Lan Yu, who once had lofty ambitions and refused to be subservient to others, is no longer so. Mainly, she now has a successor; she's been able to turn her grandson into a grandson, whom she brought back from the Zhu family. Lan Yu should be content and grateful.

Don't think too much about other rewards. Just dedicate your life to serving the Zhu family, so that your precious grandson can have more glory and become more distinguished in the future. If you work hard, maybe your precious grandson will have a chance to become a 'king' someday.

Thinking about it, Lan Yu still had some expectations. Her own daughter was a princess consort, and her eldest grandson was a prince's heir. They had already gone to Goryeo to establish a kingdom, and in the future, they might even become the ruler of a vassal state. This was indeed an honor.

But so what? They're all Zhu family members. Even if the eldest grandson is close, he's still just a grandson. But those raised in the Liang State Duke's mansion are from the Lan family—those are the closest!

“Fu Youde certainly can’t be more meritorious than the Prince of Zhongshan. The Prince of Zhongshan was personally appointed the number one meritorious official by the Emperor.” Zhu Yunying said, “As for Fu Youde, we can only give him some flashy but impractical gifts this time.”

Old Zhu nodded slightly and said, "We can only give him some honorary titles. He is a first-rank Grand Master of the Palace, so we will promote him to Grand Master of the Palace, add a first-rank Left Pillar of State title, and add the title of Grand Tutor."

Having acquired honorary titles and honorary ranks, Fu Youde had naturally reached the pinnacle of his official career.

If Fu Youde were even slightly intelligent, he would know that he had reached the pinnacle of honor. His glory in life had already reached its zenith; he could probably be posthumously granted the title of king, have his tablet placed in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and be given a favorable posthumous title.

Or it could be like Xu Da back then, because of his great merits, so Zhu Yuanzhang once said that he would grant Xu Da's family the title of Prince of Zhongshan for three generations.

Therefore, Xu Huizu's career path was predetermined from the start; he inherited the title of Duke and would certainly be posthumously granted the title of King. However, all of this may not be attributed to Xu Huizu, but rather to Xu Da.

As for Chang Yuchun, in reality, his achievements during his lifetime and the honors he received after his death were far inferior to those of Xu Da.

Zhu Yunying smiled and nodded, agreeing with his father's arrangement. "That's what we thought too. He should understand that he really has no more titles to bestow. To be made a king during his lifetime is out of the question. Our Great Ming Dynasty must not have any kings of different surnames."

Old Zhu thought for a moment and said, "Fu Youde is too stubborn. If he's left idle for a few years, we reckon he won't live long. He's a bit like us, with a bit of arrogance in his bones."

Zhu Yunying gave Zhu Yunying a meaningful look. Historically, Fu Youde could be considered someone who was "given death" by Zhu Yunying. Even when facing Zhu Yunying, who was very suspicious in his later years, the fiercely independent Fu Youde maintained his integrity.

Zhu Yunying remained indifferent, saying, "If he dies of depression, it's not our fault. If he returns to the court, we will certainly provide him with a life of honor and give him special privileges. We will treat him with dignity in everything. If he really feels that his talents are wasted, as long as he doesn't rebel, we will let him be."

It's not that Zhu Yunying was so ruthless, but given Fu Youde's current state, there was really no way to let him continue to achieve merit. Otherwise, there would be another Xu Da, and the military would have another faction.

This was clearly not in the emperor's interest. Even though Chang Yuchun had dominated the country in his earlier years, without Zhu Yuanzhang's support, he obviously wouldn't have been able to contend with the Xu faction. They had barely managed to contain Feng Sheng and Tang He, and now Fu Youde was already the limit.

If another Xu Da were to appear, Zhu Yunying would not be able to tolerate it, and later emperors would probably curse him as well.

It's good to have merit, but if you become too powerful, you risk becoming too big to handle, which is obviously not a good thing.

“That makes sense. He shouldn’t be allowed to make any more contributions,” Old Zhu said with a smile. “If you don’t kill him or humiliate him, you’ll be fulfilling a beautiful story of a ruler and his subject. If he dies of depression, that’s none of your business. Just bury him in the Xiaoling Mausoleum and have him enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. That’s all that’s done, and that’s it.”

Little Zhu suddenly said with a grin, "He will also be buried in the Xiaoling Mausoleum and have his name enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. The Duke of Liang will also be buried in the Xiaoling Mausoleum. The two great generals under our father's command were both promoted by our great-grandfather."

Zhu Yunying's expression froze for a moment, then he said in an annoyed tone, "To be honest, that's really how it is."

Xu Da and Chang Yuchun were both buried with Emperor Xiaoling. Feng Sheng, who was once considered by Emperor Zhu to be one of the "eight most respected and meritorious officials listed in the imperial edict, with the Duke of Song ranking third," also passed away a few years ago and was buried with Emperor Xiaoling, and was also enshrined in the Temple of Meritorious Officials.

Tang He, who also made great contributions, had his portrait enshrined in the Temple of Meritorious Officials and was worshipped in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, but was buried in his hometown. Although he was not buried in the Xiaoling Mausoleum, Tang He's posthumous honors were equally high; he was posthumously granted the title of King of Dong'ou and the posthumous name Xiangwu.

Zhu Yunying sighed with some emotion and said enviously, "There are already twenty-two people in the Temple of Meritorious Officials of my grandfather, right?"

At the foot of Jilong Mountain, Zhu Yuanzhang erected a temple for meritorious officials. To have one's statue erected here was an extraordinary honor. Statues were placed for the dead, while the living remained in vacant positions. Of course, this required a peaceful death; founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty like Zhu Wenzheng, Li Shanchang, and Hu Weiyong were not eligible for this temple.

Zhu Yunying then said, "Fu Youde, shall we place his statue in the main hall from now on?"

The order of the meritorious officials in the Temple of Meritorious Officials is also significant. The main hall houses Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Li Wenzhong, Deng Yu, Tang He, and Mu Ying, all of whom were posthumously granted the title of king.

Each of these individuals made significant contributions. Deng Yu, for instance, ventured deep into the heart of Tibet, persuaded various kingdoms to surrender, and expanded the territory by thousands of miles. For this, he was a great contributor who received a red python robe and a jade belt from Emperor Zhu.

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