Chapter 179

Zhu Youjian, who had connected the video call, said with some puzzlement,

"It seems like I found something, and yet it seems like I didn't."

Zhu Yuanzhang's brows knit tightly, his expression dark as he asked,

"What do you mean?"

"There's only one sentence."

"On the day of Dingwei, he personally supervised all the armies to resist them, fought for five days, and on the day of Xinhai, the marauders withdrew."

Almost everyone in the chat group fell silent at the same time.

"What archives did you look through?"

"The Veritable Records of Emperor Wuzong. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be like this."

Zhu Yuanzhang's brows knit tightly.

Staring fixedly at Zhu Youjian, he asked,

"What happened before that?"

Zhu Youjian looked at the Veritable Records of Emperor Wuzong before him and said softly,

"In the eighth month of autumn on the day of Jiachen, he went incognito to Changping. On the day of Yisi, Liang Chu, Jiang Mian, and Mao Ji caught up with him at Shahe and requested him to return to the imperial carriage, but he would not listen."

"On the day of Jiyou, he arrived at Juyong Pass. The inspecting censor Zhang Qin shut the pass and refused his order, so he returned."

"..."

Zhu Qi stared at the history book on the screen and said with feeling,

"In this battle, the court officials didn't lift a finger at all."

What Zhu Qi said was actually quite understated.

How could it be that they didn't lift a finger?

Clearly, all that was left was the merit of dragging him back.

Zhu Yuanzhang's brows were tightly locked as he said softly,

"Requesting him to return to the carriage, shutting the pass and refusing his order — this is right!"

"A minister must look like a minister!"

"With your boy's precedent standing right here,"

"naturally one cannot casually let the Emperor go out."

"But what happened afterward is not right..."

Zhu Qi looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with a face full of grievance.

"Your son..."

Suppose you did it for the Emperor's safety — you chased after him, urged him to return to the carriage, and held the Emperor within the pass.

All of this would be normal.

But the Emperor went out.

The Emperor won the battle.

No matter what, one must record it in the history books.

Yet they deliberately concealed this passage.

Can this still be explained by loyalty?

No!

Almost everyone in the chat group thought at the same time of what Su Qiao had said that day.

—Seize power!

These civil officials wanted to seize power!

......... 0

Thinking of this,

Zhu Yuanzhang's brows instantly furrowed tightly.

Looking expressionlessly at Zhu Di and Zhu Houzhao on the screen, he said,

"You two don't rush back for now. Report the victory to the officials now."

"Let's see what attitude the officials have."

Zhu Houzhao said,

"Yes!"

Zhu Houzhao fled out of the pass, and the officials had long since learned of the situation. By now, the civil and military officials of the court had long been waiting at Xuanfu.

A fast horse with eight hundred li of urgent dispatch brought back the officials' reply from Xuanfu that very afternoon.

The moment they saw the officials' reply,

even Zhu Di couldn't help but start cursing.

"These damn bastards — is this Great Ming our Zhu family's or theirs!"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Di and began cursing as soon as he opened his mouth,

"What exactly did they say?"

"Father, the officials said they knew, and told him to hurry back to the capital."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but snort coldly and say,

"They can't wait for this boy to lose the battle!"

Zhu Houzhao spent his whole life causing trouble.

But the so-called trouble Zhu Houzhao caused was actually extraordinarily perilous at every step.

Because once he makes a grave mistake.

He will hand his opponents a handle.

Zhu Yuanzhang turned his gaze back to Zhu Houzhao in the vision.

And said with deep gravity,

"We are not from your dynasty. In this situation, how do you usually handle it? We respect your opinion."

Hearing this,

Zhu Qi's tears were about to spill out.

"Wuwuwu, Great-Grandfather, why can't my dynasty respect my opinion?"

"If you push it, we'll have the Fourth One return to your time right now!"

Hearing that Zhu Di was to return,

Zhu Qi immediately shut his mouth.

Zhu Houzhao, being straightforward, shrugged and said,

"Great-Grandfather, your grandson simply lets them cool off; I am used to it."

Seeing Zhu Houzhao's practiced manner,

Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but feel a pang of heartache.

Just from the appearance of the officials in that dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang could guess.

All the credit went to the ministers.

All the faults fell on the Emperor.

The Zhu children must have suffered so many grievances.

Zhu Yuanzhang's brows furrowed slightly.

He immediately seemed to have Made a decision.

"Let them wait at Xuanfu!"

"You two should not be idle either; we have found another place for you!"

Hearing this, Zhu Di and Zhu Houzhao were momentarily stunned and asked in unison,

"Another place?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression turned cold, and he gritted his teeth, speaking in a low voice,

"Fourth One, take this child, change into the dragon robe, and go tear down that Daoist Priest's wretched funeral wreath for us!"

"Fortunately, your two dynasties are close."

"Some ministers still recognize this child."

"Otherwise, if you, Fourth One, go rashly on your own, you might be mistaken for an assassin and beheaded."