Chapter 208 Number Two
"Cousin Qingya?"

Zhu Chengwu looked at the familiar figure in front of him with obvious doubt in his eyes.

The Zhao family is Zhu Chengwu's maternal family and was Zhu Chengwu's most solid ally twenty-five years ago. However, this time when Zhu Chengwu reappeared, the Zhao family never sent anyone to contact Zhu Chengwu.

Zhu Chengwu initially thought that the Zhao family had been destroyed during the twenty-five years he was away, so... However, news from Wang Taoshan, Yang Yanwu and other lines all indicated that the Zhao family was still alive and well.

This made Zhu Chengwu a little puzzled!

However, although I don’t understand Zhao’s current choice, it’s good that Zhao still exists!

Zhu Chengwu is now very generous and tolerant towards Zhao!
Twenty-five years ago, Zhu Chengwu suddenly disappeared. Apart from the Fu'an Marquis Mansion, the Zhao family was the most affected.

After all, the Zhao family is Zhu Chengwu's most solid and closest ally.

Although he didn't know how the Zhao family had avoided the reckoning of Zhu Chengwu's elder brother Zhu Chengzhi in the past 25 years, and what the current situation of the Zhao family was, Zhu Chengwu felt that since the Zhao family had not taken the initiative to come to him, it must be that the Zhao family had their own difficulties and plans.

Although Zhao did not take the initiative to find Zhu Chengwu, Zhu Chengwu had already made up his mind. After finishing the matters in the capital of Daming and Wudang Mountain, he would go to Zhao and give Zhao certain compensation.

After all, 25 years ago, Zhao and Zhu Chengwu had a close relationship. Although Zhao Yuguang and Zhao Yushan valued Zhao more in their hearts, they had done their best for Zhu Chengwu.

Since the Zhao family still exists and Zhu Chengwu now has the strength, Zhu Chengwu feels that the Zhao family deserves a good ending!

However, the appearance of Zhao Qingya now made Zhu Chengwu, who already had plans in mind, confused. What was Zhao's intention in sending Zhao Qingya to the gate of the Ming Palace to wait for him, since she had never taken the initiative to look for him?

At this critical time, at this critical location...

All of this makes Zhao Qingya's appearance at this moment full of mystery.

Do you want the position of queen after Zhu Chengwu ascends the throne?

Twenty-five years ago, Zhu Chengwu understood Zhao's plan, Zhao Yuguang's intention, and Zhao Yushan's inclination.

In fact, if there was no Earth Core Fire Lotus, Zhu Chengwu, who was devoted to martial arts and did not care who his other half was, would not mind giving the position of wife to Zhao Qingya, so as to further strengthen his relationship with the Zhao family.

However, Cui family has the Earth Core Fire Lotus and has proposed corresponding conditions...

Although Zhu Chengwu did not have no room for bargaining at that time.

But compared with the possible accidents and risks, the question of who his wife is is obviously less important.

"Cousin Chengwu, may I have a word with you?"

Zhao Qingya looked at Zhu Chengwu and said with a pleading look in her eyes.

“Hmm~, OK!”

Zhu Chengwu looked at Zhao Qingya in front of him, thought for a moment, then agreed to Zhao Qingya's request and took Zhao Qingya aside.

At Zhao Qingya's pleading look, Zhu Chengwu politely used his supreme grandmaster ability to isolate the sounds from where he and Zhao Qingya were, making it impossible for outsiders to hear their conversation.

Looking at Zhu Chengwu who left with Zhao Qingya, the "sea of ​​people" following Zhu Chengwu suddenly fell silent.

Zhu Chengwu is the core of everything!

As Zhu Chengwu moved forward, they would follow suit.

Zhu Chengwu stopped moving forward, and they naturally stopped as well.

Now that Zhu Chengwu had left with Zhao Qingya, they naturally could only stand there and wait.

However, when they stood still and waited, they were not just waiting with their minds empty, but were constantly thinking about the current situation.

Although the Zhao family was once the most prominent family in the Ming Dynasty after the royal Zhu family, and was known as being second to none and above all other families, in recent years, the Zhao family has fallen into decline, and its interests and power have long been divided up by other forces.

It is no exaggeration to say that it is an empty shell supported by its past foundation.

However, now that Zhu Chengwu has appeared in the world, it seems that he still values ​​Zhao, his closest and most intimate ally. This has forced those who have just surrendered to Zhu Chengwu to think more.

Given the close relationship between Zhu Chengwu and the Zhao family, the resurgence of the Zhao family is certain, but to what extent the Zhao family can rise again is something that all major forces need to consider.

Because this means that the Zhao family will regain their former share of profits...

Will they be affected? Or how much will they be affected? How much will they give up?

Furthermore, although Zhu Chengwu was born into the royal Zhu family, given Zhu Chengwu's character as the Marquis of Fu'an and the gap between Zhu Chengwu and the Zhu family, could the Zhu family still maintain their superior status as a royal family? Would the Zhao family challenge the Zhu family's superior status, or even replace it?

Do they need to show goodwill to the Zhao family in advance?

These are all things that the representatives and senior leaders of the major forces need to consider.

But when they thought of the Zhao family and saw Zhao Qingya, who was sent by the Zhao family to contact Zhu Chengwu, many senior leaders of these forces could not help but recall the well-known plan of the Zhao family twenty-five years ago.

Let Zhao Qingya replace Cui Shuyun and become Zhu Chengwu's first wife...

Those who have managed to become high-ranking officials in powerful forces are already quite old, and they still have memories of things that happened more than 20 years ago.

But precisely because of the impression, when they saw Zhao Qingya, the person sent by the Zhao family to contact Zhu Chengwu, a considerable number of the people following Zhu Chengwu couldn't help but frown.

Twenty-five years ago, most of the top leaders even preferred Zhao Qingya to become the new queen rather than Cui Shuyun.

Of course it’s not Fang Huiqi!

Because twenty-five years ago, many high-ranking officials of major forces felt that as long as Zhu Chengwu persisted and dragged on, Fu'an Hou Zhu Chengwu would eventually win the competition with the late King Zhu Chengzhi.

Unfortunately, no one expected that the news of the sudden appearance of high-level rare treasures of heaven and earth in Nanzhu Kingdom would cause Zhu Chengwu to get involved with the heaven and earth elf Narcissus after he went to Nanzhu Kingdom, and both of them disappeared.

As long as the major forces in the six dynasties want to investigate what happened in the Nanzhu Kingdom, it cannot be concealed.

Zhu Chengwu disappeared, and Zhu Chengzhi, who was already at a disadvantage at the time, took advantage of the situation and ascended the throne of the Ming King. He also destroyed the Fu'an Marquisate.

However, if one does not have the strength and relies on taking advantage to ascend to the throne of the Ming King, there will be serious consequences!

Just like now, as long as Zhu Chengwu reappears, the line of the late king Zhu Chengzhi will have no power to resist at all.

However, he sat on the throne for more than twenty years, and even until his death, he died as a wise king.

Zhu Chengzhi got this bargain worth it!

However, the fate of Zhu Chengzhi's faction is certain, but the question of who will be the new queen is something that the top leaders of these major forces need to consider and bet on now that Zhao Qingya suddenly appears!
Zhu Chengwu's style of doing things and his personality traits. After Zhu Chengwu reappeared and showed his unstoppable strength, all the top leaders of the major forces dug out the records of Zhu Chengwu's deeds and studied them again and again...

Therefore, many people present had a general understanding of Zhu Chengwu's character and style.

Martial arts fanatic, force is supreme!
Believe that force is the first priority, believe that fists are power!
He has an indifferent personality and seems to be easy to get along with, but in fact he lacks trust in people and only believes in his fists. But behind these characteristics, Zhu Chengwu is also a leader who dares to delegate power and is even willing to take the initiative to delegate power.

This may be the reason why Zhu Chengwu needed time to practice martial arts and had to give up power.

Of course, this could also be because Zhu Chengwu believed that he, who possessed the strongest military force, was able to suppress all opposition. Even if his men went astray or took the wrong path, he could use his invincible military force to force them back.

To be honest, people with this kind of personality are not uncommon in this martial arts world.

Most of them ended up badly!

Because this kind of personality often makes them arrogant and conceited, and eventually they end up being lonely.

In the end, others joined forces to target him!
Eventually it will be destroyed!
However, Zhu Chengwu is different!
Zhu Chengwu's talent is too strong. When Zhu Chengwu suddenly disappeared 25 years ago, completely exposing the selfish side of his character, he had already disappeared...

When he reappeared now, his strength was unmatched!
When Zhu Chengwu's strength was enough to conquer the world alone, even if others knew that Zhu Chengwu was selfish, mean and ungrateful, and might disappear quietly again at any time, causing them to lose their backbone and causing the collapse of the good situation, but under the threat of Zhu Chengwu's current powerful military force, in order to avoid being destroyed by Zhu Chengwu during his lifetime, they had to choose to surrender to Zhu Chengwu.

Since surrendering to Zhu Chengwu is inevitable now, those of them who do not want their power to collapse and repeat the same mistake as the forces that surrendered to Zhu Chengwu 25 years ago, and who, like them, were liquidated by their competitors after Zhu Chengwu's disappearance, began to think of ways to avoid the collapse of their power if Zhu Chengwu secretly disappeared again.

After thinking about it, they believed that if there was a number two figure in this power group who could replace Zhu Chengwu, then even if Zhu Chengwu suddenly disappeared at some point in the future, the impact of Zhu Chengwu's disappearance could be minimized, thus avoiding the collapse of the situation.

However, the reason why Zhu Chengwu was able to gather so many forces and force them to obey his orders was not due to anything else, but Zhu Chengwu's supreme military force that was invincible and could not be controlled by anyone, which was enough to destroy one of the three major forces of the dynasty - Shaolin Temple - by himself!

It is impossible to find someone like Zhu Chengwu!

After all, if there is a person who can rival Zhu Chengwu, then the forces within the Ming Dynasty would not be so cowardly and would rush to surrender to Zhu Chengwu!

Even within the Ming Dynasty, there was no one who could play the same role as Zhu Chengwu!

Because to only play half of the role that Zhu Chengwu has now, he must at least have the martial arts level of Zhu Chengwu twenty-five years ago and possess the combat power of an ordinary grandmaster or a peak Yang God.

What's more, he plays a major role in Zhu Chengwu's current work!

That can only be done by people of the level of Taoist Sanfeng and Monk Bodhidharma.

However, maintaining a business and starting a business are different!

Zhu Chengwu created everything from nothing, and it really required absolute strength to suppress all the forces together.

But after the successful aggregation of forces, they believed that as long as there was an ordinary grandmaster or peak Yang God, it would be enough to serve as a military deterrent and stabilize the forces from collapsing.

Grandmaster or peak Yang God, this is very difficult!

But compared to the level of Zhu Chengwu and Taoist Sanfeng, it is much easier!
Now, by chance, they already have such seeds and sprouts around them.

That’s Cui Shuyun!

In the eyes of those who are on guard against the possibility that Zhu Chengwu might disappear again and the collapse of the forces forcibly gathered by Zhu Chengwu, and who might therefore be jointly liquidated by other forces, Cui Shuyun is the number two person who can replace Zhu Chengwu if he disappears again.

One is Cui Shuyun’s identity, Zhu Chengwu’s wife.

Although Zhu Chengwu arrived at the gate of Xuzhou City but did not enter the city, almost all those who were interested knew about the conversation between Zhu Chengwu and Cui Shujun at the gate of Xuzhou City and the relationship between Zhu Chengwu and Cui Shujun. They had no feelings for each other, only an exchange of interests and suitable conditions.

But husband and wife are husband and wife.

As long as Cui Shuyun and Zhu Chengwu's husband-and-wife relationship still exists, Cui Shuyun can borrow some of Zhu Chengwu's name.

Even if they separated in the future, Cui Shuyun's identity as Zhu Chengwu's ex-wife would still allow her to borrow some of Zhu Chengwu's fame.

Once a husband-wife relationship is formed, it is difficult to sever or sort out!

The second is Cui Shuyun’s strength and potential.

After these days of getting along and seeing the spread of the news by those who are interested, almost all the people and forces who follow Zhu Chengwu and have surrendered to him now know that the person who achieved Yang God and caused a sensation in the Songshan Mountains is Cui Shuyun.

Cui Shuyun is now a Yang God. Judging from the vision when Cui Shuyun achieved Yang God in the Songshan Mountains, Cui Shuyun still has a chance to achieve the peak Yang God.

Once Cui Shujun achieves the peak of Yang God, she will be able to replace half of Zhu Chengwu's role based on her strength alone.

If Cui Shuyun's identity is taken into account, it would be natural for her to replace most of Zhu Chengwu's roles.

After all, even if Zhu Chengwu disappeared, as long as Zhu Chengwu was not dead, everyone had to consider the possibility of Zhu Chengwu reappearing in the world, and the possibility that Zhu Chengwu would look for Cui Shuyun, his legal wife, after reappearing in the world.

At the same time, there is another important benefit to choosing Cui Shuyun as the person to replace Zhu Chengwu to manage power once Zhu Chengwu disappears.

That is, Cui Shujun and Zhu Chengwu have known each other for a long time. Cui Shujun once managed the Fu'an Marquis Mansion on behalf of Zhu Chengwu. There is trust and tacit understanding between them.

When Zhu Chengwu had not disappeared, their approach to Cui Shuyun, the legal wife/new queen, would hardly cause Zhu Chengwu's disgust.

It is very important not to arouse Zhu Chengwu's disgust!

The reason why they are now rushing to surrender to Zhu Chengwu, who is selfish and may pose a risk of future troubles, is because Zhu Chengwu is too strong and they have no choice but to surrender for the sake of current considerations.

If the "number two person" they approached in advance in order to prevent Zhu Chengwu from disappearing again is someone who Zhu Chengwu does not trust, and their behavior of approaching the "number two person" will cause Zhu Chengwu's disgust, then what is the point of their surrender to Zhu Chengwu now?
Of course, there is hope that this force that was forcibly gathered together because of Zhu Chengwu's overwhelming military force can be maintained, and there is also hope that this force that was forcibly gathered together because of Zhu Chengwu's overwhelming military force can be disbanded soon!
For many major forces, they do not want to have a real master who can decide their fate existing above their heads and staring at them.

They would even kill them if they had a disagreement.

That will make them feel very insecure and painful!
It’s just that they are now inferior to others in strength, so they have no choice but to surrender to Zhu Chengwu and obey his command.

If Zhu Chengwu disappears completely or news of his death comes, they will be very happy!
Apart from those who secretly hoped that Zhu Chengwu would disappear soon and that the power forcibly gathered by Zhu Chengwu would be disbanded as soon as possible, even among the top leaders of the power group who supported selecting a number two figure from the power group who could prevent Zhu Chengwu from disappearing quietly and who could replace most of Zhu Chengwu's role after his disappearance, in order to maintain the stability of the power, the ideas were not completely unanimous.

Those who chose Cui Shuyun as the second-in-command were mainly high-ranking members of the Shenlian Sect and major forces that were close to the Shenlian Sect, supplemented by some rationalists and those who superficially agreed.

Of course, under Wang Taoshan's integration, this group of people who have begun to quietly move closer to Cui Shuyun has become the largest faction among the forces that have surrendered to Zhu Chengwu.

The larger a force is and the more people it has, the more complex the factions within it will become, and internal oppression between forces will begin to emerge.

This is inevitable!
This has nothing to do with anything else, it’s just because everyone has selfish desires, their own interests, and their own positions and tendencies.

Even though Zhu Chengwu's current power was just forcibly gathered together by Zhu Chengwu relying on powerful military force, it is impossible to avoid the problems caused by human nature.

Even because Zhu Chengwu's current power was forcibly gathered by Zhu Chengwu, the factional divisions within such a power appeared earlier and developed faster than those within ordinary powers.

Of course, Zhu Chengwu doesn’t care about such a situation!

After all, with Zhu Chengwu's supreme military power, such forces can be forcibly gathered once, then they can be dispersed and gathered again a second time.

The division of internal factions is just children playing house!
This is what Zhu Chengwu is thinking now.

(End of this chapter)