The Ming Dynasty: My sister, Empress Ma

"I want to go too!"

Zhu Di suddenly stood up.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been laughing heartily, paused upon hearing this, and his smile gradually faded.

Old Zhu found it a bit strange.

When did Zhu Di become a studious person?

He's always stealing chickens or petty thievery, and now he actually wants to go to school?

This made Ma Xiuying somewhat happy. She didn't care about anything else, as long as her younger brother no longer wanted to go to the battlefield, he could stay in Yingtian Prefecture and do whatever he wanted.

"Alright, alright, go and learn from your uncle. You'll become someone who excels in both literature and martial arts."

Zhu Su stood up at that moment. "Me too."

Zhu Su was much shorter than Zhu Di, at only 1.4 meters tall, and could only be noticed when he stood up.

Zhu Yuanzhang scoffed, "Have you forgotten what happened not long ago, you son of a bitch?"

Zhu Su shrank his neck.

Ma Wenyuan found it somewhat strange.

Zhu Biao grinned and said,

"Last month, the fifth brother killed two people at the shop you helped him open, which led to many days of impeachment by civil officials."

Two civilians died. If this were shown to outsiders, Zhu Biao would surely be heartbroken.

In front of outsiders, Xiao Zhu has always been a benevolent ruler, a representative of truth, goodness and beauty.

As for the actual situation?

Ma Wenyuan didn't believe that Zhu Yuanzhang, that black-hearted man, would produce a child like a glutinous rice ball.

Which of Zhu Shuang and his ilk didn't take after their father?

Does this mean Zhu Biao should follow his mother's lead?

"How can you blame me? The person was almost dying when they were brought in. What could I possibly do to treat them?"

Zhu Su felt somewhat aggrieved.

"Those damned officials who dared to criticize should be killed!" Zhu Di suddenly slammed his fist on the table and said angrily.

"What's wrong with you now?"

Ma Wenyuan found it even stranger.

Zhu Su might be unable to visit the clinic for several days due to impeachment by censors, but what was Zhu Di's purpose?

"He got into a fight with Li Xiang's son a few days ago, and was impeached as a result. His mother even beat him up because of it."

Zhu Biao offered another explanation.

"Li Xiang is back?" Ma Wenyuan was more curious about Li Shanchang.

Zhu Yuanzhang squinted and said with a smile,

"He came back a long time ago; he still can't forget about power."

Just by listening to him speak, it's really hard to tell Zhu Yuanzhang's current attitude towards Li Shanchang.

Zhu Shuang, who had been silent until now, could no longer hold back.

"It's actually a good thing that Prime Minister Li is back; the court can't function without him."

"What do you mean the court can't function without him?"

Old Zhu was furious. "Damn it, in our vast court, in our great Ming Dynasty, is he the only capable person?"

With no outsiders present, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke without any restraint.

Zhu Shuang immediately realized he had said the wrong thing and looked at his uncle, seeing that Ma Wenyuan was only eating.

Zhu Shuang then quickly looked at Li Zhen.

Li Zhen sighed and changed the subject.

Why are you fighting?

Zhu Di snorted coldly.

"He looks down on what we learned from our uncle."

Ma Wenyuan stopped eating and looked at Zhu Di.

"Which son of Prime Minister Li?"

Before Zhu Di could answer, Ma Wenyuan suddenly started talking on his own.

"Never mind, it's not important."

This startled Zhu Biao, who knew his uncle's personality all too well.

We recently raided Dongting Lake, killing at least 8,000 to 10,000 bandits.

Although Ma Wenyuan said it wasn't important, Zhu Biao didn't believe him.

According to the forestry report, Ma Wenyuan said the same thing when he first passed by Dongting Lake: "I'll kill their entire family the moment I get the chance, even earthworms will be chopped up vertically."

Zhu Biao was genuinely afraid that Ma Wenyuan would start a fight with Li Shanchang right now. Li Shanchang was still somewhat useful, so it was not easy to mess with him.

Zhu Biao hurriedly replied, "Prime Minister Li's protégés and former officials are all over the court and the country; they are not easy to touch."

"I know what I'm doing," Ma Wenyuan said nonchalantly, waving his hand dismissively.

Zhu Di also heard about his uncle's heroic deeds, but unlike Zhu Biao, this young man didn't consider the bigger picture.

"Uncle, here's what we'll do: you take the men and we'll beat Li Qi up. I'll take the blame if anything happens."

Ma Xiuying glared at Zhu Di.

Zhu Di sat back in his seat, not daring to utter a sound.

Zhu Biao once again stepped in to act as a peacemaker.

"What are you talking about? Why would I ask your uncle to lead troops for such a small matter?"

It seemed that when the topic of leading troops came up, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to remember something.

"By the way, little brother, how about you fill in for me as a commander at the Wudewei?"

"Here you go!"

Ma Wenyuan has no problem with it.

Although he still holds the position of Right Vice-Governor, this is nothing compared to what he has achieved.

Those weightlifting champions can lift weights in Beijing and thirteen provinces, so this is nothing to them.

After eating, one tastes five different flavors.

The people in the main hall started chatting amongst themselves.

Li Zhen chatted with Zhu Yuanzhang and Ma Xiuying, while Zhu Biao played with the baby and Li Jinglong played with Zhu Shuang.

At first, Zhu Shuang wanted to flick Li Jinglong's little pigtail, which scared Li Jinglong so much that he ran around in all directions and finally ran into a corner.

Seeing that his grandfather was not paying attention, Li Jinglong became emboldened and started chasing Zhu Shuang with a small water tap.

When you catch up, release a little bit; when you miss, hold it back, and repeat this process over and over.

Zhu Shuang was so frightened that his face turned pale, fearing that he would be spit out the spray.

Zhu Su was constantly trying to persuade him from the side.

They said it was nothing, that a virgin's penis is clean and can even be used in medicine.

Zhu Shuang was furious, but he couldn't get rid of Li Jinglong. Only when Li Jinglong ran out of ammunition did Zhu Shuang finally straighten up.

It also has to be that the main hall is big enough that the adults usually don't notice that side, otherwise there would be chaos again.

……

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Di, who was chattering away beside Ma Wenyuan, and recalled Zhu Di's earlier words about wanting to go to school. He asked with some satisfaction,

"Fourth brother, do you really want to go and learn something from your uncle?"

"yes."

Zhu Di replied matter-of-factly, "The 'investigation of things to extend knowledge' that my uncle teaches is so much fun, why don't you go?"

So it was all just for fun after all...

Zhu Yuanzhang's previous satisfaction vanished completely. He wanted to say something, but then he remembered the young woman sitting next to him, and his mouth opened and closed but he couldn't utter a word.

After a long pause, Zhu Yuanzhang finally said, "Little brother, you should be careful when playing; you can't just play around recklessly."

Ma Wenyuan nodded in agreement; he was no longer as cautious as he had been at the beginning.

The main reason was the strong demands from the two elders, Li Zhen and Ma Xiuying.

Zhu Yuanzhang then went to chat with Li Zhen again, while Ma Wenyuan's attention returned to Zhu Di, and he asked again,

"Do you really want to learn about the investigation of things and the attainment of knowledge?"

Zhu Di tentatively asked in return,

"Can I learn how to lead troops and fight battles from my uncle?"

"No." Ma Wenyuan refused decisively. "I won't, and I suggest you don't mention this in front of your mother for the next few days."

"Oh." Zhu Di nodded somewhat dejectedly. He was just young and playful, not stupid.

He didn't believe a word Ma Wenyuan said.

Zhu Di did not believe that Ma Wenyuan was incapable of fighting. He had captured Qutang in one battle, and the counties along the river surrendered without resistance. What a magnificent feat this was!

The truth is, Zhu Di was just too young. If he had been older, he would have understood.

The counties along the river surrendered without a second thought, not because of Ma Wenyuan.

Sichuan is not like the inland areas, where powerful families and clans now call the shots.

For those people, it didn't matter who the emperor was; they would still be employed by their own families, and they would still be able to maintain their status.

Otherwise, how could they possibly employ those illiterate commoners?

Or perhaps officials would be transferred there?

There's no one willing to be exiled there.

So, knowing that the general trend cannot be defied, why bother to desperately strive for a good reputation? It's better to be like Wei Junjie.