Sixty-nine, test your courage

  Zhu Yuanzhang walked to the side of Autumn Leaf, standing still in a place within arm's reach. His eyes were fixed on her neck. He had never been a hesitant man and could even be said to be the most decisive killer under heaven. However, at this moment, his conscience was struggling and dancing in his heart, using his hundreds of years of experience as a weapon to fight against his past self.

  At this time, the low-headed autumn leaves suddenly said in a low voice: "Zhu Ba Ge, I only tell you this, don't tell anyone else... actually... I don't want Zheng Yanfu to die either..."

  "Huh?" Zhu Yuanzhang was greatly surprised.

  "Autumn leaves continued: "I know, Zheng Yanfu is a good man. Last time I was almost insulted by the rioters, it was Zheng Yanfu and his strategist who rescued me, they also advised me to hurry up and find a place to hide, don't come out again. He came out to kill officials and rebel, aimed at Zhang Douyao, not us poor people."

  Zhu Yuanzhang: "......"

  "Perhaps he had a reason to kill the official and rebel, but he's definitely not a bad person. Otherwise, I would have been humiliated and killed by now, and wouldn't have had the chance to go to Dongzi Cliff to identify him. To be honest, I didn't want to go either... But my mistress forced me to. Sigh! I hope the real Zheng Yanfu is doing well."

  "Zhu Ba Ge, I don't want to reveal that Zheng Yanfu is still alive. Let everyone think that the charred corpse is him. Do you think this is okay? Will I become a wicked woman who tells lies?" Qiu Ye looked up and gazed directly into Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.

  She raised her head, only to find that Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze was fixed on her neck, staring straight at it as if he was looking at something shocking. She suddenly felt embarrassed, her face turned red, and she covered her own neck with both hands: "Zhu Ba Ge... what are you looking at?"

  Zhu Yuanzhang shifted his gaze and let out a long sigh!

  After something that threatened her life happened, Akira still thought Zheng Yanfu was a good person and was willing to cover for him. This girl is indeed a kind girl.

  Zhu Yuanchang's heart suddenly cleared up, and the demon in her heart that was struggling to decide whether to kill or not was instantly chased away to the ends of the earth. In fact, she never intended to reveal that Zheng Yanfu was still alive, so why did I need to kill her to silence her? It was really unnecessary... From this, it can be seen that in my previous life, I wrongly killed many people. Perhaps some people would not become obstacles as I thought, but I still ruthlessly eliminated them, committing many grave errors. In this life, I must be careful and cautious, and absolutely cannot take the same path as before.

  "Autumn Leaf girl, I think your idea is right." Zhu Yuanzhang said seriously: "You are a good girl."

  "Really?" Akira was overjoyed: "I thought I was being very bad, and I even disliked myself a bit. Zhu Ba Ge, you're actually praising me, I'm so happy, are you comforting me on purpose, saying something that goes against your heart?"

  "It's not against your will!" Zhu Yuanzhang emphasized: "You're a good girl!"

  “T….” Akane's face turned red, and she lowered her head: "Do you like me? Do you want me to help with laundry, make tea, sweep the room...?" A woman taking the initiative to offer to sweep the room for a man is actually a subtle hint, saying "Marry me." However, women in ancient times were more shy, and being able to say something to this extent was already very bold. Akane was not usually so straightforward, but she had gone through a life-or-death experience and realized that she should seize the good things while she was still alive, or it would be too late after death.

  What is this about? Zhu Yuanchang was shocked, just now they were discussing official business, and then it turned in this direction. Women are like this, why do their minds always turn to romantic love? He really wanted to grab Autumn Leaf and throw her out of the house, just like he had thrown Zi Xincui out last time.

  However, the latter half of her sentence had a slight effect. Doing laundry, making tea, and sweeping the floor were already a heavy burden for Zhu Yuanzhang, seriously affecting his mood. If someone could help him with these tasks, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

  He furrowed his brow, then relaxed and said casually: "Alright, I'll trouble Miss Akane to help me wash my clothes and sweep the room..."

  Qiu Ye was overjoyed: "Zhu Ba Ge, does this mean you've agreed? I'll go tell Miss..." She trailed off, not daring to continue, the unspoken second half of her sentence being: Please ask Miss to give me to you.

  Zhu Yuanzhang pretended to be silly and said: "Agree? Agree with what? Isn't it just washing clothes and sweeping the floor? What else did I agree with?"

  "Huh?" Akira was taken aback: I've already said it to this extent, how could Zhu Ba Ge still not understand? Oh, I get it, he's never interacted with women before, so he can't understand my hints. Good grief, this blockhead, do I need to be even more direct?! But what I just said was already my limit...

  Autumn leaves felt a pang of melancholy and thought bitterly: Fine, then let's start with washing clothes and sweeping the room... After being together for a long time, Zhu Ba Ge will understand too.

  She stamped her foot on the ground and ran out of the house.

  Zhu Yuanzhang thought she was driven mad by her own pretending to be crazy and stupid, and wouldn't come to help him with household chores. Unexpectedly, after a short while, Autumn Leaf ran back with a red face and took away all the smelly clothes from his desk.

  The next day, when Zhu Yuanzhang returned home after a tiring day, he found a cup of hot tea on his desk, with four clean tea cups surrounding the teapot...

  Zhu Yuanzhang poured himself a cup of tea and slowly swallowed it, sighing in his heart: Qiuye is a good girl, using such a girl to do household chores for me seems not quite right.

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  Summer has passed quickly, and autumn has arrived. Now it's October, the harvest season. Originally, everywhere should be filled with golden rice, and people should be welcoming a bumper harvest. However, this year's autumn harvest is very poor due to drought. The irrigation of the fields was not done well, and most of Ma Jia's fields have had severe crop failures. The fields that are far from the Baishui River have no harvest at all.

  The peasants looked at the small amount of grain they had harvested, and their heads drooped in despair. With only this little grain, after paying the autumn taxes, how much would be left? Could they make it to next year's harvest? This life... Alas, it was really impossible to go on like this.

  Some farmers found Zhu Yuanzhang, who was generous with his wealth, and begged for his help. However, after weighing his own savings, Zhu also felt the pressure. His silver was originally not much, mainly from the reward he received when helping the Ma family deal with the Zhang family last time, only about 200 taels. Over the past six months, he had been supporting many poor people intermittently, and now he was also feeling a bit strapped.

  Moreover, he is not a person who is good at making money. Especially in his previous life, he hated businessmen and thought that all businessmen should be arrested and killed even if they had not committed any crimes. He was completely ignorant of business. After several hundred years as a wandering soul, he came to understand that businessmen were also an indispensable part of social development and that his previous views were wrong. However, he still did not learn much about making money.

  Just as I was worried about money problems, a shocking piece of news suddenly came...

  At the end of October, Li Chujiao invited Zhu Yuanzhang to his hut and said urgently: "Zhu Ba Ge, something big has happened. News just came from the post station that the Emperor...the Emperor has passed away. A new emperor has ascended to the throne and issued a decree to the world, changing the year number to Chongzhen starting next year."

  "Huh? The Emperor has passed away?" Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts turned slightly, and he suddenly understood that Tianqi Emperor Zhu Youjian had died.

  On August 8, 1627, Zhu Youjian fell seriously ill and died on August 22 in the Dehe Hall at the age of 23. On October 7, a new emperor ascended to the throne, changing the era name to Chongzhen, also known as the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen of Zhu Youjian.

  Generally speaking, when the previous emperor passes away and before the new emperor ascends to the throne, the palace will seal off the news and not let it spread throughout the land. They have to wait until the new emperor is on the throne and the country is stable before announcing it to the people. Therefore, when Bai Shui received the news of the emperor's passing, it was already mid-autumn October, and this was still an urgent message that had been transmitted at a speed that killed relay horses over 800 miles away.

  According to Zhu Yuanzhang's memory, the first thing Chongzhen Emperor did after coming to power was to suppress the eunuch party, bringing down Wei Zhongxian, the nine-thousand-year-old, and along with him, the Five Tigers and Five Heroes. The so-called Five Tigers and Five Heroes referred to the most core officials of the eunuch party, including civil officials Cui Chengxiu, Tian Ji (Minister of War), Wu Xunfu (Minister of Works), Li Kuidong (Vice Minister of Justice), and Ni Wenhuang (Minister of Rites) known as the "Five Tigers"; military officials Tian Ergeng, Xu Xianchun, Sun Yunhe (Eastern Depot Judicial Officer), Yang Huan (Pacification Commission Judicial Officer), and Cui Yingyuan (Imperial Guard Commander) known as the "Five Heroes".

  After the execution of the five tigers and five fierce ones, the eunuch party was dealt a crushing blow, and the Donglin Party was in its heyday for a time. Immediately afterwards, Emperor Chongzhen also issued an edict: "All temples built by Wei Zhongxian throughout the country will be demolished and sold."

  Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart moved involuntarily: Ah, I was worried about having no money to use, and suddenly thought of a trick...

  That night, when Zhu Yuanzhang was teaching boxing, he counted the number of people in the yard. There were about fifty or sixty people who came to learn boxing today, most of whom were trustworthy poor people, and only a few had the purpose of learning boxing for the sake of defending their homes and country, without any intention of rebelling.

  He taught the boxing while loudly saying: "I found that some people's boxing is very poor! You... you... you... and you..." He pointed out one by one with his hand, actually choosing all those who were bold and daring, having a rebellious heart, and were poor.

  Thirty-five people were selected, and then he stopped and said: "The rest of you can go back. Those I pointed to will stay behind and practice for a few more hours tonight."

  Those who were not chosen were overjoyed, while those who were chosen hung their heads in dejection. They did not know that the ones who were chosen were actually the people whom Zhu Yuanzhang trusted.

  After those who were not trusted had left, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the young people hanging their heads in the courtyard and chuckled: "How? Very disappointed?"

  "Hmm, Zhu Ba Ge, we've practiced for so long and thought we were doing well, but it seems we can't meet your expectations... We're really too stupid, wasting your patience in teaching us... It's really depressing." A young man said dejectedly.

  Zhu Yuanzhang patted his shoulder and smiled slightly: "Don't be discouraged, everyone. The reason I kept you all here today is not because your training was bad, but because it was very good, and I trust you, that's why I kept you."

  "What?" The crowd cheered with joy.

  Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "I often hear you say that you can't live on, and you dare to kill officials and rebel. Today I want to ask you one question, how big is your courage?"

  "Hey, Zhu Ba Ge, we're really bold! Walking through the graveyard at midnight without batting an eyelid." The young people exclaimed.

  "As long as you give the order, I'll dare to kill people and set fires."

  "Whichever young lady you set your eyes on, I'll dare to help you snatch her away!"

  "Hey, what are you talking about? Is Zhu Ba Ge that kind of person who steals other people's wives and daughters? You're asking for a beating!"

  Young people laughed and chattered together.

  Zhu Yuanzhang's face sank, and he said seriously: "I'm not joking, tonight I want to test everyone's courage, who dares to go with me to secretly demolish Wei Zhongxian's ancestral temple?"

  "What?" The crowd was shocked.