Chapter 203: Faith and persistence

Xiao Fan led three thousand personal troops to the north and headed for an unknown future outside the pass where good and bad luck were uncertain.

In the Yan Prince's Mansion, Zhu Di and Monk Daoyan were relieved when they heard that Xiao Fan had led his troops to set out.

A large net that covers 50,000 Mongolian Tartars and imperial envoys in the imperial court slowly opened...

Zhu Di's determination this time was very firm. He was bound to win the 50,000 Tartars. This was a national war. No matter how great Zhu Di had his ambitions, he dared not forget the righteousness. Eliminating the Tartars and eliminating the Northern Yuan Dynasty was his lifelong mission. This mission occupies a very important position in his heart, just like his desire to be an emperor.

During his lifetime, he would eliminate the Tartars and ascend the throne to the Nine Five. These were Zhu Di’s two major wishes.

The existence of the Mongols became an obstacle to Zhu Di's desire to realize his wishes. Similarly, Xiao Fan's existence also became an obstacle to Zhu Di's ascending the throne. Now that he has used clever tricks to remove these two major obstacles at the same time, Zhu Di felt particularly happy.

He firmly believed that if the 50,000 Tartars were annihilated by him, the Northern Yuan would be greatly damaged, paving the way for his future Northern Expedition. He also firmly believed that Xiao Fan and Yijie led the army to fight and had a very slim chance of survival. The cruelty and bravery of the Mongols was not something that a civil servant who was quarreling in the court could understand.

Xiao Fan set out, and now Zhu Di is going to set out too. He must rush to Shanhaiguan to join the main force of the Yan army, and then set up an unbreakable formation on the thousand-mile plain outside the pass, waiting for the Tatars to attack. This battle will completely change the national destiny of the Northern Yuan and the Ming Dynasty!

However, before Zhu Di set out, there was one thing to do.

At Jietai Temple, the imperial envoy head of the imperial commander followed Xiao Fan's army and the ground was empty, with only Fang Xiaoru, Zhang Sanfeng and Taixu staying behind. Xiao Fan left dozens of personal troops to guard the ground, and Zhang Hongqiao was also left behind.

In the afternoon, when people were still taking a nap in the wing room or bamboo forest, a slender figure quietly walked out of the door, flashed in the side door of the kitchen in the backyard, and walked out of the hall.

In the inner hall of the Yanwang Mansion, the hall was filled with large ice cubes that eliminated the scorching heat. Zhu Di was wearing a dark yellow king robe and sat on the upper front facing the hall door. He picked up the iced sour plum soup in his hand, raised his neck and took a big sip, and then breathed comfortably.

An eunuch outside the hall shook the whisk and bowed, saying, "Prince, the girl from Hongqiao is here."

"Let her come in."

Not long after, Zhang Hongqiao, wearing a plain long skirt, his hair was tied into a cloud bun, and a faint expression appeared at the entrance of the hall.

Zhu Di narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the slender figure at the door, with a bit of complexity in his eyes.

This woman is too scheming, but she never reveals her true thoughts on the surface. Under her flowery smile, no one can see through what she is thinking. This woman made Zhu Di feel difficult to control, - he doesn't like this uncontrollable feeling.

"I have seen the prince." Zhang Hongqiao walked into the hall, walked four or five steps away, and said to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di said lightly: "Miss Hongqiao is exempt from gifts, sit down."

"Prince Xie, I'd better reply with my side."

In the spacious and quiet inner hall, the two were speechless. One sat quietly and lowered his head to taste the sour plum soup in the small jade bowl, and the other stood quietly not far away, with expressionless drooping eyelids speechless.

I don’t know how long it took, Zhu Di put down the small bowl in his hand, then stroked his beard, broke the silence, and said slowly: “Miss Hongqiao, you have been by Xiao Fan for many days, are you doing well these days?”

"Thank you for the blessing of the prince, Hongqiao is still alive."

"How should Xiao Fan treat you?"

"Mr. Xiao treats my family like a guest of honor, and he is very respectful."

Zhu Di frowned: "Is there any respect? Could it be that he hasn't touched you?"

Zhang Hongqiao's pretty face suddenly turned red, calmed down, and said calmly: "Mr. Xiao has the style of a gentleman, and has never...had never touched my slave."

Zhu Di sneered: "He has the style of a gentleman? Miss Hongqiao, are you blind or I blind? Can the name gentleman be related to him Xiao Fan?"

Zhang Hongqiao lowered his head and lowered his eyelids and said, "What is the prince saying, that's what."

Zhu Di snorted coldly, frowned and thoughtfully, "Strange, why didn't Xiao Fan touch you?"

As he said that, Zhu Di raised his eyes, his gaze like a sword kept swaying on Zhang Hongqiao like a blade, and he saw Zhang Hongqiao's whole body trembling and cold, as if he was staring at him by a vicious and vicious snake.

Zhang Hongqiao couldn't help but take a small step back.

After a while, Zhu Di smiled gloomyly and said, "Miss Hongqiao, tell me the truth. I will tell you that you are using your sex and art to seduce Xiao Fan. Are you not careful to do what I have given you?"

Zhang Hongqiao's pretty face suddenly looked a little humiliated. She lowered her head and bit her lower lip, slowly shook her head and said, "The prince misunderstood me. I did do what the prince told me, but Lord Xiao never refused to get close to me, and I had no choice."

Zhu Di said gloomyly: "I'm afraid you didn't do your best, right?"

Zhang Hongqiao said sadly: "The prince has wronged me..."

Seeing her so sad, Zhu Di's expression gradually slowed down and sighed, "Miss Hongqiao, I really don't want to force you, but Xiao Fan is a man who attaches great importance to me. You must understand his every move, every word and every word he says, every word he says, may be related to the secret affairs of the court, and every order he gives may be detrimental to me, so you must remember every word of his words and give it to me word. You are a chess piece buried by me, and you may use it at any time. Do you understand what I mean?"

Zhang Hongqiao's pretty eyes fell from crystal tears and nodded as if he had accepted his fate.

After pausing, Zhu Di asked in a deep voice: "Have Xiao Fan said something important recently, or has he inadvertently revealed any important words?"

Zhang Hongqiao stopped crying and recalled it carefully. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed in her mind, and a seemingly important conversation appeared in her mind.

The vegetable seller she met at the imperial envoy that day, from the perspective of her countless people, of course, she could see at a glance that he was not a vegetable seller. What's more, before she entered the wing room, Xiao Fan vaguely told him words such as "military ration", "pharmaceutical", and "weak limbs" outside. He connected these words together. Those who were as smart as Zhang Hongqiao naturally made a clear idea.

This is a major event related to the Yan army. Should I say it or not?

Zhang Hongqiao hesitated.

Xiao Fan's handsome face appeared in front of her eyes, like a distant but real shadow, injecting a clear spring into her heart, which had long dried up like a dry well, creating ripples.

Should I betray him?

After a long time, Zhang Hongqiao gritted his teeth and shook his head and said, "Prince, Lord Xiao has been talking to his subordinates recently. He has never seen him say anything important."

Zhu Di sneered coldly, Zhang Hongqiao's hesitation that had passed away in the blink of an eye had already fallen into the sharp-eyed Zhu Di's eyes.

"I really haven't said it?" Zhu Di's tone was calm, but it seemed to be brewing with the coming wind and rain.

"I really haven't said it!"

Bang!

A fierce slap hit Zhang Hongqiao in the face. Zhang Hongqiao let out a painful cry and fell softly to the ground, with blood flowing down the corner of his mouth.

Zhu Di said in a cold tone: "Zhang Hongqiao, I don't like others to lie to me! Remember this! Now, I will give you another chance. What important things have Xiao Fan said recently?"

Zhang Hongqiao raised his head stubbornly regardless of wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth and said with a high voice: "Prince, he really has never said important things."

Bang!

Another loud slap, Zhang Hongqiao's peerless face suddenly became red and swollen, and his meticulously wrapped clouds gradually loosened, describing him very embarrassed.

"He really never said it!" Zhang Hongqiao gritted his teeth, with tears of pain in his eyes, but he was stubborn and refused to change his words.

Zhu Di laughed very angry: "Haha, okay! OK! Zhang Hongqiao, you have now arrived at the imperial envoy of the court, thinking that you have been living on a high branch, can you not do anything to you? Don't forget that you are just a ***! It's a man's plaything. Do you think you are already the wife of the noble commander of the Jinyiwei? One day, one lifelong ***! Zhang Hongqiao, you are destined to be a *** life, and you can't become a concubine even if you enter the palace! What are you persisting? Are you stupid?"

The huge humiliation finally made Zhang Hongqiao's tears fall down. Zhu Di's mean and sour words made her feel more painful and heart-wrenching than the slap on her body.

Yes, what am I insisting on? I am intentional, but my husband is ruthless. He hasn't even looked at me directly, but I have suffered all the pain for him. Am I really stupid?

Lovesickness is a heart-breaking heart, and what about unrequited love?

Scarlet blood fell on the white-Han jade floor tiles in the inner hall, like a proud plum blossoming in the snow, so shocking.

Zhang Hongqiao looked at his blood, and suddenly what Xiao Fan had said to her that day suddenly echoed in his mind.

——"Things worthy of our own life, such as human ethics, principles, righteousness and belief in the world, require us to persist until death, which is called faith."

Xiao Fan's firm and unrepentant and handsome face, which was shining with brightness, lingered in front of her eyes again. The faint smile seemed to give her infinite strength and courage.

You have the belief that you stick to, and I also have the belief that I stick to. My belief is you! - Xiao Fan, I will not betray you because you are different from others. Hongqiao has been wandering and suffering all his life, and has experienced countless men. Only you, tell me what faith is!

He suddenly raised his head, Zhang Hongqiao's eyes were full of indomitableness and stubbornness.

"Prince, Lord Xiao really never said it!"

"Zhang Hongqiao, are you forcing me to kill you?" Zhu Di was furious.

"Hongqiao has suffered a lot in his life. Life is worse than death. If the prince wants to kill me, Hongqiao will be grateful!" Zhang Hongqiao knelt down to Zhu Di, choking and silent.

Bang!

Zhu Di was so angry that he slapped him hard again.

Zhang Hongqiao's pretty face was swollen and old, and she slapped on the ground in pain. Then she slowly raised her head and smiled sadly: "Prince, do you know what faith is?"

"Belief is the one who goes against me will perish!"

Bang! Zhu Di swung his arm round and slapped her fiercely in anger.

Zhang Hongqiao seemed to have forgotten the pain and smiled sharply: "It turns out that the prince doesn't understand what belief is... So what if you are the one who is the king? You only know how to be a king, and you only have the emperor's tyrants in your eyes. How can you live a clear and calm life? Prince, you live pitifully than Hongqiao..."

Zhu Di looked at Zhang Hongqiao's bloody mouth but with a shrill smile. He couldn't help but feel shocked. He took a step back unconsciously, stared at her in a daze, and said nothing for a long time.

Is this the true face of this always respectful and gentle woman? She also has an unyielding and stubborn side? Why is she...for? Because of Xiao Fan? Or because of what she said...faith?

But...what exactly is belief?

Zhu Di was deeply shocked and confused, and the spacious inner hall returned to tranquility, and the two were speechless.

After a while, Zhu Di suddenly smiled gloomy: "Zhang Hongqiao, you haven't seen each other in just a few days. You have changed a lot. Do you think you have sacrificed everything for Xiao Fan and you have become noble from now on? No! You are ***! You will always be just a ***! The sparrow flies outside the nine heavens and is just a sparrow, and you can never become a phoenix! Zhang Hongqiao, you paid such a price to cover up Xiao Fan, but you made the wrong plan!"

Zhang Hongqiao wiped the blood stains on the corner of his mouth, and slowly said, "What is Hongqiao's plan? The prince doesn't understand. Since the prince doesn't believe what Hongqiao said, I would like to be kind and give Hongqiao a death!"

Zhu Di was stunned for a while, and was once again shocked by her fearless and determined expression.

After calming down, Zhu Di sneered: "I want to die? You can't die! Aren't you a Qing Gongren? I asked the guards to taste the Qing Gongren one by one, so that you can enjoy the rest of your life, and see how you will be noble!"

Zhang Hongqiao was shocked when he heard this: "Prince! You... your dragon vein is so shameless in your actions!"

Zhu Di laughed and was about to speak out, but he heard a noise and noise in the front hall outside the mansion.

A guard hurriedly ran in and knelt down and reported, "Prince, dozens of imperial envoys have come from outside the mansion, and the leader is an old man. He said that his surname is Fang, and he came to our mansion to ask for someone, and... the woman of the imperial envoy, Lord Xiao..."

Zhu Di was surprised: "The surname is Fang? Fang Xiaoru?"

Zhang Hongqiao was also stunned, and the despair and miserable expression in his eyes gradually faded away, replacing a piece of joy and emotion.

He...even if he went out of the border, he didn't forget himself. Is that true?

Zhu Di's face turned pale: "Let's go! Let's take a look outside the mansion!"

He led the guards to the gate angrily, but saw Fang Xiaoru with a stern look on his face, squinted his old eyes, pointing at an iron tree in front of the gate, cursing: "Your Highness, King Yan, you are too much! The girl from Hongqiao is obviously Lord Xiao's woman, why did she come to your mansion? You are a dignified prince, how can you occupy the love of others? This move is contrary to the words of the saint, and it is a big mistake! - Prince, I have told you for a long time, and at least give me a response!"

Zhu Di's face turned green with anger, and he ran to the door and pointed at the iron tree and scolded me. What does it mean?
Chapter completed!