Chapter 5 Junying Grass

The next morning, Zhu Gaoxu got up before daybreak. The mansion was very quiet, shrouded in white mist, and the flickering lanterns made it seem very cold and gloomy.

He ran into Du Qianrui outside a wing room. She was twisting a floral cloth package in her hand, and hurriedly walked forward and half-knelt to greet him, "I didn't expect the prince to get up so early. I want to ask if the prince is well."

"Where is Wang Gui?" Zhu Gaoxu looked around.

Du Qianrui said, "Eunuch Wang lives in the outer room and asked me to clean up this morning and go find him. I'm going right away."

So the two of them walked out along the corridor, out of a hall, and came to the front of the inverted room. At this time, they suddenly heard whispers from behind the stable. Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but turn around, walked to the corner without making a sound, and stood there for a while.

As he got closer, he heard a voice whispering, "You know what happened to the King of Xiang, right? His whole family burned themselves to death!"

"Why?" asked another voice.

"Some people say that it was the imperial court that forced them to do this. I don't think so. The princes were very proud, and how could they bear to be humiliated by the clerks?"

"That's right. Look at how domineering the Prince of Gaoyang is. He beat an imperial official to death over a disagreement!"

"Without relying on the Prince of Yan, how long can the Prince of Gaoyang be so arrogant? Hehe..."

Zhu Gaoxu walked out calmly. The two men turned around and looked ashen, and stood there like wooden chickens, with only their legs trembling violently.

One of them fell to his knees first, "Prince, spare my life!"

The other one also quickly fell to the ground, kowtowed and begged for mercy.

Zhu Gaoxu said coldly, "Spreading rumors and alienating the emperor and his subjects, have you had enough of living?"

“I don’t dare anymore. I don’t dare…” Their faces turned pale.

Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand and said, "Get lost!"

Du Qianrui, who was standing by, looked surprised... Perhaps in her opinion, how could this prince, who would beat people to death at any time, let those two servants go so easily?

They continued to walk forward, Zhu Gaoxu looked back at Du Qianrui, "This house belongs to the Prince of Yan's Mansion, but usually there are not many people in the house. After we brothers came to the capital, the court 'kindly' sent some people to take care of it, and most of the people in the mansion are not ours now."

He paused and said, "It's useless to argue with them."

Du Qianrui said hurriedly, "Your Majesty is magnanimous and magnanimous. This is admirable."

Zhu Gaoxu shook his head and said nothing.

At this time, he saw a few bunches of white flowers blooming under the banana tree in the corner of the wall. Looking closely, it turned out to be lily of the valley... It was a very common ornamental plant in later generations, but it is really rare now. In ancient times, it seemed to be called Junying grass, a plant in the deep mountains of the north. Most of the people in the Prince of Yan's Mansion were from the north, and I don't know who brought it to this yard to plant it.

He suddenly had an idea and said in a meaningful tone, "Miss Du, did you see the little flower in the corner? Junying grass, the flowers are small and hard to be noticed, and they like to grow in dark places, but the whole body is poisonous!"

Du Qianrui indeed seemed to be thinking about something.

After a while, they saw Wang Gui. Zhu Gaoxu gave them some instructions and watched them leave. If they left at this time, they could leave the city as soon as the city gate opened.

Zhu Gaoxu guessed that if Huang Zicheng was unwilling to let the matter go, the best way would be to file a complaint with the emperor.

The only person who could punish princes in the capital was probably the emperor. If a prince broke the law, he would not be punished the same as the common people; one way to punish a prince was to punish the people around him.

...Two hours later, Zhu Gaoxu confirmed his guess. His fourth uncle Xu Zengshou came to the house and scolded Zhu Gaoxu. It was almost lunchtime, and Xu Zengshou revealed the news at the dinner table.

Xu Zengshou was an elder of Zhu Gaoxu and others, but he was only in his twenties. He wore a colorful brocade robe, which not only made him look young but also frivolous.

After leaving the dinner table, Xu Zengshou sat down on a throne.

Three maids bowed and walked in front of him, one holding a wooden tray, one holding a bowl of water, and another holding tea. Xu Zengshou skillfully picked up the white porcelain bowl, drank a mouthful of water, raised his head and made a very exaggerated "gulp" sound from his throat, then spit it into the copper basin; then he took the teacup, opened the lid and stroked the water surface.

Zhu Gaoxu immediately looked across and exchanged glances with the Crown Prince and others.

The prince waved his hand and drove the maids out of the hall.

Xu Zengshou finished his trivial tasks in a dignified manner, and his tone softened. He stopped cursing and said, "Gao Xu, I heard that this incident was probably caused by a prostitute from Fuleyuan. I heard the whole story, and you are not right. Ambassador Xu went to Fuleyuan to select prostitutes to prepare for the banquet, and he argued with you and was beaten. Then he met you on the road and argued with you again, and was beaten to death... Of course, that's just what others said. Uncle wants to hear what you have to say."

At this time, the Crown Prince and Gao Sui also looked at Zhu Gaoxu sideways.

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a moment and found the crux of the conflict. It was not about a singing girl, and the place to talk about it was certainly not Fuleyuan. So he roughly told how Ambassador Xu colluded with local officials to treat human lives as worthless and how he caused Du to become a singing girl.

When Xu Zengshou was eating, his behavior was rather vulgar, but he soon showed his strengths and was willing to listen to others patiently.

After hearing this, Xu Zengshou pondered for a long time, perhaps thinking about the right and wrong of this matter.

Zhu Gaoxu continued, "I have been to Fuleyuan two or three times. I did nothing but invite Miss Du to sing. She speaks beautifully, with ups and downs, but who would have known that she was a person who had suffered a lot of injustice?"

Xu Zengshou glanced at Zhu Gaoxu and said earnestly, "No matter how many twists and turns there are, she is just a singing girl. Gaoxu doesn't need to do this." He paused and said, "The official you just mentioned bullied men and women and did all kinds of evil. When the time comes, don't mention it in the letter or to the emperor. Do you understand?"

Zhu Gaoxu was very grateful and immediately replied, "I am willing to listen to my fourth uncle's teachings."

Xu Zengshou nodded and said, "It's useless to say that. The emperor only acknowledges that you killed someone. He doesn't care about all the ups and downs of the city and the countryside. You just need to admit your mistake..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a servant ran to the door, bent down and said, "My Lord, the Duke of Wei is here! We dare not stop him and have already welcomed him in!"

The Duke of Wei was the eldest son of his uncles Xu Huizu and Xu Da, and inherited the title of Duke of Wei.

Hearing this, the expression on Fourth Uncle Xu Zengshou's face instantly became very rich. The prince immediately stood up and said, "Help me quickly, go and greet the eldest uncle."

Xu Zengshou stood up, glanced calmly at the back door of the house, and said, "I'm leaving first."

The prince and others were stunned, and then they heard Xu Zengshou say, "You don't have to see me off. Let's skip the red tape. You go and pick her up... There's no need to mention my visit." After that, he ran away.

Zhu Gaoxu and Gao Sui had no choice but to support their eldest brother and choose to go and meet their uncle Xu Huizu.

The prince muttered, "Uncle doesn't set an example in front of us, and he doesn't even see his own eldest brother."

Gao Sui whispered, "Brother, you know that the two uncles are not born from the same mother... The three of us brothers have the same mother."

Zhu Gaoxu seemed to be thinking about something after hearing this, and the prince glared at Gao Sui fiercely.

After a while, they saw Xu Zuhui. No wonder the servants didn't dare to stop him... Xu Zuhui's face was full of anger and red, which was very scary! Moreover, he was very burly, with a broad and square face, and the serious vertical lines between his eyebrows seemed to be the embodiment of reason and morality! It was because he made people respect and fear him that people couldn't contradict him.

"You unfilial son!" Xu Zuhui became even angrier when he saw Zhu Gaoxu. He waved his hand and lifted up the sleeves of his gray robe, ready to rush over and attack!

At this time, the prince choked up and said, "My second brother is young and ignorant. It's all my fault that I didn't take good care of him. The main culprit..." He reached out and grabbed Zhu Gaoxu's collar and said in a deep voice, "Why don't you admit your mistake to your uncle!"

Zhu Gaoxu said nothing.

Xu Zuhui turned around and pointed at the scholar-like old man who was following him and said, "Take off the leather belt!"

Zhu Gaoxu was shocked when he saw this, thinking, is he going to beat me with a belt?!

The prince pleaded, "Uncle can't do that. Considering my ignorance, please spare him this time. If you want to hit me, please hit me first. Even if my skin is torn to pieces, I am willing to do it!"

The old man who had untied his belt also supported Xu Huizu and advised, "Please calm down, don't get angry."

Xu Huizu turned around, pointed at Zhu Gaoxu, and said, "I think you are lawless, huh?"

Zhu Gaoxu said stubbornly, "I know I am wrong, and it is right for my uncle to beat and scold me."

After hearing this, Xu Huizu sighed again, covered his chest, and cursed sadly, "If it weren't for your mother, I wouldn't bother to care about you!"

The meaning of this statement is very clear, beating you and scolding you is also for your own good! Does Zhu Gaoxu still have any reason to resist?

"Why don't you invite Duke Wei into the house so he can have a drink of water and calm down?" the old man asked anxiously.

The prince called his two brothers and helped Xu Huizu into the upper room.

When they got to the house, Xu Huizu continued to scold Zhu Gaoxu from a moral standpoint. Zhu Gaoxu didn't care whether he was right or wrong, and didn't say a word of retort, but just listened with gritted teeth.

After hearing countless abusive words, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly spotted Wang Gui, who was walking back and forth outside the door, occasionally stretching his neck to look inside.

Zhu Gaoxu's heart skipped a beat: Shouldn't Wang Gui and Du Qianrui have left the city long ago?

Xu Huizu's moral discourses were extremely boring to begin with, and now Zhu Gaoxu couldn't listen to a single word of it. He was only wondering why Wang Gui was still in Nanjing.

After a while, a maid came in to add more tea. Zhu Gaoxu walked over, took the teapot, and poured tea for Xu Huizu himself, taking the opportunity to say, "Uncle, calm down. I'll go change my clothes and come back later."

Xu Huizu glanced sideways at this time and also noticed the person pacing hurriedly outside. It seemed that Xu Huizu had seen through the excuse.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't care about anything else, he walked out of the room, glanced at Wang Gui, and walked in front. Wang Gui also hurriedly followed.