Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 859: The Careless Naughty Child
Although the year had started badly, Zhang Shou had a relaxed and happy time in the next few days since the temporary reception mission of the public school for the envoys of the Huitong Hall had come to an end. It would be even better if the second uncle did not come to visit and report on his work every now and then.
However, because the six people who came before claimed to be Goryeo interpreters and people on the tribute ship, Zhu Er originally just wanted to find out what the situation was with the Goryeo tribute women. Now he has an additional mission. So after Zheshanjun attended the New Year's Day court, he and Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu ran around the capital every day with people, and finally...
Naturally, this successfully made this Korean nobleman with congenital defects sick.
Therefore, during the New Year, Zhu Er came to ask for advice again. He knew that his sister would want to drive him away, but the task was getting more and more confusing, or rather, the more he did it, the more he got involved. Now he felt creepy, looking at the frail Zhe Shanjun, he thought he was an unidentified Korean assassin, and even the Korean women were the same.
He also knew that this was because he knew too much. For example, it didn't matter if Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu didn't know about the Haidong Hua Kingdom, but since he knew it, could he still force himself to forget it?
So, as the second brother-in-law, he peeled some fruit grown in the greenhouse for Zhang Shou with a drooling face, then blew on it and passed it to Zhang Shou. Seeing that he didn't eat it, he put it into his mouth awkwardly: "Brother-in-law, I think the emperor is too polite to that Zheshan Jun. You know, Goryeo has already made two such troubles. Wouldn't it be simpler and clearer to put the person in jail and let the King of Goryeo come to apologize?"
"Simple and clear? That's simple and crude." Zhang Shou sneered unhappily, "Besides, the person who delivered the imperial edict is now dead. If someone finds the original imperial edict and then discovers that Jeju Island is occupied by our Ming pirates, who do you think is right? Of course, between countries, it is never about who is right, but who is stronger, but..."
"Before we figure it out, is it worth it to call for a fight and a murder against a young man from the royal family? Even if we don't call for a fight and a murder, isn't he already under the control of the court?"
Zhu Er was embarrassed immediately. But almost the next moment, he heard a voice outside the door yelling "Teacher". He recognized that it was the Fourth Prince, and he felt that this brat came at a really bad time. He had just started something, and hadn't really come to a conclusion yet. After being disturbed by this kid, it would be even more difficult to bring it up again.
He stood up with a fierce face, and was about to go to the door and quietly stretch out his foot to trip someone to vent his anger, but before he reached the door, he was directly hit by the Fourth Prince who rushed in like a gust of wind. As soon as he cursed, the Fourth Prince, who was touching his head, started yelling.
"Teacher, teacher, my second brother is dead. I heard he was murdered!"
It was a rare occasion to hear the word "Second Brother" from the Fourth Prince's mouth. Zhang Shou could not help but be stunned for a moment. And when he heard the word "torn up", he was stunned again - these two very colloquial words were actually taught to the Second Prince by him. They came from the popular stories he told to this little fellow and the Third Prince in daily life.
Therefore, it was not until a moment later that Zhang Shou finally understood the meaning of the Fourth Prince's words. The guy who had already stormed in and held the Second Prince hostage as a bargaining chip just killed the most valuable hostage in the world? No one would be so decisive unless it was the last resort. Could it be that everyone had been captured in one fell swoop?
Zhang Shou thought long-term, but he didn't think about the death of the Second Prince. After all, he had no friendship with him but had a grudge against him. Shedding a few crocodile tears or even sighing would be hypocritical. He calmed down and saw that the Fourth Prince had already run in front of him, supporting his knees with his hands and waiting for his reaction. He responded as he wished: "And then?"
“Then…” The fourth prince was stunned, and then he said angrily, “Teacher, your reaction to such great news is too calm! Even my father lost his grip and dropped the teacup! When he heard Eunuch Chu say that my second brother and the others were all dead, and only a confession was left, he was furious! As a result…”
When he mentioned the word "result", he coughed guiltily, and then stammered: "As a result, I was careless and didn't say anything nice, and I was almost hit by the lid by the emperor, and was also chased out by my third brother."
The so-called lid must be the lid of the teacup. In other words, after the emperor accidentally dropped the teacup, he listened to Chu Kuan's report, and then the kid said something unpleasant, so the remaining lid almost hit the kid. This would have been impossible for the emperor in the past.
After recognizing this reality, Zhang Shou couldn't help but touch the Fourth Prince's smooth forehead and asked, "Did the Emperor chase you and hit you, or did the lid fall directly at your feet?"
The fourth prince raised his eyebrows in astonishment, but he did not retreat at all to avoid Zhang Shou's action. Instead, he muttered in a low voice with some embarrassment: "My father must have been very angry at that time. He almost smashed my head with a lid. Then my third brother shouted "Little submissive, big run", and I ran away. I think I was so scared that I almost cried when I saw my third brother."
Zhang Shou was simply dumbfounded. Seeing Zhu Er's dumbfounded look, he couldn't help but sigh that the brat in front of him was really careless. If it really hit, with the emperor's strength, someone might have died. Fortunately, the brat was still organized when he came in and yelled, and he didn't even have any lingering fear.
This person is so careless that he forgets the danger at that moment!
Even though Zhang Shou usually thought that the Fourth Prince was too bad, he couldn't help but touch the Fourth Prince's head again when he saw that his words almost caused a disaster. Then he said earnestly, "What did you say wrong before?"
Under Zhu Er's equally curious gaze, the Fourth Prince straightened his chest and said seriously, "When Eunuch Chu arrived, my third brother and I were right in front of the Emperor, so when Eunuch Chen took the confession and carefully relayed what Eunuch Chu said about killing twenty-one people and my second brother was not saved, the first thing I blurted out was..."
"He's finally dead!"
“…”
At that moment, Zhang Shou and Zhu Er both felt from the bottom of their hearts that this outspoken brat was beaten to death by the emperor! To say that this was rubbing salt into someone's wounds was an understatement, this was basically stabbing a knife into someone's chest!
Under Zhang Shou's cold gaze, the Fourth Prince bowed his head and stood obediently, then whispered: "I know I was wrong. So, don't I call you Second Brother?"
Little boy, it's a little late for you to call me second brother now! It's a good thing that the emperor has always been good to you brothers, otherwise you wouldn't have thought of running out of the palace before, and even if you did, you would be taken back and beaten up! As the least popular of the three siblings in the family, Zhu Er was full of complaints at this time. But as if his words had come true, he heard a voice the next moment.
"Zheng Yan, how long do you plan to hide here?"
Zhu Er's body stiffened all of a sudden, and he looked at Zhang Shou, who was also full of surprise. The one who reacted the most was the Fourth Prince, who almost subconsciously looked around, and then quickly crawled under the desk. Faced with such a scene that would have made him laugh normally, he couldn't laugh at all at this moment.
The people in this garden were hand-picked by Ah Liu, and Ah Liu himself was extremely powerful. How could the emperor come directly to the door without anyone saying anything? Could it be that the emperor was really angry, so he came here with a sword, so others didn't dare to stop him?
Zhu Er still thought so, so Zhang Shou naturally thought even more. But at this moment, he glanced at the naughty child squatting under the table with his head in his hands, and finally did not drag the child out directly. Instead, he strode out of the door and saw that the emperor was standing outside alone, without a sword, three thousand soldiers and horses with him, and the third prince was nowhere to be seen, so he bowed calmly.
"Your Majesty, are you here to see the Fourth Prince? He is so frightened that he is hiding under his desk to reflect on himself. I'm afraid he can't come out to see you."
The emperor looked at Zhang Shou coldly. Seeing that his expression did not change at all, and that he had no intention of making way for him to come in, and that the room behind him was completely silent, as if even the sound of breathing had been temporarily suppressed, he said word by word: "As a teacher, you have taught Sanlang and Silang a lesson for other things before. Are you going to protect him this time?"
"Do you know what he said before?"
"I know." Seeing the emperor's eyes suddenly turn fierce, Zhang Shou said innocently, "The Fourth Prince said that he was finally dead. Could it be that he added a prefix at that time, specifying that so-and-so was dead? Shouldn't he have said that those pirates who pretended to be envoys were finally dead?"
When Zhang Shou said the three words "so and so", Zhu Er, who was holding his breath in the room, almost laughed out loud. Finally, he knew that the person outside was the supreme ruler of the dynasty, so he forcibly covered his mouth and then turned his head to look at the fourth prince under the desk. But he only saw the naughty child wiping his tears gently, as if he was crying.
The emperor was stunned by Zhang Shou's nonsense. When he came to his senses, he subconsciously wanted to scold him, but Zhang Shou said calmly: "Mencius said, if the king treats his subjects as his own hands and feet, then the subjects will treat the king as their own heart and soul; if the king treats his subjects as dogs and horses, then the subjects will treat the king as their fellow countrymen; if the king treats his subjects as dirt, then the subjects will treat the king as their enemy."
"If the emperor and his subjects are like this, how much more should brothers be? The emperor usually understands the fourth prince, but why is he so harsh on him today when he heard the shocking news? You know, when he told me that he was almost hit on the head by the emperor, my first reaction was that he almost died."
The emperor's face suddenly turned as gloomy as the gloomy weather. He forced the Third Prince to stay in the palace. It was the first time in his life that he saw someone crying like that. He also left Chu Kuan in the courtyard in front of the Qianqing Palace, leaving him to be blown by the cold wind in the cold weather. He left the few guards who accompanied him outside Zhang Garden. When he broke in, even Ah Liu, who happened to be at the door, didn't dare to leave him behind and could only accompany him all the way here.
The nameless anger was still burning in his heart, as if it could engulf Zhang Shou at any time. However, facing such a pair of frank and straightforward eyes, the emperor felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured over his head, so that the anger seemed to be constantly fading, and finally only a little bit was left.
It was not until this time that the emperor realized that, rather than being so angry about the death of the second prince that he almost lost his mind, it was because of the confession brought back by Chu Kuan that he knew that there were people of unknown origin who occupied a corner in Goryeo and Japan, and then stirred up the situation, and even had the audacity to reach out their hands over here and set their sights on the second prince!
And the second prince, that extremely stupid man, actually planned to go overseas to become a so-called king because he had nowhere to stay in the Ming Dynasty... He really regretted raising him into such a waste!
Of course, what he hated most was the riots and unrest in Tianjin. He only made a superficial investigation and left it alone when he found no clues. However, he did not turn his attention to Goryeo, which was separated by a sea, and Japan, which was isolated overseas.
After taking a few deep breaths, the emperor finally calmed down and walked straight towards Zhang Shou. But when he got in front of him, he shook his shoulders slightly, and with a beautiful horizontal move, he actually passed Zhang Shou and rushed straight into the study. As a result, he saw Zhu Er, who looked like a clay sculpture or wooden statue. He ignored the boy and strode to the desk.
As a result, he saw the Fourth Prince crying with snot and tears, his face was all red. He couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, then reached out to take him out, and then took out several pieces of paper from the box on Zhang Shou's desk, wiped his face vigorously a few times, and when he saw that he was sobbing even harder, he dropped him.
"Well, a real man should shed blood and sweat but not tears! This is what Emperor Taizu said, don't forget it!"
Seeing the fourth prince wiping his eyes and nose vigorously and looking up, the emperor said word by word: "Tomorrow you will bring Zhu Er and others to Huihe Nanguan to ask the Lord Zheshan about this matter directly, and then find out about the matter of the Goryeo tribute girl. If this matter can be handled well, your mistake of speaking carelessly today will be written off."
Without waiting for the fourth prince to agree or refuse, the emperor said sternly: "Don't expect to take Zhang Shou with you. He is your teacher, not your nanny! Hiding under someone's desk when something happens is useless. I almost hurt you. Where is your usual momentum? Don't you know how to confront me and then run to Qingning Palace to find the queen mother to suppress me?"
The Fourth Prince was completely speechless after what the Emperor said. After a long while, he stammered, "How dare I talk back to Father... I want to go to Qingning Palace, but my short legs can't outrun Father, and I might be dragged back before I get there. It's a little farther from the palace to Teacher's place, and Father will be able to calm down a little. If we stay in the palace, you and the Queen Mother will definitely quarrel like crazy."
