Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 198 Jump high, and you'll fly!

Emperor Hongxi, Zhu Gaochi, held the imperial seal tightly in his arms, looking hesitantly at the enormous alligator dragon whose tail was as thick as a roof beam and swayed from time to time. His face was full of tension, showing no trace of the speechless expression he had just had after being angered by his nephew.

In fact, it was normal for Emperor Hongxi to be afraid. After all, anyone would be afraid of a creature that was longer than two rooms, taller than themselves, covered in black scales, and had a mouth full of sharp teeth.

Zhu Zhanhe, who was standing to the side, also noticed the hesitation of his uncle, Emperor Hongxi, but did not urge him. After all, this was a difference in understanding, which could not be resolved in a short time.

Moreover, if such a large crocodile were placed among a crowd, not only ordinary people but also any authority figure would surely applaud and say that it is undoubtedly a real dragon!

Of course, another reason was that Zhu Zhanhe saw Fan Zhong next to him measuring the alligator dragon from all sides several times! He must have finished measuring it, because his face was full of excitement and he didn't show any fear at all.

Of course, in Zhu Zhanhe's view, Fan Zhong was in his prime, had been on the battlefield for a long time, and had even encountered the alligator dragon once, so he was not afraid at all at the moment. Instead, he was having a blast tug-of-war with the alligator dragon's tail!
Fortunately, Zhu Zhanhe had reminded the alligator dragon in advance that it could not run wild or play during this trip; it could only breathe and eat, and it would have to go back after it finished eating.

Of course, this also made the alligator dragon very unhappy. Since it came out of Zhu Zhanhe's body, it has not roared, made a sound, or moved. It just lies there motionless, playing dead. If it weren't for its thick tail swaying from time to time, Zhu Zhanhe would have thought it was going to die.

"General Fan, don't bother it anymore. It's really annoyed right now. Be careful it doesn't get upset and whip you with its big tail!" Zhu Zhanhe said irritably, looking at Fan Zhong who was playing happily with the alligator dragon like a child.

"What?!" Fan Zhong was startled by Zhu Zhanhe's words. Then, like a rabbit, he jumped aside as if fleeing. He patted his chest with lingering fear and looked at Zhu Zhanhe with a puzzled expression, waiting for an explanation.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Hongxi, who was already somewhat hesitant, trembled even more and took a step back as he looked at the thick tail of the alligator dragon.

"That goes without saying, the place it came out of this time is the Imperial Ancestral Temple! With the body of the alligator dragon, it might just turn over and our Imperial Ancestral Temple would collapse!" Zhu Zhanhe said, pointing at the alligator dragon's round body with an annoyed expression.

"Your Highness, what you say is true!"

Putting everything else aside, just the moment the True Dragon took flight, not to mention the Imperial Ancestral Temple, no palace could withstand it! Fan Zhong agreed with Zhu Zhanhe's words and nodded with full approval.

But Fan Zhong's words left Emperor Hongxi speechless.

"General Fan, you're saying this dragon can fly?!" Emperor Hongxi, upon hearing Fan Zhong's words, immediately grasped the key phrase. His face was filled with astonishment, his eyes gleaming. This dragon can fly?!

"It can't fly! Uncle, don't listen to Fan Zhong's nonsense!" Zhu Zhanhe was stunned to see that his uncle, Emperor Hongxi, had misheard "feiteng" as "fei" (meaning "fly"). He quickly explained and glared at Fan Zhong.

"Your Highness, we can't lie to the Emperor!" Fan Zhong scoffed at Zhu Zhanhe's explanation, his face clearly saying, "You're lying!"

At the same time, Fan Zhongyi turned his head and looked sincerely at Emperor Hongxi, whose face was full of thirst for knowledge.

"Your Majesty, what His Highness said is incorrect!" Fan Zhong turned his head and glanced cautiously at Zhu Zhanhe, then stiffened his neck and reported to Emperor Hongxi.

"Tell me in detail!" Emperor Hongxi asked with great interest, swallowing hard as he spoke.

"Your Majesty, during the late Emperor's fifth campaign, our army was ambushed by the enemy near Hulanhushiwen. Our artillery battalion was destroyed, and our main camp was attacked. The Crown Prince and the Heir Apparent led us to retreat. That night, His Highness the Heir Apparent, along with the late Emperor and others, went out of the camp to investigate. On the hilltop outside the main camp, I personally witnessed a crocodile dragon soaring up from His Highness's chest, reaching a height of ten zhang!"
Then, Lord Tuolong charged down the mountain with a roar that shook the heavens. Before he could even make contact, the Tartars who had occupied the old camp fled in panic like old dogs!

The next day, when we returned to the old camp, we saw horse manure all over the ground. It was obvious that the enemy's horses had been frightened by Lord Tuolong's dragon roar and had left their droppings everywhere!
Lord Crocodile Dragon leaped over ten zhang in one bound; isn't that practically flying?!

"Tell me, who can leap ten zhang in one bound? Isn't that the legendary land-based flying technique from the novels?!" Fan said this with great enthusiasm and excitement, gesturing wildly. He completely failed to notice the disdainful look Zhu Zhanhe was giving him.

"That was a jump, a jump of more than ten zhang (approximately 33 meters), not flying!"

"Besides, if you put it that way, then the alligator dragon in the ocean can leap twenty feet out of the water!" Zhu Zhanhe glanced at Fan Zhong with annoyance, laughing at his ignorance.

"Twenty zhang?!" Zhu Zhanhe's words, though seemingly innocuous, caused even Emperor Hongxi to exclaim in surprise.

"You still say that true dragons can't fly?!"

"That's twenty zhang!" This time, Fan Zhong was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth and shouted loudly.

"That's because he jumped!" Looking at the speechless astonishment of Emperor Hongxi and Fan Zhong, Zhu Zhanhe had no choice but to patiently explain.

However, Zhu Zhanhe overlooked one issue: in the eyes of the ancients, there were many ways to jump, but one of them was definitely not the way to jump directly out of the water.

“He’er, jumping is possible, but jumping ten zhang high is unbelievable, isn’t it?”
What's more, it involved jumping twenty feet out of the water!
"Even a fish can only peek out a few inches high, and even if it leaps over the Dragon Gate to become a dragon, it can only reach a height of about that, right?!" Emperor Hongxi gave his own judgment on the alligator dragon that could leap twenty feet from the water.

In short, in Emperor Hongxi's view, being able to jump twenty zhang (approximately 33 meters) was definitely flying! No doubt about it!
"Alright, alright~, Uncle, you decide!" At this point, Zhu Zhanhe shrugged helplessly, too lazy to explain any further. He was completely in no mood to explain to his uncle, Emperor Hongxi, and decided to let them think whatever they wanted.

"Tch! What are you watching? Tell me your measurement results!"
"His Majesty will be feeding them himself in a bit!" Zhu Zhanhe, feeling depressed, turned his head and saw Fan Zhong grinning beside him. He muttered something in annoyed.

"Alright, alright, coming right away." Upon hearing Zhu Zhanhe's words, Fan Zhong stopped smiling and walked over with a serious expression, holding the jade ruler.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, after several measurements, we have discovered that Lord Tuolong has grown even larger!"

"Last time our measurement result was a length of over seven zhang and one chi, but this time the measurement result is over eight zhang!" Fan Zhong said loudly with a face full of enthusiasm and pride.

"Hiss~, eighty feet?!" Even though he was mentally prepared, Emperor Hongxi still gasped when he heard the number eight zhang long, a full eighty feet!
"It's still growing a bit too slowly. It seems that not letting it out to eat more is greatly affecting its physical development," Zhu Zhanhe's somewhat Versailles-esque honesty shocked Emperor Hongxi. However, Fan Zhong nodded silently.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this sad thing anymore. Let's feed it!"
"I see General Fan has prepared quite a lot this time!" Zhu Zhanhe stopped rambling. He knew that the alligator dragon must be starving after not being released for almost half a year!

(End of this chapter)