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

Chapter 379 Crazy Zhu Houzhao
Liu Jin was very nervous along the way.

With a sad face, he begged Zhu Houzhao, "Prince, are we really going to forge an imperial edict?"

"Master Chen, just tell us what you have to say. This is a serious act of treason. If the emperor knew about it, I don't know how he would punish you."

Zhu Houzhao said calmly: "My little brother has never been so excited as he is today. Although I don't know what he meant by those words, he must take this matter very seriously."

"What kind of treason is this? I am the only son of my father. Can he kill me? If he kills me, who will inherit his position?"

Liu Jin had a look of being screwed, and Chen Ce was simply like a madman. Not only did he ask the prince to forge an imperial edict, but he also made two copies?
Are they afraid that the prince has been behaving too well recently and want to throw some dirty water on him?
Of course, if it were anyone else, Liu Jin would think that they might be targeting the prince and using him.

Only Chen Ce doesn’t know how to do that!

But Liu Jin really couldn't figure out what Chen Ce was going to do.

"My Lord, the Emperor will not blame you, but what about Master Chen?"

"Well, even if the emperor would let Chen Ce go because of his meritorious service, there are so many censors in the court, wouldn't they impeach Master Chen to death?"

"This is a serious matter, we can't do it!"

Zhu Houzhao slapped him in the face and said, "Shut up! You are so long-winded!"

"I will take all the responsibility for any problem. If you dare to say anything, I will kill you!"

He regards this matter as more important than his life. The fact that he almost had another attack is enough to show that his younger brother takes this matter very seriously. He believes that his younger brother will not harm him.

Even if his younger brother really wanted to harm him, he would willingly help Chen Ce do this heinous act.

Isn’t it just forging two imperial edicts?

Zhu Houzhao came to Jinshen Hall with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face.

Emperor Hongzhi was still reviewing memorials. Zhu Houzhao came to Emperor Hongzhi and said to him, "Father, are you tired?"

"Go to sleep for a while, I will review it for you. After I review it, you can see if it is acceptable."

Emperor Hongzhi rolled his eyes at him and said, "What kind of memorials can you review?"

Zhu Houzhao said as a matter of course: "That's why I have to learn because I don't know how to do it. Besides, Father, you look so tired and your hair is all white. I feel so sorry for you!"

Seeing his son's distressed expression, Emperor Hongzhi was very pleased and murmured, "You little brat have grown up, haha!"

"Do you know how to share your father's worries? Okay, today your father will let you know the hardships of handling state affairs."

"Don't write it on the memorial. Write it on a blank piece of paper first. Wait until your father has rested and then come to see how you write it."

Zhu Houzhao said, "Okay."

Emperor Hongzhi went to a side hall to rest, and Zhu Houzhao waved his hand to the eunuchs and palace maids who were waiting on him and said, "Go down, don't disturb my father's rest."

After the crowd left, Zhu Houzhao found two blank imperial edicts and wrote two edicts on them, one to be sent to the Liaodong Regional Military Commission and the other to recall the envoys from the Ministry of Rites.

Generally, imperial edicts must be stamped with the imperial seal, the seal of the Imperial Household Department, and the seal of the Cabinet.

However, in special emergency situations, the emperor would directly issue an imperial edict in the form of an imperial decree. Zhu Houzhao naturally did not dare to ask the cabinet to stamp it. He just hastily stamped it with the imperial seal and quietly left Jinshen Hall with the imperial edict.

He handed the imperial edict to Liu Jin and said to him, "Go, tell the guards of the Eastern Palace to hurry up and deliver these two imperial edicts to Liaodong. Stop Ning Cheng and recall him. Hurry!"

My Lord, this is too crazy!

Liu Jin said, "My Lord, if the Eastern Palace sends a guard alone to deliver the decree, the other party may not believe it."

This is a problem. Although the imperial edict was issued by the emperor, the person who delivered the edict also had to be educated. He had to find someone the emperor trusted so as not to arouse suspicion. Zhu Houzhao pondered for a while and said, "Go find my two uncles and ask them to deliver the edict. Tell them that the emperor said that they must complete this mission and come back to restore the title of marquis to my second uncle!"

Liu Jin: "..."

"Ok."

Liu Jin took the imperial edict and the Eastern Palace guards and rushed to Zhang's house.

Uncle, I'm sorry. Father won't punish me, nor will he kill you. Mother will bless you.

Zhang Mansion.

The Zhang brothers asked Liu Jin suspiciously, "The emperor ordered us to go to Liaodong? Why do we have to go there? And why do we have to go there as fast as possible?"

Liu Jin swallowed his saliva. There were so many loopholes in this answer and he had no idea how to answer it.

Zhang Yanling quickly whispered, "Brother, why do you have so many questions? You clearly don't want me to regain my title of Marquis!"

"Does anyone dare to forge an imperial edict? It's obvious that the emperor is very anxious. Only if we brothers go to Liaodong can we shock the situation!"

Zhang Yanling couldn't wait. He had been brooding over it ever since he was demoted last time. Now that he was about to make a contribution, his elder brother kept nagging him, which made Zhang Yanling very anxious.

Zhang Heling wanted to say more, but Zhang Yanling said, "Forget it, forget it, big brother, don't go. I'll go by myself."

He took the imperial edict from Liu Jin and rode away on his horse.

"presumptuous!"

Zhang Heling shouted, "You pig-brained man, what are you going to do if you get bullied in Liaodong? Let me go with you!"

Zhang Yanling pursed his lips. You obviously don’t want me to take all the credit, right?
The two brothers had no suspicion, so they mounted their horses, took the soldiers from the Eastern Palace, and set off towards Liaodong at lightning speed!

……

In the Jinshen Hall, Emperor Hongzhi took a short rest for less than an hour, then he came behind Zhu Houzhao with his hands behind his back, watched Zhu Houzhao carefully reviewing the memorial, and asked, "How is it?"

Zhu Houzhao hurriedly took the memorial he had approved to Emperor Hongzhi to read.

Emperor Hongzhi nodded secretly and said, "Well, not bad, the review is well done."

Emperor Hongzhi was very happy and said to Zhu Houzhao, "Not bad. These memorials were a little radical in their comments, but overall they are pretty good."

He said earnestly, "Zhao'er, you have grown up. Father has always underestimated you. You have learned a lot from Chen Ce over the years. You are very thoughtful in your comments on these memorials. If you ascend the throne in the future, you will definitely be a capable and wise ruler, better than father."

Emperor Hongzhi was very relieved. What could make him happier than having his own son be excellent and sensible?
This guy can be really rude sometimes, but overall he's a good kid.

"Tired?"

Zhu Houzhao said: "I am really tired. I finally understand how hard my father works. Father, you must take good care of yourself in the future and don't get too tired."

Emperor Hongzhi laughed: "Got it, you little brat!"

Zhu Houzhao blinked and said to Emperor Hongzhi: "Father, if I make a mistake in the future, can you not punish me?"

Emperor Hongzhi said with a smile: "Of course, I will never punish you in the future. You were young before, so I had to educate you. If a son is not well educated, it is the fault of the father. But now you have grown up. If I punish you again, it will make outsiders laugh."

Zhu Houzhao said excitedly: "Okay! It's a deal, father, you are not allowed to regret it."

Emperor Hongzhi's body trembled, and he suddenly had an ominous premonition. Why did he feel like this kid was up to no good after listening to his words?
(End of this chapter)