I was a conman in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 678: Fire Beacon to Trick the Princes

Chapter 678 Playing with the Feudal Lords by Lighting the Beacon Fires

Baby Chen Yuanyuan wanders around aimlessly.

Baby Chen Yuanyuan is heartbroken. Her nemesis doesn't love her and even caused her sister's death. Her sister was six months pregnant! Wang Wenzhou, how could you be so cruel?

You don't save your wife and concubine who are carrying your child, but you save that little slut Liu Rushi. What's so great about Liu Rushi? She's just a prostitute from a brothel. My sister is the daughter of an official family and was once an imperial concubine. How is she inferior to Liu Rushi?

Wu Sangui carefully stayed by her side, feeling very sorry for her. Chen Yuanyuan had been back in Shanhaiguan with him for many days, but he had never seen a smile on her face.

Wu Sangui suddenly recalled the story of King You of Zhou playing with the feudal lords by lighting the beacon fires. King You of Zhou would do anything, and dare to do anything, just to please his beloved Chen Yuanyuan. Wu Sangui now truly sympathized with King You; he felt that he would do anything to make Chen Yuanyuan happy. But despite his best efforts to please her, his beloved remained unhappy.

Chen Yuanyuan looked up and froze, because someone had just lifted the curtain of the carriage not far away, and the person inside looked a lot like that bitch Liu Rushi.

"Madam, what's wrong?" Wu Sangui asked cautiously.

Chen Yuanyuan shook her head. She was sure she was seeing things; that bitch Liu Rushi was long dead. Besides, knowing Wang Wenzhou as she did, even though that bitch had killed her enemy's son, if Liu Rushi were standing in front of her enemy now and shouted for him to kneel, he would definitely kneel. Even if Liu Rushi wasn't dead, she wouldn't be here.

"Sigh..." Chen Yuanyuan sighed and said softly, "I left in a hurry and didn't bring the two dogs with me."

Chen Yuanyuan was internally resisting the thought of Wang Wenzhou; she felt that she was thinking about the two dogs.

Upon hearing this, Wu Sangui quickly said, "Madam, I will get you two adorable puppies right away."

"Hmm!" Chen Yuanyuan nodded and said casually, "One is named Sheng Lan, and the other is Liu Rushi. They are both little female dogs!"

Wu Sangui smiled bitterly. Chen Yuanyuan hated these two so much that she even had to name her dog after them.

"No way! We also need to get a male dog named Wang Wenzhou! It has to be ugly!" Chen Yuanyuan said.

"This subordinate will immediately order men to search for her." Wu Sangui chuckled inwardly. Wang Wenzhou, you've finally met your match! Your precious Chen Yuanyuan hates you now. I only glanced at her once, and you castrated me!

I fucking regret it. If I hadn't looked at her that one time, I'd be cuckolding you right now! Wu Sangui had no idea that Wang Wenzhou castrated him not because of that one look he gave him.

After walking for a while, baby Chen Yuanyuan suddenly said, "General Wu, can you teach me martial arts?"

Chen Yuanyuan didn't understand why she suddenly wanted to practice martial arts. In truth, she didn't want to admit it; she wanted revenge. But she really didn't know who to seek revenge against. Zhu Youjian? That was the man she had once secretly loved, and also her sister's former husband. Wang Wenzhou? That nemesis deserved to die, but Chen Yuanyuan truly didn't know if, if Wang Wenzhou stood before her, the sword in her hand would pierce his chest.

"Madam, please give me your orders. I will do my best to fulfill them!" Wu Sangui was very happy because Wang Wenzhou, that shameless scoundrel, had said that most students would fall in love with their teachers.

"Thank you, General!" Chen Yuanyuan said softly, "Don't call me Madam anymore, just call me Yuanyuan..."

As Chen Yuanyuan spoke, she suddenly felt very sad, because all she could see in her mind was the shameless, ugly, and disgusting face of her enemy.

"Sigh..." Chen Yuanyuan sighed softly and said sadly, "Just call me Yuanyuan from now on."

"Your subordinate obeys!" Wu Sangui was overjoyed. Wang Wenzhou, you wait, even if I'm castrated, I can still seduce your baby!

……

Forbidden City.

"Sigh..." Zhu Youjian looked at the secret report in his hand and sighed softly.

Because Nanjing is quite far from the capital, Zhu Youjian received the news somewhat late. He did not know that Wang Wenzhou was still alive and had already sworn an oath in Hanshan to purge the court of corrupt officials.

"You have not betrayed me, and I will not betray you!" Zhu Youjian said sadly, his eyes filled with tears. "Boxin! I am sorry! I really wanted to leave you an heir. I never expected it to turn out this way."

"Hmm..." Wang Chengen stood to the side, hesitant to speak. He shook his head with a wry smile. Your Majesty, how could you do this? Hesitation will ruin everything! Wang Wenzhou might have faked his death and is still alive!

Zhu Youjian's feelings for Wang Wenzhou were truly like those of a brother. But this younger brother, Wang Wenzhou, was disobedient! You're an adopted son, yet you're always eyeing the family fortune and sleeping with your sister-in-law every now and then—aren't you asking for a beating?

"Issue an imperial decree to summon Zhang Chengze, Wang Wenhua, and others to the capital to meet the Emperor." Zhu Youjian summoned these nobles, whose elders had died, to the capital in order to appease them by granting them titles.

Wang Xianda died, and Wang Wenzhou also died. Zhu Youjian interrupted the process and ordered the title of Earl of Xinjian to be bestowed upon Wang Wenhua. As for Liu Xiaohua's title of Duke of Zhongyi, Zhu Youjian planned to let it go, since there would be no more Dukes of Zhongyi in the Ming Dynasty.

After thinking for a moment, Wang Chengen felt compelled to offer a reminder, so he said, "Your Majesty, although the newly established Marquis's residence is handling Wang Wenzhou's funeral, all indications suggest that Wang Wenzhou may have faked his death, so we must be on guard."

"Hoo..." Zhu Youjian took a deep breath. That's right. If Wang Wenzhou hadn't died, it would have been troublesome. Hanshan had over 100,000 elite soldiers.

Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and then said, "Issue an imperial edict ordering Sun Chuanting to take his troops and immediately proceed to the Hanshan area to prepare for defense. Without my decree, no attack is permitted."

Sun Chuanting had just defeated Li Zicheng in Shaanxi, and there were no large bandit forces in Shaanxi at the moment. Therefore, Zhu Youjian was able to transfer Sun Chuanting to Hanshan. Otherwise, Zhu Youjian would have had no troops at all. This is also why he had been tolerating Wang Wenzhou until now.

Zhu Youjian thought for a moment, then said, "Issue an imperial decree: Wang Wenzhou was loyal to the emperor and loved his country, but unfortunately died. I am deeply grieved..."

Zhu Youjian, ever the crocodile tears, wrote a letter to Wang Wenzhou's family to comfort them.

After finishing the letter to Wang Wenzhou's family, Zhu Youjian was already in tears. To be honest, Zhu Youjian truly admired Wang Wenzhou and genuinely considered him a brother. However, emperors throughout history have always been lonely figures. His relationship with Wang Wenzhou had come to this point due to the pressures of the situation.

Zhu Youjian comforted himself by saying that he killed Wang Wenzhou for the sake of the Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, a young eunuch hurriedly entered the room, and Wang Chengen quickly stepped forward and whispered a few words to him.

Wang Chen'en's expression suddenly changed.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Wang Wenzhou is not dead!" Wang Chengen said anxiously. "I just received an urgent message. A few days ago, Wang Qiang and Cao Huachun ambushed the funeral procession of the Marquis of Xinjian heading to Hanshan. However, they fell into a trap, and Wang Qiang was seriously injured. Moreover, they learned that Wang Wenzhou was not in the funeral procession. According to Wang Qiang's estimation, Wang Wenzhou must have returned to Hanshan by water. Based on the timeline, Wang Wenzhou should have arrived in Hanshan by now."

Zhu Youjian's expression changed, and he quickly said, "Quick! Get the map!"