Chapter 641: Chrysanthemums for the Grave
Gao Zhongshun was brought before Dong Hu.

Gao Zhongshun was frightened when he saw Dong Hu’s family lying together neatly.

Chen Ce sighed and said, “Actually, I know that killing you is useless. None of your lives can bring back the life of my friend.”

“But you killed him. I can’t just do nothing. I’m his friend. I forced him to take this path. But why did you have to kill people?”

“You could have caught him and threatened the court, or even threatened me, and I could have let you go, but now there’s no chance.”

“Whether you come back or not, you will die. Your entire family, including your clansmen, no one can escape. This is your fate, and it is also the fate of you killing my friend.”

Gao Zhongshun said hurriedly: “I, I am still useful. I can help the court recover the Western Regions. I can make amends for my crime. I know a lot about the Western Regions. I know how to solve the problem of the Western Regions peacefully.”

Chen Ce smiled and said, “No need. The Western Region is not important. The entire Western Region cannot be exchanged for my friend’s life. As for how to solve the problem of the Western Region, I can solve the problem of the Western Region without you. This is not a difficult task. You overestimate your role.”

“I just want you to feel the fear before death, that’s all.”

“Don’t go, Master Chen, please don’t go. I, I’m sorry, I apologize…”

Chen Ce walked further and further away, and could no longer hear what Gao Zhongshun said. He just said loudly to Li Zhen, “Kill all his family members!”

……

When Chen Ce walked out of the prison, he took a deep breath. Yang Yiqing had been waiting outside for a long time. When he saw Chen Ce, he bowed and said, “Greetings, Duke Fuguo.”

Chen Ce nodded and said, “Fu Yuan told me about you. Of course I knew it without him telling me.”

“Gao Zhongshun and his men are all dead, and I have slaughtered all of their clans.”

“Hami still needs you to govern it, so I won’t say anything more. Lord Yang, if you have nothing to do, please go back to Hami.”

He said it so lightly, as if killing nine clans was a normal thing, but you are just a duke after all, how dare you? !
Yang Yiqing took a deep look at the calm young man. He had always wanted to meet Chen Ce, but he never expected to meet Chen Ce in this way.

He didn’t expect that Chen Ce was even more ruthless and calmer than he had expected. It was a miracle in itself that a boy under the age of twenty could become a duke in the Ming Dynasty.

After meeting Chen Ce, Yang Yiqing no longer thought this was a miracle. This young man was calm and ruthless unlike ordinary people.

This is the precipitation that can only be achieved after going through many things!

Chen Ce returned to the mansion and came to the willow tree in the backyard. The willow tree was next to the Yongding River. Fu Yuan used to fish here when he left.

Chen Ce buried a grave here, erected a tombstone, and placed a chrysanthemum on the grave.

This is the only way I can honor you.

Brother Fu, I’m sorry. You are better than me, and you have always been better than me.

Chen Ce’s eyes were a little moist as he stared at the cloudless sky above the Yongding River. Fu Yuan’s figure seemed to be reflected on the lake. He was wearing a white robe and was smiling at Chen Ce.

In the beginning, the two were enemies. Fu Yuan spent his whole life proving that he was stronger than himself, but he was tricked by himself time and time again.

He did not hate himself, but instead sympathized with me. He also did not use any despicable means to deal with himself and always acted uprightly.

It took less than three months for them to go from enemies to friends. Later, Fu Yuan helped Chen Ce do a lot of things.

Fu Yuan played a driving role in the conquest of the Japanese islands. If he had not sent people to secretly attack the Ming fleet, the Ming Dynasty would not have declared a full-scale war against the Japanese islands.

Later, he went to Liaodong again, entrusted by Chen Ce. Although Liaodong was in chaos at that time, Fu Yuan did not hesitate.

After all the problems in Liaodong were solved, he began to deal with the Tatars in the northern border. When the whole north was peaceful, Fu Yuan felt that he could retire, but Chen Ce did not let him. It was because of this move that Fu Yuan was killed.

Thinking of the past scenes, Chen Ce burst into tears, feeling an unspeakable suffocating pain in his heart.

Brother Fu, I will come to see you soon and we can have a drink together then.

For some reason, the memory of Fu Yuan in Chen Ce’s mind was disappearing bit by bit. He was still missing Fu Yuan just now, but soon the image of Fu Yuan began to blur in Chen Ce’s mind.

Apart from the white clothes, Chen Ce seemed to have begun to forget what Fu Yuan looked like.

He shook his head vigorously, but still couldn’t see Fu Yuan’s face clearly. Why was this happening…

……

A white rabbit jumped back and forth in the snow, and was eventually caught and killed by a young man from the mountain temple.

He is too hungry.

Heavy snow began to fall from the sky again. Everything around was blurry except for a faint firelight inside the mountain temple.

“Master.”

Madam Wu’s voice rang in Chen Ce’s ears, and Chen Ce looked at her suddenly.

“Are you okay? You’ve been standing here in a daze for a long time. I see that your whole body is shaking. Are you cold, husband?”

Chen Ce shook his head and said, “It’s okay, I’m not cold.”

“Let’s go back.”

……

Qianqing Palace.

When Zhu Houzhao learned from Li Zhen about the evil deeds done by Gao Zhongshun and others in the Western Regions, he was extremely angry and immediately summoned the six ministries of the cabinet.

After seeing the numerous crimes Gao Zhongshun had committed in the Western Regions, the ministers of the six ministries of the cabinet all shouted that Gao Zhongshun deserved to die.

However, Gao Zhongshun is already dead, and there is no point in saying these things now. The Western Regions are still in chaos.

Just as Gao Zhongshun said, the imperial court knew very little about the Western Regions, and sending troops rashly would not be a good idea.

Since he knew that Gao Zhongshun and his group were the main culprits for the conflict between Tibetans and Han people in the Western Regions, Fei Hong immediately suggested that the court send officials to the Western Regions.

Throw all the bodies of Gao Zhongshun and his group to the Tibetans in the Western Regions, explain the reasons, and stop the Tibetans in the Western Regions from continuing to rebel through peaceful negotiations.

After all, the Western Regions are also the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty cannot attack its own people on its own territory.

If the Tibetan issue is not handled properly, it will be difficult for other ethnic minorities to obey the Ming Dynasty’s management in the future.

You should know that there are still many Jurchens from Liaodong living in the territory of the Ming Dynasty. In addition to the Jurchens, there are also Qiang people on the grasslands, as well as chieftains in Huguang and the southwest.

Therefore, Fei Hongcai suggested that the court should not go to the extreme of declaring war on the Western Regions, but should first send officials to negotiate with the living Buddhas in the Western Regions. War is the worst option and should only be launched when there is really no other choice.

Moreover, according to Fei Hong’s estimation, the reason why those people from the Western Regions hated the Ming Dynasty was because Gao Zhongshun and his group represented the imperial court, and they believed that the imperial court had also oppressed them in the same way. As long as they explained it, it was believed that the Tibetans would not continue to confront the imperial court.

Zhu Houzhao nodded and instructed Fei Hong to handle the issues between the Ming Dynasty and the Tibetans in the Western Regions!
(End of this chapter)