Chapter Twenty-Five: Treated as Less Than Human

The only thing Zhu Yuanzhang resented about his fourth son was that after ascending the throne, the fourth son’s methods toward the sons of his beloved Biao were far too cruel and heartless!

In the modern era, Zhu Yuanzhang had pored over numerous historical records, yet there was no definitive conclusion regarding Zhu Yunwen’s ultimate fate. Some records claimed that after the fourth son’s army marched into Yingtian, that beast set fire to the palace and committed suicide. Others suggested he had escaped, assumed a fake identity, and became a monk. Still others claimed he fled to various small kingdoms in the Southeast. There were even theories that the fourth son’s dispatch of Zheng He on his voyages to the Western Oceans was, in reality, a hunt for that beast’s whereabouts. The accounts were myriad and inconsistent.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang chose to believe that Zhu Yunwen had set the fire himself to grant himself a dignified end. Even if he hadn't, the fourth son would have eventually granted him such "dignity" in private. Given the fourth son’s temperament and the things he did after becoming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang knew he was capable of such an act. Zhu Yuanzhang did not blame him in the slightest for killing that beast, Zhu Yunwen. That creature deserved such an end; it would have been even better had the fourth son skinned him alive and stuffed his hide with straw.

But the fourth son should not have laid his hands on Biao’s other children.

After the fourth son became emperor, he forced Biao’s fifth son, Yunxi, and his mother, Lady Lü, to guard Biao’s tomb. Then, in the fourth year of the Yongle era, a fire broke out in their residence, and both were burned to death. The origin of that fire was, to say the least, suspicious! Zhu Yuanzhang had clapped in satisfaction when Lady Lü died, but he had never previously suspected anything untoward regarding the deaths of Biao’s wife, Lady Chang, or his grandson, Xiongying. He had simply assumed Lady Chang died in childbirth and Xiongying had succumbed to smallpox—that it was their ill fate, and no one else’s fault.

However, as he encountered more information in the modern age, the more Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. I fear... the passing of Biao’s wife, the daughter of the Chang family, and little Xiongying was not so simple! Now that he had returned to the eighth year of the Hongwu era, he had to deal with Lady Lü as well! Her being burned to death would be for the best, but he was not pleased that Yunxi had been burned along with her.

As for Biao’s third and fourth sons, Yuntong and Yunji, in the fourth year of the Jianwen era, the fourth son had stripped them of their status as commoners under the pretext that they could not support their brother, and subsequently imprisoned them in his ancestral home of Fengyang. Zhu Yuanzhang could understand the fourth son’s reasoning for this. But the critical point was that in the fifteenth year of the Yongle era, the Prince of Gu, Zhu Hui, had falsely claimed that the son of the Prince of Shu was actually the fugitive Zhu Yunwen, intending to incite a rebellion. Before he could act, the Prince of Shu, having learned of the plot, reported it to the fourth son, who easily suppressed it. After this incident, both men imprisoned in Zhongdu Fengyang died suddenly. Even with his toes, Zhu Yuanzhang knew this must have been the work of the fourth son.

With that, all five of Biao’s sons were gone!

Except for Xiongying, the remaining four children had all died at the hands of the fourth son. Zhu Yunwen naturally deserved to die, but the other three did not! With the fourth son’s capabilities and his subsequent absolute control over the imperial court and the realm, who else could have possibly rebelled against him? Biao’s sons had already been demoted to commoners and were under house arrest in Fengyang; how could they have threatened his rule? Could he not have spared them a path to survival? Yet, they all met a lethal end. These were the sons of his own Biao, the sons of his eldest brother! Biao had been a truly exemplary eldest brother, treating his younger siblings with genuine kindness; the saying "the eldest brother is like a father" was embodied perfectly in him. Yet the fourth son had killed his own eldest brother’s children! He had nearly caused Biao’s line to perish!

This was exactly why he blamed the fourth son, and why he was whipping him. But these were things Zhu Yuanzhang could not voice; he could only swing his shoe sole in silence, striking with all his might.

Zhu Di endured the pain, waiting for his Imperial Father to announce his crimes. He desperately wanted to hear what he had done wrong and which of his father’s taboos he had violated. He truly had not made any mistakes during this period, otherwise, he would not have been so cocky when facing the third brother. Yet, his father, Zhu Yuanzhang, just kept his head down, raining blows upon him without saying a word.

"Father, what... what exactly did I do wrong?"

Seeing that his father had already struck him over thirty times with the shoe sole and was finishing up without explaining the reason for the beating, Zhu Di finally could not hold back and asked. It would have been better if he hadn't asked; the moment he did, Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand and dealt several more resounding slaps to his swollen buttocks, making Zhu Di wince in secret.

"I am punishing you for not being good to your nephew!"

Some things were difficult to explain, so Zhu Yuanzhang could only provide a vague answer.

"Father, I have been nothing but good to Xiongying! He is so chubby and lovable, I adore him so much..." Zhu Di protested his innocence.

"Then be even better to him!" Zhu Yuanzhang delivered several more whacks with the shoe sole, exerting the unreasonable, iron-fisted authority of an old father. He ignored the bewildered Zhu Di, not caring how confused he might be in the future.

*Bang!*

The doors of the Wuying Hall were suddenly pushed open from the outside, and Zhu Biao appeared, looking flustered and somewhat dazed.

"Father, why are you beating my brother again? What has the fourth brother done to deserve this?!"

Zhu Biao questioned his father while rushing toward him, intent on stopping him. To tell the truth, Zhu Biao was quite surprised. After all, he had just concluded that his father would not be beating his brothers again for a while. Yet, as he reached the doors of the Wuying Hall, he heard the sounds of a beating, and upon pushing the door open to see that it was the fourth brother, his shock only increased. The fourth brother had been performing quite well over the past half-year!

It would have been fine if Zhu Biao hadn't come to intervene, as Zhu Yuanzhang had already been preparing to end his "paternal love" for the fourth son. But now, Zhu Yuanzhang felt unsettled again. Biao’s care for his fourth brother was a vivid illustration of how an eldest brother acts like a father, yet the fourth son had committed such unforgivable acts against him. The thought made Zhu Yuanzhang’s anger flare up again.

"Biao’er, don't protect him!"

Zhu Yuanzhang held Zhu Biao back with one hand while using the other, still gripping the shoe sole, to rain down a dozen more heavy blows on Zhu Di before finally stopping.

"If your eldest brother hadn't pleaded for you and held me back, you damn brat, you wouldn't have gotten off so easily!"

Zhu Yuanzhang put on his shoes while glaring at the fourth son, taking the opportunity to earn favor for his beloved Biao. Zhu Gang said nothing, but he stared intently at Zhu Di; though he remained silent, his expression conveyed everything that needed to be said.

Supported by Zhu Biao, Zhu Di climbed up from the floor and turned his head away, showing only the back of his neck to the third brother. At that moment, only one thought occupied Zhu Di’s mind: *I’m done for! I’ve lost all face! That third brother of mine is never going to let me hear the end of this!*

...

"I have called the three of you here today because I have a task to entrust to you. A glorious and magnificent task."

After beating the fourth son and calming his temper, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his second, third, and fourth sons and spoke solemnly. His voice carried a hint of enticement.

The three brothers were stunned at first, then became invigorated. They were eager to know what task their father had for them. Zhu Biao, however, felt that something was amiss; he sensed the scent of his father’s impending "inhumanity" and began to guard himself in secret.