Chapter 40 Zhu Biao's Funeral: It would be good if Your Majesty could watch TV too...
Zheng He and Zhu Di had already arrived at the Forbidden City. A flash of white light appeared, and the guards at the city gate saw Prince Yan Zhu Di, who should have been in Beiping, and his eunuch Zheng He appear at the city gate.
Zhu Di felt a blur before his eyes, and when he opened them again, a familiar scene appeared before him. The dim yellow light shone slightly, making him squint – this was clearly the Zhengyang Gate of the Forbidden City in Nanjing!
Layers of white banners fluttered in the cold wind, their cries a lament. Plain silk ribbons hanging from the vermilion city walls stretched to the horizon, gleaming a pale white in the setting sun. The guards wore black armbands, and their swords were wrapped in white cloth.
"This...this is..." Zhu Di's throat suddenly tightened, and a terrible thought exploded in his mind.
Zhu Di suddenly grabbed a passing guard, his grip so tight it almost crushed the guard's bones: "Speak! Who in the palace has died?!"
The guard, terrified, stammered, "Your Highness, it's...it's the Crown Prince..."
These words struck Zhu Di like a heavy hammer blow to the chest. He staggered back two steps, his vision blurring. His ears were ringing, and he couldn't hear a word the guards behind him said.
Impossible. That's impossible.
He arrived so quickly, and he brought back the elixir of immortality...
Zhu Di suddenly charged toward the city gate like a madman, oblivious to the jade pendant at his waist shattering in his run. As he passed through the palace gates adorned with white banners, the plain silk ribbons slapped against his face like countless cold slaps.
Before the Hall of Spring Harmony, white candles stood like a forest. Zhu Di abruptly stopped outside the hall's doors. Through the half-open door, he saw—
Zhu Yuanzhang, his back hunched, personally adjusted the clothes of Zhu Biao, who lay in the coffin. The old emperor's movements were incredibly gentle, as if afraid of waking his sleeping son. In the candlelight, Zhu Biao's face was as peaceful as if he were asleep, but he would never open those warm, jade-like eyes again.
"Brother...!" Zhu Di's knee slammed heavily onto the bluestone ground. His cry was heart-wrenching, and even his throat tasted blood.
Zhu Yuanzhang slowly turned around, and in the instant their eyes met, Zhu Di saw a deathly grayness in his father's eyes. The old emperor opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only waved his hand weakly.
Zhu Di knelt before the coffin, his hands trembling as he grasped Zhu Biao's cold hand. Those slender fingers had once taught him to write, had once gently patted his head when he made a mistake, but now they would never move again.
He...was late.
In the Chunhe Hall where the coffin lay in state, Prince Zhou Zhu Su, Prince Qin Zhu Shuang, Prince Xiang Zhu Bai... all those who were supposed to be there were present, and Lady Lü and Zhu Yunwen were also keeping vigil.
Outside the palace, ministers were keeping vigil, and the sound of sobbing could be heard incessantly.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat blankly before the coffin, his once sharp gaze now unfocused and lifeless. He mechanically accepted the paper money offered by the eunuch, tossing it one by one into the brazier. The flickering flames illuminated his deeply lined face, making the tear tracks on his face gleam.
Zhu Di knelt before the coffin, feeling as if a huge boulder was pressing on his chest, making it difficult to breathe. He stared intently at Zhu Biao's peaceful face in the coffin, his mind flashing back to childhood images—his elder brother teaching him to write, taking him on sneaky trips outside the palace, pleading with their father for him when he made mistakes...
"Fourth brother..." In a daze, Zhu Di seemed to hear Zhu Biao calling him. He looked up abruptly, but only saw Zhu Biao's pale face in the flickering candlelight.
"Your Highness..." Zheng He carefully handed over a plain handkerchief, and only then did Zhu Di realize that his clothes were already soaked with tears. He took the handkerchief, but clutched it in his palm, letting the tears continue to flow.
There is another way.
"Father, there's still a way! I have a way to save my elder brother!" Zhu Di had originally planned to save Zhu Biao, but he was suddenly struck by the death of his elder brother.
I almost forgot about Magistrate Jiang.
Perhaps they have divine assistance.
Having just lost his beloved son, Zhu Yuanzhang was in a state of desperation and would believe anything anyone said if there was any hope of saving Zhu Biao.
However, the premise is that you don't treat him like a fool.
Her eyes, which had been brimming with tears, instantly sharpened. "Fourth brother, we hadn't even thought to ask you until you told us. A beam of white light appeared. What kind of immortal technique did you cultivate?"
Zhu Yuanzhang, who had once been a monk to make a living, understood very well that there were no magical powers in this world; it was just a way to earn a living.
The claims of alchemists are nothing more than seeking comfort. Throughout history, how many emperors have prayed for immortality, and what was the result?
They're all scammers!
Zhu Yuanzhang was once a monk, but only to make a living. He was not a superstitious emperor. He did not seek immortality or refine elixirs. Although he still had some superstitious tendencies, he was not as superstitious as Qin Shi Huang or Emperor Wu of Han.
Much better.
Even compared to his son Zhu Di, the future Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di was more superstitious.
Zhu Di bent down and explained the matter of Zheng He in detail, but he still concealed something: he silently omitted the Jingnan Rebellion.
Inside the main hall where the spirit was kept vigil, the only sounds besides weeping were the voices of Zhu Di.
The wind fluttered the white banners, making Zhu Di's voice sound eerie. "Immortal recruitment? Songyang County?"
King Zhu Shuang of Qin was impatient to listen to these superstitious things. His elder brother was already lying here, what was the use of talking about these things?
"Ridiculous! Ridiculous! Fourth Brother, have you lost your mind!" Zhu Shuang pointed at Zhu Di's nose and cursed, "Eldest Brother is lying here, and you're still making up these supernatural lies!"
Inside the mourning hall, apart from Zhu Yuanzhang, everyone else looked at Zhu Di with a questioning gaze.
They didn't know that Zhu Di had traveled from Beiping to Nanjing in the blink of an eye, and they knew nothing about Zheng He.
Zhu Di was in no hurry to refute.
But King Zhu Shuang of Qin was unwilling to stop: "Recruiting an immortal? Just a eunuch? What can he do?"
What are immortals? They don't eat grains, they drink dew.
Hiring a stinky eunuch? That's just asking for trouble.
Zhu Shuang looked at them with disdain, not treating the other eunuchs in the hall as human beings at all. Zheng He was a eunuch, but weren't they?
The more lowly a person is, the higher their self-esteem.
It wasn't easy for eunuchs to urinate, and they had a lingering odor that was hard to dispel. The first person to smell this odor was themselves, so they tried every day to cover it up.
This time, Qin King Zhu Shuang directly exposed his scheme.
Embarrassing, angry.
The eunuch stood respectfully to the side, his seemingly submissive appearance masking a pair of cold, calculating eyes, waiting for his chance to strike.
Zheng He didn't feel embarrassed. If Prince Zhu Shuang of Qin hadn't been of noble birth, he would have been executed along with his entire family by Zhu Yuanzhang long ago. He was like a mad dog.
Completely inhuman.
They criticize eunuchs but fail to reflect on why they exist. Zheng He even recalled Zhu Shuang's fondness for castrating boys and pregnant women, abusing private punishments and torturing palace servants.
Like beasts.
Being disliked by such people was completely unimportant to Zheng He; he didn't care.
Zheng He replied, "Yes, Your Majesty, it is indeed true."
So what if he's a eunuch?
Just as Magistrate Jiang said, he left a mark on history, and millions of people remember who he was and what he did.
Who would remember a mad dog?
Therefore, Zheng He remained calm and composed. The eunuch secretly glanced at this fellow, who was quite different, though the eunuch couldn't quite put his finger on it.
I struggled with this for a long time.
It was only then that I realized Zheng He was just like any other "ordinary person"; he wouldn't feel hurt by a single hurtful remark.
The eunuch bowed his head deeply again. What a formidable person he was.
Zhu Shuang was very displeased. How dare a eunuch speak to him like that? It was utterly disrespectful. A man accustomed to committing all sorts of evil deeds in his fiefdom suddenly seeing a servant act like a human being made him very unhappy.
Are there any other people in this world besides the Zhu family?
Zhu Shuang was unhappy and didn't like to pretend. Even at the funeral hall for Crown Prince Zhu Biao, right under Zhu Yuanzhang's nose, with civil and military officials outside, he didn't want to pretend.
He raised his foot to kick Zheng He.
"You dog of a servant, don't you even know who you're talking to?"
Zhu Shuang's kick was swift and vicious, the toe of his boot aimed straight for Zheng He's heart. Before anyone in the hall could react, Zheng He had already taken the full force of the blow.
Zheng He slumped to the ground. When he looked up, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, but he quickly lowered them again: "This servant deserves to die for offending His Highness the Prince of Qin."
Just as Zhu Shuang was about to kick again, he suddenly heard a sharp crack. The sandalwood prayer beads in Zhu Yuanzhang's hand were snapped in two, and the beads rolled to the ground.
"Second brother," the old emperor's voice was colder than ice, "this is your eldest brother's mourning hall."
Zhu Shuang froze. Only then did he notice that the eternal flame before the coffin was being violently swayed by the wind stirred up by his movement, almost going out. Zhu Biao's pale face flickered in the swaying candlelight, as if silently watching this farce.
"Father, Father Emperor..." Zhu Shuang stammered and took two steps back.
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't look at him, but bent down to pick up a Buddhist bead that had rolled to his feet. When he looked up again, his eyes were bloodshot and menacing: "Fourth brother, continue."
Zhu Di stepped forward and helped Zheng He up.
"Father, everything I said is true."
He gestured for Zheng He and the others to prove it.
Zheng He suppressed the itch in his throat, took out a world map from his sleeve, and had an attendant present it to Zhu Yuanzhang.
“The Songyang County that I went to is not this world, and this thing can prove it.”
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the map; the world had never been so clear. He said in a deep voice, "Bring me the map of the Great Ming Dynasty."
The map of the Ming Dynasty and the world map were placed side by side.
Upon close comparison, although there are minor differences, they are essentially the same.
"Africa?"
Zhu Yuanzhang pointed to Africa on the map and asked, "Is the world really that big?"
Zhu Di looked up and said, "I have never been there either."
"A map like this can be drawn by anyone. If this could prove the existence of immortals, they would be everywhere by now," Zhu Shuang scoffed. It was just a map.
What's so surprising?
Although the others remained silent, they generally shared the same idea: it was just a map.
Whether it's accurate or not is another matter.
As dawn broke, Zheng He's expression changed, and he hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, it's time to go on duty."
As soon as he finished speaking, a white light flashed by.
Zheng He went to work in Songyang County right under everyone's noses, leaving everyone bewildered and shocked.
"This...this..." This was the shocked King Zhu Su of Zhou.
"It's actually true?" Prince Xiang, Zhu Bai, blurted out.
This is simply unbelievable.
Not only were they stunned, but even the old man was surprised.
You have to understand that Zhu Yuanzhang had been through thick and thin in temples and the White Lotus Sect, and he had seen all sorts of tricks, but he had never seen a trick like "turning a person into a living person" before.
Where is the agency?
Zhu Yuanzhang squinted and paced back and forth on the ground; there must be a trap.
Just by looking at the old man's movements, Zhu Di knew what he was looking for, and stepped forward to stop Zhu Yuanzhang's actions: "Father, this is true."
The shock on this side will not be discussed further.
Zheng He, who had just arrived at the clerk's office in Songyang County, coughed violently a few times, even coughing up blood.
This startled Yuchi Jingde and his men.
They inevitably spent time together during this period. Zheng He was a good person, and their relationship was relatively harmonious. At first, Yuchi Jingde had some prejudice against Zheng He because of his status as a eunuch, but after getting to know him, he found that he was a very nice person.
"What's wrong with you?" Yuchi Jingde asked, unaware of the situation.
Zhou Yu and Hei Fu, standing to the side, were patting each other's backs and pouring water for each other.
After coughing a few times, I felt better.
Furthermore, after arriving in Songyang County, all the old injuries and ailments in my body will improve, except for that mouthful of blood stuck in my throat, which is really uncomfortable.
"Thank you all." Zheng He patted his chest; the Qin King's kick had been quite powerful.
"What's wrong with you?" Yuchi Jingde hated dawdling and always wanted to get to the bottom of things.
"It's nothing, it's just that His Majesty doesn't believe I was recruited by the immortals." Zheng He's expression was gentle.
"Don't believe me? That's easy!" This time, before Yuchi Jingde could speak, Qin Shubao walked directly to the corner and patted the television.
"It would be good if His Majesty could watch TV too."
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Author's Note: I originally wanted to revive Zhu Biao, but I realized that it's better for the plot to develop if Zhu Biao dies. I have to rewrite the previous drafts, and I'm very sorry for making everyone wait so long. [Sigh] I've also received feedback from the comments section.
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