The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 138: Using Retreat as Advance, Lan Yu's Brain is Working Again
Lan Yu felt his mind was extremely clear at this moment, and he coughed as he thought of this.

"I have made up my mind about this matter. However, you and I, Lan Yu, have a father-son relationship. If you are ever struggling, you can take a thousand taels of silver from my family's property. But from then on, you will no longer have the surname Lan and will revert to your own surnames!"

After saying that, Lan Yu turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

He knew very well that if he turned back, he might not be able to bear the thought of what he had done, and all his previous efforts would be in vain.

Some people, seeing no hope, could only sigh and take a thousand taels of silver from the Lan family mansion before leaving.

Some people were deeply grateful for Lan Yu's kindness to them and did not take the money.

Some people also believe that Lan Yu's anger was just a temporary outburst, and that as long as they are sincere enough, things will definitely change.

Many people knelt at the entrance of the Lan residence, and no matter how Lan Yu sent people to drive them away, they refused to leave.

At this moment, Lan Yu made up her mind. Since these people were willing to kneel, she would let them kneel to death at the door.

This news spread throughout Yingtian Prefecture at an extremely fast pace.

Hu Weiyong was utterly incredulous when he learned of this.

"What did you say? Lan Yu really severed ties with his adopted sons? Has this man gone mad?"

At this moment, Hu Weiyong only felt a headache.

Lan Yu was able to become the second-in-command of the military after Xu Da, the Duke of Wei, and even enter the cabinet as a member.

All of this is because of his adopted sons, whom he treats like his own limbs. Now that Lan Yu has severed ties with these adopted sons, his power in the army will likely be greatly weakened. This is tantamount to destroying his own defenses.

The steward standing to the side looked at Hu Weiyong with excitement.

"Master, this is a good opportunity. Lan Yu used to be quite arrogant and domineering, but now that he's lost those arrogance, I'm afraid there won't be many people standing up for him anymore. Dealing with him now will probably be a piece of cake!"

Hu Weiyong shook his head.

"You don't understand, this is the true way for Lan Yu to protect himself!"

"Although his adopted sons brought him many benefits, there was also a huge problem: these adopted sons were of mixed quality, and many of them even used his name to do a lot of dirty and filthy things!"

"This also means that Lan Yu has natural weaknesses. As long as these weaknesses are exploited, he can be forced to submit. But now that he has abandoned all his adopted sons, it means that he no longer has these weaknesses!"

"It may seem that he has lost his backer, but in reality, his backer has changed from the military power to the current emperor's crown prince or grandson. He has really made a brilliant move!"

Hu Weiyong turned his gaze toward the palace, fearing that these matters were likely related to the Crown Prince.

Since falling out with Zhu Xiong Ying, Li Shan Chang, the Duke of Han, has been living a life of luxury in his residence. Even those sent by Empress Ma to plead for him have all been driven away by him.

Nevertheless, he did not lose contact with the outside world. When he learned of this, Li Shanchang sighed, his expression complicated.

"This Taoist Lan Yu has made a brilliant move. The Crown Prince is so young, yet he possesses such abilities. It is truly a blessing and a boon to our Great Ming!"

"It's a pity that the existence of the Crown Prince is a blessing for our Great Ming Dynasty, but not for the scholars and officials of the world. In the end, this world still belongs to the scholars and officials. I will quietly watch you from here as you walk step by step into the abyss!"

Li Shanchang's eyes were filled with rage.

He had never hated anyone so much in all these years; even Zhu Yuanzhang had never made him feel so humiliated.

Outside Fengyang Prefecture.

A group of men, overjoyed at the sight of the Fengyang Prefecture sign, wept tears of joy; these were the men brought by Tie Xuan. Zhu Xiong Ying ordered Tie Xuan to lead a team to investigate the Fengyang Prefecture matter and to bring the relevant files and the perpetrators to Yingtian Prefecture for questioning.

However, since they left Yantianfu, they have been targeted by seven or eight assassination attempts along the way.

I almost died at their hands once. If the people in the Western Depot hadn't been elites, I probably would have been in grave danger this time as well.

After everyone entered Fengyang Prefecture, they were immediately invited to the prefectural office.

At this moment, an old man and a young man came out and looked at Tie Xuan in front of them.

"You're Cheol-hyun? That kid from Xiong Ying was right, he really is a talent!"

Upon hearing this, Tie Xuan was surprised. There were probably only two people in the world who could speak of the Crown Prince in this way.

"Your subject Tie Xuan pays respects to Your Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction.

"Get up. I heard that my valiant grandson gave you the courtesy name Dingshi. Is that true?"

Tie Xuan nodded.

"Your Majesty, this is indeed the case. It is thanks to Your Highness's uprightness and integrity, and the fact that you even sent many people to protect me along the way, that I would not have been able to reach this place!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction.

"It seems this kid hasn't neglected his studies either; the name Ding Shi really suits you!"

Then, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Biao beside him, his eyes full of disdain.

"Look at you, and look at our precious grandson! Our precious grandson has accomplished so many great things in Yingtian Prefecture, but you can't accomplish anything!"

"Luckily, we left our beloved grandson to oversee the country. If we had left you, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to accomplish anything!"

When Crown Prince Zhu Biao heard Zhu Yuanzhang's scolding words, his face immediately filled with resentment.

When Zhu Yuanzhang first received Empress Ma's letter and the intelligence brought by Mao Xiang, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he was almost scared to death. He even threatened to kill him and punish him severely, because he himself had been beaten many times before. How did he end up like this?

"Father, you said before that you would beat this kid, and didn't you say that he went a bit too far in his actions? Why are you praising him now?"

Zhu Yuanzhang cleared his throat upon hearing this.

"What I say goes, so much nonsense!"

"Besides, that's our precious grandson, how could we possibly hit him?" Zhu Yuanzhang wouldn't tell his crown prince Zhu Biao that the reason he had such a big change in attitude was because he had recently received a letter from Empress Ma.

Empress Ma recounted his entire conversation with Zhu Xiong Ying.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang also found these things somewhat unbelievable, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

Whether it was the land tax reform, the Single Whip Law, or even Zhu Xiong Ying's future aspirations, these far exceeded his expectations.

However, upon closer reflection, these things are not necessarily impossible. Perhaps one day in the future, the Ming Dynasty will indeed be able to realize the world that Zhu Xiong Ying dreamed of.

(End of this chapter)