The strongest eldest son of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 57 Zhu Yuanzhang's Second Escape

Zhu Yuanzhang returned to his guest room, closed the door, and slumped into a chair. The embarrassment on his face gradually faded, replaced by a thoughtful expression.

He repeatedly recalled everything he had seen in town that day, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that he had indeed misunderstood those urban management officers.

Those people may have looked fierce and menacing, but in reality they were maintaining market order according to the rules. They neither oppressed the vendors nor extorted money from them. Instead, they managed the town in a well-organized and orderly manner.

Upon careful consideration, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but admire the idea: This "city management" method is truly a brilliant idea!

If this method could be implemented nationwide, with every town having such people to maintain order, coupled with Yao'er's cement roads and sweet potatoes, perhaps the world could truly become peaceful and prosperous, and every place could be as bustling and stable as this small town.

But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he frowned and a few concerns arose in his heart: No, no, if these urban management officers hold power and take the opportunity to oppress the people and act arrogantly, it will only harm the people and backfire.

He became increasingly curious about how Zhu Yao had trained these urban management officers to be so professional, disciplined, and never overstepping the boundaries, thus maintaining order without oppressing the people.

As he was pondering this, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly remembered his identity, and his heart tightened.

He was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and there was a lot of state affairs waiting for him to handle in Jinling. He couldn't stay here any longer and had to return to Jinling as soon as possible.

If they lingered any longer, their identities might be exposed, or they might be persuaded by Zhu Yao to go to court, which would be troublesome.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately got up, quietly walked to the door, peeked outside, and seeing that no one was moving, he whispered to Erhu, who was waiting in the dark.

Then, he secretly sent someone to call Hu Weiyong. Before long, Hu Weiyong came over, clutching his head. His forehead was wrapped in thick gauze, and there were still bruises on his face. He was walking unsteadily.

"Erhu, Hu Weiyong, let's leave tonight and return to Jinling overnight. Remember, do not make a sound, lest Yao'er find out," Zhu Yuanzhang instructed in a low voice, his tone urgent.

Erhu bowed and replied, "Your subordinate obeys."

Hu Weiyong frowned, looking puzzled, and asked, "Master, do we really have to leave in the middle of the night? Wouldn't it be more dignified to say goodbye to Young Master Zhu properly before leaving?"

He really didn't want to cause any more trouble; his head was still throbbing. He just wanted to die peacefully, but he didn't dare disobey Zhu Yuanzhang's wishes.

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at him and scolded in a low voice, "What do you know! My son Zhu Yao is shrewd and very perceptive. If we tell him we want to leave tomorrow, he will definitely try his best to stop us, and then we won't be able to leave!"

"Let's sneak over the wall and slip away unnoticed while it's still dark and no one's watching. By the time he finds out tomorrow, we'll be long gone from Chenzhou."

Upon hearing this, Hu Weiyong dared not ask any further questions and could only nod with a bitter face: "Your subordinate understands and will follow your arrangements, sir."

Under the cover of night, the three of them quietly slipped out of their guest room, avoiding the servants in the mansion, and groped their way to the base of the Liu mansion's courtyard wall.

Erhu was the first to scale the wall and land safely, then reached out to help Zhu Yuanzhang and Hu Weiyong.

Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth and, with the help of Erhu, clumsily climbed over the courtyard wall, almost twisting his ankle when he landed.

Hu Weiyong had a head injury and was slow to move. It took him a lot of effort to barely climb over the courtyard wall. When he landed, he lost his footing and almost fell flat on his face. He grimaced in pain, but dared not make a sound.

Just as the three of them steadied themselves and were about to leave quickly, a familiar voice suddenly came from the side, tinged with a hint of mockery: "Dad, leaving again so soon?"

Zhu Yuanzhang and his two companions froze, slowly turning their heads to see Zhu Yao sitting on a stone bench not far from the courtyard wall, holding a cup of tea in his hand, looking at them with a half-smile, with several servants standing beside him.

Zhu Yao put down his teacup, stood up, and walked step by step to them, his tone tinged with grievance and doubt: "Did I fail to entertain you properly, Father? Why did you sneak away without even saying goodbye?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's face instantly turned embarrassed, his eyes darting around. He waved his hands awkwardly, trying to appear calm, and said, "No...it's nothing, it's nothing!"

"We just thought it was cool at night, so we brought them out for a walk and to see the night view. They don't seem to want to leave. We're going back to sleep now!"

As he spoke, he pulled Hu Weiyong and Erhu, turned around and tried to walk towards the courtyard wall, wishing he could immediately sneak back into the mansion and avoid Zhu Yao's gaze.

Hu Weiyong also lowered his head, not daring to look at Zhu Yao, and secretly lamented: Now look what happened, I tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead, and was caught red-handed, how embarrassing.

Erhu remained expressionless, standing to the side with his head down, as if nothing had happened. He was simply keeping a close eye on his surroundings, ready to respond to any unexpected situations.

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's flustered appearance, Zhu Yao couldn't help but laugh. He stepped forward and stopped them, saying, "Father, it's late and the dew is heavy. It's chilly outside. Let's hurry back to the manor. We can talk about it properly tomorrow. Let's not sneak around anymore."

......

The next day, just as dawn broke, the morning light shone through the windows of the Liu family mansion, casting dappled shadows.

Zhu Yao strolled into the hall, where he saw that the steward Chen Zhong had already led the servants to set out a sumptuous breakfast on the table. Steaming hot porridge, crispy pastries, and several refreshing side dishes filled the air with their aroma.

Zhu Yao walked to the table and sat down, picked up his chopsticks and casually stirred the food, then smiled and said to Chen Zhong, "Chen Zhong, you're getting more and more efficient at doing things. This breakfast looks very appetizing."

Chen Zhong stood bowing to the side, a hint of hesitation on his face. He rubbed his hands together and said in a low voice, "Young Master, there's something I want to say, but I don't know if I should."

Zhu Yao didn't even look up, casually saying as he ate his snack, "If you don't know whether you should say it or not, then don't say it, so as not to cause trouble."

Chen Zhong frowned, gritted his teeth, and said, "No, young master, I'm not comfortable keeping this to myself. I still need to talk to you about it."

Zhu Yao put down his chopsticks, looked up at him, and said with a hint of helplessness, "Fine, just say what you want to say, don't beat around the bush."

Chen Zhong took a deep breath and lowered his voice, saying, "Young Master, I feel that Master is acting strangely. Every time he comes to our Liu residence, he can't stay for more than two days before sneaking away. It doesn't seem like he's really here to see you."

"I'm having some doubts. Do you think it was all a lie when Master told you he was doing business in Nanjing? Maybe he's not a businessman at all."

"Another possibility is that the master has accumulated a large debt and is afraid of his enemies coming after him, which is why he doesn't dare to stay long and always leaves in a hurry? Perhaps, he even acknowledged you as his son just to find a place to hide?"

Chen Zhong became more and more serious as he spoke, his face full of worry.