Heir

Zhu Zijin helped Zhu Youdun up, took the medicine from his wife Madam Gu, and carefully fed it to him. After five spoonfuls, Zhu Youdun turned his head slightly, so Zhu Zijin stopped. He gave him two spoonfuls of honey water, carefully wiped his mouth, and was just about to help him lie down when a shout rang out from afar: "The young master is back—"

Zhu Zijin jerked his head up. Madam Gu dropped the bowl and turned to run outside, only realizing after two steps that she hurriedly looked back toward the sickbed.

Zhu Youdun sat up a little straighter as well, gripping Zhu Zijin's hand tightly. His voice trembled. "Quick, quick..."

Zhu Zihou, waiting nearby, moved fastest. He turned and ran out. "Uncle, I'll go get him!"

Zhu Zifang followed close behind. "Me too."

The two raced in a blur to the gates of Prince Zhou's Mansion and immediately spotted the child standing beside Pan Yun. Their eyes lit up. "Qie'er, it really is Qie'er! He's back!"

Zhu Zihou wanted to step forward and pick him up, but the child shrank back behind Pan Yun in terror, clutching her leg tightly and refusing to let go.

Only then did Zhu Zihou shift his gaze to the others present. Skipping over Pan Yun, he clasped his hands to Tao Ji and Xuan Miao. "Thank you, Daoist priests, for bringing my little nephew home. Our mansion will surely reward you handsomely."

With that, he invited the three of them into the mansion.

Zhu Zifang also wanted to go up and hold the child, but the child did not know them. The brothers' feelings came on too intensely, and he was truly frightened, so he pressed close to Pan Yun and dodged their hands.

Only then did the brothers look at Pan Yun and ask curiously, "And this is?"

Xuan Miao said, "She is a Daoist child of our Sanqing Temple. She was the one who found the young master of the mansion among a crowd of beggars and brought him back."

At this, Zhu Zihou's heart ached. His eyes reddened as he looked at the child with pity. "Qie'er has suffered. Let's enter first. My uncle, elder brother, and sister-in-law are all waiting for him inside."

Pan Yun raised a brow, then reached out to take the child's hand and followed the two inside.

Zhu Zihou and Zhu Zifang kept glancing back. Seeing how close the two were, they knew Pan Yun must have treated the child well, which was why he clung to her so dearly.

Zhu Zihou and Zhu Zifang both sighed in relief. It meant the child had not suffered too much outside, at least not without someone to rely on.

Before they reached the inner gate, Zhu Zijin and Madam Gu had hurried over as well.

The child's eyes reddened when he saw them. Throwing aside Pan Yun, he dashed toward them.

Zhu Zijin strode forward and swept him into his arms, checking him over from head to toe. Once he saw that his limbs were all intact, he hugged him tightly to his chest.

The child burst into loud sobs, wrapping his arms tightly around his father's neck.

Madam Gu cried beyond control as well. Leaning against Zhu Zijin, she embraced the child. Mother and son both wept like children, and the sound left everyone around them with aching hearts.

His eyes red, Zhu Zijin comforted them both, then cast a pleading look toward his two cousins.

Zhu Zihou had always been sensitive and sentimental. Now he cried even harder than Zhu Zijin did, so Zhu Zifang stepped up to console them. "Sister-in-law, please stop crying. Qie'er is still young; crying for too long will hurt his health. Uncle is still waiting inside to see the child."

Since her younger brother-in-law had spoken to persuade her, Madam Gu could not keep crying. Besides, the child had already been found. She steadied herself and stopped crying, though she had wept so fiercely that she could not stop shuddering and hiccuping.

She wiped away her own tears, then dried the tears on the child's face as well. "Quick, take Qie'er to see Father."

Zhu Zijin agreed. Not sparing Tao Ji, Xuan Miao, and the others another glance, he carried the child toward the main hall.

Pan Yun and the other two followed along in a great bustle to watch the excitement—no, to witness familial love.

Inside, Princess Consort Gong had already been waiting. When she saw Zhu Zijin carrying a child in, her eyes reddened slightly, and she hurriedly waved. "Bring him here quickly. Let me see."

Zhu Zijin hurried over with the child.

The Princess Consort touched the child's thin little face, her heart aching terribly. "He has grown so much thinner. Is he healthy?"

Zhu Zijin said, "Very healthy. His crying just now was loud enough."

The Princess Consort smiled happily. "Healthy is good. Healthy is good."

From the bed, Zhu Youdun said weakly, "Bring him over for me to see."

Zhu Zijin quickly carried the child over for Zhu Youdun to see.

Zhu Youdun met the child's large, tear-wet eyes and froze. Then he smiled, reaching out to touch his eyes. "Good child."

It had been a long time since he had seen such innocent eyes.

Zhu Youdun wanted to sit up. Consort Gong hurried forward to support him, sitting behind him so he could lean against her.

Zhu Youdun's heart surged with emotion. He said "Good" three times in a row, then told everyone, "This child is greatly blessed. As expected of my grandson."

Having spoken too much, Zhu Youdun's breathing grew rapid for a moment. After catching his breath, he said, "Invite the chief clerk here."

Prince Zhou's Mansion had a chief clerk. With Zhu Youdun summoning him now, those present more or less had their guesses, and the vast majority were very happy.

The servants accepted the order and withdrew. Some went to find the chief clerk, while others quietly slipped away and ran off at full speed.

Now that grandfather and grandson had met, Zhu Zifang took the initiative to change the subject, lest his uncle become overly emotional and worsen his illness. "Uncle, these are the two—three Daoist priests who brought Qie'er back."

He added Pan Yun at the last moment, since Qie'er had been especially dependent on her just now.

Only then did Prince Zhou notice Tao Ji, Xuan Miao, and Pan Yun. Seeing their Daoist robes, his eyes brightened slightly. "The two of you are people beyond the secular world?"

Pan Yun: ...Why did everyone instinctively overlook me?

Prince Zhou liked Daoists very much.

Naturally, the Daoists liked Prince Zhou as well. Pan Yun liked him best.

Once he received an affirmative answer, Prince Zhou ordered two trays of silver brought over. One tray was for Tao Ji and Xuan Miao, thanking them for bringing the child back;

The other tray was specifically for Pan Yun, thanking her for saving Zhu Tongqie.

That was right. Only now did Pan Yun finally learn his name: Zhu Tongqie.

Pan Yun had thought everyone simply could not see her little short self, and Prince Zhou had not mentioned her much either. She had not expected him to remember it in his heart.

Neither Tao Ji nor Xuan Miao declined money already in hand. They accepted it cleanly and decisively.

But Tao Ji did not accept it for nothing. After looking over Prince Zhou's complexion, he said, "If Your Highness does not mind, shall I take your pulse?"

Prince Zhou asked, "What path do you cultivate, daoist priest?"

Tao Ji said, "I cultivate the path of alchemy and know a little of the arts of healing."

The moment Prince Zhou heard that, he immediately extended his hand.

Tao Ji stepped forward and took his pulse. After feeling it for only a moment, he knew that Prince Zhou did not have long to live and that medicine and stone could hardly cure him, but...

He looked at the child in Zhu Zijin's arms, then took his pulse as well. Smiling faintly, he said, "Your Highness has a broad heart and has encountered a joyous occasion, both of which greatly benefit your condition. I will leave you a prescription. If you trust me, take it. If not, tear it up."

Prince Zhou chuckled. "I trust you. Of course I trust you."

Tao Ji went to write out the prescription.

Xuan Miao stared fixedly at Prince Zhou. She too could see that he did not have long to live. Moreover, he was not the only person in the room whose days were numbered.

Pan Yun stood idly to one side. Half the room was full of people about to die. Had Prince Zhou's Mansion poked open King Yama's nest?

Ever since the Spirit Being had entered the black cat's body and begun cultivating through it, it too had been able to see strange things. It was now bubbling with liveliness in Pan Yun's mind. [Prince Zhou looks like he has no more than two days left. Even I can see deathly aura on his face. His surprise just now diluted it a little; otherwise, he would have died tonight. I wonder whether Tao Ji's medicine will work.]

[There's so much deathly aura in this room. Let's go outside; I feel uncomfortable.] When Pan Yun ignored it, Pan Little Black chattered on. [I'll look up how the people of Prince Zhou's Mansion died.]

[Prince Zhou is the only sick person in this room. The others don't look like they would die of illness.]

Pan Yun swept her gaze over them and replied, [Judging by their faces, they will die violent deaths.]

Pan Little Black said, [How pitiful.]

Then it began making the Spirit Realm search inside Pan Yun's mind.

The era Pan Yun had lived in during her previous life was more than eleven hundred years removed from the present. Several world wars had taken place in between, destroying all kinds of written records and data.

Yet quite a few records of the Ming Dynasty had still remained.

Though it was not the past of the same spacetime but merely a parallel world, the broader environment had not changed, and most developments still left traces to follow.

They could search through history from the past, then compare it with this era to make judgments beneficial to themselves.

Of course, the black cat was simply gossiping now and wanted to join in the fun.

After some tinkering, records concerning the Prince Zhou of the Ming Dynasty from Pan Yun's previous life began flashing across the Spirit Realm jade tablet.

The Spirit Being swept its gaze over them and could not help exclaiming, "Wow! Of this uncle-and-nephew foursome, three became Princes Zhou, and one was once the Heir of Prince Zhou, a candidate Prince Zhou. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Zhu Zijin really is unlucky to have drawn such a father."

The moment Pan Little Black said that, Pan Yun immediately focused her mind to look. These were all historical data entered by experts and scholars from her previous life.

The Prince Zhou material the Spirit Being had found began with the life of the first Prince Zhou, Zhu Su, the father of Zhu Youdun, who was currently lying on the bed.

Pan Yun read with great interest, though most of her attention remained on the child's father, Zhu Zijin.

Speaking of it, Zhu Zijin had been fortunate, but he had also been terribly unlucky.

The former Prince Zhou, Zhu Su, was Zhu Yuanzhang's fifth legitimate son. He had an ill-fated son named Zhu Youxian. If his name was too hard to remember, he could also be called the former Prince of Runan.

He did not want to be Prince of Runan; he wanted to be Prince Zhou. But above him was his legitimate elder brother Zhu Youdun, whose position was as steady as Mount Tai.

So he began dedicating himself to accusing his father of plotting rebellion, hoping to leap over his father and inherit the title of Prince Zhou.

It happened to coincide with Zhu Yunwen's reduction of the feudal princes. Thus, Zhu Su and his eldest legitimate son Zhu Youdun were stripped of their titles and reduced to commoners, living difficult lives until Zhu Di ascended the throne and restored their positions.

But from then on, Zhu Su despised this second son of his. He even asked the emperor to send him to Yunnan as a prince, unwilling to see him in the lands of Zhou.

In contrast, there was Zhu Youdun.

Zhu Youdun had been deeply favored by Zhu Yuanzhang. When his father was demoted and sent away, it was Zhu Youdun who managed the prince's mansion.

At ten, he could independently manage the affairs of Prince Zhou's Mansion in perfect order. He had been established as a prince's heir four years earlier than Prince Yan's Heir Zhu Gaochi, making him the very first among the heirs of the imperial princes.

He had only one flaw: he could not produce children.

Zhu Youxian was useless at everything else, but he could have children. He was the first to produce the eldest grandson of Prince Zhou's Mansion.

Zhu Su could not accept that his eldest grandson had been born to such a son, so he snatched the child away and adopted him to Zhu Youdun. He even memorialized the emperor explicitly, saying that Zhu Youxian's character was poor and he could not be allowed to raise the child, or else even a fine child would be led astray by him.

The child was named Zhu Zijin. While still an infant, he became Zhu Youdun's adopted heir. Only after he grew older did he learn that his father was not his biological father, and his mother was not his biological mother.

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