"Brother Zhu, why didn't the Nanhuai army attack today?" On the city wall, an old man lay on the wall and watched, asking in confusion.
Zhu Ce sat on the vermilion chair, picked up the tea cup and said with a smile: "Oh, with Ling Yue Pavilion here, even if they call here, it will be in vain."
The old man smiled and nodded: "Brother Zhu said yes."
The old man was nearly seventy years old, while Zhu Ce was only forty. In terms of seniority, the old man was much taller. At this time, he called Zhu Ce "Brother Zhu", which was really surprising. There were dozens of people from other families standing around, all of them were old men. They were all eager to give it a try. It looked like they wanted to come up and compliment him, but they hadn't had the chance yet.
As he was talking, Liu Zhiyun walked down the city wall, took the steps step by step, and slowly walked up the city wall.
"Pavilion Master Liu, why didn't you bring your disciples here? Even if the Nanhuai Army doesn't attack, you still have to be careful." When Zhu Ce saw Liu Zhiyun, he finally stood up from his chair.
"Clan Chief Zhu, Liu is here to discuss something with you." Liu Zhiyun endured the unhappiness in his heart and said with a smile, "The war is in full swing, and the people are not having a peaceful life. It happened that yesterday the disciples of the sect met Lord Yi who came from the imperial court. Mr. Yi is kind-hearted and invites me to act as a guarantee and come to persuade the two parties to reconcile. I will be here at the north gate early tomorrow morning. I hope that Chief Zhu will make preparations early."
"This? Who asked you to make your own decisions and act as guarantee? When did I agree to the settlement? Who do you think you are as guarantee?" Zhu Ce was furious and pointed at Liu Zhiyun and asked.
Liu Zhiyun said it was a "discussion", but in fact it was just a "notification". He wanted to leave as soon as he finished speaking, not wanting to anger Zhu Ce. Liu Zhiyun turned around and looked at Zhu Ce's finger pointing at him. His face, which was still smiling, now became terrifyingly gloomy.
"Is Patriarch Zhu talking to Liu?" Liu Zhiyun's left hand quietly touched the thin sword on his waist. The sword was half an inch out of its sheath.
Zhu Ce naturally noticed Liu Zhiyun's subtle movements, quietly put down his hand, and turned his head: "No matter what, you should at least discuss it with me."
"Aren't we just discussing with you now?" Liu Zhiyun let go of his left hand, returned his rapier to its sheath, turned around, walked down the steps, and left the city wall.
Zhu Ce was so angry that he was trembling all over. Only then did he notice that he was still holding the tea cup in his hand. He threw it to the ground and yelled at the clan elders behind him: "Is she discussing with me? Is she discussing with us! The Zhu family spent so much money to raise such a white-eyed wolf!"
Everyone was silent for a long time. You looked at me, I looked at you, and they all called back to their respective tribesmen. They left the city wall one by one, and after getting off the city, they hurried home. For a moment, only Zhu Ce and the people named Zhu were left on the city wall.
Zhu Ce didn't try to stop him. The Nanhuai family had survived for hundreds of years by relying on the ability to get both sides. These people were afraid that they would go back and discuss with the clan to prepare what to do next.
Zhu Ce took a few deep breaths, stabilized his mind, and made some calculations in his mind. Lingyue Pavilion is probably unreliable. Without Lingyue Pavilion, relying on the servants of the clan and the Hangzhou defenders to stop the 30,000 Nanhuai army would be a fool's errand.
"Lingyue Pavilion and the two cities of Yijia are neutral. Hangzhou alone will never be able to defeat Su City. When it comes to reconciliation, I don't know how the old fox will open his mouth... What should we do..." Zhu Ce said paralyzed Sitting on the chair, thinking about countermeasures.
"Chief, let's have a bowl of chicken soup..." A tribesman surnamed Zhu brought a bowl of chicken soup and approached Zhu Ce.
Zhu Ce overturned the chicken soup and shouted: "Get out! Everybody get out! Don't bother me!" The Zhu people were startled. No one dared to come forward to talk to them, and they hurriedly ran down the city wall. Now the city wall was empty, only Zhu Ce was sitting on a chair, his eyes were blank, not knowing what to do.
"Oh, it's such a pity that such fresh chicken soup was spilled like this." A word of praise came from behind, and a figure flashed to Zhu Ce like a ghost, picked up the broken bowl on the ground, and drank the remaining chicken soup in the bowl. got up. I didn’t forget to smack my lips after drinking it, and I didn’t dislike it at all.
Zhu Ce came back to his senses, stood up immediately, picked up a waist knife that had been discarded on the ground when everyone was busy, raised the knife to the person, and asked: "Who is it? You can come to this city wall too?"
After the visitor finished drinking the chicken soup, he sat down honestly, leaning against the pillars of the city tower and basking in the sun, and said, "Oh, Ling Yue Pavilion is no longer fighting. How can we deal with this?"
Zhu Ce quietly moved his feet and changed his position, and then he saw the person clearly. A middle-aged man, with tattered clothes and speckled dirt. Although his beard is not long, it is messy and neglected and tangled together. He is obviously a beggar!
"Who are you?" Zhu Ce asked.
The visitor raised his head and glanced at Zhu Ce, then held his two dirty hands together, bowed and smiled and said: "The guardian elder of the Beggar Clan, my surname is Tang, and Patriarch Zhu is polite."
"Elder Protector of the Beggar Clan? I've never heard of him. Which small sect is he from?" Zhu Ce was quite polite when he saw the visitor, and he recognized himself. He was a bit dirty, but there was no danger, so there was nothing to be afraid of. Thinking of this, Zhu Ce dropped the knife in his hand and straightened his clothes. Since he recognized himself, he still needed to maintain his face.
Elder Tang was not angry either, and continued with a smile: "It's normal for Patriarch Zhu not to recognize him. The Beggar Clan is just a small sect of Chu Xiang."
Patriarch Zhu glanced at Elder Tang and said with a contemptuous smile: "Beggars' gang? They must all be beggars, right? Come to Nanhuai... to beg for food?"
Elder Tang stopped his smile and continued to bask in the sun while leaning against the pillar. He picked up the lice on his body and said while catching: "Chief Zhu, you look so good. If you come to my gang one day, just give me my name." No., the brothers in the gang will not treat you badly."
Being praised by a beggar for his good looks and being invited to join that gang of beggars, no matter how impressive Zhu Ce was, he couldn't help it: "My Zhu family is a century-old Nanhuai family. I will go begging for food? Don't blame Zhu if you don't leave." You’re welcome!”
Elder Tang pointed to the Nanhuai military camp far below the city and said: "Can a century-old noble family stop these 30,000 elite soldiers? Tomorrow morning, thank God if you can save your life. What about the century-old noble family? The death of the princess of Nanhuai Palace, Is it Chief Zhu who was instigating this behind the scenes?"
Zhu Ce panicked after being exposed. He quickly picked up his sword and rushed towards Elder Tang.
"Qiang" a sound of gold and iron sounded. Before Zhu Ce could react to what happened, he was pushed to the ground by Elder Tang, and a pair of big muddy feet stepped on his head: "There will be reconciliation tomorrow, Chief Zhu How are we going to negotiate peace? And give King Nanhuai a princess?"
"How did you know about this!" Zhu Ce was pinned to the ground by Elder Tang. Fengshen's handsome appearance no longer existed. His hair that had been taken care of was now in a mess and scattered randomly, looking very embarrassed.
Elder Tang took out a bun from his arms and ate it. Probably because he felt that Zhu Ce's head was not easy to step on, he felt a little uncomfortable and kicked Zhu Ce to the side. "Chief Zhu, it's boring to speak too clearly. King Chu Xiang likes smart people, but he doesn't like fools. This is a clear path. Is it worth it? Is it accurate? You have one day. If I were you, I would go back and pack things now."
Zhu Ce was kicked to the wall and hit the city wall. The dust on the wall tiles was shaken off and sprinkled all over Zhu Ce's face. Zhu Ce didn't have time to clean up and quickly got up. As the head of the Zhu family, he still had the city on his mind. At this time, he fully understood the intention of the visitor. But there is still a question in my heart that I can’t express.
"Why help me?"
Elder Tang finished the bun in two bites, took out another steamed bun, and continued to nibble: "I'm not helping you, I'm helping the prince. Where else can you go? Go back and pack your things and money. As long as you leave, City, I can protect you to go to Chuxiang."
"King Chu Xiang... wants our Zhu family's thousand-year inheritance? Then I would rather die under the sword of the Nanhuai Army!" As the head of the Zhu family, Zhu Ce still has some responsibility. He dares to do anything, but he doesn't dare to let the Zhu family Thousands of years of foundation were destroyed in one fell swoop.
"No, the prince wants you to change from the Nanhuai family to the Chuxiang family. Of course, if you save the Zhu family, you should be paid some amount of hard work." Elder Tang also understood Zhu Ce's bottom line and explained patiently. .
"Then here in Nanhuai..." Zhu Ce hesitated. The Zhu family has lived in Nanhuai for thousands of years, and they still have feelings for Nanhuai. At this time, he suddenly wanted to go to Chuxiang, and he was somewhat hesitant.
Elder Tang seemed to have run out of patience. After finishing the steamed buns, he stood up and clapped his hands: "If Patriarch Zhu doesn't think clearly, please think about it slowly here. I won't accompany you." After that, he stepped onto the city wall. Zhu Ce thought he was going to jump off the city wall. After all, martial arts people were different from ordinary people when they went downstairs. Unexpectedly, Elder Tang flipped upside down and stepped onto the tower on the city wall. When Zhu Ce ran out of the tower and looked up, he had disappeared without a trace.
Zhu Ce's heart was beating wildly and he was very confused. I definitely can't stay in Nanhuai anymore. These Nanhuai aristocratic families are already alienated. If I stay here, I will die either by being caught by the King of Nanhuai or by being betrayed by these aristocratic families. He didn't even have to go door-to-door to see, he knew that they must be plotting at the moment. Maybe when they got to the next tower, they might miss a step and be captured alive.
The more Zhu Ce thought about it, the more afraid he became. Zhu Ce had gone through this for thousands of years, and there were so many families that were wiped out by the Zhu family. He knew very well what Xiao Jiujiu was doing.
"That's all, it's not impossible to go from Nanhuai to Chuxiang. As long as the Zhu family can be saved, they can make a comeback at any time!" Zhu Ce struggled in his heart and finally decided to go to Chuxiang as Elder Tang said and let the Zhu family continue. , it’s better than dying here.
Zhu Ce combed his hair randomly and stumbled towards the city. Elder Tang squatted on the roof, staring closely at the Nanhuai military camp. He couldn't help but stick out his tongue, as if he was savoring the taste of the chicken soup in the broken bowl. It was extremely delicious.
