"I wonder what the two of you are here for?" The prince asked.

Zhang Lu put the fold on the table and said, "It was Your Majesty who drew up a list of beheadings, and let the two of us send it."

The prince took the fold and looked at it, during which he would frown from time to time, and after reading all the folds, the prince said: "Xuan Guogong is plotting against him, but he wants to kill so many people, you go back and tell Your Majesty that I can't approve this red."

"Alright, then we'll go back." Zhang Lu took the fold and left with Yuan Kai.

Back in the imperial study, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "What did the prince say?"

Before Zhang Yi could speak, he was interrupted by Zhu Yuanzhang: "You kid has a lot of ghost ideas, I don't believe what you say, Yuan Kai, come and tell me, how did the prince say it?"

Yuan Kai arched his hand and said, "The prince doesn't think he should kill so many people."

When he said this, Zhu Yuanzhang did not get angry, but asked with great interest: "I think I should be killed, the prince thinks it shouldn't, Yuan Kai, I came to ask you, who do you think is right between me and the prince?"

Yuan Kai was just about to reply, and suddenly remembered what Zhang Zhen had said to him, he didn't know how to be flexible, if he said that the prince was correct according to what he wanted in his heart at this moment, then it would inevitably make His Majesty angry, but if His Majesty was right, then Xuanguogong's family would no longer be spared.

Now he can only coax His Majesty to be happy first, and then it is possible to save Xuanguogong's family.

Thinking of this, Yuan Kai said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty can shake the country by governing the country strictly, and the East Palace can be blessed with generosity and benevolence, there is no right or wrong between the two."

Yuan Kai thought he had found the best answer, his voice was particularly loud, but Zhang Zhen secretly covered his face, in fact, there is no problem with what Yuan Kai said, but it also depends on who he is facing, Zhu Yuanzhang is the emperor, with Zhang Kai's understanding of him, this is definitely an emperor who says the same, how can such a person allow a second voice to appear in the country? Even if this second voice is made by the future prince, it will not work.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't make any judgment on Yuan Kai's words, but turned his head to Zhang Zhen and asked, "Zhang Yuan, who do you think is right, me or the crown prince?"

Zhang Yan looked at Yuan Kai embarrassedly, and then said: "Your Majesty is right, a country can't have two words, my uncle told me that you must be loyal to the king, and whoever is the king is right."

Yuan Kai's eyes widened, he didn't expect Zhang Zhen to say this, he made a change himself, and his words were more tactful, but Zhang Zhen said so plainly. Yuan Kai even had some doubts about whether Zhang Zhen regarded himself as a ladder for promotion.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled, but the smile did flash, he straightened up a face, and said to Yuan Kai: "You learned Zhang Lu's female cunning, but you only learned three of them."

Yuan Kai didn't know whether Zhu Yuanzhang's words were good or bad, so he could only kneel on the ground and say, "Wechen is guilty."

Before Zhu Yuanzhang could speak, an attendant reported outside the door: "Your Majesty, the prince asks to see you."

Xu was afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang would really go on a killing spree, so as soon as Zhang Lu and the others left the James Mansion on their front feet, the prince followed.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't pay attention to Yuan Kai anymore, nor did he let him get up, but said to the waiter, "Let the prince come in."

The prince entered the imperial study respectfully, and as soon as he came in, he saw Yuan Kai kneeling on the ground, and Zhang Zhen was standing beside him, and the prince could probably guess what had just happened, and said directly to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty, it is enough for Xuanguo Gong to punish him alone for making mistakes, and it is not better to behead the Li family."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyes lightly and said, "What? Doesn't he deserve to die?"

The prince felt that he shouldn't, but he didn't dare to say it, and Yuan Kai didn't think it should either, but he didn't know whether he should say it now.

For a while, the imperial study was quiet, and Zhang Yu could only stubbornly say: "Weichen thinks that Xuan Guogong deserves to die, but he should be executed according to the crime of greedy ink, not killing the monarch and rebelling."

Greedy ink can generally be dealt with at the discretion, and the family members will be sentenced to exile at most, but if the crime of killing the monarch and rebelling is really confirmed, the family will definitely be beheaded together.

Seeing that Zhang Lu said this, Yuan Kai also echoed: "Tell the truth about the rebellion

It was difficult to convince the public, and the minister felt that Zhang Lu was right."

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at the two of them fiercely, and said, "Whether it is greedy ink or rebellion, Li Shanchang is a capital crime, this world is too big, and there are too many nobles, if I don't need to re-enforce the code, why do I let the nobles in this world throw a mouse?"

Yuan Kai wanted to say more, but Zhu Yuanzhang had already spoken: "Someone! Beat these two guys out of the palace!"

As soon as the words fell, there were already attendants with sticks towards Zhang Lu and Yuan Kai. Zhang Lu is extraordinary, how can these servants beat Zhang Zhen? He dodged the club with just a dodge.

But Yuan Kai was not so lucky, he was a weak scholar, and he could be said to have no power to resist in the face of the chamberlain holding a stick, so he could only watch the stick hit him, but fortunately, Zhang Kai reacted quickly enough, and ran out as soon as he pulled Yuan Kai.

A few chamberlains did not stop, but His Majesty's will was to go out of the palace, so they could only chase after Zhang Lu with sticks, and they did not stop until they reached the outside of the palace gate.

Zhang Lu and Yuan Kai were beaten out of the palace, which made many people look at it.

Zhang Lu helped Yuan Kai, who was still panting, and asked, "How is it?" Didn't you hurt, did you?"

Yuan Kai was beaten several times with a solid stick, how could he not be injured? Now he only felt that his body hurt badly, and in the face of Zhang Lu's concern, he shook off Zhang Lu's hand.

Zhang Lu was a little confused and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Yuan Kai's expression was a little complicated, and he said, "Yuan Mou's temperament is indeed straighter, I know all this, I did what you said today, try to make myself smooth, but I don't know why this is still the case? What is right and what is wrong in this world? I don't understand more and more, Zhang Lu, you are very smart, but it makes me feel scared, I don't know if what you said to me is right or wrong, I can't judge. I don't know what I'm going to do right now, do I stick with my old self, or do I try to change as much as I can? Zhang Lu, I just want to ask you, do you mean to cheat me?"

Zhang Zhen turned to Yuan Kai and asked, "You don't believe me?"

Yuan Kai didn't answer, but Zhang Zhen saw distrust in his guarded eyes.

The two just looked at each other, Yuan Kai shook his head, and finally limped in the direction of home.

In fact, it's no wonder that Yuan Kai is all this, his family is not a scholarly family, his parents are honest people, he has studied the classics of the saints since he was a child, and he is strict with himself. A person like him is almost equivalent to a flawless piece of white jade, he is unpolished, he only thinks that the truth in the book is right, and there is no room for sand in his eyes.

This is a portrayal of his life, it would be great if a person like Yuan Kai was a Confucian and opened an academy or something, but he won the examination and entered the official career.

He originally thought that if he became an official, he would be able to show his strength, do some good things for the people of the world, and solve problems for the son of heaven in the court, but how could he think so simple in this court? It is precisely because of his upright temperament that he does not have any friends in Yingtianfu.

After a long time, Yuan Kai naturally realized his problem, he wanted to change, but he couldn't find the root of the problem, and he didn't know where to start, Zhang Lu appeared at this time.

Zhang Kai's words allowed Yuan Kai to open the door to a new world, but this world was mixed with too many things that were not in books, so that Yuan Kai couldn't even tell the simple good from the bad, and his concept collapsed, which also made him a little disheartened now.

It is not a good thing for Yuan Kai to face the world outside of books, but where he will develop in the future can only depend on Yuan Kai himself.

Zhang Lu looked at Yuan Kai's limping back, shook his head helplessly, and turned around and walked towards his house.

……

In the imperial study, now that Zhang Lu and Yuan Kai are missing, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao seem to talk a lot more casually.

Zhu Biao was extremely sincere, and said, "After all, Xuanguo Gong and you are considered to be sons and daughters, and now you want to destroy the nine clans of Xuanguo Gong, isn't it even Lin'an's sister among them?"

Princess Lin'an is the eldest daughter of Zhu Yuanzhang and married Li Qi, the eldest son of Li Shanchang.

Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes, and his mind was full of Princess Lin'an, he was real

doted on his eldest daughter, only to hear him slowly speak: "You have also seen the list of red approvals, and there is no name of Lin'an in it."

Zhu Biao said again: "But Lin'an and his sister-in-law are in love, Li Qi's name is in the red, and their children Li Mao and Li Fang are also listed, do you want Lin'an to blame you for the rest of your life?"

Zhu Yuanzhang opened his eyes, the tenderness for his family in his eyes was gone, only the domineering of the superiors, "Lin'an and Li Qi can be exempted, and Li Fang can also, but Li Mao colluded with the Nine Gates to murder the people, and it is really a crime that cannot be punished!"

Zhu Biao still comforted: "But Li Mao is your grandson!"

A trace of coldness flashed on Zhu Yuanzhang's face, and he said, "What about my grandson? I am the Emperor! You are the crown prince! There should be a decision that ordinary people don't have!"

Zhu Biao was still unconvinced, "Even if Li Mao deserves to die if he violates the law of the country, most of your criticism is innocent, they are just related to Xuan Guogong, what is the crime?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Biao and said, "I didn't do this for you!"

Zhu Biao was puzzled, "For me?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Yes, you are courteous and courteous, upright, and a good seedling to be the emperor, I believe that you will manage it very well if you send the Ming to you in the future, but there will always be people in this world who will restrain you, that is, those nobles, Li Shanchang is the head of the nobles, if he does not die, you will not be able to suppress him in the future, even if he has no objection, as long as he is there, those guys with ulterior motives can also use him to make it difficult to implement your decree." I'm old, I don't know how many years I have to live, before I die, I must eradicate all the disasters of the Ming Dynasty, and I will bear the sin by killing, you just need to be a wise emperor."

Zhu Biao said it earlier, but he was directly driven out by Zhu Yuanzhang.