Chapter 73: They are here to ask for an explanation from us!
Outside the Qianqing Palace .
Prince of Qin Zhu Shuang led a group of his younger brothers and stood respectfully outside the palace, waiting to be summoned by their father.
However, after waiting for a long time, they did not hear their father calling them. Instead, they heard bursts of roars coming from the hall.
It was not until Qin Deshun from the Imperial Household Department came out that the King of Qin found someone to question him.
"Eunuch Qin, what's wrong with father? Who is he angry with?"
Qin Deshun hesitated slightly and said after hearing this.
"Hey... His Majesty is beating his grandson..."
All the princes were dumbfounded when they heard the answer, except Prince of Jin Zhu Gang, who relaxed his frown and breathed a sigh of relief.
Since the emperor is still willing to beat his grandson, it proves that the crime he committed was not serious, or at least it was within the range that the emperor can tolerate.
But, didn’t this grandson just get beaten yesterday? Why is he causing trouble again today?
Thinking of this, Zhu Gang also pulled Eunuch Qin aside and stuffed a piece of silver into his sleeve.
"Eunuch Qin, can you tell me what Zhu Yunhuan has done wrong?"
When Qin Deshun heard this, he immediately looked embarrassed.
"Your Highness, I am not taking advantage of my age, but His Majesty has forbidden me to tell you about this. If I were to reveal it, I might lose my head!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Gang didn't dare to ask any more questions. In the palace money can do anything, but it cannot buy life, especially the life of such a cunning and treacherous person.
"That was my fault."
How could Qin Deshun take other people's money for nothing? Wouldn't that damage his own reputation?
"Your Highness Prince Jin, although I cannot tell you what the Third Imperial Grandson has done wrong, I can give you a warning."
"If someone else committed that crime, their entire clan would be killed!"
"What!"
When Zhu Gang heard this, he was stunned on the spot. Did this grandson poke a hole in the sky?
After saying this, Qin Deshun hurried towards the Imperial Hospital.
It was Erhu who reminded us of this. The Emperor will surely be furious today, so let's call the imperial physician over and get ready!
Inside the Qianqing Palace.
Old Zhu took the whip handed to him by the young eunuch and walked towards the inner room with a grim smile on his face.
In the inner room of the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yunhuan was being held on a chair with his hands handcuffed behind his back by Erhu.
When Zhu Yunhuan heard Lao Zhu's evil laugh, his heart trembled. When he heard the sound of Lao Zhu whipping his whip, his legs began to tremble.
This old man is really vicious when he beats people. I made such a big mistake today. I can’t be beaten to death by him, right?
When Zhu Yunhuan thought of this, he hurriedly tried to get himself a chance to have his sentence reduced.
"Grandpa Emperor, please don't do anything yet, listen to me first!"
"snort!"
"At this point, what else do you have to say, you rebellious grandson?"
"Grandpa Emperor, the reason why your grandson did this is entirely for your own good!"
When Old Zhu heard this, a trace of ferocity flashed across his face, and he said with a strange laugh.
"Hey!"
"Isn't that a coincidence?"
"The reason why we want to beat you is for your own good!"
Seeing that the emperor was coming with such a fierce momentum, Erhu immediately tried to persuade him.
"Your Majesty, the Third Grandson was beaten by the Imperial Guards yesterday, and his butt is still injured!"
"If you don't believe me, just look..."
As Erhu spoke, he pulled down Zhu Yunhuan's pants. However, he only took one look and his two tiger eyes went numb.
What about the injury?
Yesterday, the Jinyiwei acted out of character and was top-heavy.
Even though there were only a few hits, all the force of the last hit was put into the front.
Logically speaking, this grandson's butt should at least be swollen at this time!
How come this guy’s butt healed after just one night?
The recovery speed is too fast. Could it be that this guy's butt was born to be beaten?
Old Zhu couldn't help but look at Nisun's butt, which was white and tender, and didn't look like it had been beaten at all.
"Erhu, you Jinyiwei are too presumptuous. You even dare to perfunctorily follow our orders!"
Erhu broke out in a cold sweat when he heard this.
"Your Majesty, please listen to my explanation. We did beat him pretty hard yesterday. If you don't believe me, go and look at the other princes' buttocks. They are definitely swollen..."
Old Zhu smiled sinisterly when he heard this.
"Others must be swollen, but you let this grandson off the hook, right?"
"How many strokes did we give this grandson yesterday?"
"Your Majesty, your order at that time was thirty lashes of the cane!"
“Hehehe!”
"Since you, Erhu, are such a good person, I'll give you the beating I gave you yesterday!"
"Remember, you have to hit him hard. After the beating, we have to ask the Imperial Hospital to examine the injuries!"
Erhu's head immediately drooped when he heard that. He was unlucky himself and there was no point in him begging for mercy for his grandson.
Now I didn't get the favor, but I got punished with thirty lashes...
"promise!"
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I would never dare to lie!"
After dealing with Erhu, Lao Zhu immediately whipped the whip twice again, making crisp "crackling" sounds in the air.
"Little rebellious grandson, are you ready? We are going to start..."
When Old Zhu said this, he suddenly swung out the whip and hit Zhu Yunxun's delicate buttocks hard.
This sudden attack directly broke Zhu Yunhuan's defense.
Firstly, he attacked before he even finished speaking, catching him off guard.
Secondly, this thing was too painful, even more painful than the beatings from the Jinyiwei, and it hurt so much that he cried on the spot.
"Grandpa Emperor, I'm really doing this for your own good. Even a cruel man like Qin Shi Huang used terracotta warriors to bury him with his dead body. You can't be worse than Qin Shi Huang, can you?"
When Lao Zhu heard this, he was stunned for a moment and then asked.
"What Terracotta Warriors?"
Zhu Yunhuan came to his senses immediately after hearing this. The thing had not been dug out yet, so how would Zhu know about the Terracotta Warriors!
"Grandpa Emperor, this is true!"
"Isn't my second uncle in Xi'an? Ask him to send someone to a place called Lintong and have the local farmers dig a few feet underground and you'll see it!"
When Old Zhu saw that his grandson even made up a lie to avoid being beaten, his face became even gloomier.
"Just shut up!"
After Lao Zhu said this, he cracked the whip again and hit someone on the butt, making the person scream.
"Grandpa Emperor, please wait a moment. I have something else to say..."
"Even if you don't believe in the Terracotta Warriors, you must have heard this saying, Confucius said, 'The first person to create terracotta warriors will have no descendants...'"
"The ancients in the Spring and Autumn Period thought that human sacrifice was too cruel. Why don't you feel ashamed of it? Instead, you are proud of it, wuwuwu..."
When Lao Zhu heard this, he was stunned again and then asked.
“Isn’t this Mencius?”
"Qi Tai even taught you Mencius?"
When Zhu Yunhuan heard this, he thought to himself, "Oh no! I haven't even finished learning the Analects yet, so how could I possibly know what Mencius said?"
"Grandpa Emperor, this is what I occasionally heard when I listened to other uncles reciting their lessons!"
When Old Zhu heard this, he gave his grandson three consecutive hits. With three crisp sounds of "pa pa pa", Zhu Yunhuan was almost beaten to death.
"Grandpa Emperor, why are you hitting me again? Wuwuwu..."
Old Zhu snorted coldly.
"Little traitor, there is one thing you don't know, right?"
"We think Mencius has no king or father, so we have already told the teachers in the main hall that the princes are not allowed to read Mencius before they reach adulthood!"
"How dare you fool me, saying that you heard it from other uncles, are you taking me for a fool?"
"ah?"
When Zhu Yunhuan heard this, he was stunned. He used the Mengrushen Machine to cheat and accidentally learned too much?
Old Zhu swung the whip again and hit him again and again.
"What did we tell you last time?"
"I hate it most in my life when someone lies to me. Did you secretly recite Mencius and then act dumb in front of me?"
"Let me tell you, this is a crime of deceiving the emperor!"
"You are guilty of falsely conveying the imperial edict and deceiving the emperor. Tell me yourself, you rebellious grandson. Do you deserve to be beaten?"
When Zhu Yunhuan heard the familiar lines, his scalp suddenly felt numb.
What does that mean? Did I just get hit in vain?
Do I have to wait until I say it's time to fight before it officially starts?
In order to prevent Old Zhu from having too long foreplay, Zhu Yunhuan hurriedly shouted.
“You deserve to be beaten!”
" Your grandson deserves to be beaten, please beat him right away!"
Sure enough, after he shouted this sentence, Lao Zhu also said that classic line.
"Since you said it's time to fight, let's start!"
Seeing that he couldn't avoid the beating today, Zhu Yunhuan simply made up his mind and said with great courage.
"Grandpa Emperor, I admit defeat on this matter!"
"You can beat me as much as you want, as long as you can't kill me, I, Zhu Yunhuan, will be a lively and brave man again in three days!"
Old Zhu was originally furious, but when he heard his grandson say this, he couldn't help but exclaim.
"Good grandson, you are so courageous. I was right about you!"
"If you can withstand these two hundred lashes, we can call this matter a day!"
Zhu Yunhuan was biting his sleeves, trying to act like a brave man, but when he heard the words "two hundred lashes" suddenly, he almost peed himself.
It was only a few lashes, but it was already painful enough for him.
If he really gets whipped two hundred times today, he'll be skinned alive even if he doesn't die, right?
"Grandpa Emperor, let's make a deal. Can we get rid of the zero?"
"Isn't two hundred an integer? How can we round off the decimal point?"
"My grandson means that if you erase a zero, you will be whipped twenty times..."
The crisp sound of "Pa!" was Zhu Yuanzhang's response to Zhu Yunhuan.
As the whip cracked, a sound of ghosts howling and wolves howling suddenly came from the Qianqing Palace.
“Pah pah pah…”
"Do you know your mistake?"
"I know I was wrong, woo woo woo ..."
"You dare to forge an imperial decree at such a young age? When you are a few years older, won't you stage a Xuanwu Gate Incident for me and throw me into the harem to live out my days?"
“Pah pah pah…”
“Wow wow wow wow…”
Just when Old Zhu was fighting vigorously, the weak voice of a young eunuch suddenly came from outside the door.
"Your Majesty, the Crown Princess leads a group of women from the Crown Prince's residence to thank Your Majesty for his grace!"
Originally, Lao Zhu had already calmed down after being whipped dozens of times, but now, after hearing these words, his anger rose again, and he immediately gave him three more whips in a row.
"You still have the nerve to cry?"
"You've caused such a big disaster, it's not too much for us to beat you to death!"
"Erhu, hold him down for us. After we clean his ass, we'll come back and beat him up!"
After saying this harsh word, Old Zhu stormed out, cursing as he walked.
"Shane?"
"Hehe, that sounds nice!"
"They are not here to express gratitude, they are here to force us to abdicate and demand an explanation from us!"
