The members of the imperial family were actually a little apprehensive at this time, mainly because the emperor did not come, but the retired emperor came with the crown prince.

The side hall appeared lively, but when facing Old Zhu, these sons and grandsons were all apprehensive and somewhat afraid. Ultimately, it was because Old Zhu's imposing presence was too overwhelming.

Even though these princes knew that Emperor Zhu actually loved his children very much and wouldn't be ruthless towards them, no one dared to relax in front of him. Even the seemingly 'lawless' Zhu Su, or the audacious Zhu Gang and Zhu Shuang, all behaved properly in front of Emperor Zhu.

Only after leaving Yingtian Prefecture and no longer under Zhu's watchful eye did they dare to truly let loose.

These most favored princes were all well-behaved, not to mention the other, less favored princes. They all behaved impeccably in front of Zhu, daring not to cause any trouble, and obeyed whatever Zhu said.

Old Zhu seemed completely unconcerned about what his descendants were thinking; he was simply standing guard for Zhu Yunying.

Meanwhile, in the previous dynasty, Zhu Yunying was naturally celebrating with his civil and military officials. He was the emperor; his birthday was Christmas, a momentous occasion that could not be taken lightly. The proper rules and rituals were, of course, indispensable.

Ultimately, Zhu Yunying was still a young man, and he didn't think too much about it. After all, he didn't need to attend any birthday banquets or anything like that at the moment; it was far too early, and there was really no need to consider such things.

At the previous dynasty's birthday banquet, Zhu Yunying only needed to go through the formalities briefly; he wanted to celebrate with the imperial family.

Even Zhu Yunying was well aware that some members of the imperial clan were unhappy about him sitting on the throne. But regardless, their titles were now fixed, and those people were merely princes of the Ming Dynasty; they couldn't cause any trouble.

Upon arriving at the side hall, Zhu Yunying immediately smiled and said, "We are not in court now, so let's observe family etiquette."

Old Zhu smiled and said, "That makes sense. In court, we observe the proper etiquette between ruler and subject. Now that we're not in court, we can observe the etiquette between family members. However, you all need to have a number. Even though we observe the etiquette between family members, we must still be mindful of the distinction between ruler and subject. Our Ying'er is the best; she only wears ordinary clothes."

See, in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, his eldest son and grandson were naturally perfect. It was best if he came to the side hall in ordinary clothes, as this was to observe the proper family etiquette. However, even if Zhu Yunying wore the traditional ceremonial robes, Zhu Yuanzhang would not have thought it was a problem, as long as the relationship between ruler and subject was already established.

Seeing Xiao Zhu sit down, Lao Zhu said, "Raise your glass!"

This cup was naturally to celebrate Zhu Yunying's birthday. In fact, in the side hall, more than a dozen of Zhu's sons, daughters and sons-in-law were also present, making it a true gathering of the imperial family.

They were laughing and drinking, and the atmosphere was quite lively, especially with little Zhu and the other children running around. At this point, there was no need to follow many rules, and Old Zhu was quite happy to see such a lively scene.

Having a house full of children and grandchildren is certainly the best thing, and for an old man like Old Zhu, this is probably the greatest sense of accomplishment.

Zhu Yunying then slowly spoke, saying to his grandfather, "Grandfather, now that the world is at peace, our Great Ming is lacking capable ministers and officials in many places. I also think that our imperial clan is full of hidden talents. Why don't we have the Imperial Clan Court select those with talent and appoint them to official positions soon?"

Old Zhu smiled and nodded, saying, "Okay, we think this is a good idea."

Zhu Yunying did not want members of the imperial clan to be granted fiefdoms, nor did he like them to hold military power in local areas. However, even though Zhu Yunying was wary of the imperial clan, he was not actually wary of them at every turn, or rather, he did not guard against everything.

Treating members of the imperial family like pigs is unacceptable. There has never been such a case in any dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang would not object to this. In fact, he had already planned it. Among the imperial clan, Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that any prince or grandson of a prince with literary or military talent who was capable of being employed would be recommended by the Imperial Clan Court for examination and then given an official position. Their promotion and transfer would be carried out in accordance with the usual selection process.

They appeared to be the same as ordinary officials, except that when members of the imperial clan committed crimes while in office, the Imperial Clan Court would handle the matter. Minor offenses would result in demotion, while serious offenses would lead to their exile to commoner status. However, rewards and punishments were clearly defined, and no criminal penalties were imposed.

In other words, it was normal for other officials to be beheaded and their entire families to be exterminated for committing crimes. However, if a member of the imperial clan committed a crime, it was only a matter of "punishing himself with three cups of wine."

This excited many members of the imperial family. The princes didn't need to say much; their positions were prestigious, and they were unlikely to be easily released from Yingtian Prefecture, nor were they likely to be given official positions.

Even some of the princes held high positions of power, at least nominally. It wouldn't be ideal to have them serve in government. However, it was perfectly acceptable for the sons of those princes to hold official positions.

Not every member of the imperial clan wanted to travel, eat, drink, and have fun, especially the sons of princes and below, who were basically demoted.

While drinking, Zhu Yunying said softly, "Grandfather, among our cousins, there are quite a few talented individuals."

Old Zhu smiled and nodded, looking quite proud. "Our offspring are quite capable, after all."

"It is Grandfather, the matter of the demotion we discussed before should be settled now." Zhu Yunying slowly spoke, saying, "The blessings of a virtuous man end after five generations. Even if our Great Ming Dynasty reaches the sixth generation, he will still be a Fengguo Zhongwei, enjoying the support of the court. This is not good."

Old Zhu remained silent; he actually knew what his grandson was thinking.

Zhu Yunying continued, "Furthermore, even our Ming Dynasty has a number of Princes now! This is not good. The title of Prince is hereditary, and it is not good for the title of Prince to be hereditary as well."

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