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

Chapter 888 Entering the City Gate

To be honest, the Yi people in Shuixi District have been very calm.

Due to the trust accumulated from previous exchanges with Zhu Su and Mrs. Shezi's advocacy, most of the Yi people chose to believe in the court. Faced with the great humiliation of the chieftain being imprisoned for no reason, they still chose to negotiate and quietly waited in their own tribes for the results of Jie Jin's negotiations.

They had been waiting for more than a month, and their previous friendship with the court and their trust in Zhu Su and Xie Jin were about to be exhausted. In fact, when Xie Jin said that he had not been able to bring back Ai Cui, some people had already intended to riot.

Zhu Su had only listened to the one-sided statement of Mrs. Shezi from Shuixi, and could not convict Ma Ye of a crime... But if he did not give Shuixi a solution quickly, they would immediately besiege Guizhou. Therefore, Zhu Su immediately expressed his willingness to take Shuixi back to get the chieftain of Aicui before Shuixi started to riot.

But even so, some people still took advantage of the situation to instigate. Someone beside Zhu Su translated Zhu Su's words into Yi language and told the Yi people loudly. Someone immediately shouted, "Why do you want us to welcome back the chieftain? You and that Ma Ye are in cahoots! How do we know if you Ming people want to trick us into Guiyang City and then capture us all in one fell swoop?"

As soon as this statement was made, many Yi people agreed with it, and the situation became exciting again.

Mrs. Shetz had been frowning, but when she heard this, she turned around abruptly and shouted in the direction of the voice: "Adu! Come out!"

Wherever Mrs. Shezi looked, the Yi people parted like a tide. Zhu Su was secretly amazed, surprised that this woman had such a great reputation in Shuixi. After the Yi people parted, the instigator behind them appeared, and it was the leader Adu who had stopped Zhu Su and others before. Adu had a furious look on his face, as if he was really furious. Seeing this, he was not afraid, but continued to speak loudly:

"Madam, they are too bullying. How can we..."

"Are you the Zimo (Yi language, meaning chieftain) of Shuixi, or my husband, the Zimo of our Shuixi?" Mrs. Shezi opened her eyes wide and scolded loudly.

"I'm not..." Adu choked.

"'Leaves rot easily, but words do not.'" Mrs. Shezi said a Yi proverb. "Yi people are willing to keep their promises and are more willing to trust our friends. My husband has led us to submit to the Ming Dynasty, so we should believe in the will of the Ming Dynasty court. The King Zhou of the Ming Dynasty promised us that he would take our Zimo back, so we should also believe in the promises of our friends."

"Our Zimo is not in the village, so I am your Zimo. Are you willing to believe me and our friend, His Royal Highness King Zhou, or do you want to ruin our peaceful life in Shuixi just because of a momentary anger?"

Mrs. Shezi looked around, and the Yi people around were all silent. Adu was frightened by her momentum and did not dare to make any more incitement. After a long time, someone said sporadically: "Then let's trust the Ming Dynasty again!"

"His Royal Highness King Zhou built the market for us. He is our friend, and we are willing to trust our friends!"

"Mrs. Scheze! We are willing to believe you!"

The anger of the Yi people gradually subsided. Mrs. Shezi turned her head slightly, and her forehead was covered with dense sweat. She forced a smile to Zhu Su and said, "Your Highness, please come with us to Guizhou Garrison."

"If I can't bring my husband back, I'm afraid..."

"Madam, please." Zhu Su said. He could tell that Madam Shezi's words were actually a warning of a desperate struggle, but he did not take it as an offense.

It was extremely rare for a woman to be able to do this. She and Ai Cui were obviously close to the court. Even if it was for the sake of the court's interests, Ai Cui had to be released.

After placing Xie Jin, who had been exhausted from the journey, in Shuixi Village, Zhu Su ordered his men to raise the flag and lead Mrs. Shezi and Shuixi warriors to Guiyang City with great fanfare. After asking on the way, Zhu Su learned that because of the tense atmosphere and the fear of war, the Song family of Shuidong and the people and merchants of other tribes had all moved out, and the people of Shuixi were also moved out of the city under the leadership of Shezi.

In other words, the current Guiyang City is completely a military city garrisoned by Guizhou Guard and Guizhou Vanguard.

As they were talking, the group had already reached the foot of Guiyang City. The wall of Guiyang City was 36 feet high, and was built entirely of bricks and stones made by the Shuixi and Shuidong families, as well as cement provided by Zhu Su. The wall was high and the pool was deep, and it looked particularly majestic in this remote land of Yunnan and Guizhou. It was getting dark, and the glow of the setting sun shone on this majestic city that Zhu Su had watched being built. The city gates were closed, and the entire city seemed to be made of gold, making it even more indestructible.

Zhu Su and his entourage were brazen and the government troops on the lookout on the city wall saw Zhu Su's flag early in the morning. Someone reported it to Ma Ye.

Upon hearing the news, Ma Ye jumped up from his stool in shock: "What? His Royal Highness Prince Zhou is here in person?"

"It's a disaster, it's a disaster!" Next to Ma Ye, Deputy Commander Ye An, who was drinking with him, turned pale with fright when he heard the words.

They originally thought that even if the court sent someone, at most it would be an ignorant censor. If that was the case, they would just procrastinate for a while and wait until the Shuixi tribes really rebelled.

But who could have imagined that, just for this small chieftain, King Zhou Zhu Su, who had just returned to Beijing not long ago, would come again in person?
"Commander, His Royal Highness King Zhou is still waiting outside the city... Should we... open the city gate first?" the officer who reported the news asked hesitantly.

Ma Ye was startled, suddenly picked up the wine glass and threw it at the lieutenant. "Asshole! His Highness is coming, and you dare to stop him?"

"Why don't you open the city gate? Tell the others to get ready quickly and follow me to welcome His Highness!"

The prince is coming, but he is not welcome at the gate. This is a crime of rebellion. No matter what, he must welcome His Highness into the city gate first... Otherwise, His Highness will be angry and a letter will be sent to summon the Duke of Liang and the Duke of Cao. Under the heavy troops, he, the commander of Guizhou Guard, will only end up in ashes.

"Sir, we can't welcome them! The two divisions of Shuixi and Shuidong joined hands to build the city, and it was His Royal Highness King Zhou who pushed for it... Besides, we just expelled that sour scholar named Jie from His Royal Highness's school."

"If His Highness enters the city and takes Aicui with him, what good will happen to us? We will be accused of rebelling against the chieftain and we will not be able to escape!"

"He is a prince, what can I do?" Ma Ye shouted angrily. "We are also working for the court to change the land system... Your Highness is the Queen's biological son, so I can also be related to him. For the Queen's sake, she may understand our efforts."

"We have done the dirty work. The worst that can happen is that we will give the lion's share of the profits to His Highness... Besides that, what else do you want from us? Let's go and welcome the emperor. At worst, we can delay for a while and make plans later." Ma Ye said.

(End of this chapter)