The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 13 Empress Ma Instructs Her Grandson
"Heroes! Heroes!"

Just as Yu Huatian assumed his instinctive defensive stance, a voice called out.

Immediately afterwards, a woman walked into the Wenhua Hall.

Despite being the Empress of the Ming Dynasty, she dressed simply, and even her hairpins were just a small jade hairpin that Zhu Yuanzhang had given her years ago.

"Grandma Huang!"

Upon seeing who it was, Zhu Xiong Ying immediately jumped off the chair and ran away.

The woman who arrived was none other than the renowned virtuous empress from the history books. Even when a later dynasty tried to smear and slander her by compiling history, after thoroughly searching through historical records and investigating popular accounts, all they could find was that she had "big feet"!
"Hero!"

With a gentle smile on her face, Empress Ma picked up Zhu Xiong Ying in her arms.

Unlike the pampered empresses in history books, Empress Ma truly followed Zhu Yuanzhang through the flames of war and did many things while traveling with the army.

Even though Zhu Xiong Ying was already quite heavy, Empress Ma could still lift him up.

"Grandmother, what brings you here?"

Zhu Xiong Ying blinked and asked.

Zhu Xiong Ying felt genuine respect and affection for this "Grandma Empress".

He respected her because after arriving in the Ming Dynasty, he learned how much his imperial grandmother had played in stabilizing Zhu Yuanzhang's rear during that era of war, ultimately enabling the Ming army to expel the Tartars and restore China.

And as for being friendly...
In the Zhu family, Empress Ma truly doted on her grandson!

"You!"

"Grandma came all this way for you."

Upon hearing this, Empress Ma embraced Zhu Xiong Ying and then sat down in the main seat of the Wenhua Hall.

According to common sense, even the empress cannot sit in the emperor's seat.

But Empress Ma was different. Even if Emperor Zhu saw her with his own eyes, he would only smile and say, "My dear sister, you are more comfortable as empress than as emperor."

"I?"

Zhu Xiong Ying was slightly taken aback, but then immediately understood.

When my grandfather was in Yingtian Prefecture, he didn't hide anything from my grandmother about court affairs. So, when I'm overseeing the country, I'll naturally report court affairs to him.

"Xiongying, I heard today that you killed Yang Xian?"

"They still use the cruel torture of peeling daylilies?"

When it came to serious matters, Empress Ma asked in a formal tone.

How could she not know the saying, "A doting mother often spoils her son"?

On serious matters, no matter how much she doted on this grandson, Empress Ma still had to explain the principles to Zhu Xiong Ying.

"Grandmother, you also think that skinning daylilies is a form of torture, right?"

Zhu Xiong Ying chuckled and asked in return.

Upon hearing this, Empress Ma paused slightly, her brows furrowing as she replied, "Such punishment is naturally cruel!"

“Yang Xian violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty and should be punished accordingly.”

"But this time, Xiong Ying, you are the regent. It is inappropriate to inflict such cruel torture as skinning a daylily on a prefect of Yangzhou in front of all the civil and military officials!"

Empress Ma wasn't protecting Yang Xian; she simply felt that displaying such punishment in front of civil and military officials was extremely inappropriate.

Unexpectedly,

Zhu Xiong Ying, who was always obedient and compliant, shook his head slightly at Empress Ma's words.
"Grandmother, I believe I did nothing wrong in this matter."

Upon hearing this, Empress Ma became intrigued: "Oh? Xiong Ying, why don't you tell me?"

Zhu Xiong Ying said solemnly, "This time, my decision to skin Yang Xian alive was not made on a whim, but after careful consideration."

"Firstly, the punishment of skinning daylilies was inflicted by Yang Xian on his subordinates when he was in office in Yangzhou. The subordinates embezzled grain, and according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, they should be punished, but not to the point of death."

"Yang Xian's actions not only disregard human life, but also violate human ethics."

"After this incident, lower-level officials followed suit, and punishments became even more severe, which was certainly in accordance with the law. However, too much of a good thing is bad. As the Confucianists say, 'If punishments are not appropriate, the people will not know what to do!' Now, to use their methods against them is to show that I, your grandson, am intentionally trying to stop the lower-level officials from using excessively harsh punishments!"

Upon hearing this, Empress Ma was slightly taken aback, and subconsciously nodded.

When she first learned that Yang Xian had peeled the daylily, she felt it was inappropriate.

However, Emperor Chongba himself found such officials to his liking, and not only did he not punish them, he also commended them.

Looking back now
By doing this, Xiong Ying was trying to cover up for Chong Ba without anyone noticing.

"U.A., you seem to remember your studies at the main hall quite well."

Empress Ma smiled and patted Zhu Xiong Ying's hand in praise.

On his first day as regent, the child was already thinking of ways to save face for Chongba, and he did so in a way that did not embarrass Chongba. He was extremely clever.

"Grandmother, there's more!"

Zhu Xiong Ying chuckled, and like a child seeking praise, said, "The second reason is because of Liu Bowen."

Upon hearing this, Empress Ma was somewhat puzzled: "What does this have to do with the Censor-in-Chief?"

Zhu Xiong Ying said, "Zhuge Liang divided the world into three kingdoms, and Liu Bowen unified the country. Master Qingtian's brilliant strategies are widely circulated among the people, and he is even being subtly compared to Zhuge Liang. Isn't this just flattery to kill him?"

"This Yang Xian is a cruel official, and what's worse, he's a student of Liu Bowen. Now that he's entered the imperial court, this Mr. Qingtian is unlikely to have a good end!"

“Grandmother, you made an agreement with Mr. Qingtian that he would retire and go home in the future, and your grandson does not want you to break your promise.”

These words were spoken earnestly, and Empress Ma nodded repeatedly, hugged Zhu Xiong Ying, and said nothing.

She initially kept Liu Bowen to help Chongba, but she couldn't rest easy if Liu Bowen got involved in something because of Yang Xian's personality.

Seeing his grandmother acting this way, Zhu Xiong Ying smiled, extremely pleased with herself.

With the support of my grandmother, I can finally unleash my full potential, and afterwards I won't have to worry about getting beaten up!
It's important to understand that the power dynamics within the Zhu family were extremely pronounced: Zhu Xiong Ying was restrained by Zhu Biao, unable to resist the influence of his father's bloodline; Zhu Biao was restrained by Zhu Yuan Zhang, who could easily punish him with a shoe; but Zhu Yuan Zhang was restrained by Empress Ma, a testament to the precious bond between husband and wife who had shared hardships; and Empress Ma, however, doted on her grandson, Zhu Xiong Ying.

The Zhu family, to put it bluntly, is a closed loop!

"I think it's more than that!"

Just as Zhu Xiong Ying was feeling smug, a voice faintly sounded.

Although Empress Ma was moved by Zhu Xiong Ying's thoughtfulness and actions, she was not so easily fooled.

"Uh, Grandmother, is that all?"

Zhu Xiong Ying looked embarrassed and tried to deny it.

However, Empress Ma saw through his rhetoric: "Yang Xian, the prefect of Yangzhou, has brought good fortune from afar. All the civil and military officials, including Prime Minister Li, have praised him repeatedly. Everyone in the court believes that you, Zhu Xiong Ying, should reward Yang Xian."

"And at this moment, you, Zhu Xiong Ying, have skinned Yang Xian alive!"

"The civil and military officials were terrified and pressed you for the reason. Then you can demonstrate your talent and intelligence."

"This is a way to intimidate! Xiong Ying, you, the Crown Prince, are giving our Ming Dynasty's key ministers a taste of their power!"

Upon hearing these words, Zhu Xiong Ying immediately had the idea of ​​running away!

Goodness gracious! Grandmother, you've been sleeping next to Grandpa the Emperor so much, have you become so adept at wielding power?
Is this clearly visible?

"At such a young age, she's already learned all the tricks of power!"

"If Grandma doesn't discipline you, won't the imperial family become one that only suspects its ministers in the future?"

Empress Ma's expression hardened, and she spoke in a deep voice.

She made a move to start the "Grandma Sunflower Classroom" lesson.

Just when Ergenzi was in grave danger, Zhu Xiong Ying had a sudden inspiration, and in an instant, a brilliant idea struck him!
I immediately thought of traditional Chinese social skills: Don't panic in a crisis, let's have a meal first!

Zhu Xiong Ying quickly said, "Oh, Grandmother, your grandson is so hungry! How about we have something to eat first?"

Having said that, he picked up the cooked potato with both hands and presented it to Empress Ma.

(End of this chapter)