Chapter 67: With those thick eyebrows and big eyes, Biao'er has gone over to the enemy just like that? Empress, listen to my explanation!

What on earth?!
Zhu Di was stunned for a moment.
The marriage arranged by his imperial father was actually the eldest daughter of the Great General, Xu Miaoyun?!
Since it was her, why didn't his imperial father mention it earlier?
It wasn't that he knew Xu Miaoyun well or had taken a fancy to her long ago.
Rather, it was because Xu Miaoyun was the daughter of the Great General!
Once he married her, the Great General would become his father-in-law!
This was the Great General!
The undefeated general of Great Ming!
His imperial father had started with nothing, fought across battlefields through endless bloodshed, and gathered countless proud and fierce generals under his command.
Aside from his imperial father, there was only one person who could command the wholehearted submission of the vast majority of these arrogant and fierce commanders.
That was the Great General!
Even back when the Prince of Kaiping was still alive, he could not compare in this regard.
For someone like him who yearned for the military life, the Great General was unquestionably the ultimate idol, ranking number one.
To have the Great General as his father-in-law would be the highest honor!
And yet, he had just flatly rejected this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
Amidst his utter bewilderment, Zhu Di almost couldn't help giving himself a couple of hard slaps across the face!
"Imperial Father, this son was wrong. I failed to think clearly just now, and my mind was clouded by foolishness.
As for this marriage, this son is a thousand times willing, ten thousand times willing!"
Filled with deep regret, Zhu Di immediately performed a swift about-face right there in front of everyone.
When it came to knowing when to let go of one's pride and casting aside face, among all the brothers, Zhu Di was the one who could always pull it off.
"Fourth Brother, show some backbone! A real man need never worry about finding a wife!
Women are nothing but trouble. Listen to your Third Brother, we simply won't marry."
Zhu Jian's teasing voice drifted over as he winked at Zhu Di, treating the whole thing as a grand joke.
Zhu Di ignored the thoroughly mischievous third brother.
Let the fellow mock him all he wanted!
He knew how to prioritize.
In ordinary matters, with a pest like the third brother around, he would stubbornly force his way through even if it killed him, never going back on his word in front of the scoundrel.
But now, the woman to be married was the daughter of the Great General!
Given how immensely important this matter was to him, how could he shrink back because of mere mockery?
If he truly backed down now, Zhu Di knew he would wake up in the middle of the night in the future and fiercely slap himself twice out of pure frustration.
Seeing Zhu Di's reaction, Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed his laughter for a while before finally letting it break through.
This little rascal had been easily manipulated by him, hadn't he?
"Weren't you the one who didn't want to get married?"
"Hehehe..." Zhu Di cracked a goofy smile, grinning just like the Prince of Qin.
"This son was just talking nonsense earlier. Imperial Father, please do not hold it against me."
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded inwardly. True to being the fourth son, he was someone who could play the fool, sleep in a pigsty, snatch food from pigs, and even run naked through the streets.
His skin was truly thick.
"Very well, then let us settle on this matter. Once we return, I will speak with Tianle."
Zhu Di's mouth immediately split from ear to ear.
Nearby, the Prince of Qin, Zhu Shuang, looked at Zhu Di's joyful expression and felt a profound sense of envy.
Although he already had a wife, and the Princess of Qin was genuinely a great beauty by any measure, he still wanted to take another wife.
He couldn't help wanting to open his mouth and ask his imperial father if his own reward could be changed to this as well.
Yet, after a moment of hesitation, those words ultimately remained unsaid.
He knew his imperial father would certainly never agree.
Speaking of it would be a waste of breath...
Zhu Yuanzhang noticed the second son's expression and naturally understood what was going on in that fellow's mind.
He could not help sighing inwardly.
The issues surrounding the second son were not easy to resolve either!
Even if they were difficult, they had to be properly settled.
Otherwise, if he wanted to change the life of this stubborn fool and prevent him from continuing down his destructive path, it would truly be no easy task...
Pushing this thought aside, Zhu Yuanzhang's mind returned once more to the fourth son's marriage.
Compared to his past life, arranging a marriage for the fourth son was a full half-year earlier.
Having the fourth son marry the girl Miaoyun was, of course, not purely a reward for the fourth son.
Part of the reason was to lay out a strategic layout in advance, preparing to properly contest Li Shanchang in the days to come.
The military was his base, and it could not be thrown into chaos.
Presently, the person with the highest prestige in the military was Tianle. Even knowing that, given Tianle's character, he would inevitably stand on his side in the upcoming confrontation regardless of what he did,
still, nothing was as secure as a matrimonial alliance.
Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang was genuinely pleased with Tianle's eldest girl.
He had already regarded her favorably beforehand.
In the modern era, he had seen certain historical records concerning Miaoyun.
He knew that the things this girl accomplished, along with her reputation, could rival even those of his own empress.
She was destined to be yet another virtuous empress of the Great Ming dynasty, second only to his wife.
This made Zhu Yuanzhang look upon Xu Miaoyun with even greater favor.
Tianle had truly given him a fine daughter-in-law!
"You rascal, once you marry the girl Miaoyun in the future, don't let her wrap you completely around her finger and turn you into a henpecked husband.
Our Zhu family has no such men; don't go disgracing the entire Zhu family."
Thinking of something, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Di and issued this instruction as a preventive measure.
Zhu Biao looked toward his imperial father with a rather strange expression.
What did it mean to not get manipulated after marriage and bring disgrace upon the Zhu family?
Was his imperial father talking about himself?
The honor of the Zhu family in that regard had long since been completely thrown away by his imperial father, hadn't it?
Always dutiful, Zhu Biao silently complained about his imperial father in his heart.
"Imperial Father, rest assured! This son will definitely not disgrace you!
In the future, I will certainly make her obedient and submissive!
No more words needed; our actions will speak for themselves from now on!"
Zhu Di patted his chest and gave his solemn assurance to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Di meant every word he said, and that was precisely what he thought.
His eager desire to marry Xu Miaoyun had nothing to do with Xu Miaoyun herself; he merely wanted Xu Da as a father-in-law.
Therefore, not being manipulated by Xu Miaoyun after marriage was an absolute certainty—there was no room for doubt.
As the dignified Prince of Yan, a man standing eight feet tall, how could he possibly be manipulated by a mere young woman?
What a joke!
His imperial father's worries were completely redundant!
Did his father really think everyone else was like him?
"Hmph, very well. If so, that is good."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with a solemn face, though inwardly he was laughing to himself once again.
He would just wait and see how the fourth son performed his own version of a true about-face after getting married.
Having returned from the modern era, how could he possibly not know what the fourth son and the girl Miaoyun would be like together?
"Is that acceptable, Biao'er?"
Seeing that all three sons had been cajoled into silly grins by these rewards, Zhu Yuanzhang turned his gaze to his eldest son and asked.
Zhu Biao bowed respectfully to his imperial father and said with a serious expression, "Imperial Father, bringing them all to Zhongdu this time was truly a stroke of genius.
Not to mention anything else, this experience alone will benefit them endlessly!
Imperial Mother will certainly understand your painstaking efforts."
Biao'er, this child, was leaning heavily toward his younger brothers!
Always plotting to help them extract gold coins from their old man!
Yet... the smile on Zhu Yuanzhang's face only grew warmer and richer.
He truly was worthy of being his Biao'er!
This child had been sensible since he was small.
To be born in the imperial family and yet possess such genuine brotherly affection was truly rare!
With Zhu Biao's words, the lingering traces of worry in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart completely vanished without a trace.
The last hidden concern was thoroughly eradicated. From now on, he could return to Yingtian with a clear conscience.
He wouldn't even need to feel guilty when facing his wife!
...
Having fallen ill and lain abed for many days—so much so that he couldn't even go to bid farewell when the emperor returned to the capital—Li Shanchang broke convention today and stepped out of his home.
Accompanied by his family members, he climbed the towering city walls of Zhongdu with visible difficulty.
Following the successive departure of the numerous summoned corvée laborers, this place had grown vastly desolate.
The bustling, scorching scenes of a crowded city under frantic construction were entirely gone.
It was as though they had just awakened from an exceptionally lively dream; now that the dream was over, all that remained were desolation, solitude, and endless melancholy.
Li Shanchang gripped the wall bricks tightly with both hands, the veins on the back of his hands bulging fiercely!
The hatred in his heart, intertwined with countless other complex emotions, made his chest feel as though it might burst!
Originally, this place was to have been the most glorious capital in history.
The Huaixi nobility, including his own Li family, were to achieve true co-prosperity with the state.
His name, Li Shanchang, would be forever cast alongside the greatest capital of all.
Yet, with the arrival of Zhu Yuanzhang, everything had changed!
It was Zhu Yuanzhang, this ruthless and unfeeling wretch, who disregarded all ties and personally tore apart the efforts into which he had poured every ounce of his strength!
He had turned him into a laughingstock!
Such a magnificent city of Zhongdu, discarded just like that.
He truly could not bear to let it go...
Li Shanchang lingered there for a long time, only descending from the city wall as dusk began to fall...
...
"Pass the word out. Starting today, every locality is to drag its feet and engage in passive resistance under various legitimate pretexts.
This includes, but is not limited to, the transport of grain to the border garrisons, the collection of taxes, and the implementation of various government decrees..."
That night, Li Shanchang sat on his bed and issued his command.
He was going to clash with Zhu Yuanzhang head-on, using real weapons and genuine force!
He would let Zhu Yuanzhang know that Li Shanchang was not someone to be trifled with!
"Really?"
Li Cunyi immediately grew excited.
After waiting for so long and swallowing so many grievances, his elder brother was finally showing some spine!
They should have done this long ago!
If a tiger didn't bare its teeth, did Zhu Yuanzhang really take his elder brother for a sick cat?
"Father, can doing this... really work? Won't it... provoke the emperor's wrath and trigger a backlash?"
Li Qi felt a sense of vindication that his father would take such action, but he was simultaneously filled with anxiety.
The things the emperor had done during his trip to Zhongdu had genuinely terrified him.
Li Shanchang did not fault his son for lacking courage; instead, he nodded and said:
"What you say is true. With that foul temper of his, once he discovers that I am leading people in doing this, he will undoubtedly fly into a rage—there is no second outcome."
Hearing his father's words, Li Qi's heart skipped a heavy beat.
Staring at his father, he asked with some difficulty, "Then... Father, why are you still doing this?"
Li Shanchang smiled. This was his first smile since the incident at Zhongdu.
"It is true that Zhu Yuanzhang will rage, but this time he will only be able to rage; he can do nothing else.
Nor will anyone die.
This time, it is the local officials all across the empire acting together.
No matter how formidable Zhu Yuanzhang is, can he possibly execute every single official across the entire realm at once?"
"Father, if we do this, won't it mean completely breaking ties with the emperor?"
Although Li Qi was deeply tempted by the plan his father laid out
and felt that his father's reasoning was sound, he still could not set his mind at ease.
The current emperor was simply different from ordinary people; he was truly ruthless and vicious.
To this day, he could not forget the scenes of his cousin Li You being skinned alive and his cousin being thrown to the swarming laborers.
"Qi'er, you haven't seen enough of the world, so you are too timid. Give that dog Zhu Chongba a hundred lives, and he still wouldn't dare to execute all the officials of the realm at once!
This dog is only where he is because everyone treated him too well and lifted him up too high!
It allowed a beggar to rise up!
Had everyone not propped him up, could a cowherd whose parents starved to death ever have become emperor?
His empire was won for him by all of us.
Especially our Li family, which contributed the greatest effort and rightfully deserves its share.
The emperor has grown far too arrogant and conceited of late, and your father is doing the right thing.
For someone like Zhu Yuanzhang, you have to hit him a few hard blows to bring him to his senses.
Make him realize that today's Great Ming is not entirely up to him to decide.
Only after taking a beating and sobering up will he learn to speak reasonably and understand how things must be done!"
Before Li Shanchang could reply, Li Cunyi spoke up first.
As he spoke, he gnashed his back teeth, his expression a mix of ferocious menace, arrogance, and a sense of absolute entitlement.
Li Qi ignored Li Cunyi and looked directly at Li Shanchang. He knew his uncle was unreliable, and when critical moments arose, he still had to listen to his father.
"Your uncle's words are crude, but the logic holds true. The situation is precisely this.
The emperor's life has been far too smooth; he needs to be shown our strength so that he doesn't sit upon the dragon throne for too long and truly believe he is omnipotent, needing no one."
To Li Qi's surprise, the father whom he had always regarded as relatively humble and prudent shared the exact same view as his uncle!
Seeing that Li Qi still wanted to say something, Li Shanchang waved his hand and said:
"Rest assured, nothing will go wrong, nor will it reach the point of a complete falling out.
Do not be frightened by the emperor.
Zhu Yuanzhang shouts about killing and executing; he looks like a reckless brute who murders without blinking.
In reality, it is not so.
This fellow is clearer in his mind than anyone.
Do you know why he was so furious with me this time, yet didn't truly deal a fatal blow?"
"Wasn't it because Father possesses a certificate of iron exemption from death?" Li Qi asked hesitatingly.
Li Shanchang shook his head: "The iron tablet is merely an excuse. If he truly wanted to kill, the tablet would be useless.
Did Liao Yongzhong not hold an iron tablet?
Did he not die all the same?"
Li Qi was struck with a sudden horror, his words stalling in his throat.
Li Shanchang looked at his son and said: "It is because he knows your father cannot die.
Standing behind me are the Huaixi nobility and the numerous officials across the realm.
Whether it is the Huaixi nobility or these officials, they all listen to your father.
There is an unspoken understanding between him and me; even when we fight, we observe boundaries and fight without breaking apart.
Once your father is gone, there will be no one left to restrain the Huaixi nobility and the officials of the realm, and the chaos that follows will be far greater."
As Li Shanchang spoke, an invisible yet powerful confidence radiated from him.
This was the foundation brought by long-term control of the central government, with disciples and former subordinates spread all across the world.
"Moreover, in this matter, your father is not acting recklessly.
We are merely having the localities adopt passive resistance under reasonable pretexts, not truly refusing to work.
Doing these things within the boundaries of the rules—
even if Zhu Yuanzhang knows there is a problem, he cannot find a handle against us.
Furthermore, since it involves every corner of the country, even if he did manage to find some handle, what could he possibly do?
Would he really dare to move against officials across the entire empire?
He must want the realm to plunge into total chaos!
Therefore, in this matter, he is like a tiger biting a hedgehog—he can find no place to sink his teeth.
He can vent his anger nowhere.
In the end, he will have no choice but to yield and surrender to your father, agreeing to rebuild the city of Zhongdu and move the capital here!"
At this point, Li Shanchang clenched his fist once more, a smile appearing on his face.
Victory was already securely within his grasp.
Li Qi, who had been harboring lingering anxieties, finally released a long breath of relief at this moment, casting aside all his worries.
This matter would surely develop precisely as his father predicted, without any unexpected mishaps.
If nothing else, the single fact that this involved officials across the entire nation predetermined that the emperor had no way to contend with his father.
The law does not punish the masses; as long as enough people are involved, even if they were merely commoners, this adage would hold true.
Not to mention that those involved now were numerous officials.
The emperor would inevitably have to bow his head.
With his thoughts thoroughly cleared, Li Qi looked at his father with a heart full of deep admiration and awe.
Truly worthy of being his father, able to force a figure like Zhu Yuanzhang to lower his head and submit!
...
At Tianjie Temple, Empress Ma devoutly burned incense and prayed to the Buddha, praying for the safety of her husband, and especially her three sons—the second, third, and fourth princes.
She prayed for their safe return.
At that moment, a palace attendant hurried over with a joyful expression on his face, reporting that news had come from the emperor's side: they had successfully returned.
In less than half a day, they would arrive at the Jiangdongmen Wharf.
Hearing this, Empress Ma was likewise overjoyed. She muttered a soft "Buddha protect us," casually thrust the burning incense in her hand into the tripod burner, and promptly brought her worship of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas to an end.
She directly skipped the greater part of the subsequent rituals.
Paying no heed to the dumbfounded monks at Tianjie Temple who looked as though they had more to say,
she hurried away from the temple with her entourage, heading straight for the Jiangdongmen Wharf.
Compared to her pious devotion while praying just moments before, her attitude had undergone quite a noticeable shift.
From this, it could be seen that Empress Ma's practice of Buddhism was largely utilitarian.
Depending on others is inferior to depending on oneself; worshiping the Buddha is inferior to worshiping oneself. Having followed her Chongba out of a chaotic world and walked all the way through a sea of corpses and rivers of blood, she understood this truth thoroughly.
If the Buddhas and Daoist immortals were truly efficacious and miraculous,
why had so many people prayed to the deities and Buddhas during those chaotic times,
yet so many people had still died?
Ever since she witnessed many pious believers dying in the turmoil, and even numerous monks and so-called men of the world perishing in the chaos,
Empress Ma had long since stopped believing in such things.
Coming to Tianjie Temple today to perform such rituals was merely a way to seek a bit of psychological comfort.
In this regard, Empress Ma kept a very clear head...
...
"Wife! Wife!"
As the sun slanted slightly to the west, a massive fleet of warships appeared at the Jiangdongmen Wharf.
aboard the largest warship, Zhu Yuanzhang, clad in his imperial dragon robe, spotted Empress Ma waiting with her entourage at the wharf from afar.
As the ships drew closer, Zhu Yuanzhang could not wait to call out twice, waving his hand toward Empress Ma.
At this moment, he seemed to transform instantly from the Hongwu Emperor back into Zhu Chongba.
Behind him, his four sons—Zhu Biao, Zhu Shuang, Zhu Jian, and Zhu Di—witnessed this scene and exchanged silent glances, communicating with their eyes while smiling and exchanging playful winks.
Clearly, they all remembered how, earlier on the ship, their imperial father had earnestly instructed the fourth son not to let Xu Miaoyun wrap him around her finger after marriage,
lest he bring disgrace upon the Zhu family.
The large ship drew alongside the dock, and the high gangplank was lowered into place.
Without waiting for anyone to assist him, Zhu Yuanzhang was the first to descend the ladder, followed sequentially by Zhu Biao and the others.
"Wife!"
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Empress Ma, who was walking forward to meet him, with a face full of smiles, his eyes unable to tear themselves away.
After his wife passed away in his previous life, he had lived another sixteen years, which, combined with the fifteen years of his modern life, meant he had been separated from her for a full thirty-three years.
Such an intense yearning—how could it ever be easily dissipated?
Having reunited only a few days ago, they had been forced apart once more because of the Zhongdu affair.
Now that they had returned and met again, Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally overjoyed.
Empress Ma smiled and bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang, then bypassed him entirely to check on her sons.
Zhu Yuanzhang's outstretched hand, which had intended to take Empress Ma's, quietly withdrew.
Yet the smile on his face did not diminish by even a fraction.
These unfilial brutes had stolen far too much of his wife's attention.
"This son greets Imperial Mother. May Imperial Mother be blessed with supreme health and peace."
Zhu Biao and the others successively bowed and offered their greetings to Empress Ma.
"Rise, all of you, rise."
Empress Ma said repeatedly, her gaze already falling upon the second, third, and fourth sons, examining them closely.
They had grown darker and thinner!
On their faces and hands, there were still traces left behind by frostbite.
Empress Ma's eyes instantly turned red, knowing full well that the three of them must have suffered a great deal of hardship during this trip to Zhongdu.
"You boys must have suffered terribly, haven't you? Come, let Mother take a good look at you."
Empress Ma said with a heart full of heartache,
taking Zhu Shuang, Zhu Jian, and Zhu Di by the hand one by one to inspect them.
Each of them had considered themselves fully grown men, especially after undergoing the trials of this Zhongdu journey, feeling stronger than ever.
Yet now, facing their mother's heartfelt concern, their noses stung and they wanted to shed tears.
No matter how old one grew, no matter how long one roamed the world, and regardless of how many merits one established or what great achievements one attained,
when standing before one's mother, all those titles and identities melted away, leaving only the single identity of a son.
Others would only see your achievements or your disarray.
But a mother would pay no heed to such things; her greatest concern was whether you had suffered hardship, endured trials, or suffered grievances.
As long as Mother was there, home was there!
This was the most direct and profound realization shared by Zhu Shuang, Zhu Jian, and Zhu Di at this moment.
"Imperial Mother, this son did not suffer; I experienced many things on this trip and learned a great deal."
"Imperial Mother, what kind of hardship is this? This trip to Zhongdu allowed this son to witness the true sufferings of the common people, benefiting him for a lifetime."
"Imperial Mother, I'm the same!"
Listening to the replies of Zhu Jian, Zhu Di, and Zhu Shuang, Zhu Yuanzhang inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he had been farsighted enough to lay his plans in advance and block the mouths of these fellows.
Otherwise, had these rascals lodged complaints against him right in front of his wife, his days over the coming few days would not have been pleasant!
"Imperial Mother, they certainly suffered quite a bit. In such freezing weather, the three of them had only a single tattered quilt to share.
They did heavy labor for nearly nine double-hours each day, yet were only given two meals a day, with a single meal consisting of merely two coarse corn buns.
If they were the least bit careless, they were scolded by the forectors and whipped..."
Zhu Yuanzhang's hair instantly stood on end!
Biao'er, usually so upright and honest, had actually turned traitor?!