Zhu Di had already received a report where Gao Xu's men had gone. He was in a good mood recently.

Zhu Di will be able to accept the prisoner tomorrow. This is the first great victory achieved by the Ming army since the "Jingnan Battle". The Ming official army not only quickly destroyed Annan Kingdom, but also captured the thief leader Hu's father and son and a group of ministers alive, and the result was great good.

The eunuch Gou'er, who was sent to send an order to Gao Xu a few months ago, had already returned to the capital. Gou'er reported Gao Xu's attitude of only the emperor's leader, and Zhu Di was very satisfied.

Gao Xu is not only capable, but also very obedient. His children are obedient and filial, and from the emperor to the people, they will be very pleased with such things.

The sound of bells and drums at the You hour had already sounded. Zhu Di stood up from the throne and walked out of the imperial gate. Zhu Di looked east and was thinking about Gao Xu just now, but suddenly he wanted to see the crown prince Zhanji again.

Zhu Di said to the eunuch behind him: "Go straight to Chunhe Palace, there is no need to send anyone to tell the people there."

The eunuch said: "I obey the order!"

The Imperial Gate is Fengtian Gate. At this time, Zhu Di was standing on the basement north of Fengtian Gate. He got on the imperial chariot and walked north surrounded by eunuchs and palace maids. Then the group turned right on the brick square in front of Fengtian Hall, and then headed east for a while to Wenlou. When Wenlou went out, he was another area in the imperial city, and the East Palace Chunhe Hall was here.

Because no one reported to the East Palace in advance, when Zhu Di's imperial chariot came outside Chunhe Hall, the palace people were surprised and hurriedly knelt down on both sides of the door to perform the bowing ceremony.

Zhu Di got out of the car, walked into Chunhe Palace and asked, "Where is Zhanji?"

A eunuch said, "Go back to the emperor, the emperor's grandson has finished writing and is playing in the pool. I immediately went to invite the emperor's grandson to come and welcome him!"

Zhu Di shook his head and said, "I just knew he was stubborn, and I just wanted to go there too, so let's go."

The group went to the pond in Chunhe Hall. After a while, the prince Zhu Gaochi rushed over panting and knelt on the road and said, "My son is back from Wenhua Hall. I don't know that my father has arrived. Please punish him!"

Zhu Di didn't even look at him directly. Perhaps Gao Chi's fat and slightly slight look was really nothing to look at. Zhu Di just said, "Get up, I won't blame you."

Gao Chi hurriedly said, "My son thanks my father for forgiveness."

After a while, Zhu Di saw Zhan Ji coming. The nine-year-old child was indeed very naughty. Zhan Ji's hands were covered in mud. At this time, Zhan Ji shouted from afar: "Grandpa Emperor, Grandpa Emperor..."

Zhu Di laughed "haha" and the few people around him laughed. In this huge imperial city, the only person who was not afraid of Zhu Di was probably his grandson Zhu Zhanji.

Zhanji was completely without the timidity of others. He came up and kowtowed first, and immediately grabbed Zhu Di's big hand and said, "Grandpa Emperor, they can still fight when I see the clay man I'm holding!"

Zhu Di's hands were immediately stained with mud, but he didn't care. He smiled and asked Zhanji to pull him to the edge of the pond.

Zhu Di looked at the clay man and clay animal on his head by the pool, looked back and smiled, "Zhanji is like me, I also loved this when I was a child."

The prince Gao Chi stood several steps away, not daring to speak, but the emperor liked Zhan Ji, which was actually a good thing for the prince. The eunuch next to him echoed.

Zhu Di lowered his head and spread his hands, looked at the mud on his palm, then turned to the eunuch Wang Gouer standing next to him, saying, "Go and dig some mud."

Wang Gou'er held the whisk and bowed: "I obey the order."

Zhu Di said to Zhanji: "Grandpa Emperor shows you something, haha!"

The emperor was always very serious and terrifying on the throne. Although he was nearly fifty years old, he showed a hint of childlike in front of his grandson. When everyone was happy to see the emperor, they smiled according to the situation and were no longer so nervous.

The cool breeze surrounds and the water waves ripples. The spring palace is filled with the atmosphere of family happiness for a moment.

...

It was still spring when Zhu Gaoxu left Shenglong City. When he led his army into Zhili, it was already midsummer. However, the spring in Annan and the summer in the capital did not seem to be very different.

It was already evening when the army reached Xianrenji. Zhu Gaoxu ordered camping and resting. No one in the army had any objections. This time, they went to Beijing to offer prisoners. Everyone rested outside for a night and would change their clothes tomorrow morning and prepare for a ceremonial war. It was still necessary.

Zhu Gaoxu was paced around the gate, as if waiting for someone.

Soon, a man wearing a big hat came in. It was Chen Dachui, the escort general of the royal palace. Zhu Gaoxu immediately called him in and spoke.

Walking into the hall, Zhu Gaoxu stepped back and walked into the bedroom with Chen Daxue. Chen Daxu took off his hat and bowed and said in a deep voice: "Prince, I will stay in the jade shop for several days, and those people have come one after another."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and signaled him to continue speaking.

Chen Dachui whispered: "The first one is a short and fair-faced young man. I have seen him before. I asked him, what is the situation in the capital? The young man said, "He doesn't know the military and national affairs, and it's peaceful inside and outside the imperial city, but I heard that the queen has been ill for several months."

Zhu Gaoxu knew in his heart that the young man was Du Qianrui's younger brother Du Erlang, who was now working in the Jinyiwei and was named Yang Yong. His mother's health has always been not very good, but it sounds more serious now.

Chen Dachui continued: "On the third day, another person came, Wang Zhenliang, the son of the prince consort; two days later, a young scholar came, all of whom were seen by the generals. I asked them the same thing, and they said that they had met the emperor recently, and the court often disputed the affairs of Annan."

Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

He was the emperor's son, and the capital was his home. But for some reason, he hadn't come back for a few years and felt a little strange. Or he wanted to see his father Zhu Di, he couldn't help feeling the pressure, so he was a little cautious.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "President Chen is here, take a break, we will go to Beijing tomorrow morning!"

Chen Dahui clasped his fists and said, "I will obey the order."

...The next morning, the sun did not appear, and the clouds in the sky were very thick, as if it was going to rain, but it had not yet come down.

However, without the hot sunshine of midsummer, more people came to watch on the roadside. Some of the Beijing officials welcomed the capital ten miles away, and Zhu Gaoxu changed to a luxury horse carriage called "Xianglu".

The guards' cavalry were dressed in distinctive armor and the iron cavalry opened the road. On the road, the red tassels on the helmet were shaking, which was very beautiful. The subsequent ceremonial guards came in a row, with extremely large and complex formations, including various cards, umbrellas, covers, sticks, flags, swords and ritual instruments, drums, gongs, tubes, bronze horns and other musical instruments, which were dazzling.

Zhu Gaoxu was the prince, but he himself couldn't understand the rules of these ceremonial ceremonies. It was so complicated, who had the heart to carefully consider them one by one? So sometimes some civil servants impeached him to exceed the rules, and even if the etiquette standards were exceeded, he felt very helpless; he couldn't understand at all, how could he know if there was a rule? Occasionally, civil servants in the Chief Secretary's Office would remind him, but obviously, civil servants in the Chief Secretary's Office could not find any problems every time.

The carriage that Zhu Gaoxu is riding in is very luxurious. There are yellow umbrellas and covers in front and behind the carriage, just like the emperor's carriage! The difference is that the carriage is different, and the patterns on the umbrella cover are slight differences. Even the pattern of the dragon robe he wore was exactly the same as the one worn by the emperor, with only the color different.

After the ceremonial war was a row of prison vans surrounded by armored soldiers, carrying the crimes of Hu father and son and important ministers. Before the expedition of Annan Kingdom, the court attached great importance to public opinion, which aroused the resentment of the officials and civilians of the court and the people of the Hu family. At this time, Hu family and others entered Beijing, and the people on both sides of the road were angry and very noisy, and many people even threw things into the prison van.

Zhu Gaoxu picked up a corner of the car curtain and saw some people scolding them fiercely and furiously, as if the Hu traitor was their father-killing enemy, or had any impact on their personal interests. Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but think: What's the matter with these people?

Perhaps people are just taking this opportunity to expose other dissatisfactions in their daily lives.

The people and horses arrived at Zhengyang Gate in a huge rush. There were more officials coming to greet them, including nobles in the court and ministers at the level of the ministry. Zhu Gaoxu walked down from the elephant and greeted the civil and military officials, so he wanted to walk back to the carriage.

At this moment, Jin Zhong, an official in front of the crowd, asked to come forward to speak. Jin Zhong was also an old acquaintance and a confidant counselor of the old Yan Prince's Mansion. Now he has served as the Minister of War, so Zhu Gaoxu waved to him to come.

Jin Zhong approached, Duan Xuehen next to him watched Jin Zhong alertly. Zhu Gaoxu looked calm. He knew that Jin Zhong was a literati with no power and had known each other long ago.

Jin Zhong stood up straight and said, "The emperor has an order to hand the prison cart into the city to the Jinyiwei first, and then deal with it after the three judiciary convicts. Then he will inform the world. His Highness, the King of Han, will enter the imperial city from Donghua Gate and go to Kunning Palace immediately."

Zhu Gaoxu's expression changed and he asked in a low voice: "My mother..."

Jin Zhongdao: "The lower-ranking officials have never been to the harem and have nothing to say, so they only come to preach the will of the emperor."

At this time, it was very noisy around, so Zhu Gaoxu simply bowed and said, "My son received the order."

Jin Zhong then took two steps to the side from the previous position, bowed and whispered: "But the lower official heard some wind, and the queen seemed to be unaware of the phoenix body."

Zhu Gaoxu looked worried, not all pretending, but he had known this through the spies in the capital. Jin Zhonglai's words verified that the news of the spies was reliable. Although his affection for Empress Xu was not so deep, Empress Xu was a kind person. With her, the family affection of the royal family could be more warm, so Zhu Gaoxu really hoped that her health would be better. He hurriedly said, "As soon as I arrive at the imperial city, I will go to the palace to visit my mother."

After saying that, he got on the elephant again. The cavalry in front continued to move forward, and Zhu Gaoxu's carriage entered the city from the Zhengyang Gate corridor. The city gate had already opened, and the city gate was crowded and very lively.
Chapter completed!