Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1039 Speed ​​of Life and Death

"Clear the streets of the palace, stop! Retreat!"

"Quickly get out of the way!"

"Hurry up! If you cause any trouble to the palace, I will arrest you and put you in jail!"

The sound of horses' hooves was like thunder. Zhu Fu lifted the curtain and looked back. There came two knights who looked bossy and arrogant, riding tall horses.

They waved their whips and ferociously whipped the people in the "caravan", ordering them to stop. The Zhu family steward, who was pretending to be the head of the caravan, was at a loss and hurried to Zhu Fu's car and asked, "Master, what should we do?"

What to do? What else can I do? Draw a knife and kill people? This is still the territory of the Ming Dynasty. If I am wanted by the government, even if I can reach the port by chance, I am afraid I will be in a mess and lose all my belongings. Zhu Fu whispered: "Go quickly, according to what these people want, tell the parking team to move aside!"

With Zhu Fu's approval, the "caravan leader" called out to his men to stop and hurriedly drove the carriages to the side. The steward, who was pretending to be the "leader", also gave a silver tael to the two knights who were ordered to clean the streets, and bowed and said, "My two generals, I didn't know that the prince's carriage was coming. If I have overstepped my authority, please help me be flexible."

"But I don't know which prince is coming?"

A knight took the silver, weighed it, exchanged a meaningful look with his companion, and scolded, "Why are you talking so much?"

"No matter which prince it is, have all your men get off their horses and carriages, kneel down on the side of the road, and welcome the prince!"

"I asked so clearly, what does it have to do with you?"

"Yes, yes, yes..." The steward froze and could only nod and bow. The two knights didn't even look at him, pocketed the silver and left.

The steward, who had not been able to get any information, spat on the ground and immediately went to report to Zhu Fu: "Master, I don't know which prince these are. They are so domineering that they won't accept the money."

"... Forget it, let's all kneel down on the side of the road." Zhu Fu said. "It won't be the Zhou Palace after all."

He had his own considerations for calling the parking team. Although these people shouted that the palace was doing business and the streets needed to be cleaned, it meant that the prince's guards would use this road...but they were not necessarily the Zhou Wang Zhu Su, whom he feared the most.

The current emperor has many children. Except for the King of Zhou, most of the older princes have gone out to be vassal states, such as the King of Qin and the King of Yan. However, there are still many young princes who have not yet been granted vassal lands living in Yingtian Prefecture, such as the King of Chu, the King of Shu, and so on.

Moreover, the King of Zhou was a wise king. Although he sometimes behaved unruly, he was not overbearing. Therefore, Zhu Fu was able to conclude that the prince who had his men clamoring to clean up the streets was not the King of Zhou.

However, this is the official road outside the city, and it is getting dark. Which prince would leave the city at this time and occupy this extremely remote official road?
Zhu Fu was puzzled.

But no matter what, as long as he was sure that it was not someone from the Zhou Palace who came to intercept him, he would never create trouble and go against a dignified prince. The steward quickly conveyed the master's intention, and soon, whether it was the Zhu family guards who were dressed as escorts or the Zhou family members who were dressed as guests of the caravan, they all knelt down by the road, kneeling densely in a large area.

Zhu Fu and his son Zhu Junyu were still hiding in the carriage filled with goods, lifting a corner of the curtain and watching the situation outside.

Soon, there was movement on the official road. It turned out to be a team of soldiers in helmets and armor. Looking at the spear tips flashing with cold light in the hands of these soldiers, everyone felt a chill in their hearts and lowered their heads.

Zhu Fu, who was in the carriage, was also inexplicably nervous. The murderous aura of this army made him instinctively dare not look directly at them and he just wanted to look away.

A group of people seemed to be kneeling on the side of the road with their heads bowed, seemingly respectfully, waiting for these military lords to pass by. Zhu Fu began to panic for some reason, and couldn't help but think: "Although there are other princes in Yingtian Prefecture, whose personal soldiers would have such power?"

"Although I don't know much about military affairs, looking at his appearance, it must be a powerful person who has seen blood, who can have such a fierce aura."

"As for the princes who have led troops to fight, there are only the Prince of Yan, the Prince of Jin, and the Prince of Qin. However, these three princes are not in Yingtian Prefecture. The rest are only..."

Thinking of this, Zhu Fu couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

"Dad, why did those people stop?" Zhu Junyu had been leaning on the window of the carriage to watch. When Zhu Fu was sweating coldly, he happened to see this group of soldiers who were supposed to be just passing by, but suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. Then, there was a voice that Zhu Fu was very familiar with, and it had even appeared in his nightmares in the past few days.

"Capture them all! No one is allowed to escape!"

"It's over! It's really the King of Zhou, Zhu Su!"

This Zhou Wang Zhu Su actually pretended to clean up the streets and kept his people here legitimately! Zhu Fu was so regretful at this moment. If he had known that Zhou Wang was treacherous, why didn't he be more careful?

Zhu Fu thought he had made very careful arrangements for his escape from the city. Generally, one would go down the river from Yingtian to Suzhou and Songjiang, and then take a ship from the ports of Suzhou and Songjiang to leave the Ming Dynasty. However, in order to conceal his identity, he arranged a ship from Guangdong Port, and contrary to common sense, he left the city from the west. He also took a land route instead of a water route, in order to surprise the enemy.

Although it took longer and was more troublesome, even if someone in the court discovered that Zhu Fu was missing, they would never think of it. He went to the west of the city instead of the east, and traveled by land instead of sea. He was not going to Suzhou, but to the sea from Guangzhou Port.

King Zhou Zhu Su showed up here with his men, and even sent fast horses to delay his journey, and even called in a large army... It was obvious that he had known his plan for a long time. Zhu Fu felt cold in his heart, wondering what kind of magical power this King Zhou had that made him seem like a prophet.

Seeing the murderous army rushing towards him, Zhu Fu suddenly thought of a clever idea. He got out of the carriage and grabbed the reins, then picked up the whip on the shaft and whipped it hard, "Go!"

The horse felt the pain, let out a long cry, and started running with both hooves.

His carriage was originally in the center of the group, but because they were in a hurry when they moved the group to the side of the road, his carriage was somehow moved to the edge of the group, which was just right for him to escape. But even so, the carriage that suddenly started running mercilessly knocked down two servants of the Zhu family.

On the other side, Zhu Su was in the team, watching the panicked convoy coldly. Faced with the army that suddenly attacked and started to arrest people, these Zhu family members disguised as merchants were still shouting their innocence and trying to get away with it. However, Zhou Wangwei, who had already determined that they were Zhu Fu's family, showed no mercy and arrested these people one by one like a tiger among a flock of sheep.

The pretentious domineering attitude and the excuse of clearing the way to welcome him caught the servants who were used to escort Zhu Fu south off guard, and they were unable to prevent any decent resistance.

"Your Highness, we haven't seen the bandit leader Zhu Fu." A personal guard reported to Zhu Su.

"Keep looking, have someone search every corner of the carriage and the cargo." Zhu Su said. Zhu Fu was an ambitious businessman. Even if he wanted to escape from the Ming Dynasty, he would not give up his extravagant life. It was impossible for him to use these family fortunes as bait and leave the Ming Dynasty with only a small part of his property.

It is said that only a brave man would cut off his own arm, but capital is greedy. They only want to have it all and will not cut off their own arm.

The guards took the order and left. They had only taken a cursory look just now and indeed had not checked all the carriages.

But before he could convey Zhu Su's order for a full search, a sharp horse neigh was heard at the end of the team, and then a reckless carriage ran over the two men and broke out of the encirclement of Zhou Wangwei.

Zhu Su narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Cao Yuan, you go."

"Stop this car. Zhu Fuci must be in it."

"Yes, Your Highness!" A general beside Zhu Su said loudly. This person was Cao Yuan, the deputy general of the personal guards, another capable general of Zhu Su among the three guards. Now Di Meng led a team of people to "invite" other "distinguished guests" on the list, and Cao Yuan was temporarily in charge of Zhu Su's personal guards.

After receiving Zhu Su's order, Cao Yuan immediately rode out, and while galloping, he quickly called out several cavalrymen. "You, you, you, and you, follow me to stop the carriage!" The knights whose names he called out immediately rode out their horses to catch up, and soon, five knights caught up with Zhu Fu's carriage and followed closely behind it.

Zhu Fu, who was whipping the horse's butt, was horrified when he heard the sound of hooves getting closer. He said to his good son Zhu Junyu in a hurry, "Quick, throw all the boxes and cages out of the cart!"

"We can't let these people catch up!"

The boxes in the carriage were filled with Zhu Fu's most valuable jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, and even gold bars. Even if everything else was lost, with such a carriage of treasures, it was enough for Zhu Fu to live happily overseas.

But at this moment, his life was at stake, and Zhu Fu could not care about these properties. He should save his life first, and then talk about it!

Zhu Junyu did not let down his guard at this critical moment of life and death. Seeing the pursuers getting closer and closer, he used all his strength to push the boxes out of the car one by one. The boxes broke into pieces on the official road, and in an instant, gold, silver, gems, and all kinds of jewels rolled all over the road. Any one of them was enough to cover the expenses of an ordinary family for several years.

But these pursuers, who were riding their horses at full speed, did not even look at the treasures and continued to chase after them.

"Dad... Dad, this, they are still chasing us, this is of no use!" Master Zhu Junyu said in a crying voice. He felt a slight wetness in his crotch again.

"..." Zhu Fu looked back in his busy schedule. Sure enough, although the pursuers were slightly pulled away, the distance between them was still shrinking. Although the carriage was lighter, it was still not as fast as the horse of King Wei of Zhou.

"We must run faster..." Zhu Fu's mind was filled with such thoughts. He looked left and right, and saw his tall and strong stupid son clinging to the carriage, shaking like a sieve.

A surge of anger suddenly rose in his heart, "If it weren't for you, the rebellious son, who killed the foreigner without authorization and aroused Zhu Su's fear...why would I have to abandon my family property and risk my life to flee?"

Thinking of how he had given up so much of his family property for this rebellious son, and then thinking of Dong Ji's previous words that "sons can be born again", Zhu Fu couldn't help but become furious and suddenly grabbed Zhu Junyu's hand.

"...Dad?" Zhu Junyu was stunned.

“…Junyu, my son, you can go with peace of mind.” After Zhu Fu finished speaking, a fierce light flashed in his eyes, and then he pulled hard, and Zhu Junyu suddenly lost his balance and was thrown out by him.

"what!"

The pursuers behind were shocked when they saw a man suddenly fall off the carriage. Cao Yuan immediately sent two men to capture the man who fell off the carriage, and he continued to pursue with the remaining two men. He drew his bow and shot several arrows at the speeding carriage. However, the carriage behind the carriage was wide and could not block the arrows. The arrows were nailed to the carriage and could not hurt Zhu Fu in front at all.

Cao Yuan was furious, and simply threw away his bow and arrows, and rode his horse forward. Although dragging a carriage could block arrows, a horse dragging a heavy object was not as light as a cavalryman carrying only one person. Zhu Fu heard the sound of horse hooves getting closer and closer, and he was anxious. He wanted to see if he could leave anything behind to lighten the load, but when he turned around, the carriage was empty.

Cao Yuan had already rushed to the front and was driving side by side with him. Looking at Zhu Fu's panicked face, Cao Yuan showed a grim smile, which frightened the businessman who had lived a life of luxury for many years.

"Stop it!"

Cao Yuan stretched out his arms and slashed at the shaft a few times, sparks flew, and the rope connecting the shaft to the horse was cut off on one side. The carriage frame lost its balance and began to fall apart, and Zhu Fu, who was sitting on the shaft, was even more shaky.

In panic, Zhu Fu let go of the shaft that he was holding tightly, and even tried to climb onto the horse's back. Cao Yuan put away his knife and replaced it with a whip. He rolled and pulled the whip, and Zhu Fu, whose arm was caught, screamed and rolled to the side of the road.

"General." Several knights behind caught up and saw that Cao Yuan had tied up the man, so they said, "The brothers behind have already asked, the one who was thrown off the carriage is Zhu Junyu, and the person on the carriage is the thief leader Zhu Fu!"

"It's this guy! He can run quite fast." Cao Yuanshai laughed and said, "Tie him to the horse's back."

"Let's go back and report our achievements to His Highness!"

On this side, seeing Cao Yuan tying up the embarrassed Zhu Fu and his son, Zhu Su laughed after listening to Cao Yuan's description of the pursuit, "Oh? Mr. Zhu has a kind face, but he actually did such a brutal act as to push his own son off the carriage? Do you want to live so much?"

Zhu Fu glanced at Zhu Su, perhaps knowing that he would not have a good ending, so he did not beg for mercy. He sneered and said, "If you are not ruthless, you are not a man. If Emperor Gaozu of Han could do it, why can't I, Zhu Fu, do it?"

"What a vicious husband. It's a pity that you are only doing it for your own selfish interests. You have simply lost your conscience and are not worthy of being called a husband." Zhu Sushai said with a smile. "I will tie up your vicious husband right now and take him to meet your relatives and friends."

"We need to see whether your relatives and close friends are ruthless to you."

(End of this chapter)