The stupid son of Chongba

Chapter 32 Old Zhu Asks About Longevity
“No one is the absolute favorite of God. Even the emperor, who is the Son of Heaven, must have his flaws.”

"Actually, Dad, your horoscope has a lot of conflicts, such as the conflict between Chen and Xu, and the conflict between Chou and Wei. This means that you will have a rough life in your early years. People who have this conflict often lose their fathers at a young age. If the conflict is more serious, both parents will die, and you will have no relatives to rely on."

Zhu Ju said this after careful consideration.

In fact, the conflict between Chen and Xu will bring harm to parents, and the conflict between Chou and Wei will bring harm to wife and children.

He only talked about what had happened and remained silent about what had not happened.

"Ah... yes, 'no one to rely on', this phrase is really accurate."

Zhu Yuanzhang showed a look of emotion in his eyes, shook his head and sighed,
"Do you remember how many years of Zhizheng that was? It was three years, right? There were locust plagues and pestilences. My parents, as well as several brothers and sisters, either starved to death or died of illness. It was only half a month, half a month! They were all dead. Only my second brother and I were left. When I looked at my parents' corpses, I felt nothing in my heart but confusion..."

"Looking back now, it was so tragic! We sold everything we could, but we couldn't even afford a thin coffin. We could only wrap our parents' bodies in straw mats, and then go begging for a piece of land so we could bury them..."

At this point, he suddenly laughed at himself.
"Perhaps from that time on, I became a beggar..."

After hearing these words, Ma Xiuying's eyes had already turned red.

"Chongba, you have suffered so much."

She patted Zhu Yuanzhang's back gently to comfort him and whispered,

"To be honest, everyone suffered a lot in the beginning, and life was not easy, but compared to you, our suffering was nothing..."

"Fortunately, everything is over. Now that all the hardships have been overcome, my parents have moved into the Imperial Temple and will enjoy eternal worship."

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered.

"They are dead, who knows whether it is useful for us living people to offer them sacrifices."

"I think this is just a hope. All dynasties have done it, so we must do it too, and we must do it better than them!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ju suddenly said seriously:

"It's useful, it must be useful."

"Grandpa and grandma must have been promoted to the Southern Palace now, enjoying offerings."

As a Taoist, he firmly believes that people still have spirits after death, and offerings from later generations are definitely beneficial to them. After receiving offerings, the ancestors will silently give back to the later generations.

The business of looking at the feng shui of graves actually originated from this.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Ma Xiuying looked at Zhu Ju with a hint of surprise.

It's rare to see such a serious expression on Zhu Ju's face...

"Okay. I believe you!"

Zhu Yuanzhang grinned and said,
"After I make you all kings this time, I will arrange time to take you bastards back to Fengyang to worship your ancestors!"

"As you said, we must make a good plan when the time comes and make it grand and luxurious!"

Ma Xiuying also nodded.

"Ancestor worship is a big deal and cannot be taken lightly."

"Besides, Xiaojuzi has never been back to Fengyang, so this is a good opportunity to bring him to recognize his ancestors."

It is not enough to just enter your name into the royal jade book. The so-called tracing one's roots and kowtow to one's grandparents and other ancestors is considered complete.

"Great! We can go out and play!"

Zhu Ju suddenly became excited.

After arriving in Daming, I returned to the palace after leaving Sanqing Mountain, without even wandering around!

"Play with your head! You only know how to play!"

Old Zhu laughed and scolded,
"Go on, you do have some skills."

"Isn't it said that one can tell a person's personality by looking at their horoscope? Let me tell you what my personality is like."

Ma Xiuying also looked at Zhu Ju with a focused expression.

Zhu Ju's "precise comments" on the eight characters had obviously convinced the two of them.

"Temperament, do we need to judge it? Isn't it obvious?" Zhu Ju said with a smile.
"First of all, he has a bad temper, right? He is also murderous, cold-blooded, stubborn, suspicious, and full of..."

As he was talking, he got a little excited and didn't notice that Lao Zhu's face had started to turn dark...

"Cough...cough..."

Ma Xiuying coughed twice and gave Zhu Ju two looks.

"Uh... that."

Zhu Ju was talking happily, but when he heard his mother's dry cough, he looked up and saw Old Zhu's liver-colored face. He braked the car instantly and turned at the speed of light.

"but--"

"Dad is as warm as the spring breeze to his family, just like an old ox, silently nurturing his offspring."

"Also, Dad is a person with a very loyal personality when it comes to relationships! Once he sets his eyes on a woman, he will be devoted to her and will never fall in love with anyone else!"

Ma Xiuying raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Really?"

She glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and snorted,
"Why don't I believe it? If your father was devoted to one man, why would he have so many concubines and linger among them every day?"

"I am already an old flower, no one wants me anymore..."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he suddenly became a little restless and tried to explain himself, but he heard Zhu Ju say with a look of emotion:

"Mom, you really misunderstood Dad! Although Dad has many concubines, in his heart, there is only one true wife, and that is you! I can deeply feel this!"

"If you and all the concubines fall into the water at the same time and only one can be saved, Dad will save you without hesitation!"

With a chuckle, Ma Xiuying covered her mouth and laughed.

“Is that so?”

She looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with a smile on her face.

"Of course! Without any hesitation!"

Old Zhu didn't hesitate at all and expressed his opinion immediately.

"Even if you and grandma fell into the water at the same time, Dad might choose to save you!"

Zhu Ju continued to assist.

"Hahahahaha..."

Ma Xiuying laughed so hard that she couldn't straighten her back, and waved her hands repeatedly and said happily,

"Alright, alright, let's stop talking. The more you talk, the more outrageous it gets. If this situation really happens, you should save your grandma. I don't want your father to be branded as an unfilial son."

Zhu Ju smiled and glanced at Lao Zhu.

Zhu Yuanzhang also gave him a look, and the father and son seemed to be in perfect harmony at this moment!

There was a wonderful sense of collaborative enjoyment.

"Okay, okay, that's enough for the life sentence. "

Zhu Ju stopped when he saw that things were going well. He said repeatedly,

"Fortune-telling is just for fun. You still have to rely on your own efforts in life. Destiny can actually be changed. You have to believe that man can conquer nature!"

After a nice summary, he wanted to change the subject.

If I continue, I might say the wrong thing.

However, Old Zhu stared at Zhu Ju and said:
"Okay, last question. I won't talk about this anymore. We want to know, how old can we live?"

"Can you figure it out?"

(End of this chapter)