Chapter 46: Backfiring! The Second Lass Arrives!

Duke Wei's estate.

Zhu Gaochi was consumed with rage, veins bulging on his forehead. He gripped the golden brick tightly, his knuckles turning white from the immense force. He strode swiftly after Xu Zengshou with an air that suggested he intended to swallow the man alive.

"Have you lost your damn mind?" Zhu Gaochi roared, his voice echoing through the empty courtyard and startling the birds in the trees into frantic flight. "How dare you pull such stunts behind my back now?"

Knowing he was in the wrong, Xu Zengshou wore an expression of sheer panic. He ran for his life, his stumbling footsteps almost tripping him up, while he pleaded incessantly, "Chichi, I was wrong, truly wrong!"

Little did he know that he had merely wanted to drum up some fame for the upcoming glass mirrors, only to provoke such a massive disaster!

Heaven only knew that noble scions like Li Jinglong and Li Qi were both at the Drunken Immortal Tower, and the two of them had actually come to blows over a rivalry for female affection!

"Chichi, calm down, please calm down!"

Xu Zengshou was panting like an ox, his pace growing heavier and heavier with each step as if he were dragging thousands of pounds. Finally unable to run any further, his legs went weak and he had to surrender. He bent over, pressing his hands against his knees, taking huge, ragged breaths.

Seeing this, a flash of fury crossed Zhu Gaochi's eyes. He lashed out with a fierce kick, sending Xu Zengshou sprawling onto the ground. Unprepared, Xu Zengshou pitched forward and took a heavy face-plant, raising a cloud of dust that soiled his magnificent garments.

"Do you have any idea that the Old Man has already issued a decree reprimanding two Dukes!"

"Especially that Li Qi, who is a Prince Consort himself yet frequented a pleasure house like the Drunken Immortal Tower, throwing the Old Man into a towering rage and prompting a stern imperial edict to Li Shanchan to discipline his unfilial son." Zhu Gaochi glared with eyes as wide as copper bells, fixing his gaze on the prostrate Xu Zengshou. "I heard Li Shanchan nearly beat Li Qi to death, and father and son had to enter the palace together to beg for forgiveness just to escape further punishment!"

"You damn fool, you've completely and utterly offended Li Shanchan!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Zengshou's face, flushed red from running, instantly turned ashen white, and even his lips trembled slightly.

For this was no ordinary nobody; this was Grand Tutor Li Shanchan, the sole chieftain of the Huaixi nobility!

He subconsciously swallowed hard, his throat painfully dry.

"Chichi, don't worry. I've already had that merchant sent away overnight. Li Shanchan doesn't necessarily know it was my doing..." Xu Zengshou said with a trembling voice, trying to offer some comfort to both himself and Zhu Gaochi.

"Hmph, an old fox like Li Shanchan—how could he possibly fail to uncover the truth?"

Zhu Gaochi sneered, "Even if we possess mature glass-making techniques, the moment these glass mirrors hit the market, Li Shanchan will immediately trace this back to you. By then, the two of us will face his relentless retaliation!"

"Then what should we do next?" Xu Zengshou panicked, his eyes filled with fear and helplessness as he unconsciously twisted the hem of his robe. "Chichi, I truly never expected to cause such a catastrophe..."

Zhu Gaochi looked at him coldly, feeling a deep sense of helplessness in his heart.

Xu Zengshou was indeed quick-witted to use a single glass mirror sent to a high-traffic place like the Drunken Immortal Tower to instantly establish the fame of glass mirrors.

Yet he possessed plenty of cleverness but lacked caution, resulting in this colossal disaster.

That was fucking Li Shanchan!

Zhu Yuanzhang's right-hand man, the foremost of the six founding Dukes, the Xiao He of the founding of the Great Ming!

Never mind that this old fox had already retreated behind the scenes; no one could rival Li Shanchan's influence in the imperial court, not even Huaiyong, whose power overshadowed the court.

Could Huang Weiyong even compare to Li Shanchan?

Li Shanchan had sole command of the Secretariat and yet could retire safely, whereas Huang Weiyong exposed his true nature and suffered the extermination of his entire clan—that was the difference between the two.

Furthermore, across every province, prefecture, and county, and within the Six Ministries and all government offices, from the local to the central administration, heaven only knew how many officials were Li Shanchan's former students and disciples!

As the foremost civil official who assisted Zhu Yuanzhang in founding the empire, it was no exaggeration to call this old fox a towering tree in the court of the Great Ming.

Naturally, Li Shanchan also drew the suspicion of the Old Emperor on this account, and historically, he was ultimately purged along with his entire clan by the Old Emperor.

Yet now, Zhu Xiongying was not dead, Empress Ma was not dead, and whether the Old Emperor would turn dark remained an unknown, not to mention that by a freak combination of circumstances, they had mortally offended Li Shanchan and his son!

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaochi felt a surge of irritation and raised the heavy brick, itching to beat this Xu Zengshou to death.

A good-for-nothing who ruins more than he accomplishes!

"Chichi, what should we do now?" Realizing the gravity of the situation as well, Xu Zengshou paced back and forth, rubbing his hands continuously, looking utterly bewildered.

With a deep frown, Zhu Gaochi paced the floor a few times, pondered for a moment, and finally offered a solution. "Write a letter to Grandfather immediately and have him return to the capital."

The two of them were certainly no match for Li Shanchan, but Xu Da was different.

When the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up, and Xu Da was that tall one!

Upon hearing this, Xu Zengshou's eyes lit up as if he had grasped a straw to save his life. Disregarding everything else, he immediately prepared to write the letter.

Just at that moment, however, the doorman hurried over in a panic, his steps so frantic that his hat was slightly askew.

"Third Young Master, Little Highness, a distinguished guest is here!" the doorman panted.

Annoyed, Xu Zengshou waved his hand dismissively, his face filled with disgust. "What distinguished guest? Tell him to get lost! Just say this young master has caught a chill and is receiving no visitors these days!"

Hesitating for a moment, the doorman looked from Xu Zengshou to Zhu Gaochi, then lowered his voice to warn, "Third Young Master, the visitor is the Heir of the Duke of Cao, Li Jinglong!"

Li Jinglong!

The son of Duke of Cao, Li Wenzhong!

This was the aggrieved party coming right to their doorstep to pick a fight!

"I'm not seeing him!" Xu Zengshou panicked, his face turning alternately white and red. "Tell him I'm half-dead and not yet buried..."

Just as the doorman was about to leave, Zhu Gaochi stopped him with a calm expression on his face. "Invite him in!"

"Chichi, what are you..." Panicking, Xu Zengshou stepped forward to grab Zhu Gaochi's arm, his eyes filled with confusion and anxiety.

Asking with a sidelong glance, Zhu Gaochi retorted, "He's already at our doorstep. Do you think you can hide from this?"

Taken aback, Xu Zengshou nodded with a bitter smile, feeling as though he had been doused with a bucket of cold water.

A short while later, the two arrived at the main reception hall to find a handsome young man with red lips and fair skin sitting there.

Li Jinglong was curiously sizing up Zhu Gaochi, never expecting that this affair would involve the eldest legitimate son of the Prince of Yan.

Meanwhile, Zhu Gaochi was also observing Li Jinglong, and upon taking in his majestic and imposing appearance, he could not help but click his tongue inwardly.

Li Jinglong!

The first-generation God of War of the Great Ming.

Anyone with even a slight knowledge of Ming dynasty history would find him far from unfamiliar.

This fellow was a thorough and utter disaster. Relying on his polished facade and glib tongue, he managed to make both the Old Emperor and Zhu Yunwen mistakenly believe him to be an infallible military strategist.

Consequently, during the Jingnan Campaign, Li Jinglong succeeded the defeated Geng Bingwen as the second commander-in-chief of the Southern Army, personally leading an army of five hundred thousand toward Peiping, only to be utterly routed and shattered by the Prince of Yan, Zhu Zhu. In a single battle, he crippled all of the Jianwen Emperor's elite forces, laying the foundation for the Prince of Yan's successful usurpation!

One might even suspect he was an undercover agent for Fourth Zhu!

Tsk tsk, the first-generation God of War of the Great Ming, the classic exemplar of throwing away a winning game through sheer arrogance, the universally despised Duke of Cao of the Great Ming!

As the former commander-in-chief of the Southern Army who disgraced the nation and lost its forces, he was not only detested by the officials of the Jianwen regime for squandering a winning position and wiping out the southern elite in a single stroke, but even within the Yan army camp, he was mocked as the worthless son of a military family, a pampered aristocrat and a straw-bag Duke!

If it were merely that, it might still have been tolerable.

After all, in warfare, who could guarantee absolute victory?

Losing a battle meant one's skills were inferior; losing was shameful, but not disgraceful!

Yet this fellow Li Jinglong went and did another earth-shattering deed!

After his disastrous defeat, he was summoned back to the imperial capital of Nanjing by Zhu Yunwen, yet he escaped punishment. Even when officials like Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng repeatedly memorialized the throne, pleading for Li Jinglong's execution to appease the realm, Zhu Yunwen ignored them completely.

As a result, far from being grateful, when the Yan army breached the capital of Nanjing and attacked the Jinchuan Gate, Li Jinglong directly opened the gates alongside Prince Gu Zhu Hui to surrender, welcoming the Yan army into the city. The imperial capital of Nanjing thus fell, the Jianwen Emperor burned down the palace, and the Jianwen reign came to an end!

What kind of behavior was this?

A turncoat!

If you lose a war, no matter how you spin it, it's ultimately a matter of capability.

But when you turn traitor at the crucial moment and serve as a guide for the enemy, that becomes a matter of moral character!

Ultimately, Li Jinglong met a poor end as well. After using him, Fourth Zhu cast him aside, first signaling his trusted aides to impeach Li Jinglong, and then smoothly stripping him of his peerage. He placed Li Jinglong, his younger brother Li Zengzhi, and dozens of their wives and children under house arrest, confiscating their property. Li Jinglong once went on a hunger strike for ten days to protest his loyalty, but it accomplished nothing, and he soon died of depression, bringing the peerage of the Duke of Cao of the Li family to an end.

What a pity for the towering military achievements that the White-Robed Spear God Li Wenzhong had secured for the Great Ming!

Ah, this second young master had indeed left a heavy, vivid stroke in the history books.

After a brief silence, Li Jinglong broke the stillness with a remark that immediately tightened the tension in the room.

"Third Xu, you truly played a fine hand, dragging even me into your schemes!"