My father is Jiajing

Chapter 228 Who is the Big and Small King?
The biggest highlight of the entire Wuying Hall Ceremony was not the two princes Zhu Zaigui and Zhu Zaizhen, but Emperor Jiajing!

At the time of the coming-of-age ceremony, Zhu Zaigui finally got to see his father, who had never had any real heroes.

When the ceremony of coming of age began, with the words "The Emperor has arrived" spoken by the ceremonial officer, Zhu Zaigui was stunned to find that he had never seen his father in this life.

So when he was performing the kneeling ceremony, Zhu Zaigui actually stood on tiptoe, trying to stretch his head to see what the emperor's face looked like.

But at the moment when he stood on tiptoe, his good brother Zhu Zaizhen beside him was frightened. How dare he spy on the emperor like this? Does he still have a fearful heart?

Zhu Zaizhen was anxious. He pulled Zhu Zaiqi's sleeve with his little hand and said in a low and urgent voice: "Kneel down quickly!"

Zhu Zaigui finally reacted and quickly knelt on the ground with Zhu Zaizhen to welcome the arrival of Emperor Jiajing.

After Zhu Zaigui knelt on the ground, he still had no fear. He turned his head to Zhu Zaizhen and said, "Thank you, brother Zhen."

When Zhu Zaizhen, who was standing by, heard Zhu Zaigui's voice again, he couldn't help but feel frightened. How could this third brother be so careless?

How daring it is to whisper with the Holy Emperor in front of you!
Zhu Zaigui looked at Zhu Zaizhen's reaction and felt warm in his heart. It seemed that his adopted brother was kind-hearted, otherwise why would he be so nervous to remind him of etiquette?

Just when all the officials in front of the Wuying Hall were kneeling on the ground, Emperor Jiajing finally appeared from behind the hall. Following the rhythm of ritual music, he walked all the way to the dragon throne in front of the Wuying Hall. Then the palace servants holding dragon-shaped fans on both sides immediately raised the fans in front of the emperor's face, and the eunuchs serving on the side hurried over to tidy up the corners of Emperor Jiajing's clothes.

After this was over, the round dragon-shaped fan was raised and stood behind the imperial carriage, serving as a part of the majesty of the ceremony.

At this time, the ceremonial officer also sang: "Xing!"

All the officials in front of the Wuying Hall and the two kings who were the protagonists of today's ceremony, then stood up and looked up at the emperor.

This scene is just as the great poet Du Fu said in his poem: "The clouds move like pheasant tails, opening the palace fan; the sun circles around the dragon scales, recognizing the holy face"!
Zhu Zaigui had originally wanted to take this opportunity to see the appearance of Emperor Jiajing clearly, but unfortunately, while they were kneeling on the ground, some bastard moved a screen over and placed it directly in front of Emperor Jiajing, so that even if Zhu Zaigui and Zhu Zaizhen stood up, they could not see the emperor's face like the officials beside them.

Faced with such a situation, Zhu Zaigui could only sigh in regret.

It seems that the prophecy of "two dragons never meeting" is really powerful.

Even though it’s right in front of me, I’m not allowed to see it.

Since you can't meet him, just follow the etiquette and perform the coming-of-age ceremony honestly.

The coming-of-age ceremony for a prince is fundamentally different from that for an ordinary person, and of course it is also fundamentally different from that for the emperor and the crown prince.

But the scene was still very grand.

According to the Ming Dynasty's capping ceremony system, the emperor's princes and other royal family members should first wear an open-top hat and a crimson gauze robe, and then wear the imperial robe and crown.

The whole process requires about three sets of clothes: one is to add a folded scarf, another is to add a long-distance crown, and the third is to add a crown.

After this set of procedures, the ceremony of coming of age is considered to be over.

At the same time, this also marks that Zhu Zaigui and Zhu Zaizhen have become adults from today.

Then all the officials bowed to Zhu Zaigui and Zhu Zaizhen, who had already grown up, to show the hierarchy.

After completing these rituals, Emperor Jiajing remained as aloof and silent as he had been when he first arrived, like a living god. He left the Wuying Hall with the majestic Zhu Zaigui and Zhu Zaizhen and all the officials bowing and bidding him farewell.

After all these things, Zhu Zaigui could finally relax and return to his palace. Not long after Zhu Zaigui returned home and changed out of his solemn but uncomfortable robes, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng came to ask for an audience.

When Zhu Zaigui heard that the two big guys had come to visit him together, he couldn't help but feel very surprised for a moment.

Originally Zhu Zaigui thought that these two people were going to play the "king not meeting king" game for a long time, but he didn't expect that after only a few months, they could no longer hold back and showed up together.

Zhu Zaigui instructed Meng Chong, "Go and greet the two gentlemen and bring them to the front hall to wait. I will be there later."

Zhu Zaigui's actions at this time were completely different from before.

In the past, whenever Gao Gong or Zhang Juzheng came to his mansion to give lectures, Zhu Zaigui would at least go to the front hall to greet them in person.

But this time Zhu Zaigui asked Meng Chong to pick them up, and then asked the two of them to wait for his arrival in the front hall.

From this, it can be seen that Zhu Zaigui was deliberately reminding Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng who is the big and small king!

When Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng saw Meng Chong coming to greet them, they were slightly stunned, but then they understood what it meant.

In the past, when the two of them came alone, they were teachers and Prince Yu was a student, so Prince Yu would respect their status and personally go to the front hall to greet them.

But at this moment, the two of them did not come to ask for a meeting in the capacity of gentlemen, so Zhu Zaigui, as a prince of the Ming Dynasty, naturally had to put on the airs of a prince and let them wait in the front hall for a while before they could be received by the host of this place.

Faced with this situation, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but look at each other. No one knew what they were thinking, but their eyes revealed a hint of expectation that they had never had before.

Obviously, Zhu Zaigui's deliberate actions did not make Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng feel uncomfortable.

After the two men arrived at the front yard of Prince Yu's Mansion, they did not sit on the nanmu chairs in the front yard waiting for Zhu Zaigui to appear, but stood on the left and right in the front yard, waiting respectfully.

About a quarter of an hour later, Zhu Zaigui, who had changed into a casual home outfit, finally showed up.

The moment Zhu Zaigui appeared in the front hall, he laughed joyfully. Zhu Zaigui bowed to Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng and said, "I am very pleased to see you two gentlemen!"

After Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng heard Zhu Zaigui's laughter, they also turned around and bowed to Zhu Zaigui respectfully: "Your Highness, I, Gao Gong (Zhang Juzheng), greet you."

Zhu Zaigui walked to the main seat in the front hall, looked at Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, and said enthusiastically, "Gentlemen, please take a seat quickly."

Then Zhu Zaigui scolded the servants in the front hall, "You two gentlemen have been here for so long, why hasn't anyone served you tea yet? Have the rules in the palace disappeared?"

The servants bowed quickly and went to prepare tea.

At this time, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng also sat on the nanmu chairs on both sides of the front yard, and their eyes were also focused on Zhu Zaigui.

Gao Gong said happily: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, on your coming of age ceremony."

Zhu Zaigui looked at Gao Gong and said, "Thank you, Mr. Gao. After the ceremony of coming of age, I will probably get married. I don't know which girl I will marry as my princess."

Zhu Zaigui's words immediately made the atmosphere in the front hall cheerful, and Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng both showed a smile that everyone understood.

Zhang Juzheng said at the right time: "The prince's wife must be the one chosen by heaven. I think she will definitely be a virtuous, dignified and graceful lady from a noble family."

(End of this chapter)