Chapter 4: The Three Heroes of the Marquisate
Fu'an Marquis Mansion.

"It turns out that the Marquis has already made up his mind. Please forgive me for saying too much!" Dai Fayan bowed and said as he listened to Zhu Chengwu's narration.

"General Manager Dai, why should you be so modest? I am often inconsiderate and need you to remind me from time to time." Zhu Chengwu has always respected his confidants.

After all, the way to power is to gather the masses.

And Dai Fayan is quite capable.

Dai Fayan was originally a talented illegitimate son of a wealthy merchant in Beijing. After his father passed away and his brothers fell out, he was almost exiled thousands of miles away, but was finally rescued by Zhu Chengwu.

It was not chance or coincidence.

Because there were several other business talents who were rescued by Zhu Chengwu during the same period.

After knowing that he could not succeed to the throne as crown prince and would have to resign sooner or later, Zhu Chengwu began to make plans for his future.

Practicing martial arts consumes too much energy!

In particular, Zhu Chengwu practiced martial arts that had been optimized by the Jade Book, which could improve his internal and external strengths.

More consumption!
The stronger the ability, the greater the consumption, and energy is conserved.

Especially in the later period, mountains of gold and silver might not be enough for Zhu Chengwu to use.

If she is crowned as queen, the support from her father and mother will also decrease.

To ensure the progress of martial arts training, Zhu Chengwu must have income of his own, and this income cannot be small.

As a reborn person who did not drink Meng Po soup, Zhu Chengwu has many business ideas and ways to make money in his mind, not to mention the weapon that businessmen dream of - an official background.

But Zhu Chengwu wanted to learn martial arts and did not have enough time and energy to do business and make money.

So Zhu Chengwu decided to find a spokesperson.

The spokesperson must first be capable, because Zhu Chengwu’s expenses are not small, and if he is incompetent, he will not be able to earn enough to cover Zhu Chengwu’s expenses.

As for loyalty, it is secondary to Zhu Chengwu.

They are just businessmen. With force and power in his hands, Zhu Chengwu will not give them the chance to betray him.

Zhu Chengwu also didn't believe that they would fail to see the situation clearly and have the courage to betray.

Later, as time passed and his experience improved, Dai Fayan's business talent became more and more outstanding. In the end, he defeated all other competitors and was promoted by Zhu Chengwu to be the chief steward of foreign affairs of Fu'an Marquis' Mansion, managing the industry and business of the mansion and making the best use of his talents.

After being conferred the title, Zhu Chengwu was able to maintain his usual intensity in martial arts training, and even had some spare money to train his subordinates, all of which was due to the contribution of the Foreign Affairs Office headed by Dai Fayan.

While Zhu Chengwu and Dai Fayan were talking, the kitchen brought up cans of cooked ginseng and black chicken soup.

Each time Zhu Chengwu took a medicinal bath, it would take several days and nights. After coming out, he needed a lot of nourishment. It had long been a habit in the Marquis' Mansion.

People who practice martial arts have big appetites, and they have been hungry for several days.

So all the food is served in cans.

Seeing the medicinal food on the table, Dai Fayan tactfully took his leave, and Zhu Chengwu began to compete with the ginseng and black chicken soup in front of him.

I don’t know how Zhu Chengwu managed to communicate clearly with several attendants while chewing on the ginseng black chicken.

In order to leave enough time to study martial arts, Zhu Chengwu always races against time and uses fragmented time to deal with miscellaneous matters in the mansion.

After a while, there were several empty cans on the table in front of Zhu Chengwu.

"Let Xinghan come to the study to see me!" After eating and drinking, Zhu Chengwu wiped his hands and went to the study to write a memorial to his father and a private letter to his mother.

Some things should be done sooner rather than later!
"Yes, my lord!" The maid Xia Yu, who was serving on the side, bowed and withdrew, going to find Zhao Xinghan, the chief guard of the Marquis's mansion.

Zhao Xinghan is a member of Zhu Chengwu's mother's clan and is also a guard specially selected for him by Zhu Chengwu's mother.

The Zhao family was truly a top noble family in the Ming Dynasty.

Most of the clan members serve in the army, but there are also some who want to take shortcuts and gain the honor of following the emperor.

Zhao Xinghan is a representative among them and also one of the best.

Unfortunately, Zhu Chengwu did not become the crown prince as Zhao Xinghan expected. Instead, he was granted a title and left the capital.

Buy it and don’t hold it!

Although Zhu Chengwu did not fulfill Zhao Xinghan's expectations, Zhao Xinghan had already made his bet and had no choice but to follow Zhu Chengwu to Xuzhou, hoping that Zhu Chengwu could make a comeback.

In this era, which is similar to the ancient Earth, where people are implicated at any time, the relationships between relatives, clansmen, and subordinates are complicated and inseparable.

Zhao Xinghan was not only Zhu Chengwu's subordinate, but also, according to Zhu Chengwu's mother, his cousin within the fifth degree of mourning.

Even if Zhao Xinghan wanted to jump off the boat, it was too late.

As a member of the queen's family, Zhao Xinghan naturally gained Zhu Chengwu's trust.

In addition, Zhao Xinghan had excellent physique, outstanding martial arts, and was very familiar with the officialdom and the military, so Zhu Chengwu made him the chief guard of the Fu'an Marquis Mansion, and he also served as the official spokesperson of the Fu'an Marquis Mansion.

Beside the desk, Qiuyue and Dongxue, who were grinding ink and spreading paper, looked at the marquis's powerful, elegant and handsome handwriting with surprise in their eyes.

No matter how many times I see it, the Marquis's handwriting is always so beautiful.

And the Marquis is so perfect.

"Master Hou!"

By the time Zhu Chengwu had finished writing and drying the memorials and letters home, Zhao Xinghan arrived under the guidance of Xia Yu.

The timing is just right.

"Cousin Xinghan is here, come and sit down!"

"My lord, just tell me if you have anything to say!" Zhao Xinghan did not sit down as Zhu Chengwu said. Instead, he bowed in a cold tone.

Zhao Xinghan was angry with Zhu Chengwu.

In Zhao Xinghan's opinion, Zhu Chengwu failed the queen, failed the Zhao family, and even failed him. In Zhao Xinghan's opinion, when he was in the capital, with the support of the Zhao family and the queen, Zhu Chengwu could have pulled down the current crown prince and took the throne himself.

But Zhu Chengwu did not try his best. Instead, he was granted the title without any resistance.

It can really be said: Your Majesty, we are ready to fight to the death, why do you surrender first!

Zhu Chengwu smiled indifferently at Zhao Xinghan's temper and told him the purpose of calling him here. "My cousin Xinghan knows that I am looking at the Cui family and plan to marry a girl from the Cui family. But before that, I still need to get the consent of my father and mother. I have a memorial and a letter from home. I would like to trouble my cousin Xinghan to deliver them to the capital and hand them to my father and mother. Especially the letter from home, please make sure to hand it to my mother in person."

"My Lord, you have really decided to marry the girl from the Cui family!" Zhao Xinghan's face was stern.

"Cousin Xinghan, haven't we discussed this issue a long time ago?" Zhu Chengwu kept smiling.

"Although the Cui family is a wealthy and powerful family in Jiangnan, they have weak foundations in the officialdom and the military and can't provide any help to the Marquis in the future! The Marquis should marry the daughter of a famous family like the Chang family in the northwest or the Han family in Shandong!" Zhao Xinghan advised again without giving up.

Zhao Xinghan had given advice on this topic several times before.

But Zhu Chengwu was never persuaded.

In the years since leaving the capital and becoming queen of Xuzhou, the relationship between Zhao Xinghan and Zhu Chengwu has actually eased a lot.

After all, Zhao Xinghan witnessed with his own eyes how serious Zhu Chengwu was in practicing martial arts!

However, in Zhao Xinghan's opinion, Zhu Chengwu's practice of martial arts is not his proper job and is putting the cart before the horse!

So what if your martial arts skills are so strong?
Unless one can reach the level of a national master, there is only one way out, which is death, if surrounded by a large army.

Moreover, even if he is a national master, he will still be in danger when facing the cooperation of the palace masters and the elite army!
As the legitimate son of the king and the eldest son of the queen, Zhu Chengwu should learn literature and the art of being an emperor in order to ascend the throne in the future and leave his name in history.

But a martial arts fanatic who is obsessed with martial arts is always better than a playboy who stays in brothels. What if Zhu Chengwu really breaks through to the level of a national master!
By then, it will be much easier for the Queen and the Zhao family to work together to push the Grand Master Fu'an Marquis to the position of King...

Moreover, a king who is a master of the country is rare in the history of the six kingdoms.

Every great king who defended his country left a deep mark in the history books.

Being a subject of an ordinary king and being a subject of a national master-level king are completely different.

Therefore, although Zhao Xinghan felt that Zhu Chengwu's practice of martial arts was putting the cart before the horse, he did not object too much.

On the contrary, relations have eased.

After all, the Zhao family is a family of military honors, and Zhao Xinghan also studied martial arts.

However, marrying a girl from the Cui family is different!
Marrying a daughter of Cui's family would be of no help to Zhu Chengwu's future, and Zhao Xinghan firmly opposed it.

"Cousin Xinghan, I have made up my mind! As for the reason, you will know it later!" Zhu Chengwu's attitude was the same as the previous times when Zhao Xinghan advised him.

You will know later!

what do you know?
Do you know how beautiful the Cui family’s daughter is?

Ridiculous!
Zhao Xinghan thought that the reason Zhu Chengwu gave would become clear later and it was just an excuse.

The real reason was probably that Zhu Chengwu learned through some unknown channel that the girl from the Cui family was very beautiful, so he insisted on marrying her despite any dissuasion.

After all, the young man Mu Ai!

And Zhu Chengwu has been holding it in for more than 20 years.

Zhao Xinghan did not object to Zhu Chengwu finding a woman. After all, the number of offspring also affects the possibility of succession.

Zhao Xinghan only opposed Zhu Chengwu marrying a wife who would be of little help to him in the future.

Zhao Xinghan knew that Zhu Chengwu practiced the Boy's Kung Fu, but he believed that Zhu Chengwu only used the Boy's Kung Fu to build his foundation, and after the foundation was built, he switched to practicing other skills.

Little did he know that Zhu Chengwu had already been running madly on the path of Tongzi Kung Fu.

"Okay! You are the Marquis, you have the final say!" Zhao Xinghan stared at Zhu Chengwu for a long time before finally answering as if admitting defeat.

At Zhu Chengwu's suggestion, Dongxue handed the two packed letters to Zhao Xinghan.

"Cousin, please hand over the private letter to my mother personally, and tell her to open it personally! The content of the letter must not be known to a third person." Zhu Chengwu reminded again.

"rest assured!"

Zhao Xinghan took the letter, waved his hand, and then turned and left.

"Brother Wu, why don't you tell General Zhao the truth!"

As soon as Zhao Xinghan went out, a sharp and hoarse voice was heard in the study.

I only hear the voice but don't see the person.

Hearing this voice, maids such as Qiuyue and Dongxue tactfully bowed and retreated.

After leaving the room, he was sensible enough to close the door.

Because Qiuyue, Dongxue and the others all knew who the owner of this voice was.

The head of internal affairs of the Marquis’ Mansion—Gao Yao!

Their immediate boss.

The last of the three heroes of the Marquisate.

At the same time, he is also the Marquis's absolute confidant.

In the Marquis's Mansion, the only one who can call the Marquis "Brother Wu" is Chief Steward Gao.

I didn’t see Chief Steward Gao in the Marquis’ Mansion a few days ago. I heard that he went to carry out a top-secret mission for the Marquis!

Now that he suddenly appears in the study, he must have something confidential to report to the Marquis.

"If a ruler does not keep secrets, he will lose his subjects. If a subject does not keep secrets, he will lose his life. If a matter is not kept secret, it will cause harm! Once two people know about a matter, it can no longer be called an absolute secret. I believe Zhao Xinghan will not betray me, but no one can say whether he will leak the information unintentionally or with good intentions!"

(End of this chapter)