The Great Ming Demon Pill: Your Majesty, please address me as the Crown Prince!

The atmosphere inside the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace was subtle.

Just then, a series of hurried, heavy footsteps came from outside the hall, accompanied by a palace attendant's panicked cries: "Your Highness, His Majesty is speaking with Prince Zhanjun, you cannot..."

"Get out of here!"

A thunderous roar rang out, shaking the palace gates as if they were trembling.

The door to the warm pavilion was suddenly pushed open, and a burly figure, as imposing as an iron tower, strode into the hall with the force of wind and thunder.

The visitor was none other than Zhu Gaoxu, the Prince of Han.

He wore a dark purple robe with four claws and a jade belt. His square face was flushed red with anger, his thick eyebrows stood on end, his tiger eyes were wide open, and his short beard stood on end.

Before he even reached the emperor's presence, the fierce aura of someone who had been through countless battles and the fiery rage he exuded already overwhelmed him, causing the few eunuchs standing in the hall to instinctively shrink back.

Zhu Gaoxu immediately spotted Zhu Zhanjun kneeling before the emperor, looking up at him with his small face.

"You unfilial son!!!"

He pointed his spear at Zhu Zhanjun, his voice booming like a bell, trembling with rage, veins bulging on his forehead, his roar echoing through the empty, warm pavilion:

"Have you eaten the gall of a bear and the gall of a leopard?!"

"How dare they set fire to the Imperial Palace, to the Eastern Palace?!"

"That's the Crown Prince's residence, is that a place where you can act recklessly?!"

"Do you know this is a capital offense, punishable by death?!"

"How have I been teaching you all this time?! Huh?!"

He grew angrier and angrier as he spoke, his chest heaving violently, wishing he could rush up and pick up the little brat and give him a good beating.

Upon seeing Zhu Gaoxu burst into the hall, Zhu Di, before Zhu Gaoxu could continue his roaring, slammed his hand on the imperial desk and shouted sternly:

"Insolence! Shut your mouth!"

This angry rebuke was like a thunderclap, instantly silencing Zhu Gaoxu's roar.

Zhu Gaoxu was stunned, and the angry curse that was about to come out of his mouth was swallowed back. He looked at his father on the throne in astonishment, only to see that Zhu Di's face was ashen and his eyes were as cold as knives.

Zhu Di pointed at Zhu Gaoxu, his voice deep yet extremely authoritative:

"You barged in and started yelling without even asking what happened. What kind of behavior is that?"

"I have already questioned Zhanjun thoroughly about what he did!"

"He was wrong to set the fire, but there were reasons for it."

"He did this to verify the profound meaning of 'the people of Chu set the Epang Palace ablaze' in the 'Epang Palace Rhapsody' and to personally experience the principles of rise and fall in the book."

"Though the method is reckless, this spirit of inquiry that gets to the bottom of things is something you can't possibly understand."

Zhu Gaoxu was stunned by the scolding, opened his mouth, and didn't know how to refute it.

Zhu Di grew increasingly angry as he spoke, stood up, pointed at Zhu Gaochi's nose, and continued to berate him:

"All you do is brandish weapons and beat and scold your son! What else can you do besides discipline him with your fists? I think you're the one who deserves a beating!"

Zhu Gaoxu's face flushed red and then turned pale, and he lowered his head, not daring to utter another word.

At this moment, Zhu Zhanjun, who was kneeling to the side, suddenly had a flash of inspiration, as if he had remembered something.

He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a short wooden stick, about the length of his arm, smooth and easy to handle, which he had hidden away sometime earlier.

Holding the stick in both hands, she tilted her little face up and obediently offered it to Zhu Di:

"Grandpa Emperor, go! Beat him up!"

[Ding! You have obtained a golden treasure chest!]

The warm pavilion fell silent instantly.

The imperial grandsons kneeling behind Zhu Zhanjun were already dumbfounded by the arson incident at the Eastern Palace. When they saw Zhu Zhanjun pull out a stick and hand it to the emperor, and innocently say "beat him up," they were even more shocked.

The other imperial grandsons, such as Zhu Zhanhao and Zhu Zhanyin, stared wide-eyed at each other, their faces clearly saying, "This actually works?!"