Ming Dynasty: A hundred-year-old immortal cultivator, Zhu Yuanzhang’s biological father

After thinking for a while, Zhao Sili frowned and said to Zhu Xiongying solemnly: "There are many rules in this palace. Everyone you pick is a high-ranking official of the fifth rank or above. You may not understand many etiquettes."

"You are a stubborn kid. You might get into an argument with someone. How about this, when we enter the palace, you follow me. Although I don't know many people, I have learned to hide my shortcomings and know how to live well, not how to communicate with my superiors, ok."

"Just follow me, and we can keep each other warm. This is also the warmth we can find among this group of dignitaries."

Zhu Xiongying looked at the serious Zhao Sili and said with a smile, "Well, I'm going to the palace to look for my grandfather later."

Zhao Sili suddenly realized, "So that's it.

"No matter what, I'll go to Wuying Palace to find Lao Qu later."

Zhu Xiongying thought for a moment and asked, "Why?"

Zhao Sili couldn't say that without you, the nobles in Huaixi might not give him face, right?
He coughed dryly and said, "I can give you some etiquette."

As they were talking, the two had already entered the imperial city, and Zhao Sili was heading towards the Jinshui Bridge Palace.

Zhu Xiongying was going to walk towards the right side of the Bubu Hall.

So the two of them parted ways.

Zhao Sili also reminded Zhu Xiongying, "Come find me when the time comes. Don't forget."

"Okay." Zhu Xiongying nodded.

Say it.

Zhu Xiongying then walked towards the palace.

The door of the palace was open, as if the people in the palace knew that Zhu Xiongying was coming.

Several Jinyiwei wearing dragon robes were guarding the Jinyiwei gate. Their eyes were dignified and filled with murderous aura that kept strangers away.

This was the first time that Zhu Xiongying saw Jinyiwei Xiaoqi Yi in such a formal manner.

He thought about it, and then stepped in cautiously.

The Jinyiwei seemed to have no reaction and let Zhu Xiongying walk in.

Zhu Xiongying was puzzled.

But no one knows why these Jinyiwei are guarding here so solemnly.

The rain in the sky seemed to be a little lighter.

The palace courtyard was empty, not a single person was to be seen.

Zhu Xiongying looked at the sky and couldn't help muttering in his heart, this time.

Logically, the officials in the ministry should have already come to take up their duties.

Why isn't there a single clerk?

He trod.

Walk towards the main hall of the palace.

Inside the room, the old man was looking through some documents. He sat upright on the armchair with two cups of tea on the desk.

Seeing Zhu Xiongying, the old man smiled, patted the soft stool beside him, and said, "Grandson. Come. Sit next to us."

Zhu Xiongying was somewhat curious, so he walked over to the old man and sat down, asking curiously, "Old man, didn't you say you would give me a coming-of-age ceremony today?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Xiongying with a smile in his eyes, "Haha, you look very handsome today. You look even more handsome now that you have changed your clothes."

Zhu Yuanzhang rolled his eyes at Zhu Xiongying, and then said, "Let me talk to you for a while, and then do these."

When Zhu Xiongying saw the old man's expression suddenly become solemn, he knew that he had something important to say.

Then he said, "Master, please tell me."

Palace and pavilion.

The main seat is a soft one.

It is similar to a small bed that is half the length of a person.

Zhu Xiongying sat next to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang took a sip of the tea and said to Zhu Xiongying: "Have some honey tea."

Zhu Xiongying took the teacup handed over by the old man and thanked him, "Thank you, old man."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Xiongying lovingly and said, "Child, you always ask me if I'm grateful or not. We are grandfather and grandson. You are my favorite child. You were and will always be my favorite child!"

"Remember you said before that you would support us in our old age? Does that still count?"

Zhu Xiongying looked at the old man puzzled, and said firmly, "A man should value his promise. If he doesn't agree, then he'll do it. If he agrees, then he'll spend his whole life to do it."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "You will grow old with me, and I will also spend the rest of my life with you to grow up."

Why do I feel like the old man is making arrangements for his funeral? I am a little confused by what he said.

It's the day of the coming of age, why are you speaking so solemnly?
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Nothing happened."

"Grandpa was infected with malaria last time, and this was the first time he was so afraid of death."

"You know what? Grandpa plans to finish the control this year, and then talk to you slowly, but Grandpa is afraid that he will be gone at any time next time."

Zhu Yuanzhang had never been afraid of anything in his entire life. The last time he fell ill, it was the first time he began to respect life.

Zhu Xiongying said hurriedly: "Old man, I am here, what are you afraid of? Besides, you are blessed with a good life, nothing will happen to you."

"We know you're coming of age today, so we've organized a grand banquet for you."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment, and then looked forward with a deep gaze: "I'm sorry, Grandpa, I have been hiding something from you."

Zhu Xiongying asked in confusion: "What?"

Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer immediately, but said to Zhu Xiongying: "Let me think about where to start. It would be better."

"Oh, first time."

"Remember the first time, when I came to you when I was most helpless. You said someone in my family had died."

Zhu Xiongying listened silently and nodded. "At that time, I wanted to help you take care of your future, but you didn't allow me to do so, so I didn't dare to bring anyone with me."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "It's Grandpa's fault."

"There are many people in our family, and the one who died was our good brother. In fact, we still have many brothers, but they are not around."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and continued, "Then I remember bringing you to the Imperial City and seeing it. I think I asked you if you had any impression of it. You said no."

Zhu Xiongying said: "Yes, the old man has a good memory."

Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "Afterwards, we arranged a marriage for you. The Zhao family is a relative of Concubine Zhao Hui, and this marriage is not easy."

Zhu Xiongying nodded, "My grandson will cherish it."

Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "Then it's Lan Yu."

"Do you remember the first time you met Lan Yu?"

Zhu Xiongying said, "I remember, but it was Lan Yu who approached me first. I made some money from business and wanted to find a big house for you to live in in your old age, so I found Lan Yu's house without anyone noticing."

Zhu Yuanzhang said quickly, "Lan Yu did it on purpose. He deliberately let you go to his house and then sold it to you at a low price."

Zhu Xiongying was stunned for a moment, his expression suddenly becoming alert.

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "You kid, don't think so deeply and so much about everything."

"Lan Yu is truly doing this for your own good. Or to put it another way, Lan Yu is doing this for your own good."

Zhu Xiongying was puzzled, "Lan Yu, are you okay with me?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Yes! He is trying to please you. Because of us, he wants to make you happy. And because of you, he is closer to you."

Zhu Xiongying was a little confused.

Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "In the following period of time, Lan Yu introduced all the nobles in Huaixi to you. Who do you think is the closest to you?"

Zhu Xiongying said without hesitation, "The three brothers of the Chang family are more sincere to me than Lan Yu."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "Yes, that's what they want to do because you are closer to them than Lan Yu." Zhu Xiongying was puzzled.

Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "Next, remember that we have arranged two guards for you, the Liao brothers."

Zhu Xiongying nodded: "Yes."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked: "Do you know the Liao brothers? Who are they?"

Zhu Xiongying said, "They seem to be the two grandsons of Lord Liao Guozhong."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head: "Not only that, before this, they were also responsible for guarding the Eastern Palace and were the commanders of the Eastern Palace."

Zhu Xiongying was shocked. "Is this true? Then coming to my house means... Old man, this..."

Zhu Yuanzhang pressed his hand and continued, "What do you think of Liu Sanwu?"

Zhu Xiongying was overwhelmed by the old man's questions, but he still replied: "Master Liu is a pure scholar and a pure doctor of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted him: "That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking you what you think of Liu Sanwu, how he treats you?"

Zhu Xiongying was suspicious.

After thinking for a while, he said, "Very respectful."

Why?

Zhu Xiongying scratched his head and said, "I guess it's because of my annotations to the Tao Te Ching that I conquered Liu Sanwu?"

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head: "Don't you think he was very respectful when he first met you?"

Zhu Xiongying was stunned.

My thoughts began to go back to the first time I met Liu Sanwu.

Indeed!
When he met Liu Sanwu for the first time and heard that he was a teacher at the Imperial College of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Xiongying saluted Liu Sanwu very cautiously, but Liu Sanwu avoided him.

He was a teacher at the Imperial Academy and had a very high status in the literary world. Literati paid great attention to etiquette, and it was generally natural for such great scholars to be arrogant when meeting strangers.

But Liu Sanwu was indeed a little abnormal. Zhu Xiongying hadn’t thought too much about it before, but now that he thought about it, it seemed that Liu Sanwu was really a little weird.

"What did you think of?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Xiongying and continued to ask.

Zhu Xiongying took a deep breath and said, "Liu Sanwu is also not right. He seemed to be very respectful when he saw me for the first time."

Zhu Yuanzhang hummed, as if he was trying hard to recall the past.

There was some silence.

Zhu Xiongying also sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere at the scene.

The old man clearly said that Ling Tian would hold a ceremony for him to come of age. But now, he was talking to him about the past in the palace.

Everything is so abnormal and weird.

"You and him have parted ways twice. What did Xie Jin tell you the first time?"

After a moment's silence, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke again.

Zhu Xiongying thought for a moment and said, "He seemed to be telling me to be filial to the old man. There was nothing strange about him."

Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "Xie Jin and Tie Xuan are both proud people. They are both capable. What do you think of them towards you?"

Zhu Xiongying took a deep breath and said, "Very loyal!"

"Why?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked again.

Zhu Xiongying was puzzled: "No reason, maybe we have similar personalities?"

He looked at Zhu Xiongying and said, "Grandson, you told me yourself that this is a cannibalistic society. This is a society with strict class divisions."

"Some people know what they want to do for the rest of their lives the moment they are born, whether it's farming, business, or studying. In short, they all have a framework."

"Even if you have a relationship with Lan Yu, have you ever thought about why they are so loyal to you?"

This one sentence left Zhu Xiongying speechless.

Zhu Xiongying's heartbeat was getting faster and faster. He looked at the old man and said tremblingly, "Old man, what do you want to say?"

Zhu Yuanzhang still did not answer.

He continued, "Wen Boqi, let's talk about Wen Boqi."

"His father is the Minister of War and a founding hero. Logically speaking, you have committed such a serious crime. Even if you are lucky enough not to die, even if the people ask for your life, you should still stay in the Ministry of Justice for a while."

"No rules, no order. No one is above the law, but what?"

Zhu Xiongying's heart beat faster and faster.

Zhu Yuanzhang said casually, "By the way, Huang Zicheng hasn't appeared for a long time. Do you know where he went?"

Zhu Xiongying shook his head.

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Because he wanted to kill you in the court, he died, died in the hands of the Jinyiwei."

Zhu Xiongying's heart skipped a beat.

He stared at Zhu Yuanzhang with his eyes wide open, his heart beating faster and he felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat.

Zhu Xiongying held the honey tea and took big gulps. The honey tea was iced, and when he drank it, he felt his throat moisten.

"Master, what are you going to say?"

Inside the palace.

The grandfather and grandson were talking as usual.

It was drizzling outside, but the atmosphere in the house was absolutely weird.

Although Zhu Xiongying thought that today might be unusual, he didn't expect that everything would become weird as soon as he arrived at the palace.

The old man said some incomprehensible words, and slowly recounted the past to Zhu Xiongying like a movie.

Just a lot more in the past.

The details that Zhu Xiongying hadn't thought about deeply became extremely unreasonable in the old man's mouth.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the stunned Zhu Xiongying and continued: "Let me talk to you about it, let's do it ourselves."

Zhu Xiongying stared at Zhu Yuanzhang in a daze. The old man was still as kind as before, but Zhu Xiongying suddenly felt that the old man's whole aura began to become unusual.

"I was born in Guzhuang Village, Taiping Township, Zhongli, Haozhou many years ago."

"I have mentioned my past and my youth to you before. Today I will tell you in detail. Don't worry. The banquet in Wuying Palace will not start until noon. We have time to talk here."

"My family was very poor when I was a child. You know these things."

Recalling his childhood, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were filled with confusion and pain, as well as a bit of nostalgia that was difficult to conceal.

"When I was born, until I was six years old, although my family was poor, we actually lived a very happy life."

"We have three older brothers and two older sisters."

"In the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty, a severe drought and insect plague hit Huaibei, and all crops failed. There was widespread famine. The whole Huaibei area was filled with tragic scenes, and people were eating their own children everywhere."

"You haven't experienced our era. Although there are famines now, compared with the fourth year of Zhizheng, everything seems insignificant."

Zhu Yuanzhang's cloudy eyes looked somewhat painful, as if he had traveled through six or seven years of time and was seeing the original scene.

"It's strange. Although it was a famine, there were very few starving people in Huaibei at that time. Do you know why?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice trembled slightly.

Zhu Xiongying shook his head.

After thinking for a while, he said softly, "Did the imperial court provide disaster relief?"

Zhu Yuanzhang blinked away tears and shook his head, "No, because the starving people on the earth have already been eaten up."

(End of this chapter)