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

As the group was talking, a group of children came in from outside, making a lot of noise.

Zhu Xiongying looked in the direction and his face twitched slightly.

Tang Yu, Prince Ying, Prince Shen and several other little kids rushed over with books in their hands and saluted the teachers obediently.

Then he smiled sinisterly at Zhu Xiongying, and walked towards the school in a stern manner.

Zhu Xiongying was speechless, especially when he saw the group of naughty kids winking at him. Their eyes seemed to be filled with happiness, joy and anticipation. It was self-evident!
Zhu Xiongying's mouth continued to twitch slightly. What a sin!
Zhu Xiongying lowered his head and walked towards the Imperial Academy with a frustrated look on his face.

Zhu Yunwen walked very slowly, following Qi Tai in exploring knowledge.

Today was Qi Tai's day to teach, and the two of them walked very slowly on purpose, as if they were trying to show their close relationship.

Zhu Xiongying ignored Qi Tai and Zhu Yunwen's little thoughts and quickly came to the school.

A group of children widened their eyes and stared at Zhu Xiongying.

Several eyes suddenly locked onto Zhu Xiongying, making him feel very embarrassed.

Zhu Dong winked at Zhu Xiongying and said, "Nephew? Come sit next to me."

Zhu Xiongying walked behind Zhu Dong speechlessly.

The little ones are all in the front of the classroom, and the older ones sit in the back.

Tang Yu Zhu Zhi and Shen Wang Zhu Mo immediately turned their heads around.

“…Ah, you’re not that big?”

Zhu Xiongying twitched his cheeks, smiled a little ugly, and said, "Yeah."

Zhu Mo rubbed his hands and said excitedly, "Are you really Zhu Xiongying? I said you look like Zhu Xiongying! You should call me uncle!"

"And me, and me, call me Uncle Twenty-One!"

The two little guys were extremely excited.

Zhu Xiongying said with a smile: "There is still a lot to say in the rest of Journey to the West. Okay, I call you uncle, do you dare to answer me?"

The little guys' eyes widened instantly, "Brother-in-law!"

"Brother-in-law! Tell me what's next after Journey to the West?"

"Yes, brother-in-law, hurry up and tell me!"

Zhu Xiongying smiled slightly and said, "Let's talk after class. We have to go to class soon."

Several little guys nodded hurriedly, with gleams in their eyes.

Not long after.

Qi Tai and Zhu Yunwen came over. Zhu Yunwen saluted Qi Tai, then walked to the front row and sat down.

There were not many princes and grandchildren in the room, but the fact that Zhu Yunwen could sit in the front row also showed that Qi Tai valued him.

After everyone arrived, Qi Tai looked around at everyone and said sternly, "Open the book. Today we will explain the Book of Rites: The Great Learning."

"Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will become clear. Read it again from a teacher."

The princes and grandchildren below followed suit, nodding their heads and repeating mechanically, "The way of the Imperial Academy is to manifest the bright virtues, to be close to the people, and to stop at..."

Zhu Xiongying originally thought that Qi Tai would write some explanatory vernacular text.

but no.

The students and teachers were like machines, reading all the time.

After reading, you still need to memorize it.

Qi Tai would not go either. No matter whether these little guys understand or not, it's just that sentence. If you read it a hundred times, they will understand it naturally.

Zhu Xiongying does not agree with this educational model.

After about an incense stick of time, Qi Tai went out with his hands behind his back. It was after school time, so he let the children digest the food on their own and went out to relieve themselves.

I spent almost the entire morning reading "The Great Learning". In the afternoon, Liu Sanwu, Fang Xiaoru and others taught me simple things like the Three Character Classic and Hundred Family Names.

We learned a lot that day, and school was not over until the sun set.

After school, Zhu Xiongying was unwilling to stay in the Imperial College any longer. He could not do as Zhu Yunwen did, sitting in the classroom, shaking his head and memorizing hard.

He put his hands behind his back and walked away.

Just walked out of the school,
The few small lords behind followed Zhu Xiongying out with a lot of noise.

"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law? What are you doing?"

Zhu Xiongying said, "Nonsense, I will naturally return to the East Palace?"

Yingyu Zhu Dong pulled Zhu Xiongying and asked expectantly with big eyes: "Brother-in-law, have you forgotten something?"

Zhu Xiongying looked at Zhu Dong in confusion: "Forgot what?"

"Journey to the West!"

Zhu Xiongying was speechless when he heard this.

I didn't expect that the little brat still remembered this incident. He was just talking about it casually at the time.

But he couldn't break his promise to these kids, so he said helplessly: "Okay, let's go to the East Palace."

"Oh, that's great!"

A group of little kids excitedly followed Zhu Xiongying, jumping and skipping as they walked towards the East Palace.

What was supposed to come, always came.

He knew that sooner or later he would be entangled by these naughty kids.

In the courtyard.

Zhu Xiongying made a pot of tea and placed it on the stone table.

A group of little kids had already brought their small stools and surrounded Zhu Xiongying.

Zhu Xiongying lay in the rocking chair by himself, and several little ones were responsible for massaging his shoulders and legs, and serving him tea and water.

Zhu Xiongying then continued to narrate excerpts from Journey to the West.

The last time I taught this group of kids, I told them about the Monkey King causing chaos in the sky, and then the story of how the Monkey King was suppressed in the Five Finger Mountain.

Time passes minute by minute.

I don’t know when.

In front of the gate of Duanjing Hall in Qingning Palace, two little girls were hiding at the door, also listening attentively.

Zhu Xiongying stood up and drank tea from the teapot. Occasionally, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the gap outside the door, and he felt that four dark eyes were concentrating on observing the courtyard of Duanjing Hall.

The two little princesses seemed to have noticed Zhu Xiongying's gaze, and instantly scattered through the crack in the door like frightened rabbits.

Zhu Xiongying felt a little distressed when seeing this.

After thinking for a while, he whispered to the outside world: "Don't hide anymore, come in and listen."

It's a little quiet outside.

I do not know how long it has been,

Princess Yilun then took the younger Princess Nanping and walked in cautiously.

The two little girls were very cute and walked to Zhu Xiongying, lowering their heads.

"Big...Brother."

Princess Yilun was a little shy, while Princess Nanping secretly hid behind Princess Yilun, looking at Zhu Xiongying and the group of little princes with her small eyes.

The two lost their mother when they were young. Because they were girls, no one in the palace or outside paid attention to them. They were all disciplined by palace maids and old grandmothers.

The two little princesses were completely forgotten in Qingyi Palace.

Zhu Xiongying looked at Ying Wang Zhu Dong and said, "Go and get them a chair as well."

Zhu Dong hurriedly ran into the house with his short legs, panting, and soon brought in two stools.

The two little girls gathered their courage and surrounded the little princes. Zhu Xiongying began to lie lazily on the rocking chair again, and continued to tell the story of Journey to the West with great eloquence.

From time to time, he would recite some obscure ancient Chinese, and then explain it again in vernacular Chinese. The little princes listened and nodded repeatedly, their eyes sparkling.

The two little princesses also lowered their chins, their big eyes blinking.

The sun in the west has already set.

The lights have been lit in the Duanjing Hall.

Zhu Xiongying did not continue speaking, but said, "The way of the university is to manifest the bright virtue."

"Who knows what these two 'Ming' mean?"

Several little princes looked confused.

Although Qi Tai taught them to read for a whole day today, they didn't understand what it meant at all.

Zhu Xiongying said, "The second ming in the above sentence means to make people understand what virtue is."

While he had nothing to do, Zhu Xiongying decided to explain the meaning of "Taixue" to these little princes.

With their attention highly concentrated, the little princes listened extremely seriously.

Even Shen Wang Zhu Mo would ask Zhu Xiongying: "Is it possible to cultivate oneself, regulate the family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world, and do these things one by one?"

Zhu Xiongying nodded: "Yes, and it is a progressive relationship, which is also the core idea of ​​The Great Learning."

"First, you must learn to cultivate your body and mind and correct your own moral conduct. Only then can you manage your family and other small families. After you have managed them yourself, then, you will be qualified to think about how to govern the country."

"A country is also a family, but this family is a little bigger. The principles of governing a country are figured out little by little from the principles of governing a family."

Several little princes nodded as if they understood, thinking that what Zhu Xiongying said made sense and was much more interesting than what Qi Tai said.

Most importantly, after Zhu Xiongying explained the meaning of "The Great Learning", they no longer read it in a boring and mechanical way.

Instead, after reading, you will think about what the sentence means.

These little princes are all Zhu Yuanzhang’s offspring. None of them is stupid. They just like to play and find studying boring.

That’s why I can’t continue studying.

Zhu Xiongying's words were very interesting, and the little ones listened very attentively.

It was getting late, so Zhu Xiongying stood up and said, "Okay, whoever finishes reciting the Imperial Academy tomorrow can continue to come to my place to listen to Journey to the West. If you can't recite it, don't come tomorrow."

Zhu Xiongying's idea is very simple.

Get rid of these slug-nosed brats.

The little guys kept yelling for a while.

But Zhu Xiongying did not compromise.

Helpless, they could only leave with their heads down.

After the little princes left, the two little princesses also prepared to leave.

Zhu Xiongying stopped them and said, "Have dinner here, brother."

The two little girls whispered timidly: "Mammy will scold us."

Zhu Xiongying stared at the two little girls in a daze.

He looked a little angry.

Princess Yilun didn't dare to say anything, but Princess Nanping said, "They scold me every day. They are so fierce. The eldest nanny, the second nanny, and the third nanny who teaches etiquette."

After listening to this, Zhu Xiongying stared blankly at the two little princesses. Suddenly, a nameless anger rose in his heart.

In any case, these two little ones are his sisters and the princesses of the Eastern Palace.

A servant is a servant.

No matter what time, you should never ride on your master's head!
Do you really think that these two little girls have no one to support them?

Zhu Xiongying kept the two little princesses and asked the kitchen to make a lot of cakes and chicken, duck, fish and meat.

The eyes of the two little girls began to turn green. They stared at the dazzling array of food on the table and swallowed hard.

These are just ordinary cakes. Zhu Xiongying asked the two little princesses thoughtfully, "Haven't you eaten them in Qingyi Palace?"

Princess Nanping shook her head, as if she felt that Zhu Xiongying was easier to get along with, and her voice became louder.

"Mammy said that we are girls and can't eat too much."

Zhu Xiongying said, "What do you usually eat?"

Princess Nanping said as a matter of course, "Sweet potato porridge, um, and some salted duck eggs."

After hearing this, Zhu Xiongying's expression changed slightly and he said with a smile, "Eat, eat more."

The two little princesses were still a little shy, but when the food was placed in front of them, they could no longer hold back and began to eat it very quickly.

"Someone is coming!"

Zhu Xiongying said sternly.

The sudden voice made the two little princesses stop eating instantly and look at Zhu Xiongying with fear.

Zhu Xiongying said shyly: "I'm sorry, big brother, I spoke too loudly. Did you scare me?"

The two little princesses shook their heads slightly.

Zhu Xiongying stood up and walked out with his hands behind his back.

He always felt that these two little girls had been educated too fearfully.

If the maid in the palace was a normal teacher, the little girl wouldn't be so frightened.

Zhu Xiongying walked outside.

The Liao brothers were waiting for Zhu Xiongying outside.

Zhu Xiongying glanced at the two brothers and asked, "Does the Eastern Palace usually spend very little on Qingyi Palace?"

The Liao brothers thought for a while and said, "It's a little less, but the monthly quota is fixed and the people in Qingyi Palace have never been treated unfairly."

Zhu Xiongying was stunned, and it seemed that anger was gradually rising in his heart.

Most of the maids in the palace were experienced. Zhu Yuanzhang hated eunuchs, so the eunuchs in the early Ming Dynasty did not dare to act rashly.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang left these maids alone. After all, the tradition of the Zhu family was that men were straight and never argued with women.

This will inevitably make the maids in the palace become more and more bold.

Add to that the two little girls like the princesses. Despite their noble status, on the one hand, the old nanny's duty is to restrain the princesses and princesses from violating etiquette. On the other hand, they are experienced and the princesses are young, so how could they know how to rule?

Naturally, these old ladies also caught me!
Such things were very common in the Ming Dynasty.

After hearing what the Liao brothers said, Zhu Xiongying's face darkened again.

The money is given according to the regulations, but the food in Qingyi Palace is still so bad. Where did the money go?
Zhu Xiongying said calmly, "Go to the Etiquette Bureau and call a few eunuchs over."

The Liao brothers were stunned and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, I obey your order."

Zhu Xiongying returned to Duanjing Hall with his hands behind his back again. The two little princesses were already eating so much that their mouths were full of oil.

Seeing the two little girls looking so contented, Zhu Xiongying felt a little distressed, and he also roughly understood what was going on.

Although the old maid in Qingyi Palace did not bully her, she probably bullied the two young princesses because they were young and ignorant.

Also, how much money and property have they embezzled? No one has ever come to them for these matters, and no one has paid attention to them before, but now, in Zhu Xiongying's Eastern Palace, it seems that many people are not afraid of them.

It seems that there are many slave sisters-in-law and eunuchs who are doing bad things behind my back.

The last time Zhu Yunhuan went to the warehouse to get ginseng, Zhu Xiongying endured it because there were many things to do and he was too lazy to bother with these eunuchs and palace maids.

Just as Zhu Xiongying was thinking this, two little princesses came out, gently pulled Zhu Xiongying's sleeves, and said timidly, "Brother, let's go back."

The two little princesses were somewhat reluctant to leave, but they still walked towards Qingyi Palace hand in hand.

(End of this chapter)