At this time, Zhu Zhanji had already found the key from Mr. Zhao and immediately stepped forward to Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Grandpa Taizu, the key."
"Open it." Zhu Yuanzhang said.
Zhu Di, who was standing by, said to the two women, "Come down."
Upon hearing this, the two women were very reluctant, but they did not dare to get off the carriage, so they had to hold hands and hug each other as they got off the carriage.
When they saw Mr. Zhao's torn body, they were so frightened that their faces turned pale, their heads huddled together, and they dared not look at Mr. Zhao again.
Zhu Zhanji immediately got into the carriage and opened the wooden box with the key. Then he turned around with a look of surprise and said, "Grandpa Taizu, Grandpa Taizong, silver, a box of silver!"
Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di were also surprised when they heard this. This feeling was even happier than when they were emperors and heard that the annual income of the national treasury had increased by 10 million taels of silver.
"This is a deed." When Zhu Zhanji came out, he was holding two deeds in his hands.
Zhu Yuanzhang took the deed, glanced at the words on it, and then said to the two women, "Who is Qiluo?"
The slightly thinner, oval-faced man on the left murmured, "It's me."
Zhu Yuanzhang then turned to another woman and asked, "So you are Yunluo?"
Another girl with a round jade face nodded and said, "Yes."
Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Is there anyone else at home?"
Qiluo and Yunluo shook their heads. Yunluo said, "We were sold to a brothel when we were ten years old. We've been homeless for a long time."
Zhu Yuanzhang asked again: "Are you familiar with Huacheng?"
Qiluo and Yunluo nodded and said, "It's familiar. We grew up in Huacheng."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, then said to Zhu Zhanji: "Zhanji, take out one hundred taels of silver."
Zhu Zhanji immediately took out a hundred taels of silver. Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at Qiluo and Yunluo and said, "Give it to them."
Although Zhu Zhanji was puzzled, he still gave one or two hundred silver coins to the two women.
Seeing this, the two women quickly retreated. Yunluo said, "We two little girls only ask the three masters to spare our lives. How dare we ask for money?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said, "This isn't a free gift. I have your deeds with me. I want you to go to Huacheng and work for me. If you do a good job, I'll reward you. If you don't... With the deeds here, even if I go into the city and kill you, the government won't be able to do anything to me."
The two women were startled when they heard this, and then asked in a trembling voice, "I wonder what the master wants us to do?"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Nothing much. I just want you to take this money and go to Huacheng to open a small shop. Every month, you can help me buy some oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, rice and flour in the mountains. And if you have any news, please send it back to the mountains."
The two women exchanged a glance, then Qiluo said, "Master, if you can spare my sister and me's lives, let alone these words, we wouldn't refuse even if you offered us our bodies. But it's easy to buy, but how can two weak women like me carry it up the mountain?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "That's fine. You just need to bring people to deliver the things here, and someone will come to pick them up in the mountains."
The two women felt relieved. They were originally concubines and mistresses in the brothel, and were playthings for people to buy, sell or give away. It didn't matter who they were working for. Besides, what Zhu Yuanzhang asked them to do was much easier for them to accept than selling their bodies.
Zhu Zhanji, who was standing aside, also understood at this moment that Grandpa Taizu was going to secretly check for spies in the city and gather intelligence?
"Yes, the master ordered that my sister and I will definitely do it. However, this place is more than 200 miles away from Huacheng..." Yunluo said hesitantly after taking the 100 taels of silver from Zhu Zhanji.
Zhu Yuanzhang turned to Zhu Di and said, "Call Zhu Youxiao down, and call Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Yijun, and Zhu Changluo to help. Have them repair the carriage tonight. If they can't fix it tonight, they will be whipped again tomorrow."
Why not Zhu Houcong? Because his leg was broken by Zhu Di and he is still recovering in bed.
"Yes." Upon hearing this, Zhu Di immediately turned around and hurried back to Solitary Hill. Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Zhanji stayed behind to bury Mr. Zhao's body first, then cleaned up the scene. They also moved the silver box out of the carriage and said to the two women, "You will stay here tonight. I will send you back to the city tomorrow morning."
"Yes, sir." The two women responded immediately after hearing this.
Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Zhanji carried the silver box to a tree and sat down. The two women over there were a little restrained and scared at first, but when they saw Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Zhanji sitting there, they had a domineering air about them, and they didn't look like bandits who were robbing houses at all.
So the two women whispered a few words to each other, then stood up and walked over with red faces.
'clang'
But before the two women could get close, Zhu Yuanzhang held his steel knife horizontally, a cold glint in his eyes as he asked, "What are you doing?"
The two girls were startled, and Qiluo quickly said, "Master, please don't misunderstand me. We...we want to come and serve you two masters."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes dimmed, and he said calmly, "Go back! Do not come any closer without orders, or I will kill you without mercy."
The two girls felt a chill in their hearts when they heard this, and quickly gave up the idea. They returned to the carriage and sat down quietly.
In this way, Zhu Yuanzhang, with Zhu Di and Zhu Zhanji, used three round wooden sticks made by Zhu Youxiao to earn the first pot of gold in his new entrepreneurial journey.
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(I will return home tomorrow morning and resume normal updates)
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