Zhu Shangbing was Zhu Shuang's eldest son. Zhu Shuang had actually been dead for almost five years, but Zhu Shangbing had always remained only the heir apparent to the Prince of Qin. With this conferment of the title of Prince, he naturally received the same title.

Zhu Shangbing looked troubled and said in a low voice, "Brother Wang, even if I am conferred a title today, there is still a banquet in the palace, and we also have to go to Fengxian Hall and return to our hometown of Fengyang. How can we have time to go to your residence now? Besides, if we go to the Wu Prince's residence today, those officials will start to gossip."

In fact, Zhu Shangbing was also a domineering person, because his father was the former Grand Secretary of the Imperial Clan Court of the Ming Dynasty and the second son of the Hongwu Emperor. However, in front of the young Zhu and his younger brother Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Shangbing dared not speak recklessly.

"It's alright. Would the people below dare to accuse us of colluding with the imperial clan?" Zhu Yunwen said decisively. "Just listen to me. We'll invite all our brothers of the same generation. My elder brother will be happy to see this, and he might even go for a few drinks. We know what we're doing. What my grandfather and elder brother want most is for our imperial clan to be harmonious."

Zhu Shangbing naturally couldn't say much at this point; if he refused again, he would offend the lawless King Wu.

Many members of the imperial clan were particularly excited this time, especially Zhu Yunying's three surviving youngest sons, who were also granted titles. Zhu Yunying's twenty-third uncle was only fifteen years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning). Besides the youngest son who died young, Zhu Yunying's twenty-fifth son, Zhu, was only twelve years old (again, by the traditional Chinese age reckoning)!

The princely titles held by Zhu Yuanzhang's second and third sons will also be inherited. This includes Zhu Yuanzhang's grand-nephew, Zhu Zanyi, who will also inherit the title of Prince. Naturally, this also includes the two youngest sons of Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son, his two half-brothers, who will all be granted the title of Prince.

So there were quite a lot of people. The size of the Ming Dynasty's imperial family seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, and Zhu Yuanzhang deserves a lot of credit for that.

Zhu Yunwen darted around, chatting with his uncles and teasing his cousins; he was in a very good mood. He was quite popular among the imperial clan, not only because of his personality but also because of his status.

No one in the imperial clan objected to Zhu Yunwen's good relationship with him. As long as Emperor Yingshi was still alive, Zhu Yunwen's status would remain exceptional.

After the whips were cracked, civil and military officials and members of the imperial family lined up in an orderly fashion and walked toward the Fengtian Hall.

At this point, Zhu Yunwen dared not act recklessly anymore. Although he was playful, disrespectful, and somewhat spoiled, he was actually quite sensible about certain things and couldn't cause trouble in every situation.

After the civil and military officials entered the Fengtian Hall, the first thing they saw was Crown Prince Zhu Wenyin, his little face stern, dressed in his official robes, standing respectfully at the head of the procession, even before Prince Zhou, Zhu Su. Zhu Su showed no displeasure, for little Zhu was the Crown Prince, and thus the emperor.

After little Zhu stood in place, Zhu Yunying followed behind old Zhu and slowly walked towards the dragon throne.

Zhu Yunying helped the old Zhu to sit on the dragon throne, then turned to look at the little Zhu below the red wall, "Crown Prince, let's begin the court session."

Little Zhu immediately took two steps, turned around and looked at the civil and military officials. For this morning court session, Old Zhu had spent several days teaching Little Zhu, instructing him word by word.

"Your subject Zhu Wenyin, on the occasion of His Majesty the Emperor's birthday, respectfully leads the civil and military officials in wishing him a long life." Little Zhu's clear voice made Old Zhu and Little Zhu on the red wall nod in satisfaction.

Little Zhu then continued, "Kneel!"

At this moment, all the civil and military officials knelt down, and Little Zhu also knelt down, shouting again, "Hail!"

The courtiers immediately responded with loud shouts of "Long live the Emperor!", naturally three times in total.

Standing beside Zhu Yunying, Zhu Yunying said softly, "Now we understand how our grandfather felt back then. Seeing our Yin'er like this makes us happy."

Old Zhu looked at Little Zhu with doting eyes, then at the little boy. Seeing his descendants so accomplished and so 'powerful' in the court, Old Zhu was overjoyed. He also believed that the empire he had built would surely be passed down to future generations.

All of this follows a pattern, and it doesn't necessarily mean that Xiao Zhu is exceptionally outstanding. At most, it just means that Xiao Zhu is not stage-frightened and is used to his identity.

Regardless, everyone is very happy to see Xiao Zhu's growth and progress.

With inheritance and successors, we naturally feel immense pride and anticipation, and have even greater confidence in the future!