The capital of the Ming Dynasty, the residence of Prince Yan.

"Aunt, please don't embarrass me like this. How dare I take you out without my father's permission? If my father knew about this, he would beat me to death."

Zhu Gaochi smiled bitterly, put down the military book in his hand, and spoke to his aunt Xu Miaojing in front of him.

Xu Miaojin was born in the 13th year of Hongwu and is now 12 years old.

A famous general of the founding of the country, the third daughter of Xu Da, the leader of the Six Kings.

Her eldest sister was Xu Yihua, the wife of Prince Yan.

After Xu Da passed away, the Xu Mansion in the capital was inherited by his eldest son, Xu Huizu, Duke of Wei.

Today, Xu Huizu came to visit Prince Yan's Mansion. Although his eldest sister did not come, he naturally had to visit his brother-in-law since he had returned to Beijing.

Xu Miaojin also followed.

Xu Miaojin is obviously still a little naughty now, so she wants her nephew Zhu Gaochi to take her out to play.

As a lady from a wealthy family, it is not okay for me to go out alone.

However, it is obvious that Zhu Gaochi prefers quietness to movement, and would certainly not be willing to do anything that goes against his father's wishes.

"Humph, if you don't take me out, I will write a letter to my elder sister and say that you bullied me. Then your father will beat you too."

Xu Miaojin said with a pout.

Even though Xu Miaojin is only twelve years old now, her face is already in the process of blossoming and she is a beauty in her own right.

Hearing this, Zhu Gaochi was extremely helpless.

His father in the palace didn't like him, but his mother had always protected him.

Hearing this, Zhu Gaochi was really worried.

After hesitating for a moment, he declined, "It's just that it's already dusk, and we don't have much time to go out and play."

Xu Miaojin's eyes flashed with cunning, and he said, "Of course not today. Come to Xu's house tomorrow morning to find me and take me out."

"This..." Zhu Gaochi didn't know how to answer.

"If you don't agree, don't blame me for telling my elder sister." Xu Miaojin said immediately when she saw Zhu Gaochi was a little hesitant.

"Okay, but you can't leave the city, you have to stay in the capital," Zhu Gaochi emphasized.

"Okay, don't break your promise." Xu Miaojin smiled immediately and did not forget to remind him.

"How dare I!" Zhu Gaochi just felt a headache.

In the back garden.

Xu Huizu and Zhu Di reminisce about the past.

Most of the topics were about Xu Yihua.

Xu Yihua is not some lady from a wealthy family who never leaves the house.

As the eldest daughter of Xu Da, she was carefully brought up by Xu Da and his wife since childhood. Not only was she well-read, but she was also able to participate in military affairs and wear armor to defend the city.

Xu Yihua has been well-read since childhood and has an extraordinary memory. She can remember everything she read and recite it at a glance, which even amazed her teachers.

Therefore, Xu was known as a "female scholar" since she was young. In the Ming Dynasty, "scholars" were students who had received traditional Confucian education and were good at classics and history.

The fact that Xu Yihua was known as a "female scholar" shows her talent and cultivation.

Although Xu Yihua and Zhu Di were arranged to be married by Zhu Yuanzhang, it was not a case of "marriage before love" but rather they had known each other before marriage.

Before their official marriage, Zhu Di and Xu had been together for three years and were a true young couple.

At present, the relationship between Xu Huizu and Zhu Di is still very good.

Historically, after the Jingnan Campaign, Zhu Di entered Nanjing, and Xu Huizu stayed in his father's ancestral temple, refusing to welcome Zhu Di, and was imprisoned and interrogated.

Zhu Di personally summoned Xu Huizu to question him, but Xu Huizu said nothing and had no intention of supporting Zhu Di to become emperor.

The judge forced him to confess, and Xu Huizu wrote: "The descendants of the founding heroes of the King of Zhongshan are exempt from death."

Zhu Di was furious and wanted to kill him, but gave up because he was the descendant of a founding hero and was the emperor's brother-in-law.

Afterwards, Zhu Di ordered Xu Huizu to return to his ancestral home and stripped him of his salary and title.

"Are you used to living in Shaanxi?" Zhu Di asked with a smile.

"Shaanxi and Nanjing are not much different, so I'm used to it." Xu Huizu replied.

Last year, that is, in March of the 24th year of Hongwu, Xu Huizu went to Shanxi, Beijing and other places to train troops and defend the border.

He was not recalled to the capital until April this year.

Xu Huizu was eight feet and five inches tall, with a handsome face and extraordinary heroic appearance. As the eldest son of Xu Da, Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to him.

"Training is a big deal, but you still have to take care of yourself and don't let your sister worry."

Zhu Di instructed.

Zhu Di loved his brother-in-law and was very close to him.

"Don't worry, brother-in-law. I know what I'm doing." Xu Huizu said with a smile.

After that, Xu Huizu said hesitantly: "But brother-in-law, be careful of Aru Temur and Nair Buhua. I have heard news since I was training the troops."

Aruttemur and Nairbuhua were the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty who were conquered by Zhu Di in his famous battle.

After surrendering, Aruttemur was appointed as the co-director of the Yanshan Central Guard by Zhu Yuanzhang, and was soon promoted to commander.

Naierbuhua was appointed commander of Guanshanwei.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di's expression suddenly became serious and he asked, "Is this matter certain?"

As for Yuelu Temur, Zhu Yuanzhang had earlier sent a message to Zhu Di, asking him to be wary of Aru Temur and Nairbukha.

Worried that he was plotting something with Yuru Timur.

However, the people Zhu Di sent to monitor did not find anything unusual.

Now that Xu Huizu said this, Zhu Di immediately felt the seriousness of the matter.

To some extent.

Aruttemur and Nairbuka currently belong to Zhu Di's faction.

If there is a rebellion, it is very likely to affect him.

"We have intercepted the secret letter that Yuru Temur sent to the two of them, but we still don't know what it means," said Xu Huizu.

Zhu Di nodded when he heard this, but his face turned gloomy.

After Xu Huizu finished talking about this, he saw that his brother-in-law Zhu Di was absent-minded and was obviously thinking about how to respond.

It's getting late.

So he said goodbye and left.

After Xu Huizu left, Zhu Di quickly summoned his guards and wrote a secret letter to send to Beiping.

He believed that his wife Xu Yihua would make good arrangements for this matter.

…

Qin Palace.

After sitting facing the wall and thinking about his mistakes, Zhu Chong finally came back.

When he saw Deng's body covered with white cloth in front of him, a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes.

"Did she pass away peacefully?"

Zhu Chong asked the old butler beside him.

Hearing this, the old butler hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's not too painful."

Hearing this, Zhu Chong seemed to have put aside his worries.

He wanted to lift the white cloth and take another look, but in the end he didn't do it.

He sighed and said, "Give him a proper burial."

"Yes." The old butler replied respectfully.

I finally felt relieved.

The old housekeeper had sent his grandson away not long ago.

Of course, he didn't believe what Deng had said before about wealth and glory.

This is your Majesty's personal jade pendant, and also the Queen's token of love.

The old housekeeper had lived in the capital for a long time and knew very well that if he took on this crime, he might even have his entire clan executed.

Of course he had to leave a way out for his descendants.

When the Jinyiwei came, he thought he was going to die.

Unexpectedly, when the decree was announced, Deng was directly sentenced to death.

The reply I just gave, saying that Mrs. Deng passed away peacefully was naturally a white lie.

In ancient times, poisonous wine did not cause death immediately after drinking it, but was a slow and painful process.

There are even people in history who drank the poison wine given by the emperor and survived.

This is also why the imperially bestowed poison wine was in a pot, not a cup.

One cup may not be enough.

Therefore, the process of Deng's death was still full of twists and turns, and often required the assistance of the Jinyiwei.

This is also the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang asked his second son Zhu Chong to face the wall before returning.

After Deng's death, Zhu Chong was so sad that he drank to drown his sorrows.