Chapter 4: Opening the Treasure Chest!!
Upon hearing this, Guo Yu’er’s worry deepened. “Husband! What… what shall we do now?”
“No,” he replied firmly.
“I’ll plead with my father to help you get out of this logistics army position,” she insisted.
After all, she was born a lady of a distinguished family.
Guo Yu’er clearly understood the gravity of the situation.
It was rebellion.
A crime punishable by the extermination of one’s entire clan.
If her husband was truly drafted into the army, there would be no escaping the purge.
“Yu’er,” Zhu Zheng said with helplessness, “have you forgotten your father’s position?”
Guo Yu’er’s face changed instantly as she thought about it.
“My father is an imperial official. He… he wouldn’t support the Prince of Yan, would he?” she asked anxiously.
“Your father was raised by the Prince of Yan himself. Do you think he would betray him?” Zhu Zheng countered.
His father-in-law was no ordinary man.
He was recorded in history—Guo Zi.
One of the great contributors to the Jingnan Campaign, his merits rivaled those of the frontline generals. He was the key figure responsible for logistics and supplies during Zhu Di’s campaign.
After the Jingnan Campaign’s success, Zhu Di himself called him “My Xiao He.”
Guo Yu’er looked deeply troubled.
Now that she was married with children, if the rebellion failed, their entire clan would be implicated and destroyed.
Thinking of their young son, Guo Yu’er couldn’t help but worry.
Moreover, this rebellion was almost certain to fail.
The Prince of Yan was just a regional prince; how could he stand against the imperial army of a million troops?
“Enough, Yu’er,” Zhu Zheng said gently, “don’t worry. The die is cast. Your father won’t betray the Prince of Yan. According to Ming law, rebellion means the extermination of nine clans. Even if I’m not involved, if the Prince of Yan loses, we cannot escape.”
A faint smile crossed Zhu Zheng’s lips as he comforted her.
Before unlocking his abilities, Zhu Zheng was worried about the future. Although he knew Zhu Di would ultimately prevail, he wasn’t sure if he himself would survive until then.
But now,
Zhu Zheng was confident.
“Tomorrow, we should go see your father,” Guo Yu’er said, still anxious.
If it were just the two of them, she might worry less, but with two children, her heart was heavy.
“All right. You’ve waited up all night. You should go watch the children. I’ll rest in the side chamber,” Zhu Zheng said, gently stroking her hair before heading toward the side room.
Clearly,
Zhu Zheng intended to see what treasures the chest held.
After a night of enhancing his attributes, he was too excited to sleep.
In the side room,
he gazed at the storage space piled with at least six or seven hundred taels of silver, feeling as if in a dream.
Then,
with a thought, he attempted to withdraw some.
In the next moment,
a few taels of silver appeared in his hand.
“I’m a low-ranking official at the government office; my monthly salary is only 400 qian, and 1,000 qian equals one tael. I’ve gained six or seven hundred taels in one night. My goodness.”
“This is unbelievable.”
Holding the silver, Zhu Zheng was filled with awe.
Snapping back to reality,
he focused on the six treasure chests obtained from looting corpses.
Five were rewards for looting 500 enemies, and one was for breaking through overall attributes.
“Treasure chests,” Zhu Zheng said thoughtfully, then tentatively issued a command: “Open?”
A voice responded:
“Host command accepted.”
“Opening six ordinary treasure chests.”
“Obtained: [Refined Steel Saber].”
“Obtained: [Five Bottles of Premium Healing Salve].”
“Obtained: [100 Taels of Silver].”
“Obtained: Yellow-Rank Lower-Grade Martial Skill [Charged Slash].”
“Obtained: [Five-Stone Strong Bow].”
“Obtained: Yellow-Rank Lower-Grade Martial Skill [Eight Extremes Smash].”
As the commands were executed, six notifications appeared before his eyes.
“Treasure chests can actually yield treasures, even martial skills?”
“This is incredible.”
Zhu Zheng was secretly amazed.
He first extracted the refined steel saber.
In the next moment,
a sharp long saber appeared in his hand.
Grasping the scabbard with his left hand and the hilt with his right, he drew the blade with a swish.
A bright silver blade gleamed.
“This craftsmanship is far beyond what this era can forge.”
“What a fine blade.”
Zhu Zheng admired the saber’s edge.
Then,
he recalled something and obtained an iron sword.
This was from the pile of scattered weapons found while looting corpses.
He also collected some spears, swords, shields, and bows.
“Let’s see how sharp this refined steel saber really is.”
He held the steel saber in his right hand and the standard-issue iron sword in his left.
With both hands extended, he struck the two blades against each other.
Crack!
A sharp snap sounded.
The iron sword in his left hand broke cleanly in half, the break perfectly smooth, clearly cut through with a single strike.
“Excellent blade, truly a divine weapon of this era.”
Seeing this,
Zhu Zheng’s excitement grew as he carefully sheathed the refined steel saber.
Next, he examined the other items from the treasure chests.
“Premium healing salve—this stops bleeding.”
“Could come in handy someday.”
“100 taels of silver—wasted a whole treasure chest on this.”
“Yellow-rank lower-grade martial skills: Charged Slash and Eight Extremes Smash.”
“I’ll study these later.”
“Five-Stone Strong Bow, let’s take a look.”
He focused his mind again.
A large bow materialized in his hands.
He tried drawing it.
It was immediately strenuous.
“The Five-Stone Bow requires at least five hundred jin of force to draw.”
“Looks like I still need to keep increasing my attributes.”
“Still, even if I’m drafted into the logistics army, there will be plenty of opportunities to grow stronger.”
“The Jingnan Campaign has just started; there’s a chance,” Zhu Zheng thought to himself.
In just one night, his overall attributes more than doubled, and he had mysteriously gained two additional years of life—no need for further words.
“Martial skills should be directly trainable now.”
“Since my panel has appeared, everything must be data-driven,” Zhu Zheng considered.
He immediately commanded the extraction of the two martial skills obtained from the treasure chests.
Charged Slash!
Eight Extremes Smash!
In the next moment,
Zhu Zheng felt a surge in his consciousness, as if the two martial skills were being directly infused into his learning.
Soon after,
the attributes of the two martial skills appeared before him.
Charged Slash: Initial Stage! Gathers all body strength into one strike! Can unleash twice the user’s power!
Eight Extremes Smash: Initial Stage! A fist technique lethal to opponents, skillfully harnessing power.
“I’m truly going to prosper now.”
“Glory and success await.”
Looking at his attributes and the two martial skills he had just begun to master, Zhu Zheng was filled with hope for the future.
Then,
he lay down on the bed, feeling somewhat exhausted.
He decided to rest first; everything else could wait until tomorrow.
At dawn,
Beiping City was about to witness a change of dynasty!