Volume One, Chapter 18: The Court Dispute

The officials immediately recognized the man at a glance—none other than Fang Xiaoru, the tutor of the Crown Prince and the heir to the throne. Zhu Quan, of course, recognized Fang Xiaoru as well, a sneer tugging at the corner of his mouth.

He had anticipated facing the officials’ questioning once the court convened, but he had never expected the first to rise in opposition would be this stubborn scholar.

“Your Highness the Prince of Ning, the Crown Prince was appointed by His Majesty before his passing. I implore you to allow the Crown Prince to assume the sacred regency,” Fang Xiaoru declared.

Before Zhu Quan could respond, another figure stepped forward. It was none other than Huang Zicheng, another tutor of Zhu Yunwen.

Historically, these two had been key ministers during the Jianwen reign, effectively acting as imperial teachers and wielding significant influence in supporting the young emperor. They had quickly become leading figures among the court officials.

However, it was also these two who had advised Zhu Yunwen to diminish the power of the regional princes—advice that ultimately led to the fates of Zhu Quan and Zhu Di. Given this history, Zhu Quan naturally bore no goodwill toward them.

After a brief pause, several former palace attendants and officials from the Zhejiang faction also stepped forward. Seeing that prominent figures like Zhan Hui and Ren Hengtai remained silent, Zhu Quan finally spoke.

He fixed his gaze on Huang Zicheng and the others standing in the center of the Hall of Heavenly Favor, a faint, mocking smile playing on his lips.

“Oh? What exactly do you gentlemen mean by this?” he asked.

“What Crown Prince? Is there an imperial edict? Or perhaps a handwritten decree from His Majesty himself?”

As his words fell, the court erupted into a clamor once more.

“What does the Prince of Ning mean? It is well known that His Majesty had been personally nurturing the Crown Prince by his side in recent days. Does that not count for anything?”

“I tend to agree with the Prince of Ning. Without an official edict or letter, on what grounds do you claim the Crown Prince as the heir?”

“Enough bickering! Shouldn’t the most pressing matter be to locate the Crown Prince first?”

...

Hearing the murmurs, Huang Zicheng and his companions felt somewhat relieved.

They glared angrily upward at Zhu Quan, and with a tone of righteous sacrifice, Huang Zicheng raised his head and said, “Prince of Ning, do not twist words to suit yourself. The sages have said that moral order and propriety must not be disrupted. You, a secondary prince of a collateral line, have no right to replace His Highness the Crown Prince in assuming the sacred regency.

“Return His Highness the Crown Prince at once…”

“I spit on this so-called Crown Prince! We see him for what he truly is—a thief!” Zhu Quan retorted sharply.

---

The officials watched intently as the verbal duel between Huang Zicheng’s party and Zhu Quan unfolded, when suddenly a voice of scorn erupted from the military faction.

All eyes turned once more toward the military group; even Ren Hengtai and Zhan Hui could not help but look.

When they saw it was Lan Yu who spoke, many savvy officials wisely fell silent, though some furrowed their brows, wondering why the nobles from Huai West were meddling in the matter.

Ren Hengtai and the others exchanged knowing glances—clearly, the Prince of Ning had already secured the support of the Huai West faction.

Huang Zicheng, who regarded himself as a great Confucian scholar, looked down upon the coarse military men who wielded swords and spears. He had cursed the Huai West nobles countless times in private. Now, to be publicly insulted by one of them was unbearable.

He straightened his neck and glared fiercely at Lan Yu. “What do you mean, Duke of Liang? The Crown Prince is the legitimate eldest son of the Crown Prince and was personally acknowledged by His Majesty. Are you, so soon after His Majesty’s passing, seeking to overturn His decision?”

Lan Yu was no match for the eloquence of a scholar like Huang Zicheng, so he chose not to waste breath in debate. Instead, he spat directly in Huang’s face.

“Bah!”

“You, you sniveling bookworm, what do you know? When I was out conquering the world and rising through the ranks, you were still hiding beneath your mother’s skirts, crying like a child!”

“I’m here to uphold the honor of those in power and to help correct their mistakes. Now get lost!”

...

“You, you…” Huang Zicheng trembled with rage at such humiliation.

Fang Xiaoru, standing beside him, was about to step forward to dispute with Lan Yu when Qiu Shan, Minister of War, suddenly emerged.

“Duke of Liang, what do you mean? Do you think it wrong that His Majesty personally educated the Crown Prince?”

His words carried far more weight than Huang Zicheng’s—they essentially accused Lan Yu of slandering the late Great Emperor. If proven, such an act would be considered high treason.

While the late Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang still lived, Lan Yu would have been cautious, but now that the emperor had ‘passed away,’ he was not about to back down.

With a sudden step forward, Lan Yu grabbed Qiu Shan’s collar and spat in his face.

“Old bastard! Do you dare question me?”

“If I say Zhu Yunwen is not the legitimate Crown Prince, then he is not. Do you dare contradict me?”

“Hmph!” Qiu Shan retorted coldly. “You command the great army and are a hero who recently watered your horse at Hanhai, so I do not dare offend you. But without rules, there can be no order. All the civil and military officials in this court know that His Majesty personally bestowed the Crown Prince’s status. Do you really wish to overturn that?

“Or do you, Lan Yu, think that with His Majesty’s passing, your own merits entitle you to take his place?”

---

“I’d rather be skinned alive…” Lan Yu howled in fury but dared not reply further.

It was obvious the old man was setting a trap, merely waiting to pin the charge of rebellion on him.

“Enough! Minister Qiu, Duke of Liang, such shouting in the court is unseemly,” Zhu Quan finally intervened, waving his hand.

Before either Qiu Shan or Lan Yu could respond, he continued, “Bring the people here.”

At his command, Deng Zhen’s voice was heard outside: “Yes.”

Within moments, several palace maids, eunuchs, and medical staff bound tightly were brought before the hall.

Seeing them, Huang Zicheng and his companions twitched involuntarily, a bad premonition rising in their hearts.

But Zhu Quan gave no chance for protest. Raising his voice, he scolded those kneeling before him, “Hurry and confess the dirty deeds you did for the Lü family.”

“Your Highness, spare us! We will… we will tell everything…”

“I am a medical official who once served the Eastern Palace. In the tenth year of the Hongwu reign, the former Crown Princess…”

“I was the servant responsible for His Highness the Crown Prince Xiongying, in the fifteenth year of Hongwu…”

These people had already been interrogated by Ji Gang’s men, their tongues pried open long ago. They dared not conceal anything now and promptly revealed all they knew.

After speaking, they knelt repeatedly, begging Zhu Quan for mercy.

The assembled civil and military officials listened, their hatred boiling, especially those originally part of the Crown Prince’s faction who had not aligned with Zhu Yunwen after Zhu Biao’s death—they hated the Lü family with a white-hot fury.

“Old bastard Qiu Shan, what else have you to say? Is it wrong for me to call Zhu Yunwen a usurper?” Lan Yu said smugly, glancing at Qiu Shan.

But Qiu Shan seemed not to hear and lunged directly at the man who claimed to have been the personal eunuch to Zhu Xiongying.

...