Daming: My grandfather is Emperor Hongwu!

Chapter 33 Sons

In the Forbidden City, there is an acre of land.

It was the vegetable garden and crop land set aside by Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma.

In the sunny afternoon, a few chicks, led by the hen, crawled in and out from the gaps in the pergola in the vegetable garden, pecking at bugs on the ground.

Beside the water tank, a fat cat was licking the fur on its hind legs contentedly. Seeing a group of chicks dangling in front of its eyes, it became displeased.When it went up, it scratched a lot, and then the panicked chicken ran around.Before Fat Mao was satisfied, the rooster in the distance came chasing quickly, and Fat Mao disappeared with a whoosh.

"This year's beans should grow well!" Empress Ma was putting on a shelf of beans, and smiled to the old woman who was helping her, "Look, how big the bean seedlings are growing!"

The old mother raised her head and said with a smile, "Your Majesty can plant anything!" Then she paused, "Having a queen like you is a blessing to all the people in the world!"

"No, I just can't stay idle!" Empress Ma laughed, "In the early years, the emperor fought in the front, and I took the children of the family behind, and the wives of Huaixi soldiers planted the land and vegetables!" As he spoke, he smiled, "It's strange to say that even though I was a little tired back then, everything tasted delicious. It's not like now, when everything I eat feels tasteless in my mouth."

Suddenly, she seemed to have a premonition, put down the farm work in her hands, wiped her hands on the apron, and walked to the edge of the garden.

Not far away, under the sun, two robust youths and a child walked over with a smile.

The two people who walked in front had somewhat similar faces, and the child who followed was like their little tails.

In an instant, a smile bloomed on Empress Ma's face like sunshine.

Then, the people who came also saw Empress Ma, and a handsome young man in front changed from walking to running, striding forward.

He ran a few steps away from Empress Ma and stood there watching for a while.

With a plop, he knelt on the ground.

"Mother!" Zhu Di called out, "Si'er is back!"

Empress Ma's eyes turned red instantly, "My little four!"

"Mother!" Zhu Di got up and ran over, hugged Queen Ma, and buried his head in his mother's arms.

Zhu Di is not Queen Ma's biological son, but he lost his mother when he was young, and was brought by Queen Ma's side since he was a child, treating him as his own.

She regards him as her own son.

He recognized him as his own mother!
Empress Ma held Zhu Di's face, her eyes fell on the scar on his forehead, and she said in a trembling voice, "Sier, what's going on here?"

Zhu Di looked at his mother and said with a smile, "It's okay, knock it off!"

"You're lying!" Empress Ma stroked the scar with rough hands, her heart throbbing with pain, "How dangerous!"

"Mom!" Zhu Di said, "My son wants to eat your baked cakes and pickled vegetable soup, and he has been thinking about it all the time!"

Empress Ma wiped the corners of her eyes, "Get up, come back with us, we'll make it for you!" Then, she turned and went back to the vegetable field, "I'll pick some new vegetables for you, all grown by myself!"

"Son, help you!" Zhu Di, wearing armor, burrowed into the vegetable field.

After a while, two baskets of vegetables were picked, Zhu Biao helped Empress Ma, Zhu Di carried two boxes of vegetables, and Zhu Xiongying held up the bamboo hat that his grandmother wore when doing farm work. The family stepped on the ridge and walked towards Kunning Palace.

~~~~~
Not long after Zhu Di, King of Yan, returned to Beijing, King Qin and King Jin also arrived.

Both of them and Zhu Biao are the old lady's own sons, and Zhu Xiongying followed Zhu Biao to meet him.

These two people are not as straightforward as Zhu Di, they are a bit cautious and dependent in the intimacy in front of Zhu Biao.Without him, these two people are not very reassuring.Although the two of them were also vassal kings who went out with the army as young men and could command troops to fight, their tempers were not very good.

Either a little cruel, or perverse, acting absurdly.Especially the king of Qin, when he was in Xi'an, Zhu Yuanzhang once told him that the people in the pass, since Meng Yuan lost his morality, have had a bad life in successive years of fighting.Now that the world has just settled down, it is time for them to recuperate.When you arrive in the feudal land, you must treat the people kindly, and don't build a palace.

But King Qin didn't listen, and still went his own way.

The imperial court did everything possible to appease the eighteen tribes of Tubo, but when he went out to fight, he directly kidnapped hundreds of people and children. The girls were all turned into palace maids, and the boys were directly castrated.

In history, if Zhu Biao hadn't protected him several times, he would have almost lost his title.

However, in front of Empress Ma, these two were filial sons who couldn't be more obedient.Not only did they come by themselves, but they also brought their wives, making Empress Ma happy.

It can be seen that Queen Ma's birthday is gradually approaching.

The palace was full of joy, but Zhu Xiongying noticed that Empress Ma looked anxious.Before going to bed at night, I would stand at the gate of the palace and look from a distance.I didn't go back to my room to rest until the palace lights went out.

~~
"Grandmother, tomorrow is your birthday! Take a day off!"

It was the vegetable garden again. Empress Ma was bending over to pull the weeds in the field, and Zhu Xiongying was beside her, helping and talking.

"No, this is the time when the weeds are thick and weeds will grow wildly!" Empress Ma laughed and said, "Planting the land is the same as being an emperor."

Zhu Xiongying raised his head curiously, with some puzzlement in his eyes.

"Do you think that being an emperor means approving memorials and handling state affairs every day?" Empress Ma laughed and said, "Farmers should also watch their own land every day, otherwise the crops will not grow well!"

Zhu Xiongying said, "What the emperor's grandmother said is that the most important thing in the world is wording!"

Empress Ma laughed lovingly, "That's the reason, my grandson said it's weird!"

Suddenly, Zhu Xiongying, who was pulling weeds, stopped and turned around suspiciously.

He saw Zhu Biao and saw several middle-aged men.

Empress Ma also saw it, straightened her waist in the field in an instant, and walked to the edge of the vegetable garden with her skirt.

Zhu Xiongying followed behind her, carefully identifying the people around Zhu Biao.

"That's Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong, the old man's nephew, and he was raised as a son since he was a child!"

"Is that black-faced man Mu Ying?"

Zhu Xiongying vaguely guessed who these people were, they were the adopted sons of Empress Ma.

In those years of gold and iron horses, Empress Ma and Zhu Yuanzhang adopted many orphans, and these orphans became famous generals of the Ming Dynasty when they grew up.

A group of people stopped outside the vegetable garden and knelt down in unison, "Your servant, wait for me to meet the empress!"

Suddenly, the smile on Empress Ma's face disappeared.

"I thought you came all the way back to see me, an old woman, but I didn't expect you to see the queen!" Empress Ma said displeased.

Zhu Biao also smiled at the men, "In private, there are so many rules, it makes mother unhappy!"

A dozen or so men knelt on the ground and kowtowed, suppressing their inner excitement, "Mother! The sons are back!"

"Just come back!" Empress Ma smiled and stepped forward, pulling Li Wenzhong up first, "Come back and don't leave!"

The corners of Li Wenzhong's eyes were red. He lost his mother when he was young. The queen in front of him was both his aunt and adoptive mother when he was young.

"Not leaving!" Li Wenzhong said.

Empress Ma pulled Mu Ying up again, "Ying'er, let mother take a good look at you, I haven't looked at you for several years!" As she said, there seemed to be tears in the corner of her eyes, "Does your wife have a son?"

Mu Ying choked up and said, "It's all good, they always talk about you, and my son will bring them to kowtow to you someday!"

The way he looked at Empress Ma made Zhu Xiongying feel sad.It's so pure, so clear, it's really like a son looking at his mother.

Among the foster sons adopted by Empress Ma and Zhu Yuanzhang, Mu Ying was the eldest.When he was eight years old, he fled with his mother, but her mother died of starvation. If it wasn't for Queen Ma, he would have starved to death in the wilderness long ago.

After being adopted, he also changed into Zhu.Later, Zhu Yuanzhang became the emperor and asked them to change their original surnames back.

Mu Ying cried and said, let the minister's surname be Mu, and take a bath for the dear Mu.

Historically, the Mu family was a loyal family, and Ariel has been guarding the border of Yunnan for nearly 300 years.Until Mu Tianbo, the last generation of Duke of Guizhou, died in the battle in Burma in order to keep the last emperor of the Zhu family.

None of his descendants surrendered!
He himself is a hard-core princeling. Originally, Empress Kongma died, and Mu Ying vomited blood for three liters and fell ill.Not long after Zhu Biao passed away, Mu Ying died crying in Yunnan.

Empress Ma looked at the faces of her adopted sons one by one, and raised one, "He Fu'er!"

"Mom!" The man grinned, with scars all over his face.

"Ping Baoer!" Empress Ma pulled another one, and suddenly cried out, "Son, where is your hand!"

Ping Baoer Daming Pingan, quickly pulled out his right hand with two missing fingers, "Mother, it's okay, but two fingers are missing!"

"Where is my son's hand!" Empress Ma cried as she still held it.

Pingan also cried, "Let the Tartar cavalry cut it off!"

(End of this chapter)