Ming Dynasty: Charge, Emperor Yongle!

"These younger brothers in my family."

"The fourth son is the most unruly."

"Even the masters of the Grand Hall have a headache after seeing this."

Zhu Biao stated his reasons as if reciting a familiar story: "Uncle Xu has led troops for decades, what kind of troublemakers haven't he seen?"

"So many people want Uncle Xu to train them, but they don't have that kind of luck."

"If only the fourth brother could learn Uncle Xu's skills."

"If he becomes a great general in the future, it will surely be a legendary tale."

"it is good."

Zhu Yuanzhang listened with great interest, slapped his thigh, and set forth the rules.

................

The following day at noon, at the Great Hall.

"marriage?"

Zhu Di tossed aside the folding fan he was playing with and feigned surprise.

"Congratulations on your upcoming marriage, Fourth Brother."

Congratulations, Fourth Brother!

The younger princes started making a ruckus, and the main hall became very lively.

"Who's getting married? Shut up, all of you, shut up!"

"Read your books."

Zhu Di slammed his hand on the table and sternly reprimanded the princes.

"Hehehe!"

The young princes, intimidated by his tyrannical power, could only stick out their tongues and secretly chuckle to themselves.

"Fourth brother, this information is from a palace maid in Kunning Palace."

"Absolutely authentic, honest and trustworthy!"

King Zhu Shuang of Qin said with a smile, "A marriage alliance with the Xu family would be a great thing."

The Xu family.

Prince Zhu Gang of Jin, who was studying, was drawn in and approached with his arms crossed: "Fourth brother."

"This eldest daughter of the Xu family is a highly praised female scholar in the capital."

"You're very lucky."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Zhu Di looked up at Zhu Gang and sensed the envy in his words.

Prince Zhu Gang of Jin was very different from Prince Zhu Shuang of Qin. He was handsome with striking features and was meticulous and resourceful.

In terms of talent, among all the princes, only Zhu Gang could rival him.

Moreover, Zhu Gang was adept at disguising himself. Although he was arrogant by nature, he pretended to be courteous and gentle.

"Fourth brother, listen to this, female students, what rare women they are."

Zhu Shuang shook his head, genuinely happy for Zhu Di.

"My fourth brother has always been upright and proper, so marrying a scholar from the Xu family would be most suitable for him."

Zhu Gang, tinged with jealousy, added another comment.

"I have a feeling that Third Brother really likes that female student."

"How about this, I will personally go to Father and Uncle Xu to act as matchmaker for Third Brother."

Zhu Di replied with a forced smile.

"Fourth brother is joking."

"Marriage is a major event, and it is decided by the parents and the matchmaker."

"How can it be changed so easily!"

Zhu Gang secretly desired to marry the eldest daughter of Xu Da, the Duke of Wei, but he could not say it at this moment.

"snort!"

Zhu Di snorted coldly and said disdainfully, "What female scholar? I simply won't marry her."

"Say that again?"

Zhu Gang didn't quite hear.

"Fine, I'll say it: I'm not marrying."

Zhu Di had an arrogant and unruly look on his face.

"This is the Emperor's decree."

"Are you trying to intimidate me by using my father as leverage?"

Zhu Gang's words completely enraged Zhu Di, who roared, "I don't want to do something, not even if the Heavenly King himself comes!"

"You...you...you...you stubborn mule."

Even the usually unruly Zhu Shuang was helpless against him, and had no choice but to get up and leave Dabentang with Zhu Gang.

"Let's go, time for lunch."

The other younger princes couldn't sit still any longer and swarmed away.

When the main hall was empty, Zhu Di finally smiled slightly. After waiting for all these years, this moment had finally arrived.

Empress Renxiao, née Xu, was the eldest daughter of Xu Da. She was intelligent and quick-witted from a young age, possessed a photographic memory, and was well-versed in various books.

During the Jingnan Campaign, Xu Miaoyun oversaw the defense of Beiping from behind the scenes and personally went up the city wall to supervise the battle, allowing Zhu Di to focus on his campaigns. She was a model empress in history, and the evaluation of her in the History of Ming was no less than that of Empress Ma.

Not to mention that the Xu family was an asset in his usurpation of the throne, Zhu Di would not have been able to refuse the marriage to Xu Miaoyun herself.

The signing of this marriage meant that Duke Xu Da of Wei was about to embark on an expedition to the northern desert, and he did not want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

However, to outsiders, he had to appear unwilling in order to deceive them.

.............

Kunning Palace.

"What, what?"

"To...to arrange a marriage?"

Xu Da, who hadn't even picked up his chopsticks yet, was so shocked by these words that he almost jumped up from his seat.

"ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him with a smile.

"My eldest daughter and your fourth son?"

Xu Da asked somewhat uncertainly.

"Yes."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

"My home..."

Xu Da couldn't sit still any longer. He stood up and complained, "Brother, what kind of work have you done?"

"Your fourth child?"

"What's wrong?"

Zhu Yuanzhang pretended not to understand.

"My eldest daughter is well-educated, reasonable, and as beautiful as a flower."

"Your fourth son is a complete spoiled brat, always walking chickens, fighting dogs, riding horses, and hunting."

"Your reputation in the village was much better than his back then."

"What reputation? What are you talking about? Where did you get to that?"

Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted Xu Da in time, saying that if he continued, all his secrets would be exposed.

"What? My reputation was better back then?"

"Back in the village, I was known as a handsome young man."

"Girl, look at him, how can he expose someone's shortcomings like that?"

Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at Xu Da and said disparagingly, "When he was a child, he herded cattle on the mountain and would poop and pee every few days."

"Impossible, I didn't."

Xu Da's dark face suddenly turned red.

"Look, he still won't admit it."

"No, never, impossible."

The Ming emperor and the Duke of Wei kept arguing back and forth.

"Junghachi, Junghachi."

"Heavenly Virtue".

Empress Ma quickly stopped the two from bickering: "Aren't you two ashamed in front of the child?"

"The fourth son is a bit unruly."

"But then again, which boy isn't naughty when he's little?"

"He's a good boy. If he knew about this wonderful marriage, he would definitely want to marry Miaoyun right away."

"The eldest daughter of the Xu family is happy to agree as well."

Zhu Yuanzhang interjected.

"Eh!!!"

"We're not willing, we don't want to marry him, what does it matter if he's happy?"

Xu Da denied it three times, not being fooled by Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma's words at all.

"Oh, Tiande, come, come, come."

Zhu Yuanzhang tugged at Xu Da, urging him to sit down.

"Eat, eat, eat, come on, eat goose."

Empress Ma greeted Xu Da with a smile.

Seeing the couple's expressions, Xu Da could only sit down silently and bury his head in eating the roast goose.

He knew he could talk about the old days with Zhu Yuanzhang, and even tease each other, which was nothing to him.

But he couldn't refuse this matter. Xu Miaoyun marrying Prince Yan, Zhu Di, was not something that could be discussed.

Only by becoming relatives of the emperor could the Xu family avoid the open and covert attacks in the court. Only in this way would the emperor feel at ease entrusting military power to them.