Let alone the duties of an empress, even the principal wife of an ordinary wealthy family should know her place. A princess should also act like one, and shouldn't be jealous or anything like that. She shouldn't take advantage of her status as a princess to be arrogant and domineering. Think about the concubine of the Prince of Qin in earlier years; no matter how favored she was, no matter how noble her background, she was still given a death sentence.

Therefore, she should do her duty well. As long as she doesn't make any mistakes, she will be the Queen Consort of King Wu, and her position will be unshakeable.

As for Zhu Yue, there's no need to worry. While a prince consort can enter the court, it's clearly difficult for him to indulge in a life of debauchery outside. As for dreaming of having multiple wives and concubines, that would be tantamount to courting death.

Ultimately, both Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yuanzhang were hypocritical. They wouldn't particularly support their sons or brothers having multiple wives and concubines, but they wouldn't oppose it either. However, if a son-in-law or someone else wanted to have affairs, then they'd have to be seriously questioned.

Zhu Yunying didn't need to worry about matters in the harem. After the ancestral worship ceremony, Zhu Yunying led everyone to the Qing Palace.

Old Zhu was initially happy, but upon seeing Zhu Yunwen and his son Zhu Wengeng, he wasn't particularly overjoyed. Even though it had been a while since he'd seen them, Old Zhu clearly didn't have much attachment to this second grandson. He was already too busy looking after his own sons, let alone his grandson.

"Your Majesty, I, your humble servant, pay my respects. May Your Majesty be well."

"Great-grandson Zhu Wengeng pays respects to His Majesty the Emperor, may His Majesty be well."

Old Zhu waved his hand and said, "Get up, everyone. We've heard about it, and it's a good thing. Why didn't you go back after going to Fengxian Hall? We were thinking that the gates would be locked up soon."

Zhu Yunying quickly spoke up, saying, "We asked them to come along, so we should also report the good news to our Imperial Grandfather. By the way, I remember Wengeng has learned the Hundred Family Surnames, right? Recite them for your great-grandfather."

Old Zhu, impatient, said irritably, "What are you listening to? Are we going to reward him?! I'm a scoundrel, and my son isn't much better. Yunhu couldn't read in his younger years, and Wengeng is just the same. Yin'er could recite the classics fluently when he was four or five, but Wengeng can't even recite the Hundred Family Surnames properly now!"

“Great-grandfather, it’s because we’re learning too much and too many different things that we can’t memorize them well.” Little Zhu wasn’t actually very good at memorizing either, but he had a point. “If we could just study the basics, maybe we could pass the imperial examination and become a student. Great-grandfather, how about we get ourselves registered and write ‘Zhu Wen from Fengyang’? Maybe next time we can be the top scholar in the imperial examination!”

Old Zhu was very confident and said to Little Zhu, "That won't do. Your grandfather was well-versed in the classics in his early years, so it would be easy for him to pass the imperial examination. Your father was also precocious. Although he didn't like Confucian classics, he could still speak eloquently. You have surpassed your father. If you take the exam and fail, that would be a good thing. But what if you pass and succeed? If the Crown Prince leads the way in disrupting the imperial examination, that will be troublesome."

Little Zhu sat next to Old Zhu, looking troubled. "Great-grandfather is right. Looking at the imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty over the years, it only got a little better after the eighteenth year of Hongwu. Last time we saw the list sent by the Ministry of Revenue, many people in our court did not come from the imperial examinations. Not to mention the Minister of Personnel, even the Minister of Works doesn't have an official title."

Zhu Yunying waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about them, they're thinking more than we are. Shuangquan, go get us a pot of wine. I remember Wengeng likes venison and roast goose, have someone send some over. Grandfather, make some white fungus porridge."

Old Zhu glared at him, and Little Zhu became anxious, "Dad, our great-grandfather can eat and drink a lot, you can't restrict him! Our great-grandfather is a great hero and a great man, he should eat meat and drink wine to his heart's content, otherwise he won't be happy!"

Old Zhu also said, "We're all this age, who knows how much longer we'll live? If you ask me, don't be so strict with us. People who don't know us will think you're being unfilial and trying to starve us to death!"

Zhu Yunying earnestly said to the old Zhu, "Grandfather, you know you're not young anymore. In your younger years, you didn't eat well, sometimes full and sometimes hungry, and you fought many battles, which has taken a toll on your health. We're thinking of eating a little more refined to prolong your life. We don't care about anything else, we just want Grandfather to live a few more years."

If Joo Yun-young acts like a rogue, Old Joo can act like a rogue too. But if Joo Yun-young tries to play the sentimental card, Old Joo can't stand it.

Although he complained, Old Zhu held back. "At this age, being able to eat is a blessing. It's just that you're too nosy. If you don't want to eat, then don't. We'll let you keep your mouth shut and see if listening to you will make us live a few more years. It's not like we can really live to be a million!"

"Exactly!" Little Zhu chimed in, "Dad knows we don't like green vegetables, but he forces us to eat them. When we have a special meal with Great-Grandpa, Dad even has someone watching us. Tell me, even though Great-Grandpa has abdicated, why are you still so wary of us!"

Pointing at Little Zhu, Zhu Yunying gritted his teeth, "If this gets out, the court and the public will be in turmoil! We don't care about reputation, but it's not like we don't care about it at all!"

Little Zhu was all smiles; she had no fear whatsoever.

The reckless Zhu Wengeng dared not say anything, and could only envy his elder brother. As for Zhu Yunwen, he was already used to it. Years ago, when he saw his grandfather and his legs went weak, his elder brother had said countless treasonous things.

But that's how strange it is; even if Zhu Yunwen goes along with his grandfather's words, his grandfather might still get angry.

But the elder brother went against the emperor's wishes, and the emperor even praised the elder brother for being decisive, which is something that cannot be compared to this.

“Grandfather, we plan to send Yunying out in a few days.” Zhu Yunying said with a smile, “That rascal doesn’t want to be confined by us. The Prince’s Mansion that we built for him in Beiping years ago can only be given to someone else. This time, let him take people to Beiping. It’s time to send someone there to take a look.”

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!