Several guards rushed forward, hugging Zhu Bai and grabbing the flag.
It's just that the weather is dry, and Lao Zhu has always been frugal, so naturally he couldn't bear to use new cloth to make this once-used flag.
As a result, the handful of small rags burned into black charcoal in an instant.
When the guards grabbed it and stamped out the fire, only a bare pole was left.
Zhu Bai counted the flagpoles, frowned and asked Erhu: "No, why are there only nine flagpoles?"
Erhu sighed: "There are only nine flags. The emperor said that he was afraid that the princes would get the wrong flag, so he only gave nine flags. In this way, the one who can't get the flag will be the last one."
When Zhu Bai heard this, he gritted his teeth with hatred: It turns out that the previous order is not important, the most important thing is the last one.
Because the emperor's grace is so great for rewarding everyone, I burst into tears of gratitude.
The one Lao Zhu wants to punish must be punished.
In the distance, Zhu Xi ran over panting.
"Where's the flag?" Zhu Xi asked.
Although it is second place, it is better than nothing.
Erhu stretched out the flagpole in his hand and said, "King Xiang burned it."
Zhu Fan, the third child, and Zhu Di, the fourth child, ran over immediately. They were stunned when they heard this, and felt mixed feelings in their hearts.
Initially, they were a little angry because Zhu Bai took the lead, but in the end, Zhu Bai saved their face for them.
The young princes also arrived one after another, frightened by the situation and at a loss.
Zhu Chun, who was running at the end, was crying and running, muttering to himself: "It's over. It's over."
After entering Xiwu Institute, he lost all his strength and flopped down on his knees on the ground.
Zhu Chun was usually the most elegant and elegant among the young princes, but now his hair was messy, his face was covered in black ash with streaks of tears, and his nose was filled with bubbles.
Zhu Xi felt even more ashamed when he saw it.
These older brothers only thought about the glory of being the first, but they never felt sorry for their younger brothers, and their magnanimity was not as good as that of Zhu Bai, who was a little younger than them.
Zhu Xi stepped forward and wiped Zhu Chun's face with his sleeve: "Don't cry. The twelfth brother burned the flag. No one will be punished except for the last one."
When Zhu Chun heard this, he smiled with tears again: "Eh? Really? That's great. Otherwise, I would be really sorry for my master."
Zhu Tan whispered: "If we can't get the flag back, our father will definitely scold us to death."
Zhu Bai said: "Brothers, don't be afraid. I burned the flag, and everyone is responsible for the work."
-----
Zhu Yuanzhang only saw the commotion over there and didn't know what was going on, so he sent his eunuchs to inquire.
As a result, the princes came back happily before the eunuch left the tower and ran through the Meridian Gate.
The four eldest princes led the four younger princes, leaving Zhu Bai and Zhu Di staggering at the end with their hands behind their backs.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma stood at Chengtian Gate and watched their sons come back holding hands, and felt warm in their hearts.
Queen Ma sighed: "It's so nice to see brothers harmoniously like this."
Zhu Yuanzhang also had red eyes: "No. My brother used to lead me to herd cattle like this."
The civil servants looked at it and said, "Okay, there's no fight." Today this remonstration is impossible. That's all, I had a lot of fun watching the fun today, let's talk about it another day.
The military attachés all waited with their hearts in their mouths for the princes to go up to the tower to see how the battle was going.
Feng Sheng was already devastated and just waiting to be punished.
After much thought, he could only say that Zhu Bai was unfairly opportunistic and wanted to see if he could avoid punishment.
Otherwise, would the whole family really have to starve for a month?
As a result, all the princes came up with empty hands.
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and asked, "What's going on?"
Er Hu, who had followed the princes back, knelt on the ground and said with sobs: "Er Hu was incompetent and failed to protect the flag, so King Xiang burned them all."
He was so wronged. A mighty man was bullied by a seven-year-old boy.
There were hundreds of people on the huge tower, and there was silence for a moment.
Zhu Yuanzhang took out his ears: "What the hell? Are they all burned?!"
Erhu sobbed and raised the nine bare, blackened flagpoles with both hands above his head.
Feng Sheng breathed a sigh of relief and said ecstatically: Yeah, it’s good to burn it. It's good to burn.
The other generals all had complicated moods and different expressions.
Zhu Yuanzhang was so stimulated that he wanted to take off his shoes and hit Zhu Bai again, but Queen Ma quietly reached out and held him down.
Zhu Yuanzhang could only point at Zhu Bai with a trembling finger: "You bastard, tell me, why do you do this?!"
Zhu Bai stepped forward calmly and saluted: "Father is wise. Father asked us to compete in martial arts just to strengthen our bodies and improve our skills. It would not be good if we hurt each other's feelings in order to compete for rankings. ”
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned and looked at him thoughtfully: Speaking of which, this kid won the first place. He was obviously rewarded, but he burned the flag...
In fact, he could clearly see who arrived first and who arrived later on the gatehouse, and specially set up a small flag to know what their brothers would do in the end.
Zhu Bai added: "It doesn't matter if we are punished. It's a big sin to punish the masters after they have worked hard for half a month, so I burned them. Everyone has finished the whole race. They are all winners. There are no losers. There is no need to rank. .”
The generals were all strong men, but they couldn't help feeling sore at this moment.
Who said King Xiang was stupid?
He is obviously very sensible and considerate of his subjects!
Lao Zhu, you should listen to what your son says! !
Don’t we have hard work without any merit? ! !
We will fight with you through life and death. You won't let us share the world, but at least let us enjoy happiness.
At least don't think about killing us all day long!
Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes and stared at Zhu Bai: "Do you really think so?"
Zhu Bai did not flinch and smiled: "Father is kind, if you decide to reward me and Master, that's fine. Please divide my reward into eleven equal parts for me and my brothers."
Lan Yu hurriedly knelt down and said, "I also request that the reward be distributed to all of you."
Zhu Yuanzhang roared in his heart: Fart, who said I would reward you? !
Even if I can't punish you this time, I will never give you an advantage.
There is ample time! !
I feel so tired, why did I end up with such a traitor?
After planning for half a month, this bastard stabbed them all.
He took a deep breath and said to Zhu Bai: "Old Twelve is right. I originally wanted the princes to keep fit, and I had no intention of destroying the relationship between the princes, let alone making things difficult for you adults. This time, even if A draw, no loss, no win.”
Everyone knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, your Majesty. Long live my emperor, long live me."
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand: "Go back and rest. That's it for today."
Then he turned around and walked away.
The generals waited for the emperor to leave, then stepped forward one by one and solemnly saluted the young King of Xiang.
King Xiang returned the courtesy politely.
Feng Sheng said in a low voice: "Thank you, His Highness King Xiang. Otherwise, I would have been punished."
Zhu Bai remembered the way Zhu Chun ran in crying with snot and bubbles in his nose just now, and couldn't help but grinned and replied: "Master Feng, you're welcome.
My eleventh brother was crying while running just now. As soon as he heard that the master would not be punished if the flag was burned, he stopped crying immediately. "
