Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 37 King Zhou Returns to Beijing
Old Zhu was partial. From the moment Zhu Biao was born, he was treated differently from his other brothers in many ways.

But Zhu Yuanzhang was also fair, and sometimes the princes were treated the same.

Zhu Yuanzhang restored the Han tradition, so he naturally had to use the crown and robes. The emperor wore a crown with twelve tassels and twelve robes, while the crown prince and the princes all wore a crown with nine tassels and nine robes.

Zhu Yunhuan's current situation is rather complicated. Normally, the prince should wear a crown with eight tassels and seven-chapter clothing, while the prince should wear a crown with seven tassels and five-chapter clothing.

Zhu Yuanzhang even decided that the eldest son of the crown prince would be the crown prince, and the second eldest son and concubine's son would be made princes when they were ten years old. Or when the eldest son of a prince turned ten, the court would grant him a golden book and a golden seal and make him the crown prince.

However, in practice, many emperor's grandsons were not directly canonized when they reached the age of ten.

So whether to use the crown of the crown prince or the crown of the county prince was originally a difficult problem. However, such a difficult problem was not a problem for Zhu Yuanzhang, as the rules he set were often quite flexible.

The seven-tassel crown and five-pattern robes were not only given to Zhu Yunhuan, but the Eastern Palace also sent a set of crown and robes to Zhu Yunwen.

Zhu Yunhuan got up early, washed, changed into the crown and clothes, and then went to Fengxian Hall.

Near noon, Zhu Yunwen brought Prince of Zhou Zhu Su into the palace.

Zhu Su went straight to Fengxian Hall. Old Zhu was also dressed in casual clothes. He accepted the three kowtows from his fifth son and turned to leave.

Zhu Yunwen continued to take Zhu Su to Fengxian Hall to worship their ancestors.

Old Zhu put on the crown and held a large sceptre with eight big characters engraved on it: "Follow the will of Heaven and follow the ancestors, and pass it down from generation to generation."

After Zhu Su finished offering sacrifices in Fengxian Hall, he went to see Old Zhu again. This time he had to perform the etiquette between monarch and subject, which included five bows and three kowtows.

After Zhu Yuanzhang conquered the country, he restored the Han Chinese rituals, including the four-bow ritual, the bowing ritual, and the kowtow ritual. Zhu Yuanzhang did not allow the Hu people's kneeling ritual to exist, which was "Hu kneeling".

Zhu Su himself found it strange that it was Zhu Yunwen who entered the city, but the one standing behind his father should be his nephew Zhu Yunhuan.

Zhu Yunhuan turned aside. Although he was determined to seize the throne, he was still a nephew. How could he accept his uncle's gift? Even if he became the emperor, according to the rules set by Zhu, he still had to perform family etiquette after the formal ceremony.

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan's actions, Zhu Yunwen was secretly proud. He had discussed with Lu before that if the uncles saluted, he would accept it, which showed his ambition to intimidate the uncles. This was the ambition of the emperor and the elder!
Arriving at the side hall again, Old Zhu changed into his casual clothes again, and Zhu Su performed the four bows again, but this time he did not kowtow.

Etiquette may seem complicated, but sometimes it is necessary to follow these etiquettes.

Looking at the obviously haggard and aged old Zhu, Zhu Su wept and said, "Father! Take care of yourself!"

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Su and said sadly, "Old Fifth, your eldest brother is gone, and your sworn brother is gone too."

Zhu Su was even more sad. When he was a child, he often played with Mu Ying. When he was a child, his elder brother taught him to study and practice martial arts. When he grew up and became a vassal, he made many mistakes, but his elder brother also protected him.

Looking at Zhu Su who was crying, Old Zhu said sadly, "Old Fifth, why is my life so miserable? I am already this old, and I have lost my son and my adopted son."

Zhu Su was silent for a long time before he said, "Father, please accept my condolences. I will go to see my brother."

Old Zhu waved his hand and pointed at Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunxun, "Old Fifth, your two nephews have also met. Tell me, who do you like?"

Zhu Yunwen immediately became serious and sat up straight. From today when he went to pick up King Zhou, he strictly required himself, and every move he made was very royal.

Zhu Su's face turned pale, and he said in panic, "My two nephews are both outstanding people. How dare I speak nonsense!"

Old Zhu said with a straight face, "We'll let you speak!"

Zhu Su looked at Zhu Yunwen, who had a serious face and tried hard to pretend to be dignified and majestic, and then looked at Zhu Yunxun, who had a kind and approachable face, and tried hard to organize his words.

After a long time, Zhu Su slowly spoke, "My nephew Yunwen is kind and studious, and he is very similar to my brother."

Zhu Yuanzhang was basically satisfied with this evaluation, but not completely satisfied. Because many people said so, saying that Yunwen was like the eldest brother. But in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, Yunwen had not even learned the basics of the eldest brother.

Zhu Su glanced at Old Zhu carefully and continued, "My nephew Yunhu, I am not familiar with you." Old Zhu became even more unhappy, "I remember that you were enfeoffed in the 14th year of Hongwu, but you don't remember your nephew?"

Zhu Su hurriedly explained, "Father, I went to Fengyang with my brothers to train troops in the ninth year of Hongwu. I was only granted the title of King of Zhou when my nephew Yunhu was born. I am not familiar with my nephew."

This is not an exaggeration. Zhu Su and his family were basically in Fengyang in the years before and after Zhu Yunhuan was born. This is also the reason why Zhu Su ran back to Fengyang privately even after he became the King of Zhou. He liked Fengyang, his hometown.

Old Zhu frowned and asked, "Where is Yunwen?"

Zhu Su lowered his head and replied, "I am not familiar with him either. We have only met a few times before."

No wonder Zhu Yunwen was so ruthless to his uncle. Although he was his uncle, they had never dealt with each other and had no feelings for each other.

Old Zhu was not someone who could be easily fooled, and said, "Did Youdun tell you? He is now studying in the Great Hall with his brothers. Tell me, what do you think of your two nephews?"

Zhu Su was really about to cry. He didn't know how to answer. This was too offensive and too sensitive.

As for the throne, although Zhu Su was a prince, he believed that the position had nothing to do with him.

In the past, there was a big brother. Who could shake his position?

Now that my eldest brother is gone, not to mention that people in the court and the public are saying that my father plans to bypass the prince and directly establish the grandson as the emperor.

But even if he was to be crowned as the prince, Zhu Su was only the fifth son. There were also the second, third, and fourth brothers, so how could he, the fifth son, have a turn?

Seeing Zhu Su's embarrassment, Zhu Yunxun took the initiative to speak, "Youdun will definitely not say anything good about me. He is younger than me, so I like to beat him. He is also good at studying, but if he doesn't help me with my homework, I will beat him."

The originally solemn atmosphere suddenly disappeared.

Zhu Su said quickly, "Youdun did say that. He also said that his nephew usually doesn't do his homework, and he asks Youdun and Shang Bing to help him. If they don't help, he won't take them to play, and he will scare them if they don't help."

Zhu Yunhuan said unhappily, "I'm not threatening you, we're just playing around with each other. They're younger and like to follow me as their older brother. I can fish, play with dogs, ride horses, shoot arrows, and fly eagles and horses. Of course they like to play with me, but Gao Chi is not as good as me, he doesn't like to move."

Old Zhu said jokingly, "So you have a lot of skills."

Zhu Yunhuan seemed to not understand what Old Zhu meant, and said, "Speaking of riding skills, I am the best among my brothers. Gao Chi's archery skills are comparable to mine, but in addition to archery, I am also good at swordsmanship, otherwise I wouldn't have cut off someone's hand with one sword."

Zhu Su was stunned. He was grateful to his nephew for solving the problem for him just a moment ago, but what on earth did he hear now?

Old Zhu snorted coldly and said, "How dare you say that!"

Zhu Yunhuan said, "Then let's not talk about it. Uncle Wu is tired after traveling all the way. Let's go to pay respect to my father first, and then take a rest."

Zhu Yunwen, who was standing nearby, was dumbfounded. His royal grandfather was forcing Prince Zhou to express his stance, so how could he let him go at this time?

Lao Zhu stood up, sighed dejectedly and said, "Okay, we won't embarrass you. Lao Wu, go see your eldest brother. He protected you the most when he was here."

Zhu Su also stood up and said with a sad look, "My father, I mourn for you."

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunwen, then at Zhu Yunxun, and said, "Your eldest brother is gone, and we have to clean up the mess he left behind. Your two nephews are both capable, really capable!"

Zhu Su immediately lowered his head and dared not answer. He had previously heard some news that Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunhuan seemed to be arguing. Zhu Su did not dare to get involved in this matter.

But think about Zhu Yunwen, who seemed to be strict, virtuous and studious, and it seemed that he had been like this since he was a child.

Let's take a look at Zhu Yunhuan, this nephew who is known for being a playboy, but he seems to be more than just a playboy. Was his previous rescue an unintentional act, or was he really trying to help?

This nephew, was he pretending to be stupid before?

(End of this chapter)