Zi Shou really had acted on a whim.
Who wouldn't want to go out and have fun after being cooped up in the palace all day?
Was he supposed to review memorials every day?
Granted, neglecting memorials had delayed quite a few matters and gotten him stabbed a few times, but was reading memorials something a foolish ruler did?
Only Zhu Yuanzhang was that hardworking. Besides, Zi Shou didn't have the patience.
Spring was almost here. How wonderful it would be to learn to ride and go hunting-and enjoy a few jolts to spice things up.
After all his recent practice, Zi Shou felt he had thoroughly mastered mounting and dismounting. All he lacked was experience riding at a gallop.
He would only count as knowing how to ride once he had taken a horse around the racecourse outside the city a few more times.
"Old Yin, go place a bet on number five for me! Number five!"
That was what he had planned, but the moment he reached the racecourse, he changed his mind.
As the saying went, learning knew no bounds. Since there was no end to it, there was no hurry. He could accumulate riding experience next time. First, they would bet on horses.
If he kept betting against that charitable Daoist next door, he might not only fill the treasury but even build up a private stash.
One race had just finished when an accompanying eunuch hurried over to report, "Your Majesty, the ministers have followed you from the palace!"
No sooner had he spoken than the ministers, who had conscientiously pursued their sovereign all the way out of the palace to attend to state affairs, came straight up to him.
Zi Shou sounded gentle and pleasantly surprised. "My beloved ministers, why aren't you attending to