Chapter 1420: Kill Him!

Galdan, the Grand Lama, Wu Yingxiong, and Pengsuke of the Khoshut tribe in Ü-Tsang were all dumbfounded. If you can't smooth things over, at least don't lay it out so bluntly! How could a prince like you force everyone to choose between defying an imperial decree and obeying it? And the current situation is that the Three Feudatories of the Snowy Region have come out far ahead — if things stop here, then the Three Feudatories of the Snowy Region become the biggest winners.

You're not here to smooth things over at all! You're here to back up Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi!

But Galdan, the Grand Lama, Wu Yingxiong, and Pengsuke didn't dare say "no" to Zhu Cixuan either — they couldn't bear the charge of defying an imperial decree.

So all four of them turned their eyes toward the Third Prince of Zhu, to see what he would do.

"Old Nine!" the Third Prince of Zhu spoke up. "Did the Imperial Brother send you to smooth things over, or to deliver an edict?"

"To smooth things over, of course," Zhu Cixuan said. "But the Imperial Brother's meaning is still perfectly clear — here in the northwest, we can't start a war among our own people."

"Our own people certainly must not fight our own people." The Third Prince of Zhu said sternly, "But Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi have been secretly in contact with the roving bandits' puppet court. They are not our own people — they are false surrenders!"

He stared coldly at Li Puxing. "Li Liuhou, tell me honestly — did your father send anyone to Kunming to kowtow to Li Jicheng? Were the family members of your Three Feudatories of the Snowy Region in Yunnan killed or released by Li Jicheng? Don't think you can muddle through these matters — the Embroidered Uniform Guard has people in Yunnan! This prince also has eyes and ears in Yunnan! This prince also holds evidence of your secret dealings with the roving bandits' puppet court!"

The Third Prince of Zhu had laid his cards on the table! He held evidence that Li Dingguo and the others were practically colluding with the enemy — this matter was actually no secret; the Ming court had long known that Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi were straddling two boats.

But Zhu Cilang didn't care. He didn't care whether these three were paying tribute to the Yunnan side, as long as they left Sichuan. As for what the three feudatories of Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi did up on the snowy plateau, Zhu Cilang not only didn't care, he wasn't worried either.

Because he knew these three couldn't stay on the plateau for long — this wasn't the warm, humid Tang dynasty; this was the freezing Little Ice Age. Could the snowy plateau feed their great armies? Even if you scraped the entire surface of the Himalayas clean, it still wouldn't be enough!

So as long as they went up onto the plateau, they posed no threat to the Great Ming. Most likely they'd stay a few years, realize life was unsustainable, and come down from the plateau on their own.

But they couldn't return to Sichuan — Zhu Cilang had stationed heavy troops in Sichuan! They wouldn't go to Qinghai either; the old Wu family had operated in the Huang River valley for many years and it was already impregnable. And how much profit could the Huang River valley yield? Even if it all went to Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi, it still wouldn't be enough!

So in the end, the three feudatories of Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi would either drift off to the Western Regions to scrape by, or cross the Himalayas into India.

But these were all under-the-table dealings — how could they be laid out in the open?

The Third Prince of Zhu had been provoked by Zhu Cixuan and simply flipped the table over! Once the table was flipped, the Three Feudatories of the Snowy Region became rebels, and could Zhu Cilang the Emperor say, "You three feudatories may be rebels as you please, this Emperor won't interfere"? He couldn't say that!

When Li Puxing saw the Third Prince of Zhu flip the table, he refused to take it lying down. He stood up, glared at the Third Prince of Zhu, and said loudly: "Since Your Highness the Prince of Dai has taken it this far, then there is no need for me to remain in Yining. What follows is simply a clash of arms! Surely a sovereign lord such as yourself would not execute an envoy?"

The Third Prince of Zhu said: "This prince will not kill you. Leave! Go back and tell your father that I, Zhu San, most despise petty men who straddle two boats!"

"Right!" Wu Yingxiong chimed in. "I, Wu Yingxiong, also despise such petty men!"

Li Puxing glared at him — wasn't your father Wu Sangui exactly that kind of petty man?

After glaring, he clasped his hands toward the Third Prince of Zhu: "The Prince of Dai is indeed a hero! Li admires you! Li takes his leave now — we shall meet again on the battlefield!"

With that, he turned his head and swaggered off — this fellow truly had the nature of a fool!

Zhu Cixuan stood there with his mouth hanging open, knowing he had botched the assignment. But on second thought, he hadn't taken any money anyway, so even if the eldest returned the goods, he'd still have to explain it to the Retired Emperor.

Besides, he had another task on this trip to the northwest — to lure Shunzhi out! But this matter couldn't be discussed in the command hall, because Xuanye, the bait, was right there!

He'd speak with the third brother privately later!

The private meeting between the two brothers took place the day after Zhu Cixuan arrived in Yining.

The Third Prince of Zhu wasn't angry that Zhu Cixuan's peacemaking skills were so poor; he laid out a banquet in his princely residence as usual, and had a mixed-blood Hu beauty from the household accompany the brothers in drinking — in the Principality of Dai and the neighboring Chu River Prefecture, mixed-blood Hu beauties were numerous, and some of them had inherited the best of both Han and Hu blood, making them stunningly beautiful, far superior to the goods along the Qinhuai River.

This Hu beauty named "Hani" whom the Third Prince of Zhu had prepared for his brother was not someone you'd see along the Qinhuai!

At the sight of the stunning Hu beauty, the Ninth Prince of Zhu's mood immediately improved, and he tossed the near-falling-out between the brothers this morning to the winds — though this Ninth Prince was unreliable in his work, his magnanimity was great; he didn't take after Chongzhen.

When the Hu beauty Hani saw Zhu Cixuan, her face was all sweet, heartfelt smiles. Besides his magnanimity, Zhu Cixuan had another virtue — he was handsome. His mother, Consort Hu, had been the most beautiful woman in the Retired Emperor Chongzhen's harem, with one-quarter Western blood. Chongzhen was also good-looking, a tall and handsome man. Zhu Cixuan inherited the best of both parents and was the acknowledged second-handsomest of the Retired Emperor Chongzhen's hundred-plus sons — the acknowledged handsomest was of course Zhu Cilang.

Here was a handsome man and a beautiful woman, and they took a liking to each other!

But the Third Prince of Zhu couldn't let this pair of lovers get too pleased with themselves — he still had serious matters to ask about!

"Old Nine, let me ask you something. How did that little bastard Xuanye end up in the northwest? Did the eldest find him an eyesore and want to arrange for him a case of failing to acclimatize and dying of illness in the northwest?"

The Third Prince of Zhu wanted to kill Kangxi! He and the Manchu Qing had a blood feud!

Zhu Cixuan was startled and asked: "Third Brother, what do you mean by arranging for him a case of failing to acclimatize and dying of illness in the northwest? Can such a thing even be arranged?"

The Third Prince of Zhu looked at his bewildered brother, not knowing whether to laugh or cry — were you even born into an imperial family?

"Kill him!" The Third Prince of Zhu gritted his teeth and made a beheading gesture.

"K-kill?" Zhu Cixuan sucked in a breath of cold air. "Th-third Brother, that's murder!"

He had studied a bit of law — in elementary school — and of course couldn't compare to the Rent-Collecting King, but he still knew what murder was!

"Right!" The Third Prince of Zhu's face darkened, and he admitted it openly. "It's murder! Is that what the eldest means?"

Zhu Cixuan looked at the murderous-faced Third Prince of Zhu, and his heart seized up. Jin Xuanye was at least a marquis — how could he be killed just like that? The Prince of Dai was too savage!

"No, no — that's not what the eldest means." Zhu Cixuan shook his head repeatedly. "The eldest means to draw the snake out of its hole — use Xuanye to lure that Fulin out. Right, the eldest has a letter for me to give you. You'll understand once you read it."

As he spoke, Zhu Cixuan produced a wax-sealed envelope and handed it to the Third Prince of Zhu with both hands.

"Hani, go open it." The Third Prince of Zhu handed the envelope to the Hu beauty, and she used a small meat-cutting knife to slice off the wax seal and pull out the letter inside.

He took out the letter, looked at it, and laughed. "So that's it. The eldest is truly cunning — he wants to wipe out the Manchus beyond the passes in one sweep. These Tartars are doomed now!"

Actually, Zhu Cilang wasn't that ruthless. He only wanted to deal with the two garrison commands of Heilongjiang and Andong, then send some princes or sons of the Retired Emperor to serve as military governors and Guard Commanders there.

"Third Brother," Zhu Cixuan shook his head, "isn't this matter not so easy? Would Fulin really be so foolish as to take the bait?"

The Third Prince of Zhu waved his hand. "The real Fulin certainly wouldn't take the bait, but we can make a fake one to deceive Xuanye!"

(End of Chapter)