The strongest eldest son of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 31 The Prince's Metamorphosis

The second servant continued, "Young Master, Fifth Young Master Zhu went to the herb garden outside the city early this morning, saying he wanted to collect rare herbs. He ended up trampling all the herbs in the garden, arguing with the herb farmers, and even throwing away their hoes! The herb farmers are almost in tears!"

The third servant hurriedly added, "Young Master, there's also Young Master Zhu the Thirteenth! He went to a hot pot restaurant in the city and insisted on dining and dashing. When the owner refused, he smashed the tables and chairs and even poured broth from the pot on the owner. Now the owner and his men are blocking the gate of the mansion, demanding an explanation!"

The three servants spoke one after another, and after they finished, they all lowered their heads, not daring to look at Zhu Yao's face.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yao felt as if his head was about to explode. He put his hands on his hips, his mouth trembling with anger, and cursed Zhu Yuanzhang eight hundred times in his heart.

My cheapskate father ran away, leaving me with these three troublemakers. In just one night, they've caused so much trouble. They're going to turn this place upside down!

He took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said coldly to Chen Zhong, "Let's go see these three bastards. If we don't teach them a lesson today, they'll really think this is a place where they can do whatever they want!"

Zhu Yao, along with Chen Zhong and his servants, rushed to the street. From afar, they saw the three brothers surrounded in the center of a crowd, with city management officers and several ordinary people holding them down and preventing them from moving.

Zhu Shuang was pinned to the ground, still struggling, his face full of arrogance, repeatedly shouting, "You dare touch me! Let me go right now, or you'll regret it!"

Although Zhu Su didn't struggle much, she frowned and threatened in an icy tone, "I'm warning you, if you know what's good for you, let go right now, or I'll make you pay the price, and even your families won't have peace!"

Zhu Gui became even more enraged, twisting his body and cursing, "A bunch of lowly commoners, how dare you arrest this young master?"

"Just you wait, I'll have someone tear your stall down and raze your herb garden to the ground!"

Although the three were furious, they never revealed that they were princes.

They kept Zhu Yuanzhang's instructions firmly in mind: they must not reveal their identities when out in public, and could only try to intimidate others with their tone and imposing manner.

Seeing Zhu Yao approach, the three glared at each other and began to hurl insults even more fiercely. Zhu Shuang spoke first, his tone full of disdain: "Zhu Yao, you dare to tell us what to do?"

"A motherless bastard dares to act like a big brother in front of us?"

Zhu Gui chimed in with a sneer, "Exactly! Why don't you take a good look at yourself in the mirror? What right do you have to tell us what to do?"

"My father only adopted you out of pity. Do you really think you're something special?"

The surrounding residents and urban management officers were stunned and looked at Zhu Yao, fearing that he would become angry and lash out on the spot.

But Zhu Yao showed no anger on his face after hearing this. Instead, he slowly curled the corners of his mouth into a faint smile, but his eyes were cold as he calmly looked at the three of them.

He neither argued nor reprimanded them, but simply waved his hand at the servants beside him and said in a calm tone, "Take the three of them away and throw them into the wasteland outside the city for labor reform."

"Every day, we work with the farmers to clear land, fertilize, and harvest sweet potatoes. We'll release them when they realize their mistakes and have reformed. During this time, they're not allowed to slack off or cause trouble. If they dare to disobey, they'll be punished for another month."

"Yes, young master!" the servants replied in unison, and hurriedly stepped forward to lift up the three brothers who were still struggling and cursing, and were about to walk out of the city.

"Zhu Yao! How dare you! What right do you have to punish us? I refuse to accept this!" Zhu Shuang struggled desperately and shouted angrily.

"Zhu Yao, you scoundrel! I'm going to tell my father and have him deal with you!" Zhu Su was also anxious, his tone tinged with panic, but he remained defiant.

Zhu Gui launched into a tirade of insults, hurling all sorts of vile words at Zhu Yao, but to no avail.

Watching the three men being carried away by the servants, the steward Chen Zhong approached Zhu Yao, his face full of worry, and whispered, "Young Master, isn't this a bad idea?"

"They are, after all, Master Zhu's sons. If they are punished too severely, Master Zhu will probably be angry when he returns."

Zhu Yao turned to look at Chen Zhong, his smile fading slightly, and said firmly, "Chen Zhong, don't worry. Since my father left the three of them with me, he naturally trusts me to discipline them."

"As the old saying goes, the eldest brother is like a father. Since they have recognized me as their elder brother, I have a responsibility to discipline them. I can't let them continue to be so unruly, causing trouble everywhere and disgracing my father and us."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding common people nodded in agreement and bowed to Zhu Yao in praise: "Young Master Zhu is right. These three young masters are too unruly and need to be disciplined properly, otherwise who knows what kind of trouble they will cause in the future."

Zhu Yao smiled, cupped his hands in greeting to the crowd, and then instructed Chen Zhong to appease the vendors, herb farmers, and hot pot restaurant owners affected by the disturbance and compensate them for their losses.

.....

The servants showed no mercy, dragging Zhu Shuang, Zhu Su, and Zhu Gui to a wasteland outside the city, throwing them on the ground, leaving behind a bag of seeds, a hoe, a sickle, a small amount of coarse grains and drinking water, before turning and leaving, only saying, "The young master said that if they are not reformed, they are not allowed to leave."

After the servants left, Zhu Shuang was the first to get up from the ground, dusted himself off, and trembled with rage. He cursed loudly in the direction the servants had gone, "Zhu Yao! You despicable man!"

"How dare you leave me in this godforsaken place! When I get back, I'll have my father skin you alive!"

Zhu Gui jumped up, kicking away a hoe beside him, his face full of rage: "What labor reform? This is clearly just deliberately making things difficult for us! This desolate place is deserted, there's not even a place to shelter from the wind and rain, how are we supposed to survive?"

Zhu Su frowned, looking at the overgrown, rocky wasteland before him. His face was extremely grim, but unlike the other two, he didn't curse. Instead, he complained in a low voice, "Even medicinal herbs can't grow in this place, let alone crops. Zhu Yao is deliberately making things difficult for us."

The three of them cursed each other for a full hour, until their voices became hoarse and they were exhausted, before they gradually stopped.

Just then, they noticed that there were more than a dozen young people of similar age standing not far away.

At this moment, he is quietly picking up tools and starting to clear the weeds in the ground.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Shuang flew into a rage, stepped forward, and shouted, "What are you lowly servants standing there for? Get over here right now and clear this wasteland and build a shed for me, or I won't let you off the hook!"

But the young people ignored him completely and continued working. Some even looked up at him with disdain in their eyes.