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

Chapter 210 The Bizarre Actions of the Crown Prince's Wife, Xia
"I will do my utmost in this matter." Mu Sheng stared at Zhu Zhanhe with a grim expression for a while before finally agreeing. Mu Sheng knew very well that the Han prince before him was probably up to no good.

But for Mu Sheng, he had no choice. On one hand, he was a nobleman from Yunnan, and theoretically, he was also a subject of the Prince of Han's court.

Most importantly, the Han King's military might is too great now, and he has directly seized half of the country in one fell swoop!
The Mu family guards the borders for the country and cannot afford to fight and wear down the Prince of Han. They cannot afford to do so either!

Therefore, intimidated by the might of the Prince of Han's army, and after much deliberation, Mu Sheng finally nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, the prefect of Dali City, already drenched in sweat, was a nobody. Neither the Mu family nor the Prince of Han were people he could afford to offend, so his only purpose was to kowtow.

Soon, Zhu Zhanhe and his entourage bid farewell to the Yunnan officials led by Mu Sheng and arrived at the new Han Prince's Mansion.

“Mother, we have just arrived in our fiefdom, and there are so many matters to attend to in the palace. Please make the arrangements carefully. I will have Erniu stay in the palace to cooperate.” Zhu Zhanhe invited his mother to the main hall of the new Dali palace. Looking at his somewhat haggard mother, he said with a heavy heart.

"It's alright, I can still manage. Besides, I have your wife. She's very capable!" Princess Wei of Han looked at her daughter-in-law with a satisfied expression.

"Mother, you flatter me." After hearing the praise from Princess Wei of Han, the Crown Prince's wife, Xia Shi, couldn't help but feel a little shy. Her eyes were filled with deep affection as she looked at Zhu Zhanhe.

"Guan'er, you should follow your mother and learn the affairs of the Prince's mansion properly. Don't let your mother get tired." Zhu Zhanhe looked at his wife with eyes full of love, his gaze almost drooling.

"Ahem, alright, let's get down to business."

"He'er, what are you planning to do next?" Princess Wei of Han saw her son and daughter-in-law starting to show their affection again. So she coughed a few times as a slight reminder, and then asked her son hesitantly what he was going to do next. She was a little worried about the current situation of the royal palace.

"Mother, it's alright. My younger brothers are all grown up now. I plan to give them some experience, especially Qi, who is of age to go out into the world." Zhu Zhanhe didn't hide his plans; he intended to mentor his younger brothers.

"Aunt Xiuer, have someone call Brother Qi over." Zhu Zhanhe turned his head and saw the eunuchs busy at work. Since he didn't have any servants around him that he could use, he had no choice but to ask Aunt Xiuer for help.

"Please wait a moment, Your Highness." Xiu'er was also a quick person. After hearing Zhu Zhanhe's instructions, she immediately went out.

After a moment, a young man, about 1.6 meters tall, with delicate features, bright eyes, and dressed in princely attire, approached. Upon closer inspection, his appearance was somewhat similar to Zhu Zhanhe's, only much softer.

"Zhanqi greets Mother, Elder Brother, Sister-in-law, and Aunt Xiuer." Upon entering, Zhu Zhanqi respectfully knelt down and bowed obediently to the people in the room.

"Get up, it's your elder brother who needs you." Princess Wei of Han adopted the air of the mistress of the house, raising her hand to let the kneeling child in front of her rise.

"Thank you, Mother." Zhu Zhanqi bowed respectfully to Princess Wei of Han before slowly rising and turning his gaze to Zhu Zhanhe beside him.

"Brother, what are your orders?" Zhu Zhanqi looked at his elder brother, who seemed very reserved, his eyes somewhat unfocused.

"Second brother, it seems you've learned some manners these past few years, and you've become much more composed." Zhu Zhanhe looked at his somewhat reserved younger brother and was quite satisfied, after all, this was the younger brother he had personally trained!
Zhu Zhanqi used to have a very impulsive temper. Zhu Zhanhe had to teach him a lot about this, and even took him under his wing for a period of time. Later, he arranged for several senior eunuchs to watch over him.

In fact, Zhu Zhanhe cared a great deal about the character of not only Zhu Zhanqi in front of him, but also his other younger siblings.

As for why Zhu Zhanhe would discipline his younger brothers, it has to do with the Han Prince's laissez-faire approach to parenting. The Han Prince only knew how to beat people with a stick, and didn't teach them anything else, which was really worrying. But Zhu Zhanhe had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

"It's all thanks to my elder brother's excellent upbringing." Zhu Zhanqi looked nervous as he faced his elder brother, worried that he might do something wrong and his brother would be reprimanded again.

"Second Prince, you know that something has happened in the Prince's Mansion recently. Moreover, the eunuchs have told me that you have been performing very well lately."

"So, the eldest brother has decided to give us a chance." Zhu Zhanhe looked at his younger brother with a serious expression and said loudly.

"Please give your orders, elder brother!" Upon hearing his elder brother's affirmation, Zhu Zhanqi was filled with joy, his face beaming with delight.

"Since Yunnan is the fiefdom of my royal family, we should naturally make some achievements."

When I came to Yunnan, I asked my father for 50,000 elite troops. Now 8,000 cavalrymen have arrived, and more will follow.

Starting today, you will go to the army and report to General Hu Tian. You will learn some things from him first.

Five days from now, I will be conducting a troop review outside Dali City. As the saying goes, "brothers fight tigers together," so you will be following behind me.

"Brother Qi, don't disappoint me!" Zhu Zhanhe placed his large hand on Zhu Zhanqi's shoulder and said to him with a serious expression.

"Gulp!" Zhu Zhanqi wasn't stupid; he was very clever, otherwise he wouldn't have been so audacious.

He knew perfectly well that, apart from his father, the Prince of Han, the most powerful person in the Prince of Han's mansion was his elder brother!
Now that his elder brother is willing to take him under his wing, it means that he has decided to train him to be the future right-hand man, the third-in-command of the Han Prince's Mansion. To put it more seriously, Zhu Zhanqi is the backup heir apparent of Han!
"Brother, rest assured, your younger brother will fight to the death!" Zhu Zhanqi knelt down in front of his elder brother Zhu Zhanhe with a thud, and said loudly with red eyes.

"Alright, go and prepare. Go and report to General Hu Tian first. Observe and learn more, and speak less!" Zhu Zhanhe reached out and helped his kneeling younger brother up, and said with a sincere expression.

"I will follow your instructions, elder brother. I'm off!" Zhu Zhanqi said, then stood up proudly and walked out of the house.

Watching Zhu Zhanqi leave, Princess Xia suddenly felt a pang of unease. Her eyes flickered for a moment, as if she had made up her mind.

At night, lying on his new bed in the Prince's Mansion, Zhu Zhanhe held his fragrant wife in his arms, his heart burning with unbearable passion.

"Xiao Zhi, come and serve His Highness." Just as Zhu Zhanhe was getting restless and preparing to make a move on his wife, the Crown Princess Xia suddenly spoke up. She addressed the bed curtains directly, telling Xiao Zhi to serve Zhu Zhanhe.

"Yes~" Before Zhu Zhanhe could react, the bed curtains were lifted, and a fair figure appeared in front of him. To Zhu Zhanhe's astonishment, Xiao Zhi, like a white rabbit, crawled directly into the quilt, instantly turning the originally loose quilt into a three-person group!
Zhu Zhanhe swallowed hard. Looking at his wife's determined eyes, he no longer hesitated and turned to look at Xiao Zhi, the girl who was already fully asleep and hiding under the covers...

"Master, I want a son~" After an unknown amount of time, just after Xiao Zhi fell asleep, a burning figure suddenly pressed against Zhu Zhanhe's back...

Huh?! What's going on?! Although very puzzled, Zhu Zhanhe still turned around without any politeness...

It wasn't until much later that Zhu Zhanhe learned that the blissful life he had witnessed was actually an outrageous scheme devised by the Crown Prince's wife, Lady Xia.

Princess Xia arranged for Zhu Zhanhe's personal maids to accompany him in his sexual life, but she planned to intercept them at the crucial moment...

(End of this chapter)