The Ming Dynasty is currently the world's largest and most powerful country, and its imperial palace is not only grand in scale, but also the epitome of palace architecture.

The Imperial Palace in the capital created a model in which the central axis from south to north coincided with the axis of the entire city. This model of the integration of the palace and city axes was not only the result of Nanjing's special geographical conditions, but also a masterpiece of construction that followed rituals, responded to celestial phenomena, and conformed to nature.

It also had a great impact on most tributary states.

For example, the layout and form of palace buildings such as the Gyeongbokgung Palace that was about to be built in Goryeo, the Forbidden City in Hue, Annan, and Shuri Castle in the Ryukyu Kingdom.

In the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor and made Yingtian Prefecture the capital. He also built Zhongdu City in Fengyang the following year.

As all human and material resources were concentrated on the construction of the Zhongdu city and palace, the expansion of the Nanjing Palace was once again stopped. In the following years, only necessary repairs were carried out on the existing palace.

In the eighth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang abandoned the plan to build Zhongdu and concentrated his efforts on building Nanjing.

During this construction, two more gates were added to the left and right of the Meridian Gate, east and west corner gates were added to the left and right of the Fengtian Gate, and buildings such as the Wenhua Hall and the Wuying Hall were added.

This year, in the 25th year of Hongwu, construction was carried out again. A palace wall was added outside the imperial city, and the area within the new wall became the imperial city. The original imperial city was renamed the palace city.

Duanmen, Chengtianmen and Jinshui Bridge were built in front of the palace, forming a T-shaped square that extends southward to Hongwumen.

On the east side of the square are the Five Ministries. The Ministry of Justice is outside the Taiping Gate in the north of the imperial city. On the west side is the Five Military Governor's Office.

This was not the first time Zhu Ying came here, but last time he only passed Chengtian Gate and went to the Jinyiwei Yamen.

"Where is this?"

Zhu Ying lifted the curtain on the carriage, took a look outside and asked.

"Your Highness, the Fengtian Gate is ahead. After passing the Fengtian Gate, you will reach the Forbidden City." Liu He replied softly.

Zhu Ying nodded, and watched the Fengtian Gate in front of him open, and then the carriage drove straight in.

After entering the Fengtian Gate, you will reach Fengtian Square. The carriage did not go far before it stopped.

Liu He got off the carriage first, then stood respectfully aside while Zhu Ying got off the carriage.

The first thing that catches your eye is the twinkling lights. The candles in the stone pillars are all lit, and the vastness of Fengtian Square is vaguely visible in the dark night.

Zhu Ying turned around and saw a relatively long staircase in front of him. The path was clear under the light.

Looking further up, there are three gates.

This is where civil and military officials hold court meetings.

Zhu Ying did not expect that his first stop when he arrived at the Ming Imperial Palace would be the Fengtian Hall.

I originally thought that I would go to Renzhi Hall to see my father's coffin first.

"Your Highness." Liu He beside him called softly, bringing Zhu Ying back to his senses from his reverie.

Looking at the steps in front of him, Zhu Ying took a deep breath.

This is the most powerful place in the Ming Dynasty, and even in the whole world. Even a figure like Zhu Ying could not help but feel awe when surrounded by the majestic buildings.

Zhu Ying raised his feet and walked up the stairs step by step.

In his previous life, he had never been to the Forbidden City, although the blueprint of the Forbidden City was the Nanjing Palace Museum.

This wonderful feeling can only be experienced when you actually walk on it.

Soon, Zhu Ying arrived at the door of the hall.

Now the three main gates were closed. At the central gate, two eunuchs were waiting respectfully. When they saw Zhu Ying, they immediately prostrated themselves and called him "Your Highness".

"Get up."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

After the two eunuchs stood up, they walked to the middle gate in small steps and opened it.

Of the three gates of the Fengtian Hall, only important members of the royal family, such as princes, or civil and military officials who have made great contributions, can enter through the middle gate when they are being honored.

As the eldest grandson of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Ying naturally entered through this door.

After entering the door, the scene inside the Fengtian Hall came into Zhu Ying's eyes.

Because of the brightness of the candles, even when all the candles were lit, there were still some dark corners around. Coupled with the solemn decorations around, it gave people an eerie feeling.

In the front, Zhu Yuanzhang is wearing a royal robe and has his back to Zhu Ying.

In the entire Fengtian Hall, there were only Zhu Ying and Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Grandpa, what are you doing? Why are you being so formal?"

Zhu Ying was quite speechless. What did the old man want to do by turning his back to everyone?

Zhu Yuanzhang's body trembled slightly and he turned around helplessly. The dignity on his face disappeared instantly the moment he turned around.

"We just want you to get a good feel for what it's like in the palace. How about it? Doesn't it feel particularly majestic?"

When Zhu Yuanzhang faced his eldest grandson, his face always looked like that of a kind and amiable grandfather.

Today he let his eldest grandson attack. After dealing with the memorials, Zhu Yuanzhang changed his casual clothes into imperial robes, just to give his eldest grandson a different image of himself.

Let me show you the majesty and majesty of our Ming Emperor.

Old and young, Zhu Yuanzhang, who is about to celebrate his 65th birthday, puts aside the halo of the emperor of the Ming Empire. In fact, deep down in his heart, he is no different from an ordinary grandfather.

At this age, it is normal to have some childish tendencies and like to play pranks.

Of course, for Zhu Yuanzhang, at the moment, only Zhu Ying can understand this attitude.

Only in front of Zhu Ying can he open his heart, let go of everything, and be the Zhu Chongba he once was.

"Very majestic, very domineering, very beautiful."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ying agreed with the old man and said with a smile.

When Zhu Yuanzhang came over and saw the white plain clothes worn by his eldest grandson, a look of relief flashed in his eyes.

At the same time, he pointed to the dragon throne in the Golden Palace and said to his eldest grandson, "Would you like to go up and sit on it for a try?"

Zhu Ying raised his head and looked towards the dragon throne, his eyes showing no lingering feelings, and replied, "There is still a long time to come."

He didn't know whether the old man was testing him or not.

But in the dark, how could one feel sitting on it? Besides, the true representative of power is not the dragon throne, but the emperor himself.

He is unable to truly control the civil and military officials, or even the military power. Even if he sits on the throne, he is no different from a puppet.

"Yes, the eldest grandson will sit on this throne for a long time in the future. Come on, let me take you to meet your father first."

Zhu Yuanzhang said.

No matter what he thought in his heart, he felt very gratified by his eldest grandson's attitude towards the throne. Only by truly recognizing power can one master it.

Rather than relying on superficial majesty.

Zhu Ying nodded and followed the old man towards the back hall.

When he was walking quickly to the door, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly paused, turned around and pointed at the dragon throne and said, "Behind the dragon throne, I have written a will."

Zhu Yuanzhang paused after he finished speaking, and said with some emotion: "After all, I am old, and I have to admit my age. If there is any accident, my grandson can use the imperial edict to clear his name."

"What are you talking about, grandpa? With your current physique, you must be at least a hundred years old, and there are still many decades to go." Zhu Yingwen said in a somewhat unhappy tone.

"Our eldest grandson is right. We must live to be a hundred years old, not only to hold our great-grandson in our arms, but also to see our great-grandson grow up."

At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly remembered and said to his eldest grandson in a somewhat unhappy tone: "You know, when you are your age, other people's children can run around everywhere, but you don't even have a wife now. How shameful."

Zhu Ying was speechless. She didn't expect to be urged to get married again.

However, in response to the old man's words, Zhu Ying said, "It's my parents' orders and the matchmaker's words. I'm counting on grandpa for this marriage. How can you blame me?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was speechless for a moment, and finally realized that he was powerless to refute, so he said, "I'll find you a wife tomorrow."

After saying this, Zhu Yuanzhang picked up a lantern next to him and walked forward without looking back.

Zhu Ying raised the corners of his mouth, smiled proudly, and followed closely behind.

The Renzhi Hall is located north of the Wuying Hall and adjacent to the Fengxian Hall, through the right gate of the Fengtian Hall.

Even when the emperor passed away, the coffin would be placed here, so it was relatively close to the Fengtian Hall, making it convenient for the ministers to pay their respects.

During this short journey, Zhu Yuanzhang acted like a guide, with no eunuchs following him. He introduced every detail of the palace to his grandson, and even spoke a few words to the patrolling guards.

As they chatted, they soon arrived at the entrance of Renzhi Hall.

When he reached the palace gate, Zhu Yuanzhang's voice became lower and then silent.

Zhu Ying also did not speak, but followed silently behind and walked into the hall.

The hall was brightly lit, with more than a dozen eunuchs guarding, and several monks chanting scriptures. As soon as you entered, you could smell a strong scent of Zen.

"Everyone, please leave."

"As you wish."

Zhu Yuanzhang came in and spoke slowly, and everyone left in turn.

Zhu Ying walked slowly to the coffin, knelt down, and kowtowed.

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang was already in tears and his voice was choked with sobs.

"Biao'er, did you see that? Your Xiongying is back. Open your eyes and look! I'm not lying to you. He's really back."

"Why did you go so early? Why didn't you stay a little longer to see Xiongying? The eldest sister left, and you were so cruel to leave me alone. If the eldest grandson hadn't come back, I don't know how I would have survived."

"Your Xiongying was only eight years old when he passed away. For ten whole years, he suffered so much at such a young age!"

Zhu Yuanzhang leaned against the coffin, and with his hands he sketched the size of Zhu Xiongying when he was eight years old.

"Biao'er, you know, Xiongying looks so much like you, so much like you!!!"

"You look like your mother, and Xiongying even more so. Your mother loved Xiongying so much back then, it was like looking at her own child."

"I still remember that you said that your parents doted on Xiongying too much, but your mother looked at Xiongying as if he were her own child, so how could she not dote on him?"

"Especially the features in his eyebrows, which are almost the same as your mother's when she was young."

Zhu Yuanzhang talked on and on, sometimes crying and sometimes laughing.

After Zhu Ying kowtowed, he just stayed there quietly and did not stand up to comfort the old man. He knew that at this time, what the old man needed was to vent his personal emotions.

This kind of venting is better to release than to block. Venting can also relieve the depression in your heart.

"Now that our eldest grandson is back, the Ming Empire has a successor. We are relieved. Just now, our eldest grandson was blaming us for not arranging a wife for him."

"Tomorrow, we will go find a wife for our eldest grandson, so that he can give birth to our great-grandson as soon as possible, and we can enjoy a peaceful and happy life again."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile through his tears.

However, just after she finished speaking, she began to feel sad again, thinking of the happiness she had when she and her elder sister took care of the baby together, and said sadly: "If only my elder sister were still here, I don't know if I can take care of the baby by myself."

"You don't know, at that time, I and my elder sister brought Xiongying with us..."

Zhu Yuanzhang recounted to himself the details of raising the baby with Empress Ma. His tears gradually dried up and a smile appeared in the corners of his eyes.

His eyes looked somewhat empty, as if he saw all the joy that had happened ten years ago.

It was nearly half an hour before they finally stopped.

But when Zhu Yuanzhang turned around and looked at Zhu Ying and wanted to say something, he saw Zhu Ying's calm face and suddenly stopped.

Zhu Ying also felt the old man's gaze. After a moment of silence, he said softly, "Grandpa, I'm sorry."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this sorry, his face showed a lonely look, and after a while he replied: "I understand, I understand."

A look of apology flashed across Zhu Ying's face, he really couldn't empathize with her.

For Zhu Ying, although the person lying in the coffin in front of him is the biological father of this body, when it comes to feelings, he really has no feelings for him at all.

To Zhu Ying, Crown Prince Zhu Biao was just a name and a title.

He could pretend to be sad, cry loudly and sob bitterly, but such behavior was too fake.

Perhaps the old man would feel a little relieved now, but Zhu Ying did not like this kind of affectation.

Even emotionally, it is a deception to the old man.

Even for an old man, it took a long time of getting along and gradually gaining recognition for the relationship to become deeper.

"You are a good child, but no matter what, this is your biological father. Burn some incense for your father." Zhu Yuanzhang took the bamboo incense from the side, handed it to Zhu Ying and said.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well that his eldest grandson had grown up with him and his eldest sister since childhood, and was taken away almost as soon as he was born.

In the days that followed, he did not have much interaction with Zhu Biao or even the Chang family.

Zhu Yuanzhang and his eldest sister are both fully playing the role of parents.

Even if the eldest grandson really recovered his memory, I'm afraid he wouldn't have many memories of his father, because there weren't many to begin with.

Zhu Ying took the bamboo incense, offered incense, and kowtowed again.

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed softly and said nothing more. After Zhu Ying kowtowed, he said, "Let's go. I'll take you to the place where you grew up. Maybe you can remember something."

Zhu Ying stood up, nodded slightly, and walked out of the hall with the old man towards Kunning Palace.

When they reached the gate of the hall, Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, and soon Liu He came out from the corner with a lantern, leading the way for Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Ying.

Passing through the rear right door is the rear of the Jinshen Hall, where the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace are located.

There are two options to reach Kunning Palace. One is to go through the corridor next to the palace, bypass the Qianqing Palace and go directly through the side door of Kunning Palace.

Another way is to pass through the Qianqing Palace first, and the back door is the Kunning Palace.

Of course Zhu Yuanzhang would not take his eldest grandson through the corridor, so he would naturally go through the main gate of the Qianqing Palace.

Qianqing Gate, as the main gate to the inner court, also has three main gates.

Unlike ordinary people, Zhu Yuanzhang would sometimes summon ministers to hold meetings here, and of course, most of the people he summoned were the princes and grandchildren of the emperor.

When Zhu Ying stood at the steps of Qianqing Gate, he suddenly felt a slight pain in his head, as if he was pricked by a needle.

"Grandson, what's wrong?" Zhu Yuanzhang had been beside Zhu Ying. Seeing his grandson suddenly stop and frown, he asked with concern.

"Grandson, it seems that you just thought of something."