Daming: Dad, you are really not good at governing the country

After leaving Kunning Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang walked slowly on the palace road with his hands behind his back.

The hem of the black dragon robe swayed slightly with his steps.

Xu Lin followed half a step behind, and the distance was so close that he could clearly see the fine beads of sweat oozing from the back of Zhu Yuanzhang's neck.

Although it was still chilly in Yingtian Prefecture in early February, the heat in the warm room of the Kunning Palace had already made people breathless.

"Xu Qing."

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly stopped under the ginkgo tree in front of the imperial study, startling a few sparrows that were resting there.

"Look at this newly transplanted ginkgo tree from last year. It's much stronger than the one in our hometown of Fengyang, isn't it?"

Xu Lin was about to answer when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang striding over the vermilion lacquered threshold.

Then he waved away the two eunuchs who were fiddling with the brazier, and immediately pulled out a blue-covered booklet from the rosewood desk.

Xu Lin noticed that the white jade ring on Zhu Yuanzhang's thumb tapped against the edge of the book, making a slight "click" sound.

"Xu Aiqing, tell me what you found out."

After organizing his thoughts, Xu Lin began to report: "In a blacksmith shop in a street in the Xicheng District of Shangyuan County, Chen San, an apprentice of the Firearms Supervisor, forged a 'Thunder Gun' without authorization.

Fortunately, the person has been caught and no serious consequences have occurred..."

Unexpectedly, before he could finish his words, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly slammed the teacup on the table.

The celadon covered bowl jumped up and down, splashing out a few drops of amber tea, which spread on the memorials.

"What a courageous dog!"

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes looked like knife marks.

"They thought we were the monks who begged for alms in Huangjue Temple back then. How dare we even forge firearms without permission!"

Xu Lin saw the veins bulging on the back of Zhu Yuanzhang's hand as he grabbed the red brush, and hurriedly took half a step forward.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. This matter involves the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture and many senior officials in the court. Is it possible..."

"We want to catch them all in one fell swoop!"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly threw the red brush out of the window, causing the copper bells under the eaves to ring. Then he turned around and took a short knife wrapped in yellow silk from Duobao Pavilion.

Xu Lin recognized that this was Chen Youliang's sword that was captured during the Battle of Poyang Lake.

Zhu Yuanzhang then tore open the yellow silk of the dagger, his action showing the ferocity of a veteran general on the battlefield.

"Xu Lin, tomorrow you will take our secret order and go south to investigate the Jiangnan Lin family.

This knife is given to you as a reward. If you encounter anyone who disobeys my order, you will be killed immediately without mercy!"

Then Zhu Yuanzhang chopped down with his sword, a cold light flashed, and the lamp flowers on the corner of the desk fell to the ground.

When Xu Lin took the short knife which was still warm from body temperature, he found that the red silk wrapped around the handle had faded to dark brown.

At this moment, the third sound of the midnight bell was heard outside the window, which immediately startled all the birds sleeping in the yard.

As soon as the heavy palace door closed, the side door on the other side quietly opened.

Empress Ma's personal maid, Yu'er, walked in with light lotus steps, her skirt brushing against the shiny gold brick floor, making almost no sound.

"This slave is here to meet Your Majesty."

Yu'er bowed gracefully, her voice as clear as the sound of spring water hitting stone.

Zhu Yuanzhang calmed down and put on a relatively gentle expression.

"Get even.

My sister sent you here, what's the important matter?"

Yu'er stood up and handed the exquisite food box in her hands to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Your Majesty, the Queen heard that you did not have dinner today, so she specially ordered the kitchen to prepare a few snacks and told me to make sure that Your Majesty eats some."

Zhu Yuanzhang opened the food box, took out a dish of dragon beard crisps from it, gently broke off a piece and put it into his mouth.

The crispy sugar threads melt quickly on the tip of your tongue, and the aroma of sesame and peanuts spreads.

Sweet but not greasy, with a long aftertaste.

"Well……"

Zhu Yuanzhang then closed his eyes and savored the familiar yet unfamiliar taste.

In a trance, he seemed to have returned to his childhood, when his mother used the candies she saved to satisfy his cravings. At that time, sweetness was a rare comfort in his poor life.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang slowly asked, "How is the queen's appetite now?"

Yu'er sighed when she heard this, "The queen is very weak and only ate a bowl of rice porridge today."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "You must take good care of the queen. If you encounter any difficulties, you can ask me."

Zhu Yuanzhang's words reminded Yu'er of the pair of jade earrings that the guard Su Yu had given her. She immediately took them out and handed them over.

When the pair of jade earrings emitted a faint green glow under the candlelight, Zhu Yuanzhang staggered back and knocked over the celadon brush washer.

The ink splashed on the dragon-patterned carpet looks like a winding black snake.

"This...this is impossible!"

Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the jade earrings and looked at them closely against the light, his fingertips trembling slightly.

"How could our sister's dowry be..."

At this moment, Yu'er saw half of a secret mark exposed on the inside of the earring, shaped like a black bird with its wings spread.

She remembered Su Yu saying that this was the mark of the secret guards of the previous dynasty.

"Say!"

Suddenly Zhu Yuanzhang grabbed Yu'er's chin with such force that it almost broke her bones.

"Where did these earrings come from?"

In the severe pain, Yu'er caught a glimpse of an old arrow scar on Zhu Yuanzhang's wrist, which was exposed from his sleeve. It was exactly the same as the one on Su Yu's shoulder.

"Yes Yes……"

With her eyes blurred by tears, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the hall.

The chief eunuch Wu Cheng rushed in in a panic, "Your Majesty! The cold palace... there's a fire in the cold palace!

Someone found it at the fire scene..."

Then he caught a glimpse of Yu'er's presence and suddenly fell silent.

Zhu Yuanzhang let go of Yu'er and held the earring in his palm.

Yu'er heard the emerald earrings making a slight cracking sound as he clenched them tightly.

"Pretending to be in the cold palace."

Zhu Yuanzhang then strode towards the palace gate, but suddenly stopped at the threshold and said without turning his head, "Yu'er, come with me.

As for the earrings..."

His profile was half bright and half dark in the shadows. "I'll explain it slowly after I come back."

After more than half an hour, a group of people surrounded Zhu Yuanzhang and Yu'er and came to the cold palace where the fire had broken out.

The cold palace was originally where concubines of the previous dynasty were imprisoned. The beams and pillars, which had been in disrepair for a long time, were wrapped with old silk.

When it encounters fire, it opens its mouth like a giant beast and spits out a three-meter-long scarlet tongue.

At this moment, there were more than a hundred eunuchs and palace maids surrounding the fire scene, and copper basins and wooden barrels were in a mess.

Suddenly, the crowd parted like a tide, and the guard Su Yu's face, which was blackened by smoke, was particularly clear in the firelight.

He was wrapping a thin figure in a soaked brocade quilt, but his robe was burned with charred holes.

Zhu Yuanzhang dismounted from his horse, only to see the child looking up with eyes of different colors. It turned out to be the mixed-race prince left over from the Yuan Dynasty.

"His Majesty!"

Su Yu coughed violently and knelt down, "This child is chained under the beam..."

Before he finished speaking, the main beam of Chengxi Hall collapsed with a loud bang, and sparks rained down at Zhu Yuanzhang's feet.

Zhu Yuanzhang tore off the Panlong cloak and wrapped it around the three people, shouting loudly and making crackling sounds.

"Wang Jinghong, find out for us what is hidden in this fire?"

After the imperial physician took the frightened former Yuan prince away, Zhu Yuanzhang found a half-burned tinderbox in the scorched earth. The tinfoil pattern was clearly specially made by the Ministry of War.

Yu'er suddenly tugged at his sleeve and pointed her white fingers at the object flickering in the ashes.

It was a gilded bronze plaque. Although the four characters "Jinyi Qinjun" on the front had been burned and blurred, the private seal of Jin Wang Zhu Gang was clearly engraved on the back. (End of this chapter)