Chapter 80 Tell the Truth

Back to the pre-liberation era overnight!

Zhu Chong always liked to say this when joking with others, but he probably never thought that one day he would experience this feeling personally, and after he traveled through time!

"The house is bare!" Zhu Chong looked at the uninhabited and dilapidated courtyard in front of him and didn't know what to say.

A few hours ago, when it was still dark, at the residence of Duke Lan Yu of Liang, Zhu Yuanzhang got angry at Zhu Chong. Zhu Biao wanted to stop him but failed and could only watch Zhu Chong being taken away by Mao Xiang and several Jinyiwei.

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Chong was brought to this small courtyard in Yingtian Prefecture. Mao Xiang then conveyed Zhu's will to Zhu Chong with a sympathetic expression on his face.

The content was very simple, basically the same as what Zhu Chong had heard at Lan Yu's house.

Deprive Prince Zhu Chong of his power, take away all his official positions and salaries, and demote him to a commoner...

After the imperial edict was read, Zhu Chong settled down in this small courtyard.

However, speaking of settling down, in Zhu Chong's view, it was actually a disguised form of house arrest by Zhu, or even confinement, because the Jinyiwei who were monitoring him around the courtyard explained everything.

But Zhu Chong was not afraid at all. After looking around the courtyard, he began to clean the entire courtyard.

It has to be said that even though Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and demoted Zhu Chong to a commoner and deprived him of all the privileges of a prince, he still had his son in his heart.

Otherwise, how could there be brand new bedding and a full set of new kitchen utensils in such a shabby courtyard?

At the same time, when Zhu Chong entered the courtyard, he could smell a faint scent of incense in the courtyard. When he was sweeping, the whole house was almost spotless except for a little dust on the doors and windows.

Therefore, Zhu Chong was not dissatisfied with his life in confinement, especially when he saw the walls of the house filled with bookshelves, he became even more satisfied.

"Second brother!" Just when Zhu Chong finished cleaning the house, he unexpectedly heard a familiar voice.

When he turned around, he saw Zhu Biao sneaking into his courtyard.

"Your Highness, the Emperor has ordered that Zhu Chong, the commoner, may not meet with anyone during this period..."

When a Jinyiwei saw Zhu Biao, he rushed over to stop him. It was obvious that Zhu had given the order beforehand.

"Get out! Don't force me to kill anyone!" Zhu Biao shouted and pulled out all the swords he carried with him. The Jinyiwei who came to stop him were frightened and quickly retreated, not daring to say anything.

Seeing Zhu Biao like this, Zhu Chong smiled slightly and felt warm in his heart.

After all, he is his own elder brother. Even if he has betrayed him, in which royal family in history could there be a person like Zhu Biao? The emperor had just lost his temper and imprisoned his younger brother, but the prince, who was one of the parties involved, actually came to visit him openly?

Of course, Zhu Biao certainly didn't know that Zhu Chong was very satisfied with his current situation and didn't care at all about Zhu Biao's attempt to trick him.

"You, what can I say about you, you..." As soon as Zhu Biao entered the room, he looked at the house which was so simple that it couldn't be simpler, and gave Zhu Chong a speechless expression.

"It's within expectations, but also beyond expectations." Zhu Chong waved his hand and said with a smile, "Brother, there's no need to be so. This is all my own fault. I'm already very satisfied with the treatment I have now."

"You..." Zhu Biao heard this, his face full of anger and amusement, "If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have come here!"

"Alas, this time I blame you for your mistakes. Just relax and bear with me for a few days. When Father's anger subsides, I'll find a way to get you out of here. If that doesn't work, I still have Mother!"

Hearing Zhu Biao's words, Zhu Chong felt warm in his heart, knowing that this prince really cared about him, but...

"Brother, forget it. I'm fine living here. If you really want to help me, just ask our father to withdraw the Jinyiwei to avoid wasting the country's food. I won't run away anyway!"

"You..." Zhu Biao was speechless again after being pranked by Zhu Chong. However, after hearing the last part, a trace of anger flashed across his face. He turned around and walked outside, shouting towards the wall of the small courtyard, "Get out of here! Anyone who dares to disobey me will be ruthless!"

There was silence all around, but soon there were bursts of rustling noises coming from the walls everywhere, and soon everything returned to calm.

"Thank you, brother." Zhu Chong bowed to Zhu Biao, but was slapped away by Zhu Biao.

"Why did you do that? Did you see it a long time ago at my uncle's house, and so you said those words on purpose to anger my father?"

Zhu Chong raised his eyebrows slightly. Zhu Biao's reaction was within his expectations. He even wondered if Zhu Biao and Zhu Yuanzhang, father and son, would come to Lan Yu's house to cause another incident.

But thinking about it, it was unlikely. Old Zhu should not be so free at that time, so Zhu Chong told Zhu Biao the truth directly.

"I still can't hide anything from you, big brother. In fact, I didn't notice it at first, but then you asked too many questions, big brother. I'm not stupid, but I didn't realize that our father was in there."

"But why?" Zhu Biao looked devastated. "Have you ever thought about the consequences of angering our father? Do you really want to be a commoner?"

"You were about to marry the Duke of Wei's legitimate daughter and then head to Chang'an to be established as a fief. Your future was limitless, but with this incident, everything is gone..."

"Brother, this is exactly what I want." Zhu Chong interrupted Zhu Biao's chatter, which confused the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty.

"What did you say? Did you do it on purpose? Why? Second brother, what good will this do you? Aren't you afraid..."

"Father has been suspicious of me for a long time." Zhu Chong waved his hand to interrupt Zhu Biao again. "He summoned me back from Yunnan and Yunnan, imprisoned me, released me, tried me, and granted me marriage. Isn't that just suspicion of me?"

"Zhu Chong, you are talking nonsense again!" Zhu Biao's face suddenly turned ugly.

"How could I possibly be talking nonsense when things have come to this?" Zhu Chong sneered. "Brother, I told you back at Lan Yu's house about our father relocating the people to the north, creating a refugee population. I'm sure you still remember that, right?"

"Hmm!" Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly thought of something, his eyes widened, "You mean..."

"That's right. When I was exiled to Yunnan and Yunnan, I took in quite a few refugees. I even made a deal with Pingliang Hou Feiju to marry the unmarried women among the refugees to the old bachelors in the army."

Zhu Chong said nonchalantly, "I led that group of refugees to open up wasteland in Yunnan and Yunnan. Later, as the refugee population grew, I thought about finding a place to resettle them, but that's when chaos broke out."

"The Mu Ying incident?" Zhu Biao blurted out subconsciously, "Is that how the refugees from Songming City came about?"