After staring at Zhu Ying's face, which had become more and more beautiful as she grew older, for a long time, the emperor finally sighed deeply.
"I really shouldn't have told you the story of Emperor Taizu when you were little... My two sons didn't take it to heart, but you kept it in your mind all day long, almost going crazy! Yingying, that was many years ago. If we count from the time Emperor Taizu disappeared at sea, it has been more than 80 years. There are so many rumors..."
"But rumors are different from facts! If Your Majesty says that what you hear is not true, and what you see is not true, then what I have tasted with my own mouth cannot be false, right? I was born as the daughter of the Duke of Zhao. You and the Queen Mother both dote on me. There is no treasure in the world that I have not seen! There is no delicacy in the world that I have not eaten."
“But this time in Cangzhou, I ate something I had never eaten before, and the taste was incredible!”
Zhu Ying spoke excitedly about the delicious food Zhang Shou had made, her face filled with happiness, and the emperor watched, his expression gradually softened unconsciously. He had several daughters, who were either respectful or reserved in front of him. Even though they were talented and beautiful, and their biological mother was Princess Yongping, Concubine Yu, they behaved dignified and noble most of the time, and never got petty.
But probably just like he used to like Concubine Yu, who was cheerful and unpretentious, and because he knew that it was difficult to tell the identity of Princess Yongping and Zhu Ying, he had always treated her like his own daughter ever since Zhu Ying was often taken to the palace by the empress dowager to stay for a short time when she was still in her infancy. What he liked to see most was her lively smile that was like the bright sunshine.
Whether she was happy or satisfied, disgusted or angry, Zhu Ying would show it all on her face without hiding it. Her emotions were clear to everyone, and she didn't bother to hide them at all. Thinking of the little things in the past, he couldn't help but stand up, just like he did to the little girl in his childhood, and directly pointed a finger at Zhu Ying's forehead.
"Oh..." Zhu Ying quickly took a step back and then said angrily, "Your Majesty, I'm not a child anymore. Are you listening to me carefully?"
"Listen, you said that the guy nicknamed Old Salted Fish brought back all kinds of seeds from Haidong, such as tomatoes, potatoes, corn, peanuts, etc., but he couldn't grow cotton well, and only one rubber tree survived... Oh, that one is almost dead." The emperor put away his smile and said lightly, "But Zhang Shou also sent people to report these things to me one by one."
"In fact, your ideal husband does things very unexpectedly. Since he went to Cangzhou, he usually just followed your elder brother and made symbolic reports. However, privately, he kept sending letters to the outer office of the Silijian, and then sent them to me through Chu Kuan. He really pays attention to every detail. However, private reports are more important than official reports, which is a taboo for officials. Isn't he afraid that others will say that he is trying to curry favor with his superiors to get promoted?"
"He doesn't care!" Zhu Ying snorted, but her face didn't look angry, but rather very happy. "He said he wasn't very interested in being an official, but he was more interested in seeing my second brother and Zhang Chen and Lu Sanlang making progress. The memorials were not only for the emperor to see, but also for many officials to see, so of course there were a lot of high-sounding words."