The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Somersault Cloud, Old Zhu was so envious he cried!

After Hu Wan finished speaking, Zhao An was already lost in thought.

A picture seemed to unfold before his eyes.

In the Golden Palace, he sat imposingly on the dragon throne, with a row of people kneeling below him.

The one at the very front is Zhu Yuanzhang, his head pressed against the ground, barely daring to breathe.

He raised one foot and slowly stepped on Zhu Yuanzhang's head, stomping and grinding it.

"Hehehe..."

As Zhao An thought about it, he couldn't help but laugh out loud, laughing happily like a fool.

Hu Wan watched from the side, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

Why did this person suddenly go crazy?

"Brother Zhao?" Hu Wan called out tentatively, "Brother Zhao!"

Zhao An was still lost in his imperial dreams and didn't hear a thing.

Hu Wan: "..."

He finally understood; this guy was a fool.

You can't reason with a fool.

Without saying a word, Hu Wan raised his hand and slapped him.

"Snapped!"

The slap was crisp and loud.

Zhao An was knocked so hard he staggered, his dream instantly shattered.

He jolted awake, instinctively drawing the knife from his waist, his face contorted with rage as he looked around frantically: "Who? Who just hit me?"

"it's me."

Hu Wan stood in front of him, expressionless.

Zhao An opened his mouth, but the knife he was holding stopped in mid-air, and his imposing aura suddenly weakened.

...Oh, it's Hu Wan. Never mind then.

But then he thought about it again and realized that wasn't right.

You are the head of the family, and so am I.

We're business partners, I'm not your underling, so why are you hitting me?

Zhao An grew angrier the more he thought about it, and just as he took a breath, he wanted to question Hu Wan.

Hu Wan beat him to it.

Hu Wan remained expressionless and said, word by word, "Patriarch Zhao, our lives hang in the balance. How long are you going to continue this nonsense?"

"If this fails, it won't just be our heads that are lost, but also the heads of our men and our entire families. We'll all be buried with them."

"I've risked the lives of my entire family; do you think I'm here to play house with you?"

Zhao An swallowed back the words that were about to come out.

He lowered his head, sheepishly apologizing, "Brother Hu, I was confused just now. What do you suggest we do next?"

"Just do as I just said." Hu Wan added, "Don't think about anything else until things are settled."

Zhao An dared not utter another word. He quickly summoned one of his trusted confidants and whispered, "Return to the Zhao family immediately and gather all the men you can!"

The confidant responded and turned to disappear into the night.

Hu Wan didn't hesitate either. He called over one of his trusted confidants, gave him a few instructions, and the man went to carry out his orders.

After the two of them had walked away,

Hu Wan then turned his head and looked at the remaining brothers below.

"Gentlemen," he raised his voice, "if this vote succeeds tonight, everyone will receive a reward of one thousand taels of silver!"

One thousand taels?

A commotion erupted below, with everyone exclaiming in surprise.

"One thousand taels?!"

"I could work my whole life and still not save that much!"

"With so much money, even if you went to brothels to listen to music every day, you still wouldn't be able to spend it all!"

The eyes of the people below immediately turned red.

Zhao An leaned close to Hu Wan's ear and said with a pained expression, "Brother Hu, isn't giving each person a thousand taels a bit too much?"

Hu Wan turned his head and looked at him in surprise.

That look seemed to say: How did such an idiot become the head of the Zhao family?

"What are you afraid of?" Hu Wan said in a low voice, "Let's just offer them a glimpse of the future. Whether we actually get the money in the end is another matter."

Zhao An was taken aback at first, then suddenly realized what was going on, his eyes lit up, and he gave Hu Wan a thumbs up:

"Brother Hu, your strategy is truly brilliant!"

Hu Wan ignored him and silently turned his head away.

He pulled a black cloth from his pocket and quickly covered his face, leaving only his eyes exposed.

Then he drew his sword and waved behind him: "Go!"

The brothers followed him, crouching low as they crept toward the courtyard gate.

Zhao An became anxious and searched his body thoroughly.

Where's the black cloth?

Zhao An's expression suddenly froze.

Oh no, I forgot to bring it when I left the house!

Just as Hu Wan and his men were about to reach the courtyard gate,

He quickly lowered his voice and called out, "Brother Hu! Brother Hu! Wait for me!"

Hu Wan stopped in his tracks, turned sharply, glared at him fiercely, and roared in a low voice, "Don't fucking call me by my name! The moment you yell like that, everyone knows who I am! What's the point of covering my face?!"

Zhao An shrank back at the shout and quickly apologized in a low voice, "Yes, yes, it's my fault, it's my fault..."

Then, he asked timidly, "Then... what should I call you?"

Hu Wan: "..."

He was stumped by the question.

Finally, Hu Wan thought for a moment and said, "From now on, you will call me Zhang Mazi."

"Zhang Mazi!" Zhao An immediately changed his address, calling out the name, then felt something was off. He scratched his head and muttered to himself, "Zhang Mazi... this nickname..."

Hu Wan ignored him, turned around and waved his hand: "Let's go!"

Zhao An was about to follow when he realized he wasn't masked yet. He turned around and saw a masked henchman.

Without saying a word, he reached out and ripped the black cloth off the underling's face, then quickly covered his own face with it.

The younger brother was completely dumbfounded.

Even if you don't have it, you can't take it from me!

"Master, Master..." He looked at Zhao An with a pitiful expression, "You took mine away, what am I supposed to do?"

"You don't need to." Zhao An casually tossed out a sentence, then turned around and quickly followed Hu Wan's footsteps.

The young man stood there, touched his bald face, and looked at the departing procession, completely dumbfounded.

The group made their way to the main gate.

Hu Wan stopped and winked at his men behind him, signaling them to go first.

But the night was too dark.

He gave him a long look, but his men just stared at him without moving.

Hu Wan: "..."

He finally understood that in the dark, eye contact was completely useless.

He took a deep breath and shouted:

"Brothers, charge!"

With that shout,

The brothers, like wild horses unleashed, charged forward with weapons in hand.

Several burly men rushed to the door and rammed it open with a loud crash.

A group of people filed in and stormed into the courtyard.

They had only just rushed into the yard and hadn't yet figured out what was going on.

Suddenly, all the lights around the courtyard turned on.

The entire courtyard suddenly became as bright as day.

From pitch black to blindingly bright.

Hu Wan and his group felt their vision go white, and tears welled up in their eyes.

One by one, they instinctively raised their hands to cover their eyes, and their steps became disordered.

At this moment,

Xu Miaoyun had been waiting for a long time in front of the main hall.

She stood calmly in the center of the lamplight, dressed in a blue robe.

On the index fingers of both her hands, there was a black tube.

This was the air pistol that Zhu Ming had given her.

She slowly raised her hands, pointed them at the group of thieves who had broken in, and softly uttered a single word:

"Bang."

Two compressed air projectiles shot out from her index finger!

"boom--!"

An invisible shockwave struck the densest part of the crowd.

The dozen or so thieves, huddled together, didn't even have time to react before they were swept away as if by an invisible hand.

The crowd immediately descended into chaos.

Those in front, knife and all, were thrown into a heap, while those behind were knocked off balance, and the whole yard was filled with chaotic shouts.