Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

But the jade pendant was soaked with blood. Due to the cold weather, the blood had solidified and was covered with ice. It was exactly the jade pendant that Zhu Cilang had worn around his waist before.

Zhu Cilang, who was only twelve years old, had no idea what was going on and his eyes were wide open.

"You two come with me."

Zhang Shikang took two people and followed the secret sentry of the Jinyiwei.

They walked through two streets and stopped in front of a dilapidated temple on the edge of the city.

There were already more than a dozen Jinyiwei in the temple, and they pinned four or five beggars to the ground.

And lying on the ground in the dilapidated temple was the little beggar whom they had given alms to before.

The little beggar was already dead, with a knife wound in his abdomen and blood all over the floor.

It was obvious that the four adult beggars around were the murderers. When Zhang Shikang gave them the half penny, he felt that the other beggars were not good people.

Half a penny was not much, but it was enough for the little beggar to buy some hot buns, which would at least be enough for his food for several days.

This small amount of money would not cost him his life, but Zhu Cilang's giving away of the jade pendant without his knowledge was really murder.

Everything in the palace, even a random jade pendant, is a treasure of extremely high quality. Anyone who is not a fool knows how valuable that thing is.

Although the little beggar was small, when he saw Zhu Cilang’s brightly dressed clothes, he knew that he had obtained something extraordinary.

Therefore, even if someone comes to snatch it away, he will fight to protect it and eventually lose his life.

"Why? Why did they want to kill him?" Little Zhu Cilang suddenly felt as if the sky was falling, and tears flowed unconsciously from his eyes.

Princess Kunyi standing by was also quietly wiping away her tears.

"You guys are still too young.

I don’t know how ugly people’s hearts are.” Zhang Shikang sighed and told the brother and sister the truth.

Zhu Cilang then realized that his good intentions had led to a bad outcome. He walked up to the little beggar and kept apologizing, but the little beggar was no longer able to answer him.

"Send these people to the Bingmasi and let them deal with them according to the law." Zhang Shikang casually ordered his subordinates.

After experiencing this incident, the brother and sister no longer had the heart to play, and they both looked a little distraught.

Especially Zhu Cilang, he felt that he was the one who killed the little beggar, and felt guilty like a fool.

"You two don't have to be so sad. Lao Tzu once said, 'Blessings and disasters lie within', and that's what he meant.

An opportunity falls from the sky, some people seize it and become successful because of it.

But some people not only fail to catch it, but also encounter misfortune because of it. This is fate."

Zhang Shikang didn't want the brother and sister to have any psychological trauma because of this, so he comforted them a little.

"But Master Zhang, I...I still killed him!" Twelve-year-old Zhu Cilang shed tears again.

Zhang Shikang was furious when he saw this:

"He's already dead, and your regrets are useless.

All you can do is prevent this kind of stupid behavior from happening again.

You are the crown prince now, but you will be the emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

You should also understand that the mistake you made now will only result in the death of one person, but if you become the emperor and make a mistake, tens of thousands of people will die!"

Zhang Shikang placed his hands on Zhu Cilang's shoulders and spoke to Zhu Cilang in the harshest tone.

Zhu Cilang looked at Zhang Shikang, gritted his teeth to hold back his tears, and nodded vigorously.

Princess Kunyi took out her handkerchief and carefully helped her brother wipe it. Zhu Cilang finally regained his spirit.

"If the boy's death can make you realize some truths, then he has done a great service to the people of the world.

Come on, don't think about it anymore, let's go, I'll take you to have some fun."

As both were feeling a little down, Zhang Shikang wanted to take the brother and sister to watch cockfighting to improve their mood.

"Master Zhang, what do you think about life and death?" Zhu Cilang asked softly along the way.

The death of the little beggar had just caused him to break down emotionally, but he saw that Zhang Shikang's expression didn't even change, which made Zhu Cilang admire him very much.

"Birth, aging, sickness and death. Everyone will die anyway, sooner or later." Zhang Shikang made up a lie.

"But when you saw that little beggar just now, you didn't even show any expression. How could you be so calm?" Zhu Cilang asked.

Zhang Shikang was stunned for a moment, and then he said in silence:

“When you see people who were talking and laughing with you in the morning, all of them are dead after a battle, and even their bodies cannot be found.

By then, you’ll get used to it.”

The heaviest casualties suffered by the Beijing camp army so far were in the battle with the Jianlu a year ago.

Zhang Shikang participated in almost the entire training of the Beijing Camp. At that time, the number of soldiers in the Beijing Camp was small. After training in the Beijing Camp for so long, Zhang Shikang had already gotten to know most of the soldiers.

But after two brutal battles, those faces were gone by thousands.

Although last year’s southern expedition was not dangerous, there were dozens of battles, large and small, and the Beijing camp always suffered casualties.

After each battle, Zhang Shikang would go to inspect the wounded camp. The wails of the wounded were heartbreaking. Many of the wounded were so seriously injured that they could not be saved even with a large bowl of Champion Jisheng Soup.

Zhang Shikang watched his subordinates die countless times.

"Why is there a war? Why can't we sit down and talk about such a cruel thing?"

After all, Zhu Cilang had never experienced war and was too young, so he could not empathize with the grief in Zhang Shikang's eyes.

“That’s a good question, but I can’t tell you the answer in a few words.

Unless one day, our Ming Dynasty has mastered enough truth, perhaps the enemy will sit down and talk to us."

"Truth? Do you mean the Analects of Confucius?" Zhu Cilang asked curiously.

Zhang Shikang shook his head.

"No, it's a cannon." Zhang Shikang answered firmly.

"Master, will you die too?" Princess Kunyi was still immersed in Zhang Shikang's initial answer, which made her particularly sad.

Zhang Shikang was quite open-minded. He reached out and picked off a piece of straw from Princess Kunyi's bangs, which was probably picked up in the dilapidated temple.

Then he said:

“That’s natural, separation and death are things that everyone will experience.

For example, your master, even though I am the Grand Marshal of the Ming Dynasty’s army, you never know when I might go to war and never come back.

I, your master, have killed so many people. I don’t know how many people want to kill me.

If you follow me often, you never know when you might see me.”

Princess Kunyi's porcelain doll-like face suddenly turned red. This action seemed normal to Zhang Shikang, but she subconsciously took a small step back.

But no one knew what Princess Kunyi was thinking. She took another step forward, leaving Zhang Shikang confused.

"No way! With my father here, no one dares to harm the master." Princess Kunyi said coquettishly.

Zhang Shikang smiled, but his smile froze halfway through.

Oh my god! I can’t be so unlucky!

But about twenty or thirty steps away, a fellow who looked like a peddler was rushing towards the three men viciously with a short blade in his hand.

……