In the Yingtian Prefecture prison, Zhu Shuang was casually cursing up a storm while telling stories to Li Jinglong.
"Second Great Uncle, aren't the stories you're telling way too fake? How could there possibly be such a stupid general? An army of five hundred thousand losing to a force of fifty thousand on the other side." Li Jinglong obviously didn't believe what Zhu Shuang was saying.
Zhu Shuang chuckled to himself, but kept a serious face as he replied, "You little girl, it's a big world with all sorts of wonders; anything is possible."
"That just means that general was too stupid. Even if you put a pig in charge as general, it wouldn't have been defeated. If it were me, I could use an hundred thousand elite troops to send the enemy running for their lives with helmets discarded and armor dropped."
"Pfft!" Zhu Shuang had just taken a sip of water and spat it right out.
"What? Does Second Great Uncle not believe me? I've been studying military treatises since I was a child," Li Jinglong said earnestly. He had always wanted to be a qualified general.
Hearing this, Zhu Shuang nodded seriously as well. In truth, he didn't quite believe it either—how could such an absurd disparity lead to a defeat? It really seemed like they had just handed troops and equipment over to Zhu Di on a silver platter, enabling him to successfully seize the throne.
He strongly suspected that Li Jinglong back then must have done it on purpose; they had grown up together with Zhu Di and the two of them were very close.
Besides, at that time the Jianwen Emperor was cutting down the fiefs of the vassal kings, and Zhu Yunwen certainly would have worried that after dealing with his uncles, he would turn around and clean out the rest of the nobility. Otherwise, Zhu Shuang simply couldn't figure out how an army of fifty thousand could lose.
Just as the two of them were in the prison boasting and shooting the breeze, a eunuch suddenly walked in from outside.
"The Emperor has an imperial decree: Prince of Qin Zhu Shuang and Li Jiujiang are to enter the palace to have an audience with His Majesty at once."
Hearing the decree, Li Jinglong immediately drooped, his head hanging low.
In Great Ming, apart from his own old man, the person he feared most was Zhu Yuanzhang. Hearing that he was going to face this great-uncle of his turned his face pale with fright.
Watching him act like such a coward, Zhu Shuang suddenly felt like teasing him.
"Tsk tsk... Is this really Li Jinglong, the son of Great Ming's imposing and formidable Duke of Cao? Why are you such a coward?"
"Uncle, please stop making fun of me. As if you aren't scared yourself."
"I'm not scared. The worst that can happen is getting a beating from the old man," Zhu Shuang said indifferently.
In the Imperial Study, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were going through memorials on their desks when Yun Qi walked in and reported, "Your Majesty, His Highness the Prince of Qin and the others have arrived."
"Let them in," Zhu Yuanzhang said without even raising his head, continuing to review the memorials before him.
Once Zhu Shuang and Li Jinglong stepped into the Imperial Study, they immediately knelt and paid their respects: "Your son (Your subject) pays respects to Your Majesty, pays respects to the Crown Prince."
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't raise his head or acknowledge them at all.
Seeing this, Zhu Shuang figured the old man was throwing a little tantrum and deliberately ignoring them, huh?
So he slowly stood up, brushed the dust off his knees, and let his gaze wander around the room. Because he had been in a rush when he returned to the palace last time, he hadn't had the time to observe the details of the halls carefully. Now, he finally had the chance to take a good look at the place.
His eyes darted everywhere: sometimes he looked at the exquisite carvings on the ceiling, sometimes he gazed at the gorgeous murals on the walls, and from time to time he let out murmurs of admiration.
"Tsk tsk tsk, the design of this ancient imperial palace is truly magnificent!" he couldn't help exclaiming. "The wisdom of the ancients is truly astonishing!"
Then, looking at the piles of memorials on his Emperor Father's and elder brother's desks, his mood instantly plummeted.
"Being an emperor is a job you wouldn't even wish on a dog! How could it ever compare to the comfortable life of a carefree prince? Having endless memorials to read every day, and having to wake up this early for morning court! This is even more exhausting than the nine-to-six grind of later generations!"
Watching Zhu Shuang's eyes darting all over the place, Zhu Biao frantically signaled him with his eyes.
Zhu Shuang saw it, but simply pretended not to. Li Jinglong, kneeling beside him, deeply admired this Second Great Uncle of his for having such extraordinary nerve! He himself didn't even dare to draw a full breath while kneeling.
By this time, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't read a single word of the memorial in his hands anymore. Not only did this unfilial son refuse to kneel, but his eyes were darting everywhere and he was even making tsking sounds with his mouth.
"Unfilial wretch, get down on your knees! Who told you to stand up?" Zhu Yuanzhang was furious. He had thought that keeping this rebellious son locked up in prison for a few days would make him behave a little more sensibly when he came out, but who could have imagined that he hadn't changed at all.
Zhu Shuang said with a cheeky smile, "Emperor Father, you've locked me up, so your anger should be pretty much gone by now, right? Besides, your son doesn't feel like I did anything wrong."
Hearing what he said, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed out of sheer anger: "Oh? Was it *me* who told you to go to the pleasure houses? I believe I made it a rule that imperial princes are forbidden from entering such filthy places! And yet you got into a huge brawl over a courtesan!"
Zhu Shuang immediately thumped his chest in indignation and said, "Emperor Father! As a great sovereign, how can you call the pleasure houses filthy places? They don't steal and they don't rob; they earn an honest living by their own skills, which makes them far better than those people who only know how to cheat and swindle."
Seeing him recall something else, Zhu Shuang continued, "Though they were born women, they too have made contributions to Great Ming by giving all the bachelors who can't find a wife a place to go."
Zhu Yuanzhang was completely dumbfounded and left utterly speechless: "So I'm the one who wronged you?"
Yet what Zhu Shuang said next caused everyone present to freeze in their tracks.
Zhu Shuang puffed out his chest and proudly rattled off a classic saying from future generations: "A gambling father, a sickly mother, a young younger brother, a sensible her, and a broken home. As a prince of Great Ming, if we don't help them, who will?"
Kneeling beside him, Li Jinglong burst out laughing with a sudden "pfft."
Holy crap, this Second Great Uncle of his was truly a genius to come up with lines like that.
Brilliant! From now on, this would be Li Jinglong's personal catchphrase. Every time he went to the pleasure houses in the future, he'd use it to debate those pedantic scholars.
Standing nearby, Zhu Biao couldn't take much more of this second younger brother of his either—where on earth did he come up with such wild and outrageous remarks?
He hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over. "Emperor Father, surely Second Brother hasn't fully recovered from his injuries and his head was affected. Let's have him sent back to his estate to have a physician take a look. Please calm your anger."
Coming to his senses, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that what Zhu Biao said made sense. This son of his had always been a bit of a scoundrel, but why did a single head injury make him act like a completely different person?
"Since the Crown Prince is interceding for you, we'll let this matter drop. Let this be the last time."
He then added, speaking to Zhu Shuang with concern: "Shuang'er, shall we have a physician come over and examine you now to see if your head was injured?"
Hearing this, Zhu Shuang rolled his eyes at his eldest brother. "Emperor Father, your son is perfectly fine! There's nothing wrong with me!"
Today, Zhu Yuanzhang really didn't want to lay eyes on this son of his for another second.
He pointed straight at the main door: "Get lost. I don't want to see you again today."
"You got it, Emperor Father. Your son is leaving right now so I'm not an eyesore to your old self."
Zhu Yuanzhang then looked at Li Jinglong. "And you. Following along and making a mockery of things."
Frightened, Li Jinglong kowtowed in a hurry. "Your Majesty, spare my life. Your subject will never act like this again."
Zhu Yuanzhang waved a hand. "Get up. For the sake of your father this time, we won't pursue this further! You may withdraw as well."
Once both of them had left, Zhu Yuanzhang still asked Zhu Biao, feeling uneasy, "Biao'er, do you think your second brother really injured his head? He keeps saying all these inexplicable things!"