18: Chapter 18 The Helplessness of an Old Dragon in His Twilight Years

Inside the mausoleum, only the sound of the wind wailing through the pines and cypresses remained.

This founding emperor of the Great Ming sat brazenly on the steps, his gaze passing over the straight-backed Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong in front of him and landing on the slumped figure of Imperial Grandson Zhu Yunwen behind.

Zhu Yuanzhang watched this Grand Imperial Heir he had personally selected and carefully cultivated in silence, as scenes from the past flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

He recalled how Imperial Grandson Zhu Yunwen used to recite books in the Wenhua Hall as a child, reciting the "Great Learning" backwards with ease, while the Hanlin Academicians of the court praised him for his innate intelligence, benevolence, and filial piety.

Fang Xiaoru said the child had the bearing of a peaceful emperor, and Hanlin Academician Huang Zicheng said the Prince was broad-minded and benevolent, destined to be a ruler like Yao or Shun in the future.

Zhu Yuanzhang had listened to those flowery praises at the time and believed them implicitly.

He had killed too many people in his life, crawling out from the piles of corpses in Haozhou, stepping over the bones of Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng to sit on the dragon throne.

After founding the nation, the cases of Chancellor Hu Weiyong, the Blank Seal Case, and the Guo Huan Case saw heads rolling and rivers of blood flowing.

He had pondered back then that he would be the villain, cutting away the thorns on the road and clearing away the stones that hurt the feet, leaving a smooth path for his descendants.

The benevolence and broad-mindedness of Imperial Grandson Zhu Yunwen fit exactly with his expectations for a ruler who would preserve the empire.

As long as he pulled out the longest and hardest thorn, General Lan Yu, and cleaned up the Huaixi Nobility, Imperial Grandson Zhu Yunwen would be able to sit securely on the throne and rule the world together with the scholar-officials.

What a perfect plan.

But now, this plan had been smashed to pieces by reality, and the beads had burst into Zhu Yuanzhang's face.

A rough breath snorted from Zhu Yuanzhang's nostrils, his fingers unconsciously digging into the crevices of the bluestone on the steps.

He had also realized that benevolence and broad-mindedness were merely decorations built upon the edge of a blade. Without thunderous methods, a compassionate heart was a joke.

General Guo Ying's fifty thousand troops were just outside the city; why had he, Zhu Yuanzhang, delayed ordering them to enter the city and suppress the rebellion? Did they really think he was senile, allowing a few hundred mutinous troops to wreak havoc in the capital?

He wanted to see how his highly anticipated heir would react in the face of a sudden military mutiny.

Would he calmly deploy troops? Would he retreat to Fengtian Hall to hold the defense?

Even if he had drawn The Emperor's sword, stood in front of the palace gate, and roared, "How dare you rebellious scoundrels defy Heaven!", he, Zhu Yuanzhang, would have thought more highly of this grandson.

As long as Imperial Grandson Zhu Yunwen dared to draw his sword, General Guo Ying's fifty thousand armored troops would have trampled the rebel army within half an hour.

And the result?

Faced with a mere six hundred people, the dignified Grand Imperial Heir of the Great Ming, the master of the Eastern Palace who commanded fifty thousand imperial guards, had his first reaction be to run away!

And he ran so pathetically, abandoning the defensive lines of the inner court, leaving behind all the civil and military officials, and dragging his mother straight to the East Flowery Gate.

If he were to really hand over the empire to him, when the Northern Yuan cavalry came knocking at the gates in the future, or if local vassal kings rebelled, would this spineless coward just open the gates and surrender?

Zhu Yuanzhang closed his eyes, his chest heaving violently. He had spent his whole life fighting, and how could he hand over the iron-blooded empire he had conquered to a coward who could only cry for help!

The wind grew colder.

Zhu Yuanzhang opened his eyes again and slowly turned his neck; this time, his gaze fell upon Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong.

The mottled bloodstains on his black armor had already dried, and on that young face, there was not a hint of smugness nor any trace of fear, only a look of calm.

He, Zhu Yuanzhang, had seen countless people; the heroes and outstanding figures he had met in his life were as numerous as carp crossing a river, but today, he had to admit that he had misjudged.

The words that kid had just spoken were piercing, yet every word was reasonable.

Fear.

Yes, he, Zhu Yuanzhang, was indeed afraid.

First, his wife passed away, then his eldest grandson, Zhu Xiongying, died young, and finally, even the Crown Prince Zhu Biao, whom he had spent his whole life cultivating with all his heart, went before him.

The white-haired sending off the black-haired—he had done it time and time again.

On the day Crown Prince Zhu Biao breathed his last, Zhu Yuanzhang felt as if the sky had collapsed. He locked himself in the Qianqing Palace, staring at that huge map of the Great Ming territory, unable to close his eyes for three whole days and nights.

The foundation of the empire he was so proud of had lost its most important cornerstone. He became at a loss, and even began to feel a deep fear for the future.

It was not that he hadn't considered appointing another of his sons.

The second and third sons? They were more scoundrelly than the other. The second son indulged his subordinates in slaughtering innocents in Xi'an, and the secret reports from the Embroidered Uniform Guard piled up as high as a person. The third son violated ritual protocols in Taiyuan, building a prince's mansion that was even more magnificent than the Eastern Palace. They were not even worth mentioning.

Only the fourth son, Prince of Yan, Zhu Di.

Whenever Zhu Yuanzhang saw the military reports sent from Beiping, he would sigh deeply in the dead of night. Able to fight and win, decisive in killing, that ruthlessness and ambition were simply a replica of his younger self. If one were to speak of the aura of a great ruler, none among his sons could surpass him.

But he could not pass the throne to the fourth son.

The "Ancestral Injunctions of the Great Ming" was an iron law he had personally formulated: if there is a legitimate heir, appoint the legitimate heir; if not, appoint the eldest. If he were to skip the second and third sons and appoint the fourth directly, this rule would become worthless paper.

If he could depose the elder to appoint the younger today, tomorrow his descendants would be able to raise butcher knives against each other for that dragon throne. He must never set such a vicious precedent of fratricide for future generations.

Therefore, the throne could only be passed down through the bloodline of Crown Prince Zhu Biao.

When he was choosing a successor back then, what kind of character did Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong have? When he saw The Emperor, his grandfather, he couldn't even say a complete sentence, hiding behind a pillar and trembling, unable to let out a peep even if beaten with three cudgels.

Compared to Imperial Grandson Zhu Yunwen, who was full of benevolence and morality and answered with ease, it was like heaven and earth.

He was anxious to establish the foundation of the nation and soothe the court and the public, so naturally, he chose Imperial Grandson Zhu Yunwen, who looked more decent.

But who could have imagined that beneath that cowardly exterior, there was hidden the madness of Prince Kaiping Chang Yuchun and his own ruthlessness!

Overnight, he subdued arrogant soldiers and fierce generals, turned the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, used a playboy to trick open the palace gates, and finally, charged into the formation alone and beheaded the commander of the imperial guards.

Such courage, such methods, such schemes!

Zhu Yuanzhang's breathing gradually became heavy, and in those turbid old eyes, the fear faded, replaced by an indescribable eagerness.

The Great Ming dynasty perhaps did not need a broad-minded ruler to preserve the empire; what the Great Ming dynasty needed was a ferocious tiger capable of suppressing the officials, holding down the vassal kings, and deterring the four barbarians!

The Huaixi Nobility kneeling in the back could be said to be living like a year for every day at this moment.

General Feng Sheng's knees had long since lost all feeling, but he didn't dare to move even a little. He secretly lifted his eyelids, observing the movements on the steps from the corner of his eye.

He saw that The Emperor was not speaking, nor was he issuing any decrees; he just stared at the Third Imperial Prince for a while, then turned his head to look at the Grand Imperial Heir slumped on the ground, his expression uncertain, and the light in his eyes even more unpredictable.

What exactly did this mean?

The sun climbed higher, and the sunlight hit the stone tablet of the Xiaoling Mausoleum, but it did not bring much warmth.

In the long silence, Zhu Yuanzhang finally moved.

"Sigh..."

A long sigh was squeezed out from the chest of this founding emperor. This sigh was extremely long and heavy, as if it had drained the last bit of strength from his body.

Accompanied by this sigh, Zhu Yuanzhang's originally straight back visibly hunched over. The imperial pressure that could swallow mountains and rivers receded like the tide; at this moment, the person sitting on the steps was no longer the decisive Hongwu Emperor, but just a lonely old man in the twilight of his years, filled with exhaustion.

"Eunuch Wang Fu." Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was deeply hoarse.

Eunuch Wang Fu, the personal head eunuch who had been waiting in the distance, scrambled over, bowing his body, and steadily supported Zhu Yuanzhang's arm with both hands.

Zhu Yuanzhang used the strength of Eunuch Wang Fu to stand up slowly and with difficulty. His legs were a bit stiff, and he swayed the moment he stood up; Eunuch Wang Fu quickly added strength to steady his master.

After standing still, Zhu Yuanzhang did not look at anyone kneeling on the ground again; he turned around, with his back to the crowd, and cast his gaze toward the vast distant mountains.

"Jiang Wan."

As soon as these two words came out, Jiang Wan, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who had been playing dead behind the crowd, shuddered, scrambled out from the crowd, and kowtowed on the bluestone slab, his voice trembling: "Your servant is here!"

"Investigate." Zhu Yuanzhang said with his back to him, his tone ice-cold, "Thoroughly investigate the incident of the Third Imperial Prince being in danger three days ago. No matter who is involved, no matter what their status, once confirmed, skin them and stuff them with straw."

Skin them and stuff them with straw!

These four words were like four sharp knives, stabbing straight into Lady Lu's heart. Lady Lu, who had been struggling to maintain her composure, swayed upon hearing this and nearly fell over.

Jiang Wan knocked his head heavily on the ground and loudly accepted the order: "Your servant obeys the decree!"

Zhu Yuanzhang ignored the ugly scene behind him, took stiff steps, and walked down the steps one by one. When passing by Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong, his footsteps did not stop at all, and he only threw out a light sentence.

"Zhu Yuntong, Zhu Yunwen, come back to the palace with me."

After saying this, the old emperor, supported by the eunuch, walked straight toward the imperial carriage parked outside the mausoleum.

The imperial carriage set off, the wheels rolling, raising a cloud of dust on the official road. Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong rode his horse, leading the black-armored personal guards, following closely behind the imperial carriage, heading in the direction of Nanjing City.

As for that group of Huaixi Nobility, they still remained kneeling straight in front of Empress Ma's mausoleum.

"Your Majesty..." General Feng Sheng raised his head, watching the gradually receding procession, opened his mouth, but did not know what to call out.

"All of you, keep kneeling!" Zhu Yuanzhang's final oral decree drifted in the wind, "Kneel until the morning court tomorrow, then roll over to Fengtian Hall to see me!"