Chapter 11 Going to Beijing to Meet the Saint
Deng Qianqiu showed a look of astonishment at the right moment and said, "Ah... why do you say that, Captain?"

Hu Jian endured the pain all over his body and looked Deng Qianqiu up and down: "Boy, stop pretending. Don't praise me in front of His Highnesses anymore. Can you do this?"

Deng Qianqiu looked at Hu Jian's embarrassed appearance and breathed a sigh of relief.

This is exactly the result he wanted!
So he said, "Yes."

Hu Jian seemed to be relieved, and then he said: "Very good, from now on when you are in Wei, I promise that no one will embarrass you."

Deng Qianqiu was quite understanding and said, "Thank you, Captain."

Hu Jian still looked at Deng Qianqiu deeply.

He was angry, furious even.

But even a fool knows that since he has become a thousand households, there is really no need to fight to the death with a young flag-gathering officer.

Oh my god, it's too scary! If this brat praises him once in front of His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin, he will be beaten so badly that even the strongest body will be broken!

The only solution is to come clean quickly, so that we can all go our separate ways.

At this moment, he even had an illusion that he saw something in this dull boy that was not easy to mess with.

"Well, that's it."

"Captain, may I take my leave?"

Hu Jian took a deep breath and squeezed out a word from between his missing front teeth: "Get lost!"

Deng Qianqiu: “…”

Captain Hu doesn’t seem to be very polite!

Well, none of that matters anymore!
Deng Qianqiu was unwilling to curry favor with Hu Jian and even tried hard to avoid any involvement with the Hu family.

Of course, he also didn't want Hu Jian to be thinking about him all the time and always want to vent his anger on him.

Now is the best result!
But thinking about it this way, Deng Qianqiu couldn't help but think that Captain Hu did not look like a capable person. If it were any other powerful character, he would never compromise so easily. It seemed that he could become a Captain only because he had a relative named Hu Weiyong who was a senior official in the court.

"Humph, what's so great about having a relative who is a high-ranking official?" Deng Qianqiu thought to himself, "Isn't my father already working hard?"

Don’t bully my dad because he’s poor!
…………

Da da da da…

The steed carried the carriage across the Jinchuan Bridge in Nanjing City, and then passed through the archway of the Jinchuan Gate.

Upon seeing this, the guards at Jinchuan Gate did not dare to stop them and hurriedly knelt down on the side of the road.

The carriage was hung with royal insignia.

The carriage went along the road of Jinchuan Gate all the way to the Forbidden City in Nanjing. It slowly stopped outside the Forbidden City, and Prince of Jin Zhu Gang slowly got off the carriage with the help of the eunuchs.

"The king is back again!" Zhu Gang grinned towards the deep doorway of the palace gate and couldn't help but shouting.

Zhu Gang felt that the ups and downs of life were nothing more than this.

"Father, let me show you how powerful I am today."

"Deng Qianqiu, wait for me to enjoy the delicious food and drinks!"

“Hahahahahaha…” Zhu Gang laughed wildly.

This devilish laughter frightened the guards and eunuchs inside the palace gate into silence. Many people couldn't help but be concerned about the mental state of His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin.

Then, Zhu Gang, with his hands behind his back, swaggered into the palace like a victorious rooster. "Where is my father? I want to see him! I have a great man to recommend to you. Today, I, no, I want to let you know where the biggest problem of the Ming Dynasty is."

The two eunuchs followed closely behind him, with their heads lowered, and were so frightened that they dared not breathe.

At this time, in the Fengtian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang, who had just finished a court meeting, looked a little tired.

He left Tang He behind again, stood up, and moved his wrists, but his tiger eyes fell on the imperial desk again.

On the imperial desk was a newly-delivered inkstone, but on the inkstone was engraved a sentence that Zhu Yuanzhang was very familiar with: "Difficult times create persevering brave men, and brave men create a peaceful and prosperous era; but a peaceful and prosperous era makes people lazy and unwilling to work, and the lazy and weak men will bring the world back to difficult times!"

This sentence is very common, but it seems to reflect Zhu Yuanzhang's inner thoughts. Because of this, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered craftsmen to carve this sentence on the inkstone he often used so that he could remind himself from time to time.

After he looked at the place, he subconsciously said, "I like to be lazy and hate to work, I like to be lazy and hate to work..."

"Your Majesty..." Tang He lowered his eyebrows and said, "Your Majesty is talking about this again?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said, "Now that I think about it, the rise and fall of dynasties is just like this. How can I not be worried?"

Tang He said: "With a sage ruler like your majesty, our Ming Dynasty will surely usher in a thousand years of immortality and eternal prosperity."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "Come on, why should I and your family say these useless words in private?"

But it was obvious that Zhu Yuanzhang was in a much better mood.

At this time, an eunuch came in with small steps and bowed to the ground: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin has returned to the capital and has arrived at the palace gate."

"This brat." Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows and said, "Call him here."

Tang He also showed a look of joy. Apparently, he had not seen His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin, whom he had watched grow up, for a long time, and he felt a little bit of anticipation in his heart.

Not long after, the Prince of Jin, Zhu Gang, entered the palace in court robes. Zhu Gang looked very happy and said in a vigorous voice, "Your son greets the emperor."

"You have become thinner, boy. Hmm... you seem to have made some progress."

Zhu Yuanzhang had an expectant look on his face. The last answer had really left a deep impression on him. Looking at his energetic third son, he couldn't help but feel a sense of love for his child, so much so that even his tone became much softer.

When Zhu Gang heard his father's praise, he could not help but straighten his back. He wished he could put his hands on his hips and said, "It is more than just a little progress. To be honest with you, father, my progress is so fast that even if Le Yi or Kong Ming were reincarnated, they would still admit that I am better than you. My knowledge is beyond the reach of ordinary people."

"Cough... cough... cough..." Tang He felt that he was almost choked to death by his saliva.

Zhu Yuanzhang: "..."

A dragon has nine sons, each of them is different, but... When Zhu Yuanzhang saw the complacent Zhu Gang, he suddenly wondered whose son this guy was.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "That's enough, stop talking nonsense here."

Zhu Gang's face was as thick as the walls of the Forbidden City. Instead of being restrained by Zhu Yuanzhang's suppression, he said brazenly: "Father, you must be wondering why I am so immodest. Father, it's not that I want to be reserved. I am really a pearl. Even if it is covered in dust, no one can cover up its brilliance."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyebrows were trembling, as if he was about to have a seizure.

Zhu Gang was even more confident: "I came to the capital this time because I was favored by my father and allowed to come back to reunite with my parents. But I am so eager to return because I really have something to say to my father! This matter involves the country and people of the Ming Dynasty, which is really serious. I am both a minister and a son. Since I have guessed the secret, how dare I not speak out?"

As he spoke, he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with his eyes blinking, as if to say, "Ask me quickly! Ask me quickly!"

Tang He scratched his beard and looked at Zhu Gang with both strangeness and affection.

Among the sons born to Empress Ma, his favorite was actually Zhu Gang. He admired Zhu Gang's character of always finding ways to commit suicide in front of his father.

It is a happy thing that people have such nature.

Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed his anger, his tiger eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was examining Zhu Gang: "Tell me about it."

(End of this chapter)