For civil and military officials, New Year's Eve was naturally a time to celebrate with their monarch.
After shouting "Long live the Emperor!" three times, Old Zhu and Little Zhu sat on the dragon throne. As for Little Zhu, he actually had his own place. However, at Little Zhu's age, it was difficult to expect him to behave properly. This was partly due to Old Zhu and Little Zhu's deliberate indulgence; other people's children, even if they weren't very sensible at this age, could still learn something if taught.
Nowadays, people don't have high expectations for little Zhu, and they intentionally let him retain some of his innocence. So this child is indeed quite lively, and the little guy is indeed quite active.
Old Zhu was content just holding his great-grandson. Having already retired, he didn't really care about so many things. Besides, he was the kind of person who didn't care about other people's opinions; his own happiness was the most important thing. Holding his great-grandson, Old Zhu was quite pleased with himself.
Four generations under one roof, though not without its imperfections—his wife and eldest son had passed away—offered some solace in the fact that his eldest grandson ascended the throne and his great-grandson was now lively and adorable. While Zhu Yuanzhang's life wasn't perfect, it was still the envy of many.
Old Zhu, holding Little Zhu, asked him, "Your Highness, do you know your maternal uncle?"
Little Zhu pointed to the seat below and said, "That's my uncle. I don't like my uncle."
Old Zhu chuckled and asked with a smile, "Why don't you like your eldest uncle?"
Little Zhu, who was nestled in Old Zhu's arms, immediately got up and whispered in Old Zhu's ear, "Uncle is too fierce, I only like Uncle."
Old Zhu immediately beamed with joy. He knew Xu Huizu's personality; he was a spitting image of Xu Da. Ultimately, Xu Da was too serious and rigid, and Xu Huizu was indeed a bit too reserved.
However, for Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Huizu's personality was clearly more reliable, and this personality genuinely made him feel more at ease. Ultimately, this was because Zhu Yuanzhang had always been rather suspicious; he didn't trust even the nobles, let alone the relatives of the emperor. Xu Huizu was obviously someone Zhu Yuanzhang would worry about.
Old Zhu's happiness made life easier for many. Although he was now the retired emperor, this didn't mean his control over the court had weakened. Old Zhu's control was no joke; it left a deep psychological scar on many.
Zhu Yunying naturally heard all of this, so he smiled and said, "Yin'er..."
Old Zhu coughed and said, "This is the first time our Crown Prince has attended the court ceremony, you should act like an emperor!"
He'd fallen out of favor; Joo Yun-young was certain once again that he was out of favor. It wasn't like this before. Even if Joo had some double standards in the past, it was clear that those standards wouldn't have been applied to Joo Yun-young this way. Even with double standards, Joo Yun-young had always been the one in a stronger position.
But now things are different. As long as little Zhu is around, Zhu Yunying is clearly the one who gets disliked. Although he has some grumbling in his heart, Zhu Yunying still knows what he should do and knows that he is not young anymore. So he is more at ease with some things.
Zhu Yunying coughed and handed over a glass of water. "Go have a drink with your uncle. You love clinking glasses."
Little Zhu immediately sprang into action, carrying the golden cup as he descended from the dragon throne. Amidst the envy, jealousy, and resentment of the entire court, Little Zhu turned and ran towards Chang Mao—what a disobedient child!
Chang Mao hurriedly stood up, and Chang Sheng and Chang Sen also dared not be careless, for the Emperor Emeritus was watching and the Emperor's nephew was watching too!
"Grand Uncle, cheers!" Little Zhu's voice echoed in the vast hall, reaching almost everyone's ears.
There was supposed to be music playing, but when Little Zhu descended from the Danbi cliff, Wang Chengen, Shuangquan, and others quickly stopped it. This was the Crown Prince's first formal participation in such a court ceremony, and they couldn't afford any mishaps.
Chang Mao suppressed his excitement, as did his two brothers, and they all raised their glasses and drank them down in one gulp.
Little Zhu gulped down her water and then snuggled into Chang Mao's arms. "My dad misses my grandmother the most. Uncle, is my grandmother pretty?"
Zhu Yunying suddenly realized that he had underestimated Little Zhu. These words were clearly not Little Zhu's own idea. They were obviously taught to Little Zhu by Xu Miaoqing.
Although the performance was somewhat obvious, the current Crown Prince is extremely favored by the Emperor Emeritus, and there are many rumors about his mischievousness. Besides, who would bother to doubt the sincerity of such a young child?
Old Zhu was even more gratified at this moment. He knew his great-grandson's personality all too well.
He was well aware that Xiao Zhu's words were undoubtedly taught by Xu Miaoqing. But regardless, Old Zhu thought it was a good thing. It greatly helped Xiao Zhu's filial piety and improved his image.
This is quite good, Zhu Yunying felt there was no downside. After all, the imperial family is a role model for the world, and there are many things that need to be considered. If the imperial family sets a good example, it will naturally make many things easier.
For example, Emperor Zhu Yunying, and even his predecessors Zhu Biao and the retired Emperor Zhu, all three emperors disliked the so-called "three-inch golden lotus" (bound feet). Zhu Yunying strictly prohibited foot binding among the three generations of the imperial family, even without large-scale imperial concubine selections. However, whether it was the empress or the imperial concubine, none of them had natural feet.
This also illustrates a lot; changing customs and traditions is not so easy, and Zhu Yunying was certainly well aware that the outdated custom of foot binding still existed. There were also some so-called refined and elegant scholars who enjoyed this practice. However, in Yingtian Prefecture, within some noble families, many people understood how to follow in the footsteps of their superiors.
Little Zhu ran off with his cup to his three uncles. Xu Huizu was naturally very serious, which made Little Zhu seem hesitant to get too close to him.
“This kid really doesn’t know what’s good for him.” Zhu Yunying put down his chopsticks and said to Old Zhu, “His maternal uncle is looking after our Crown Prince, who is the pillar of the country for the Crown Prince.”
Old Zhu remained noncommittal, appearing quite confident, "He's older than you, so he can't really look after Yin'er. If the third generation of the Xu family is successful, Yin'er will have someone to help him when he ascends the throne."
Zhu Yunying thought about it and realized that it was indeed true.
The late Emperor Zhu Biao's position was secure, and so was the current Emperor Zhu Yunying's. The young Zhu's position as crown prince was practically glued to his backside.
In the Ming Dynasty, the crown prince only needed to grow up; ascending the throne was not difficult. As long as he was healthy, he didn't need to worry about many things—it was incredibly natural and smooth!
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