The back garden of the Ming Imperial Palace, the palace back garden, and the Qianqiu Pavilion.

This is the back door of Kunning Palace.

Qianqiu Pavilion is a polygonal pavilion with a round top and a square bottom, and porches on all four sides, forming a cross-shaped plane.

The garden is dotted with strange rocks, lush trees and paved with colorful stones.

The paths in the garden are carefully paved with pebbles of different colors, forming more than 900 different patterns, including figures, flowers, scenery, dramas, allusions, etc.

This used to be Zhu Xiongying's favorite place to play.

However, since Zhu Xiongying died young and Empress Ma passed away, Zhu Yuanzhang rarely came here.

This time, Zhu Yuanzhang summoned Tang He here to meet him, which obviously showed that he had resolved his worries.

It didn't take long before Tang He's sedan chair was carried over.

Looking at Tang He getting down from the sedan chair, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little emotional.

Time really makes people grow old.

Tang He back then was a first-rate general who often led the charge. He was also very tall and strong.

It is totally different from the skinny old man in front of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Tang He fought in battles all his life, leaving him with many hidden illnesses.

In the 21st year of Hongwu, when Japanese pirates frequently harassed the coastal areas, Zhu Yuanzhang summoned Tang He and said to him:

"Although you are old, I am worried about others passing away, so I can only make you suffer."

Tang He requested to go with Fang Mingqian, who was familiar with maritime affairs. After the on-site inspection, it was decided to set up 59 garrisons along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and select 35,000 men to build the city.

Because of staying at the seaside for a long time and being eroded by the sea breeze, Tang He already had rheumatism at that time.

The winter in the Ming Dynasty was extremely cold. He suffered a stroke on the first day of the first lunar month when he was paying homage to the emperor.

Stroke is very painful for the elderly, and Tang He became thinner and thinner until he became the skinny old man he is today.

"Your humble servant greets His Majesty."

After being helped down from the sedan chair by the eunuchs, Tang He bowed and saluted to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Old friend, let's not bother with these empty formalities. Come and take a seat." Zhu Yuanzhang said gently.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Tang He insisted on paying his respects before entering the Qianqiu Pavilion and sitting opposite Zhu Yuanzhang.

Tang He now is no longer as rebellious as he used to be.

"We asked you to come here this time because we want to tell you something happy."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and asked all the palace maids and eunuchs around him to leave. Only Jiang Lihouli spoke to Tang He with a smile.

Feeling that His Majesty seemed to be in a good mood, Tang He was relieved and asked:

"I don't know what good news your majesty has."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled mysteriously and said, "Do you still remember our eldest grandson Xiongying? You held him in your arms when you were a child."

Tang He was confused and didn't understand what was going on. He replied cautiously, "Of course I remember it."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "Let me tell you, don't be scared, our eldest grandson is back!"

Tang He was confused.

What is going on? It's broad daylight now, and there's a ghost in the palace.

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's ruddy face and energetic appearance, Tang He was confused but still asked: "Your Majesty, I don't understand what you mean by coming back."

Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that this was somewhat shocking, so he explained, "My grandson Xiongying is not dead. We have seen him again. He has been wandering outside for ten years and now has returned to the capital, running a teahouse by the Qinhuai River."

Tang He was shocked when he heard this.

He totally didn't believe what Zhu Yuanzhang said at this moment.

When Zhu Xiongying died, he was in the capital, and he was also present at the funeral at Zhongshan.

I watched him being buried right before my eyes.

How could a person who had been dead for ten years be resurrected?

After a slight hesitation, Tang He gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, please do not be deceived by this villain. I have never heard of such a bizarre thing."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was not angry, and said: "Old friend, when I first heard about this, I didn't believe it, so I went to the teahouse and saw it for real."

"You also know that our eldest grandson was raised by me and my eldest sister. We were with him day and night. Even if others can't recognize him, we can still recognize him."

"I know that anyone who hears about this will think that I am old and confused, but although I am old, I am not so confused that even my eldest grandson admits his mistakes."

Tang He frowned when he heard this.

Zhu Yuanzhang's words sounded extremely clear, well-organized, and logical.

It doesn't look like he was confused.

But this person has been dead for ten years, how can he be resurrected just like that?

Seeing that Tang He didn't say anything, he didn't object.

Zhu Yuanzhang said again: "We have arranged for people to dig out the tomb of our eldest grandson. I'm sure you also know about the earth dragon rolling ten years ago."

"We also watched our eldest grandson being buried in the coffin. Now we just need to dig up the tomb and open the tomb for an autopsy."

Upon hearing this, Tang He said tentatively, "Your Majesty, if the body of His Royal Highness Prince Yu is still in the coffin, what about Prince Yu who is outside?"

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "That's impossible. I thought about it with you earlier. Until today, I learned it from my eldest grandson."

"When our eldest grandson was picked up, he had a piece of torn cloth next to his body. According to his description, that piece of cloth was the bellyband embroidered by my eldest sister for him."

Speaking of that bellyband, Zhu Yuanzhang was very sure in his heart.

A dudu is a bellyband worn by children. The material used for children's bellyband is mostly red cloth, which is also called a red bellyband.

But the piece of bellyband that Zhu Ying told Zhu Yuanzhang about was white.

This was the key to Zhu Yuanzhang's confirmation.

Because Zhu Xiongying died young.

According to custom, people who died young cannot be buried in the imperial mausoleum, as this will affect the feng shui of the mausoleum.

Because Zhu Xiongying was overly favored, Zhu Yuanzhang treated him as the eldest grandson of the emperor and buried him in the Xiaoling Mausoleum.

Originally, red bellybands were only worn by children, but now they have been replaced with white bellybands for adults.

Moreover, this and the bellyband were embroidered by Empress Ma while she was ill in bed.

Because of Empress Ma's physical condition, this white bellyband was extremely simple and did not have any auspicious patterns embroidered on it like other children's bellybands.

Only Zhu Xiongying's name was embroidered.

Not many people knew about this. The eunuchs who changed Zhu Xiongying's clothes were also executed and buried alive with him by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Currently, the only person who knows about this is Zhu Yuanzhang.

That's why, after hearing Zhu Ying's description, Zhu Yuanzhang was so convinced that there was definitely an empty coffin in King Yu's tomb.

Upon hearing this, although Tang He still remained skeptical in his heart, he saw that His Majesty had obviously done a lot of investigation and even went so far as to dig up the tomb and perform an autopsy.

I feel relieved.

Tang He was cautious and did not want to talk too much about whether Zhu Xiongying's identity was real.

When I saw Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance, I knew that if I questioned him too much, it might cause His Majesty's disgust.

Then he asked, "I wonder how Your Majesty plans to arrange it."