Chapter 213: Zhu Di

"This Hall Master was ambushed by treacherous people and suffered heavy injuries; it was only thanks to the Little Prince's rescue that I was able to turn danger into safety."

"The ones who ambushed this old man are precisely these two wicked disciples of mine. Now, this Hall Master announces that the two of them are expelled from the sect, to be beaten to death with clubs immediately thereafter!"

"The Little Prince has shown grace to the Red Rainbow Hall and grace to this old man; from this day forward, the Red Rainbow Hall shall follow the Little Prince's lead in all things!"

Once these words were spoken, Bai Xinghuo did not wait for the crowd to react, coughing twice to feign the appearance of one just recovering from a serious illness.

He then turned and walked back toward the inner room.

This time, only the Embroidered Uniform Guard who was posing as a divine doctor supported Bai Xinghuo as he walked in, while Zhu Gaoxu stood at the doorway with his hands behind his back.

"You have all heard the words of Old Hall Master Bai, haven't you? Where are the Embroidered Uniform Guards!"

As soon as the words fell, Ada and the others reacted immediately, surrounding Yu Feipeng on the spot.

At this moment, Yin Min was still kneeling in the main hall, completely unaware of what had happened in the inner courtyard.

Seeing himself surrounded, Yu Feipeng naturally could not just sit still and wait for capture.

This time, the Embroidered Uniform Guards were not carrying their usual weapons, but they were all equipped with another piece of standard-issue gear: the sleeve crossbow.

Seeing that Yu Feipeng was about to resist, the group of Embroidered Uniform Guards did not hesitate in the slightest; they raised their sleeves and fired their sleeve crossbows at Yu Feipeng.

Yu Feipeng was clearly startled as well, and while scrambling to dodge, he was struck by two bolts.

Clutching his wound with his left hand, Yu Feipeng did not dare to linger in the fight.

With a single leap, he flew over the wall of the inner courtyard. Ada and the others wanted to pursue, but by the time they climbed over the wall, Yu Feipeng had already gone far away, subsequently disappearing from everyone's sight.

Ada frowned and wanted to charge out, but was stopped by Zhu Gaoxu.

"This subordinate is incompetent!"

Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand, signaling that Ada need not blame himself, then lifted his chin and said, "There should still be one kneeling in the front courtyard; don't let him run off either."

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Ada nodded and led the group of Embroidered Uniform Guards toward the front courtyard.

Before long, they brought Yin Min over.

Yin Min clearly knew his fate as well.

When the Embroidered Uniform Guards had suddenly arrived earlier, he hadn't even had time to react before he was taken down.

Now that he had been captured, he reckoned he would be lucky to escape with his life.

However, Zhu Gaoxu only glanced at Yin Min before waving his hand to signal for him to be taken away.

At this moment, he had no time at all to concern himself with these small fries.

The refugees filling the streets, the construction of various prefectures, and other Jianghu factions were all issues waiting for him.

Compared to these problems, this Yin Min was not even worth an ant on the ground.

Thinking this, Zhu Gaoxu beckoned to Niu Jiang.

Ever since meeting Zhu Gaoxu, Niu Jiang could be said to have had all his attention fixed on him.

One could tell a thing or two just from the skillful and natural movements Zhu Gaoxu had displayed moments ago.

It was no wonder the current Emperor doted on Zhu Gaoxu so much.

Look at how he handled things—more efficiently than quite a few high-ranking officials.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu summon him, Niu Jiang did not dare to delay and walked forward quickly.

By now, he had made up his mind to board Zhu Gaoxu's great ship.

He had been the magistrate of this Huangshan Town for quite some time now.

Watching his former peers get promoted one by one while he remained completely stagnant, he had long since grown anxious.

Unfortunately, he had no backing at court and had previously offended his superior by accident.

If not for his own tact, he likely wouldn't even have kept his position as magistrate.

Therefore, now that there was an opportunity to board Zhu Gaoxu's ship, he naturally could not let it pass.

Once Niu Jiang cautiously arrived close by, Zhu Gaoxu then said, "You should also know why Imperial Grandfather sent me North this time, right?"

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Niu Jiang nodded immediately and said, "This subordinate is naturally aware. Please rest assured, Your Highness; this subordinate will definitely assist Your Highness and the Fourth Master with all my might."

The "Fourth Master" in Niu Jiang's mouth was naturally Zhu Gaoxu's father, Zhu Di.

And the reason Niu Jiang mentioned Zhu Di was clearly to make his intentions known.

He wanted to use this opportunity to board the great ship of the Zhu Di faction.

Although Zhu Di did not truly have much power in the imperial court,

he could still be considered to have gained a firm foothold.

Looking at all of Zhu Yuanzhang's many sons, the only ones who could achieve this besides the Crown Prince Zhu Biao were Zhu Gaoxu's father, Zhu Di.

Moreover, Zhu Di did indeed have some connections in the North, and regardless of anything else, no matter how poorly Zhu Di was doing in the imperial court, promoting a magistrate was still just a matter of a single word.

Zhu Gaoxu was not stupid and naturally heard the implication in Niu Jiang's words.

However, Zhu Gaoxu did not express his stance on this immediately.

Instead, he instructed Niu Jiang, "You are to immediately bring all the grain merchants and wealthy families of this Huangshan Town to me. I have matters to discuss with them; you should know what to do."

Upon hearing this, Niu Jiang's expression changed, but he still nodded.

This kind of task was not a good one.

Under normal circumstances, summoning the wealthy families of the city was nothing more than asking them to donate something.

The wealthy would donate money, and those with grain would provide grain.

And the person acting as the intermediary would naturally not gain the favor of these wealthy families and merchants.

After all, it was they who would be bleeding money.

But at this point, Niu Jiang could no longer worry about such things.

As long as he boarded the great ship of the Zhu Di faction, he reckoned he wouldn't be staying in this Huangshan Town for much longer anyway.