang heard it and knew it was the voice of Autumn Leaf, and he couldn't help but feel a little surprised in his heart. The sky had already darkened, what was she doing coming to his door?

  To know the big household, not only the young lady needs to be virtuous, but also the maid is very particular. Running out at midnight to talk to a man, if discovered, would be impossible to explain even by jumping into the Yellow River. Since she came to find him at this time, she must have made up her mind with great determination.

  Zhu Yuanzhang said in a voice that was just loud enough to be heard from the doorway, but would not carry any farther: "I'm here! If you have something to say, come on in and say it. If someone sees you standing in front of my door, things will get complicated."

  The gate was gently pushed open, and the small figure of Autumn Leaf slipped in quickly, covering the door tightly. Apparently, she too was afraid of being seen. As soon as she entered the house, under the dim light of the oil lamp, she suddenly saw that Zhu Yuanzhang wasn't wearing any clothes, only his pants, with his upper body exposed, revealing a perfectly toned physique. Her pretty face immediately turned bright red: "Zhu Ba Ge... you... why aren't you wearing clothes?"

  "Hey! I'm getting ready for bed in my own home, what's with the clothes? You're the one who's causing trouble by running over here in the middle of the night."

  Autumn leaves heard this and hung her head, stunned. ?? Late Ming Zhu Chongba 68

  Zhu Yuanzhang saw that she seemed to have something to say, so he pointed to the stool at the edge of the table and said: "Sit down and talk... The teapot on the table... Cough, it's empty. I never make this stuff, so there's no water to drink. Don't blame me for being a bad host."

  His hut has not been cleaned for a long time, the teapot is not only empty but also hasn't been washed for a long time, it's probably grown mold inside. Now he doesn't even want to use it to drink water. On the table, there is a small vase with a wilted trumpet flower in it, no one knows when it was put there.

  Autumn leaves slowly sat down at the table, looked at the few pieces of equipment on the table that had not been touched for a long time, and then looked at Zhu Yuanzhang's several stinky clothes. She couldn't help but think to herself: It seems that Zhu Ba Ge driving away Ma Jia's maid is true, there are no women in his family taking care of things. Is it really true what everyone says, that he doesn't like Ma Jia's maid, but likes me? Ah, I came here to talk about serious matters, what am I thinking about?

  "Qiu Ye calmed down and said seriously: 'Zhu Ba Ge, I know you don't like me, but there's something on my mind that no one can talk to about. I know Zhu Ba Ge is a good person, so I'll just tell you, otherwise, if I keep it inside, I'll go crazy.'"

  Zhu Yuanzhang's temples throbbed with pain. This woman... Don't give me any of that romantic nonsense, or I'll go mad.

  "Autumn leaves said in a low voice: 'It's about Zheng Yanfu...' "

  "What?" Zhu Yuanzhang's spirit suddenly lifted up.

  Autumn leaves hung her head, like a child who had done something wrong: "Zhu Ba Ge, I'm a bad woman, I told everyone a huge lie. That charred corpse...I thought about it carefully afterwards, and it seemed to be not Zheng Yanfu...But Yang Qian Hu was so fierce, and my mistress also hoped to see Zheng Yanfu's corpse, I...I didn't dare say...I was afraid that if I said it out loud, they would all be disappointed, and would blame me for misidentifying the person..."

  Zhu Yuanzhang understood at this point, that when Autumn Leaf identified the body earlier, she was frightened by Yang Hong and hastily said it was Zheng Yanfu's corpse. Later on, she thought of some inconsistencies, but by then it was too late to change her statement.

  The maple leaves hung their heads, and two lines of tears flowed down their faces: "I don't know what to do anymore... Zhu Ba Ge, everyone says you're the smartest person, even smarter than Da Shao Ye and Ma Guan Shi. You tell me, what should I do now?"

  She bowed her head and wept, revealing a section of her white nape, with several strands of hair disheveled. If another man saw this, he would surely feel some heartache. But Zhu Yuanzhang didn't feel any heartache at all; in his past life and present, he only felt heartache for Empress Ma. He looked at Autumn Leaf's white nape and couldn't help but think: This woman is very dangerous... Zheng Yanfu is now one of my important pawns, and the fact that he's still alive can't be spread from this woman. Moreover, she has heard my voice before, although I was suppressing it at the time; now she seems not to have realized that the Du Gou Ke was me, but ultimately, she's an unstable factor. Unstable factors should all be eliminated...

  Generally speaking, heroes in the world cannot tolerate any factors that threaten their own safety.

  Zhu Yuanzhang carefully looked at the back of her neck, thinking to himself: She came to find me in the middle of the night, and didn't want anyone to know, so no one should know that she came to find me tonight. If I use my hands to strangle this neck, I can make her die quietly without even being able to cry out for help, then secretly carry her corpse out of the mansion and bury it in the mountain where the cowherd is, and it will be as if nothing happened.

  As he thought, he slowly approached Akane's side. He walked very slowly, with a heavy heart, and when he decided to kill this woman, a strange feeling of discomfort suddenly rose from the bottom of his heart. This uncomfortable feeling didn't know where it came from, was it his heart? His brain? Or a sense of guilt?

  If he was still the Zhu Yuanchang of his past life, and hadn't spent hundreds of years wandering in the sky, then by now he would have already taken a step forward and strangled her to death without any emotion. In his past life, she wouldn't even frown when killing someone, but after floating in the sky for hundreds of years, watching all sorts of human emotions and worldly affairs, he had also undergone some changes. He saw the true, good, and beautiful things in the world, saw perseverance, dreams, hope, sympathy, faith, and other beautiful things...

  He also heard the evaluation of people in later generations for his ruthless killings, which was not a good evaluation, and there was a big deviation from what he imagined as the wise and powerful founding emperor. Often, someone would compare him to a killer, a butcher, or a slaughterer. Some said that he was a good emperor but not a good person.

  He was initially dismissive of these comments, but as time went on, he also reflected on his actions in his past life. There are many ways to protect oneself, not just by killing. To achieve great ambitions, there are also many methods, not just through iron and blood. The weak also have the right to survive, and killing the weak cannot demonstrate one's own strength. In this life, if he has the opportunity, he wants to be a good emperor, and at the same time, a good person.

  The woman in front of me, should I kill her or spare her life?