Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 19 Who else would you rather me?
The original plan was to let Zhu Yunhuan kneel for half an hour, but who knew that something suddenly happened, so Old Zhu naturally had to deal with it before going to Fengxian Hall.

After finishing all this, Lao Zhu asked, "Is Yunxun still kneeling?"

The young eunuch quickly replied, "His Highness the Third Grandson of the Emperor knelt for half an hour and was about to return to the palace but was stopped. Someone came to report that His Highness was taking a rest."

Old Zhu was stunned for a moment and asked, "Rest? How do you rest?"

The young eunuch did not dare to hide it and said, "It is said that he was lying in Fengxian Hall, resting on a cushion."

Old Zhu was immediately furious. He looked around but didn't see Baojian. "He sleeps wherever he goes! He dares to lie down and sleep soundly in Wuying Palace, and he dares to sleep in front of the ancestors!"

After saying that, Old Zhu left with a wave of his sleeves, and walked towards the Fengxian Temple with a gait of a dragon and a tiger. Seeing that the branches on the side of the road were more convenient, he immediately broke off a branch and held it in his hand, ready to deal a good lesson to the grandson who deserved to be dealt with.

Seeing the aggressive emperor, the guards and eunuchs knelt on the ground.

As Zhu entered the Fengxian Hall, he suddenly felt soft-hearted. He saw Zhu Yunhuan sleeping soundly on the futon and snoring. Incense was burning in front of the spirit tablets of his relatives, looking peaceful and tranquil.

Old Zhu sighed, burned incense to his ancestors, and then stared at Zhu Biao's spirit tablet in a daze.

Zhu Yunhuan suddenly shook and woke up. When he sat up, he saw Old Zhu sitting beside him with a kind face.

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan awake, Old Zhu scolded him, "I told you to kneel down, but you dare to sleep in front of our ancestors?"

"Why not?" Zhu Yunhuan asked back, "My ancestors are happy to see me safe and happy. I can't sleep well in other places, but I sleep soundly here."

Old Zhu pointed at Zhu Yunhuan and scolded him again, "You don't get enough sleep every day. If you really become the crown prince and the emperor in the future, you will have to get up before dawn to attend court. When others are resting, you will still have to review memorials. Tell me, can you bear this hardship?"

Zhu Yunhuan was not too worried. "I must protect the foundation of my ancestors. When I become the crown prince and emperor, I will have to take on this responsibility. Now you are governing the country, so I don't have to worry too much. I can eat and sleep. When I govern the country, I will definitely do my best to protect the country."

Old Zhu was silent for a long time before he said, "You are so brave. Yunwen would not dare to talk to us like this! Even if we were to talk about the crown prince or the emperor, he would be terrified."

Zhu Yunhuan said with a playful smile, "He is a bastard's son, and I am a legitimate son. He is guilty, and I am sincere."

Old Zhu patted Zhu Yunhuan's head. When the eldest brother was alive, he never concealed his political ideas when talking about becoming the emperor in the future. There was no need for him to show fear on the surface, and everything seemed to be natural.

In the early years, when my sister and grandson were around, my sister often mentioned that the country would be passed on to the grandson. The grandson was not very sensible at the time, and he always clamored to be the emperor, and he felt that it was justified.

"We invited Yunwen to have a meal, and you deliberately pissed us off?" After Zhu came to his senses, he continued to scold, "You are the emperor's grandson, our grandson, how can you meet the nobles? If you run to the Five Military Commandery, the East Palace won't be able to sleep well tonight!"

Zhu Yunhuan seemed to be professional in causing trouble for Zhu and making Zhu Yunwen uncomfortable.

"Then you don't have to meet him. Even if you do, just don't invite him to dinner. Few of the other uncles will eat with you." Zhu Yunhuan said, "Now you invite him to dinner. Everyone in the court and the public will know about it tomorrow. What will you do then? Everyone else will say that you want to make him the emperor. It will be hard for him to come down after you pull the ladder up!"

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunhuan and said, "He is truly the eldest son's son. He is really good at insulting others! He is usually friendly and respectful to his brothers, but he becomes overbearing when it comes to the throne."

"Which of the other uncles dared to compete with him? He didn't have to be overbearing!" Zhu Yunhuan said with some complaints, "I am different. It doesn't matter if someone dares to compete with me, but the key is that you are biased. You have been thinking of Yunwen before."

Old Zhu was speechless for a moment, because what Zhu Yunhuan said hit the nail on the head. A few days ago, there was almost no doubt about the choice of the crown prince.

Zhu Yunwen is the current "eldest grandson" of Zhu Yuanzhang. He has loved reading since he was a child and has the elegant and honest appearance of the former crown prince Zhu Biao. He is simply the best choice.

At that time, Zhu Yunhuan was not even considered by the old Zhu. And almost no one in the court remembered Zhu Yunhuan.

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Biao's spirit tablet with a gloomy look and said, "Yun Hun, do you know why I chose your second brother before?"

"I was useless in the past. With my reputation as a playboy and my useless character, who would dare to entrust the country to me?" Zhu Yunhuan knew his own limitations and said, "Even if Grandfather is hesitant now, I can understand."

Old Zhu didn't even look at Zhu Yunwen, and continued, "That's right, you had a very bad reputation before. Although I didn't see you often before, I knew a little bit about you." Old Zhu also continued, "We are old, and we don't know when we will be gone. Yunwen has had a good reputation since he was a child, so it's safer."

Zhu's idea is definitely correct, but he obviously doesn't know that Zhu Yunwen in history was defeated miserably when a flying dragon hit him in the face.

Lao Zhu continued, "You come from a bad family, and this is also something we are afraid of."

Zhu Yunhuan had a good family background. He was the legitimate son of Crown Prince Zhu Biao. His maternal grandfather was Prince Kaiping Chang Yuchun, and his great-uncle was Duke of Liang Lan Yu.

This background is naturally excellent, but it is also what worries Lao Zhu.

Zhu Yunhuan's strong noble bloodline also made Zhu worry about the possibility of foreign relatives interfering in politics.

Chang Mao and Chang Sheng are both incompetent, but Lan Yu's domineering personality is worrying. Zhu is very worried about whether Zhu Yunhuan can suppress Lan Yu.

Great uncle, great uncle is nothing in front of the throne.

Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, was already powerful during the reign of his son-in-law, Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou, and he was ruthless in seizing the country and people from his adopted grandson.

When Wu Zetian was in power, she favored members of the Wu family, and all the descendants of the Li Tang royal family were trembling with fear, and many of them were killed. When Zhao Kuangyin was crowned emperor, he also bullied the orphans and widows of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang was worried about the interference of external relatives in government affairs and the presence of powerful officials in the court.

No matter whether it was Zhu Yunwen or Zhu Yunhuan, they were only boys under the age of fifteen and had never been involved in government affairs. No one knew whether they could control those arrogant and fierce generals.

Zhu Yunhuan understood this and said, "That's why I said I would go to pay homage to the first Prince of Kaiping in a few days. Grandfather Huang will just watch. I can't control those nobles now, will I be able to control them in the future?"

Old Zhu said worriedly, "At my age, if God gives me ten more years, I can help you ascend the throne and keep the throne. God has been so harsh on me. I lost my parents, my wife, and now my son. Yunhuan, why do you think God treats me like this?"

Zhu Yunhuan said, "Five years. Grandpa Huang still has at least five years, right? In my opinion, ten years is not certain."

Old Zhu was originally sentimental, but suddenly he became furious, "Ten years? Five years? Are you hoping that I will die soon?"

Zhu Yunhuan immediately jumped up and dodged, "Didn't you mention this first? We were discussing important matters, why did you start fighting again?"

"You still dare to run?" Old Zhu picked up a branch, which he had to use now. "Come here, I'm too old to run!"

Zhu Yunhuan kept a safe distance. It was painful to be hit by a thin stick. "Grandfather, I'm not trying to flatter you. You used a lot of force when you hit me these few times. I'm not saying flattering words to wish you a long life. I think with Grandfather's health, it won't be difficult for him to live to be seventy or eighty years old!"

"I don't want to live that long. If it weren't for the country, I wouldn't want to live! There's no point in living!" Old Zhu pointed at Zhu Yunhuan with a branch and said, "Come here quickly to receive your punishment!"

Zhu Yunhuan still shook his head, "Grandfather, let's discuss the matter of the crown prince. Don't rush to appoint a crown prince. I know you are worried about my character and ability now, just wait and see. I'm not bragging, even if I'm useless, I'm definitely better than Yunwen!"

The brilliant record created by Zhu Yunwen is really hard for anyone to surpass. It has broken through the floor and the lower limit!
Seeing that Old Zhu didn't say anything, Zhu Yunhuan continued, "When my father is buried, I will beat the banners and smash the pots!"

Old Zhu jumped up and cursed angrily, "Just now you said you were in no hurry to establish a crown prince, but now you want to beat the banners and smash the pots. If you do it, everyone in the world will know who the crown prince is!"

"I am the legitimate son, who else could it be if not me?" Zhu Yunhuan turned and ran away quickly. Old Zhu was really angry, "Etiquette, etiquette! The throne is passed down in an orderly manner, you set the rules in your early years!"

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan trying to run away, Old Zhu shouted, "Catch that unworthy descendant for us!"

Zhu Yunhuan was horrified. He could run faster than Old Zhu, but there were a lot of guards and eunuchs outside the Fengxian Hall, so he couldn't get out!

(End of this chapter)