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

Chapter 284 The Neglected Scholars

"Brother, rest assured, Zhan'an and his descendants will follow in your footsteps forever!" Hearing his elder brother's inspiring yet somewhat cynical words of encouragement, young Zhu Zhan'an's composure practically exploded. He knelt down before his elder brother, Zhu Zhanhe, with overwhelming emotion, loudly swearing his loyalty! He even swore loyalty on behalf of his descendants!

Young Zhu Zhan'an always believed that his father, the Prince of Han, was just a rebel against the court, and that he himself was just the son of a rebel.

The Prince of Han's residence was a gathering place for rebels! Just like his own elder brother, who was nothing more than a rebel from another court, hiding under the protection of his father, the Prince of Han.

As for Zhu Zhanxi, he might just be a victim among the rebels, or a lucky beneficiary of the existing system.

But at this moment, from his elder brother's mouth, the young Zhu Zhanhan heard a different answer, one that he had never thought of before and was completely different.

So, it turned out that his father and elder brother weren't rebels against the court, but rather meritorious officials of the Ming Dynasty, meritorious officials of the entire Zhu family! The kind of unsung heroes who gave selflessly without expecting anything in return! With these thoughts swirling in his mind, young Zhu Zhan'an felt his heart surge with emotion. He clenched his fists and secretly resolved that he would forever follow in his elder brother's footsteps, and like his brother, dedicate his life to the glory of the Ming Dynasty!
"Third brother, Uncle Xia is very busy, so please take him home for me." Looking at his younger brother Zhu Zhanhe's determined eyes, Zhu Zhanhe suddenly felt a strange sense of guilt. After all, was it really okay to trick his young brother into working for him like this? But immediately, Zhu Zhanhe's guilt was dispelled by his brother's adoring gaze. So, Zhu Zhanhe gently helped his kneeling brother up and said encouragingly.

At the same time, Zhu Zhanhe gently patted his younger brother on the shoulder and asked his third brother to take his father-in-law, Xia Yuanji, who was already dumbfounded, back to continue working!

"Okay, big brother!" At this moment, Zhu Zhanhan, whose heart was surging with excitement, would never refuse his big brother's work arrangement. He responded to his big brother's words with a firm expression.

At this moment, Xia Yuanji was completely dumbfounded, his mouth agape. He hadn't expected his son-in-law to be so eloquent, practically turning the dead back to life with words! Moreover, looking at the Third Prince, who was now utterly swayed, Xia Yuanji suddenly thought of the Prince of Han who had been fooled by the Yongle Emperor for half his life! How similar this scene was!
Could it be that he's really fooled my daughter like this? Otherwise, why is my little darling so leaky now?! For a moment, Xia Yuanji's gaze towards his son-in-law turned dangerous.

Faced with his father-in-law's unfriendly and astonished expression, Zhu Zhanhe really wanted to tell him, "What I said is true, I'm not lying!" There's nothing wrong with what he said!

"Your Highness, I take my leave." Xia Yuanji was stunned by his son-in-law's beaming smile. He had never seen anyone make rebellion sound so elegant and refined.

Especially when the person who said this was his own son-in-law, Xia Yuanji was completely dumbfounded, seeing his son-in-law's somewhat proud expression. At that moment, Xia Yuanji realized that people could be so shameless! "My precious daughter, she's been completely fooled!" Xia Yuanji cried out in his heart.

"Eldest brother, third brother will take his leave." After hearing Zhu Zhanhe's words, the third brother, Zhu Zhanhan, was completely fooled by his eldest brother. So, with a determined look on his face, Zhu Zhanhan accepted his eldest brother's work arrangement with a resolute gaze, and slowly walked to Xia Yuanji, helping the dumbfounded Xia Yuanji up.

"Uncle Xia, this junior will escort you back!" Zhu Zhanyi respectfully approached Xia Yuanji, gently took Xia Yuanji's arm, and then helped Xia Yuanji, whose face was filled with complicated emotions, out the door.

In fact, the dazed Xia Yuanji even forgot to say goodbye to his son-in-law before leaving.

Meanwhile, Xia Yuanji, who was being helped out of the house by Zhu Zhanyan, was also completely bewildered. This son-in-law was probably not a reincarnated dragon, but an ancient swindler who had become a master swindler! His ability to deceive people was truly unprecedented!

As Xia Yuanji and Zhu Zhanhe pushed open the gate of Chengyun Hall, the midday sun shone directly on Zhu Zhanhe in the main hall. When Xia Yuanji turned around as he left, he found that his son-in-law looked so majestic and radiant under the bright sunlight!

Meanwhile, Xia Yuanji, having been thoroughly exposed to his son-in-law's toxic motivational rhetoric, was still working himself to the bone in Yunnan, sacrificing his life for his daughter, son-in-law, and unborn grandson. On the other side, the group of scholars, imperial guards, and Taoist priests who had set off for Annam finally arrived in Annam after a long and arduous journey, successfully joining up with Hu Tian's army. Far away, outside the city gates of Anzhou Prefecture, the administrative center of Annam (formerly Jiaozhi County), Hu Tian and his Yunnan army officers had been waiting for some time.

"Uncle Wei, this humble general Hu Tian greets you. These two young talents must be your two esteemed disciples. In the future, I hope you two young friends will give me your guidance." The large group had just arrived at the gates of Anzhou City when Hu Tian, ​​leading Qian Zhongcai, Jiang Xiaohu, the Mu brothers, and a host of officers, came to greet them. Furthermore, Hu Tian bypassed the many scholars approaching and went directly to Wei Jizhong at the side of the group, bowing and greeting him respectfully.

"General Hu, you are too kind. These are indeed my two unworthy disciples. In the future, I hope General Hu will give me more guidance."

"Tiger, Dog, greet us!" Faced with Hu Tian's politeness, Wei Jizhong naturally responded with equal enthusiasm, and also took the opportunity to briefly introduce his two newly accepted apprentices. Although Wei Jizhong was an honest man, he also knew that all of Hu Tian's politeness was only because he was responsible for raising dragons for His Highness. Without this role, he would be nothing in front of Hu Tian! Therefore, Wei Jizhong also responded politely to Hu Tian's politeness.

"Little Tiger greets General Hu!"

"Little Dog greets General Hu!" Little Tiger and Little Dog respectfully bowed to General Hu Tian as their master had instructed.

"Good, good, indeed young talents." Hu Tian carefully looked at the two little children in front of him and praised Xiao Gouzi and Xiao Huzi again.

"Uncle Wei, this humble general is going to pay his respects to the old immortal." After Hu Tian responded to the two young future dragon tamers, he then pointed to Wei Jizhong and said something else.

"General Hu, please." In response to Hu Tian's politeness, Wei Jizhong also bowed and said goodbye with a polite gesture.

Then, Hu Tiancai headed towards the Taoist team led by the old Taoist Zhang Zhengheng on the other side of the group.

"Uncle, it's been a long time."

"Uncle, how have you been lately?"

"Mu Bin and Mu Lin greet Uncle!" Just as Hu Tian left, another group of people came up to Wei Jizhong. Looking up, they saw the chubby Qian Zhongcai, the commander of the Three Thousand Battalion, Jiang Xiaohu, the commander of the Five Armies Battalion, and the two Mu brothers, Mu Bin and Mu Lin. They came up to Wei Jizhong and greeted him with clasped hands.

"Good, good, General Qian, General Jiang, and the two young men from the Mu family, how are you?" Looking at the familiar faces in front of him, Wei Jizhong greeted them all again.

"Brother Yao, look, what's this...?" Faced with the army's cold shoulder towards the scholars, the scholar-official team was momentarily stunned. After all, they were the main force in this Annam expansion, so why would the army's top generals go to pay their respects to a Han prince's maternal uncle who had remained unknown throughout the journey? Some scholars turned their attention to Yao Guan, the backbone of the Annam expansion team and ranked fourth in the evaluation.

(End of this chapter)