I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 82 Puns

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your praise." Zhu Houxuan continued loudly.

"Don't call me Your Majesty. We are brothers. Call me Imperial Brother. I wonder if your Majesty has ever practiced with any weapons?" Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhu Houxun with sharp eyes.

"My son, that's enough, let's not talk about this in this situation. How can the King of Jing, who is worth millions of gold, go to the battlefield?" said Empress Dowager Zhang.

The audience in the Qianqing Palace was quite formal, so it is indeed not appropriate to say this.

Zhu Houzhao stopped talking in displeasure, a hint of displeasure flashing across his face.

Empress Dowager Zhang asked some trivial questions, such as Concubine Liu's health, her experiences on the journey, etc.

Zhu Houxuan answered the questions one by one, and his calm and composed look made Empress Dowager Zhang nod repeatedly.

Then he kept Zhu Houxun in the palace for lunch.

Zhu Houzhao walked directly to Zhu Houxun and grabbed his hand, "Come on, I'll take you there."

Zhu Houzhao suddenly stopped, as if he had discovered something, and spread out Zhu Houxun's hand with a smile, "It seems that my brother has practiced before, the thick calluses on his hands can't be hidden from me."

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty only called themselves "Zhen" in more formal occasions, and there was no such thing as it in private.

"I got these calluses from hammering iron. Don't my royal brother have thick calluses on his hands? I wonder how they came about?" Zhu Houxuan asked back without any stage fright.

"This was sharpened from the sword you made for me." Zhu Houzhao laughed and showed Zhu Houxuan the Blood-Drinking Sword hanging around his waist.

"It would be a pity if you don't practice some weapons with such a good body. I will teach you sword skills next time!" Zhu Houzhao said, patting Zhu Houxun on the shoulder.

"Thank you very much, my Royal Brother."

When the two met, there was no feeling of strangeness at all, and they both felt that they were quite familiar with each other.

The imperial banquet began soon. The occasion was not so formal, and Empress Dowager Zhang began to ask some questions that she was very interested in.

"King Jing, I really like to read the Jing Operas you write, but I have a question in my mind that has been bothering me for a long time. I wonder if King Jing can help answer it?"

"Please tell me, Queen Mother. I will tell you everything I know!"

"You are the author of Jing Opera, so tell me, is Monk Tang attracted to the Queen of the Kingdom of Women?" Empress Dowager Zhang stared at Zhu Houxuan closely.

"This is a question," Zhu Houxun deliberately prolonged his voice. He saw that Zhu Houzhao also looked at him with interest.

"What? Can't you answer it?" Empress Dowager Zhang asked with concern.

This question was often asked to Zhu Houxun, but he chose not to answer it, because someone would be unhappy if he answered yes or no. Even if someone got a satisfactory answer from him, they might feel dissatisfied again after a while.

So it was really difficult for Zhu Houchun to answer this question, because no matter how he answered it, it would be inappropriate. However, facing the most noble mother and son in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houchun really had to answer it.

"Actually, I wrote a plot when I was writing the script for Journey to the West: The Women Kingdom, but it was deleted during the final rehearsal." Zhu Houxuan began to change the subject.

"Oh? Is this true? Then what is the deleted plot?" Empress Dowager Zhang asked hurriedly.

"It is said that the Queen of the Kingdom of Women reluctantly bid farewell to Monk Tang and asked him a question before leaving." Zhu Houzhao said seriously.

Empress Dowager Zhang and Zhu Houzhao were indeed intrigued and stared at Zhu Houxun closely, afraid of missing anything. Even the palace servants standing nearby pricked up their ears, because they had also watched Jing Opera many times with these two masters.

"The Queen of the Kingdom of Women asked: 'My dear brother, are you willing to marry me?'" Zhu Houxuan lowered his voice to imitate the voice of the Queen of the Kingdom of Women.

"Guess what Tang Seng answered?" Zhu Houxuan had whetted people's appetite. "What did he answer?" Zhu Houzhao asked hurriedly.

"Tang Monk only answered with one word - marry!" Zhu Houxuan said, spreading his hands.

"Marry? Marry someone who's getting married?" Empress Dowager Zhang could no longer hold back and hurriedly confirmed.

"Yes." Zhu Houxuan said with great certainty.

Queen Mother Zhang opened her mouth and wanted to say something but nothing came out. She had always believed that Tang Seng was attracted to the Queen of the Kingdom of Women, but when the answer she wanted was placed in front of her, she felt a little lost.

Zhu Houzhao was not so sentimental. He always felt that there was something else going on, so he asked, "And then?"

"Then the White Dragon Horse misunderstood and disappeared with Tang Monk on its back," Zhu Houxun said seriously.

The room suddenly fell into deathly silence, and then burst into loud laughter.

"Hahahahaha-"

Zhu Houzhao laughed so hard that he slapped the table and tears came out of his eyes. Empress Dowager Zhang reacted a little slowly, but laughed even louder. She couldn't straighten her back from laughing so hard. Even the palace maids around her who had received strict training couldn't help laughing out loud.

In this age when puns are not punishable by penalty, people's resistance to them is still very low, and a small pun can bring such a big effect.

I don't know how long it took before the laughter gradually faded.

"You, you..." Empress Dowager Zhang covered her chest and pointed at Zhu Houxun. Her lungs hurt from laughing so hard. She wanted to say something, but lost the desire to speak in an instant. She knew that Zhu Houxun was joking just now.

Zhu Houzhao also stopped laughing. He felt that this cousin was so interesting. He always brought him new surprises in unexpected places. "You are really interesting, my brother. How about I call you my brother from now on?"

"Absolutely not, my royal brother, there is a difference between the old and the young," Zhu Houxuan said seriously again.

As a result, his serious look amused Empress Dowager Zhang and Zhu Houzhao again.

"Before, I didn't dare to fully believe that a child of fifteen or sixteen years old could write a play like 'Journey to the West: The Women Kingdom'. After meeting King Jing today, I completely believe it." Queen Mother Zhang stopped laughing and said, and then she no longer asked the previous question.

After that, Empress Dowager Zhang urged Zhu Houxuan many times to rehearse "The Legend of White Snake" as soon as possible, and Zhu Houxuan readily agreed.

This meal is a feast for the guests and the host.

As soon as the meal was over, Zhu Houzhao grabbed Zhu Houxun and said, "Come on, accompany me to the Leopard Room to play. It's getting uncomfortable here."

Zhu Houxuan naturally agreed.

Zhu Houzhao got into the imperial carriage first, and then waved to Zhu Houxuan to get on.

Zhu Houxuan looked at the imperial chariot and curled his lips and said, "Can you find me a horse? I will ride a horse and follow my brother!"

Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment. He thought that Zhu Houxun did not dare to get on the imperial carriage, but then he thought that he was a prince and the specifications of the prince's carriage were only slightly lower, so he should not be keen on riding on the imperial carriage.

"Your Majesty, your brother can actually ride a horse?" Zhu Houzhao asked in surprise.

"I just learned it on the way to Beijing, and now I'm addicted to it." Zhu Houxuan rubbed his hands and said.

"Hahaha" Zhu Houzhao was amused again. During this period of time they spent together, Zhu Houxuan always gave him a very strange feeling.

(End of this chapter)