But now, we can't acknowledge this illegitimate child's identity. If we do, other members of the royal family might get excited and a whole bunch of illegitimate children will appear. What kind of situation would that be?

Those members of the royal family might not care about bloodlines, or even whether a child is truly their own. Some who have no children of their own might even bring a child over to continue the family line. What then?

The imperial court will bestow titles upon members of the imperial clan, such as Prince of the Commandery and Protector-General, which come with stipends. Even if the titles are downgraded, it will still involve many people and a great deal of work!

Zhu Yunwen immediately became anxious upon hearing this, "Brother, why can't you join the imperial clan?"

"This is illegitimate and improper, what are we supposed to do?!" Zhu Yunying was truly angry. "We know you're playful and have no interest in anything. How dare you do something like this?! Is your offspring really yours?"

Zhu Yunwen was also angry, and said with his neck stiff, "How can she not be ours? Imperial brother, we know you look down on merchants and you look down on Ezi being rejected! She has a clean background and virtuous character, so why can't our son be allowed to enter the imperial clan?"

Zhu Yunying laughed in exasperation and shouted, "You still have the nerve to talk back? If you really like her, just take her back. What kind of nonsense is this? Do you know how many members of the imperial clan and military officials don't have an heir yet? If we acknowledge your offspring today, tomorrow a whole bunch of people will be bringing their children and demanding that we bestow titles upon him!"

Zhu Yue chimed in, "Exactly! We won't agree to this until we get to the bottom of it! That merchant's daughter is quite mercenary; who knows if she's after your status!"

Zhu Yunwen said unhappily, "She doesn't know we are a prince!"

Zhu Yunying was taken aback for a moment, then quickly asked, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Zhu Yunwen muttered, "He thought we had some connection with the Prince of Kaiping's Mansion, and that we had taken up a post in the Right Army Commandery."

Wow, this is a secret visit in disguise, and the domineering prince has fallen in love with me!

Seeing Zhu Yunying's displeased expression, Zhu Yunzhuo hurriedly said, "We were afraid she'd be too respectful to us, so we didn't tell her. Last time she saw Yin'er..."

Zhu Yunying jumped up, even angrier, "Yin'er? Yin'er knows about this too?"

“We ran into her the other day when we took Yin’er out for tea,” Zhu Yunwen said irritably. “It’s all Yin’er’s fault. She said we were her second uncle and that we had no parents. We didn’t say anything later, so she assumed we were a fallen nobleman. The other day, my grandfather and Yin’er went out for tea. My grandfather is so strict with rules, how could she dare to even think about entering the mansion?”

This really put us in a bind. It could be said that this was a series of misunderstandings, or it could be said that Zhu Yunwen was just letting things slide, and this small matter turned into a big one!

Xu Miaoqing broke the silence and asked, "Is Madam Sang so jealous that she won't let you take a concubine?"

Just as Zhu Yunying and Zhu Yue were about to perk up, Zhu Yuntong hurriedly said, "The Princess is fine, it's just that she's pregnant, and we don't want to upset her."

Zhu Yunying was even more speechless; his precious younger brother and Lady Sang truly had a deep bond. However, Zhu Yunying had made a mistake that many men make, leading to this thorny situation!

Just then, Little Zhu arrived with an air of nonchalance. "Great-grandfather said that it's common for young people to indulge in pleasures, so don't blame Second Uncle. Great-grandfather also knows about this and asked Father to handle it."

Zhu Yunwen was all smiles. The reason he wasn't afraid of trouble was simple: with his elder brother, the Emperor, backing him up, there was nothing he couldn't handle!

Zhu Yunying gritted his teeth. Zhu Yunhu was a handful, and he had to help clean things up. Old Zhu doted on his grandson; with this decree, he was destined to be a good grandfather, but Zhu Yunying had to find a way to resolve the situation!

Seeing that Little Zhu was about to run away, Zhu Yunying quickly called out to him, "Stop! You know about this too?"

It's quite easy for an uncle to betray his nephew. Zhu Yunwen immediately said, "Yin'er knows. He went to the teahouse several times and even begged his grandfather to write an inscription, but his grandfather didn't agree."

"Second Uncle!" Little Zhu said anxiously, "Dad, it was all Second Uncle's idea! We even said last time that we would let Second Uncle and Second Aunt know."

"Brother, Grandfather knows about this too, so please help us out." Zhu Yunwen said with a smile, now more confident. "Grandfather loves her tea snacks the most, so we'll bring some in next time."

Zhu Yunying had a terrible headache and said to Zhu Yue, "You go and see that merchant's daughter first. If she's alright, bring her into the palace for your sister-in-law to see. This scoundrel is unreliable, so you'll just have to do the hard work."

Zhu Yue knew what was good for her and said, "How could we be tired? It's just that the second son is useless and always needs the Emperor's help to clean up the mess. It's not so easy to get into the Imperial Clan Register. He does things improperly and only makes things difficult for the Emperor."

Zhu Yunying said irritably, "What can we do? He also said that he has no parents, only a grandfather who is very strict, and I guess he also mentioned that he has a meddlesome older brother."

"No, not at all!" Zhu Yunwen immediately straightened his stance and said, "We're close to Yin'er, and E'zi saw it too. She even said she envied us for having such a good brother. Her brother was sold to a landlord in the neighboring village in an arranged marriage, and that's why he ran away..."

Zhu Yunying gritted her teeth and said, "Didn't you say the engagement was called off?"

Zhu Yunwen, who had let slip the secret, lost his confidence again. "I was just afraid that my brother would blame me! Ezi is not the daughter of a merchant. Her family is a scholarly family, and she has read some books. She ran away and had no way to make a living, so she opened a tea shop."

Zhu Yunying didn't believe it. "That sounds nice, doesn't it? You ran away, where did you get your travel permit? You rented a shop, how much silver did you spend?"

The household registration system in the Ming Dynasty was very comprehensive, and it was not particularly easy for ordinary people to travel around and see the world.

Zhu Yunwen honestly replied, "She was just a servant. It was easy for her to come to Yingtian Prefecture. She said that a close friend of hers had married into the prefecture. If you investigate, you'll find that such a person exists. We handled the household registration later."

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