Forty-six, disguise

  Zhu Yuanzhang carried Fang Xuan's body out of the back door of the courtyard and onto the main street, where the county government office and Zhang Douyao's home were both in a state of chaos, with people shouting and running wildly, punctuated by men's dying screams and women's wails, but in stark contrast, the streets themselves were eerily quiet, without even a single figure to be seen.

  The residents of the county town, especially those living near the government office and Zhang Deyao's home, all shrank into their houses, tightly closing their doors, using tables, chairs, and benches to prop up the thin wooden doors.

  Some decades-old books like to depict peasant uprisings as very good and popular among the people, saying that the peasant uprising army is the people's team, and all the common people are eager to follow, which is all nonsense.

  If the peasant uprising army arrives, all the people will immediately join forces, and the number of the righteous army should increase greatly. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the population of a county was roughly between 10,000 to 100,000 people. A small and poor county usually had more than 10,000 people, while a prosperous large county had nearly 100,000 people. If all the poor people among these populations firmly supported the peasant uprising army, the peasant uprising army only needed to casually sweep through several counties, and it would be an army of hundreds of thousands... Why did these peasant uprisings still frequently suffer defeats and flee everywhere?

  The answer is simple, the government fears peasant uprisings, and so do the common people! Because most peasant uprisings eventually turn into mobs, becoming evil forces that burn, kill, loot, and plunder. Ordinary kind-hearted families will not join the righteous army unless they have no other choice. Moreover, when local gentry and wealthy families organize militia to resist the righteous army, the common people will enthusiastically join the militia and become enemies of the righteous army...

  For example, Li Zicheng wandered around the world, fled for more than a decade, and never pulled up a decent team. It was because the wandering bandits were ultimately wandering bandits, and the people did not support him at all. Until Li Yan joined, invented the slogan "Chuang Wang came to pay taxes", won the support of the people, his team grew like a snowball, and finally defeated the Ming court.

  Zhu Yuanzhang carried Fang Xuan's body and walked less than three steps on the quiet street, only to feel several gazes cast from the gaps of nearby windows. These gazes were filled with surprise and fear, apparently taking him for a rioter.

  Zhu Yuanzhang secretly smiled to himself. He had just pretended to be bloodthirsty and brutal in order to blend in with Zheng Yanfu's troops without being attacked. Now that he was out of the Zhang mansion, he should change his demeanor a bit. He stooped slightly, feigning fear and horror, and hastily carried the corpse while shouting: "Murder! There are rioters killing people... my brother has been killed, save me..."

  His shrill cry pierced the quiet long street, stirring up many uneasy and fearful emotions. The eyes that peered out from the window cracks no longer held suspicion towards him, but instead turned into sympathy...

  Zhu Yuanzhang ran hastily through several major streets, far away from the county government office and Zhang Douyao's home, to the streets on the south side of the city. Here was relatively far from where the rioters were, and at the street corners, some timid figures began to appear, with even bolder ones climbing onto rooftops, gazing in the direction of the government office. When he arrived at the inn where Miss Ma San temporarily resided, Zhu Yuanzhang discovered that there were actually several bold individuals gathered together in the main hall, discussing in hushed tones: "What happened on the side of the government office?"

  "Hey, Zheng Yanfu has killed an official and started a rebellion!"

  "You must have heard of Zheng Yanfu? He's said to be the number one good man in our city, but now he's fallen to being a bandit."

  "Zhang Douyao this corrupt official is doomed."

  "Hey, Zhang Douyao is indeed a corrupt official who deserves to die, but Zheng Yanfu and his gang aren't good people either. My brother just escaped from there and secretly told me that at Zhang Douyao's house, it was all women crying and wailing, what do you think they were doing?"

  "Umm... these guys are completely crazy!"

  At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang rushed into the inn with Fang Xiaoru's body and cried out in terror: "Come on, save Fang Huwei, he was hacked by the rioters, come on!"

  Those who were chatting idly all took a step back, none of them daring to come forward and help.

  The shopkeeper hiding under the counter came out and looked at Fang Xuan twice, saying: "This person has long been dead and cannot be saved..."

  Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Fang Xuan had long been dead, but the play must be performed thoroughly. He carried Fang Xuan's body and rushed to the backyard, where a big event was happening in the county town. He could confirm that the fifteen knife-wielding men would have already invited Miss Ma San onto the black carriage parked in the backyard. As soon as they saw something was wrong, they would immediately escape from the city.

  Ran to the backyard, and indeed, a black carriage was already packed and ready to go, surrounded by fifteen knife-wielding men, seemingly waiting for Fang's bodyguard to return. Bai Shui Wang Er and ten house servants, as well as a group of porters, were also beside the carriage, carrying dowry, clearly prepared to leave at any moment.

  When he saw Zhu Yuanzhang rush in, Wang Er's face lit up with joy and he called out: "Brother, you've finally returned! I heard there were rioters killing people and was worried that you'd run into danger. Several times I wanted to go out and look for you, but the porters here were also afraid and held me back..."

  Zhu Yuanzhang pretended not to look at him, and now he was playing the role of a frightened person, who didn't even care about the situation around him. He hastily laid down the corpse on his shoulder and shouted to the fifteen knife-wielding men: "Fang Huwei has been injured by the rioters, I risked my life to carry him back, you come and save him!"

  Fifteen knife-wielding men closed in, the curtains of the black carriage were also lifted, and Xiaoyan Cai, a young maid, jumped down, seemingly wanting to help. Two of the knife-wielding men squatted down, looked at the knife wounds on Fang's bodyguard, felt his nose, and exchanged a glance before saying: "He's already dead!"

  "Ah?" Zixincai was startled and retreated several steps before shrinking back into the carriage.

  "Zhu Ba, what exactly happened in the city?" asked a more mature-looking swordsman.

  Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were filled with terror, and he spoke incoherently: "I... was taking a stroll... in the city center, watching the small vendors... suddenly, many bandits rushed over, killing..."

  That knife-wielding hand slapped onto Zhu Yuanzhang's shoulder, saying in a deep voice: "Calm down, don't be afraid, speak properly!"

  Zhu Yuanzhang swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva, pretending to calm himself down. After a while, he stopped panting and said: "Just now I was strolling in the city center when suddenly there was a loud shout from the west gate. Hundreds of rioters rushed over, scaring me so much that I hid in a ditch by the roadside, not daring to come out, only peeking out with half my face to take a look. They first stormed into the government office, killing all the officials inside, then they stormed into Zhang Lao Ye's mansion, killing anyone they saw, looting anything they saw, and...

  A simultaneous cry of surprise came from the black carriage, where Miss Ma San and Zi Xingcai were apparently frightened by the half-sentence "When you see a woman..." that was left unspoken.

  "How did Fang Huwei die? What's the situation at Zhang Manor?" The knife-wielding man continued to ask.

  Zhu Yuanzhang's lie came out of his mouth: "I saw the rioters killing their way into Zhang's mansion, and suddenly remembered that Fang Huwei was also in Zhang's mansion delivering a congratulatory note today. I plucked up my courage, slipped in through the side door of the backyard, wanting to go and rescue Fang Huwei... didn't expect... just happened to see Fang Huwei fighting with a group of bandits in front of the woodshed, he was hacked by a tall and big bandit leader, bleeding profusely on the ground. I didn't know he was already dead, so I took advantage of the bandits looting things and carried Fang Huwei out..."

  The knife-wielding man furrowed his brow: "You dare sneak into the mansion and bring someone out? Do you have the guts to do that?"

  Zhu Yuanzhang didn't respond, but instead Wang Er suddenly jumped over and angrily said: "What are you saying? Do you look down on people? Why doesn't my brother have the guts? Bai Shui Zhu Ba is also a well-known good fellow, who in the surrounding ten miles doesn't know? Only you bunch of fools who just returned from Xi'an Prefecture haven't heard of him."

  Dagou was scolded by Wang Er, and he didn't dare to say more. He had returned from Xi'an Prefecture and hadn't heard of Zhu Ba's great name, but Wang Er had been famous for a long time, and he knew him. Wang Er was a man who said one thing and meant two, and since he said so, it must be right.

  "What are we going to do now?" The knife-wielding man suddenly turned around and asked another knife-wielding man, "Fang Huwei is dead, who among us will take charge?"

  Another swordsman said: "We are here to see off our lord. Although Fang Huwei is dead, we still have to send him off..."

  "Still sending a fart, the rioters all rushed into Zhang's mansion, can't we also rush into Zhang's mansion with knives?"

  "What should we do then?"

  "How was I supposed to know?!"

  A group of thugs suddenly became noisy, usually they had someone in charge beside them, either the young master or Fang Xuan. Now that the young master was not around and Fang Xuan was dead, they instantly fell into chaos.

  Just then, Miss Ma's voice suddenly came from the carriage: "Where are Master Zhang and Young Master Zhang? Do you know their whereabouts?" Her tone was tinged with a hint of panic, but also subtly revealed a hint of excitement.

  Zhu Yuanzhang said in a low voice, "Next to Fang Hu's body are two corpses. One is wearing the official uniform of a county magistrate, with his head cut off, and I couldn't tell how old he was. The other is a young man under twenty years old, wearing high-quality silk clothes, and I think it might be Young Master Zhang."

  "Dead?" The voice in the carriage trembled slightly, on one hand feeling afraid because someone had died, and on the other hand secretly rejoicing that she wouldn't have to get married. Although Third Miss hid her joyful intentions very deeply, in Zhu Yuanzhang's ears, which were skilled at discerning tone and expression, it was clear as day.

  Third Miss said in a calm tone: "Since both of Zhang's parents are dead, let's hurry back home."

  "Hmm..." The knife-wielding man furrowed his brow tightly: "Miss, this is just Zhu Ba's one-sided words, we can't take it lightly. If Zhang Jiafu isn't dead and the person who was supposed to be sent off has run away, what will people think of us?"

  Third Miss was speechless.

  At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly interjected: "I guess the rioters will immediately escape from the city after looting Zhang's mansion and the government office, to avoid being surrounded by government troops. Why don't we wait for a day or half a day, until accurate news comes out, before making a decision."