The tenth year of orthodoxy, October 17th.
Various ceremonial guards have been arranged inside and outside Ningshou Palace, making it much more lively than before.
Today is the day before the Holy Birthday Festival. The emperor himself will lead a group of junior members of the royal family to pay homage to the Supreme Emperor.
Outside Ningshou Gate, a group of clan members arrived one after another.
General Zhenguo, General Fuguo, and General Fengguo are the main members of the clan present, and there are now one hundred and seventy-eight people.
As for the lieutenant of Zhenguo and other nobles below him, they are not qualified to come to congratulate him today and can only stay at home to celebrate his birthday.
Due to the demotion, there are now sixteen people in the clan and princes, nine of whom are represented by King Zhongshun. They are gathering together to chat at this moment.
At this time, someone reminded: "It's Mr. Liu who is here!"
The only person in the Ming Dynasty who could be called the Sixth Master by these clans was Zhu Jingyuan.
There are now very few county princes, and very few princes. Including Zhu Jinghong, who has not been canonized, there are only two of them.
Therefore, nowadays, there is only one prince in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Jingyuan, and his status is extremely noble.
"Sixth Brother (Master)!"
Everyone greeted him with different names, and Zhu Jingyuan, who had just arrived, became the focus of attention outside Ningshou Gate.
"Third brother, why have you lost weight again? You need to take good care of your body!"
In front of Zhu Jingyuan, stood a thin, middle-aged man with a pale face and coughing from time to time.
After the death of the eldest and second eldest son, Zhu Jingrun, the king of Guangyang who was the third eldest son, became the de facto eldest son of the emperor.
"Sixth brother, I have consulted countless famous doctors to treat my body, but none of the prescriptions and medicines have worked. I guess I am destined to be like this... I must be a blessed person!"
Zhu Jingyuan said with a smile: "Ah... what Third Brother said is an exaggeration. It is said that diseases start in the body and originate in the heart. As long as Third Brother rests peacefully, I think he will definitely recover!"
Turning around and looking at the other prince on one side, Zhu Jingyuan asked: "Fifth brother, do you think so?"
King Zhu Jingze of Yunyang, ranked fifth among the emperor's descendants, had a dull and taciturn character.
"Sixth brother is right!"
"Today is a happy day. I think it's better not to talk about illness or pain, but talk about something happy!"
The only person who could liven up the atmosphere at this time was the elder Zhongshun King Zhu Xianrong.
"That's right... I wonder what birthday gifts you have prepared for the Supreme Emperor?"
Following these words, everyone began to talk about the birthday gifts they had prepared, and the scene was extremely lively.
About ten minutes later, someone reminded loudly again that it was Prince Zhu Jingyuan who had arrived.
Everyone complimented Lao Liu because of his worldliness, but meeting the prince was a national system, even Zhu Jingyuan, Lao Liu, was no exception.
"I will pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!"
All the clan kings and generals knelt down and saluted Zhu Jingyuan. This was a treatment that Zhu Jingyuan could not enjoy.
Zhu Jingyuan was the last one to kneel down and salute. This made him feel extremely uncomfortable, but he couldn't openly confront the prince.
"Hey...Sixth brother, why do you give such a great gift? You are a dignified prince!"
The prince walked up to Zhu Jingyuan with a teasing tone in his tone, revealing the unusual relationship between the two brothers.
Even though the prince did not scream, Zhu Jingyuan had already stood up and said: "Fourth brother, you are the prince, the crown prince of the country... How dare I make a mistake!"
The situation at the scene was like this. Everyone else was kneeling and had not yet gotten up. Only the two brothers stood talking.
"Fourth brother, my brother's legs have been hurting these past two days, do you mind?" Zhu Jingyuan's tone was frivolous, and it seemed that he wanted to anger the prince.
There is no doubt that Zhu Jingyuan's goal was achieved, and the prince's face became ugly at this moment.
"Sixth brother, you can make the decision if anything happens. Why bother asking my brother? After all, you don't take me seriously!"
These two are fighting here, and the others are suffering. They can only lower their heads as much as possible, for fear of accidentally getting involved.
King Zhongshun Zhu Xianrong reminded in a low voice: "Your Highnesses, the honor guard is here!"
The emperor's guard of honor came over, which meant that the emperor himself was behind, so naturally there would be no quarrel.
Of course, the situation outside Ningshou Gate had reached Zhu Xianming's ears at this moment.
This made him very dissatisfied, but he could only suppress his anger, otherwise he, the emperor, would be made a joke if the situation got bigger.
"These two bastards!"
When Zhu Xianming was angry, his chariot and sedan chair had appeared in front of all the clan members. At this moment, these people were arranged in order according to their title.
Under the leadership of Zhu Jingyuan, everyone knelt down and prostrated on the ground, and then kowtowed: "I bow to your majesty, long live my emperor!"
The chariot sedan fell down, Zhu Xianming stood up with the help of Cheng Ying, walked out of the chariot sedan and stood in front of Zhu Jingyuan.
Glancing at his sons, Zhu Xianming said in a cold tone: "Everyone, get up!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
With the arrival of Zhu Xianming, the atmosphere at the scene became much more solemn. At this moment, everyone became silent and made way outside Ningshou Gate.
After taking a look at the plaque on the palace door, Zhu Xianming said solemnly: "Let's go and see the Supreme Emperor!"
Under the guidance of more than a dozen eunuchs, Zhu Xianming walked into the palace gate first, followed by the two direct princes, and then followed by a group of princes and other clans.
Although they were biological father and son, due to the objective estrangement, Zhu Xianming rarely came to Ningshou Palace.
After entering the palace gate, apart from being more festively decorated, the rest of the palace didn't change much from usual.
At this moment, the Supreme Emperor Zhu Xinkan had put on the long-lost dragon robe with twelve chapters and was sitting on the throne in the main hall of Ningshou Palace.
Like Zhu Xianming, Zhu Xinkan also had complicated emotions. He had a lot on his mind at the moment.
Looking at his son who was getting closer outside the palace, his mood gradually became calmer, because he thought too much and he still had to face reality.
"My son, Zhu Xianming, comes to see the Supreme Emperor!"
Following Zhu Xianming into the hall, there were only about a dozen people above the county king level. At this moment, these people also knelt down, while other clan members lined up outside the hall to pay homage.
"My son is exempt from courtesy!" Zhu Xinkan said calmly.
"Thank you father!"
The so-called congratulations did not have many fixed rituals. After the visit, everyone took turns to congratulate each other, which took more than ten minutes.
At the end, everyone left the hall after paying homage, and then waited for the banquet. After eating, the congratulations were considered over.
In the main hall of Ningshou Palace, only Zhu Xinkan and his son were left.
In the sitting position, Zhu Xinkan took a sip of hot tea, then raised his head and asked: "Fourth... why didn't you see Little Thirteen tonight?"
Zhu Xianming said calmly: "There is a big event this afternoon. This boy couldn't help but leave the palace. He said he would be back before the banquet!"
The banquet time is at noon, which is nearly an hour away, so there is still plenty of time.
"I also heard about what he did in Aurous Hill..."
Speaking of this, Zhu Xinkan said with profound meaning: "Seeing civil and military officials as nothing, and doing whatever it takes to achieve his goals, this guy is quite ruthless!"
Zhu Xianming naturally knew this, so he no longer despised his younger son and was willing to give him a chance to mess with him.
"It's just fooling around!" Zhu Xianming replied lightly.
Stroking his gray beard, Zhu Xinkan asked calmly: "Now that Xiaosi and Xiaoliu are fighting with each other, it has caused a lot of trouble. Are you going to drag Xiaoshisan in?"
Apart from the Queen who could ask about such a taboo topic, only the Supreme Emperor dared to mention it.
"Dad...what do you mean?"
Zhu Xianming's words brought the atmosphere in the hall to freezing point. Even a person as noble as Zhu Xinkan was still shocked by his son at this moment.
(End of chapter)
