Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 1355 Separation
After a short rest, the army continued its journey south.

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, the army arrived in Daning.

At this time, Zhu Zhen told Fu Youde and Lan Yu that they were not planning to go south.

"What?!" Fu Lan and the others were trembling with fear, wondering what the masters were going to do next. "Where else to go if not to the south?"

"Go east to Huludao in western Liaoning." Zhu Zhen answered seriously, "It's not that cold this year, and the Maritime Customs reported that it's still navigable. So we decided to go back by boat, so that we can spend the New Year with my father, the emperor, and my mother."

"Ah?" They opened their mouths wide, then closed them at the same time. "Oh..."

I understood immediately. This is to save the face of King Yan!
"The princes are truly filial." Fu Youde said with admiration on his face.

"Ah, what a filial piety." Lan Yu quickly echoed, and then asked: "Who will lead the army back?"

"Of course it's you, the chief contributor." Zhu Zhen said sternly, "Go and lead the soldiers to accept the cheers and worship from the people along the way, but be careful not to disturb them."

"Yes." Lan Yu was very happy, and it was not known whether he heard the second half of the sentence.

"By the way, my third brother will continue to be your military supervisor, and he will take care of the villains." Zhu Zhen said again.

"Oh, yes." Lan Yu's smile was not as bright.

~~
So after leaving Daning, Zhu Zhen and his entourage parted ways with the main army and headed towards the Liaoxi Corridor along the route they had taken to safely transport grain and fodder.

This route has not yet recovered from the busyness it had during the Yuan Dynasty, and now there are even fewer vehicles and horses. The army walked for half a day without seeing a single person.

In the prisoner car with a warm tent on top and felt blankets all around, Zhu Di was moved and held Zhu Zhen's hand: "Sixth brother, you are so good to fourth brother. If I let you down in this life, I am not a human being..."

How could he not know the truth that even Fu Youde and Lan Yu understood in seconds? Lao Liu took the sea route purely to avoid the prefectures and counties along the way, so that he would not have to embarrass himself in front of tens of millions of people.

What’s even more heartwarming is that the sixth brother also sent the third brother to supervise the army, so that there would be no one buzzing around him like a fly, laughing at him all the time.

However, the third brother was also very grateful to the sixth brother because he was seasick...

"Alas, Fourth Brother, please don't cause me any more trouble in the future." Zhu Zhen smiled bitterly, shook off his hand, and fanned the fire, saying, "At least don't cause such a big trouble."

"Hehe, I promise that this is the only time I will be impulsive in my life." Zhu Di put his hands on the stove and confessed his true thoughts: "Actually, I didn't do this on impulse. I just held my anger for too long."

"How long?" Zhu Zhen put his hands into his warm sleeves.

"From the moment my father-in-law announced the appointment." Zhu Di gritted his teeth and said, "At that time, I thought that after my father-in-law fell ill, my father asked me to act as the commander of the General's Office, so the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition would probably be me. Even if not, it should be the role played by Lan Yu later."

"It turns out that I thought too much..." Zhu Di sighed angrily. Although it had been many days, it was still hard to think about it. He picked up the wine pot from the stove and took a big gulp of the strong liquor.

"I, the great King of Yan, am only left with the army to fight and obey orders..."

"I was also surprised, but Third Brother is the same as you, so the old man is not targeting you." Zhu Zhen said softly.

"I know, so I endured it. I thought I could endure it, but for more than half a year, others were fighting fiercely in the front, and I was either building cities or supervising grain. Not to mention myself, even the brothers under me couldn't stand it." Zhu Di said in a muffled voice:

"Later, there was the third brother in the expeditionary army, but my name was not included. I couldn't hold it anymore, so I discussed with the brothers below and came up with a plan to pass off a fake as the real..." "Puff..." Zhu Zhen almost couldn't hold it back. The fourth brother's cultural level was still as low-key as ever.

"What are you laughing at?" Zhu Di asked curiously.

"No, I thought of Hua Mulan." Zhu Zhen laughed and said seriously, "The list of soldiers going to the war was decided by the old man, but I appointed Third Brother as the military supervisor. Fourth Brother must understand the reason."

"Yes, how can I be a military supervisor?" Zhu Di nodded in agreement and said, "So I don't blame you at all."

"That's the weird old man?" Zhu Zhen chuckled.

"A little bit." Zhu Di did not deny it and whispered, "I know why my father did not let me lead the army. Isn't it because he was afraid that I would use my achievements in pacifying the Northern Yuan Dynasty to completely take over my father-in-law's army?"

The fourth brother became angrier and angrier as he spoke: "What do you think my father thinks of me? Sixth brother, you know me well. My ideal has always been to be a general and die on the battlefield! Do I have the slightest ambition? Even if the throne is placed in front of me and I am asked to be the emperor, I have no interest in it!"

He was so frustrated that he almost crushed the silver wine flask and hissed, "So I just want to go against him. If he doesn't let me go, I will go anyway. No matter how serious the consequences are, I will go!"

"Fourth brother, you are dwelling on a dead end." Zhu Zhen shook his head and said to him, "I never think about this kind of thing carefully, so I advise you not to think about it blindly either."

"Don't come on, do you think I don't know you? You are so meticulous." Zhu Di sneered and said, "I don't believe that your father has been using you and guarding against you for the past few years. Can you not feel it?"

"I do feel that, but that's normal." Zhu Zhen smiled openly and tucked the bearskin coat on the fourth son. He said calmly, "We are both father and son, and monarch and subject. No matter how much the old man loves you, there are some things he has to do, otherwise he would not be a competent emperor."

Then he asked, "Do you think the old man is competent?"

"He is more than competent, he is simply..." Zhu Di wanted to describe Zhu as a model worker, but he was ignorant and could only say "Fuck you".

"So we don't need to think too much about the old man's arrangements. If we think too much, we will only get hurt." Zhu Zhen sighed faintly: "In fact, as an emperor, he is already like a father."

"..." Zhu Di smacked his lips, thinking for a long time and it was true. Besides, he had already let out his temper, so he naturally wouldn't argue with Lao Liu anymore, so he said in a submissive manner: "Otherwise, how come you are the Grand Master, and you see things more clearly than us."

"Haha..." Zhu Zhen smiled, stretched, got off the prisoner car, and said to Zhu Di: "Huludao is almost here, please bear with me for a while, fourth brother."

"Yeah." Zhu Di nodded.

The guards took away the stove and removed the felt blanket. Fortunately, the bearskin coat was still with him, so the fourth brother didn't freeze like a dog.

Zhu Zhen also took a look at Zhang Yu and Ping An. Zhang Yu naturally didn't care, since no one here knew him anyway.

But this is Ping An's original territory.

Zhu Zhen asked, "Brother Baoer, do you need a hood?"

"No need." Ping An held his head high and said, "Even if I sit in the prison car, I am still a great hero who has sealed the Wolf and Lair!"

As he said this, he grinned at Zhu Zhen gratefully and said, "Your Majesty, thank you very much."

"It's my duty." Zhu Zhen smiled warmly. Although he didn't know whether he was thanking him for helping him on the battlefield, he was thanking him for writing his name into the memorial.

(End of this chapter)