My father, Zhu Di, was granted a second life by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Chapter 2: Mistakenly believed by Zhu Yuanzhang to be the reincarnation of Zhu Biao

But all the dissatisfaction quickly dissipated.

Xu Miaoyun went to see a famous doctor yesterday to treat Zhu Gaoxi's illness.

Although only one day had passed, the famous physician Sheng Yin's conclusion was completely different from the previous diagnosis of the imperial physician.

The imperial physicians believed that Zhu Gaoxi did not have many days left to live.

Sheng Yin speculated that he had at least another year to live.

Zhu Yuanzhang sent his eunuch to invite Chen, the Imperial Censor, over.

Chen, the Imperial Physician, is the head of the Imperial Medical Academy.

After careful examination, Dean Chen's opinion was consistent with Sheng Yin's.

Could it be that a miracle has occurred?

Zhu Di and Xu Miaoyun quickly kowtowed to express their gratitude for their father's protection.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, forgiving his son and daughter-in-law.

However, if they want to take the child away, there's absolutely no room for negotiation.

"You can't take this child away; he has to stay with us."

Zhu Yuanzhang rejected their request without hesitation, leaving no room for negotiation.

Zhu Gaoxi was extremely pleased to hear this.

After Consort Guo and her wet nurse fed Zhu Gaoxi, Xu Miaoyun followed Consort Guo out of the Qianqing Palace and inquired about the child's condition.

Only Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di, and Zhu Gaoxi remained in the hall.

"To build a large harem and have many sons," Zhu Yuanzhang muttered.

No matter how deep his feelings were for his principal wife, he could not delay having a son. This was one of his life's tenets. Having many sons meant a prosperous family. Zhu Di only had four sons, which was far less impressive than Zhu Di's more than twenty sons.

"Father's teachings are correct," Zhu Di replied respectfully.

Then the room fell into complete silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Zhu Di's gaze fell on Zhu Gaoxi.

Zhu Gaoxi was startled; his gaze was filled with love.

Could it be that he loves my mother, who came from a humble background?

Just as Zhu Gaoxi was lost in thought, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "The position of crown prince cannot remain vacant for long. Who do you think is suitable?"

Zhu Di remained calm and passed the buck back, "What does Father think?"

Regarding the succession to the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang established the rule of adopting the traditional patriarchal system—the primogeniture system—and wrote it into the "Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty".

"Your second brother is useless," Zhu Yuanzhang sighed heavily. "We can only look for a replacement among your eldest brother's sons. Yunwen is a filial son."

"Where is Yunhu?" Zhu Di asked in a low voice.

"Look at all that flesh on his body," Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head in disappointment. Even his father's death hadn't made the boy lose an inch of his weight, which showed that he was heartless.

Zhu Di didn't dare to say anything; he also had a fat son at home who was not good at handling things.

Zhu Yunwen was not as sentimental and righteous as he appeared; otherwise, he would not have deposed five princes and forced his own uncle to commit suicide after ascending the throne.

Zhu Gaoxi felt it necessary to remind Zhu Yuanzhang, so he twisted his body forcefully.

Seeing his son moving around, Zhu Di bent down and carefully picked him up.

Surprisingly, this cheapskate dad is quite good at holding babies.

Zhu Gaoxi examined the Yongle Emperor's appearance closely, and thought he was incredibly handsome.

He couldn't help but feel secretly delighted to have inherited such excellent genes.

A handsome appearance is always the number one weapon for picking up girls.

"If the dukes and marquises indulge in unrestrained and lawless behavior, there will be a worry that they will become too powerful to control."

Zhu Di's casual remark stunned Zhu Gaoxi.

It turns out that the Lan Yu case was indeed orchestrated by her cheap father.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded heavily, "I know."

According to the regulations of the imperial court, after the Crown Prince's funeral, the regional princes were required to leave the capital within a specified period.

Zhu Di and his wife entered the palace for two reasons: to fetch their son and to bid farewell.

As an ordinary palace maid in the Prince of Yan's mansion, Wang Zihe was not originally qualified to enter the palace, but Zhu Di still brought her into the palace so that he could see his son before leaving the capital.

Zhu Di specially brought the child to a side hall of the Qianqing Palace.

She hugged her son tightly, tears streaming down her face.

Zhu Gaoxi's face quickly became covered in tears.

Smelling her familiar scent, Zhu Gaoxi was startled to discover a youthful face the moment she lowered her head to kiss him.

This young girl, barely eighteen years old, was actually his mother!

That cheapskate dad is a real beast!

The stepmother cried harder and harder, as if she were facing a life-or-death separation.

It wasn't until Zhu Di entered the room that Wang Zihe abruptly stopped and stopped crying.

Upon leaving his mother's embrace, Zhu Gaoxi instinctively cried, his voice hoarse and desperate.

Hearing his son cry so pitifully, Zhu Di's eyes reddened, and he emotionally promised, "Good son, listen to your grandfather. In two years, your father will come to pick you up."

Watching his adoptive mother meekly follow his adoptive father out, Zhu Gaoxi felt inexplicably sad.

I will definitely make something of myself in the future, so that my mother can live with her head held high like Xu Miaoyun.

After his parents passed away, Zhu Gaoxi had a beautiful young woman by his side.

"Miaoyun said that Miaojin should be sent to the palace to help take care of Gao Xi. She is twelve years old and is a young lady. Anyway, she will marry into our family in the future, so it would be good for her to go to the palace early to learn the rules," Consort Guo Ning said to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded without objection. Except for Gao Xi, who was not allowed to leave the Qianqing Palace, the rest of Consort Ning could be arranged as he saw fit.

Zhu Gaoxi was very interested in this extraordinary woman who refused Emperor Yongle's marriage proposal many years later and wanted to get close to her.

However, most of the time, Xu Miaojin stayed by Guo Ningfei's side and didn't even bother to glance at him.

As the princes gradually left the capital, only Zhu Jixi, the heir apparent of the Prince of Jin, remained in the capital, refusing to leave. This greatly angered Zhu Yuanzhang, who repeatedly issued edicts urging Zhu Gang to send his son back to his fiefdom.

The old emperor sat wearily beside the crib and sighed sadly, "They've all been holding their breath, determined to seize the throne."

Zhu Gaoxi used all his strength to hold onto his grandfather's fingers tightly.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up. "You little rascal, you've got some strength."

"Satisfaction level has risen to 80%. Please keep up the good work."

When the life extension system's notification sounded, Zhu Gaoxi was slightly excited. It turned out that increasing satisfaction wasn't so difficult after all.

Prince Jin, Zhu Gang, was the third son of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Jixi was two years older than Zhu Yunwen and was the de facto eldest grandson of the emperor.

The reason Zhu Jixi stayed in the capital for so long was probably because he had developed a desire for the throne.

Among his many grandsons, Zhu Yuanzhang favored Zhu Jixi and chose a formidable father-in-law for him—the Duke of Ying, Fu Youde.

However, regardless of whether Zhu Yuanzhang chose his son or grandson as his successor, the Prince of Jin and his son were not chosen.

If a son were to be formally appointed, Prince Zhu Shuang of Qin would be listed first.

If a grandson is to be chosen, he can only be selected from among Zhu Biao's sons.

Zhu Biao had a total of five sons. His first wife, the Crown Princess Chang, gave birth to two sons: the eldest, Zhu Xiong Ying, and the third, Zhu Yun Tong.

Consort Lü, who was promoted from secondary consort to principal consort, gave birth to three sons: Zhu Yunwen (second son), Zhu Yunxuan (fourth son), and Zhu Yunxi (fifth son).

After Zhu Xiong Ying died of illness in the fifteenth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yunwen became the eldest son.

Zhu Yunwen was only one year younger than Zhu Yunwen.

In contrast, Zhu Yunwen's maternal family was much more powerful. His maternal grandfather was Chang Yuchun, the most powerful general under Zhu Yuanzhang, and his maternal uncle was the famous Duke of Liang, Lan Yu.

Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Jiang Huan, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to send people to closely monitor Zhu Jixi's movements.

Zhu Gaoxi's existence soothed much of his inner pain.

He felt, deep down, that the child was the reincarnation of Zhu Biao.