The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Somersault Cloud, Old Zhu was so envious he cried!

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression suddenly darkened, and he immediately summoned his top henchman, Mao Xiang.

"Go and see what's going on?"

Dressed in a close-fitting outfit, the tall and imposing Mao Xiang immediately stepped forward, bowed, and accepted the order, saying, "Your subject obeys!"

After saying that, he turned and left.

But before he could even reach the door, he heard the Crown Prince's voice coming from outside.

"No need to trouble yourself, we're here."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Crown Prince, dressed in ordinary clothes, walked in with his three younger brothers.

Zhu Biao was the first to arrive at the banquet, and he bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, who were seated in the upper seats.

However, he then turned and nodded to Li Zhen beside him, showing perfect manners.

"Your subject pays respects to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, and greets your uncle. I was delayed on the way and am a little late. I hope the Emperor will forgive me."

Looking at his eldest son, who was tall and had an extraordinary demeanor, Zhu Yuanzhang was satisfied with everything he did!

He even felt incredibly proud of himself for raising his son to be such a talented person.

"Biao'er, as the Crown Prince, you're usually busy with state affairs, so it's normal for you to be a little late." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with a smile, indicating his understanding, but then immediately changed the subject, "Then what about those three?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang truly deserves to be called the number one hypocrite of the Ming Dynasty.

When facing Zhu Biao, it was one attitude.

She had a different attitude towards her other sons.

The second son, Zhu Shuang, the third son, Zhu Gang, and the fifth son, Zhu Su, were so frightened by their father's reprimanding tone that they almost knelt down on the spot.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at the three men and said with some displeasure, "The fourth prince lives the farthest, yet he was the first to arrive. The three of you live closer to the palace, and unlike the eldest prince, you are not busy with official duties. Why are you late?"

The three of them stammered, unsure of how to begin, and eventually broke out in a cold sweat.

In fact, the three of them had arrived long ago.

They just stayed hidden by the door, too afraid to come in.

The root cause of this situation lies with the Ming Dynasty.

That was two years ago, when Zhu Ming was only four years old.

One day, Zhu Shuang, Zhu Gang, and the fifth son Zhu Su went to Kunning Palace to visit Empress Ma.

When Zhu Ming saw his older brothers arrive, he was very happy and wanted to play with them.

However, not all of Zhu Ming's older brothers liked him.

Zhu Shuang, Zhu Gang, and Zhu Su didn't like him very much.

As for the reason?

One reason is that Zhu Ming was frail and sickly from a young age, like a sickly child.

When we hang out with him, we have to take care of him too.

Therefore, they felt that Zhu Ming was a burden.

As for the other reason, it was jealousy. He was jealous of why his mother favored him so much.

It was precisely because of these emotions that...

So the accident happened that day.

At that time, Zhu Shuang, Zhu Gang, and Zhu Su played hide-and-seek with Zhu Ming, but after a few rounds, they felt it was a bit boring.

So after Zhu Ming hid, the three of them left Kunning Palace together and returned to their own homes.

Zhu Ming, who was hiding in the wooden box at the time, was unaware that his brothers had left and remained quietly inside.

Because no one plays with him on weekdays, it's rare for his older brothers to be willing to play with him now.

The little guy took this game very seriously.

He curled up his small body inside the wooden box.

She nervously covered her mouth with both little hands.

They were afraid of accidentally making a sound and revealing their location.

The little guy just quietly hid in the wooden box.

When his brothers came to find him, he suddenly jumped out and startled them.

But as a result, no one came to look for him even after he fell asleep.

at the same time.

Kunning Palace was already in complete chaos.

Empress Ma knew that Zhu Shuang and the others had taken Zhu Ming out to play, so she was quite at ease at first.

However, two hours passed and Zhu Ming still hadn't returned, which made Empress Ma somewhat worried.

So he sent his personal maid to see what was going on and to bring Zhu Ming back.

But it only took a short while.

The maid Yu'er ran over in a panic, and her words made Empress Ma feel as if the sky had fallen.

"Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened! The three princes left the palace an hour ago!"

"What? What about my tomorrow?"

Empress Ma fainted immediately after she finished speaking.

When she wakes up again.

The room was already full of people.

Her husband Zhu Yuanzhang, her eldest son Zhu Biao, her brother-in-law Li Zhen... and her second, third, and fifth sons kneeling on the ground, but her sixth son was nowhere to be seen.

As soon as Empress Ma regained a sliver of consciousness, she supported her weak body and hurriedly asked Zhu Yuanzhang about Zhu Ming's whereabouts.

Old Zhu told her that he hadn't found it yet.

Empress Ma's body trembled violently, and the next second she spat out a mouthful of blood. Then her vision went black, and she fell straight backward.

With his young son missing, the Empress was so enraged that she vomited blood and fainted. At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang could no longer suppress his anger.

He immediately ordered his men to hang those three beasts up.

Then he pulled out his belt and gave him a good beating.

If Zhu Biao hadn't stopped them in the end, these three would have been seriously injured or disabled, even if they hadn't died.

When Empress Ma woke up for the second time.

Old Zhu told her that Zhu Ming had been found; he was in a closed wooden box.

I don't know who put the junk on it.

Zhu Ming was young and weak, and no matter how hard he tried inside, he couldn't push it open.

As a result, he was trapped in the box for a long time, had difficulty breathing, and Zhu Ming himself was already congenitally deficient.

By the time they found him, he was already on the verge of death.

At this moment, the imperial physicians are taking turns to save him.

Oh, and I'd like to add something here.

The one who found Zhu Ming was a young eunuch.

His surname is Cao, and he is the same eunuch Cao who appeared at the beginning.

This is why Empress Ma reacted so strongly when Zhu Ming went missing today!

This is simply because something like this has already happened once before.

Although the imperial physicians took turns administering acupuncture and medicine to save him, Zhu Ming was finally able to survive and escape danger.

They can be trapped in an airtight wooden box for a long time, resulting in oxygen deprivation and suffocation.

In addition, he was born with a weak constitution.

This incident ultimately caused irreparable damage to Zhu Ming.

After a consultation, several senior physicians solemnly concluded that the Sixth Prince's vital energy had been severely depleted and his internal organs were damaged beyond repair. Judging from his current physical condition, he probably wouldn't live past the age of eight.

When these words reached the ears of Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, the entire palace fell into a deathly silence.

Especially Empress Ma,

Why was Zhu Ming inherently disadvantaged?

It all started because of her.

Now, due to her momentary negligence, Ming'er will not live past the age of eight.

This double burden of self-blame was suffocating her.

He didn't eat or sleep for days, staying by Zhu Ming's bedside every day, his tears almost never stopping.

She repeatedly berated herself in her heart.

Take good care of your health during pregnancy.

If two more palace maids had been assigned to accompany him that day,

Tomorrow we won't be in this situation.

As for the instigators, the second, third, and fifth brothers...

From that day on,

Empress Ma never spoke another word to them.

That's why, even though they had arrived at the door, they still didn't dare to go in.

Finally, Zhu Biao couldn't stand it anymore and stepped in to help the three of them out of the predicament.

"Father, Mother, the reason the three of them are late is that they were delayed while preparing a birthday gift for Sixth Brother."