Chapter 61: The Arrogance of the Lu Family

The next day.

After waking up, Zhu Yunsong entered the palace as usual and went to the Grand Secretariat for his classes.

However, living outside now made coming into the palace much more troublesome.

As soon as he arrived at the Grand Secretariat, Zhu Yunsong threw his arm around Zhu Gui and the others, discussing the matters of their tavern. As for the other younger imperial uncles, seeing that they were able to do business together, they felt a certain degree of envy and jealousy.

Alas, they were still too young. Unlike Zhu Gui and the three others, Zhu Yunsong had no intention of bringing them along for now.

They did not yet need to make a living for themselves, their daily expenses were modest, and the younger vassal princes still lived within the palace without having moved out, meaning their food and lodging were entirely provided for.

Watching how harmonious and chummy they were, Zhu Zhuoxuan felt a deep pang of envy.

He was intensely envious that Zhu Yunsong had managed to secure the support of the imperial uncles.

He himself had already won the backing of the civil officials; if he could also gain the support of the imperial uncles, his position as the crown prince would be completely secure. Yet, the imperial uncles simply refused to pay him any mind, a situation he attributed primarily to the blunt and confrontational remarks Zhu Yunsong had previously made.

"Zhu Yunsong!"

Zhu Zhuoxuan silently muttered these three names in his heart.

Yet he could only harbor these thoughts secretly in his mind, being in reality utterly cowardly and averse to trouble.

"Fang Xiaoru is coming," Zhu Ying whispered.

Hearing this, Zhu Yunsong and the others finally quieted down.

The teachers of the Grand Secretariat still deserved a modicum of respect.

Fang Xiaoru ignored them and officially began his lecture, forcing them to listen for a while.

Ever since Zhu Zhuoxuan had moved out of the palace, civil officials had been contacting him one after another to facilitate the future struggle for the succession. Consequently, they no longer paid any attention to Zhu Yunsong. As for teaching him knowledge, they felt it would be best if Zhu Yunsong refused to learn altogether.

Therefore, when Zhu Yunsong requested permission to leave, Fang Xiaoru agreed without a second thought.

In their eyes, if Zhu Yunsong was determined to ruin himself, it was an absolute blessing, and they were more than happy to see it happen.

Zhu Yunsong took the three imperial uncles and the money, and returned to the tavern.

Seeing that they had truly returned, Li Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"My four lords!"

Li Feng worriedly reported, "Just now, someone from the Lü family came by, asking if I wanted to sell this tavern. They wanted to buy it for five hundred taels of silver. I refused, but the Lü family certainly won't let the matter rest. What do you think we should do?"

Zhu Yunsong replied, "Forcing a purchase and selling against one's will—how mighty the Lü family is. From this moment on, this tavern is no longer yours. Let us see if Lü Zheng has the ability to snatch it from my hands."

With these words, Li Feng felt entirely at ease.

He completely handed the property over to Zhu Yunsong, presented the deed, and completed the full payment procedures.

"We told you to gather all the original staff of the tavern. Have you done so?" Zhu Gui asked.

"I have," Li Feng answered.

He continued, "I dropped a hint to them that all four lords bear the surname Zhu. The moment they heard that, every single one of them expressed their willingness to return. After all, finding a livelihood is not easy, and as long as the four lords are willing to keep them, they will not leave."

Hearing this, it was certain that the personnel were already secured.

Having run a tavern for so long, Li Feng certainly had no shortage of procurement channels.

Everything was already in place, waiting only for them to open their doors for business.

"Our first step is to crush the Lü family," Zhu Yunsong declared.

Zhu Gui suggested, "Is that not simple? Yunsong, you can just go back and bring a squad of the Brocade Guard over. They can easily wipe out the Lü family's inn and save them from continually coming here to cause trouble."

Hearing how casually they could summon a squad of the Brocade Guard, Li Feng's eyes lit up. He realized he had chosen the right people; true to their imperial surname, he would finally have a powerful backing in Nanjing from now on.

"That is not the same," Zhu Yunsong shook his head and said.

"What we need to do is first give Lü Zheng a glimmer of hope, and then slowly strip that hope away until he falls into complete despair. That is the only way it becomes fun. If we simply crush him outright, would it not look like we are bullying the weak by abusing our power?"

"This is brilliant!"

Upon hearing this, the three imperial uncles immediately expressed their enthusiastic agreement.

The people of the Lü family were so detestable that they thoroughly deserved to be tormented.

"If we simply rely on power to bully others and open this tavern that way, would we not lose a great deal of the fun? Am I right?" Zhu Yunsong asked with a beaming smile.

Zhu Ying admiringly remarked, "You always have so many wicked schemes, haha... But how exactly should we play this game?"

Pondering this, Zhu Yunsong looked at Li Feng and asked, "What is Lü Zheng's exact situation?"

Acting on a sudden impulse to make money, they had plunged into this industry with zero prior knowledge of Lü Zheng. Yet they could be certain that running a tavern in this location would definitely be profitable, or Lü Zheng would not have gone to such lengths.

This location was truly prime real estate.

"Lü Zheng has done a great many things," Li Feng began.

"First of all, his tavern holds a certain status here. The most bustling tavern right next door is his primary business."

"Using his establishment, he drives out other competitors running taverns, inns, or eateries in the area. Leveraging his identity as the brother-in-law of the Crown Princess, no one dares to compete with him on this street. He is extremely domineering."

"The officials of the Yingtian Prefecture yamen simply turn a blind eye to his actions."

Li Feng's resentment toward Lü Zheng appeared to have accumulated over a long period.

However, because Lü Zheng possessed formidable backing, ordinary people could do nothing against him.

Zhu Yunsong seemed to have guessed something and inquired, "He squeezes out other proprietors, and then forcefully acquires their properties at low prices, which is practically robbery, am I right?"

"Precisely!"

Li Feng gritted his teeth in hatred. "My lord is entirely correct. Several proprietors nearby are my friends, and their properties were stolen in precisely that manner. At first, some were unwilling to sell, but Lü family thugs would break into their homes, drag them out and beat them savagely, and then send them to the yamen where the charges were twisted against them. Refuse to sell, and you go to prison; sell, and you are released. When matters reach that point, who dares refuse to sell?"

*Bang...*

Before he even finished speaking, Zhu Zhi slammed his fist onto the table in fury.

"This is Nanjing, right beneath the feet of the Son of Heaven! Do members of the Lü family treat the yamen as their personal estate? Utterly lawless, completely defiant!" Zhu Zhi raged.

Zhu Gui and Zhu Ying reacted similarly, burning with such anger that they wanted to drag Lü Zheng out and beat him senseless.

Even as imperial princes, they had never dared to commit such acts; how dare a mere Lü Zheng do so?

Especially given his collusion with the officials of the Yingtian Prefecture yamen—reporting this single fact to the Emperor would be enough to have both the Lü family and those Yingtian Prefecture officials skinned alive.

"Do not fly into a rage just yet," Zhu Yunsong placated them.

"There will be plenty of misery coming Lü Zheng's way soon enough. Continue."

"Yes!"

Li Feng was startled by their violent reaction.

Yet with them supporting him, he suddenly found himself afraid of nothing and prepared to cast all caution to the wind. He continued, "Lü Zheng's primary tavern is named the River Moon Pavilion. It is his main enterprise and the most expensive establishment under his name, used exclusively to entertain high-ranking officials, nobles, scholars, and wealthy elites."

"Scholars?"

Hearing this, Zhu Yunsong paused to think for a moment before asking, "Civil officials of the imperial court, students of the Imperial Academy, Hanlin scholars, and the like?"

Recalling that Zhu Zhuoxuan's political foundation consisted precisely of these people, Zhu Yunsong deduced there must be a connection. As an uncle, Lü Zheng would certainly support Zhu Zhuoxuan as well.