Heir Apparent

Zhu Zijin helped Zhu Youdun to his feet, took the medicine from his wife Madam Gu, and carefully fed it to him. After five spoonfuls, Zhu Youdun slightly turned his head, so Zhu Zijin stopped, gave him two spoonfuls of honey water, and carefully wiped his mouth. Just as he was about to help him lie down, he suddenly heard a shout from afar: "Young Master is back—"

Zhu Zijin's head shot up. Madam Gu dropped her bowl and turned to run outside. After a couple of steps, she realized and quickly looked back at the sickbed.

Zhu Youdun also sat up straighter, tightly gripping Zhu Zijin's hand, and said with a tremble, "Quick, quick..."

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

Zhu Zifang followed closely behind, "I'll go too."

The two of them dashed to the main gate of Prince Zhou's Mansion and immediately saw the child standing beside Pan Yun. Their eyes lit up, "Qie'er, it's really Qie'er who's back!"

Zhu Zihou moved to hug him, but the child, looking terrified, hid behind Pan Yun and clung tightly to her leg, refusing to let go.

Zhu Zihou then shifted his gaze to the others present. He skipped Pan Yun and cupped his hands to Tao Ji and Xuan Miao, "Thank you both, Daoist priests, for bringing my nephew back. Our mansion will surely reward you handsomely."

After speaking, he invited the three into the mansion.

Zhu Zifang also wanted to hug the child, but the child didn't know them well. The affection from these two was too intense, and he was truly scared, so he stayed close to Pan Yun, avoiding their hands.

The two brothers then looked at Pan Yun and asked curiously, "And who is this?"

Xuan Miao said, "This is a Daoist acolyte from our Sanqing Temple. She found the young master of the mansion in a pile of beggars and brought him back."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zihou felt a pang of heartache. His eyes reddened, and he looked at the child with pity, "Qie'er, you've suffered. Let's go inside the mansion first. My uncle and aunt are waiting for you."

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow, then reached out to take the child's hand and followed the two men inside.

Zhu Zihou and Zhu Zifang kept looking back. Seeing their intimate behavior, they knew Pan Yun usually treated the child well, which was why he was so attached to her.

Zhu Zihou and Zhu Zifang breathed a sigh of relief. This indicated that the child hadn't suffered too much outside, at least he had someone to rely on.

Before they reached the second gate, Zhu Zijin and Madam Gu also hurried over.

Seeing the two, the child's eyes reddened. He let go of Pan Yun and ran towards them.

Zhu Zijin strode forward and hugged him tightly, checking him all over. Seeing that his limbs were intact, he held him close.

The child wailed loudly, clinging tightly to his father's neck.

Madam Gu also cried uncontrollably, leaning against Zhu Zijin and holding the child. Both mother and son cried like children, making everyone around them feel heartbroken.

Zhu Zijin, with red eyes, comforted the mother and son, looking to his two cousins for help.

Zhu Zihou, always sensitive and melancholic, was crying even more heartbrokenly than Zhu Zijin at this moment. Zhu Zifang stepped forward to comfort him, "Sister-in-law, please stop crying. Qie'er is young, and crying for too long will harm him. Uncle is waiting in the room to see the child."

Since his brother-in-law had spoken to persuade her, Madam Gu couldn't continue crying. Moreover, the child had been found. She calmed herself down and stopped crying, but she had cried too intensely just now and couldn't stop sobbing and trembling.

She wiped away her tears, then wiped the child's tears from his face, and urged, "Hurry and take Qie'er to see his father."

Zhu Zijin agreed. Disregarding Xuan Miao, Tao Ji, and the others, he carried the child to the main room.

Pan Yun and the other two followed along, eager to watch the excitement, or rather, to witness the family reunion.

In the room, Princess Consort Gong was already waiting. Seeing Zhu Zijin enter with a child, her eyes reddened, and she quickly beckoned, "Hurry and bring him over for me to see."

Zhu Zijin quickly stepped forward with the child.

The Princess Consort touched the child's thin face, her heart aching, "You've lost so much weight. Are you healthy?"

Zhu Zijin said, "He's very well. He was crying so loudly just now."

The Princess Consort smiled happily, "It's good that he's healthy, it's good that he's healthy."

Lying on the bed, Zhu Youdun weakly said, "Bring him here for me to see."

Zhu Zijin quickly brought the child forward to show Zhu Youdun.

Zhu Youdun met the child's tear-filled eyes and was stunned. Then he smiled and reached out to touch his eyes, saying, "Good child."

He hadn't seen such innocent eyes in a long time.

Zhu Youdun wanted to sit up, and Princess Consort Gong quickly stepped forward to help him, sitting behind him to support him.

Zhu Youdun was deeply moved and said "good" three times. Then he said to everyone, "This child is very fortunate. He is indeed my grandson."

Because he had spoken too much, Zhu Youdun's breathing became rapid for a moment. After recovering, he said, "Please invite the Chief Clerk."

Prince Zhou's Mansion had a Chief Clerk. Zhu Youdun asking for him now, those present had some guesses, and the vast majority were happy.

The servant received the order and retreated. Some went to find the Chief Clerk, while others quietly left the place and ran away.

Now that grandfather and grandson had met, Zhu Zifang, to prevent his uncle from becoming too emotionally agitated and affecting his illness, took the initiative to change the subject, "Uncle, these are the two, three Daoist priests who brought Qie'er back."

He added Pan Yun at the last moment because Qie'er had been very attached to her earlier.

Prince Zhou then noticed Tao Ji and Xuan Miao. Seeing their Daoist robes, his eyes lit up, "Are you two outsiders?"

Pan Yun: ...Why does everyone subconsciously ignore me?

Prince Zhou liked Daoists very much.

Of course, the Daoists also liked Prince Zhou, and Pan Yun liked him the most.

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Prince Zhou ordered two plates of silver to be brought over. One plate was for Tao Ji and Xuan Miao, thanking them for bringing the child back.

The other plate was given to Pan Yun alone, thanking her for saving Zhu Tongqie.

That's right, only now did Pan Yun learn his name. He was Zhu Tongqie.

Pan Yun thought no one could see her, being so short. Prince Zhou didn't mention her much either, but she hadn't expected him to remember.

Tao Ji and Xuan Miao didn't refuse the money they received; they accepted it readily.

But Tao Ji wasn't taking it for free. After observing Prince Zhou's expression, he said, "Your Highness, if you don't mind, may I take your pulse?"

Prince Zhou: "What path do you cultivate, Daoist Master?"

Tao Ji: "I cultivate the Pill Dao and have a slight understanding of the art of medicine."

Upon hearing this, Prince Zhou immediately extended his hand.

Tao Ji stepped forward to take his pulse. After only a moment, he knew Prince Zhou was nearing the end of his life and that medicine could do nothing. However...

He looked at the child Zhu Zijin held in his arms, then felt his pulse again. He smiled faintly and said, "Your Highness has a broad mind and is experiencing joyous events, which is greatly beneficial to your condition. I will leave you a prescription. If you trust it, take it; if not, tear it up."

Prince Zhou chuckled, "I trust it, of course, I trust it."

Tao Ji went to write the prescription.

Xuan Miao gazed steadily at Prince Zhou, also seeing that he was nearing the end of his life. Furthermore, he wasn't the only one in the room who was.

Pan Yun stood by, bored. Half the room was filled with people on the verge of death; was Prince Zhou's Mansion some kind of den for the King of Hell?

Ever since the Spirit Being had entered the black cat and begun cultivating within its body, it had been able to perceive strange things. It was now lively in Pan Yun's mind. [Prince Zhou doesn't look like he has more than a couple of days left. I can already see the aura of death on his face. The recent surprise diluted it a bit, otherwise, he would have died tonight. I wonder if Tao Ji's medicine will work.]

[There's so much death energy in this room, let's go. I feel unwell.] Seeing that Pan Yun wasn't responding, Pan Little Black chattered, [Let me check how these people in Prince Zhou's Mansion are going to die.]

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

Pan Yun glanced around and said, "Judging by their faces, they will die violently."

Pan Little Black: [So pitiful.]

Then it began searching through the Spirit Realm in Pan Yun's mind.

The era Pan Yun lived in was over eleven hundred years ago. Several world wars had occurred in the interim, destroying various texts and data.

However, many records from the Ming Dynasty still remained.

Although it wasn't the past of the same timeline, but a parallel one, the general environment remained the same, and most developments could be traced.

They could search for past history and then reference this era to make judgments beneficial to themselves.

Of course, the black cat was purely gossiping at this moment, wanting to join the fun.

After some rummaging, records of Prince Zhou from the Ming Dynasty of Pan Yun's past life appeared on the Spirit Realm jade slip.

The Spirit Being couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow!" as it scanned them. "There are four uncles and nephews in this room, three Prince Zhous, and one former Prince Zhou's Heir, a candidate for Prince Zhou. Tsk tsk tsk, Zhu Zijin is truly unlucky to have such a father."

Upon hearing Pan Little Black's words, Pan Yun also immediately quieted her mind to look. This was data input by experts and scholars from her past life, categorized as historical.

The Prince Zhous the Spirit Being searched for began with the life of the first Prince Zhou, namely Zhu Su, the father of the currently bedridden Zhu Youdun.

Pan Yun also read with great interest, her attention mainly focused on Zhu Zijin, the child's father.

Speaking of which, Zhu Zijin was both fortunate and unfortunate.

The first Prince Zhou, Zhu Su, was the fifth legitimate son of Zhu Yuanzhang. He had a troublesome son named Zhu Youxun, whom if the name is too difficult to remember, can also be called the former Prince of Runan.

He didn't want to be the Prince of Runan; he wanted to be Prince Zhou. But he had an elder legitimate brother, Zhu Youdun, whose position was very stable.

So, he began to focus on impeaching his father for plotting rebellion, wanting to inherit the title of Prince Zhou over his father.

At that time, Zhu Yunwen was in the process of reducing the power of the feudal lords. Thus, Zhu Su and his eldest legitimate son Zhu Youdun were demoted to commoners and lived difficult lives until Zhu Di ascended the throne and they were reinstated.

However, Zhu Su henceforth loathed this second son, even going so far as to request the Emperor to enfelee him in Yunnan, not wanting to see him in the Zhou region.

Conversely, there was Zhu Youdun.

Zhu Youdun was deeply favored by Zhu Yuanzhang. When his father was demoted and sent to another region, Zhu Youdun managed the Prince's Mansion.

At the age of ten, he could independently manage the affairs of Prince Zhou's Mansion in an orderly fashion. He was established as the Prince's Heir four years earlier than Prince Yan's Heir Zhu Gaochi, being the first among the princes' heirs.

He had only one flaw: he couldn't have children.

As for Zhu Youxun, he was incapable of other things, but he could have children. He was the first to give birth to the eldest grandson of Prince Zhou's Mansion.

Zhu Su could not accept his eldest grandson coming from such a son, so he snatched the child and had him adopted by Zhu Youdun. He also submitted a memorial to the Emperor, clearly stating that Zhu Youxun's character was poor and he could not raise the child, otherwise, even the best child would be corrupted by him.

This child was named Zhu Zijin. He became Zhu Youdun's adopted son as an infant. It wasn't until he grew a bit older that he learned his father wasn't his biological father, and his mother wasn't his biological mother.

The ten lucky numbers for this chapter are those ending in 2. The screenshot serves as proof, and the screenshot time is valid until the next chapter is released. Lucky friends can join the "Sword Goes Sideways in the Great Ming" group to receive "Mo Yan's Ten Thousand Loves."