Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1034 Old Zhu Falls Ill

The moment Zhu Su saw Zhu Junyu, his face turned gloomy.

Zhu Junyu is the only son of Zhu Fu, the president of Yingtian Chamber of Commerce. Zhu Fu is a businessman who rose to prominence thanks to the care of his Zhou Palace, and he is slightly related to the Zhu family. Zhu Fu had brought his only son Zhu Junyu to visit Zhou Palace several times. During festivals, the Zhu family father and son often personally sent gifts, so Zhu Su was naturally familiar with Zhu Junyu.

He just didn't expect that the person caught was Zhu Junyu.

Because it was Dong Ji who deceived him, and Dong Ji was a military commander, he thought that perhaps some greedy and daring military hero manipulated Dong Ji to do this. He even thought that it was a high-ranking civil official who hid behind the scenes and did this.

But he never imagined that the first person to show up would be the son of a businessman with whom he had a close relationship.

"Zhu Junyu, what are you doing here?" Zhu Su asked.

"Your Highness!" Zhu Junyu was so frightened that his teeth were chattering, and he couldn't even speak clearly. Zhu Su frowned slightly and winked at the dog beside him.

Gou'er understood, took a step forward, raised his palm, and slapped Zhu Junyu's skinny monkey-like face with two slap marks.

"Have you calmed down?" Zhu Su said coldly.

Gou'er was tall and strong enough to break stones. Even though he had held back, he still slapped Zhu Junyu, who looked like a skinny monkey, so hard that he saw stars. However, after receiving these two slaps, he stopped shaking. With his ears buzzing, he heard Zhu Su's question and nodded reflexively.

"I will ask you again, why are you here?"

"Your Highness, I... I..." Zhu Junyu's cheeks were swollen, but his eyes began to roll around. After a long while, he stammered, "I... I came here to enjoy the moonlight..."

"Oh? Moonlight?" Zhu Su raised his head and looked at the sky tonight. "Mr. Zhu has a unique hobby. He likes to go to this remote place to appreciate the moonlight on a day like this."

"Tonight the moon is dark and the wind is strong. I don't appreciate the moonlight. I just think it's a good night for killing people."

"What do you think, Mr. Zhu?" Zhu Su's tone was extremely cold.

He really wanted to kill someone.

Zhu Junyu was unwilling to admit it, but he had already made many guesses. The Zhu family's base in Southeast Asia was near Srivijaya, and the wave of pirates that Abigail's team encountered was most likely the work of the Zhu family.

I'm afraid that it was the Zhu family who killed Abigail. It was because Abigail explained the South China Sea pirates to the Maritime Affairs Bureau that the guilty Zhu family killed her.

With the local tyrants, the Zhu family, acting as a protective umbrella for the pirates, it is no wonder that the Nanyang Navy did not discover any pirates when patrolling the routes.

Oh, no matter how careful you are, you can't guard against a thief in your own home. And here comes the thief in your own home.

"Your Highness, I came here by chance and saw two people sneaking around here. I thought they were bandits who had committed many crimes, so I helped them..." Zhu Junyu was still making up stories with his swollen cheeks, but Zhu Su had lost his patience with him and waved his hand, saying, "Tie them up and take them back to the Jinyiwei."

"Tell Commander Jiang for me to pry open his mouth."

When Zhu Su heard that he was going to hand him over to the Jinyiwei, Zhu Junyu was so angry that he cried out for injustice. But Zhu Su was no longer paying attention. He instinctively felt that with the power of the Zhu family, they would not dare to do such a thing that would go against the will of the world.

"Take good care of Abigail's body and go back to the city. I will sue Dong Ji and Zhu Junyu to my father. We must follow the clues and catch all these evildoers at once!" Zhu Su said viciously.

Dong Ji and Zhu Fu can both be considered his old friends, who have received his kindness.

Now, they are using the favors he has given them to do things that hinder the Ming Dynasty's grand plans... Zhu Su absolutely cannot tolerate this.

Now the evidence is irrefutable, Dong Ji and Zhu Junyu are definitely related to the Abigail case. If we look into their motives, it is definitely related to the South China Sea Pirates case.

The Nanyang Pirates case was not just a simple criminal case. It was a case of parasites appearing in the Ming Dynasty's sphere of influence... Zhu was bound to launch a major case to once again wipe out these parasites that were hindering the Ming Dynasty.

And this time, Zhu Su also thought that he could not be let off easily.

The Ming Dynasty is gathering strength to launch the next wave of expansion and cannot allow itself to fall into turmoil and unrest because of the encroachment of these internal parasites.

Zhu Su captured Zhu Junyu and brought back Abigail's body as evidence. After returning home and washing up simply, he arrived outside the palace gate early in the morning.

Today was the first day of the lunar month, and he had made preparations. Today, he would present these matters in the palace during the court session, and then ask Zhu to open a major case through Dong Ji and Zhu Junyu to thoroughly investigate the South China Sea pirate case and eradicate the cancer that was parasitizing the empire.

However, on this day, Zhu Su and the officials waited for a long time at Fengtian Gate, but no news came that the officials were summoned to the palace to attend the court. Zhu Su was quite surprised and the officials were talking about it. Then, Erhu, the guard beside Zhu, hurried over, took a breath, and then said loudly: "Your Majesty has ordered that today's court meeting be cancelled."

"Everyone, please go back to your offices and get back to work."

"If there is anything urgent to report, you can draft a memorial and submit it."

"Let's break up."

After saying that, Erhu left in a hurry, as if he had something urgent to do, leaving behind a large group of officials who were discussing the matter.

"Your Majesty actually...cancelled the court meeting?"

"Our Great Ming has been established for decades, and Your Majesty has attended court meetings without fail. But today you canceled the court meeting. I wonder why?"

"Your Majesty, do you have any deeper meaning?"

The officials were talking about it, and they all couldn't believe it. Zhu was a workaholic, and this was a reality that all the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty knew. Now, he actually canceled the court meeting for the first time, which really made people think about it.

Zhu Su was also extremely surprised. He had witnessed what a workaholic Zhu was over the years. Even though he had more free time in recent years with the cabinet and Zhu Biao sharing the workload, Zhu would always take out the memorials approved by Zhu Biao and approve them again. This old man had a strong sense of responsibility that was beyond the reach of ordinary people. Would such a person cancel the court meeting at the last minute?

Could something have happened?

With this in mind, Zhu Su no longer cared about the etiquette and regulations of attending court. He left behind the officials who were still discussing anxiously and strode to the back hall. On the way, some eunuchs and guards wanted to step forward to dissuade him, but he pushed them away.

Later on, no one dared to step forward, but instead took turns to report inside at a rapid pace, fearing that they would be a moment late than His Royal Highness Prince Zhou.

So when Zhu Su hurried to the front of Zhu Yuanzhang's bedroom, the people inside had already known that Zhu Su had broken into the palace. Erhu was standing in front of the hall. When he saw Zhu Su coming, he saluted and said, "Fifth Prince, His Majesty invites you."

"Yeah." Zhu Su nodded and walked inside without stopping. After Erhu stepped aside to let Zhu Su pass, he closed the door of the palace himself and then stood in front of the door like a gatekeeper. Zhu Su caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of his eye and frowned slightly.

"Father?" Zhu Su smelled a strong herbal scent as soon as he stepped into the hall.

His heart skipped a beat, and in the corner, someone waved at him and said, "Fifth brother, be quiet!"

"Dr. Dai is treating Father inside... Please come over here and don't disturb Father."

Zhu Su turned around and saw Zhu Biao standing in the corner of the outer hall with a rare nervous and confused look on his face. Zhu Su was inexplicably reminded of the family members standing outside the operating room in the TV show in the future.

"Brother? What is this, Father?"

"…Father went to Xiaoling Mausoleum yesterday to pay respect to our mother. According to General Erhu, Father stood in front of our mother's coffin for three or four hours, until the sun was setting, before returning to the palace."

"When I returned to the palace, perhaps because it was cold at night, I caught a cold. I forced myself to review the memorials, but before I reached the bedroom, I suddenly fainted..." As Zhu Biao spoke, his eyes had begun to turn red and his voice even trembled.

He turned his head away to calm down for a while before continuing, "I just received an urgent letter from General Erhu this morning. Inside, Divine Doctor Dai has been treating Father for an hour."

"I think there will be a result soon."

Old Zhu unexpectedly fell ill! Zhu Su was extremely surprised.

For a long time, Old Zhu had always been full of vigor and majestic in front of Zhu Su. Except for his graying hair, he had not changed at all from a few years ago. Even though he was an adult now, Zhu Su would occasionally feel guilty and afraid when facing Old Zhu, fearing that if he did something wrong, Old Zhu would take off his dragon belt and chase him all over the imperial city and beat him like when he was a child.

Zhu Yuanzhang had always seemed so powerful. Zhu Su had always felt that Zhu Yuanzhang could always be in charge of the Ming Dynasty, and that they, father and son, could always work together to slowly build the Ming Dynasty into an unprecedentedly powerful country.

He had never realized that there would be problems with Old Zhu's health. But now, he suddenly realized that he had been in the Ming Dynasty for 25 years.

This year is the 28th year of Hongwu, and Old Zhu is already 68 years old.

...According to historical calculations, the Hongwu Emperor, who founded the Ming Dynasty, only had three years left to live.

Zhu Su felt a sudden onslaught of mixed emotions, and was speechless. He heard a creaking sound, and the genius doctor Dai Sigong, wearing a mask, pushed open the door of the inner hall and walked out. Zhu Biao and Zhu Su hurried over, and Zhu Su asked anxiously, "Diarist Dai, is my father okay?"

"Oh, the Fifth Prince is here too. I greet the two princes." Dai Sigong and Zhu Su were acquaintances, so they didn't stick to the conventional etiquette. After a brief greeting, he said frankly, "Your Majesty is old and overworked, and his old illness has recurred in recent years. Last night, he was overthinking and the evil wind entered his body, causing him to faint."

"I will prescribe a nourishing medicine. Your Highnesses can have someone boil it and take it regularly. Your Majesty will get better slowly. But..." He paused, and then said solemnly: "You must not make Your Majesty work too hard again."

"Your Majesty has lived in the open air and suffered a lot in his early years, which left him with many illnesses. It was not a big deal when he was young, but now, most of them have become chronic diseases. If you can't take good care of yourself, I'm afraid that in a few years, you will have something unbearable to say."

Zhu Su was shocked. He thought that in history, Zhu died because of this. After all, he lost his wife and son, and his grandson Zhu Yunwen was still young. He had to worry about all the affairs of the Ming Dynasty, so he couldn't cultivate himself at all... That's why he died in the 31st year of Hongwu.

It seems that in the 28th year of Hongwu, his father's health is actually very weak... He and Zhu Biao looked at each other. Zhu Biao seemed to have the same idea as him, and a hint of fear flashed in the eyes of the two brothers at the same time.

"So, has the emperor woken up?" Zhu Biao asked.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid you haven't had a good night's sleep for many years. Letting Your Majesty continue to sleep at this time will be most helpful for Your Majesty's recovery. Therefore, I took the initiative to feed Your Majesty a sleeping pill."

"Your Majesty, I think you need to sleep for another day and night. During this time, just feed Your Majesty some thin porridge." Dai Sigong said.

He had never thought about the great turmoil that the emperor's absence would bring to the court and the country. With his medical skills, even in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, he was just a guest official with an old friend. As a doctor, he only knew to start everything from the patient's health, and would not consider other factors such as the politics of the court and the country.

"Thank you, great doctor." Zhu Su and Zhu Biao saluted Dai Sigong together. Dai Sigong bowed in return and then carried his medicine box back to the Imperial Hospital in the palace which was specially opened for him and equipped with a microscope.

Dai Sigong could ignore the influence in the court, but Zhu Su and Zhu Biao could not. The two brothers tiptoed into the inner hall of Zhu's bedroom, and after seeing Zhu sleeping soundly on the bed, they tiptoed out of the inner hall and discussed the aftermath in a low voice in the outer hall.

"...The court is now in an uproar because of the cancellation of the morning court session." Zhu Su whispered to Zhu Biao. "If the emperor doesn't show up in person in a few days, I'm afraid all kinds of rumors will spread outside."

"Brother, in my opinion, we should just talk about this. Father is old, and it is normal for him to catch a cold and recuperate for a few days. You are the regent and the crown prince, so it won't delay anything."

"If we continue to hide it, the rumors will only spread more and more, and then all officials will have no time to care about their duties... Besides, you can take this opportunity to become the Crown Prince Regent."

"If Father wakes up and sees that you can manage the Ming Dynasty in an orderly manner even without him behind the scenes... I believe Father will be able to retire to the second line and recuperate without having to work so hard."

"Yes. I have the same idea." Zhu Biao said. "Father has told me more than once that he wants to go back to Fengyang to take a look. If I can make him feel at ease, then it would be a good opportunity for Father to go back to Fengyang to rest for a while."

"Hmm... Speaking of which, you are here today. Could it be that you want to see the emperor for something?"

"But what big thing happened in the court?" Zhu Biao asked Zhu Su.

(End of this chapter)