Chapter 51 Duan Zhengming doesn’t want to be a puppet!
Dali, Zhennan Palace.

Duan Zhengchun was almost going crazy.

Duan Yu is the only descendant of the Duan family. Duan Zhengchun was naturally very worried when he suddenly went missing.

Especially recently, Dali has been in turmoil, with the four evil men roaming around, and Duan Yu doesn't know martial arts. What if he meets the four evil men?
Therefore, Duan Zhengchun sent various people to search for Duan Yu's whereabouts.

Even Gao Shengtai mobilized the Gao family's power to find Duan Yu.

But there is no news at the moment.

If Duan Yu really made any mistake, Duan Zhengchun really didn't know how he would explain to Princess Dao Baifeng.

Suddenly, Chu Wanli, one of the four guards, came hurriedly, and without caring about etiquette, handed over a letter and said:
"Your Majesty, someone has sent me a letter. It is of great importance. Please make the decision."

Duan Zhengchun took the letter and was stunned.

Because the letter was signed by Prince Yanqing of Dali Kingdom!
The content of the letter was that Duan Yu was in the hands of Prince Yanqing, and if he wanted to save Duan Yu, he should go to Wanjie Valley for a talk.

Duan Zhengchun's heart sank.

After the four evil men became famous, the leader was named Duan Yanqing. The enemies he killed were all the people who had hunted down Prince Yanqing in the past. This was an act of confession.

The top leaders of the Duan clan in Dali naturally knew that Prince Yanqing, who was thought to be dead, actually survived.

Recently, four evil men have been appearing in Dali. Ye Erniang has kidnapped babies, Yue Laosan has killed innocent people, and Yun Zhonghe has raped women, causing unrest throughout the country.

Duan Yanqing seemed to have done nothing, but when he took revenge, he killed all of his enemies, which showed how violent and resentful he was.

That's why Duan Zhengming asked the senior monks from Shaolin Temple for help, which cost a lot of favors.

And now, the worst thing has happened, Duan Yu has fallen into Duan Yanqing's hands!

"This is a serious matter. I must go to the palace to report to my brother the Emperor before making a decision!" Duan Zhengchun said.

At that moment, Duan Zhengchun set out and went straight to the Dali Palace to ask for an audience with Baoding Emperor Duan Zhengming.

The two are brothers. Emperor Baoding has no children. Although Duan Zhengchun is not the crown prince in title, he is the crown prince in reality.

Therefore, it was easy for Duan Zhengchun to enter and leave the palace or meet with Emperor Baoding.

Different from the intrigues of other imperial families, the lineage of Duan Zhengming and Duan Zhengchun is small in number but they are as harmonious as a family.

"Prince Yanqing." After reading the letter, Emperor Baoding fell into memories.

The predecessor of Dali was the Nanzhao Kingdom. After the demise of the Nanzhao Kingdom, many domestic forces competed for power. Eventually, the Gao family and the Duan family joined forces to establish the Dali Kingdom.

But the Gao family was very powerful and made the greatest contribution to the founding of the country.

The Duan family was weak and made very little contribution.

Because the Duan family was too weak, the various forces within Dali wanted to reach a common denominator that everyone could accept. Therefore, with the support of the 37 tribes in eastern Yunnan, the Duan family ascended the throne.

Since the founding of Dali, the real power has been in the hands of the Gao family.

Most of the Gao clan leaders were prime ministers of the Dali Kingdom, similar to the later shoguns of Japan, while the Duan clan leaders were more like emperors in name only.

Decades ago, Yang Yizhen of the Yang family rebelled, murdered Emperor Shangde Duan Lianyi, and attempted to usurp the throne.

Duan Yanqing was also hacked to death by Yang Yizhen's men and his whereabouts are unknown.

This is the official statement.

But as the emperor of Dali, Duan Zhengming knew the inside story.

The Yang family's rebellion was nothing but clownish behavior to the more powerful Gao family.

However, the Gao family stood by and watched at first. It was not until the Duan family could no longer hold on that Gao Shengtai's father Gao Zhisheng negotiated terms with the Duan family of Dali, allowing Gao Shengtai to go and kill Yang Yizhen's party.

One of Gao Zhisheng's conditions was to let Tianlong Temple stand idly by and watch Duan Yanqing, because Duan Yanqing was the legitimate prince and had a righteous status, and it would be difficult to control him if he was enthroned.

Although Master Kurong of Tianlong Temple is Duan Yanqing's uncle, he had to abandon his nephew for the sake of the overall interests of the Duan family.

Gao Shengtai later supported Emperor Shangming to become emperor. A year later, he forced Emperor Shangming to abdicate and established Duan Zhengming as emperor, who was known as Emperor Baoding.

By deposing and enthroning emperors, and enthroning a member of a side branch with weak legal authority as the Dali emperor, Gao Shengtai once monopolized power.

If there were no martial arts in this world, it would be easy for Gao Shengtai to depose Duan Zhengming and establish himself as the ruler.

But precisely because there are martial arts in this world, Duan Zhengming and his brothers worked hard to practice their family's unique martial art, the One Yang Finger, and to build up their connections in the martial arts world. Duan Zhengchun also married Dao Baifeng, the daughter of the Baiyi tribe's chief, through a political marriage, which provided a great help and gradually helped Duan Zhengming regain some power.

Although Duan Zhengming was still a weak emperor, he was at least no longer a complete puppet.

Everyone knows that Baoding Emperor Duan Zhengming is a man of great martial arts skills, a kind and benevolent character, and a close relationship with fellow martial artists. He has a great reputation in Dali. This makes it extremely difficult for Gao Shengtai to establish himself as emperor.

But Gao Shengtai also realized the negative impact of martial arts on politics, so Gao Shengtai made friends with Duan Zhengchun, and liked Duan Yu very much, and continued to influence Duan Yu.

Duan Yu didn't want to learn martial arts, and Duan Zhengming and Duan Zhengchun were helpless. This was all the influence exerted by Gao Shengtai.

After all, the Duan family is a little weaker, and Duan Zhengming is actually ready to abdicate at any time to consider the overall situation.

As long as the throne is still in the hands of the Duan family, he will always put the overall situation first.

But if possible, he would also like to stay in power. After all, the taste of power is so wonderful that even a little taste can make you addicted.

Duan Zhengming had known for a long time that Prince Yanqing was not dead, and he also knew that Prince Yanqing had become the leader of the four evil men, but what he was thinking about was how to use Prince Yanqing to restrain Gao Shengtai.

Today, Prince Yanqing has become much more mature. He has formed a group of four evil men and is no longer afraid of being besieged. He has also joined the Yipintang of Western Xia and sought political support.

However, Duan Yanqing had a bad reputation and a ruined appearance, so it was impossible for him to become emperor. He was not a threat to Duan Zhengming at all, but rather an object that Duan Zhengming could use.

As his mind turned, Duan Zhengming said in a deep voice: "Brother Chun, I have seen the calligraphy of Prince Yanqing in the past. This is indeed like the handwriting of Prince Yanqing."

Duan Zhengchun said: "We can't really confirm his identity just by handwriting. Now Yu'er has fallen into his hands. What should we do?"

Duan Zhengming said: "Don't worry."

Duan Zhengming thought about it and said to the eunuch beside him: "Announce that Gao Shengtai, the Marquis of Shanchan, and the three ministers come to the court to see the emperor."

Gao Shengtai was definitely more anxious about Duan Yanqing's unexpected change than Duan Zhengming.

Soon, Gao Shengtai brought the three dukes of Dali, Ba Tianshi, Hua Hegen, and Fan Hua, to the audience.

After the ministers saluted, Gao Shengtai asked, "The emperor has urgently summoned you. What is the important matter?"

"There is Duan Yanqing, one of the four evil men who has committed many crimes. He calls himself the Prince Yanqing and has kidnapped the Prince of Zhennan," Duan Zhengming explained.

"Impersonation, absolutely an impersonation!" Gao Shengtai denied Duan Yanqing's identity. "Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the troops to conquer the Valley of Ten Thousand Tribulations and rescue His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"No! First, this matter involves the Duan family's dirty laundry and should not be made public. Second, the people in Wanjie Valley are all martial artists. Sending troops against them will damage the dignity of our Dali Kingdom. Third, the prince is still in Duan Yanqing's hands. If we attack by force, it is very likely that Duan Yanqing will be destroyed along with him, damaging the foundation of Dali Kingdom." Duan Zhengming rejected Gao Shengtai's proposal.

Gao Shengtai was not angry either, and asked, "What does the emperor think?"

Duan Zhengming said: "I have decided to lead a small number of experts to test the true strength of Duan Yanqing. If we can negotiate, then we will negotiate. If not, then we will try to outwit him."

"Your Majesty is wise, and I am willing to accompany you," said Gao Shengtai.

He was also very curious about Duan Yanqing and wanted to see Duan Yanqing's true strengths so that he could know himself better than his enemy.

"Let's go without further ado!" Duan Zhengming said.

A few hours later.

Valley of Ten Thousand Tribulations.

The Duan and Gao families of Dali, with dozens of experts, came to the outside of Wanjie Valley.

As soon as Duan Zhengchun saw the sign at the door that said "Anyone with the surname Duan who enters the valley will be killed without mercy", he was shocked and furious: I haven't had an affair with Bao Bao for many years, and you are still guarding against me like a thief. This is outrageous! I will immediately have someone dig a secret passage to meet with Gan Bao Bao in order to avenge your rudeness!
Thinking of this, Duan Zhengchun was slightly moved.

Duan Zhengming just smiled at the sign, gathered all his inner strength, and said loudly: "The head of the Dali Duan Clan, Duan Zhengming, wishes to see Master Zhong. Mr. Duan, please see me."

Duan Zhengming's voice showed his superb internal strength in order to intimidate Zhong Wanchou.

The fact that he called himself "the head of the Dali Duan family" instead of "I" was also intended to confine the matter to the scope of martial arts struggles to avoid becoming too politicized.

After all, Duan Zhengming's martial arts skills are better than Gao Shengtai's, so if it's a martial arts fight, Duan Zhengming will have the final say.

If it turns into a political struggle, that would be Gao Shengtai's strong point.

As soon as Duan Zhengming finished speaking, he saw a disabled person with crutches tap the ground with his crutches and then used the "swallow skimming the water" light skill to rush out of the valley. This light skill made Duan Zhengming cheer in his heart.

Next, Zhong Wanchou and some strange martial arts heroes came out one after another.

Afterwards, another young man in blue, with a handsome appearance and extraordinary bearing, walked out of the valley with a few beauties who were so beautiful that they were dazzling.

Duan Zhengchun looked carefully and his eyes fell on one of the girls. He felt that the girl looked very familiar, but he couldn't remember who she was. He was puzzled: Could she be my old lover? But my taste has changed slightly in recent years. I only like beautiful women and mature women. I don't have much feeling for girls. How strange! Where have I seen this girl before?

The more Duan Zhengchun thought about it, the more confused he became. The truth was that he fell in love with every woman he met, and the list of women he had played with in his life was so thick that it was difficult for him to think of a specific person without any prompt.

He was just worrying when he heard Duan Zhengming ask, "Which one is Master Zhong?"

(End of this chapter)