Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 334: Insignificant in Troubled Times
Zhu Shenzhui was stunned and stopped. He didn't expect that there was a stranger in the main room.

Hearing the noise, sister Zhu Xiu'er and the woman who had just sobbed looked up at the same time. When they saw Zhu Shenzhui standing at the door, Zhu Qiao'er almost opened her mouth to call him brother, but she swallowed the words back. After all, Zhu Shenzhui always came here in a fake identity and never revealed that he was a member of the royal family. Today there were outsiders present, and if he shouted his identity out, he might get into trouble. But even so, she could not hide the surprise in her eyes.

"Madam, you have a guest, so I'll take my leave first..." The sobbing woman in front was stunned for a moment when she saw a strange man suddenly appear, then she returned to normal, wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, stood up and saluted Zhu Xiu'er, then saluted slightly to Zhu Shenzhui.

Zhu Shenzui dodged to the side, returned the greeting, and then did not step forward to say hello. After all, it was a rule not to look at strange female relatives without permission, so it was more appropriate to avoid such a meeting.

"You don't have to worry. I think nothing will happen to you as you are blessed by heaven. I have noted down what my sister said. I will write to someone in the next few days to find out something. I will let you know immediately if there is any news." Zhu Xiu'er said to the woman with a smile on her face.

The woman nodded slightly with red eyes, thanked Zhu Xiuer sincerely, and then said goodbye and left.

Zhu Xiuer walked her out of the hall for a few more steps, and then turned back after she left. When she returned to the hall, she saw Zhu Shenzhu sitting on a chair with a smile on his face. Zhu Xiuer took two steps at a time and walked towards her brother. She grabbed Zhu Shenzhu's wrist with one hand and said happily, "When did you arrive? You didn't even write a letter before you came so that I could prepare. You suddenly appeared just now and almost scared me."

"Why should I prepare for my sister's house? Besides, I might as well leave right away instead of writing a letter. Sister, you look much better than before, and your figure is more graceful. The clothes you wear, wow... you look like a lady."

"Bah!" Zhu Xiuer scolded with a smile, "If you don't know how to speak, then don't speak. What are you talking about? Taijun? I'm not even seventy or eighty years old, do you think I'm the old Taijun in the opera? Don't you want to be beaten?"

"Hahaha!" Zhu Shenzhui laughed happily. He was deliberately teasing his sister.

But it's true that the current Zhu Xiu'er is very different from before. The previous Zhu Xiu'er was just the wife of a postmaster. Although Zhu Xiu'er is also a royal family member, the low-level royal family of the Zhu family is actually no different from ordinary people. After marrying Zhou Anmin, she not only gave birth to two children for Zhou Anmin, but also helped to take care of all the affairs in the household. Moreover, at that time, the post station was short of staff and there were many guests coming, so Zhu Xiu'er also had to take care of the job of a cook.

At that time, although Zhu Xiu'er was somewhat pretty, she was dressed like an ordinary woman. But now it is different. Zhou Anmin is now a captain of the Jinyiwei Qianhu Division, and his status is different from before. In addition, Zhu Shenzhu has been secretly supporting Zhou Anmin in recent years, so Zhou Anmin has no shortage of money. In addition, Zhou Anmin is now the person in charge of border trade, and he has a lot of extra income. Life at home is different from before, and Zhu Xiu'er no longer has to be as busy as before.

Living in a place changes your mood, and nourishing your body changes your body. Zhu Xiuer's complexion naturally looks much better than before. In addition to the silk and satin she wears and her status as a clan daughter, she naturally has a temperament that others don't have. Although Zhu Xiuer is not very old, she looks completely different from an ordinary noblewoman when she sits there. This kind of temperament that comes from her bones is something that ordinary people can't imitate at all.

The last time I saw Zhu Shenzhu was more than half a year ago. So much time has passed in the blink of an eye. When Zhu Shenzhu came this time, Zhu Xiuer was filled with joy.

Looking at his brother's face, as he grows older, and Zhu Shencui has been traveling outside for the past two years, his face inevitably has some traces of weathering. Zhu Shencui now has a short beard, and with the Zhu family's unique square face and nose bridge, Zhu Shencui looks more and more like his deceased father. Zhu Xiu'er couldn't help but think of his deceased father for a moment, with some tears in her eyes.

But Zhu Xiuer soon returned to normal. She took her brother's hand and asked about family matters, especially about Xu Jingqiu's newborn baby.

After the child was born, Zhu Shenzui wrote a letter to his sister to tell her the good news. Zhu Xiu'er was very happy after receiving the letter. The Zhu family had another descendant, which was a happy event. Zhu Xiu'er was also a little complacent. After all, it was she who arranged her brother's marriage. She really married the right sister-in-law. She had two sons in a row. Which daughter-in-law could be so pregnant?
The brother and sister chatted with great interest for a long time before they finished talking about the child. After taking a sip of tea to moisten his dry throat, Zhu Shenzhui remembered the woman he had just seen and could not help asking who she was and why she came to see his sister.

"She, ah, is also a miserable person." Zhu Xiuer sighed and said, "Liu's husband is the general flag of the Jinyiwei Qianhu Division, and is your brother-in-law's subordinate. Since your brother-in-law came here, her husband is the first person to surrender to your brother-in-law, and can be regarded as your brother-in-law's trusted subordinate."

"But he was unlucky. He died suddenly last year due to an acute illness. After her husband died, Liu became a widow and lived at home with her child. Your brother-in-law usually had someone take care of her because of her husband's contributions. He also promised to help her find a job in the Imperial Guard when her child was older."

"That's how it was. As long as we hold on for a few more years, when our son grows up and has a job, we'll gradually have hope for a better life. But things never go as planned, and misfortunes can happen at any time. Some time ago, she received a letter from her hometown saying that her parents and brothers had been in trouble, and she was so anxious that she ran out of ideas and came to ask your sister for help. She was talking about this when you came, and she started crying. Oh... she looked really pitiful."

"Where is her hometown?"

"Zou County."

"Zou County, Shandong?"

"Yes, it's that place." When Zhu Shenzhui heard Zhu Xiuer's answer, he immediately understood what was going on.

Zhu Shenzhui had never been to Zou County, but he had heard of it because a major event happened in Zou County just when he came back from Mongolia, and this event was somewhat related to the events of Zhaowuling.

The gust of wind in Zhaowuling, that is, Jiang Shuishan, who used the alias Liang Sanlang, had something to do with the incident in Zou County this time.

It's not that Jiang Shuishan was responsible for the Zou County incident. Jiang Shuishan had been killed by Zhu Shenzui a long time ago. His body must have rotted away over the years. How could he have come back from the dead and caused trouble in Shandong?

But the origin is absolutely true. Jiang Shuishan is a disciple of Xu Hongru, and Xu Hongru is a disciple of Wang Sen. Wang Sen is the leader of the Wenxiang Sect. Wang Sen failed and died after his uprising, and the position of leader was passed to Xu Hongru.

Jiang Shuishan met with trouble while preaching in Linzhou, and later fled to Zhaowuling under an assumed name. He then attempted to start an uprising in Zhaowuling. In order to win over Li Hu and others at that time, Zhu Shenzui took decisive measures after learning the news. With the help of Zhang Xijun, he wiped out Jiang Shuishan and his gang in one fell swoop, and finally took over Zhaowuling and Zhaowu Village.

Several years have passed since this happened. Zhaowuling and Zhaowu Village have now become Zhu Shenzui's territory. Zhu Shenzui also took advantage of Zhaowuling's convenient conditions and mines to run his business and plans, and it is now one of his most important bases.

Although the matter of Zou County had no direct concern to Jiang Shuishan, it was related to his master Xu Hongru. In the second year of the Tianqi reign, Xu Hongru, who could not hold back, suddenly started an uprising in Shandong, and even captured Yuncheng, opened the granaries to release grain, and gathered tens of thousands of people, and marched straight to Juye.

Then, Xu Hongru led his troops to capture Zou County and then Teng County. At this time, the number of troops under his command had reached more than 200,000, and his momentum was huge and powerful.

The Ming court was shocked when it learned about it, especially since Zou County and Teng County were adjacent to Jining in the north and Xuzhou in the south, and were important sections of the canal shipping. The loss of the two counties directly affected the lifeline of the court. If the rebellion was not put down quickly, the Ming court would suffer huge losses.

To this end, Emperor Tianqi ordered Shandong Governor Zhao Yan to lead troops to eliminate Xu Hongru. At the same time, he transferred former Datong General Yang Zhaoji as Shandong General to suppress the rebellion with all his strength.

Although Xu Hongru had a large number of men under his command, facing the counterattack of the regular army, his more than 200,000 rioters were no match for him. In less than three months, he suffered a series of defeats and lost half of his territory. He had no choice but to retreat to Zou County and Teng County, intending to continue to fight against the government troops.

Seeing that Xu Hongru was actually holding his ground, the officers and soldiers were overjoyed. They mobilized various Zhili troops to cut off his retreat and launched a fierce attack on his lair. Soon the city was breached, Xu Hongru was defeated and captured, and later taken to the capital and executed. Xu Hongru's uprising was thus extinguished.

It took only more than three months from the beginning to the end of the uprising. Although Xu Hongru was defeated and died in the end, it caused serious consequences.

This can be regarded as the beginning of the uprising in the late Ming Dynasty in history. After suppressing Xu Hongru, the local situation seemed to have calmed down on the surface, but hidden dangers still existed.

In the early summer of this year, due to a severe drought in Shandong, the local people had no source of income. Xu Hongru's subordinates, who had previously escaped by hiding among the people, took advantage of this opportunity to start rebellion again, gathering thousands of people in Zou County to raise the flag of rebellion.

When Zou County rebelled, the imperial court was shocked and hurriedly mobilized the army to suppress it. Other parts of Shandong also showed signs of restlessness. Although the imperial army quickly suppressed the rebels in Zou County, the rebellion in Shandong was still not completely resolved. These days, the officers and soldiers are still encircling the local areas to completely eliminate the remaining forces of Xu Hongru.

Liu's family was in Zou County, the area where the rebellion started. Moreover, Zou County had experienced a rebellion before, and no one expected another one to happen.

Thinking of this, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly. If his guess was right, Liu's family was probably in danger. If anyone was to blame, it was her family. Why didn't they leave earlier after the rebellion was quelled? Why did they continue to stay where they were? Could it be that they had escaped one disaster or another? Where in the world could such a lucky thing happen?

What's more, the Wen Xiang Rebellion was not only about the Wen Xiang Rebellion, but also the court officials and soldiers, and the latter's killing methods were even more vicious than the Wen Xiang Rebellion. The Ming army had always had a precedent of taking the heads of ordinary people for credit. If it was a battle with a foreign race, it would be better, because whether it was the Mongols or the Jiannu, their appearance and hairstyle were somewhat different from the Ming people, and killing innocent people for credit was a bit risky, so they didn't dare to do it so blatantly. But it was different when facing the Wen Xiang Rebellion.

They were all Ming people. If they killed a few civilians and used their heads to say that they were members of the Wenxiang Sect, the court would not be able to tell the difference. In this case, if Liu's family did not die at the hands of the Wenxiang Sect, they would probably not escape the massacre of the Ming army, and the possibility of survival was extremely small.

(End of this chapter)