To be honest, Zhu Yunying wouldn't find it strange that his younger brother did anything outrageous. The main reason was that Zhu Yunying had always been like this. He was playful and unambitious since childhood, and he was proficient in eating, drinking and having fun. Relying on Zhu Yunying's pampering, he continued to indulge himself.

Needless to say, Zhu Yunwen was a frequent visitor to brothels and pleasure boats after leaving the capital to establish his own residence.

Zhu Yunying, his face grim, glanced at Zhu Yunhu. Although he no longer had any demands on him, it was clear that Zhu Yunhu had gone too far this time. This kid was truly unreliable this time.

Zhu Yunying did not have a strong sense of class consciousness, but he did adapt to local customs and knew that there were different social classes in such an era. He knew that merchants had a relatively low social status, and Zhu Yunying did not actually intend to raise the social status of merchants, etc.

The daughter of a merchant, and she was pregnant out of wedlock; in fact, it could be said that they had sex directly!

Zhu Yunying is quite something; his ideas are so avant-garde that even Zhu Yunying is having trouble keeping up.

"Bring the Eldest Princess here!" Zhu Yunying gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, bring the Empress here too! Song Zhong and Jiang Huan, make them kneel outside! No, give each of them ten strokes of the military rod first, then they can kneel!"

In other words, Zhu Yunying didn't intend to kill Song Zhong and Jiang Huan; otherwise, ten strokes of the military rod would have left them severely wounded, if not dead. However, the palace executioners knew how to kill with a single blow, and how ten strokes would only look pitiful.

Because Zhu Yunwen made a mistake, Song Zhong and Jiang Huan were implicated. They shouldn't feel wronged. It's mainly because they didn't do their jobs well, so they deserved it all and there's no question of them being wronged.

Taking one's anger out on others was nothing new to Zhu Yunying; he was already used to such things. No one saw anything wrong with Zhu Yunying's behavior.

Zhu Yunwen, who kept his head down and didn't speak, seemed to realize that he had really done something wrong this time. He just kept his head down and didn't speak, looking like he really knew he was wrong and seemed to be really guilty.

But Zhu Yunying was certain that Zhu Yuntong's current behavior was merely a facade. This kid had always been like this, constantly making mistakes, always putting on an act of remorse, but that didn't stop him from continuing to err.

Too lazy to pay attention to Zhu Yunying, Zhu Yunying rubbed his temples and said, "Let the Duke of Kaiguo come over as well."

At this moment, Zhu Yunwen said in a low voice, "Brother, Uncle doesn't know about this. He thinks we just went there for tea."

Zhu Yunying was annoyed and said irritably, "Well, you've really made something of yourself! This is like Xiang Zhuang dancing with his sword, his real aim is Liu Bang! You didn't go there for tea, you just took a fancy to a beautiful woman!"

Zhu Yunwen lowered his head and remained silent. At this time, it was best to keep a low profile and wait until his elder brother's anger subsided before speaking.

Xu Miaoqing rushed over. Normally, she wasn't qualified to come to the Wuying Hall, but this time His Majesty had summoned her, and Xu Miaoqing was actually quite unsure of herself. Had her own crown prince son caused any trouble lately?

Seeing Zhu Yunying massaging his shoulders with his head down, Xu Miaoqing felt relieved. She guessed that the Prince of Wu had gotten into trouble again, which was why His Majesty had sent someone over in such a hurry.

Ignoring Zhu Yunwen's pleading look, Xu Miaoqing asked curiously, "Your Majesty, what trouble has the Second Prince gotten into this time?"

"Hmph!" Zhu Yunying snorted coldly and said, "We'll talk about this later. This kid has really made something of himself! He's really made something of himself!"

Xu Miaoqing didn't believe Zhu Yuntong was corrupt or lawless, let alone plotting anything; Zhu Yuntong didn't have that kind of ability. She guessed that her playful brother-in-law had probably gotten into some trouble, no less than a minor one, again.

Zhu Yunwen pleaded with Xu Miaoqing, "Sister-in-law, Second Sister is coming! You must stop her. Mother..."

"How dare you mention the Empress Dowager!" Zhu Yunying jumped up abruptly, not giving Zhu Yuntong a chance to play the victim. "Did the Empress Dowager allow you to meet with the merchant's daughter, or was she happy to see you and that merchant's daughter, with whom you broke off your engagement, secretly become pregnant?! Tell me tomorrow, what kind of thing did you, a prince of the Ming Dynasty, do?"

Xu Miaoqing was instantly dumbfounded. Although it was just a few words, she roughly understood the situation. It just goes to show that there really isn't anything outrageous that His Highness Prince Wu wouldn't do!

Xu Miaoqing also fell silent. As the sister-in-law, she didn't know how to express her opinion at this moment.

If I interfere, she's still a member of the Zhu family, and she's married; it's not appropriate. If I don't interfere, she's still my sister-in-law, and she doesn't have any parents-in-law. If I don't discipline her, I won't act like a proper matriarch.

Just as Xu Miaoqing was caught in a dilemma, Zhu Yue arrived at the Wuying Hall, glared at Zhu Yunwen, and said, "Brother, you should give the second prince a rest! What kind of things has he done!"

Zhu Yunying nodded and asked, "How did you find out about this?"

Zhu Yue pointed at Zhu Yunwen, her expression one of utter disappointment. "He said the tree oil was going to be brought to the capital, and he had originally agreed that our families would jointly manage some shops. But then he told us he wanted a few shops, and we couldn't let Sang Shi know. We asked him a few questions, and at first he hesitated. We've watched him grow up, how could we not tell he's up to something?"

Zhu Yue continued her tirade, utterly furious. "If he truly loved that woman, he could have simply taken her as a concubine, and my brother would have just nagged at most. But instead, he bought her a house and started keeping her! Now that woman is pregnant, what are we going to do?!"

Zhu Yunying pointed at Zhu Yunhu and said, "Your concubine will probably have a hard time entering the imperial family!"

It wasn't that Zhu Yunying was being overly critical, but rather that some things had to be done according to law and rules. It was perfectly acceptable for Zhu Yunying to have a child with that merchant's daughter; even if Zhu Yunying took a concubine, no one would say anything.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!