Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 1224 Zhu Chong, the Doting Husband-Spoiling Maniac; Ma Xiuying, the Doting Husband-Spoiling

Is it worth it to get slapped twice by Empress Ma in exchange for a pancake made by Empress Ma?

For Emperor Zhu, the question wasn't whether it was worth it or not, but rather—could such a good thing really exist in the world?

The girl's little hand patted our shoulder, it didn't hurt, it was just loosening our skin.

After the dough is softened, we have a big pancake made by the girl herself, and a bowl of authentic Ningyang duck blood vermicelli soup. It's simply wonderful!

Empress Ma was both amused and exasperated by Emperor Zhu's lazy and listless appearance.

"Look at you, you're a grown man, yet you still resort to such petty tricks. Aren't you afraid the children will laugh at you?"

"And what about all those affairs in the imperial court? You just let go of them like that, but you've come to Ningyang County to escape the hustle and bustle?"

Empress Ma talked on and on about Emperor Zhu, while Emperor Zhu listened with a broad smile.

It's a good thing Yang Shaofeng isn't here. If he were, everyone would be smirking and saying, "That old man got his kicks again!"

Empress Ma refused to let Emperor Zhu off the hook and continued, "What were you thinking? The emperor of the Ming Dynasty, what were you doing? Stealing bicycles from ordinary people's homes?"

Emperor Zhu froze, his hand holding the cake still. After a long while, he chuckled and said, "These two little beasts have run out of tricks. They have no new ideas besides making up stories about us."

Empress Ma glanced at Emperor Zhu and asked, "Are you saying you didn't steal the bicycle, and that Biao'er and your good son-in-law wronged you?"

Emperor Zhu touched his nose and stammered, "Stealing... that wasn't stealing, it was borrowing. How can the emperor say it was stealing? We didn't borrow and not return it..."

Empress Ma glared at Emperor Zhu and snorted coldly, "So you weren't wronged?"

Emperor Zhu shrank back and muttered in a low voice, "We didn't steal it, we borrowed it, we borrowed it and returned it, how could that be stealing..."

Empress Ma snorted again, then looked at Emperor Zhu and asked, "Is that bicycle really that good that it's worth it for an emperor like you to personally 'borrow' it?"

Emperor Zhu pretended not to hear Empress Ma's emphasis on the word "borrow," and instead shamelessly said, "That's really good—you can run by just using your two feet, without eating grass or burning coal. Although it's a bit slow, it's still much faster than walking."

"The key is that this thing is not picky about the road. It can still carry more than 100 pounds of things on many narrow roads that are difficult for horse-drawn carriages to pass."

"Of course, carrying something weighing over 100 pounds is tiring, but if you put someone else on the back of that load, wouldn't it be even more tiring and slower?"

“Take the journey from the county town to Xihe. It used to take half an hour to walk there, but riding this thing would probably only take about fifteen minutes.”

The more Emperor Zhu talked, the happier he became. He ate the flatbread in his hand in big mouthfuls, then drank the Ningyang authentic Jinling duck blood vermicelli soup in his bowl clean. He burped, wiped his mouth, and said to Empress Ma, "Come on, sister, let's take you to see that bicycle."

Empress Ma glanced at Emperor Zhu but did not refute him. Instead, she got up and followed behind him, and the couple strolled leisurely out of the courtyard.

As the two strolled to the so-called bicycle workshop, Emperor Zhu used his face to take away a new bicycle, which he then slowly pushed outside the city. The scene gradually took a turn for the worse.

It all started when a doting husband suddenly had a brilliant idea: since bicycles can carry a hundred kilograms or even more, they can naturally be used to carry people.

So Emperor Zhu specially invited Empress Ma to sit on the back of the bicycle, saying, "Let me take you for a spin."

Then, a woman who dotes on her husband, feeling sorry for her man and finding it quite amusing, suddenly had a whimsical idea and said, "Chongba, stop first, get off and help me, I'll try riding a couple of laps too."

And then...

As is well known, the roads in Ningyang County were built to be exceptionally wide from the very beginning because of a certain prince consort who wished to remain anonymous. Even the "small" roads leading from the county town to the villages outside the town were at least three zhang wide.

The road, three zhang wide, was wide enough for Empress Ma to ride her bicycle freely, and she could even slowly learn to turn in circles.

Empress Ma even confidently told Emperor Zhu, "Come on, get on too, I'll take you for a few laps."

Then, Empress Ma smiled and said to Emperor Zhu, "You have to find a way to talk to our good son-in-law and ask him to modify this carriage. It would be best if he could make a smaller one that would be easier for women to ride."

Emperor Zhu smacked his lips and said, "Don't worry, sister. That scoundrel has already told the workshop to make a bicycle that is easy for women to ride. It's just that we'll have to wait a few more months and have more people try it out before we can finally decide how to make it."

At this point, Emperor Zhu blinked again and said, "By the way, we need to write a letter to Biao'er and ask him to set up a shed over at Wulong Bridge when he has time, so that it will be convenient for those officials to ride their bicycles to court."

Empress Ma couldn't help but roll her eyes and said, "Look at you, you've come all the way to Ningyang County to slack off, yet you're still thinking about how to boss those officials around. If you had known this would happen, why did you bother making excuses to come to Ningyang County?"

Emperor Zhu took the bicycle from Empress Ma and had her sit on the back seat. As he pushed it toward the city, he said, "It's different, it's very different."

“When we’re in the capital, those two bastards will try every means to slack off, and they’ll even find ways to torment us.”

“We’re not in the capital, so Biao’er can handle this on his own. That bastard will only do his best to help Biao’er, instead of causing trouble for us all the time.”

Emperor Zhu secretly praised himself: I'm so clever!

Empress Ma glanced at Emperor Zhu, but couldn't help but laugh.

"You're right."

“Now that you’ve come to Ningyang County, our Biao’er has to deal with state affairs whether he likes it or not. Our good son-in-law is indeed doing his best to help Biao’er.”

"I just don't know what Mr. Shanchang and Mr. Qingtian will say about you behind your back."

Emperor Zhu chuckled twice and said, "Think whatever you want. We treat people like cattle and horses, so why can't they gossip about us behind our backs? Also, this trip has made me realize something."

Empress Ma was slightly taken aback, while Emperor Zhu smiled and said, "If we stay in the capital for too long, we will gradually become estranged from the common people. We will not know what the common people have become, nor will we know what they want."

“If he comes out for a walk like this and takes a look around, he will still be Zhu Chongba, not the emperor who is high and mighty.”

"After we finish this tour, we have to tell Biao'er that an emperor can't just sit in the palace; he has to go out and see the world."

Empress Ma rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "Yes, you're right—but why did you stop and wander around Ningyang County while you were just taking a look around?"

Emperor Zhu laughed twice and said, "It's really not my fault. The main thing is that in other places, I'm the emperor, but here in Ningyang County, I'm not only the emperor, but also the father-in-law of their master. I can chat with Liu Thirty-Two and the others in the fields, and I can stroll around the streets without any guards."

Empress Ma nodded with a smile, then frowned slightly and looked at Emperor Zhu, asking, "Speaking of which, you've been away for so long, is there any progress on that issue of industrialization competing with agriculture for people?"

The smile on Emperor Zhu's face gradually faded, and he said in a deep voice, "Yes, and no."

Empress Ma was very curious. Just as Emperor Zhu was about to continue, the two of them were stopped outside the city by a man who looked like a yamen runner. "Teacher, show me your driver's license and car purchase certificate."

Emperor Zhu stared blankly at the young yamen runner before him and asked, "What driver's license? What vehicle purchase certificate? And, are you someone who moved to Ningyang County later?"

As Emperor Zhu finished speaking, the young constable immediately became alert, reached for his staff at his waist, and asked again, "You don't have one? You don't have a permit, so where did you get this vehicle?"

Emperor Zhu pointed to his face and said, "Look at my face! I am the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the father-in-law of your county magistrate, and you come here asking me for this certificate and that certificate?"

Damn it, it's one thing if people in other places don't recognize us, but the problem is that there are actually clueless guys in Ningyang County who don't recognize us?

Suppressing his inexplicable grievances, Emperor Zhu snorted again and said, "This carriage of ours was just rolled out of the workshop in the county. If you don't believe me, you can come with me to the workshop to verify it."

Seeing Emperor Zhu's confident demeanor, the young constable took out a banknote from his pocket. He looked at the banknote while scrutinizing Emperor Zhu. After a while, he stepped aside, bowed to Emperor Zhu, and said, "It was my poor eyesight that prevented me from recognizing Your Majesty's might. Please forgive me."

Emperor Zhu snorted again, then looked at the yamen runner and asked, "That car purchase certificate is easy to get. We'll just pay the workshop and have them issue one for us. But what's this driver's license thing you're talking about? Where do we get this thing?"