Ming Dynasty: What's wrong with being a leisurely crown prince?

Chapter 1 A New Beginning

June of the fourth year of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty.

The night sky was dotted with twinkling stars, and a gentle breeze rustled the buildings standing on the ground.

Inside the Eastern Palace's sleeping quarters, the candlelight flickered slightly. Zhu Gaochi, who was somewhat overweight, sat at the table in his pajamas, his eyes seemingly vacant.

After a long while, a sigh slowly drifted out from inside the room.

"I never imagined that one day I would become the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty. It's truly a twist of fate."

At this time, Zhu Gaochi was still the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, but his soul had changed.

Zhu Gaochi's lips curled into a bitter smile; he showed no joy at becoming the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty.

In his previous life, he was born in a rural area in Southwest China. In order to leave the mountains, he studied hard and was admitted to university with great enthusiasm.

However, after graduating from university, his lofty ambitions were crushed by reality, and with his last bit of determination, he succeeded in starting his own business.

After more than ten years of hard work, he finally reaped the rewards, but he died suddenly before he could enjoy a comfortable life.

Zhu Gaochi's feelings were very complicated. If he could choose, he didn't actually have much interest in the position of crown prince; he would rather go back.

There lay the fruits of his life's work, and what made him even more resentful was that he had finally built his business and emerged from poverty, only to lose his life in the end.

He endured all kinds of hardship, but enjoyed no blessings whatsoever.

At this moment, Zhu Gaochi had a particularly profound understanding of the two sentences.

The person died, and the money was never spent.

Life is too short to have fun.

These grievances lingered for a long time before Zhu Gaochi gradually calmed down.

Now that he has come to the Ming Dynasty, he has severed all ties with everything that came before.

Having been through so much, I still have this much self-regulation ability.

"Having become the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, I no longer need to start a business. I'm definitely a second-generation heir, the strongest second-generation heir."

It's a pity he was born Zhu Gaochi; if only he had been Zhu Biao.

Zhu Gaochi sighed softly. Since everyone is a time traveler, who wouldn't want to be Zhu Biao, with a stable position and power, without having to worry about anything else, and able to enjoy life to the fullest?

Look at Zhu Gaochi. Above him, Zhu Di was dissatisfied with him as the crown prince, and below him, there were the golden bean Zhu Gaoxu and the copper pea Zhu Gaosui, who were eyeing him covetously.

He was completely sandwiched in the middle, only able to passively take the beating.

Now, even enjoying life seems incredibly difficult for him.

This position is essential to enjoy life to the fullest; otherwise, one's fate is not in one's own hands.

Some things you may not need, but you must possess them yourself.

Zhu Di said that his son was unlike his father.

Turning to Zhu Gaoxu, he said: "You are like me. The Crown Prince is often ill. You should encourage him."

Isn't he like his father? He's just fat and can't do archery or horsemanship.

In other words, he didn't have the strength. Otherwise, he could have fought the entire Xuanwu Gate, or launched the Fengtian Campaign to ask Zhu Di if he was any different.

After all, most people don't even have the qualifications to have an opponent like Zhu Di.

If you can't move up, how do you move down? How do you explain that to your superiors?

What else could this be but a pure, resentful sandwich cookie?

"All I want to do is enjoy life a little earlier, why is that so difficult?"

A sigh revealed his innermost feelings.

He genuinely didn't want to engage in power struggles with figures like Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaosui; he simply wanted to enjoy life to the fullest as soon as possible.

If you don't enjoy life now, you'll have even less time to enjoy it when you become emperor.

In his previous life, he toiled and struggled his whole life to achieve success, but in the end, he didn't have time to enjoy any of the blessings before he passed away.

In this life, I am once again the crown prince. If I don't enjoy half of my life, I would be doing a disservice to this identity.

As a second-generation rich kid, why not just enjoy life instead of causing so much trouble?

As for changing the Ming Dynasty, that's too far-fetched. It's not too late to do that after he becomes emperor. Why rush it?

But thinking about maintaining his position as crown prince and enjoying a leisurely life seems quite difficult.

Soon, Zhu Gaochi's eyes lit up.

"If you want the crown prince's position to be secure, the first thing you need is Zhu Di's attitude."

And now, there just happens to be someone who can keep Zhu Di in check.

This person is none other than the wise and virtuous Empress Renxiao.

She is now Empress Xu, the Empress of the Ming Dynasty.

Empress Xu firmly adhered to the principle of primogeniture, which was his solid backing.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaochi felt he had a solution.

There was still a year left before Empress Xu passed away, and he happened to have a way to save her.

Looking at the three candies in his hand, Zhu Gaochi smiled.

These three candies are the result of his hard work in his previous life.

His recent daze wasn't just due to memory, but also because of the words that surfaced in his mind.

These three candies are compensation for his transmigration; they can save lives and cure all injuries and illnesses.

A complete dose of the medicine is required for a full cure. If a complete dose is not taken, recovery will gradually occur according to the dosage ratio.

Zhu Gaochi originally intended to keep it for his own survival, since he died young in history.

Although neither the "Veritable Records of Emperor Renzong of Ming" nor the "Annals of Emperor Renzong of Ming" records the cause of Zhu Gaochi's death, Zhu Gaochi could probably guess some of it.

Although possible reasons are recorded in works such as Lu Yi's "Random Notes on Illness" and "Biography of Luo Rujing in the History of Ming", he still tends to favor the possibility described by the scholars he saw in college.

Zhu Gaochi knew very well that obesity was not the only issue; he would never allow anyone to die at his age.

Moreover, he is not so fat that he needs to pant heavily after walking just a few steps.

Stop thinking about it. Now that he's here, all those unfounded rumors should disappear.

Because a new beginning has arrived.

As for his own body, he looked at his body parts and felt no urgency.

He's only gained a little weight now, far from needing this candy.

Just then, the door was slowly pushed open, and a young woman wrapped in a bath towel walked in.

Zhu Gaochi turned his head and saw the door close again. The woman lowered her head and slowly walked up to Zhu Gaochi.

"Your Highness, this servant has come to attend to you in bed."

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman's bathrobe fell to the ground, revealing her graceful figure to Zhu Gaochi.

Although Zhu Gaochi was watching, there was no lust in his eyes or heart.

He's been through some trials, so he has some self-control; he won't be so desperate as to go after any woman he sees.

At the same time, some of Zhu Gaochi's memories, as well as what he knew from his previous life, instantly surfaced in his mind.

This woman was originally his maid, selected last year to serve him.

Historically, this woman was also one of Zhu Gaochi's concubines.

Zhu Gaochi was well aware that many of his concubines were maids he favored when he was the crown prince, who became his concubines, and were later made concubines after he ascended the throne.

Although the beautiful woman before him was pleasing to the eye and aroused his blood, Zhu Gaochi was thinking that there was already a Crown Princess in the Eastern Palace.

With the Crown Princess perfectly healthy and showing no signs of illness, why is he favoring his own maid? Isn't this just stirring up trouble?

Although Zhu Gaochi could do this, he didn't want to make things too complicated, lest he cause a lot of trouble later.

Thinking about how Zhu Gaochi, the original owner of this body, would favor even more maids later on, Zhu Gaochi suddenly realized that Zhu Di's dislike for him was probably not just because he was bad at archery and horsemanship.

Zhu Gaochi looked at the maidservant in front of him, who was bowing her head and trembling slightly, and slowly spoke.

"Put them on."

The maid trembled as the calm words fell, and she immediately knelt before Zhu Gaochi.

"This servant will assist Your Highness in changing your clothes."

Zhu Gaochi shook his head slightly. He knew that the woman in front of him was unwilling to give up this opportunity.

"Someone come here."

The door was pushed open again, and a eunuch with his head down walked in quickly with small steps and prostrated himself on the ground.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"Take her away."

"Your Highness..."

Zhu Gaochi ignored him and allowed the eunuchs and maids to take the woman away.

Even after the person left, Zhu Gaochi didn't know how to criticize the original owner of this body.

Even if you like women, you can't be this impatient, can you?

As the crown prince, he could have any woman he wanted if he wanted her. He could have just followed the proper procedures instead of making such a mess of things.

Zhu Gaochi stood up and opened the door.

"Lead the way to the Crown Princess."

"yes..."

Zhu Gaochi sighed silently. He hadn't even had a chance to enjoy any of the good fortune before he had to clean up the messes left by the original owner of this body.

After walking for a while, they arrived at a house. Zhu Gaochi took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Gently push open the door, step into the room, and then close it.

Before he could take a step forward, his eyes met those of the woman who came out of the inner bedroom.

This woman was his wife, now the Crown Princess, and later the Empress Dowager Chengxiao Zhao, née Zhang, Zhang Yan (name fabricated).

Their eyes met, and Zhu Gaochi could clearly see that Zhang Yan was somewhat surprised, as if she had a disbelief about it.

"Why are you here? Didn't you already have your maid bathe and serve you?"

Zhang Yan broke the silence by speaking first. Although she was asking a question, something was clearly amiss.

At this moment, she was quite surprised and doubtful; she really hadn't expected Zhu Gaochi to come.

Actually, she was quite sad in the bedroom just now.

Her father, Zhang Lin, had only recently passed away, and Zhu Gaochi had begun to distance himself from her. Now, he was even seeking out her maids, which saddened her greatly.

Actually, she wasn't blaming Zhu Gaochi for having women; she knew that Zhu Gaochi couldn't possibly have only one woman.

But she hoped that Zhu Gaochi could follow the proper procedures and openly take a concubine, instead of doing it behind her back.

She was not a narrow-minded person; she even supported Zhu Gaochi in finding women.

Now Zhu Gaochi is secretly seeking out maids behind her back. Is he so desperate that he's willing to do anything?

Even when she was drunk, she could convince herself otherwise, but Zhu Gaochi was sober.

When Zhang Yan saw Zhu Gaochi suddenly come to her, she was surprised and confused, but also nervous and expectant.

Zhu Gaochi looked at Zhang Yan without saying anything, but walked closer.

Zhang Yan isn't exactly stunning, but she's not bad-looking either.

He gently stroked Zhang Yan's bangs, then slid down to caress her face before pulling her into his arms.

"I sent the woman back; it was a moment of folly on my part."

"You are my legal wife, how can I leave you alone in an empty room?"

Zhang Yan felt a jolt in her heart when she heard Zhu Gaochi's passionate yet gentle voice.

It wasn't exactly a romantic remark, but Zhang Yan was incredibly happy to hear it.

A smile appeared on her face, her eyes were slightly moist, and she wrapped her arms around Zhu Gaochi's waist.

Zhu Gaochi felt a great sense of relief upon sensing the change in Zhang Yan.

The peace and tranquility at home has been preserved.