Side hall of Kunning Palace.

"Xiaoqing, let's go back. There's no need to bring so many things."

"Last time we came here, we didn't take a lot of them either."

Chen Muyue looked at the mountain of packages and said speechlessly.

According to the schedule, Chen Muyue will set off back to Annan to visit her relatives in a few days.

So Xiaoqing, the maid who had always been following him, began to pack some things for the journey.

At this moment, Xiaoqing was directing the palace maids and eunuchs to pack various items.

Hearing the question, Xiao Qing turned around and said, "My Lady Yue Fei, do you think we set out from Annan at that time?"

"I'm going back to visit my parents. I need to bring at least twelve sets of clothes to change into."

"As for rouge and powder, you must bring enough of them. There will definitely be many people in the harem who want to ask for some benefits from you, Your Majesty."

"These are all high-quality goods from the capital. Giving them away like this will not be a loss of status."

"We also need to prepare a gift for the king, so Xiaoqing thought that porcelain would be the best. It just so happens that we have several sets of fine porcelain in our palace. I asked Eunuch Guo and he said I can take them with me."

"The daughters of ministers who were once on good terms with the Empress must also bring a copy."

"Yeah, I have to think about it carefully. I must not forget anyone. It's better to bring a few more copies, just in case."

Xiaoqing muttered to herself and counted on her fingers.

As Chen Muyue listened, she realized that she seemed to have forgotten a lot of things to prepare, and her heart was completely immersed in the doting of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has rarely come to spend the night here recently.

But this grace is what everyone envies.

Just as he was thinking this, the eunuch's voice suddenly came from outside the door: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived!"

Chen Muyue turned around and saw that it was indeed the Crown Prince who came.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Many palace maids and eunuchs hurriedly stopped what they were doing and bowed respectfully.

Zhu Ying waved his hand, then walked to Chen Muyue's side, smiled and joked: "You packed so many things, are you planning to never come back?"

Hearing this, Xiaoqing beside him turned pale with fear, and immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Your Highness, please don't blame the queen, it was my idea."

"These things are gifts that I prepared to take back to Annan on my own initiative."

"Your Highness, please punish this servant. This is none of your business."

As soon as these words were spoken, Chen Muyue was suddenly frightened. She had no idea how such a thing would happen.

He immediately knelt down with Xiaoqing.

However, Zhu Ying was quick to act and immediately put his arm around Chen Muyue's waist, saying with a smile, "I was just kidding you. I was worried that you wouldn't come back."

"But Xiaoqing is a caring person. I have forgotten about it during these periods."

"Guo Zhong."

Zhu Ying called out, and Guo Zhong, who was following behind him, immediately replied, "The old slave is here."

Zhu Ying thought for a moment and instructed, "When Concubine Yue returns to Annan, she will definitely prepare many gifts. Take Xiaoqing to Ping'an Teahouse and tell Uncle Zhang that it was my idea. Ask him to prepare many gifts."

"Don't prepare anything that would bring shame to the Ming Dynasty."

Guo Zhong replied: "I understand."

Zhu Ying then turned to Xiao Qing and said, "Get up, you are a loyal person. The Chamber of Commerce has all kinds of good things, you can just pick some and prepare enough gifts."

Hearing this, Xiaoqing kowtowed in surprise and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Zhu Ying waved her hand slightly, and Guo Zhong immediately understood what he meant. He signaled to the palace maids and eunuchs around her, and everyone followed suit and retreated, naturally including Xiaoqing.

There were only Chen Muyue and Zhu Ying in the room.

"I asked you to go back to Annan, you won't blame me, right?" Zhu Ying spoke first.

Chen Muyue was silent for a moment, then said, "I am His Royal Highness's concubine. Since the day I came to the palace, I have belonged to His Royal Highness."

"Being able to go back this time is already the greatest favor that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has shown me."

Zhu Ying actually knew in her heart that Chen Muyue, as the eldest princess of Annan, might not react at first, but after such a long time, she would naturally figure out her purpose.

Letting him return to Annan this time is not just a simple visit to his relatives. To a large extent, it is to bring enough influence to help further expand the Ming Dynasty's power in Annan.

There are some things that are difficult for the Ming Dynasty to intervene in, as they may easily lead to some fundamental conflicts and problems. After all, Annan has been an independent country for such a long time.

The so-called loyalty basically no longer exists beyond three generations.

Even though the people of Annan were speaking Chinese and even using Chinese characters, their hearts had long lost any connection with the Central Plains dynasty.

The enthronement of the Annan royal family is nothing more than a dependence of a small country on a big country.

This dependence is not only about influence and the face of the Celestial Empire, but more about economic support.

After all, the tribute trade currently practiced by the Ming Dynasty is an unimaginable wealth for most countries.

For example, for some extremely poor small countries, a tribute trade may be enough to make their royal family unimaginable wealth, and even allow more people to have a full meal.

Although Annan's situation is good, it is also a very considerable wealth.

Of course, as a country close to the border of the Ming Dynasty, if it does not express its submission, it may be bullied by big countries.

Nowadays, it is not very popular in the Ming Dynasty to use economic sanctions, as it is considered to be unworthy of a great power, but Zhu Ying has no psychological barriers in this regard.

If an embargo on grasslands were imposed on any small country, it would be a huge blow.

Maybe many people think that this has no impact, but in fact the impact is even more terrifying than the grassland embargo.

If Annan also suffered sanctions similar to those of Prairie, then the economic loss would be the first aspect, and the most important thing would be the impact from other countries.

Especially a neighboring country like Champa, which has been in conflict with Annan for a long time, will certainly take this opportunity to add insult to injury and invade and attack Annan's territory without hesitation.

Not only Champa, other neighboring countries will definitely want to get a piece of the pie.

This kind of remote sanction method was something the Central Plains dynasty had never encountered before.

But Zhu Ying was very familiar with this aspect. After all, such situations were very common in later generations.

Annan, as Chen Muyue's motherland, had to help the Ming Dynasty deal with Annan under Zhu Ying's instructions.

Zhu Ying knew that this would give rise to some thoughts in Chen Muyue's mind.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Ying gently held Chen Muyue in his arms.

This made two blushes appear on Chen Muyue's face immediately.

It was in broad daylight, she had never experienced such a scene before. Fortunately, there was no one around, otherwise she would have been so embarrassed.

"The bond between you and me has long been predestined."

"Before, when I didn't even know that I was the eldest grandson of the Ming Dynasty, I had already sent people to Annan."

"For me, the best place is Annan, so I want Annan. My first step is to figure out how to get into Annan."

"Even if I can't become the grandson of the Ming Dynasty, you will definitely be my concubine. There is no way you can escape."

It was the first time that Zhu Ying said such love words, which were somewhat overbearing, but Chen Muyue really fell for it.

She leaned against Zhu Ying's chest and whispered, "Your Highness means that you must eat me up no matter what."

"In fact, when I was captured by His Highness, I thought that this was actually a good thing."

"The title of Princess Annan does sound good, but who can understand the pain involved?"

"Since I was little, I have been learning all kinds of etiquette, music, chess, calligraphy and painting. It seems that I have been preparing for marriage since I was born. I don't have any freedom of my own."

"I thought at the time that even if I was really kidnapped, I would marry a mountain king. It would be better than living in the palace."

"But I didn't expect that I would end up here, Your Highness."

"Annan is the Annan of the Central Plains. It has been that for many years. I am here just to restore order and let Annan return to the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible."

Hearing this, Zhu Ying immediately understood Chen Muyue's awareness.

He immediately picked up Chen Muyue and walked straight into the house.

In this bright and clear world, Chen Muyue did not resist at all, but buried her head deeply in Zhu Ying's chest.

…

The fact that Concubine Yue returned to Annan to visit her relatives was a major national event.

In order to maximize the benefits of this trip, a large number of merchant ships have already been preparing in the Jiangnan and southeastern coastal areas.

The large ships were all piled high with cargo.

This time, with the Ming navy leading the way, there is no threat at sea.

No smart businessman would miss such a great opportunity.

However, this also requires an admission ticket, and not just anyone can follow. Otherwise, they will be directly driven away by the Ming Navy.

At the dock outside Zhengyang Gate, more than a dozen Fu ships were already waiting quietly, and the entire dock was under complete martial law.

There were crowds of people around the pier.

These people all came to watch the fun. It was announced in the imperial gazette of the capital that today Concubine Yue is coming to visit her parents, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is seeing her off.

In fact, for most, or all, the people who came early in the morning, their main focus was not Concubine Yue.

It was just because the palace bulletin said that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would be coming, and he wanted to see his face.

In fact, Zhu Ying himself didn't know how high his status was in the hearts of the people in the capital.

In just two years, so many people benefited from Zhu Ying's kindness.

The public security of the entire capital was also greatly improved under Zhu Ying's management and mobilization.

In terms of the level of civilization, there was not a single beggar to be seen in the entire capital. This does not mean that all of them were driven out, but that all of these beggars were truly absorbed and converted.

As long as the refugees came to the capital from other places, they would soon undergo some changes with the assistance of the relevant government offices.

Those who have no place to live will be provided with temporary accommodation, those who have no skills will be provided with technical training, and even job assignments will be helped.

The population of the capital has skyrocketed by hundreds of thousands in the past year, and the biggest factor is the transformation of refugees.

When doing these things, the staff of the yamen would tell them that this was all arranged by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

When a person is at the end of his rope and suddenly receives such meticulous care, the gratitude will last a lifetime.

That is Zhu Ying.

If it were any crown prince from other dynasties, such behavior would have long been considered as buying the hearts of the people, and the emperor of the time would have had to put pressure on him in every way to prevent him from seizing power.

Zhu Yuanzhang was not afraid of these things at all, but rather welcomed them.

This shows that the eldest grandson has strong ability in governance.

He is already at this age, so how can he still be greedy for power? What he wants most is to see that his successor is good enough.

It is only because of Zhu Yuanzhang's indulgence that Zhu Ying has the prestige he has today.

Most of the people who came to the dock today, especially those who came early in the morning just to fight for a good spot, were refugees from other places.

They had no way to thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in person, and they didn't even know what their benefactor looked like. They could only support him in this silent way.

It is naturally impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to show up in person when the Crown Prince's wife came to visit her parents.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang still cancelled the court meeting and arranged for civil and military officials to accompany the crown prince to boost his momentum.

This kind of ceremony is quite grand.

The ministers had already lined up between Duanmen and Chengtianmen waiting long ago.

The Duanmen Gate is open.

Zhu Ying and Chen Muyue sat on the dragon chariot and went out through the Duanmen Gate under the escort of the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. May His Royal Highness live a thousand years and a thousand thousand years!"

Civil and military officials kowtowed and cheered.

Such a loud noise made Chen Muyue a little nervous, and she subconsciously held Zhu Ying's hand. Today, she was able to sit on the dragon chariot, which was an extraordinary gift. She had never seen such a grand scene before.

"My dear ministers, please stand up!" Zhu Ying said loudly.

At the same time, he held Chen Muyue's hand tightly, signaling her to relax.

As Zhu Ying finished speaking, drums and music began to sound, and civil and military officials made way in front of them, and the Chengtian Gate slowly opened.

When the carriage passed through Chengtian Gate, huge cheers completely drowned out all other sounds.

On both sides of Zhengyang Avenue outside Chengtian Gate, there were countless densely packed crowds of people.

They only vaguely saw the Chengtian Gate open and the dragon chariot appear, and they couldn't help but start cheering.

What is it like to see almost a million people gathered together, shouting and cheering hysterically?

Such a situation is hardly recorded in history, let alone among civil and military officials.

This kind of grand occasion is something that no one today has ever experienced before.

The heaven and earth seemed to have lost their voice. I opened my mouth to speak, but I could not hear my own voice.

Everything will be completely covered up.

There was no other sound in my ears except the shouts of millions of people.

fear!

The civil and military officials knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had great prestige among the people of the capital, but they had never imagined it would be so great.