Zhu Di: My fourth son is a great emperor of all time?

Chapter 71: It's time to find a woman for Zhu Gaoshuo.

We've actually found Jianwen.

Hearing Tianmu's words, Zhu Di sat back down on the dragon throne.

All the hatred from the past surfaced in my mind.

Unlike Zhu Gaochi's hatred, Zhu Di's outward display of hatred was simply a means to consolidate imperial power.

What he truly distrusted Zhu Yunwen was the latter's identity.

No matter how hard one tries to conceal it, there is no way to deny that the other party is the successor recognized by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

It is the legitimate successor of the world.

Zhu Di had always worried that if he died one day, Zhu Yunwen might rally his old troops to rebel.

After all, many old officials of the former dynasty secretly supported Emperor Jianwen.

As it turned out, Zhu Di was right.

The remnants of Jianwen's regime still harbored thoughts of restoration, which led to the assassination of the fourth prince.

However, Zhu Di is no longer afraid, as with his fourth son in Jianwen's reign, no one can cause any more trouble.

"What do you think should be done with Jianwen?"

Zhu Di remained silent for a long time before suddenly addressing his ministers.

These words caused the assembled officials to break out in a cold sweat instantly.

Everyone understood that Zhu Di was testing them.

But now that things have come to this, even if one still harbors illusions about the Jianwen Dynasty, one dares not say more.

The ministers remained silent; even those loyal to Zhu Di knew how to answer the question.

They know it.

Emperor Jianwen was, after all, a figure of great importance to the legitimacy of the entire Ming Dynasty.

How they decide how to handle it is not up to them.

Saying the wrong thing at this time will have dire consequences.

Seeing that none of the officials spoke, Zhu Gaochi excitedly stepped forward and shouted, "That little bastard Jianwen has been caught, of course he should be killed!"

As he spoke, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Gaoshuo and said, "Fourth brother, it's a promise that if you catch Jianwen, you'll be handed over to me to deal with. I'll roast him to death!"

Zhu Gaochi did not mind killing Jianwen in front of the whole world.

According to historical records, when Zhu Di saw Zhu Yunwen again, he was extremely calm. He handed Zhu Zhanji over to Zhu Gaoshuo for handling, and then took Emperor Jianwen to the ancestral temple for a private conversation. No one knows what they discussed.

[But both Zhu Gaoshuo and Zhu Di made the same choice: to kill their nephew!]

[Zhu Di eliminated Jianwen, thus removing a nightmare from his heart. With the emergence of Zhu Gaoshuo, the people no longer cared about legitimacy. Whether it was a rebellion or not was irrelevant to them; all they knew was that they could now live a good life!]

[Soon after Zhu Zhanji's death, Zhu Gaoshuo was made crown prince, while Zhu Gaochi was demoted to Prince of Bai.]

[But Zhu Gaochi stopped attending court and locked himself in his house every day. After all, he had lost his son and was emotionally devastated, but this misfortune turned out to be a blessing in disguise—he lost fifty pounds!]

[And because of this, I lived several more years!]

"The boss is still crippled!"

Zhu Di's face was filled with uncontainable joy.

After all, it was something I had already guessed; with the fourth prince's current power, the position of crown prince would be his sooner or later.

Zhu Di's current concern is how to ensure the survival of a few of his sons and grandsons.

Zhu Zhanji's death was his own fault, and he was not too saddened.

To be honest, I already think it's very kind of the fourth brother to not implicate the eldest brother.

Zhu Gaochi shook his head. He never expected that the extra few years he lived, despite not dieting, were caused by the grief and sorrow over his son's death.

In other words, the extra years he lived were actually due to the early death of his son.

This is life!

"Zhu Zhanji, do you have anything else to say?" Zhu Di's cold voice rang out.

But at this moment, Zhu Zhanji no longer felt the fear he had before.

It's as if I really died once.

"I have nothing to say. As the grandson of the crown prince, I must fight for the throne. It's just that my fourth uncle is better than me. The victor is king, and the loser is villain. I can accept it!" Zhu Zhanji simply stopped hiding his thoughts and spoke his mind directly.

Zhu Di's expression, however, was rather unpleasant.

He didn't expect that Zhu Zhanji would still not repent.

But Zhu Di didn't want his officials to see the Zhu family make a fool of themselves.

Therefore, instead of directly reprimanding Zhu Zhanji, he turned to look at the ministers below:

"From this day forward, Prince Qi will oversee the country. I'm sure everyone has heard what happened in the Heavenly Curtain. Even those who are dissatisfied with Prince Qi, please put away your restless hearts, or I will not let you off lightly!"

Actually, Zhu Di didn't even need to say it.

What happened through the sky.

Everyone had long recognized Prince Qi, Zhu Gaoshuo's, formidable abilities.

Nowadays, unless you're a fool, nobody will mess with you.

Even Zhu Zhanji and Jianwen were utterly defeated, so of course they would never dare to have such thoughts again.

Everyone looked at Zhu Gaoshuo with utmost respect.

Zhu Di was pleased with this reaction and dismissed the officials.

Because what happened in Fengtian Hall next was actually a family matter of the Zhu family, he naturally did not want any outsiders to stay here!
After only the Zhu family members remained in the main hall.

Zhu Di's expression became noticeably more somber.

He stared intently at Zhu Zhanji.

No words were spoken.

In the end, Zhu Zhanji couldn't hold back and continued:
"Grandpa, why don't you want me to be emperor? It's simply because I killed my second uncle!"

"But I just don't understand, if Second Uncle were to rebel, wouldn't Fourth Uncle kill them?"

Zhu Di snorted coldly, too lazy to answer the question.

His initial disappointment with Zhu Zhanji stemmed solely from Zhu's killing of his second and third sons.

However, when Zhu Di heard about Zhu Qizhen's appearance, he already felt that he should no longer pass the throne to his eldest son's family.

However, Zhu Di had no doubt about Zhu Zhanji's abilities.

But now, Zhu Di increasingly felt that Zhu Zhanji was indeed incapable of governing the Ming Dynasty well, and was far inferior to Zhu Gaoshuo.

"Why is it that when my father becomes emperor, my second and third uncles keep fighting against our family, as if they won't give up until they seize the throne?"

"But when it was Fourth Uncle's turn to become emperor, Second Uncle and Third Uncle were so obedient and didn't want to fight at all!"

Faced with Zhu Zhanji's questioning, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui could only smile helplessly.

Are they unwilling to compete with the fourth prince?

It's simply impossible to win.

Zhu Gaoxu knew very well that at this time, he had to conceal his brilliance and seize the opportunity when it presented itself.

Zhu Di didn't look at Zhu Zhanji, but instead looked at his eldest son:

"Take him home. He's not allowed to leave without my permission. Make him stay home and reflect on his actions. He can come back to me when he's thought things through!"

Zhu Gaochi nodded.

It is clear that Zhu Di's actions were actually aimed at protecting Zhu Zhanji.

Zhu Zhanji is currently the target of public criticism; releasing him would likely cause unnecessary trouble.

Zhu Gaochi originally intended to imprison Zhu Zhanji to completely thwart his ambition to become emperor.

Zhu Di thought the Heavenly Curtain would end there, but unexpectedly, it seemed that it was not over yet.

This made Zhu Di's heart tighten.

I remembered saying before that the boss might rebel.

Zhu Di couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

After Zhu Gaoshuo became the crown prince, he basically had the final say in the court. At this time, Zhu Gaoshuo also reached the age of marriage, so Zhu Di thought about finding a crown princess for him.

(End of this chapter)