The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 394

The first thing Zhou Chu arranged for Dong Rui to do was to entertain these nobles from various regions and the people sent by the vassal kings.

This was Zhou Chu's way of getting Dong Rui to show his loyalty. Once Dong Rui had entertained these people, he would no longer be able to get along with the gentry of Jiangnan. After all, his actions for Zhou Chu, and his high-profile approach, were bound to attract attention.

Dong Rui naturally understood this principle as well. The reason he had pretended to be confused about the orders from the Jiangnan gentry group was because he knew very well that what these people were doing was detrimental to the Ming Dynasty. To put it bluntly, it was a pirate ship.

Although Dong Rui wasn't very capable, he did have some vision. Later, Zhou Chu's appearance made him glad that he hadn't gotten too involved with the Jiangnan Group, otherwise it would have been difficult to extricate himself.

Most importantly, there are countless officials attached to the Jiangnan Group. Dong Rui understands that if he relies on the Jiangnan Group for promotion, he doesn't know when he will be able to get promoted.

As for the huge profits that Jiangnan Group made from smuggling, Dong Rui was interested, but not much. Let alone how much he could get, even if it was more than what Dong Rui had embezzled, Dong Rui knew very well that once he took the money, he had to do the job, and the money he had embezzled was more than enough for him to live on.

Compared to money, Dong Rui was more interested in his career, so after meeting Zhou Chu this time, he presented Zhou Chu with his pledge of loyalty: Dong Shu'er.

Placing Dong Shu'er by Zhou Chu's side was a way of telling Zhou Chu that Dong Rui originally believed Zhou Chu would do anything for him, even risk his life.

Although Dong Rui wasn't particularly capable, he was very clever and knew exactly who to follow and what to do. Following Zhou Chu was the right path. Who did Zhou Chu represent? The Emperor. How could it be wrong to follow the Emperor?

No matter how righteous and noble those gentry and officials in Jiangnan may be, even if they can turn black into white, Dong Rui is not stupid. In the officialdom, everyone knows who is who.

If Dong Rui didn't know what to do a little over a year ago, then after Zhou Chu stirred things up throughout Jiangnan and drastically changed the situation there, he no longer had any doubts.

In particular, he watched Yan Song rise from a lowly official in the capital to the prefect of Suzhou, and then to the de facto leader of Jiangnan Province.

Then there's Zhang Cong. Not long after he entered officialdom, he rose through the ranks at a speed that Dong Rui had never seen or even heard of, because he firmly stood on Zhou Chu's side. He went straight to the position of Governor of Southern Zhili, a high-ranking official in charge of a region.

The covetousness of these two men made Dong Rui envious. He regretted not being Yan Song or Zhang Cong. If he had joined Zhou Chu earlier, he would likely be a high-ranking official, if not a regional governor.

Dong Rui was intrigued. He had been looking for an opportunity, and unexpectedly, he actually encountered one: the assassinated Zhou Chu appeared outside Shaoxing City.

When Dong Rui heard the news, he was both happy and worried. He was happy that he could finally express his feelings to Commander Zhou, but he was worried because he had done some things for the Jiangnan Group in the past, and he was afraid that Zhou Chu would investigate him.

It wasn't until Zhou Chu agreed to let Dong Shu'er stay by his side to serve him that Dong Rui understood Zhou Chu's meaning. He breathed a sigh of relief and was overjoyed. He knew very well that Lord Zhou had initially accepted him.

Two days after Dong Rui returned to his residence, Chen Zhao came to the Dong residence and told Dong Rui that nobles from various places would be coming to Shaoxing Prefecture soon, and asked him to do a good job of receiving them.

Dong Rui was very excited when he heard this. He knew very well what it meant that Lord Zhou had assigned him a task.

So Dong Rui immediately ordered the entire Dong Mansion to be cleaned up, and even bought several houses near the Dong Mansion, all in order to prepare for the reception.

The people sent by these nobles were of different kinds; some were princes' heirs, and some were princesses. Among them was a familiar face to Zhou Chu, Princess Zhu Siying of the Prince of Dai's Mansion.