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

Chapter 6: The Arrogant Prince of Han
In ancient times, cattle were the most important means of production. Even the emperor could not eat beef often. The only people who could eat beef like this were probably the Prince of Han's family. As the Prince of Han's family, no one dared to control them and they were very willful.

"Thank you, mother. I love it very much." Zhu Zhanhe was not polite either. He sat down directly. His mother quickly added vegetables and meat to his son's bowl. Seeing his mother's expectant eyes, he started eating directly.

"Look at the way my son eats. What can he eat in the army? He probably has never had enough to eat. I don't know how he is the Prince of Han. He doesn't even care about his own son." Wei looked at her son eating voraciously, frowning, full of heartache. The handkerchief in her hand was almost crumpled to pieces, and she did not forget to complain about the unreliability of her own Prince of Han.

After Wei picked up some food for her son, she sat aside and watched her son eat with relish.

Yun'er and Jian'er on the side were very observant. Seeing the princess sitting aside, they hurried over to pick up food and pour wine for their own prince. Zhu Zhanhe was not polite either. He started eating with big mouthfuls in his own home. After all, he was the prince and no one dared to say anything to him.

"Home-cooked food is still delicious," Zhu Zhanhe said after eating for a long time, taking a sip of wine slowly, and then began to savor it carefully.

"My son, tell me how you have been spending the past year!" Seeing that her son had finally recovered from his ravenous eating and was eating and drinking slowly, Princess Wei quickly asked about her son's experience of going to war, her face full of nervousness and anticipation.

"Mom, let me tell you. This time, following Dad and I into battle...

At the time, I was wearing a thick set of mountain-patterned heavy armor, a black iron mask, and even the horse under my crotch was dressed in a full set of heavy iron armor. I held a huge saber and followed my father into the battle. The enemy's arrows and weapons couldn't hurt me at all. I just followed my father and picked up the advantage. My father finally recorded my killing of seventeen enemies. I was really embarrassed..." Zhu Zhanhe slowly explained his experience of this expedition.

He also briefly described the process of killing the enemy, but did not say that he led the team to charge and kill the enemy. He said that he followed his father and took advantage of the situation from behind. Even hearing this, his mother Wei's face was full of fear and worry, and tears were welling up in her eyes. Seeing this, Zhu Zhanhe hurried to comfort her.

Princess Wei was actually well aware that her son, who had been studying literature and martial arts since childhood, was bound to fight on the battlefield. Although she knew her son would be surrounded by numerous guards, and as a mother, she could hear that her son's words were meant to comfort her, she still couldn't help but worry. After all, on a battlefield filled with swords, spears, and halberds, how could she not worry? Tears welled up in her eyes, and even Aunt Xiu'er beside her was tearful.

Zhu Zhanhe finally comforted his mother after a long time. He was chatting with her and making her happy when the servant outside the door shouted loudly.
"Welcome back to the palace, Your Highness, may you live a thousand years and live in peace!"

Zhu Gaoxu entered the house in armor and saw his beloved son talking to his wife. His wife's eyes were red. He subconsciously felt that something was wrong, but he was in a good mood at the time and didn't care at all. He still walked in with a happy face.

Zhu Zhanhe looked at his father, who was dressed in armor, with a glorious face, walking with the wind, like a rooster that had just won a battle, striding forward with a proud and arrogant look. He felt that his father had the temperament of an old child, and he felt indescribably uncomfortable.

"Wife, son, let me tell you, I was really showing off in front of the old man in the palace just now, and even asked for the military power of the defense of Yingtian City, which made the boss speechless." Zhu Gaoxu didn't care at all that he had just returned. His wife didn't even say hello to him. She walked in carelessly, sat down directly opposite his son, picked up the wine pot and took a big sip.

"Gulp, ah, so comfortable, the wine at home is still the best." Zhu Gaoxu picked up the wine pot and drank directly from the spout. After drinking, he couldn't help but sigh that the wine at home was delicious. "Let me tell you, we just came back from the war with the old man, and we encountered an ambush and assassination team at the city gate. I don't know how this boss is supervising the country. It's better for me to do it." Although he was full of complaints, Zhu Gaoxu's smile showed that he was still very happy at this time. After all, he had made a fool of himself in front of his father today, and he had lost face in front of the old man. He should be happy! And he really wanted to be the regent!
"Change this dish for me, this kid has already eaten it." Zhu Gaoxu didn't mind the food his son had eaten at all. As he said this, he started to eat it in big mouthfuls. However, he felt that it was too little and not enough, after all, his son was still eating.

"Yes, the food at home is delicious, much better than that in the military camp. Hey, is this meat from another cow that died in the farm? Hurry up and serve me a plate." Zhu Gaoxu picked up the chopsticks and ate the dishes on the table. Suddenly he found the beef, which made him like it very much. However, there was only a little left after his son had eaten it, so he asked the servants to serve me another plate.

"Dad, I'm so happy to be back from the palace." Zhu Zhanhe looked at his father with a happy and proud face, stood up and saluted, and asked about the situation in the palace.

"Greetings to the Prince." Mother Wei and Aunt Xiu'er also paid their respects to the Prince of Han who had just returned.

"Okay, all is well. Get up, Princess, and bring me some more food. Son, come, sit down, and have a couple of drinks with daddy." Our Prince Han is usually very kind. He responded to the greetings from his wife and maid in a casual manner, and asked his son to get up quickly to accompany him for dinner. He had a lot to say to his son!

"Dad, grandpa gave you the city defense? What are you going to do?" Zhu Zhanhe picked up some food for his father and asked what he thought.

"Needless to say, of course we have to close the four gates and investigate the rebels. Your father and I are very familiar with this." Looking at his father's mysteriously confident expression, Zhu Zhanhe was a little confused.

"Dad, this is the capital. You closed the four gates and spread rumors to stir up trouble. They had smelled the wind and ran away a long time ago. You can't find out anything. How are you going to explain to grandpa then?" Zhu Zhanhe asked the question directly.

"It doesn't matter whether I can find out or not, I can definitely report it. The important thing is that I have got the city defense, do you understand?" After hearing this, Zhu Zhanhe realized that his father Zhu Gaoxu's purpose from the beginning was the city defense army, or to take advantage of the opportunity of the rebellion to intervene in the city defense army, or to investigate for a while and keep the city defense army firmly in his hands!
Seeing that his father had no intention of going to the fiefdom at all, Zhu Zhanhe was helpless. He secretly complained in his heart, what's so good about being an emperor? I get up earlier than a chicken, sleep later than a dog, eat worse than a pig, and am as tired as a cow! It's better to be a rice bug!
He just came back today and didn't want to have any unpleasantness with his father, so he changed the subject.

"Dad, before I went on the expedition, I told you again that I asked you several times for help. How have you done?" Zhu Zhanhe asked his father to help him place a few people on Zheng He's fleet. He had asked his father several times and for several years, but his father did not take it seriously and did not agree.

"Just stay at home honestly. As a prince, you don't have to worry about going out to sea. We have everything at home. Tell me what you need. Don't worry about things overseas!" Zhu Gaoxu looked at his sons asking about the previous things again. The corners of his mouth twitched and he looked helpless.

His son was good in every way except for two things that bothered him. One of them was that he was somewhat obsessed with Taoist priests. In recent years, he had wanted to place people on Zheng He's fleet, which made him even more upset. He didn't want his heir to be like Qin Shi Huang, who was thinking about going out to sea to search for immortals all day long!

　There are two things that Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Gaoxu don't get along with. I will talk about one of them here first, and the other ones will appear later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)