Zhu Yunying usually wore casual clothes, but wore different attire for different occasions. According to Zhu's original plan, the emperor had six sets of clothing: the imperial robe, the Tongtian crown robe, the leather cap robe, the military cap robe, the evening cap robe, and casual clothes.

Zhu Yunying simply disliked military uniforms, which were worn when personally leading troops on campaigns. These weren't armor, so they certainly weren't imposing!

Zhu Yunying, with his arms outstretched, allowed his wives and concubines to help him put on his armor.

Those who wear closer to the body wear narrow-sleeved robes with colorful cloud and dragon patterns, and armbands on both arms. They also wear sleeveless armor with a square collar and front opening, with gold cloud and dragon patterns embroidered on the lapels, collar, shoulders, or hem.

Lian Qiongqiong quickly retrieved the shoulder guards, which had golden beast heads on them. At Zhu Yunying's signal, Xu Miaoqing retrieved the Six Armor Divine Iron Helmet.

A tall horse was led over, and Zhu Yunying, with a sword at his waist, gently pulled the reins and trotted towards the training ground.

Old Zhu naturally heard the commotion and waited happily. He knew that although his grandson lacked the talent to lead an army, he had always been fond of martial arts. Old Zhu also understood that his grandson had always wanted to personally lead an expedition, but unfortunately, barring any unforeseen circumstances, his grandson would never have that opportunity.

Suddenly, a tall horse appeared, and the young boys immediately straightened their backs. As for the orphans of the Imperial Guard, their eyes were filled with fervor as they watched the charging horse, or rather, as the valiant young man in golden armor.

Zhu Yunying suddenly drew his sword and shouted, "Victory!"

The noble youths and the orphans of the Imperial Guards immediately responded loudly, "Victory!"

After shouting "Wow, that's a great victory!" three times, Zhu Yunying, seated on his tall horse, yelled, "Let's have a martial arts duel!"

Although they had just performed martial arts for the Emperor Emeritus and the Crown Prince, everyone was equally enthusiastic about performing martial arts again this time.

Zhu Yunying looked at the young Zhu sitting on the high platform and said sternly with a straight face, "Crown Prince, step down! Stand here with me!"

Although Little Zhu doesn't understand, the child is indeed very spoiled. But there is one thing that makes Zhu Yunying happy: when he gets serious, Little Zhu is generally very obedient.

Little Zhu came over, and Shuangquan cleverly led over the Crown Prince's throne pony.

The father and son, disregarding the sweltering summer heat and drenched in sweat, stood by the training ground, watching the young men roar and engage in martial arts duels.

Old Zhu also came over at this moment, looked at the training ground and asked, "Why such a grand ceremony today?"

"Leaving aside the noble youths, the orphans of the Imperial Guards are all sons of loyal and brave men." Zhu Yunying looked at the training ground and said seriously, "They are all the Crown Prince's future assistants. The Crown Prince is still immature, so we will keep him in check. These people will be the foundation for the Crown Prince to command the Governor's Office and the Three Great Camps in the future, so we must pay attention to them."

Old Zhu smiled slightly and said, "The Crown Prince is stronger than you think; he is not afraid of hardship."

This might be because Old Zhu favors Little Zhu too much, so he thinks whatever Little Zhu does is good. However, what Old Zhu said makes sense; Little Zhu is indeed playful, but the child isn't completely spoiled. If he falls during martial arts practice, he's generally not upset, and he doesn't care about status when practicing martial arts with his study companion.

These things were naturally something Old Zhu could be proud of. He felt that his great-grandson, like his grandson and eldest son, was born into wealth but was not spoiled and could endure hardship.

The Empress's arrival went unnoticed by Emperor Zhu, who even felt that Xu Miaoqing shouldn't have come at all. However, he didn't say much, clearly understanding that his granddaughter-in-law's visit was at the behest of Emperor Xiaozhu.

After the martial arts competition, the rewards for the young nobles were naturally of a slightly higher standard. However, not everyone received such a reward; only a few outstanding young nobles were given this privilege.

Even those orphans of the Imperial Guards were only rewarded by the Crown Prince because of their outstanding performance.

This was an act of bestowing favors on behalf of the Crown Prince. Even though all the rewards were prepared by the Emperor and Empress, it was the Crown Prince who personally bestowed them.

Therefore, these noble youths and orphans of the Imperial Guards should understand that they should be loyal to the court. However, their true lord can only be the Crown Prince!

The young martial arts prodigies and the orphans of the Imperial Guards were naturally extremely excited at this moment. They usually just trained or accompanied the Crown Prince to study and practice martial arts.

But this time, not only did they see the retired emperor, but the emperor and empress also came to watch their martial arts performance and even gave them rewards, which was enough to make these people's hearts surge with excitement.

Ultimately, the Crown Prince's inner circle seems rather frivolous these days. Especially the young men among the military officers, whose ages are generally between ten and fifteen; those who are too old are not suitable to serve by the Crown Prince's side.

The orphans of the Imperial Guards were around the same age. Moreover, their education and training constantly instilled in them the ideals of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, making them even more passionate and fervent than the soldiers of the three major battalions.

Old Zhu was in a good mood and said to Little Zhu, "Your father used to always criticize us, saying that we gave you so many naval troops when you were so young. He said that you received the naval command tokens but never knew how to return them."

“My father was just saying that. I remember that the King of Dong’ou was in charge of building the city in Fujian. We also have a navy there.” Zhu Yunying laughed and said, “We just want to deal with the Japanese pirates. He was afraid that Zhang He’s defeat would affect our reputation, so he even transferred the navy from Zhejiang to Fujian.”

Zhang He was one of Zhu Yunying's key figures. Along with Zhu Shou, they were among the first military commanders Zhu Yunying came into contact with, and they were also part of the naval force.

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