Chapter 99 Engagement

Chapter 99 Engagement

Chapter 99 Engagement
It took some time to completely resolve the issue in Zhaowu Village.

The day after killing Jiang Shuishan, Zhu Shenzui immediately sent Hu Lin and Xia Dong to Zhaowuling to deal with the aftermath left by Jiang Shuishan there.

Everything went smoothly. Although Jiang Shuishan had left some people in Zhaowuling, not many of them stayed, and the news of the incident in Zhaowu Village had not reached Zhaowuling. Hu Lin and Xia Dong used the name of Jiang Shuishan, also known as a gust of wind, to trick the mountain gate open. Once they entered the mountain stronghold, they took action when the other party was not prepared.

Jiang Shuishan's people never expected such a change. They never expected that the people who were calling each other brothers just a moment ago would suddenly turn against them and draw their knives to attack them. They were caught off guard and didn't even have a chance to escape. They were all killed in a short time.

When the news reached Zhaowu Village, Zhu Shenzhu was finally relieved.

In Zhaowu Village, Zhang Xijun also ordered Zhu Shenzui to deal with all the people he had found. However, when dealing with them, Zhu Shenzui and his people did not take action. Instead, he specifically asked Jiang Shuishan's people and the villagers of Zhaowu Village to do it.

After dealing with Jiangshui Mountain, Zhu Shenzhui carefully considered the subsequent arrangements. Zhaowuling and Zhaowu Village were in good locations. If they could be taken over, they would not only be able to form a horn with Yangtou Mountain on the east and west, but he also learned from Zhaowu Village that there was actually a good quality iron mine nearby. Not many people knew about this iron mine, and it was not difficult to mine.

In addition to iron ore, there are also several high-quality coal mines, which aroused Zhu Shenzui's keen interest.

These minerals are of great use, and once they can be used properly, they will have a significant impact. This made Zhu Shenzhui want to control this place.

But Zhu Shenzhui was short of manpower to control this place, and he also had to worry about other problems. After thinking about it, Zhu Shenzhui decided to borrow the heads of the seventeen people and use them to tie all the refugees brought by Jiang Shuishan, including the villagers of Zhaowu Village, to himself.

To put it bluntly, this is a bargaining chip.

Poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people. No matter whether it is the people of Zhaowuling or Zhaowu Village, although they are all very honest now, no one can guarantee what these people really think. Zhu Shenzhui knows all about this. Only in this way, when their hands are all stained with blood and there is no way out, Zhu Shenzhui dares to use them.

In addition, Zhou Anmin's identity also came in handy. After forcing these people, including several elderly people in their seventies and eighties who could not even walk, to hack to death the seventeen people one by one, Zhou Anmin changed into a Feiyu uniform and hung a goose feather sword, and officially appeared on the stage as a Jinyiwei.

Tell them in front of everyone that everything they have done has been recorded, and if they have any second thoughts, or are secretly plotting something, then all the old and new accounts will be settled together.

Then, Zhou Anmin took out the confession that he had prepared long ago and asked everyone to come forward and put their fingerprints on it one by one. After he was done, these people no longer had any thoughts of resistance. Their life and death were in the hands of the other party. If they wanted to save their lives in the future, they had to be obedient.

After all this, Zhaowuling and Zhaowu Village fell completely into Zhu Shenzhui's hands. Zhu Shenzhui also made some adjustments to the arrangements here, taking some people from Zhaowuling and Zhaowu Village back to Yangtou Mountain for resettlement, and selecting some people from Yangtou Mountain to settle in Zhaowuling and Zhaowu Village.

In addition, the people of Wangjia Village also selected a few people to control Zhaowuling and Zhaowu Village together with the brothers of Yangtou Mountain. In this way, there is nothing to worry about. As time goes by, Zhu Shenzhui will use both kindness and power to influence people subtly. It will not take long for this place to truly become his territory.

After dealing with these, Zhu Shenzhui and his men had stayed for several days, and most of the injuries they had received had healed. Seeing that things were done, Zhu Shenzhui prepared to return, but this time, in addition to visiting Zhaowuling first and then returning to Yangtoushan, he also had to go to Pingshun first.

After Jiang Shuishan's death, the matter discussed with Jinyiwei has not been completed, and the credit has to be taken from Jinyiwei. This matter is not a trivial matter, Zhou Anmin must do it as soon as possible, and Zhu Shenzhui must also go back to Pingshun with him. Only after this matter is completed can he be completely relieved.

In this way, the group went from Zhaowu Village to Zhaowu Ridge, and then returned to Yangtou Mountain. At Yangtou Mountain, Zhu Shenzhui and Zhou Anmin temporarily parted ways with Li Hu, Wang Jinwu and others, and then rushed to Pingshun one by one, just like when they came.

By the time he arrived at Pingshun Post Station, nearly half a month had passed since he left. After returning, Zhou Anmin did not delay for a moment. He did not even go back to the post station and hurried into the city to report with a large amount of evidence collected from Zhaowu Village and Zhaowuling, as well as the heads of Jiang Shuishan and several of his cronies.

After leading the horse into the stable, Zhu Shenzhui came to the backyard.

"Sister!" "You still want to come back?" Upon seeing Zhu Shenzhui coming back, Zhu Xiuer was so happy that she couldn't help scolding her brother: "You said you were going to be gone for a few days, but how many days have passed? By the way, where is your brother-in-law? Why didn't he come back with you?"

"My brother-in-law went to the city for something, so he asked me to come back and tell you first." Zhu Shenzhui said with a playful smile: "Sister, I was just delayed on the road for a few days, there is no need to scold me as soon as we meet, right?"

"How many days? It's several days!" Zhu Xiuer glared and said, "The Xu family has already matched the horoscopes and changed the invitations, and they are just waiting for you to come back to ask for the marriage proposal, the betrothal gift, and the date. But you just left without a trace in such a short time, and your brother-in-law is the same. I am the only woman in the family, can I do everything for you? Fortunately, the Xu family didn't urge me, otherwise I don't know how to explain it to them."

"It's my fault, sister, calm down." Never reason with a woman, let alone debate with a woman. Zhu Shenzhui knew this a long time ago. Seeing Zhu Shenzhui admit his fault quickly and sincerely, Zhu Xiuer's anger gradually subsided.

"Come into the house first, I'll get you a basin of water to wash your face. It's really hot today, look how sweaty you are." Zhu Xiu'er had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. She invited the dusty Zhu Shencui to go into the house to rest. After a while, she brought a basin of water and asked Zhu Shencui to wash his face first.

Afterwards, Zhu Xiuer went to get another bowl of jelly, which was freshly made today and hung in the well to cool down. When she was drawing water, she scooped out a bowl of it and added dried tofu, shredded ginger, minced garlic, vinegar, chopped green onions and other seasonings. It looked colorful and very beautiful.

Pick it up with chopsticks and it tastes smooth and cool in your mouth, with a mixture of umami, sour, spicy and other flavors. It can relieve heat, stimulate the appetite and fill your stomach.

After washing, he felt much better, and when he saw the jelly Zhu Shenzui smiled even more happily.

Jelly is a common item in Shanxi, and there are a lot of them sold in Pingyang City. But from childhood to adulthood, Zhu Shenzhu's favorite is the jelly made by his sister Zhu Xiuer. The taste of this jelly is completely different from other jelly.

He picked up the chopsticks and started eating in big mouthfuls. Seeing how he was eating voraciously, Zhu Xiuer told him to eat slowly because there was more outside if it wasn't enough.

"Enough, enough. No matter how good the food is, you can't eat too much. Didn't you always say this when I was a child? But sister, your cooking skills are better than before. This is what it tastes like!" Zhu Shenzhui smiled and gave Zhu Xiuer a thumbs up.

Seeing him acting weird, Zhu Xiuer burst out laughing and raised her hand to slap him.

"Oh, by the way, let me tell you something serious." While Zhu Shenzhui was eating jelly, Zhu Xiuer told him about the marriage of the eldest lady of the Xu family. Because Zhu Shenzhui had to go out temporarily, Zhu Xiuer, as the elder sister, could only take care of the rest for her brother. Now the birth dates of the two families have been matched. According to Niu Banxian in the city, the birth dates of Zhu Shenzhui and the eldest lady of the Xu family are the most matched he has ever seen, and this marriage could not be better.

As for how marrying into the family would bring prosperity to the family and what benefits would come after the marriage, Niu Banxian talked a lot, and Zhu Xiuer was beaming with joy. Just like that, the marriage was settled. Since both parents had no objections, the next step was to go through the rest of the procedures, and wait for Zhu Shenzhui to come back.

Listening to Zhu Xiuer's words, Zhu Shenzhu secretly groaned in his heart. He didn't expect this matter to progress so quickly. Originally, it was just a casual excuse. Besides, if the horoscopes were not compatible, the marriage would not be successful. Moreover, their family was a royal family, and most families would have concerns about their daughters marrying into the royal family. So when Zhu Xiuer said this, Zhu Shenzhu didn't pay much attention to it. Besides, he was always thinking about Zhao Wuling's important affairs at that time, so how could he have time to think about this?
But now, after being away for half a month, the matter has come to this point. Zhu Shenzhui could not refuse under the current circumstances. Although Zhu Shenzhui had no idea about getting married, his thoughts were still those of modern people. He felt a little resistant to the idea that a 16-year-old girl whom he had never met, whose company commander he had never met, and whose personality he had no idea of ​​was going to be his wife.

Moreover, in Zhu Shenzhui's heart, there was still a shadow of Zhang. Although he knew that it was impossible for him and Zhang to be together, as long as he didn't get married, at least he still had a little hope in his heart. But now that the marriage was imminent, he could no longer have the time to think about it.

"So fast?" Zhu Shenzhui asked in surprise.

"Is this considered fast? If you weren't here, the date would have been set by now." Zhu Xiu'er said this subconsciously, and then she looked at Zhu Shenzhui and said seriously: "Brother, you won't refuse, right? I tell you, this matter has come to this point, you have to agree even if you don't want to! You can't be willful!"

"Haha, sister, how can that be? How can I not agree to such a good thing? Besides, you have been helping me, your brother, all the time. If I regret being so close to you, not only will you lose face, but our Zhu family will also lose face, right?" Zhu Shenzhu hurriedly shook his head and said seriously.

"That's better." After hearing what Zhu Shenzhui said, Zhu Xiuer finally felt relieved and the smile returned to her face.

(End of this chapter)