55: Chapter 55 This kid has completely baffled His Majesty.

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong remained silent for a long time—so long that Zhu Yuanzhang began to grow impatient. Only then did he slowly raise his head, his eyes slightly reddened.

"The Emperor, your grandson... your grandson is not ready to marry yet."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. "Why?"

"Your grandson..." Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong raised his hand and messily wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "My marriage should have been arranged by my parents. But now... they are both gone."

"It is not that I dislike these young ladies, it is just... just that whenever I think of my own wedding, and realize that my parents will not be there to see it, my heart feels heavy."

These words were like a fine needle, piercing the softest part of Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.

Yes, Crown Prince Zhu Biao was gone.

That gentle, jade-like son, benevolent and generous; that heir he had poured half his life's effort into cultivating, was gone.

The old emperor's chest tightened, and the reprimand that had just reached his lips was swallowed back.

"The Emperor," Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong stood up, walked behind Zhu Yuanzhang, and reached out with slightly clumsy hands. Mimicking his father's manner from his memories, he gently patted the old emperor's back. "Your grandson doesn't want anything right now... Didn't you ask me to investigate the farmland in Jiangnan? I will definitely handle this matter beautifully, fill the national treasury, ensure the soldiers in Liaodong are well-fed and clothed, and make sure the common people across the land have surplus grain."

"As for the marriage... I will listen to The Emperor. But I was wondering, could we wait until I return from Jiangnan? Once I have achieved some results and can be worthy of my father's spirit in heaven, then we can discuss marriage. By then, whoever The Emperor chooses for me, I will marry."

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed deeply upon hearing this and waved his hand. "Fine, fine. Everything will be as you wish. We will talk about it after you return from Jiangnan."

As he spoke, he suddenly seemed to remember something. He turned and retrieved a palm-sized box made of red sandalwood from a hidden compartment in the arhat bed and handed it to Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong.

"Take this."

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong opened the wooden box to see a small jade pillow lying quietly inside. The jade was warm and smooth, and it was carved with intricate phoenix patterns.

"This was your grandmother's favorite jade pillow..." Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was low and filled with sorrow. "It is useless for me to keep it now. You take it. In the future, if you ever feel troubled, take it out and look at it. Think of your grandmother, think of me, and do not stray from the right path."

"Your grandson... thanks The Emperor."

Holding the cold jade pillow, Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong knelt down solemnly and kowtowed once.

This kowtow was extremely heavy, causing the bluestone floor tiles to emit a dull thud.

Zhu Yuanzhang watched his grandson prostrate on the ground, a complex mix of emotions in his heart. The words "Get up" that had reached his lips were hard to utter. He waved his hand, signaling him to rise, while turning his head away to quietly wipe the corner of his eye with his rough sleeve.

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong stood up and carefully placed it back into the red sandalwood box. Then, he began to rummage through his robes.

A moment later, he took out two booklets neatly wrapped in kraft paper and presented them with both hands.

"The Emperor, your grandson will set off for Jiangnan tomorrow. Please keep these two things; they might be of some use."

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at the two yellowish booklets but did not reach out to take them. "What are these?"

"They are just things I have been pondering in my spare time," Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong replied, his face showing the shyness typical of a young man. "The first one contains some methods for nourishing the body that I have been studying. You are busy with a thousand tasks every day, and your imperial body is exhausted; you often toss and turn at night, which pains me to see. This booklet contains a few simple breathing exercises and some dietary remedies. They are not troublesome, and the key is persistence."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned. He had thought of countless possibilities. Perhaps this grandson would give him a blacklist of officials, or perhaps some new political strategy.

But he never expected that the first booklet would actually be for nourishing his own body.

Over the years, countless alchemists and Taoists had offered him elixirs and talisman water—some fawning, some mysterious, all sorts. But no one had ever used such a simple way to care about whether he slept well or ate heartily.

Even the benevolent Grand Imperial Heir Zhu Yunwen only verbally advised him to work less and rest more.

Yet this gesture from Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong felt like a younger generation genuinely worrying about an elder in the family.

Zhu Yuanzhang's Adam's apple bobbed. He did not speak but reached out with his calloused hand, took both booklets, and placed them on the desk.

"Jiangnan is not like the capital." The old emperor's voice was much deeper and hoarser than before. "The hearts of people are very complex..."

He paused and looked up at Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong, his cloudy eyes revealing a fierce ruthlessness.

"Remember, handling official business is secondary; your own life is paramount. If you truly encounter an insurmountable obstacle and feel something is wrong, do not force it. The imperial decree I gave you is not just for show. It controls the troops of the three provinces; if you dare to use it, I will truly back you up!"

"If the garrison troops cannot be trusted, then directly mobilize the Capital Battalion! General Guo Ying's fifty thousand troops can be moved at any time! I want to see who dares to touch the direct grandson of our Zhu family!"

These words were no longer an emperor's instruction to a subject, but an overprotective grandfather giving his grandson, who was about to go on a long journey, his ultimate reassurance.

Hearing this almost nagging exhortation, Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong felt his nose sour, and a warm current surged in his heart.

He had transmigrated here, proceeding with caution at every step, calculating human hearts, and treating everyone as a pawn. Only at this moment did he feel that kinship transcending time and space, connected by blood.

He stepped forward, said nothing, and simply reached out to gently hold Zhu Yuanzhang's large hand resting on his knee.

That hand had once pointed out the mountains and rivers, had slaughtered meritorious officials, and had also stroked his and his father's heads. It was rough, withered, yet exceptionally warm.

"The Emperor, please rest assured." Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong's voice trembled slightly. He raised his head, his eyes reflecting the candlelight, shining astonishingly bright. "Your grandson still has to return to fulfill his filial duties to you. I haven't brought you to taste all the good things in this world yet; I haven't told you about all the strange tales in this world yet. Your grandson cannot bear to die."

"Fulfill filial duties..."

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly stiffened his body, his lips trembling.

Establishing merit and achievements, sharing the ruler's worries, expanding territory... He had heard these words too many times. Every official, every son, had made such solemn promises before him.

But never had anyone said to him in such a calm tone, "I will return to fulfill my filial duties to you."

They say there is no kinship in the imperial family.

He thought his heart had long since become as hard as iron, and he had long been accustomed to the taste of being a lonely sovereign.

But when Empress Ma passed away, when Crown Prince Zhu Biao departed this world, and when he woke from dreams in the middle of the night, only to stare blankly at the empty palace, he realized that he, an emperor who had crawled out of a pile of dead bodies, was still, at his core, that same Zhu Chongba from Huaixi—a mud-legged peasant who longed for a wife, children, and a warm bed.

The old emperor's eyes suddenly reddened again. He turned his head away abruptly, not wanting his grandson to see his loss of composure, but his voice was already choked with emotion.

"Get out, get out of here!" He waved his hand. "A grown man, saying such sappy things—what does that look like! Hurry up and get back to the Eastern Palace to sleep! You have to hit the road early tomorrow morning!"

Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong chuckled softly; the old man couldn't hold it together anymore. He released the old emperor's hand and respectfully performed a grand bow once more.

"Then your grandson will take his leave."

He turned and walked step by step out of Kunning Palace, which bore too many of Zhu Yuanzhang's memories.

When the heavy palace doors slowly closed behind him, cutting off the dim candlelight and the aged figure, Crown Prince Zhu Yuntong's footsteps faltered.

He looked back at the tightly closed palace doors, as if he could see through the panels to the lonely old man sitting upright, secretly wiping away tears.

"Old man..."

He murmured softly, a gentle arc he himself had not noticed appearing at the corners of his mouth.

Then, he turned around and strode away, disappearing into the deep night.

Inside Kunning Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang remained in that same posture for a very long time before slowly turning his head.

He looked at the two kraft paper-wrapped booklets on the table, reached out, and gently caressed them.

He did not rush to open them but picked them up and placed them next to Empress Ma's jade pillow, arranging them side by side.

"Meizi, did you see that?"

"This grandson of ours... he... he is very good..."

"You and Crown Prince Zhu Biao, over there, can rest assured..."

The night wind blew, the candlelight flickered, stretching the old emperor's stooped silhouette long, very long.