Chapter 24: Little Master is miserable, Little Master has no way to speak of it

"Since some people do not follow the rules, there is no need for them to exist."

A flash of murderous intent flickered in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes as he spoke indifferently to Jiang Huan.

Jiang Huan's expression tightened; he nodded without a word.

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang had no other instructions, he slowly backed out.

Zhu Gaoxu, far away at the Royal Hunting Ground on the outskirts of Kyoto, did not yet know.

The martial arts world he had been longing for would soon face a bloodbath because of him...

But like Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Gaoxu also intended to make some people pay the price.

It must be said that the black-bellied nature of the Lao Zhu family is truly hereditary.

On the surface, Zhu Gaoxu was leading Mao Xiang and his men on a aimless stroll through the hunting ground.

In reality, he had been wondering the whole time who had sent the assassins to kill him.

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard definitely knows who it is, which means Lao Zhu must know too, and Mao Xiang should know as well."

But no one told him.

To put it bluntly, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was only sent by Zhu Yuanzhang to protect him, perhaps with some other factors added, but one thing is undeniable.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard is, and always will be, Zhu Yuanzhang's Embroidered Uniform Guard.

If there is something Zhu Yuanzhang wants him to know, he will eventually know it, even if he closes his eyes and covers his ears.

If there is something Zhu Yuanzhang does not want him to know, he must either guess it himself or think it through himself.

As for those top-secret matters, he could rack his brains and still never guess them.

As for the matter of who wanted to assassinate him, even if no one told him, he already had candidates in mind.

There are not many people who can easily send men into the Royal Hunting Ground.

And the two people he had offended recently, Hu Weiyong and Lv Ben, both had this capability.

Lv Ben himself could barely be considered a royal relative; his younger sister was the wife of the Crown Prince Zhu Biao.

Plus, the Lu Family was a wealthy household, and Lv Ben himself had some skills; finding two martial arts practitioners and bringing them into the Royal Hunting Ground was no trouble at all.

As for the other one, there is no need to even mention him: the current Prime Minister, Hu Weiyong!

The leader of the Huai-Xi Faction, whose power dominated the imperial court.

Let alone finding two people to send into the Royal Hunting Ground, it would probably be a mere trifle for him to send an army of several hundred people in.

Although both men had the strength to do this, Zhu Gaoxu was more inclined toward Hu Weiyong.

Even with his toes, he could figure out that Lv Ben could not possibly have sent people to kill him.

His conflict with Lv Ben was nothing more than a child being ignorant, not liking to study, and having an argument with a tutor.

It could never escalate to the point of murder.

Furthermore, he was not an ordinary person; after all, he was an imperial grandson, and any injury or death would be a major incident that would definitely be investigated to the end.

Moreover, Lv Ben was on the side of Zhu Biao; once it was discovered that he had made a move against him, it would inevitably implicate Zhu Biao, which was simply not worth it for a little brat like himself.

But Hu Weiyong was different.

After all, he had embarrassed Hu Weiyong in public, and the key was that he was only a four-year-old child.

If Hu Weiyong did not vent this anger, not to mention whether he would feel at ease, other officials would mock him behind his back.

Besides, Hu Weiyong was powerful, so he would not be afraid even if the matter were exposed.

In fact, in some respects, Hu Weiyong's power at this time was even greater than that of the Crown Prince Zhu Biao!

After all, Hu Weiyong represented the interests of the Huai-Xi nobility, while Zhu Biao ultimately represented the interests of the imperial family.

This led to the fact that sometimes Hu Weiyong's words were truly effective.

Having figured this out, the corners of Zhu Gaoxu's mouth could not help but lift.

"If this is really the case, I'm afraid this Hu Weiyong won't live much longer!"

With Hu Weiyong being so arrogant, almost signaling that he wanted to kill a newly favored imperial grandson, how could Lao Zhu possibly keep such a powerful official!

So now, Zhu Gaoxu only hoped that he could roam outside for a few more days; it would be best if everything that needed to die in the city was already dead before he returned.

That would be for the best.

"Is there any news from Jingcheng?"

A wild rabbit ran out of the grass not far away; Zhu Gaoxu drew his bow and shot it, then asked Mao Xiang, who was beside him, in an indifferent tone.

"There is no news from the palace, but the Prince of Yan's Mansion is quite lively."

Hearing news about his own home, Zhu Gaoxu felt a bit curious and hurriedly asked, "What's going on?"

Looking at Zhu Gaoxu's innocent expression, Mao Xiang gave him a look full of meaning before replying.

"There is news that the Prince of Yan will return to the capital in a few days; counting the days, he should arrive tomorrow. Currently, the Princess of Yan has been busy arranging various matters within the Prince of Yan's Mansion.

And... I have also heard that because of our various purchases in Kyoto a few days ago, many shopkeepers have come to the Prince of Yan's Mansion to collect debts. At the time, you demanded that everything be the best and everything be the most complete... so the price was truly not cheap, which made the Princess of Yan furious. I heard she even reported this matter to His Highness the Prince of Yan... and now the Prince of Yan is about to return to the capital..."

Mao Xiang then tactfully shut his mouth, but how could Zhu Gaoxu not know what was going on after hearing this?

"Damn it, I overdid it this time!"

It looked like he had gone a bit too far.

Now Zhu Gaoxu finally understood the meaningful look Mao Xiang had just given him.

That was clearly seven parts sympathy, two parts helplessness, and one part schadenfreude.

Thinking of his old man returning and seeing that huge pile of bills, Zhu Gaoxu could not help but touch his own backside.

Is it easy for me?

To establish this playboy persona, how much of my own capital did I spend?

Although this capital was paid for by the Prince of Yan's Mansion...

But my performance was also very hard work, okay? What was all this for?

It is all for the sake of our family; if only you, Zhu Di, would not rebel in the future and would contentedly serve as a Feudatory Prince, if only that brat Zhu Yunwen would not strip the Feudatory Princes of their power, if only...

This young master would not be so tired.

But this young master suffers, and this young master has no way to speak of it!