My father Yongle, building a five-good family

Chapter 32: A little cleverness leads to big mistakes

As Zhu Yuanzhang finished his words, the atmosphere in the Qianqing Palace suddenly became quiet.

The teacher in Wenhua Hall below looked trembling with fear, as if he didn't know how to respond.

However, at this moment, Huang Zicheng suddenly stepped forward, with a smile on his face, bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang above him, and then spoke leisurely:
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has indeed figured out the matter of the Xing'an Lingqu Canal."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes seemed a little surprised. Obviously, he did not expect that the Crown Prince, who was involved in water dredging for the first time, could sort out the twists and turns in such a short time.

The gentleman next to him looked up in astonishment.

The Crown Prince solved the problem so quickly?
This was not what he expected...

However, no one paid attention to the teacher's mood at the moment, and only heard Zhu Yuanzhang ask:

"Xing'an Lingqu...what does the Crown Prince think?"

When Huang Zicheng was speaking before the emperor, he looked calm and composed, as if he was talking eloquently, and repeated the words he heard from behind the rockery one by one:

"...fish-scale stone has lines and a rough texture. When the river water flows through it, it will reduce the scouring force..."

Zhu Yuanzhang listened carefully, a slight smile on his face, as if he was extremely satisfied with the memorial. Likewise, he was also extremely satisfied with the Crown Prince's intelligence and eagerness to learn.

The teacher next to him widened his eyes in disbelief. At this moment, a thought came to his mind:
Could it be that... the Crown Prince is really a genius in water conservancy and dredging?

Huang Zicheng watched the changes in these people's expressions, especially Zhu Yuanzhang's look of complete belief, and the remaining uneasiness in his heart gradually faded away.

When this thought just flashed through his mind, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was sitting on the high seat, for some reason, suddenly looked gloomy and spoke in a cold voice:
"Huang Zicheng, do you admit your guilt?"

Huang Zicheng's smile froze, and he subconsciously wanted to kneel down.

He was filled with doubt and uncertainty, and in this brief moment, thoughts popped up in his mind one after another.

Could it be that Your Majesty has seen through my lie?
But you have to know that when Zhu Gaoyu and others were speaking, they were behind a hidden rockery. If Huang Zicheng had not passed by accidentally, he probably would not have heard what Zhu Gaoyu said.

The most important thing is that today’s incident just happened. Has Your Majesty received the news now?
But then he thought of the current emperor and the spies who were almost everywhere, and the clothes on Huang Zicheng's back were soaked with sweat again.

In an instant, he understood everything.

Huang Zicheng made a prompt decision and knelt down on the spot, prostrating himself and kowtowed. His body was shaking slightly. He did not even dare to say a word in defense and could only feel deep regret in his heart.

He is too impatient.

Because the threat from Prince Yan was so great, Huang Zicheng lost his composure and was found to have made a mistake.

At this moment, Huang Zicheng spoke tremblingly:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

There was unspeakable disappointment in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes when he looked at Huang Zicheng, and even a hint of hidden anger.

Where did Huang Zicheng's previous eloquent words come from? As an emperor with a strong desire for control and a group of Jinyiwei who monitor the whole world, how could he not know what is happening inside the palace?

The reason why Huang Zicheng's behavior today made Old Zhu dissatisfied and even angry was not because Huang Zicheng deceived his superiors and subordinates, but because... he interfered in the affairs of the emperor's grandson's generation.

This view on Xing'an and Lingqu clearly came from Zhu Gaoyu's mouth, but Huang Zicheng put the blame on Zhu Yunwen. Has he ever thought about what changes will happen in the relationship between the crown prince and his brothers after these words were spoken today?

Old Zhu could even reasonably suspect that it was because of Huang Zicheng's interference that Zhu Yunwen and the others from the fourth brother's family always felt awkward getting along with each other.

When it comes to protecting one's own people, Old Zhu can be said to be very skilled at it.

What he feared was that after his children and grandchildren passed away, the Ming Dynasty would not have peace. He was even more afraid that the Zhu brothers would become enemies over the throne.

Huang Zicheng's clever behavior today caused Zhu Yuanzhang, who originally admired this minister, to have a completely negative impression of him.

No one dared to breathe.

Zhu Yuanzhang had a cold expression and his eyes were like an eagle's. He looked down at Huang Zicheng who was kneeling on the gold brick.

Huang Zicheng only felt that the gold bricks seemed to be emitting cold air, which gradually spread along the surface of his knees and spread to his whole body. His heart was full of regret at this moment, but if time could go back, Huang Zicheng believed that he would still make a similar choice.

At most... don't be so blatant in grabbing credit.

After a long silence, when beads of sweat as big as beans rolled down everyone's forehead, Zhu Yuanzhang finally spoke.

This time, his voice seemed a little tired:

"Send the crown prince to the Palace of Heavenly Purity."

Huang Zicheng suddenly raised his head and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in astonishment. Then he kowtowed again. There was a crisp "bang" sound, and Huang Zicheng said sadly:
"Your Majesty, this is all my own doing. It has nothing to do with the Crown Prince! The Crown Prince is unaware of this!"

In response, Zhu Yuanzhang just glanced at him calmly. He only said one sentence to his former favorite minister:
"Shut up!"

A moment.

The Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen came to the Qianqing Palace.

As soon as he arrived in the hall, Zhu Yunwen was frightened by the heavy atmosphere and stopped in his tracks before he could even smile.

Who has offended the Emperor again?

He glanced around and when he saw Huang Zicheng kneeling on the ground, a bad premonition immediately arose in his heart.

These thoughts flashed through his mind. Seeing that the atmosphere was not good, Zhu Yunwen stepped forward in a serious manner, saluted, and then said:

"Who has made Grandpa Huang unhappy?"

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw the crown prince, his expression softened a little. "Yunwen, tell me honestly, have you come up with an answer to the question about water conservancy dredging in today's class?"

Zhu Yunwen is not stupid.

He could tell from the atmosphere in the Qianqing Palace when he arrived, and from Huang Zicheng who was still kneeling on the ground, that this problem was definitely not as simple as it seemed.

But the problem is, he doesn't even know what happened.

Obviously, it was not that easy for Zhu Yunwen to place people around Zhu.

His grandfather is still his grandfather.

He hesitated for a moment, but chose to speak honestly, "Grandpa Emperor, I am not good at water conservancy dredging. To be honest, I have not yet figured out all the problems you have raised."

Finally, he added:
"I wonder if Grandpa Huang can teach his grandson a thing or two?"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, hinting at something:
"Teach me? Yun Wen, Huang Zicheng beside you is a learned man. If you ask him about this, won't you understand?"

Zhu Yunwen felt something was wrong with this and frowned:
"When did Zicheng learn about water dredging? Grandfather Emperor, is there any misunderstanding here?"

First update today

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(End of this chapter)