Chapter One: The Beginning

In the year 1368, Emperor Hongwu Zhu Yuanzhang formally established the Great Ming Dynasty, marking the founding of the last Han Chinese imperial dynasty. This year was named the first of Hongwu.

In 1370, Zhu Yuanzhang’s fourth son, Zhu Di, was granted the title Prince of Yan; this was the third year of Hongwu.

In 1378, the eldest legitimate son of the Prince of Yan, Zhu Gaochi, was born in the tenth year of Hongwu.

In 1380, Prince Zhu Di departed for Beiping to assume his fief, and in the same year, his second legitimate son, Zhu Gaoxu, was born, marking the thirteenth year of Hongwu.

In 1392, Crown Prince Zhu Biao passed away during the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu.

By 1395, Zhu Gaochi, eldest legitimate son of Zhu Di, was named heir to the Prince of Yan and married Lady Zhang, daughter of Commander Zhang Lin, as his consort. This was the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu. In the same year, Zhu Gaoxu, the second legitimate son of the Prince of Yan, was granted the title Prince of Gaoyang due to his fierce and unruly nature, which failed to win Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang’s favor.

The following year, 1396, Prince Gaoyang Zhu Gaoxu married Lady Wei, who was not from a prominent family, but rather a commoner from Beiping. (Official records do not specify Lady Wei’s background.)

In 1398, Emperor Hongwu Zhu Yuanzhang died in the thirty-first year of Hongwu. Days later, Zhu Biao’s son, Zhu Yunwen, ascended the throne, changing the reign title to Jianwen, marking the first year of Jianwen. That same year, the Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, raised an army in Beiping, launching the Jingnan campaign.

In 1399, Zhu Gaochi’s eldest son, Zhu Zhanji, was born in the second year of Jianwen; at the time, Zhu Gaochi was twenty-one years old. Months later, Prince Gaoyang Zhu Gaoxu’s eldest legitimate son, Zhu Zhanhe, was born; Zhu Gaoxu was nineteen years old.

At last, our protagonist makes his entrance: the eldest legitimate son of Prince Gaoyang Zhu Gaoxu—Zhu Zhanhe.

Zhu, the surname of the Ming Dynasty; Zhan, the generation name assigned by Zhu Yuanzhang for Zhu Di’s lineage; He, meaning innate intelligence, elegance, honor, promising official career, talent and virtue, and a nurturing environment. This name embodies Prince Gaoyang Zhu Gaoxu’s love and hopes for his son.

On that day, the sky was clear with not a cloud in sight.

Within the Prince of Yan’s residence in Beiping, excitement filled the halls. Consort Xu Miaoyun, heir Zhu Gaochi, and Lady Zhang, who had recently given birth, gathered together, for Lady Wei, wife of Prince Gaoyang Zhu Gaoxu, was about to deliver.

Under Xu Miaoyun’s steady supervision, the household ran smoothly. At thirty-four, she had long assisted her husband Zhu Di in managing the residence, proving herself adept.

"Prepare hot water and scissors."

"Have the physician check the medicines once more."

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"Tell the midwife to be careful—don’t harm my daughter-in-law or grandson!"

...

"Son, your father and brother aren’t here. You must be watchful. Who knows how they are faring," Consort Xu Miaoyun suddenly said to her eldest son, Zhu Gaochi.

"Mother, rest assured. Father and Gaoxu will be fine. Now that his wife is giving him another grandson, he’ll be overjoyed when he hears," Zhu Gaochi replied quickly.

"Mother, do not worry. Father and uncle are surely safe," Lady Zhang, the Crown Prince’s wife, echoed.

"About to give birth, yet the grandfather and father are both absent—it’s hardly proper," Xu Miaoyun complained, though she was wise enough to know her priorities. In truth, she was anxious for her husband and son’s safety; after all, rebellion was a deadly business.

The room fell silent. Indeed, Prince of Yan Zhu Di, with Prince Gaoyang Zhu Gaoxu, were embroiled in battle outside, while Zhu Gaochi guarded the family with the elderly and women.

"Born! Born! The Princess of Gaoyang has delivered—a young heir, mother and child are well. Congratulations, Your Highness," an attendant suddenly announced.

"Excellent, reward him—he deserves it," Consort Xu Miaoyun breathed a sigh of relief, hoping this child’s birth might bring a turning point to the family’s future.

"Lady Zhang, take the name your father and brother chose for the child and deliver it to your sister-in-law," Xu Miaoyun handed a slip of paper to her eldest daughter-in-law.

"Yes, Mother," Lady Zhang obediently accepted it.

From start to finish, no one paid heed to the attendant’s use of 'heir'—for all present were staunch supporters and beneficiaries of the legitimate eldest son’s succession.

Zhu Zhanhe.

Meanwhile, in Lady Wei’s chamber, the midwife held the newborn heir with a look of anxious helplessness.

For the child did not cry at birth, causing the midwife’s heart to race. If something went wrong, it could spell disaster for her entire family.

She quickly examined the infant, finding him deeply asleep. Testing his breath, she relaxed—he was breathing, simply asleep.

Determined, she gently slapped his bottom. The child stirred, then resumed sleeping.

Again, she applied a bit more force—two more slaps, and he stirred, then slept.

Once more! The sharp sound of two more slaps, and this time the child did not sleep, but wailed loudly.

To the midwife’s ears, the cry was music, nearly moving her to tears. She promptly handed the child to the exhausted Lady Wei.

"Your Highness, a young heir! Look, how handsome he is. He’ll surely be a pillar of the realm," the midwife praised.

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"Let me see," Lady Wei, weakened from labor, gazed at her son—a wrinkled little face, eyes shut, sparse tufts of hair. Yet her expression brimmed with love.

Not yet twenty, a first-time mother, Lady Wei furrowed her brow in thought.

"Quick, fetch the wet nurse," she suddenly instructed her maid.

"Good boy, good son, we’ll wait for your father to return," Lady Wei whispered weakly.

The tense atmosphere in the Prince of Yan’s residence eased with the arrival of two young heirs, bringing a touch of joy.

But not everyone was so delighted, especially our comrade Li Xiaolong.

Li Xiaolong, a man in his thirties from a minor city, not yet forty, was a quintessential youth of his era. Unmarried, his greatest hobby was reading literary works online after work.

That day, at a friend’s invitation, he went to eat crocodile meat—a novelty that led him to drink a few extra cups. On his way home on his electric scooter, he was sent off by a mighty dump truck.

Flying through the air, Li Xiaolong felt as if he were in a daze, guessing he must be undergoing emergency treatment in a hospital.

Then he felt as though he passed through a narrow tunnel. Next, someone slapped his bottom. He grumbled inwardly at the mischievous nurse, kicked his legs to signal he was awake, and decided to ignore them, wanting to keep sleeping.

Then, two more slaps—slightly painful. He figured someone was playing a prank, kicked his legs again as a warning, thinking, "I’m awake, don’t bully me, or I’ll get up and deal with you."

Then came two forceful slaps. This time, disregarding whether it was a prank or his physical state, he opened his mouth and let loose a string of unmentionable curses.

Finally, he heard the wailing cry of a baby. "Where’s this child?" Li Xiaolong wondered, suspecting the loud wails belonged to himself.

In the days that followed, after countless bouts of crying, he finally realized—the wailing infant was indeed himself.

What’s going on? How did I end up in a baby’s body?

Moreover, why, when I sleep, do I feel trapped in some enclosed space?

He tried to observe everything around him, but a baby’s energy was limited, and his vision blurry—he couldn’t even distinguish his mother from the wet nurse at a distance.

His hearing, however, was clear. The constant talk of ‘Prince’ and ‘Heir’ let him know he was an heir, a noble—quite fortunate.

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