Deng Ming's troops did not stay in Wuchang for too long. After meeting He Zhen, there was an emergency report from the downstream, saying that Suksaha and Ebilong had already returned to the capital with the Eight Banners. After the Qing Dynasty did not pose a threat to Chongming Island, Deng Ming should have fulfilled the agreement and returned to Sichuan. The governors in the southeast were afraid that Deng Ming would stay on their territory for too long, which would cause the court to think of sending reinforcements to the south again. Moreover, Deng Ming stayed in the Qing court and was also a huge expense for the governor. In the past, Deng Ming went to fight at his own expense, but according to the agreement of the Battle of Gaoyou Lake, the military expenses for the Ming army before returning to Sichuan were jointly borne by several governors in the southeast.

Not only did the Qing army hope that Deng Ming would leave their territory as soon as possible, but Deng Ming's subordinates were also eager to return to Chengdu to get married. Those who had family members were very much missing their family who had been separated for several months.

The closer it is to Sichuan, the more impetuous the morale of the military becomes. Mu Tan once again defended Zheng Chenggong's battle in Nanjing: "If the admiral really plans to move to Nanjing, then he must bring his military family." The last time Zheng Chenggong attacked Jiangnan, he brought a large number of soldiers' families and suffered a crushing defeat, which was criticized by many people. It was also a negative teaching material in the teaching of the Sichuan army, but Deng Ming also understood that Zheng Chenggong did have any difficulties. In the Ming Dynasty, without telephone and telegram, it was indeed very uneasy to be far apart from his family. For most people in this era, there is no difference between being so far away from being separated by such a long distance.

Because Hao Yaoqi and the Prince of Dong'an were coming, Deng Ming did not set off immediately and waited for them for a few more days.

Deng Ming was unwilling to lie, but he also realized that the misunderstandings of the generals for his identity brought some benefits. This time he met a genuine royal family, and Deng Ming thought he could not hide it. Deng Ming even considered saying goodbye in advance under the pretext of not waiting, but Hao Yaoqi's envoys rushed to report their itinerary one after another, and Deng Ming had no military reason to leave without saying goodbye, so he had to stay.

After meeting Zhu Shenglu, Deng Ming did not talk about his life experience, and Zhu Shenglu did not ask in front of everyone. He just used etiquette questions to hint once when he first met. He gave up when he saw Deng Ming not responding. However, two days later, Zhu Shenglu found an opportunity to get along with Deng Ming alone, and talked directly about the rumors about Deng Ming's identity as a royal family, and asked him about the authenticity of the matter...

"It's finally over." Deng Ming stood at the stern of the boat, looking at Hanyang, which was gradually moving away from behind.

Yesterday he made it clear to Zhu Shenglang that he was not a royal family at all. He vaguely remembered that he fled to Sichuan with his tribe a few years ago and encountered bandits. He was hit on his head, so he couldn't remember many things, but there was still a vague shadow, at least he could confirm that his surname was Deng but Zhu.

The Prince of Dong'an seemed not too surprised at Deng Ming's answer, but just nodded slightly and said no further questioning, nor did he publicize it to others.

"Probably he'd seen that I'm not a clan." Deng Ming probably knew Zhu Shenglu for a long time. After all, most people are not clan members and lacked understanding of what a clan member should be. In the eyes of Zhu Shenglu, a real clan member, a fake guy can certainly see through it at a glance. However, the Prince of Dong'an did not promote this matter, which made Deng Ming a little strange. He thought Zhu Shenglu would be very angry. Even if Deng Ming did not take the initiative to promote it, at least he had a suspicion of default: "Maybe Dong'an Prince knows that the army is still near Hanyang. If it causes panic, it might give the Qing army in Wuchang an opportunity. Well, it seems that Prince of Dong'an is still aware of the general situation and takes into account the overall situation."

Although Zhang Changgeng was very cooperative, Deng Ming never dared to underestimate Wuchang's strength. After all, the other party was the governor of Huguang of the Qing court, and had tens of thousands of soldiers under his command. If he was treated as a tame puppy, he would definitely suffer a great loss. When he was stationed near Hanyang, the Ming army was always on high alert and intended to let Wuchang see his own vigilance. Deng Ming felt that only in this way could Zhang Changgeng's idea of ​​having a different mind to the greatest extent.

Today, the Sichuan Army continued to move up the river, while He Zhen and Hao Yaoqi also left at the same time. The Qing army in Wuchang and Hanyang stayed honestly in the city to avoid misunderstandings between each other.

"When the Prince of Dong'an returns to Xiangyang, he will talk about this with Hao Yaoqi. He Zhen." When they broke up today, Zhu Shenglu, who had always been pampered, came to say goodbye to Deng Ming himself. His intimate look made Deng Ming look like his fellow clan. However, Deng Ming knew that both of them knew that it was Zhu Shenglu for others to show it. Deng Ming thought it would be fine. Sooner or later, this matter would be made public. No matter how he distinguished himself, others would not believe it. This time, a prince testified, they knew that Deng Ming was indeed not a royal family.

In the past, Deng Ming also denied to Wen Anzhi that he was Chongzhen's son, but the other party thought of King Tang again and secretly informed Zheng Chenggong. Alas, Master Wen is old and inevitably has a stubborn opinion. Besides, Master Wen has never met several royal families, so it is inevitable that he has misunderstandings.

...

On the way back to the base, the Qing army along the way did not harass them. Zhang Changgeng knew very well that Deng Ming would never tolerate such behavior. Since he was unwilling and dared not to provoke a war with Deng Ming, he could only treat Hao Yaoqi and He Zhen's coalition forces who were transiting. Zhu Shenglang, who stayed in the Ming army, also enjoyed a special supply, with fresh fruits and fruits every day, and a troupe of the camp.

For more than ten years, Zhu Shengluo was hiding from the east and rarely had a good day. After entering the territory of the Governor of Huguang, all kinds of treatments were arranged according to the status of the prince, which made Zhu Shengluo feel as if he had returned to the good times in the past, no, even better than that time. Because Zhu Shengluo's status was not high, he was just an inconspicuous neighbour under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. After the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, the royal family was invaded, and the Xiying and the Qing army were arrested and slaughtered. The rare things were precious. Zhu Shengluo's status gradually became noble. If it weren't for this, he might not even be able to get the position of the prince.

Although he was protected by Hao Yaoqi in the past, Zhu Shenglang naturally could not enjoy the treatment that the prince should have in the difficult Ming army. He also knew very well that the only reason why the other party protected him was to find an amulet. Zhu Shenglang's value was closely related to the national destiny of the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty was prosperous, he would naturally rise with the water. If the Ming Dynasty no longer existed, the prince of Dong'an would be worthless. After the internal strife of the three kings of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the Ming army poured out on the battlefield. Seeing that the Ming Dynasty had another complete collapse, Zhu Shenglang felt in a sense of inability to protect himself at that time, fearing that Hao Yaoqi would hand over himself and surrender to the Qing Dynasty to ensure safety - if he could not be a talisman, he would only be the role of giving others a title of fame.

Although Hao Yaoqi repeatedly promised that he would always end with the Ming Dynasty and protect Zhu Shenglang to the end, Zhu Shenglang was still worried. He could also feel that Hao Yaoqi's subordinates were sometimes shaken, and their superficial respect for themselves was almost gone.

"It's all blessed by our ancestors." After tasting the river food sent by local prefectures today, Zhu Shenglang returned to the camp to sleep with satisfaction.

Deng Ming swept the Han River Basin. After Hu Quancai was defeated and died, Hao Yaoqi's territory expanded a lot. Zhu Shenglu's treatment was far better than in the past. He knew that this was not only because the territory had expanded, but also because Deng Ming was also because of Deng Ming. After the victory in Gaoyou Lake, Zhu Shenglu could enjoy the treatment of a prince when he entered and exited the enemy territory. Of course, this was not because Zhang Changgeng's traitor discovered it, but because Zhu Shenglu had a tribe that Zhang Changgen could not afford to offend.

Zhu Shenglu had been mentally prepared for Deng Ming's denial. During several meetings, Zhu Shenglu had slapped indirectly dozens of times. The first and most obvious time, Deng Ming slammed and avoided the past. Later, he pretended not to understand and seriously used absurd and ridiculous answers to avoid Zhu Shenglu's temptation.

The most ridiculous thing is that Deng Ming pretended not to know that Zhu Shenglu was the King of Chu. Zhu Shenglu had the word "Sheng" in his name, which not only showed that his royal family had a generation. In the Ming Dynasty, the royal family naturally had no need to mention it. Even ordinary scholars had to have the most basic understanding of the royal family genealogy so as not to make jokes or be disrespectful.

Deng Ming was obviously well educated and had extensive knowledge, but he pretended to be ignorant of Zhu Shenglu's origin in the King of Chu in front of everyone. Not to mention, Zhu Shenglu admitted that Deng Ming was pretending to be very similar, and at that moment the other party's expression definitely reached the point of perfection. Even Zhu Shenglu had a feeling of "he really didn't know" in a trance.

Deng Ming's exaggerated performance not only stunned Zhu Shenglang, but even Hao Yaoqi and the others couldn't stand it anymore. When Zhu Shenglang went out to take action during the meal, Hao Yaoqi and He Zhen both sneaked out on excuses and said to Zhu Shenglang: "It seems that Admiral Deng will never admit it."

The people around Deng Ming also gave the same answer. Zhu Shenglu found an opportunity to talk to a young general named Ren Tang, and the other party spread his hands: "This is what the admiral is like, and he will never admit it. In order to deny it, he even pretended not to know any etiquette related to the royal family."

After hearing this answer, Zhu Shenglu began to understand why the people around Deng Ming could appear calm during the meal. Deng Ming's answers that lack common sense were almost insulting him, the questioner.

Please, you should pretend to be not a royal family, but don’t pretend to be so fake, okay? You don’t know anything that the royal family should know, you don’t know what scholars should know, you still don’t know etiquette that the people should know! You don’t know anything, can you fall from the sky?

Then Zhu Shenglu couldn't help it and found an opportunity to ask Deng Ming directly what he wanted, and the other party clearly stated that he would not confess his identity as a royal family. Since that was the case, Zhu Shenglu would not continue to test it - since the other party had performed so hard before, if he changed the answer, Zhu Shenglu would feel strange.

"What good things will I give me tomorrow?" Before going to sleep, the Prince of Dong'an couldn't help but start to fantasize about the filial piety of the local government tomorrow. For Zhu Shenglu, Deng Ming must be a royal family, so that his future will be bright; even more, although Zhu Shenglu is not willing to admit it for the time being, in his mind, the throne of the Emperor of Ming must be a royal family like Deng Ming, rather than being controlled by the emperor who abandoned the country and fled, so that Zhu Shenglu can live a good life.
Chapter completed!