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

Chapter 1047 Who Killed Chen Tianping
"Hahahaha, Your Highness Prince Zhou. After we last saw each other, Your Highness is now even more charming and elegant than before!" Seeing Zhu Su getting off the boat, Hu Jimi stopped talking to the Annan official beside him, and changed his face to show enthusiasm, and came towards Zhu Su with a smile.

"Hahaha, Lord Hu." Zhu Su also smiled, and the fake smiles on their faces seemed to be cast from the same mold. Hu Jimei bowed, and Zhu Su also helped him up with a smile, saying: "This scene reminds me of the time when I first came to Annan a few years ago. At that time, it was still Li... Oh, Hu Pingzhang led the officials to welcome me, Hu Pingzhang was extremely respectful to me, and I also held Hu Pingzhang's arm and talked happily..."

"At that time, I remember that Lord Hu, you were standing behind Hu Pingzhang... Oh, by the way, where is Hu Pingzhang? Didn't he come to greet me today?" As he said this, he deliberately looked behind Hu Jimi.

The smile on Hu Jipi's face froze for a moment, and he bowed to Zhu Su and said, "The late king passed away, and the country is busy with affairs. My brother is grieving and has to deal with state affairs. He is really unable to come and greet Your Highness, so I am letting this humble servant do it for you... I hope Your Highness will not despise my humble position."

"Hmm? This is Hu Pingzhang's fault." Zhu Su put on a stern face and lectured Hu Jimei: "It's fine if you, the Hu family, don't welcome me. His Highness Chen Tianping is the rare orphan left by your king, the Chen family. This time, I sent him here to help you, Annan, and continue the bloodline of the king."

"No matter what, His Highness Chen Tianping will definitely be the future ruler of Annan. It's okay to be a little bit neglectful to me. Why are you being so neglectful to His Highness Chen Tianping?"

"Do you, the Hu family, still have respect for superiors and subordinates in your hearts?"

Zhu Su did not lower his voice when he spoke these words. The Ming soldiers, Annan officials, and even the merchants and civilians watching the excitement at the dock all heard it clearly. Hu Jimi could not help but feel angry when he heard Zhu Su mention "bloodline of the king" and "King of Annan" on the left and right.

His elder brother Hu Jinli had already proclaimed himself the Emperor of Dayu, so how could he condescend to welcome an orphan of the Chen family... Not to mention that they had already planned to kill Chen Tianping outside the city, making the Hu family's usurpation of the throne a fait accompli. How could such a dirty thing be allowed to be involved by Hu Jinli, the "Emperor"?

"This... Your Highness, Your Highness, Prince Zhou, calm down." However, now, Hu Jimi had no choice but to please Zhu Su, the Prince of Zhou of the Ming Dynasty, first. Lest this prince be angry and directly detain Chen Tianping and not hand him over to Hu. "It's not that my brother is disrespectful to Chen. It's really, really... My brother saw the death of the previous king, and he was already too sad. Because of the busy state affairs, he finally became ill due to overwork."

"Well...if I come here, what if I pass the disease on to His Highness Chen Tianping, that would not be good, would it? I am really helpless, helpless..." As he said this, he forced a smile and apologized repeatedly.

Zhu Su sneered and said nothing more. Those words just now were enough to plant the impression of Hu's disrespect for Chen's orphan in the minds of many onlookers. He waved his hand behind him, and soon, Chen Tianping, the orphan of the Chen family, was brought down under the escort of a group of Ming soldiers.

Chen Tianping was just a playboy in Annan in his early years. Later, because Ruan Duofang was advised by "Fan Huai", he was protected by Ruan Duofang. Ruan Duofang was a rough man, so he naturally didn't take care of the orphan of the Chen family. He just kept him under house arrest to prevent him from starving to death. Later, when he arrived in the Ming Dynasty, the people of the Ming Dynasty would not respect this Annan Chen family prince. When they were on the ship, Zhu Su was quite respectful to him at first, but after a few days, he found that this man was so arrogant that he wanted to touch a Ming Dynasty maid, so he simply kept him under house arrest in the cabin and didn't allow him to walk around.

The long period of house arrest made this dandy man very cautious. He got off the boat tremblingly, first looking at the Ming soldiers around him, and then his eyes fell on Zhu Su's face, as if waiting for Zhu Su's order.

"Your Highness Chen Tianping." Zhu Su smiled warmly. "This man is Lord Hu Jipi of your Annan Kingdom. Now I will hand you over to him. He will send you to Thang Long Prefecture in your country to inherit the throne of Annan."

Hearing the words "inherit the throne of Annan", Chen Tianping's eyes lit up. He straightened his back gradually, and looked at Hu Jimei and the officials of Annan who were groveling and seemingly submissive in front of him with some surprise. Then he raised his hand and said to Zhu Su: "I also want to thank His Royal Highness the King of Zhou for sending me back to my country."

"When I arrive at Shenglong Mansion and ascend the throne, I will definitely reward His Royal Highness King Zhou greatly!"

He was a little excited, and his voice was even distorted at the end.

Is there a reward?

Behind Zhu Su, Di Meng and Gou'er took a step forward, and Di Meng's hand was even on his waist. This person dared to "reward" His Highness, which was a great presumption. Zhu Su waved his hand to stop the two behind him, and then smiled to Chen Tianping: "If so, this king will thank the king first."

Seeing this orphan of the Chen family so stupid, Hu Jipi sneered in his heart. He said to Zhu Su, "Your Highness, Prince Zhou, since you have received His Highness Chen Tianping, we will take our leave now."

"The people in Thang Long City are still waiting for His Highness to return and ascend the throne. We should not keep them waiting in the city for too long." After saying this, he was about to leave.

"Wait a minute!" Zhu Su suddenly called out to them.

"… His Highness Chen Tianping has just landed, and you want him to travel by boat?" Zhu Su frowned. "Let alone other things, this prince and His Highness Chen Tianping have been drifting in the sea for several months, and you are not even willing to wait for him to have a rest? Are you, the Hu family, so anxious?"

"...This..." Hu Jimi was stunned for a moment before he smiled and said, "This is not... This is not in Shenglong City. I am already waiting anxiously."

"Besides, this Wuqu Port is now a concession of the Shangguo. We want to welcome His Highness, but we won't hold the banquet here."

"I see." Zhu Su nodded, as if he accepted Hu Jimi's statement.

"That's fine. We have prepared a banquet in Wuqu Port." Zhu Su winked at Li Jinglong. "You are really tired on this journey. Your Highness Chen Tianping, you can be welcomed by the Ming Dynasty here. You can also rest for a night... It would be bad if you get too tired after sailing on the sea and traveling by boat."

"This..." Hu Jimei hesitated. Li Jinglong, who had received Zhu Su's signal, said loudly, "Your Highness, I have prepared a banquet in the city... Please come in with your Highness and Chen Tianping to the banquet. We will welcome you two."

This time, there was no room for refusal. Although Chen Tianping also wanted to return to Thang Long City as soon as possible to "inherit the throne", he did not dare to refuse the invitation of the Ming Dynasty. Hu Jimi was also secretly worried. If he showed his eagerness again, he was afraid that the Ming Dynasty King Zhou in front of him would really suspect their Hu family and would harm the Chen family's orphans. Therefore, he could only smile and say, "It is my fault for not thinking carefully. I almost exhausted His Highness Chen Tianping... Haha, so, I am sorry to bother His Highness King Zhou and General Li."

At the same time, a hand gestured behind his back. An Annan official understood and quietly retreated in the crowd until he disappeared into the crowd.

In Wuqu Port, merchants had already opened some restaurants. Li Jinglong booked one of them, and a group of people had a good meal and drink here. After eating and drinking, the Annan and Daming groups exchanged courtesies. Li Jinglong had already arranged a temporary inn for these Annan people, and the enthusiastic Zhou Wang Zhu Su personally sent them back to the inn.

"Your Highness." Back in the backyard of the government office in Wuqu Port, Zhu Su waved his hand and the dog came to his side.

"Is the matter settled?" Zhu Su asked.

"Yes," the dog replied. "An assassin has been secretly planted in the room."

"Okay." Zhu Su nodded. "Go out, I need to change my clothes... Remember to have people guard the Annan Inn, don't let Hu Jimei get away."

"Yes." The dog nodded, and then left the room. Zhu Su changed his clothes, fell on the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

On the other side, in the temporary inn of Annan.

Hu Jimei also called his confidant and asked him, "Have you conveyed the news about the ambush troops outside the city?"

"It has been conveyed, Lord Pingzhang." The confidant replied. "They will wait by the road overnight, and when the orphan of the Chen family leaves the city tomorrow, they will disguise themselves as bandits and kill him..."

"Sir, there is something I don't understand. Why don't we kill that Chen family member tonight and frame the Ming Dynasty?"

"At that time, the Emperor of Dayu will raise a call again. To fight against the Ming Dynasty, everyone in Dayu will unite against the enemy. Isn't that appropriate?"

Hu Jimi looked at him as if he were a fool, and snorted and laughed, "Frame the Ming Dynasty? Humph, do you really think that the King Zhou of the Ming Dynasty is a soft persimmon that can be easily bullied?"

"One moment we framed the Ming Dynasty, and the next moment, King Zhou will capture us all."

"Besides, who gave you the confidence to think that the Ming Dynasty was weak and could be bullied? And you even shouted from a high place... Your Majesty is not that stupid. Provoking the Ming Dynasty for no reason is tantamount to making a big enemy for yourself."

"But..." The official hesitated. "The Ming Dynasty is weak. We invaded Siming Prefecture, but the Ming Dynasty did not take any action. The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is old. Perhaps he no longer has the ambitions he once had..."

What he said was the small moves that Annan had made against Ming in the past few years. In order to seize more territory, Annan had been secretly seizing the territory of Ming's Yunnan region and its vassal tribes in recent years. Because Zhu wanted the whole of Annan, he mostly turned a blind eye to these small moves. This made some people in Annan arrogant and thought that Ming was weak and only looked strong, but was actually weak and could be bullied.

And we, Annan, punched Champa and kicked Ming Dynasty, and we were truly invincible in the world.

But it was obvious that Hu Jimei still had some brains. He glanced at the Hu family's trusted official and said, "Put away your inappropriate thoughts. Right now, my Hu family's first priority is to consolidate the political power. Only after we have secured our throne can we plan the next step."

"Moreover, framing the Ming Dynasty here... is too obvious. No matter which noble family it is, they will not believe that the Ming Dynasty would assassinate Chen Tianping."

"Only a living Chen Tianping can benefit the Ming Dynasty. He has no roots in Annan and can only rely on the Ming Dynasty to maintain his dignity as the ruler... and the Ming Dynasty also needs such a puppet ruler of Annan to infiltrate Annan, just like they infiltrated Japan in the past."

"Many nobles must have guessed this. As long as Chen Tianping dies in Wuqu Port, everyone will guess that we want to put the blame on Ming. Your bad idea will only anger Ming and those wavering neutral nobles..."

"Go take a shower and go to bed. I'm tired too. According to the original plan, we will let that group of people come out and kill Chen Tianping after we leave the city tomorrow."

The confidant retreated in a meek manner, and Hu Jimi went to bed with peace of mind. That night, he dreamed that his brother Hu Jimi had firmly established the Annan throne, the Hu family was prospering, and Hu Jimi generously rewarded his clansmen. From then on, he, Hu Jimi, was a member of the Annan royal family, with beautiful women and luxury cars at his fingertips...

The beautiful dream was suddenly awakened by an urgent knock on the door.

"What's the matter?" Seeing that it was still dark outside and obviously not yet dawn, Hu Jimi stood up and opened the door with some annoyance, and saw that his confidant had an anxious look on his face, as if he had encountered something incredible.

"Sir, something terrible has happened..." the confidant said. "Chen Tianping...Chen Tianping is dead!"

"Huh? Shouldn't he have…" Hu Jimi was about to yell, but suddenly froze, and looked at his confidant with a suspicious look: "You…made the first move?"

"No!" The confidant jumped anxiously: "It's not us! It's not us! How dare we do it!"

"It was Chen Tianping...he died on his own!"

"...Take me there quickly!" Hu Jimi was so shocked that he didn't even have time to put on his robe. He quickly followed the confidant to Chen Tianping's residence.

Chen Tianping's residence was in a mess, with a group of people gathered in the house. Hu Jimi pushed through the crowd and entered. The moment he saw Chen Tianping's body, his eyes froze. Chen Tianping was lying on the couch, with a sword piercing his throat. The technique was clean and neat, and there was absolutely no chance of survival.

"Who! Who did it!" Hu Jimi was furious.

"Your Excellency... We don't know, and we don't know either!" Everyone shook their heads in horror.

Chen Tianping died, he should have died. But he should not have died in Wuqu City. Wuqu City was the territory of the Ming Dynasty. If he died in Wuqu City, Hu Jimei would definitely be detained by the Ming Dynasty as the murderer.

But who is the murderer? He had analyzed it before. Killing Chen Tianping would not be conducive to the Ming Dynasty's infiltration into Annan, so the Ming Dynasty would not be the murderer.

If it wasn't Daming who did it, then it was even more impossible for anyone else to do it. Chen Tianping's residence was heavily guarded by their Da Yu soldiers to prevent Chen Tianping from escaping... It was impossible for someone to enter and kill Chen Tianping under such tight defense.

Thinking about it this way...it seems that the only person who could have killed Chen Tianping could be me? Hu Jimi thought in astonishment.

(End of this chapter)