The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 187 A Bad Wife Brings Trouble to the Family
We cannot see the great changes in the world, but many people can still see the unpredictable nature of the world.

Not to mention some people who migrated here later, many elderly people in Fengyang may have deep feelings about this.

The Zhu Chongba, who had lost his family and had to flee everywhere, became successful and became the King of Wu and then the Emperor. His son was the Crown Prince and then the Prince.

Those who followed Zhu Yuanzhang to fight in the wars either built large houses in their hometowns or received a lot of land as rewards. The tombs of the parents of those meritorious officials were rebuilt, and they were given stone statues and posthumous titles.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang's relatives now have extremely respected status.

Look at the huge convoy on the road. They are Zhu Yuanzhang’s nieces, cousins, and his niece-in-law.

"Niece meets uncle."

"Nephew-in-law greets uncle."

"My niece-in-law is at fault. Please apologize to your uncle."

Ma Xun had dodged it long ago and said quickly, "Please stand up, Your Highnesses. I dare not accept your greetings."

Princess Fucheng and Princess Qingyang stood up, but no one else could.

Wang Kegong and Huang Chen were the imperial sons-in-law of the emperor, and they were not only juniors to Ma Xun, but also had lower titles. As for Xie Cuiying, her son was the Prince of Jingjiang, but she was not the wife of the Prince of Jingjiang.

Zhu Wenzhen was an awkward existence, because although Zhu Shouqian was given the title of King of Jingjiang, Zhu Wenzhen's father Zhu Wusiba was posthumously named King of Nanchang and was worshipped as the ancestor of the King of Jingjiang.

It also made it clear that Zhu Wenzheng was the second generation of the Jingjiang King lineage, and Zhu Shouqian, who was the first to be conferred the title of Jingjiang King, was the third generation.

However, Zhu Wenzhen was not officially crowned as a king, and it was impossible for him to be crowned posthumously, whether in the past, present or future.

This also means that Xie Cuiying's identity is neither awkward nor embarrassing. She is just the emperor's niece-in-law and has no actual imperial edict or title.

Ma Xun then politely said, "Your Highness, would you please accompany me to offer sacrifices to our ancestors?"

Princess Fucheng and the others naturally had no objection, as offering sacrifices to their ancestors was what they should do. Moreover, they were all trembling with fear when they returned to Fengyang this time.

Princess Fucheng was especially angry. Her sister-in-law was up to some unknown reason and made her uncle unhappy.

My uncle and aunt were so unhappy that my uncle heard the noise and wanted to come back. Fortunately, he was persuaded to stop, otherwise the matter would have become a big deal.

As for the young uncle in front of him, although he is a little young, everyone knows that his moral character is exemplary. Not to mention the royal family, even the civil servants all praise him.

Zhu Chong and others just kept silent and showed the dignity and solemnity of a prince with a stern face. Looking at the dejected Zhu Shouqian and his cousin's wife who lowered her head and looked submissive, they could only pray for them.

Looking at the graves of her grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, Princess Fucheng also cried.

She had experienced the time when her family was broken up and her family members were killed. She fled back to her mother's hometown with her mother and brother.

Ma Xun said in a very serious tone, "There are some things that I, as an outsider, am not suitable to talk about. Just let your uncle discipline you. After all, I am an outsider."

Princess Fucheng wiped her tears and said, "Uncle, you can't say that. If it weren't for Aunt's careful teaching, we wouldn't be where we are today."

Looking at this simple 'niece' who looked like a peasant woman, Ma Xun said, "Now the royal women are the most respected among the clan members."

Princess Fucheng whispered, "Uncle, there are also Jingru and Jingxian."

"In the Imperial City, you are the head of the clan's daughters." Ma Xun said solemnly, "You also know what your family background was like. Your Zhu family and our Ma family were not wealthy families. How long has it been since then, and you have all forgotten your roots?"

Ma Xun then looked at Xie Cuiying seriously, "Don't pretend to be humble, aggrieved and pitiful in front of our ancestors. Who are you trying to show it to?"

Xie Cuiying was stunned by Ma Xunxun, and then burst into tears, "Uncle is teaching me that my niece knows her crime!"

"Know your guilt?" Ma Xun was even more angry. "Tiezhu is now learning to be two-faced, vicious and violent. Did he learn it from me? Let me ask you, he is one face in front of others and another behind their backs. Who did he learn it from?"

Sometimes Xie Cuiying was fearless and felt that the emperor and the empress could not do anything to her.

Because she is Zhu Wenzhen's daughter-in-law and the eldest granddaughter-in-law of the Zhu family, what can the emperor and empress do?
Xie Cuiying had a lot of opinions about Zhu Yuanzhang and Ma Xiuying, because her father had rebelled against Zhang Shicheng and was eventually defeated and killed.

This should have been a normal thing, but Xie Cuiying only remembered that her father was besieged by Li Wenzhong in Yuhang, but he left the city only after being allowed to surrender and not be killed. In the end, he was still cut into pieces by Zhu Yuanzhang.

She also hated Zhu Yuanzhang's cruelty to Zhu Wenzheng. Didn't he just let his generals plunder? Why did he imprison him? Why did other generals receive rewards, but my family didn't?
In front of the emperor and empress, Xie Cuiying did not dare to say anything. But in front of Zhu Shouqian, she did mutter a lot of things. In front of the emperor and empress, we should be grateful, but we should also remember that the emperor and empress are not good to our family. We are the first heir of the Zhu family, and the emperor's line is only the fourth room. It is only because he is the emperor that he became the direct line.

Looking at Xie Cuiying, Ma Xun was even more serious. "The child is young and ignorant. What are you talking about all day? You are resentful of His Majesty and dissatisfied with the royal family. You are teaching him the ways of pleasure and brutality. Is this teaching him good?"

Xie Cuiying cried and said, "Uncle, please understand. I am your niece-in-law. I just don't want Tiezhu to be like his late father, so I let him enjoy himself and avoid disaster."

Ma Xun was so angry that he laughed. Xie Cuiying was really an interesting person. She was still trying to quibble at this time.

People who are not in the know really think that this is the way to deal with people. After all, Zhu Shouqian's identity is somewhat embarrassing. He is indeed the only prince of the Ming Dynasty who is not a direct descendant of Zhu Yuanzhang.

In addition, with the example of Zhu Wenzhen, it seems that having no ability and only seeking pleasure is indeed the best way to behave in the world, which can preserve life and wealth.

"Then I will risk the wrath of the world and return to the capital tomorrow to ask for an imperial decree to demote Tiezhu to a marquis. How about that?" Ma Xun asked directly, "In the future, he will just go back to Fengyang to worship his ancestors. The affairs of the court have nothing to do with him, and he won't need to be granted a fiefdom in the future. He will be a rich and idle man, and no one can do anything to him!"

Xie Cuiying was suddenly panicked. My son is the Prince of Jingjiang, who has the same treatment as a prince. How could he be a marquis?
"Uncle King, please have mercy on me." Xie Cuiying said hastily, "Tiezhu is young and ignorant. Whether he has committed any serious offense or not, why should he be deposed?"

At this point, not to mention Ma Xun, even the somewhat ignorant Zhu Chong and others could see some of Xie Cuiying's little thoughts.

Those who were fearless in the past were simply relying on the fact that Zhu Yuanzhang would not really do anything to Zhu Shouqian. It was because some things in their own family had not gone as they were pleased with before that they now wanted to make things unpleasant for the emperor.

I'm sad, and you can't expect to feel good either. At worst, you can scold me, and then I will continue to disgust you. What can you do to me?

Kill me, this is the bloodline of your Zhu family. It is you, Emperor Zhu, who killed your own family. It is you, Emperor Zhu, who forgot the kindness of your brother and sister-in-law. It is you, Emperor Zhu, who failed your sister-in-law's instructions.

You have already killed your own nephew, why don’t you try killing your great-nephew!

I want all the benefits, and you have to give me the most special ones. I have to endure whatever happens to me, because it’s because you, Emperor Zhu, let my family down first, and you owe me!
Xie Cuiying is not a shrew, but she is a bit vicious.

Ma Xun looked at Princess Fucheng and said, "This is your family matter, and it has more than one layer of distance from me."

"Uncle, you are a virtuous and virtuous person, and you are a role model for the world." Princess Fucheng quickly requested, "My sister-in-law has no cultivation, I can't say much, please uncle discipline her."

If the younger sister-in-law scolded her elder sister-in-law, people would laugh at her if this got out, thinking that the Zhu family had lost all their humanity after becoming a royal family, not to mention that this was the younger sister-in-law who was married.

Princess Qingyang, who was standing by, also quickly pleaded, "Please, uncle, discipline me. Auntie has been very kind to me."

Xie Cuiying gritted her teeth. Her sister-in-law didn't help Wen Zheng at all. Her cheap sister-in-law had even forgotten the kindness of her mother-in-law who had dragged her to Chuzhou to seek refuge, and now she was adding insult to injury!
Zhu Wenzhen's mother was one of the people Zhu Yuanzhang was most grateful to and respected. Fortunately, in her later years, she saw that Zhu Yuanzhang had become successful and thought that her children would also live a rich and comfortable life.

Although they didn't enjoy a few years of happiness, it was much better than those who starved to death in the chaotic times.

Ma Xun sighed and said, "I'm young, so I'll take a look first. If it doesn't work, ask your uncle to come."

Xie Cuiying is really panicking now. If her uncle comes, he might really use family rules to punish her and even expel her.

Tiezhu is fine, but as Tiezhu's mother, Xie Cuiying doesn't want to be kicked out of the house.

The most important thing is the so-called ancestral family rules. What that thing is like is still decided by the uncle and the emperor!

Given the Queen's harshness and the King's uncle's ruthlessness, they might have designed a family rule specifically to punish her, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhu family's eldest son.

Ma Xun then looked at Zhu Shouqian who was kneeling on the side, and sighed, "Remember, you are from His Majesty's clan, and His Majesty does not owe you anything. If you do not cultivate your virtues, it will also implicate your parents and bring shame to your grandparents."

Zhu Chongsi was a man who would rather starve to death than give his remaining food to his parents, brothers and sisters. As long as he, a strong laborer, survived, his family should not have starved to death.

Although Zhu Wangshi was an uneducated peasant woman, she knew how to be a good daughter-in-law, abide by women's virtues, be filial to her parents-in-law, take care of her younger brothers and sisters, and make the whole family live in harmony.

Even if he had to flee with his children after a disaster, he would always take his niece with him, fearing that the helpless little girl would be bullied or starve to death. Knowing that his brother-in-law had made a name for himself, he took his children with him, thinking of continuing the Zhu family bloodline, so that he could live up to his ancestors.

Some people say that marrying an unvirtuous wife will ruin three generations, and marrying a bad husband will ruin your whole life.

Another thing is that an unvirtuous wife will bring many troubles to the family. Without a good wife in one generation, there will be no good children in three generations.

If Zhu Shouqian doesn’t change his behavior now, who knows what kind of trouble will happen in the future.

With his current character, he can forget about guarding Guilin. He will only do evil there. Even if he is mediocre, he can be accepted, but not a stinky character who does whatever he wants just to avenge the emperor!

(End of this chapter)