Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 25 The Value of a Book

Chen Ce was very curious. Looking at Zhu Houzhao's doting look, he wondered if he had met a girl at the market.

At this moment, there was light in Zhu Houzhao's eyes. I don't know which girl was so lucky to be favored by Zhu Houzhao. She was definitely the future emperor, without a doubt.

First love is always beautiful. Even if she did not become the queen in the end, this relationship would probably have been buried in Zhu Houzhao's heart for a long time.

Chen Ce smiled and asked, "Which girl is it?"

Zhu Houzhao was shy for a rare moment and said, "I don't know yet."

"Oh ah?"

Still don't know? Long distance love?
Zhu Houzhao rolled his eyes at Chen Ce and said, "What I care about is an expectation. Although I haven't met her yet, I can already feel her beauty and wisdom from her writings."

Chen Ce didn't understand, but was greatly shocked.

Can you feel the beauty of the other person through words? What if the other person is a dirty guy?

However, Zhu Houzhao was the crown prince of the empire. At the very least, he would check the other party's direct lineage. I don't think he would do such a shameless thing.

"Then you are not in unrequited love?" Chen Ce said, "What if she doesn't like you?"

Arranged marriages in feudal society were like this, and many couples didn’t know what the other person looked like until the moment they lifted the veil on their wedding day.

For example, Chen Ce still doesn’t know what Ning Cheng’s daughter looks like, so he is just gambling on his luck.

Zhu Houzhao smiled confidently and said, "Impossible. With my conditions, there is no girl in the world who would not like me."

If you say so, then it is indeed true, and you have the confidence.

Why not try changing your father?
Chen Ce smiled and said, "That's good too. Let's get married soon. I want to have a feast now."

Zhu Houzhao was young and in love, so he said, "Yes, bless us. Well, you should hurry up too, I want to have the feast early too."

"Okay, I won't bother you anymore. I still have things to do when I get home."

"I'll bring you some good tea tomorrow. Your tea is really rubbish."

Zhu Houzhao waved back and left the courtyard with Liu Jin.

Walking out of the alley, Zhu Houzhao looked back at Chen Ce's back. He was bending over and fiddling with the land he had planted. Zhu Houzhao sighed slightly.

"My Lord, what's wrong?"

Zhu Houzhao said: "President Cai said he won't live long."

Liu Jin's eyes lit up and he said, "That's perfect. Didn't you just say you wanted to have a feast?"

Snapped!
Zhu Houzhao slapped him with his backhand: "You bastard! What nonsense are you talking about!"

Liu Jin: "..."

Do you have any compassion? My little brother is so seriously ill, and you want to have a feast?

Liu Jin quickly corrected himself and said, "Old slave, I was wrong."

"What this old servant means is that we can find a better imperial physician, cure him, and then enjoy his wedding feast."

That’s good enough, Zhu Houzhao nodded.

Although he said that, he still felt a little upset. Imperial Physician Cai clearly said that his disease could not be cured and how long he could live depended on fate.

For some reason, Zhu Houzhao felt a little uncomfortable. He was the crown prince of the Eastern Palace and was lonely most of the time. The only people he could play with were the eunuchs in the Eastern Palace.

To be precise, Zhu Houzhao now has only one friend, Chen Ce.

This friend was both a teacher and a friend to Zhu Houzhao. He did not have the kind of earnest teaching method. He would always answer you in accordance with what you said. If you asked him a question, he would tell you. If you did not ask him, he would not lecture you.

But when he was with him, Zhu Houzhao could learn a little new knowledge every day and expand his horizons. In the past few days, many Confucian scholars wearing square scarves suddenly flooded into Zhengyang Street. The imperial examination will be held in February next year. Many southern students will come to the capital early and spend the New Year here to save time and study hard before the imperial examination next year.

Shuntian Prefecture is the busiest at this time of year.

Zhu Houzhao returned to the Forbidden City and went to Kunning Palace first. He said to Empress Zhang in a carefree manner: "Mother, I bought you a storybook from the folk. It's very good."

"You can watch it to kill time."

Empress Zhang felt her son's filial piety and nodded, saying, "Okay, leave it there. We'll have dinner soon."

Zhu Houzhao shook his head and said, "I'm going back to the East Palace. I won't eat here tonight."

Of course, he was not eager to return to the Eastern Palace for study. He was so engrossed in reading storybooks in Rongxing Bookstore today that he started reading late into the night after returning to the Eastern Palace.

Whenever he read a wonderful sentence, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but sigh at the author's beautiful and delicate writing style.

When I saw some heart-wrenching emotional scenes, I couldn't help but empathize with them.

The first volume did not have many words, and Zhu Houzhao finished reading it in about an hour. Still feeling a little unsatisfied, he sat at the desk with his chin in his hand, his mind lost in fantasy.

She must be concentrating on writing under the lamp now. When she writes a satisfactory part, she must smile beautifully.

With such beautiful writing skills, she must be good-looking. Could she be a dignified young lady from an official's family?
Or is she the daughter of a wealthy merchant family? If she is a daughter of a merchant family, it will be a bit troublesome, because civil officials have always looked down on merchants.

Thinking of this, Zhu Houzhao felt sleepy and fell asleep soon.

The lights in Kunning Palace were still bright. Emperor Hongzhi came to Kunning Palace after reviewing the memorials tonight. Seeing Empress Zhang still reading under the lamp, he couldn't help but ask suspiciously, "What are you still reading so late?"

Empress Zhang was so obsessed that she didn't hear what Emperor Hongzhi said, and the expression on her face changed unpredictably depending on the content of the book.

It was unknown when Emperor Hongzhi was standing behind her in his clothes. As he watched, he became fascinated.

When he saw that the father-in-law's son wanted to marry Meng Lijun but failed and made things difficult for the Meng and Huangfu families, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but say, "How could there be such a despicable and shameless person!"

"That's right!" Empress Zhang shared the same hatred for the enemy, then looked back at Emperor Hongzhi in astonishment and said, "Your Majesty, you..."

"Cough cough."

Emperor Hongzhi coughed twice and said, "I can't sleep, so I just take a look."

I think you are also fascinated by it.

Empress Zhang smiled and said, "I'll ask Hou Zhao to buy another copy tomorrow."

Emperor Hongzhi said indifferently: "It's just a story to kill time, so don't read it."

Empress Zhang said with a sigh, "That's fine, I won't let him buy it."

Emperor Hongzhi added: "One must start and finish what one has done. Just finish what one has read. It won't take long."

Empress Zhang covered her face and laughed secretly. There are not many things that can interest Emperor Hongzhi. It should be said that the author of this storybook is really capable.

"Okay, then let Houzhao go buy something to kill time."

Emperor Hongzhi said casually: "Well, whatever, buy it and wait for me to see it together."

"The Emperor won't approve the memorials?"

Emperor Hongzhi smiled and said, "There is a limit to relaxation."

Empress Zhang said with a smile on her face: "Your Majesty is right. You should not be too busy. You should also relax. You are almost breaking down from worrying too much."

Empress Zhang was very grateful to the author of this book. It was naturally a good thing because it could help Emperor Hongzhi worry less about government affairs.

Thanks to the last number 4081 for voting for the monthly ticket, thank you very much

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(End of this chapter)