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

Chapter 8 Zhu Zhanhe's Taoist Teacher
"My lord, do you want to ask the people from Chaotian Palace to come out to greet us?" The captain of the servants was a burly man named Liu Erniu, a personal soldier under his father's command. At this moment, he was looking at Zhu Zhanhe with a serious and earnest face and asked, and his tone was very restrained, as if he was a little afraid of Zhu Zhanhe.

"No need. After all, this is the residence of the gods. It's not suitable to mobilize a large army. You wait for me at the door. I will go in by myself. You can eat in batches. Don't go hungry." Zhu Zhanhe rejected Liu Erniu's words and took out a golden bean from his arms. He threw it to Liu Erniu and asked him to take his brothers to eat. It was already past noon. These soldiers probably hadn't eaten yet and were hungry. Besides, he was the prince of the Golden Bean Han Prince. It was normal for him to carry some golden beans on him.

"Thank you, Prince!" Liu Erniu was very happy and thanked loudly. After all, the money given by his prince was more than enough for all of them to have a good meal.

In fact, Liu Erniu was a little afraid of Zhu Zhanhe. As a personal soldier of Prince Han, he had always followed Prince Han and witnessed with his own eyes that when his own prince was charging, he rode away from the crowd, wielded a big sword, and killed sixteen enemies in a row. This was a top hero in the army, not to mention that he was the prince he was loyal to. Moreover, the prince had a handsome face, was intimidating without being angry, and had a strong majesty. Although he was usually very polite to everyone, everyone was a little in awe of him.

Zhu Zhanhe entered Chaotian Palace alone. It was already past noon, but Chaoyang Palace was still very lively with pilgrims constantly coming and going. The air was filled with the strong aroma of incense, which was surprisingly pleasant.

"Uncle Master Yanhe, you are here. No wonder Master said that there would be distinguished guests coming today. It turns out that you have returned from the expedition. I will go and tell Master now." Zhu Zhanhe had just arrived at the hall enshrining the Four Heavenly Kings when the Taoist boy welcoming guests at the door saw him and hurriedly came up to greet him happily.

Yanhe is the Taoist name given to Zhu Zhanhe when he was accepted as a disciple by Zhang Zhengheng. In the words of the old Taoist priest, Yan is the generation name and He is the Taoist name.

"Yan" means long flowing water, and also means water flowing through the bottom, while "he" represents the abyss and ravines. Together, they mean a heart as still as water, as tranquil as the abyss. However, what the old Taoist didn't tell Zhu Zhanhe was that, combined with Zhu Zhanhe's identity, the meaning of the two together is "a hidden dragon in the abyss!"
Of course, it cannot be said that he was accepting a disciple, it can only be said that he was accepting a student. After all, Zhu Zhanhe did not really become a Taoist. He just followed the Taoist master Zhang Zhengheng to learn Taoist health-preserving exercises. Otherwise, if he really became a Taoist, his father and mother would have come to kill him long ago, and it is possible that Chaotian Palace would have been razed to the ground by his father Zhu Gaoxu.

"Junior Brother Jindou, it's your turn to be on duty today. You've worked hard. I'll go find the master. You don't have to report it. I'll have someone buy you some candied haws later." Zhu Zhanhe also saw the little kid in front of him, a little boy of about ten years old, with a chubby face. He was an orphan adopted by Chaotian Palace and grew up in Chaotian Palace. The Taoist priest of Chaotian Palace named him Jindou, which is both his Taoist name and his name. He is a greedy little guy.

"Thank you, uncle master. You are the best. The master is practicing in the backyard. You can go in. The master said that a distinguished guest would come today, but he hasn't shown up yet. He is probably waiting for you, uncle master?" When the young Taoist priest Jindou heard that there would be candied haws to eat, his face was full of joy and his saliva was almost flowing out. He jumped around Zhu Zhanhe, but he did not forget to tell Zhu Zhanhe the location of the old Taoist priest.

"Okay, thank you, Junior Brother Jindou. I'll go in first." After saying goodbye to Little Jindou, Zhu Zhanhe went straight to the backyard area of ​​Chaotian Palace. Along the way, he also greeted all the brothers and sisters he knew.

Coming to the backyard, in a quiet little courtyard, a figure in a plain white Taoist robe, with a ruddy complexion and a nimble figure was practicing martial arts. It was called practicing martial arts, but in fact it was just practicing waving his two arms back and forth like the wings of a big bird. Looking closely, it actually looked like a crane dancing.

Zhu Zhanhe looked at the old man practicing quietly. He knew from the scene that it would take a long time to practice, so he didn't hesitate to walk behind the old man and started practicing with him.

In a quiet little courtyard of Chaotian Palace, one old man and one young man were seen waving their arms like two big birds, like two cranes flying, landing and foraging.

"Hu——" After half a day, Zhu Zhanhe finished practicing with his teacher. He only saw the teacher let out a long breath and then ended the practice.

At this moment, Zhu Zhanhe once again observed his teacher, whom he had not seen for a year. He was an old man dressed in a plain white Taoist robe, with jet-black hair, a rosy complexion, and skin as delicate as a baby's. Although he looked young, perhaps in his forties or fifties, he was actually seventy-six years old. Only his eyes, full of vicissitudes of life, revealed his age.

"You're back?" The old man in front of Zhu Zhanhe was his teacher, Zhang Zhengheng, the senior brother of the contemporary Tianshi Zhang Zhengchang. The old Taoist simply glanced at the person behind him and said nothing more before returning to his room.

Zhu Zhanhe quickly followed his teacher's steps and entered the house. "Student Yanhe greets the teacher!" After entering the room, Zhu Zhanhe bowed respectfully to his teacher.

With a "pa" sound, the old Taoist priest with an elderly face put the teacup he had just picked up on the table, jumped away from his original position, and stood directly on the other side, even spilling the tea in the teacup on the table, which was considered as avoiding Zhu Zhanhe's salute.

"Go away, you little bastard. How many times have I told you, don't salute me, don't salute me. Do you have a grudge against me, an old Taoist priest? Are you going to send me away or something?" The old Taoist priest dodged to the side and avoided Zhu Zhanhe's salute. He then blew his beard and glared, looking unhappy and said in a bad mood.

"Teacher, why are you doing this? I am your student. What's wrong with greeting each other when we meet?" Zhu Zhanhe was a little confused. He wondered what his teacher was thinking. He only asked Zhu Zhanhe to offer him a cup of tea when he became his disciple. Even though the ceremony was completed, he didn't kowtow or anything. What's even more strange is that the other old Taoists didn't have any objections. How strange!

"Tell me, what's going on this time?" The old Taoist Zhang Zhengheng looked at his student warily, his eyes and brows revealing a strong sense of unhappiness.

"Teacher, I just came back from the expedition against Aluta today, so I hurried over to pay my respects to you," Zhu Zhanhe told his true thoughts truthfully.

"I'm not blind! I can see that you just came back from the battlefield. You are full of murderous aura. I'm afraid you have killed quite a few Tartars." Zhang Zhengheng frowned and looked at his student with disgust on his face. He knew at a glance that his student had killed at least ten Tartars.

"Teacher, I only joined the charge this time, but I was lucky and killed sixteen of them, and I was not injured." Zhu Zhanhe had a proud look on his face, his eyebrows raised, showing that he was in a good mood.

"Sixteen? Not a bad harvest, but why did you follow your father into battle instead of following your grandfather to stay behind the team?" Zhang Zhengheng asked with interest, his eyes flashing and his tone leisurely.

　"Yan" means long flow.

　　The scenery of the south is rare in the world, and the waves of Xiling are difficult to cross the river. - Li Bai, "A Letter from a Person in a Feng Dynasty to the Elders of the State of Canshu"

　　Have you not heard of the vastness of Yangdu? To its left is the vast sea, to its right is Mount Min, where turtles and birds descend, and the Yangtze and Han rivers flow from its source. — "Yiwen Leiju"

　　Water flows underground

　　"The water flows underground, and is immersed in the mist." - "Selected Works of Literature, Zuo Si, Shudu Fu" (Ode to the Capital of Shu). Liu Kui's note: "Water flowing underground is called 'the water flows underground.' These two waters flow underground, so it is called 'the water flows underground, and is immersed in the mist.'"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)