Zhu Yunying was very dissatisfied with being rejected. He originally wanted to become the headmaster of the Ming Martial Academy, which was the highest military academy in the Ming Dynasty. Just thinking about it made him quite excited.

But now, things have taken a turn for the worse. Old Zhu dismissed him from his post with just a few words. As the advocate of the martial arts academy, he's now free of official duties.

Undeterred by being rejected, Zhu Yunying said, "Grandfather, I may not be very good at leading troops in battle, but I have great strategic skills. How about I become an instructor? With my abilities, I think I can handle it without any problem!"

"You're no good, you're really no good!" Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunying and teased him with a smile. "That year when we sent you to patrol the border, we were worried something would happen to you, so we sent your second and third uncles with a secret edict. We let you play house, how could we really let you lead troops?! You're really no good. No matter how good you are at martial arts, you don't have the talent to lead troops into battle. Just be a good emperor!"

Zhu Yunying was utterly speechless at these words, completely at a loss for words.

Old Zhu ignored Young Zhu's frustration and continued, "You can be emperor, our Ming Dynasty has a solid foundation, so you can do whatever you want and even come up with some interesting things. But if you were to join the army, let alone lead a large army, you wouldn't even be able to lead a thousand-household garrison. With your limited abilities, we think you'd be best off as a hundred-household commander; you wouldn't be able to achieve any merit!"

Dissatisfied at being looked down upon, Zhu Yunying asked earnestly, "Grandpa Emperor, are we really that useless?"

"You went to join the army, and this is all you've got—no ambition!" Old Zhu said bluntly to Zhu Yunying. "I'm your imperial grandfather, and I can only give you the title of centurion. If the world were in chaos, I would definitely take you with me and make you my personal guard. If that's not prestigious enough, I'd make you a deputy commander of the Qin army, and that's about it."

The Imperial Guards were those who followed Zhu Yuanzhang closely. Even the rank of 'Deputy Commander' was merely a nominal position, lacking real ability, meant only to share credit. If they were truly in charge, they might unwittingly make mistakes or mishandle matters.

Still struggling with his feelings of being looked down upon, Xiao Zhu asked, "Where's our father? What can our father do if the world is in chaos?"

"With your imperial grandmother in charge from behind, your father is better than you. We'll be conquering cities and territories in front, and your imperial grandmother will be there with your father. We'll give him a few civil officials, so we won't have to worry about supplies or instability in the rear. We'll keep you with us so we can feel more at ease."

Seeing Zhu Yunying's smiling face, Zhu Yunying gritted his teeth and asked, "Grandpa Emperor, you once said that if we lived in a chaotic world, we might be able to rival you! If we rebelled, we might even make a name for ourselves!"

Old Zhu laughed heartily, patted Little Zhu's head, and said, "If you were in a chaotic world, it would depend on what kind of rebellion you were in! If you were born like us, you would die before you even reached Haozhou. If you were like us, you would die and never get ahead under Guo Zixing. You should be given some resources; who knows, the more you fight, the more prosperous you will become."

Whether it was a compliment or a joke, Zhu Yunying was a little confused.

However, Zhu Yunying was also well aware that not everyone could unify the world like Zhu Yunying, who came from such a prestigious background.

With a chuckle, Old Zhu continued, “In previous years, we were unwilling to abdicate because we wanted to govern the country better. Your father is a good man, and we know he can govern the country well. However, we also thought that the country had just been established and there were still many things that had not been sorted out. We were afraid that he would offend people and that he would suffer. So, we decided to play the bad guy.”

Zhu Yunying nodded and said directly, "Grandfather and Father will probably be just like Yin'er and me in the future. In a few years, when Yin'er grows up a bit, we need to make him famous for his literary talent, and we need to let the outside world know that he is kind and benevolent. But Father was quite ruthless when he wrote imperial edicts back then."

Old Zhu laughed. His eldest son wasn't kind-hearted at all; he was just good at putting on a good show. Or perhaps it was because the Hongwu Emperor's reputation for being ruthless was so great that many people thought the Crown Prince was kind-hearted.

“You’ll have to do the same in the future. If you play the good cop, Yin’er has to play the bad cop. There has to be one of you, and there has to be some hope for the outside world.” Old Zhu reminded him with a smile, “You weren’t allowed to do that when you were little. As long as we’re here and your father is here, you don’t need to step up. We’re still here now, but when we’re gone, you have to let Yin’er have some contact with the outside world.”

Seeing Xiao Zhu nod slightly, Lao Zhu suddenly asked, "Are you reluctant to part with him? Are you afraid that Yin'er will rebel against you and take away your power?"

“That’s not the case. Our Crown Prince must be the Crown Prince, and he will be the Emperor in the future.” Zhu Yunying quickly said, “Grandfather, speaking of Yin’er, we actually have some thoughts on this as well.”

Old Zhu immediately became serious, because Little Zhu was his great-grandson, and even more so because Little Zhu was now the Crown Prince, the heir apparent of the Ming Dynasty.

“Yin’er is now the Crown Prince, so we definitely need to build up his support system. But he’s still young, and we’re not that old either, so there’s no need to rush,” Zhu Yunying said to Old Zhu. “If we can live to sixty, we might as well retire.”

Old Zhu was taken aback for a moment, then quickly said, "Didn't they say we'd retire at seventy? Our Ying'er has a good constitution; she'll definitely live to eighty."

“Grandfather, of course we want to live a long life. But seventy is a bit difficult.” Zhu Yunying said to the old Zhu, “I’m also afraid that when that time comes, I won’t be as energetic as you, Grandfather. I’m afraid I’ll become like Emperor Wu of Han or Emperor Taizong of Tang and force the Crown Prince to rebel.”

Emperor Wu of Han forced his crown prince to rebel, and Emperor Taizong of Tang also experienced the bitterness of a crown prince's rebellion. These "emperors of all time" were all tragic figures, at least in terms of their family lives. However, sometimes even emperors cannot avoid certain things.

Old Zhu disagreed, saying, "It's different. Yin'er comes from a different background, and we've set rules for him. Besides, the Crown Prince of Han Wu was killed by treacherous people. As for Emperor Taizong of Tang, he was also unfair in his treatment of his legitimate son."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!