Dealing with aftermath

  Everyone in the inn waited anxiously for a while, two knife hands and Wang Er volunteered to go out and investigate, the rest of the people were tense and holding their weapons, guarding the horse cart, as long as there was anything unusual, everyone planned to escape towards the south city gate.

  Only Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Zheng Yanfu and his gang would not make any more trouble, he was sure to follow Zhu Yuanzhang's arrangement, let the rebels divide the spoils and disperse, and agreed to meet again at Tiger Head Mountain tomorrow morning. In the end, they will flee into the Huanglong Mountains and become bandits, hiding in the mountains.

  After Zhu Yuanzhang, if they are needed, they can go to Huanglong Mountain at any time to find Zheng Yanfu and turn this force into their own use. It's just not the right time yet.

  After a long time, the knife hand and Wang Er who went out to investigate returned. The results of the three investigations were all the same: Zhang Deyao's father had died, and almost the entire Zhang family was killed. Only a few maidservants and house slaves managed to escape by hiding under beds or in gutters. The rioters looted the Zhang mansion and the government office, opened the county granary, and took away all the silver and grain stored there before fleeing in all directions...

  At this time, the spring tax was being collected, and there were many silver taels in the county warehouse. Zheng Yanfu and his gang took advantage of the situation and robbed a large amount of money, taking away half a year's taxes from Cheng City.

  It's said that the rioters have escaped, and everyone let out a sigh of relief, loosening their grip on the weapons in their hands. Zhu Yuanzhang perked up his ears to listen carefully, and Miss Ma San in the carriage also seemed to take a deep breath when she heard that Zhang Douyao's father had died.

  "Now we can go back!" A swordsman said: "The escort is no longer possible, it's better for us to hurry back home."

  At this time, Miss Ma San didn't rush to leave. She said softly: "Although my marriage is over and I have no reason to stay here, the young lady of the Zhang family has been sent to Baisui and will marry my second brother tomorrow, becoming my second sister-in-law. The Zhang family can be considered our relatives, so it's a good opportunity for us to go to the Zhang residence, comfort the surviving maids and housekeepers, help them gather their belongings, and hand them over to my second sister-in-law."

  "Third Miss... this matter... it's better not to rush, let's deal with it later. Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly spoke up: "The city is in chaos like this, the nearby Wei Suo must have received the news, tonight or tomorrow, the government troops will arrive... if we stay here, I'm afraid there will be endless trouble."

  "It's a good thing that the government troops have arrived!" Third Miss said innocently: "They can help suppress the bandits and maintain order in the city, can't they?"

  After hearing the naive words of Third Miss, Zhu Yuanzhang, Wang Er and the 15 knife-wielding men all burst out laughing. Can officials and soldiers really help maintain order? This is simply nonsense, only a naive and innocent young lady like her could say such things. Anyone who has even a slight understanding of the world knows that in this era, officials and soldiers are more terrifying than bandits, wherever they pass through, chickens fly and dogs jump, causing extreme disturbance to the people.

  There is a folk saying: Bandits are like combs, soldiers are like sieves, and officials are like razors.

  What does this sentence mean? The bandits came to plunder, just like they combed through everything, taking away all the family's belongings, but the comb teeth are far apart, so there are still some leftovers; the fine teeth of the lice comb describe the soldiers coming to plunder, openly and with plenty of time, carefully searching and looting more thoroughly than the bandits, unlike the bandits who at least fear the authorities and hastily leave after a quick plunder. The last half sentence is "officials are like razors", which doesn't need explanation, right? When officials come to search, it's like shaving, leaving nothing behind.

  The Zhang estate is already in a mess, but fortunately, the flower vases that the refugees didn't have time to move are still intact. But once the soldiers arrive tonight or tomorrow and surround the estate to "search for clues left behind by the rebels", I'm afraid not even one vase will be left.

  Several knife-wielding men exchanged a glance, and one of them respectfully said to the carriage: "Third Miss, we can't rely on the government troops. It's better for us to leave early. The remaining people in the Zhang Mansion have nothing to do with us... Let's not bother about them..."

  "How can this be, where is the reason for not saving a life... They were frightened by the robbers and are in need of comfort from others." The third young lady, who disliked arguing, argued back.

  Jade Emperor Zhu only felt a warmth in his heart as he listened to the conversation beside him, and he thought of Empress Ma again. She was an extremely kind-hearted woman who always accepted Zhu's words with humility, but whenever Zhu raised his butcher knife to kill someone, Empress Ma would reason with him and try her best to spare others' lives. Her kindness made everyone feel warmth.

  Zhu Yuanzhang stepped forward and said seriously: "Third Miss, you and the bodyguards go back home first, I'll stay here to comfort the servants of the Zhang family."

  He wanted to do something for her and it was also a chance to get a good reputation.

  Since the decision to overthrow the Ming dynasty's chessboard and re-arrange the pieces has been made, it is necessary to take the road of peasant uprising. To start an uprising, it is impossible without one's own troops. He did not want to lead Zheng Yanfu's team, for a large part because that team was not his but Zheng Yanfu's. What he wanted was an army that listened to him, rather than an army that first listened to Zheng Yanfu and then listened to him, such an army is too easy to become disheartened.

  To pull up a team of his own, he must first gain a good reputation. However, Zhu Yuanzhang came too late, and the number one hero of Baishui Paitou had already been recognized by people as Wang Er. He wanted to take Wang Er's place and occupy the first treasure seat, so he had to do more good deeds and gain more folk prestige. When the time comes, he will rally a team that listens to him completely.

  Since Third Miss has already put the issue on the table, he took the opportunity to stand out and do some good deeds. On one hand, it can give himself a good reputation, on the other hand, it can also satisfy the wish of this woman who looks very much like Empress Ma. Two birds with one stone, why not?

  "Are you staying?" Miss Ma hesitated for a moment: "Are you alone?"

  "No problem!" Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly: "I'm also a deputy director, usually managing a group of people. It's not difficult to manage this kind of thing temporarily."

  "Oh, okay!"

  The knife hands naturally had no opinion, only Wang Er was slightly worried and wanted to stay with Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang persuaded him a few words, and the porter brothers still asked Wang Er to take care of them, so he had to give up.

  After the negotiations were over, Miss Three's black carriage was escorted by the knife-handlers and hastily left the South City Gate to return home. Wang Er led a group of family servants and also followed the carriage together.

  Zhu Yuanzhang took out another visiting card from the Ma family to prove his identity, took off the blood-stained clothes on his body, and changed into a clean and tidy cotton robe. After dressing up like this, he slightly released a bit of the superior's aura, looking like he had a few points of a rich family manager's style. Then, calmly and composedly, he walked towards the Zhang Mansion.

  The situation in Cheng City was vastly different from before, Zheng Yanfu and his gang had dispersed, the bolder citizens began to take to the streets, asking each other what had happened, in twos and threes, the citizens gathered their courage and headed towards the city center, most people were heading in the direction of the government office, while some curious onlookers were gazing towards the Zhang estate.

  The tightly closed doors of the houses are now mostly open, and women and children still dare not come out, but most men have drilled out to explore the news.

  When Zhu Yuanzhang arrived at the front gate of Zhang's mansion, he saw that it was packed with people. Many people were stretching their necks to peek inside, but no one dared to go in. At the entrance, two of Zhang's house guards lay dead, their bodies covered with over a dozen knife wounds, fresh blood flowing out and staining the threshold red... ordinary people didn't dare take half a step closer.

  Zhu Yuanzhang pushed through the crowd and walked forward, loudly saying: "Make way, I am a member of Zhang's family sent by his relatives to handle the affairs of the Zhang household."

  The crowd was originally watching the commotion, and upon hearing that someone in charge had appeared, they immediately parted to make way. Zhu Yuanzhang slowly made his way through the crowd, each step deliberately heavy, making himself appear more majestic.

  "This guy seems like someone who gets things done..."

  "Is this Zhang's family coming? Or is it the White Water Ma family?"

  "It should be Ma's family, a few days ago Zhang Douyao sent his daughter to the Bai Shui Ma family, he should only have this relative..."

  "This manager looks quite young, is he reliable?"

  The crowd was in an uproar, but Zhu Yuanzhang paid no attention to them. He walked up to the entrance of Zhang's mansion, his brow furrowed slightly as he stepped into the pool of blood at the doorway. The fresh blood splattered "plop plop" under his feet as he slowly made his way into the mansion, treading on a large patch of crimson.

  "Ah!" The onlookers gasped in unison: "This official is really formidable!"

  "Don't look at others' youth, stepping on a dead person's bloodstain only wrinkled his brow slightly, looking very reliable."

  "It's not just reliable, it's too reliable. Do you dare to walk like this in a pool of blood? I'm afraid even if you tiptoed, you wouldn't dare to walk..."

  "No wonder he's able to take charge at such a young age, what a capable person..."

  In the Zhang compound, corpses were scattered all over the ground. There were Zhang family servants and also Zheng Yanfu's rioters. Each person's death was extremely tragic, either having been stabbed multiple times or their heads smashed by heavy objects like iron rakes and hoes into grotesque shapes... White, red, yellow liquids of various kinds flowed everywhere...

  In the main hall of Zhang's mansion, there were about twenty people who had narrowly escaped death. Among them, only four were houseboys, and the remaining seventeen were maidservants. During the chaos, most of the houseboys were in the front yard and participated in the resistance, so they were almost all killed or wounded. The maidservants were relatively easier to hide in the backyard, so more of them survived.

  These servants and maids were all in a daze, with a bewildered look in their eyes. Having lost their master in just one day, they were at a loss as to what to do next. If given a night's time to think, they might have thought of taking the family's valuables and running away... But for now, it had only been a short while since the incident occurred, and they were still immersed in the chaos of surviving a disaster, their minds not yet starting to think clearly.

  Zhu Yuanzhang stepped forward, cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly: "I am Zhu Ba, the manager of the Baisui Horse Family, I'm here to help you!"