Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 38 The Nightmare of Emperor Yongle

The time goes back to eighteen days ago, the day when Zhu Zhanhe arranged for Wei Jizhong and Xiao Xizi to set off.

In the Jiming Temple in Yingtian Prefecture, Emperor Yongle Zhu Di was upset because his two sons were fighting for the position of crown prince, so he came to the Jiming Temple to hide away.
When Emperor Yongle was tired of reading memorials, he fell asleep directly on the small couch.

Emperor Yongle suddenly dreamed of himself, dressed in bright armor and holding a long sword, chasing his nephew, Emperor Jianwen, through a long and narrow passage. He kept sighing, "That little bastard is really good at hiding!"
During the chase, after passing through a long and narrow passage, they unexpectedly came to a door. Emperor Yongle pushed open the door in a trance.

He saw the magnificent golden world behind the door, and suddenly realized that he had chased all the way to the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the imperial palace. For some reason, he suddenly became nervous, his face full of solemnity.

Emperor Yongle took a few long breaths, tightened his grip on the long sword in his hand, and then nervously walked through the porch and into the room.

After entering the main hall, looking at the familiar Hall of Supreme Harmony, the golden pillars, the bright red decorations, and the people lined up to attend court, everything was so familiar.

He looked nervous and held a knife in one hand as he walked through the crowd in panic. When he looked up, he found that the crowd were all ministers from the Hongwu period!

Lan Yu, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, and so on and so forth.

Mu Ran turned around and saw Emperor Jianwen sitting on the steps of the dragon throne on the high platform, dressed in the clothes of the crown prince, looking at him with a mocking expression.

What made Emperor Yongle panic was that the person sitting on the dragon throne with his back to him looked so familiar.

Suddenly, the person on the dragon throne turned around, and a familiar and terrifying face appeared. It was his father, Emperor Hongwu.

In an instant, he was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, and even the knife in his hand fell to the ground with a clang.

He fell to his knees, looking at the scene in panic, calling out "Dad~" in panic, but got no response.

His father, Emperor Hongwu, had a hideous face and sharp eyes staring at him without saying a word.

A moment later, Emperor Hongwu simply waved his hand, and two generals brought an old woman bound and escorted her up. He turned around and saw that it was his mother!
Two unfamiliar generals suddenly appeared and escorted him to his knees. No matter how he struggled, he could not escape. He could only watch his mother being taken away again amidst her shrill cries for help.

Then, before he could explain, his father, Emperor Hongwu, unexpectedly appeared in front of him, raised the sword in his hand and chopped it directly at his head, scaring him so much that he woke up suddenly.

"Dad, don't!" Emperor Yongle, covered in cold sweat, suddenly woke up.

"Jianwen, my good nephew, where are you hiding?" After waking up, Emperor Yongle leaned on the armrest of the small couch to ease his emotions. His eyes were full of murderous intent and he muttered to himself.

Turning around, he saw the bald monk Yao Guangxiao chanting sutras nearby, and immediately walked towards him...

In the Prince of Han's mansion, Zhu Zhanhe was having tea with his mother, and the Princess of Han was talking about some recent interesting things.

"I heard that a small country called Zouer sent a girl to your grandfather. She is from the same place as Concubine An. Her surname is Pu and she is only sixteen years old.

But this small country with few people is just ignorant. I heard that she was so bold as to splash wine on Hu Shangyi's face. She is really ignorant and fearless.

Even when I spoke to Hu Shangyi, I was very reserved. Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a clueless person she is…” Princess Han told her son the interesting story she had just learned.

The Princess of Han was talking excitedly when the Prince of Han came in in a hurry and went straight to his son.

"Cough, cough, cough, son, son, come here, come here, Dad has something to tell you." Our Prince Han coughed and dragged his precious son towards the study, as if he was sick.

"Mom, Dad and I are going to the study. You take a break." Zhu Zhanhe looked at his shameless father helplessly and quickly said to his dazed mother behind him. "Yes, yes, wife, I'm going to talk to my son for a while. You take a break. And don't forget to send something to the Crown Princess!" Prince Han didn't even turn around. He pulled his son forward and started talking to his wife in the air.

The Princess of Han was talking to her baby son when Prince Han suddenly rushed in and grabbed her son away. Her hasty look confused her and she looked at her husband with a dazed look on her face as he took her son away.

"Oh! Forget it, ignore them!" Princess Han said unhappily, but her eyes were fixed on the direction the two people left, full of confusion and surprise.

In the study.

"Son, your uncle and Xiao Xizi have already left. Can you tell me what the surprise is?" Prince Han looked very excited at this time. As soon as he entered the door, he hurriedly asked his son.

"Dad, you can't use it now. It will take them at least a month to go back and forth. Even if they go faster, it will only take a few days. You definitely can't use it for what you need this time!" Zhu Zhanhe looked at his anxious father unhappily and couldn't help rolling his eyes.

Then he sat leisurely on the chair in the study and started drinking tea.

"Dad, your chances of success this time are slim, so why take the risk?" Zhu Zhanhe looked at his father. Although he agreed with this action, he also knew that there was no possibility of success this time, no matter if it was his father's hasty layout or the hidden Jinyiwei in this house!

At this point, Prince Han Zhu Gaoxu's expression suddenly changed, with a look of confusion, resentment, helplessness and other complex emotions appearing on his face.

"He'er, this is my last chance. The Ministry of War wants to take my military token and my city defense authority!
He'er, if I don't take action now, your father will really have no chance. I can only go to the vassal state or wait for death!
I refuse to accept this! I must give it a try! I must prove that I am no worse than the boss.” The more Prince Han spoke, the worse his mood became, and he finally flew into a rage.

"He'er! Your grandfather doesn't keep his word. He doesn't keep his word! He lied to me! He lied to me!" Prince Han's face turned pale, his fists clenched, and his face was full of grief and anger, and he shouted loudly that Emperor Yongle had lied to him.

"You lied to me! You know what, son? He actually denied what he said!
In front of all the civil and military officials, he denied what he had said: "The prince is ill and you should encourage him." He made me slap myself in the face!

He once again pushed the eldest brother to the position of crown prince!

I knelt on the ground and shouted, "May the prince be blessed with good health!"

I don’t accept it! I don’t accept it! " Prince Han was a little out of control at this time. He loudly accused Emperor Yongle, his face flushed red and full of ferocity. His body was waving uncontrollably, and his eyes seemed to be dripping with blood, and the murderous intent in them was overflowing.

"Dad!" Zhu Zhanhe looked at his father who had lost control of his emotions, and hurriedly stood up. He took two steps forward to Prince Han and supported him.

"Dad, although I don't agree with this matter, since you want to give it a try, your son supports you!

I will stay home and protect my mother, you can do what you should do without worry." Zhu Zhanhe looked at his father with a face full of grief and indignation, and still agreed with the Prince of Han's approach.

"Good, good, good, you are worthy of being my good son." Prince Han looked at his most beloved son with satisfaction. Although he would usually go against him and kept saying things to make him become a vassal, which was very annoying, he would still stand by him at the critical moment!

"I'm going to start getting sick next," Prince Han calmed down and said in a steady tone.

"The surprise you mentioned really won't be used this time?!" Prince Han continued to ask without giving up.

"Don't think about Dad, he's useless!" Zhu Zhanhe looked at his father, whose face changed like turning pages of a book. He was also drunk and said helplessly with his eyes rolled.

　By the Early Cretaceous, the mesocrocodilians had evolved into the true crocodilians, which exhibited more advanced characteristics than the former, including the placement of the internal nostrils close to the back of the skull, a concave front end of the vertebrae, and a convex hemispherical back end; a well-developed secondary jaw; a special wrinkle at the base of the tongue and a fold of skin drooping from the back of the upper palate, separating the respiratory tract from the oral cavity, allowing them to more effectively adapt to life in the water. Thereafter, the true crocodilians gradually differentiated into the Alligatoridae and Crocodileidae branches. In the Early Cenozoic Era, the Crocodileidae further differentiated from the existing animal group system to form the long-snouted crocodile.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)