Chapter 20: Struggle for the Title

If Zhu Zijin had been lucky up to this point, his life thereafter could be described as tragic.

After Zhu Su died, Zhu Youdun inherited the title of Prince of Zhou, but he still had no sons, so he became devoted to raising his nephews.

Zhu Zihou, Zhu Zidan, and others were sent to the Prince of Zhou’s mansion at a young age, ostensibly to fulfill filial duties on behalf of their fathers before their grandfather, bringing joy to the former Prince of Zhou.

But Zhu Su died when Zhu Zihou was three and Zhu Zidan was four, and from then on, the new Prince of Zhou, Zhu Youdun, raised them.

With his biological father dead, Zhu Youlao felt he could act again, so he repeatedly submitted reports accusing Zhu Youdun of plotting rebellion.

Zhu Youdun continually defended himself.

After years of this, Zhu Youdun still had no children, and Zhu Youlao’s thinking shifted—he stopped mentioning Zhu Youdun’s alleged rebellion and began fighting for custody and legal ownership of Zhu Zijin.

He threw tantrums, wept and raged before the Emperor, wept and raged before the imperial clan—always the same phrase: Zhu Zijin was his son, he couldn’t bear to lose him, the Prince of Zhou must return his son!

Zhu Youlao made such a fuss that Zhu Youdun, after holding out for years, could no longer endure him and returned Zhu Zijin to him.

At the time, Zhu Zijin was twelve years old.

Zhu Youlao didn’t seize Zhu Zijin because he loved his son—he did it because Zhu Youdun had no sons, and if Zhu Youdun died, Zhu Youlao, as the eldest legitimate second son of the former Prince of Zhou, would be the first in line to inherit.

If Zhu Zijin remained Zhu Youdun’s adopted son, what place would there be for him?

But Zhu Youdun had his own temper—he, like his father, despised this younger brother and would rather bestow the title upon a junior illegitimate brother than give it to this same-mother sibling.

After Zhu Zijin was taken, Zhu Youdun devoted himself to raising the several nephews in his mansion and grew close to his fourth brother, Zhu Youjue.

Zhu Youlao, unable to bear it, launched another round of false accusations, claiming Zhu Youjue had close ties with Prince Han, Zhu Gaoxu.

The reigning emperor at the time was the former Emperor Xuanzong, who lacked his father’s patience; after confirming the accusations were false, he uncovered numerous illegal acts by this uncle and promptly stripped him of his title, reducing him to commoner status and confining him in Beijing.

Zhu Zijin, now transformed from Prince of Zhou’s heir to Zhu Youlao’s eldest son, was naturally implicated and likewise reduced to commoner status, confined alongside him in Beijing.

“Confinement” meant being confined to a plot of land enclosed by the Imperial Clan Office, a village on the outskirts.

There, besides disgraced imperial relatives, lived only estate managers and tenant farmers from the imperial farms.

They received no imperial subsidies and were restricted in freedom, forced to till the land; thus, though Zhu Zijin was only five or six years older than his two cousins, he now looked ten years their senior.

This reveals how miserable his years had been.

After reviewing her past timeline’s key records on the Prince of Zhou, Pan Yun immediately noticed the difference.

In her past timeline, Zhu Youdun died in the fourth year of Zhengtong; here, it was the seventh year of Zhengtong.

In her past timeline, Zhu Youdun never reclaimed Zhu Zijin before his death, so after he died, his fourth brother Zhu Youjue inherited the Prince of Zhou title, and it wasn’t until the JingTai era that the JingTai Emperor released Zhu Zijin and sent him back to Kaifeng.

This was intriguing—Pan Yun looked up at the sickbed.

Tao Ji had returned after writing the prescription and was now discussing health preservation with the Prince of Zhou.

The former Prince of Zhou was a medical master; though the current Prince of Zhou hadn’t inherited his father’s expertise, he possessed relevant knowledge.

Especially these past few years, as he frequently fell gravely ill, hovering on the brink of death, he had developed his own insights on health preservation, so he conversed well with Tao Ji.

As they spoke merrily, the Prince’s Chief Secretary finally arrived.

The Prince of Zhou beckoned to him: “Yuansong, I need you to draft an imperial memorial.”

Zhao Yuansong immediately stepped forward to receive orders.

The Prince of Zhou gasped: “I wish to petition for the appointment of Prince of Zhou’s Heir and Heir’s Heir. Write it for me.”

Zhao Yuansong promptly agreed.

Princess Gong immediately said: “Quickly prepare brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.”

Her maid immediately obeyed and soon returned with brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

Zhao Yuansong ground the ink and, following the Prince’s instructions, petitioned to appoint the heir Zhu Zijin as Prince of Zhou’s Heir and the heir’s heir Zhu Tongqie as Prince of Zhou’s Heir’s Heir.

As soon as the memorial was written, Zhao Yuansong was about to seal it when hurried footsteps sounded outside; the curtain was violently pulled aside, and everyone turned to look.

A middle-aged man with cold eyes strode in: “Brother—”

His gaze swept over Pan Yun, Xuan Miao, and Tao Ji, lingering longest on Tao Ji, then stepped forward: “I heard Qie has been found?”

The Prince of Zhou’s gaze was gentle; he nodded: “He has been found.”

Zhu Zihou and Zhu Zidan stepped forward and called out, “Father.” Zhu Youjue waved his hand, his eyes fixed on the child in Zhu Zijin’s arms, frowning: “Who found this child? How? Have you verified it? For half a year we turned the Central Plains upside down and still couldn’t find the child…”

Because of Zhu Youjue’s interruption, the memorial stalled at the sealing step.

Pan Yun scanned the faces in the room and internally sighed—there were four Princes of Zhou in this room, yet the most anxious were the current Princess of Zhou and her entourage…

Princess Gong was now desperate to press the seal and immediately send the memorial to Beijing.

Sensing his wife’s agitation, the Prince of Zhou gently patted her with his withered hand, smiled faintly at her, and continued responding to Zhu Youjue: “The child is fortunate—he encountered three Daoist masters who sensed his extraordinary origins and brought him back.”

“So those rumors are baseless,” the Prince of Zhou said, his face flushed: “I do not curse my children—I now have not only a son, but a grandson!”

He told Chief Secretary Zhao Yuansong: “Seal it. Send someone immediately to deliver the memorial to the Emperor’s presence—I still have time left to live, and I want to see them formally appointed as Heir and Heir’s Heir.” Zhao Yuansong slammed the seal down, rose solemnly, and said: “Your Highness, I shall personally travel to Beijing to petition the Imperial Clan Office to restore the Heir’s name to your and the Princess’s registry.”

“Good, good,” the Prince of Zhou said, eyes gleaming: “Set out at once. Take plenty of silver to grease the wheels—get them to register him quickly, to soothe my son’s heart.”

Zhu Zijin knelt on the floor, holding the child, tears streaming: “Father…”

“Why cry? A true man does not shed tears so easily—how will you protect your mother, your wife, your children?” the Prince of Zhou admonished: “The entire mansion will depend on you—you must be strong.”

Zhu Zijin wept and agreed.

Zhu Youjue hadn’t expected the Chief Secretary to act so swiftly, nor that his elder brother’s resolve was so firm—he fell silent.

His gaze settled on the child, his tone ambiguous: “This child is indeed fortunate—this resembles Second Brother. Second Brother was always lucky from childhood; no matter what trouble he caused, he always escaped unscathed.”

Princess Gong’s face darkened: “What nonsense are you speaking, Fourth Brother? Zhu Youlao has been reduced to commoner status—what fortune is that?”

She took the child from Zhu Zijin’s arms, gently patted him: “Our Qie is nothing like him—such great fortune clearly resembles the Prince, Your Highness—look at his eyes, aren’t they exactly like yours?”

The Prince of Zhou smiled and nodded: “Yes, exactly like mine.”

“Congratulations, Your Highness, congratulations, Your Highness,” Xuan Miao smiled faintly: “The mansion celebrates two joys; with this auspiciousness, if Your Highness follows medical advice and carefully nurtures himself, your illness will surely heal, and the Princess will enjoy longevity and fortune.”

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The Prince of Zhou murmured: “Longevity and fortune… I accept the Daoist’s blessing. Someone, reward again!”

Princess Gong’s eyes grew moist; she held the child tightly.

Zhu Youjue seethed with rage, his chest aching with suppressed fury.

The princely title had already been his for the taking—who could have imagined his elder brother would suddenly remember Zhu Zijin and petition to release him?

Zhu Youjue made one final plea: “Brother, Second Brother is still alive—if he learns Zijin has become Heir again, then…”

The Prince of Zhou waved dismissively: “I’m nearly dead—how many years does he have left? He was stripped for crimes; unlike our Zijin, he won’t easily be released.”

Princess Gong nodded vigorously.

Zhao Yuansong, having confirmed the Prince’s will, withdrew to gather guards for the journey to Beijing.

He dared not be careless now.

If he had once never doubted Prince of Xiangfu Zhu Youjue, since Zhu Tongqie’s abduction, he no longer trusted him at all.

This memorial decided the fate of the Prince of Zhou title—he dared not risk anything happening en route.

The Prince of Zhou’s health was dire; the mansion physician had declared that morning he might not last more than a day or two.

He must deliver the memorial to Beijing as soon as possible, for before this, the court and the Prince of Zhou’s mansion had reached a tacit understanding: upon the Prince’s death, the title would pass to Prince of Xiangfu.

Even though the Prince had reclaimed the Heir half a year ago, the succession had never been formally settled—technically, it should have passed to the Heir, but Zhu Zijin was still registered under Zhu Youlao’s name, and the Imperial Clan Office had not yet corrected it.

The reason it had never been corrected was because Zhu Tongqie had been kidnapped shortly after arriving in Kaifeng.

Some said the Prince of Zhou was born to curse his children; others claimed Zhu Zijin cursed both parents; still others claimed the Prince of Zhou and the former Prince of Runan line mutually harmed each other.

Zhu Zijin and his father belonged to the former Prince of Runan line; they should never have met the Prince of Zhou again, or disaster would follow—any meeting would bring injury.

Now the injury was Zhu Tongqie; next time, it might be the Prince of Zhou.

The Prince of Zhou… believed it somewhat.

This Prince of Zhou was good in every way—except he was superstitious.

So for half a year, because of these rumors, he had never formally recognized Zhu Zijin as Heir.

Yet he couldn’t bear to drive the child away.

After all, he had raised the boy himself; seeing how miserable his life had been, how could the Prince bear to send him back to Beijing confinement?

Moreover, since arriving in Kaifeng, Zhu Zijin had shown utmost filial piety—he managed everything around the Prince: administering medicine, feeding him, even bathing and changing his clothes, carrying him daily into the courtyard to bask in the sun…

Though servants could do these tasks, they did them carelessly.

And since the Prince had been ill so long, the servants, though silent, inevitably grew impatient, their movements lacking gentleness and tenderness.

Zhu Zijin treated him like a child.

While caring for him, the Prince of Zhou constantly recalled how he had once cared for the infant Zhu Zijin.

When Zhu Zijin was brought to them, he hadn’t yet reached his first month—he had been a first-time father, flustered with Gong, raising him bit by bit until he was twelve…

Because of these memories, because of Zhu Zijin’s filial devotion, even with his superstition, he had delayed driving him away.

Superstition is good—it can be used to believe in mutual harm, but also in mutual blessing.

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(End of Chapter)