As emperor, Zhu Yunying had some things he was quite proud of, such as having many people at his disposal, many of whom could solve his problems. Zhu Yunying had no doubt about this. The tasks he assigned were naturally handled by others.

Little Zhu didn't see himself as a tool, and neither did Zhu Ruyi. They were Zhu Yunying's most beloved son and daughter.

Zhu Yunying, who got up early, needed to attend the morning court session. Around 7:45 AM, the young Zhu excitedly ran to the Chunhe Palace.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Little Zhu, dressed as a young scholar, asked happily, "Today isn't the day we're supposed to go on an inspection tour outside the palace. Why does Father want us to leave the palace?"

Xu Miaoqing found it amusing and patted Zhu Wenkun on the back to coax her youngest son, "Take Ruyi to her maternal family. Don't act like a prince there. If you want to go out of the city, Lian Zining should come back after court and have lunch first."

Little Zhu didn't understand and pinched her younger brother's chubby face. "That won't do. He has to sit in the yamen after court. Let alone lunch, we might not even be able to have dinner. If we bring Ruyi there, that won't work. His family has a lot of books and rules, though."

Xu Miaoqing found it amusing and said, "Your father asked you to go over there, how could he not have made arrangements?"

Little Zhu was delighted and said with a smile, "That's great! We thought Wang Daban was lying to us! Great-grandfather was the wisest. He said that our father must have something to arrange, otherwise he wouldn't have sent Ruyi out of the palace to visit relatives on an occasional day or holiday."

Xu Miaoqing didn't know what to say. There were some things that Old Zhu could say without issue, and so could Young Zhu, and even the youngest Zhu. But even if she, as the Empress, heard them, she had to pretend she hadn't, and at least couldn't agree with them.

There was nothing she could do; even though she was a member of the Zhu family, she didn't actually bear the Zhu surname, so sometimes she was considered an 'outsider'.

Just as Xu Miaoqing was giving instructions, Lian Qiongqiong led Zhu Ruyi to Chunhe Palace.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to the Empress and His Highness the Crown Prince."

"Your subject Zhu Ruyi greets Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, and your younger sister greets His Highness the Crown Prince."

Xu Miaoqing gently gestured for them to rise. Little Zhu greeted them hastily and then said, "What's going on? We need to wear the White Dragon Fish Robe. Hurry up and let our imperial sister change her clothes. I am Scholar Zhu, and our sister is Miss Zhu."

Zhu Ruyi, affectionate with Little Zhu, said in a soft, sweet voice, "Brother, should we change our clothes too?"

Little Zhu said with a grin, "Let me tell you, the princess's clothes aren't pretty. Today we'll take you to a tailor shop so you can broaden your horizons. You're so naive; you always think the princess's clothes have the most patterns and the best embroidery."

Zhu Ruyi was naturally led by a palace maid to change her clothes. Xu Miaoqing said helplessly, "Sister, as you can see, the Crown Prince often walks outside the palace. To be honest, the two of us probably don't have as much experience walking outside as we do."

This is also true; wealthy and powerful families generally have more rules and regulations. Neither Xu Miaoqing nor Lian Qiongqiong would have had many opportunities to leave their residences before entering the palace.

Of course, it wasn't that there were no opportunities at all, but compared to men, women in this era did indeed have fewer opportunities to leave their homes and go out.

Lian Qiongqiong smiled and nodded, not daring to be impolite, "Your Majesty, I naturally understand. Your Highness is exceptionally insightful. It is Your Highness's favor that Ruyi can accompany you outside the palace..."

“Auntie, we don’t necessarily have to bring our little sister along.” Little Zhu didn’t mince words, which can be considered childish innocence. “If it weren’t for Father’s arrangement, today wouldn’t be the day we leave the palace. Speaking of which, we should thank Ruyi for letting us sneak out to play today.”

Lian Qiongqiong didn't dare to hesitate and immediately took out a letter and held it high above her head with both hands. "Your Highness, this is His Majesty's decree."

Little Zhu nodded slightly. He knew all this. "I know. Wang Daban told us. We'll keep it and naturally hand it over to Master Lian."

Xu Miaoqing then asked, "Yin'er, who accompanied you on your incognito trip today?"

Little Zhu thought for a moment and said, "My second maternal uncle and second uncle went to Fujian, so it must be my third maternal uncle and third uncle. I reckon there are a few other people with them. The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot also have people with them. We're not making a big fuss about it. My great-grandfather and father have also made arrangements. We have a token in our pocket, which my great-grandfather didn't even give to my father."

Xu Miaoqing lowered her head and remained silent. Her son really dared to say anything, and he didn't hide anything from his own family.

Xu Miaoqing actually knew that Zhu Yunying had mentioned that the old Zhu still had a force that he had always wanted to borrow, but had never been able to. Zhu Yunying had even encouraged the young Zhu to ask for that group of secret guards, hoping to borrow their troops.

It's not that I want to seize Old Zhu's 'last' bit of strength; I'm just curious. As for Zhu Yunying, if he manages to borrow the military tally, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will be the same as before: once the military tally is in his hands, it's never taken out; once it's in his possession, it naturally belongs to him for safekeeping.

Little Zhu is better in this respect. He often borrows military tokens, but he returns them after using them and is not greedy at all.

Little Zhu chuckled and continued, "Today is perfect, we're going to visit the Imperial Academy. My great-grandfather has the Eleventh Prince waiting for us. We don't like some scholars, but we don't hate them either. My sister will come along and see that place of culture. It just so happens that my father is being nosy and insists that we write some reflections on the Doctrine of the Mean. My sister and I will go and ask him."

Xu Miaoqing and Lian Qiongqiong both understood Zhu Yunying's little scheme, and they exchanged a glance, unable to suppress their laughter. If nothing unexpected happened, Zhu Ruyi would be primarily responsible for writing the reading report; Little Zhu would simply take a look, ask questions, and then it would be ready to be submitted.

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