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

Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little complacent after hearing Zhu Kai's boasting.

"I just drank your special milk tea. I didn't expect your mouth is quite sweet. It seems that this is why the milk tea you made is so sweet. Is it just like your mouth?"

"Father, please don't say that. What I said is all true. I don't mean to brag or flatter you.

As you know, I have always been a straightforward person and would never say such things in front of my father and mother.

But it's really late now, and my father has to get up early tomorrow morning to do the draft. Why don't you two go back and rest? I'm tired too, and I want to go back and rest. Do I really not have to go to court tomorrow morning?"

Zhu Kai yawned as he spoke. He was really exhausted. Talking to Zhu Yuanzhang not only consumed his energy, but also his brainpower.

He knew that although Zhu Yuanzhang was his father and still admired him, he was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. In front of him, he was just a poor worker.

Ma Xiuying smiled, walked to Zhu Kai and gently touched his face.

"You have lost too much weight in the past year. You don't have to go to court tomorrow morning. Didn't your father already say that? You can have a good rest for a day.

However, don't rush to leave the palace tomorrow. Bring Xu Miaoyun directly to the palace. We can have a reunion dinner together as a family without having to think too much.

I haven't seen Xu Miaoyun in the border area for such a long time.

Thanks to him taking care of you, she is also the apple of Xu Da's eye. Going to such a far place with you and going through hardships is not something every woman can do."

When Zhu Kai heard Ma Xiuying say this, he felt that he had another good opportunity to flatter her.

"Mother, please don't say that. Who told you that there are not many women like him in this world? Mother is the role model for women all over the world.

At the beginning, the emperor had nothing, but it was because his father always stayed by his side and never left him that they were able to get to where they are today.

The fact that my mother was able to become the Queen Mother of the Ming Dynasty was all earned by you bit by bit. It is worth it to have come this far. Xu Miaoyun is still far behind my mother. He should learn from her as a role model."

When Ma Xiuying heard what Zhu Kai said, he also felt a little embarrassed.

"Where on earth did you get all these sweet words? You just flattered the emperor in front of him, but you are going to say these things in front of the queen mother."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled, walked to Ma Xiuying and gently took her hand, only to find that her hand had already become rough. Even though she had become the queen, she had never lived a life of luxury.

Ma Xiuying would not bother others with anything he could do himself, and he was used to being frugal and never engaged in extravagant or wasteful behavior.

Zhu Yuanzhang also appreciated these qualities of Ma Xiuying. They were a couple who had been through thick and thin together, and it was not easy for them to get to where they are today. He looked at Ma Xiuying's hands, which already had rough lines and even some calluses.

It's hard to describe the feeling, I was just touched and distressed, but he also felt that it was not easy for the two of them to go through so many ups and downs together for so many years.

It was at this moment that Zhu Yuanzhang's heart began to soften a little.

"Father, Mother, I am really too tired. You should go back and rest as well."

"Alright, alright, I know you've been struggling for so long, just do as the Queen said and bring Xu Miaoyun in tomorrow.

Then, stay in the palace for a day before going back. The next day you should go to Xu Da's residence and let Xu Miaoyun see his biological parents. You can't always prevent him from going home.

She is the apple of her parents' eyes. We can't let her lose all her freedom just because she marries into our royal family.

Although the old fellow Xu Da has not said anything, he must be unhappy in his heart. If I don't allow you to go back and take a look, he will go to the palace to make trouble."

Zhu Yuanzhang was finally able to issue such an order, allowing them to go back and take a look.

Zhu Kai was thinking of Zhu Yuanzhang in his heart. Although he said so, if he secretly took Xu Miaoyun back to her parents' home without his permission and met Xu Da, Zhu Yuanzhang might not be suspicious of him.
"Thank you, Father and Mother, for your consideration. I would also like to thank you on behalf of Xu Miaoyun."

"We are all family, there are no outsiders here at this time, no need to be so polite, go and have a rest quickly, so that you brothers can reunite tomorrow."

Zhu Kai remembered that Zhu Yuanzhang still hadn't said when he planned to meet Wang Baobao, but maybe he had to wait until they were reunited in the next few days and things had settled down before making arrangements.

Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang called in the eunuch Wang Jinghong.

"Eunuch Wang, you will have to work hard recently. You should take good care of Zhu Kai and the others. I'm afraid they will cause chaos again when they return to the palace. Go arrange a room for Zhu Kai first and let him have some rest."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. Everything has been arranged. Now all you have to do is follow me."

Zhu Yuanzhang then waved his hand, and Eunuch Wang took Zhu Kai away. After leaving the door, Zhu Kai let out a long sigh.

"Hey……"

Wang Jinghong was relatively casual in front of Zhu Kai.

"Your Highness, why are you still so angry? From the conversation between the Emperor and Your Highness today, the Emperor and the Empress seemed quite happy. How could they not be happy to see their son?"

"Eunuch Wang, you have been with our father for so many years, you should know him well.

He is not just my father, he is also the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. I must be careful when speaking in front of him. I don't want to make him angry because of something I said wrong. "

Before Eunuch Wang had time to reply to Zhu Kai, he saw a man standing at the entrance of Xuande Gate from a distance.

After a careful identification, isn't this Zhu Di? Why is he here not sleeping at night? But Zhu Kai thought it should be early morning now. This guy is a night owl and is not sleepy at all.

"Brother, I have been waiting for you here for a long time."

Zhu Kai said to Zhu Di while yawning.

"What time is it already? Why aren't you sleeping? You're still standing here so late. Are you worried about something?"

"No, second brother, I've just been waiting for you here. I heard that you also came to the palace, and I was a little worried, so I waited here to see."

Zhu Kai saw that Zhu Di had been waiting for him here.

He must have known that he was secretly summoned to the palace by Zhu Yuanzhang in the middle of the night, so he came here to wait on purpose.

However, he still didn't understand what the other party's purpose was.

Zhu Di is a very thoughtful person, but he never shows it on his face. Zhu Kai admires him very much. It is just that it is difficult for him to be like Zhu Di simply because of his temper. "Since it is so late and you have been waiting for me here, I believe you must have something very important to do."

After hearing this, the eunuch Wang Jinghong understood that the two brothers must have something important to say.

"Your Highness, I'll take you to the house in a moment. I'll go back first. The room over there is ready. I can't stare at you all the time. If you have anything to say, just speak quietly."

Wang Jinghong didn't know why he had always sympathized with the fifth prince. Zhu Di respected him more than anyone else, and he could get some sense of identity from him.

Zhu Kai was deeply touched when he saw how kind Eunuch Wang was to them.

"Eunuch Wang, it's already so late. You will have to stand guard later. Why don't you go back and rest early? We both grew up in the palace and we won't get lost.

No matter how big the Forbidden City is, we can find it with our eyes closed. Don't work yourself up. You are already so old, and we feel embarrassed to ask you to serve us."

Zhu Di nodded and said with a smile.

"Eunuch Wang, I think so too. If that's the case, you should go back and rest early, and don't worry about us here."

Wang Jinghong actually felt a little embarrassed by what they said.

"My Lords, I was born to serve you two. How dare I say that I am tired in front of my Lords?"

Zhu Kai thought that this idea was already deeply engraved in his heart. Even if he felt embarrassed, Eunuch Wang could not realize that not everyone is born to serve others.

"Eunuch Wang, you have watched us grow up since we were young. In fact, we did not treat you as a slave. On the contrary, I treated you as a close old friend around me."

"How can I be worthy of being called an old friend by your Highness? It is my honor to have grown up with you, the princes."

"Eunuch Wang, I know you may not understand what I am saying now.

But I still want to tell you that some things are not so deep-rooted that they cannot be changed. I hope you can understand that no one is born to serve others."

Zhu Di had been with Zheng Zheng for so many years and was not surprised at what he said. He also went from not understanding to understanding, but he knew that there was no way to change these ideas in the Ming Dynasty.

"Brother, I think you are really confused.

Eunuch Wang can understand your thoughts. Let's go quickly. There are some things that cannot be said casually in the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City is not an impenetrable wall. There are ears everywhere. If someone conveyed your words to the emperor, what would he think? "

It was indeed not easy for Zhu Di to be so thoughtful at such a young age.

Whether Zhu Kai had been drinking or not, he didn't say anything after hearing these words. Instead, he could feel that the other party was doing it for his own good.

Wang Jinghong saw that the two of them had such thoughts, so he decided not to make excuses anymore and leave first. They probably had something important to discuss.

"Since the two princes don't need me, I will go back first. The emperor is still waiting for me to take care of him."

"Eunuch Wang, we two will not disturb you anymore. Please go back quickly. I will take my second brother to the palace in a moment."

Eunuch Wang was about to hand the palace lantern to Zhu Kai.

"Your Highness, it's dark and the road is slippery. It's better to use a lantern to light it up."

"Eunuch Wang, we are young and don't need to wait for someone to light the way. We are not old and our eyes are not blurry. You should take the palace lantern. We want to walk outside and admire the moonlight."

Wang Jinghong smiled knowingly and nodded.

"Well, since the prince has said so, I can't refuse. I will take this palace lantern back."

Zhu Kai and Zhu Di looked at Eunuch Wang's back and even felt a little sorry for him for a moment. After all, Zhu Kai had never regarded him as his servant.

Before Zhu Kai came here, he sometimes couldn't understand why the owners of wealthy families would be so nice to their nannies and drivers.

Now he finally understood, because the person with whom he truly had feelings was the one with whom he had spent a longer time.

At this moment, only Zhu Kai and Zhu Di were left in the Forbidden City.

The time has come for the two brothers to open up to each other.

"Second brother, the emperor asked you to come over late at night, is there anything wrong?"

"Is that all you care about me, you little brat?"

"Of course, you are my second brother. If I don't care about you, who else can I care about? Father has always been very strict with you. I'm afraid he will make things difficult for you."

"Thank you for your concern, second brother. You have always been a thoughtful person since you were little. You like to keep things to yourself and are unwilling to say more."

"I'm not good at speaking, I keep everything in my heart."

"What should we do next? By the way, have you met your mother, Empress Fei?"

"I went to meet him today. It was arranged by the Emperor. Without the Emperor's order, I would not dare to do anything. My identity is quite sensitive, and I know it well in my heart."

Zhu Di still had some sadness in his voice when he said this. He had a very clear understanding of his own position and knew exactly what was going on.

Zhu Yuanzhang never cared much about his son, as long as he could do his best in front of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Kai had long known that the other party would become Emperor Yongle in the future, so he started from childhood to cultivate the other party's all-round development in moral, intellectual, physical, and aesthetic aspects.

Sometimes, Zhu Kai really doesn’t even know how to judge everything going on now.

History is sometimes so magical. Zhu Kai didn't know whether it was because of his teachings that Zhu Di was able to become Emperor Yongle, or because he was the first to know the result and could deduce the cause through summary.

It's a cycle that has been formed in the dark. It's all fate. (End of this chapter)