Ming Dynasty: Zhu Biao's younger brother, the most rebellious son in history

Ma Xiuying smiled and said to Zhu Kai.

"Your father hasn't said anything yet, but you've already started praising yourself.

The taste is indeed quite good, and it is acceptable, but we have to wait for your father to try it before we make a judgment. There are so many delicious foods in the Ming Dynasty, and your father has seen everything. Let us see if it is really amazing first."

Eunuch Wang carefully brought the milk tea to the table and placed a small spoon in each cup of milk tea.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked in surprise.

“What kind of statement is this?
Do you need to use a small spoon when drinking milk tea? This is a special way to drink milk tea in the border area, which is a bit incompatible with the tea drinking culture of our Ming Dynasty.

That shouldn't be right. People in border areas are very bold. They grew up on horseback, drink wine with big gulps, eat meat with big chunks, and they pay attention to being rough and bold in everything.

Using such a small spoon to drink milk tea mouthful by mouthful is more like the southern literati’s style.”

"Your Majesty is wise. I never thought that you are now familiar with the culture of the entire Daimyo Dynasty. I really admire you."

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Zhu Kai was just flattering him, but when he heard this, he was naturally happy. Who wouldn't want to hear nice words?

"Alright, alright, stop flattering me."

Eunuch Wang smiled and said.

"Your Majesty, Queen, please don't misunderstand me.

The reason why I prepared some small spoons is because I found that there seemed to be some black beans in His Highness Zhu Kai’s milk tea.

At first, we didn't know what it was and were all shocked.

But just now I dared to use a spoon to pick up one and tasted it. It was not a foreign object that accidentally fell in, but something like a rice dumpling with fermented rice wine, and it was very delicious. "

"I see……"

When Queen Ma heard this, she became impatient and hurried forward to pick up the milk tea and prepared to drink it.

"Mother, please be careful, this is freshly brewed milk tea, it's still a little hot.

Try the pearls inside. I think it tastes pretty good. I made it for Xu Miaoyun many times when I was at home, and he always praised it highly. Only after he tasted it did I dare to share it with my father and mother."

"Pearls? There are pearls in milk tea?"

"I forgot to tell Eunuch Wang just now that the small black beans in the milk tea are called pearls.

Although it doesn’t look very good, being black and sticky, it tastes very different. Generally, if there are no pearls in milk tea, it is like eating dumplings without vinegar. The experience is very different. You will know it after you try it.”

"I say, you little brat, where did you learn all this knowledge from?
Not adding pearls to milk tea is like eating dumplings without vinegar. Your analogy is quite funny.

I have lived for decades and have never drunk anything that has milk and tea mixed together, let alone adding all these messy things into it.

Well, since you have already said so, if your mother and I don’t taste it carefully, it would seem like we are offending you.

Forget it, I'll give you a favor and we'll know after we taste it."

"Father, be careful and don't burn yourself."

Zhu Yuanzhang carefully put the milk tea to his lips and blew gently.

He could clearly feel that the fragrance was truly unique, something he had never tasted before. It was both fresh and curious.

Although Zhu Kai has always emphasized that he does not want to appear too attentive in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, he is still Zhu Yuanzhang's son after all. Even though he traveled through time, he still has a father-son relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the emotional relationship between father and son, the son is very eager to be recognized by his father.

The same goes for Zhu Kai. At this moment, he is just an ordinary son.

"Father, how do you feel after trying it?"

"I just tasted it, it's quite unique."

"Unique? Things that have never been seen are naturally unique in the eyes of the emperor. It seems that the emperor doesn't like this milk tea very much. Is it just because it is something from a foreign race?"

Queen Ma smiled and comforted Zhu Kai.

"Don't think too much about it. Your father has always been like this. He says it's just okay, but he really likes it. I can tell from his expression. It seems that your special milk tea has won the emperor's favor."

"really?"

"Of course it's true. Otherwise, do you think we are lying to you? I just tasted it, and this milk tea is really good. How about this? Let's have someone send some to Concubine Xi tomorrow. He should miss things from his hometown too."

"Mother, forget it.

Concubine Yi is pregnant now, so it is not suitable for her to drink tea. The milk tea I specially made contains more tea leaves and less milk, so it is not suitable for a pregnant woman to drink.

If you really want to do him a favor, I can make her some delicious fruit tea."

"Fruit tea?"

When Zhu Kai thought of this, he remembered a snack that he really liked to eat, which was jelly.

It was not too difficult to make jelly in the Ming Dynasty, it just required some skills.

He thought that this thing was sweet and nutritious, and was most suitable for pregnant women. Zhu Kai also did this when making it, simply because he wanted to please Zhu Di.

After all, Zhu Di would be the future Emperor Yongle.

This period of history cannot be changed. Zhu Kai was just paving the way for himself. He was so good to Zhu Di simply because he was the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty and he still had to rely on his younger brother.

"You haven't thought of a name for the baby in Concubine Yi's belly yet."

"Father, are you running out of inspiration?
I don't know what name to give my son already. Father will have more sons in the future. I won't have to name every one of them. That would put too much pressure on me as a brother."

When Ma Xiuying heard Zhu Kai say this, she felt that it was somewhat of a treasonous thing, but it was very scary. Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy today. He was not angry when he heard these words, nor did he want to blame Zhu Kai.

"Alright, alright, didn't you just say you've already thought of a name? Stop drinking your milk tea and tell me and the Queen. If it's appropriate, tell Concubine Yu the good news tomorrow.

Let him know this and he will be happier and it will help his health." Zhu Kai smiled and walked to the desk where Zhu Yuanzhang was writing.

Zhu Kai knew very well that even if he was unruly, he could not touch the emperor's imperial pen casually.

After walking to the front of the table, Zhu Kai looked up at Zhu Yuanzhang and asked with a smile.

"Father, I have thought of a name and I want to write it down. May I borrow your imperial pen to use it?"

"You are a boy who has always been unruly, yet you can still say such things. If you want to use me, then use me. There are no outsiders here."

After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he walked up to Zhu Kai, ready to watch him pick up the pen to write.

Zhu Kai's handwriting was notoriously ugly in the court.

What he is worst at is calligraphy. He has never been good at it since he was a child. No matter how much he practices, it is useless. This is why he traveled through time.

He was not used to using a brush, and his way of holding the brush was unusual. Zhu Yuanzhang had criticized Zhu Kai countless times because of his writing problems, but he just couldn't change.

Zhu Kai pretended to be profound as if he was a calligrapher. He picked up Zhu Yuanzhang's pen, took up some ink, and then prepared to start writing on the paper.

At this time, something embarrassing happened. He forgot how to write the character "橚" in "朱橚". He only remembered that it was a little similar to the character "棣" in "朱棣".

He had already forgotten the radical below. It was not a commonly used character to begin with, and sometimes he couldn't even type it on his mobile phone. Naturally, Zhu Kai couldn't write it.

But now it has come to this. He has just told Zhu Yuanzhang that he had already thought of the name a long time ago. It would be even more embarrassing if he could speak but not write it.

Zhu Yuanzhang would probably criticize himself even more. Zhu Kai was under so much psychological pressure that he was sweating profusely.

I thought to myself, no wonder most people nowadays forget how to read when they pick up a pen. They can recognize the words that can be typed on the phone, but they may not be able to write them now.

It seems that I really need to practice hard. At this moment, Zhu Kai suddenly thought that it would be nice to have a dictionary with him.

If he could look up the dictionary, he would know how to write the word.

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became. The more anxious he became, the less he could remember. Zhu Kai was sweating profusely now. He was so anxious that he even felt his pants were wet.

Ma Xiuying looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and became a little anxious.

"What's wrong with Zhu Kai? Didn't he just say he had figured out how to write it and what the name was? Why is he standing there for so long? He was sweating profusely, but he still couldn't come up with anything.

I told him not to make things difficult for him. It was not proper for him to name his brother in the first place, and now he is asked to write all of this out. It would be strange if he could do it, as his handwriting has always been ugly.

Didn’t you also say that Zhu Kai’s handwriting was like a bunch of shrimps clumped together, and it was impossible to make out what was written.”

"It would be nice to have a dictionary. I need one right now."

"dictionary?"

"Your Majesty, did you hear that? This kid just got so anxious that he started talking nonsense again.

Forget it, forget it, don’t write anymore. It’s already so late. Now that I’ve seen Zhu Kai and know that he is safe, I, as a mother, can rest assured.

Let him return to his residence quickly, have a good rest, and come to court as usual tomorrow morning."

"Zhu Kai, you are sweating so much, if you can't write it, just leave it there.

Your mother and I know a little about your ability. You can speak it out, and you can say anything with your eloquence, but you are powerless when it comes to writing."

Zhu Yuanzhang's words made Zhu Kai feel very pressured. He didn't know if it was a sudden flash of inspiration or something, but suddenly he remembered how to write this word.

At this moment, he raised his hand, as if with divine help, and wrote the word "橚" on a blank piece of rice paper.

After finishing writing, Zhu Kai pinched the top of the rice paper with both hands, held it upright on both sides to block in front of himself, held it high, walked in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, and said proudly.

"Father, what do you think of this word?"

"What?"

"Yes, it is the word 橚."

"No wonder you forgot how to write as soon as you picked up the pen. This character is indeed quite complicated.

Zhu Kai, can you tell me what this word means? Didn't you just say it? If you want to give Huang Zi a name, it must have a very important meaning. You can't just tell him that you picked up a name on the street and gave it to him. "

"橚 means to be as upright as a tree. The emperor's sons are all born with the character for wood in their names, so it is natural that my sixth brother is the same. We must not fool around with this matter.

And if you look at this character, the upper right radical is the same as Zhu Di's Di, and they are brothers, so this character is the most appropriate. "

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw Zhu Kai's explanation of the meaning of this word, he was also very surprised. It seemed that this brat Zhu Kai had some cultural level to be acceptable.

Queen Ma smiled and said.

"This word is indeed good, what do you think, Your Majesty?

Anyway, I am a woman in the deep palace, and I haven't read many books, so I am not very clear about the meaning of these words. If you two are sure, you must think it over before deciding.

Don't change it in front of Concubine Yi. If he knew that the name the emperor gave to his son was given by Zhu Kai, he would probably think too much.

Concubine Xi is a thoughtful and sensitive person. Don't let him be stimulated by such things, so as not to affect his pregnancy."

When Zhu Kai heard this, he thought to himself that Zhu Di was really like his mother, more sensitive, more suspicious, and most importantly, smarter.

According to modern genetic probability, a child's IQ generally comes from his mother. Zhu Di is such a smart person, so naturally his mother would not be bad either.

"Father, why don't you say anything? Don't you want to comment on this word I wrote?"

"It seems to be just as you said. A man should be looked at with new eyes after three days of absence. Not only Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang, but your progress is also very surprising to me."

"Oh, Father, now you are finally sure, this matter can be regarded as my gift to you."

"This gift is really precious. In this case, we can't say anything more. Let's just follow this word. If we have time, go to Concubine Xi and explain the whole story to her. She should be happy to accept it." (End of this chapter)