Chapter 65: Changing the Officiant
"Has the Zhu clan member who is here to officiate at the wedding not arrived yet?"

Supported by Chunhua, Zhu Chengwu stood at the main gate of Fu'an Marquis' Mansion, ready to welcome his bride.

Taking advantage of the break in the wedding procession, Zhu Chengwu asked Chunhua.

Although Zhu Chengwu was injured, the etiquette and laws of the Ming Dynasty could not be abolished.

Zhu Chengwu must take the necessary actions!

Zhu Chengwu must welcome the bride.

"There is news from the capital that the person who will officiate at your wedding is the left ancestor of the Grand Zongzhengyuan - Earl Zhu Zhiying, the Earl of Da'an.

According to rumors, this Earl supports the Prince!
wonder if it is or not……"

Chunhua supported Zhu Chengwu and reported back.

After his serious injury relapsed and he returned from the villa where Cui's eldest daughter was staying, Zhu Chengwu found Doctor Fan.

With the help of Doctor Fan, he was able to suppress his injuries and regain mobility.

After all, it was a wedding, and Zhu Chengwu had to attend.

In addition, Zhu Chengwu had been bedridden before.

Therefore, Zhu Chengwu is still not very clear about a lot of information.

“Although Earl Zhu Zhiying is relatively close to the Crown Prince!

But I believe that he can still distinguish the priorities when it comes to my wedding banquet!"

Although Zhu Chengwu was somewhat dissatisfied with the fact that his cousin Zhu Zhiying had been late in arriving, he still expressed his trust in Zhu Zhiying on his face.

The Da Zong Zheng Yuan of the Ming Dynasty was an institution dedicated to managing the royal Zhu clan.

The Zongrenling of the Dazongzhengyuan is an official position of the first rank, usually held by a highly respected clan leader among the Zhu clan.

Under the Zongrenling were the Zuo Zongzheng and You Zongzheng, both of whom were officials of the second rank.

It is usually held by the Zhu clan's master, but of course sometimes it is also held by a highly respected elder of the Zhu clan who has made great contributions to the Zhu clan.

Next are the left and right clan members who are responsible for specific matters. They are the backbone of the Zhu clan who are young and strong and willing to work hard for the Zhu clan. They may be masters or famous experts among the best.

Of course, most of the time they are famous masters among the top masters.

This is the case with Zhu Zhiying.

Zhu Zhiying achieved first-class success more than 10 years ago, and has made great contributions to the Zhu family since then, and has considerable fame and reputation.

Later, after the previous incumbent Zuo Zongren resigned, he naturally took over Zuo Zongren's position.

But unfortunately, more than ten years have passed, and Zhu Zhiying still has not become a master.

By the time Zhu Zhiying reached his age, he had almost lost the chance to become a Grandmaster.

Perhaps it was because of this that Zhu Zhiying, after serving as Zuo Zongren, directly sided with the prince and openly supported the prince to ascend to the throne.

Everything is for resources and to become a Grandmaster.

You have to know that given the wealth and sensitivity of the Zhu clan's descendants, most of them generally keep aloof and silent about the issue of succession to the throne.

After all, no matter which prince comes to the throne, as long as the Ming prince's surname is Zhu and he is a member of the Zhu clan, their interests can be protected.

It cannot be said that there are no Zhu clan members like Zhu Zhiying who openly support a certain prince to inherit the throne, but they are extremely rare.

The Ming Dynasty respected the left.

The left clan member seems to be on the same level as the right clan member, but in the eyes of most people, Zhu Zhiying is second only to three people in the Grand Clan Court.

But even if Zhu Zhiying was below the top three in the Grand Chamber of Imperial Clan Affairs, his blatant support for the crown prince was not too important to Zhu Chengwu, because it only represented his own attitude, not the attitude of the Grand Chamber of Imperial Clan Affairs.

The only person who can represent the attitude of the Grand Zongzhengyuan is the Zongrenling of the Grand Zongzhengyuan, the clan leader who is highly respected in the Zhu royal family.

With the clan master in charge of the Grand Clan Court, Zhu Chengwu believed that even if Zhu Zhiying wanted to cause trouble for him and show his loyalty to the prince, the most he could do was to be late, which would embarrass Zhu Chengwu a little, and he would not dare not show up.

The royal Zhu family has been able to grow and develop continuously for hundreds of years because they focus on fighting without breaking.

There are some bottom lines that cannot be touched!
Otherwise, many Zhu clan members would feel the same way, and in order to avoid the same thing happening to them, they would definitely stand on Zhu Chengwu's side and jointly put pressure on the Da Zongzhengyuan.

It has nothing to do with the succession to the throne, but for their own interests.

In that situation, even if the Grand Secretariat wanted to protect Zhao Zhiying, a member of the Zuo clan, they would not be able to do so.

Besides, the Da Zong Zheng Yuan might not protect Zhu Zhiying who broke the rules.

After all, the Da Zong Zheng Yuan represents rules and protects the interests of the Zhu clan.

If Zhu Zhiying didn't understand what his job was, and in order to support the crown prince and save Zhu Chengwu's face, he even refused to do the job arranged by the Grand Chamber of Imperial Clan Affairs to officiate at Zhu Chengwu's wedding...

Then Zhu Zhiying, a member of Zuo Zong, has come to the end of his career!

This kind of behavior, which is not even perfunctory, not only damages the reputation of me, Zhu Chengwu, the Marquis of Fu'an, but also undermines the prestige of the Grand Chamber of Imperial Clan Affairs.

Zhu Chengwu didn't believe that his cousin Zhu Zhiying, who had made a name for himself among so many Zhu family members and even climbed to a high position as Zuo Zongren, was a fool who would do such an unwise thing.

Therefore, Zhu Chengwu did not believe that Zhu Zhiying, a member of the Zuo clan, would deliberately not show up at the wedding to officiate at Zhu Chengwu's wedding in order to please the prince.

Zhu Chengwu felt that Zhu Zhiying was just a little late at most, and was just trying to save Zhu Chengwu's face and embarrass him!
However, Zhu Zhiying's delay in showing up did make Zhu Chengwu a little angry.

Although Zhu Chengwu took this wedding banquet lightly.

After all, this is just a wedding for the exchange of benefits.

Zhu Chengwu was not very concerned about Cui's daughter or the wedding.

But as the saying goes, people fight for a breath, and Buddhas fight for a stick of incense.

There are some things that I may not pay attention to, but you must not!

If there is no legitimate reason, for Zhu Zhiying's behavior, Zhu Chengwu must go before King Ming and the Da Zong Zheng Yuan to have a good talk with his cousin Zhu Zhiying.

Just when Zhu Chengwu was thinking about Zhu Zhiying, the wedding sedan carrying Cui's eldest daughter arrived.

Zhu Chengwu welcomed Cui Shuyun out of the sedan chair according to etiquette.

Afterwards, Zhu Chengwu and Cui Shuyun followed the Ming Dynasty etiquette and, under the direction of the master of ceremonies, performed all the steps like puppets.

The marriage of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty was much more complicated than the marriage of ordinary people in Zhu Chengwu's previous life.

If there hadn't been a MC's direction, even though Zhu Chengwu had already achieved first-rate accomplishments and had a greatly improved memory, he might have remembered the steps incorrectly.

Moreover, the complicated wedding process is also a great test of the physical strength of the bride and groom, especially when Zhu Chengwu is still seriously injured.

Fortunately, Zhu Chengwu had his close attendant Chunhua to assist him.

Otherwise, with Zhu Chengwu's current health, he might not be able to hold on until the end of the wedding.

Finally, the wedding reached the last step, where the bride and groom worshipped heaven and earth and the master of ceremonies read the wedding speech.

There should have been a master of ceremonies present at this time.

But the originally scheduled master of ceremonies has not arrived yet.

The emcee paused and turned an inquiring look to Zhu Chengwu.

"continue!"

Zhu Chengwu's face was calm and he only uttered two words.

Zhu Zhiying was "late" for much longer than Zhu Chengwu expected.

It even seemed that Zhu Zhiying really had no intention of showing up!
In his heart, Zhu Chengwu sentenced his cousin Zhu Zhiying to death.

It would be fine if Zhu Zhiying’s cousin had an accident on the road and really “died”.

Otherwise, Zhu Chengwu would definitely make his cousin Zhu Zhiying pay the price for his excessive behavior today.

As for the master of ceremonies, it’s better not to have one!

"One bow to the heaven..."

The host received Zhu Chengwu's order and continued shouting.

"Feel sorry!
Brother Wu, your uncle is late!"

Just as the wedding host was about to shout "Bow to Heaven and Earth", a steady voice sounded outside the wedding hall.

Then, a middle-aged man with a square face flew over.

Beside him, there were two figures that Zhu Chengwu was very familiar with.

It was Zhu Chengwu's thirteenth brother Zhu Wusi and the naughty boy Gu Santong who had challenged Zhu Chengwu.

The moment he saw Zhu Wusi and Gu Santong, Zhu Chengwu immediately realized where Zhu Zhiying had been these days!
He went to save Zhu Wusi and Gu Santong!

Saving another prince's life is indeed a good "reason" and "excuse".

Winning over these two top-notch people who have the potential to make further progress will also allow Zhu Zhiying to gain more attention in front of the prince.

No wonder the intelligence system of the Marquis of Fu'an Mansion could only find out that the masked men outside Xuzhou City failed after Zhu Chengwu left.

However, the specific whereabouts of Zhu Wusi and Gu Santong could never be found.

It turned out that it was Zhu Zhiying who saved them and covered their tracks!
Although Zhu Zhiying is only first-rate, in many cases, having one more first-rate at full strength can have a huge impact on the battle situation.

Just like Zhu Zhiying's joining was enough to change the scene outside Xuzhou city from Zhu Wusi and Gu Santong being surrounded and killed by many masked guests to Zhu Zhiying and his three companions being evenly matched with many masked guests.

Although there are many masked guests.

But the quality of the masked guests is not high, and there are only a few top-notch masters among them.

Otherwise, they would not have dared to just watch the battle before Zhu Chengwu and Gu Santong started fighting, and only dared to attack and kill them after Zhu Chengwu and Gu Santong were both injured.

If they really had enough combat power to ignore the best at their peak, they would have killed Zhu Chengwu and Gu Santong long ago.

Or they could storm the Marquis of Fu'an's Mansion or the Li family in Xuzhou City.

After all, it was rumored that the Li family in Xuzhou City had a magical book to suppress the family's heritage.

"Master Zuo Zongren, now that you know it, it's too late!
Why come again?"

Zhu Chengwu did not give any face to his cousin Zhu Zhiying.

Although Zhu Chengwu knew that with the appearance of Zhu Wusi, Zhu Zhiying already had a legitimate reason for being "late".

But this is not an "excuse" for Zhu Chengwu to swallow his anger. Even if Zhu Chengwu does not want to cause trouble now, he cannot tolerate this matter.

In the Ming Dynasty, which ruled the country by rites, Zhu Zhiying, the master of ceremonies arranged by the Dazongzhengyuan, was late for Zhu Chengwu's wedding. The consequences were too serious!
Although Zhu Zhiying now has a reasonable "reason" for being late, anyone with a discerning eye can see the real "reason" for Zhu Zhiying's being late.

If Zhu Chengwu can't even endure this, I don't know how many people will come to Zhu Chengwu to make trouble.

If we seek peace through compromise, peace will die.

Once Zhu Chengwu compromises, the development time that Zhu Chengwu desires after obtaining the "Earth Core Fire Lotus" will become increasingly distant from Zhu Chengwu.

"Don't worry about irrelevant people, just continue!"

Zhu Chengwu turned around and spoke directly to the wedding host.

"One bow..."

the MC sang loudly.

"Seventh brother, Uncle Zhiying didn't miss the auspicious time, so he's not late at all!

Your attitude is too much!"

However, this time the host was interrupted before he could finish his words.

But it was Zhu Wusi who interrupted the wedding.

Zhu Chengwu turned and looked at Zhu Wusi.

Zhu Chengwu finally understood!

If Zhu Zhiying and the other three are not dealt with, it will be difficult for the wedding to go on smoothly.

Although Cui Shuyun, the wife of the Marquis's Mansion, is not important.

But this wedding ceremony is important.

As the saying goes, one must settle down and start a family. Only when one gets married can Zhu Chengwu be considered to have a complete family.

Many things are easier to do.

Moreover, getting married is a major event in life, and the wedding represents the reputation of Zhu Chengwu and the Fu'an Marquisate.

If anything unexpected happens during the wedding ceremony, it would be a disgrace to Zhu Chengwu.

Even his own wedding ceremony would have unexpected events, and people would inevitably question the ability of Zhu Chengwu, the Marquis of Fu'an and the legitimate son of King Ming.

The struggle for rights is a struggle for the masses and a struggle for confidence.

"I don't want to argue with you today about whether you are late, and I am not in the mood to argue with you!
If you are here to watch the ceremony, you are welcome to Fu'an Marquis' Mansion.

But if you are here to cause trouble, then the Fu'an Marquis Mansion is definitely not afraid of it!"

Zhu Chengwu directly warned Zhu Zhiying, Zhu Wusi and the other two.

There were so many guests at the scene, including Zhao Yuguang, so although Zhu Chengwu was seriously injured, he was not afraid of Zhu Zhiying, Zhu Wushi and Gu Santong, the three top-notch ones.

"continue!"

After saying this, Zhu Chengwu no longer paid attention to Zhu Zhiying and the other two.

"What kind of ceremony!
Uncle Zhiying is here to officiate the wedding!
Without Uncle Zhiying, your wedding is invalid!"

Zhu Wusi ignored the anger in Zhu Chengwu's words and confronted Zhu Chengwu directly.

They are all first-rate, and Zhu Wusi is not afraid of Zhu Chengwu.

Moreover, Zhu Wusi still clearly remembered the hatred of being despised and ignored when he was a child, and the resentment of being ignored for help a few days ago!
In addition, Zhu Zhiying helped Zhu Wusi and Gu Santong. Although even without Zhu Zhiying, Zhu Wusi and Gu Santong might not be able to break out of the siege.

But at least it was not as safe as after Zhu Zhiying's action.

Zhu Wusi and Gu Santong have to accept this favor.

Of course, in addition to the above three reasons, there is another most important reason why Zhu Wusi was willing to act as Zhu Zhiying's pawn.

Su Xin!

Zhu Wusi is also a member of the royal Zhu family. If Zhu Wusi wants to marry Su Xin and give Su Xin a legitimate wedding.

The Da Zong Zheng Yuan is a hurdle that can never be avoided.

Now selling a favor to Zuo Zongren of the Da Zongzhengyuan would be beneficial to Zhu Wusi rather than harmful.

There are no fools in the world!

What’s more, this person is Zhu Wusi.

All of this is just a voluntary decision after weighing the pros and cons.

"Thirteenth brother, are you going to fight me to the death?"

Zhu Chengwu looked at Zhu Wusi, his anger almost uncontrollable.

“Besides, I don’t need a wedding master anymore!

My grandfather is here!

I have decided that my grandfather will be the presiding officer at our wedding...
Master Zuo Zongren is busy, so I won't bother you anymore!"

Zhu Chengwu directly counterattacked Zhu Wusi.

Having Zhao Yuguang preside over the wedding was indeed one of the alternative plans discussed by Zhu Chengwu and relevant personnel from the Fu'an Marquis Mansion after Zhu Zhiying had not shown up for a long time.

But before that, Zhu Chengwu would rather not have a master of ceremonies and did not initiate this alternative plan.

As a descendant of the royal Zhu family, the host of the wedding was not a relative of the Zhu clan, but someone from his mother's clan, Zhao.

This would send a signal that the relationship between Marquis Fu'an and the Zhu clan is not as close as his maternal clan, the Zhao clan.

It will lower the impression of Zhu Chengwu among many Zhu clan members.

The Zhu family is the real first family of the Ming Dynasty.

Before, Zhu Chengwu would rather not have a master of ceremonies and did not ask Zhao Yuguang to be the master of ceremonies.

Now that Zhu Zhiying has appeared, Zhu Chengwu made this choice, which was beyond many people's expectations.

After receiving Zhu Chengwu's pleading look, Zhao Yuguang stood up silently.

Zhao Yuguang was both surprised and delighted by Zhu Chengwu's choice.

The reason for his surprise was that Zhu Chengwu refused to let Zuo Zongren, the head of the Dazongzhengyuan, officiate at the wedding even though Zuo Zongren had already arrived, which would offend many Zhu clan members.

Because the Zhu clan members are extremely proud. In the eyes of many Zhu clan members, in the Ming Dynasty, the Zhu clan is the heaven. If they knew that a Zhu clan member refused to have the Zhu clan elders preside over the wedding and instead let an outsider officiate, it would definitely arouse their anger.

The surprise is that after Zhu Chengwu made this choice, he would inevitably have a rift with the Zhu clan members.

If Zhu Chengwu wants to sit on the throne and keep it secure, he must get closer to the Zhao family and win more support from them.

This will maximize the interests of the Zhao family after Zhu Chengwu comes to power.

"It seems that I have to thank Zhu Zhiying, a member of Zuo Zong!

This immediately pushed Wu Ge'er one big step closer to the Zhao family.

And judging from Wu Ge'er's choice, Wu Ge'er still trusts Zhao!

I really shouldn't have wavered about the fire lotus before. That was a treasure that Wu Ge'er obtained after paying a lot of price.

Besides, Brother Wu is my grandson!"

With this in mind, Zhao Yugang prepared himself for a moment and said, "That's right! I will officiate at Wu Ge'er's wedding this time. I won't bother Master Zuo Zongren anymore!"

See Zhao Yugang appear!
Zhu Zhiying was stunned for a moment.

Before Zhu Zhiying left the capital, he had not received any news that Zhao Yuguang had left the capital.

For a big shot of Zhao Yuguang's level, the Zhu family always keeps an eye on his movements and whereabouts!

Zhu Zhiying didn't know that Zhao Yuguang came to Xuzhou City only after he left the capital.

After learning the news that Zhao Yuguang was coming to Xuzhou City, Zhu also wanted to pass the message to Zhu Zhiying.

Unfortunately, at that time, Zhu could no longer contact Zhu Zhiying.

After Zhu Zhiying left the capital, in order to avoid being discovered by Zhu Chengwu's Fu'an Marquis Mansion and some interested people, Zhu Zhiying was forced to show up.

Since leaving the capital, Zhu Zhiying has been traveling alone and has almost cut off contact with the outside world.

When a wild goose passes by, it leaves traces; when a person passes by, he leaves traces.

The best way for people to hide themselves is to completely stop communicating with the outside world and isolate themselves from the world.

So Zhu was unable to contact Zhu Zhiying.

So even though Zhao Yuguang's appearance in Xuzhou City caused a sensation and almost everyone in Xuzhou government knew about Zhao Yuguang's arrival, Zhu Zhiying was completely unaware of it.

But the lack of this information has left Zhu Zhiying at a loss.

The appearance of Zhao Yuguang brought many of Zhu Zhiying's plans to an abrupt halt, and also made some of Zhu Zhiying's behaviors look like a clown.

Moreover, with the appearance of Zhao Yuguang, Zhu Zhiying's behavior will make Zhu Chengwu more inclined to the Zhao family and more deeply bound to the Zhao family.

This goes against the consensus of the Zhu clan's Dazongzhengyuan.

The consensus of the Dazongzhengyuan was to deepen the relationship with Zhu Chengwu, and preferably make Zhu Chengwu cut ties with the Zhao family and give up the fight for the throne.

He practiced martial arts diligently and became a master, which became the foundation of the Zhu family.

In the view of the Da Zongzhengyuan, there is hope of success in persuading Zhu Chengwu, and the hope is not small.

Because Prince Ming had no intention of replacing the crown prince, and after the Da Zongzhengyuan made it clear that it would not support Zhu Chengwu, Zhu Chengwu's chances of ascending to the throne became even slimmer.

Moreover, the status of the Grand Master is not much lower than that of the Ming King.

Zhu Chengwu should make a wise choice after weighing the pros and cons.

If the Grand Chamber of Imperial Clan Affairs knew that Zhu Zhiying's self-will had made the bond between Zhu Chengwu, Marquis of Fu'an, and the Zhao family even tighter, then...

Zhu Zhiying could not even keep his current position as Zuo Zongren of the Grand Zongzhengyuan, let alone rely on humiliating Zhu Chengwu, undermining Zhu Chengwu's prestige, and performing in front of the prince to gain the resources to break through to the Grand Master level.

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(End of this chapter)