When Zhu Ying was hosting a banquet for his guests in Zhao Garden in Haidian, the emperor also arrived at Zhang Garden with a small entourage.
Although the emperor used to like the white dragon fish costume and travel incognito, and even encountered turmoil like the King Ye Rebellion, he still couldn't change this habit. It's just that he is a little more cautious now. Before traveling, he will always make full preparations, bring enough experts, and arrange enough guards along the way. However, he still rarely goes to the minister's house.
Because every time he went out, if he went to this house but not that one, it would easily cause people to feel uneasy and over-interpret. Even though Lady Zhao was his aunt, he had visited Zhu's house only a few times in recent years, and most of the time he just wandered around the streets incognito. So, when Zhang Garden was a royal garden, he had come here once or twice, but now that it belonged to Zhang Shou, this was his first time.
As soon as he entered the house, he saw Wu, who was trembling in fear and trepidation in the courtyard, not even daring to raise her head. Thinking of how Zhang Shou was not very nervous when he first met him, he couldn't help but smile slightly, and then joked: "Don't be timid, An Ren. I chose the time when Zhang Shou was not at home to avoid anyone finding out that I had quietly come to his house and leaking the news."
Mrs. Wu had no idea how to answer and could only say yes.
She just heard Zhang Shou say in the morning when he went out that the emperor might come to their house to visit the underground workshop recently, and comforted her that if the emperor came, she should just treat him with a normal heart. But she never expected that not long after Zhang Shou hurried to the Jiuzhang Hall of the Imperial College, Hua Qi, whom she had met several times before, actually came in person to tell her that the emperor was about to come!
Although she knew that the emperor had always treated Zhang Shou differently, he was, after all, the emperor of the day whom everyone respected. Now she was completely unprepared and had no idea how to respond, let alone whether she should stay or leave.
After all, although she had followed Zhang Shou to the workshop several times, firstly, the noisy and dusty environment was not suitable for staying there for too long, and secondly... she couldn't understand all those strange things, let alone explain them to the emperor!
If it were any other woman, she would definitely try to hide her ignorance, but Wu was very self-aware. She finally explained to the emperor hesitantly that she didn't really understand the things in the workshop. The emperor was mentally prepared for this and even said a few words of comfort. The fourth prince who followed behind him was even more daring.
"Don't be afraid, Madam Wu. My father is a very good man. Besides, the teacher asked me to come and take a look. He must be very confident. Even if something goes wrong, it's okay. This is not like building a big ship, a cannon, or a musket. If something goes wrong, it's okay... Oh, father, why did you hit me!"
The Fourth Prince, who had been hit on the head, held his head in his hands with a wronged look on his face. He saw his father blowing his fist and looking at him with a half-smile. He was suddenly startled and realized that he had made the most wrong mistake of talking nonsense, so he quickly shut up.
The emperor's blow to the fourth prince, and the fourth prince's tearful and sad expression, really frightened Wu. She actually went forward and pulled the fourth prince over, rubbed his head, and asked him repeatedly if it hurt. Seeing the fourth prince staring at her blankly, she quickly shook her head for a long time. She just woke up from her dream and realized that it was not Zhang Shou. She quickly let go of his hand and knelt down to salute.