Chapter 56: A Unified Objective, Wa

"Seizing our land?"
"Seizing our women?!"
"Hahaha..."
Chen Lin suddenly burst into laughter. The laughter was frantic, yet laced with a deep, piercing sorrow.
Frightened, Xiao Lan hurriedly stepped forward to comfort him: "Young Master, what's wrong? Don't scare me."
Zhu Yuanzhang and the others also looked at him in bewilderment. What on earth was wrong with this kid? Why was he so erratic?
Tears welled up in Chen Lin's eyes from laughing so hard, yet he continued to laugh until Chen Xiao Lan pulled him into a tight embrace, and only then did his laughter gradually subside.
"I'm fine, Xiao Lan. Let go, there are a lot of people watching!"
Chen Xiao Lan looked up at her young master: "Young Master, Xiao Lan will accompany you to slaughter the Wokou and kill every last one of them."
Chen Lin nodded heavily: "Then it's a deal."
Chen Xiao Lan also nodded heavily: "It's a deal!"
Chen Lin looked at Zhu Yuanzhang: "Didn't you want to know history? I'll show you a piece of footage right now, and I hope you can bear it."
Sensing Chen Lin's heavy mood, Zhu Yuanzhang and the others fell silent.
They did not ask further, just silently watching Chen Lin, whose demeanor had suddenly changed drastically, pull out his smartphone.
He found the pre-downloaded documentary on the Nanjing Massacre, clicked play, and tossed the phone onto the table.
"Watch it yourselves. I'm going outside to get some fresh air."
Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly said, "Don't even think about running away. I still have a lot of things to ask you."
Chen Lin waved his hand, pushed open the door, and stepped outside. Accompanied by Chen Xiao Lan, he sat down on the steps, lit a cigarette, and let his thoughts drift back to that chaotic and turbulent era.
"Young Master, is there anything I can do for you?"
Chen Lin looked at Chen Xiao Lan: "Just stay by my side. I'm fine."
Chen Xiao Lan nodded and leaned against her young master: "Xiao Lan will stay by Young Master's side forever, through life and death..."
Just at that moment, Zhu Xiongying suddenly appeared out of nowhere, riding a bicycle.
"Chen... Master, are we going to Master's house tomorrow?"
Chen Lin beckoned to him: "Do you want to go to Master's house that badly?"
Zhu Xiongying dropped his bicycle: "Of course! There are so many fun things at Master's house, I love it."
Chen Lin chuckled: "But your grandparents let you become my apprentice so you could study, not just to play."
Zhu Xiongying chuckled as well: "Master, you forgot, I treat you as the best person in the whole wide world! You wouldn't force me to recite stiff, old-fashioned classics like those scholars, would you?!"
Chen Lin ruffled Zhu Xiongying's hair: "No ancient classics, but there will be plenty of addition and subtraction, as well as geometry and algebra.
Do you know about the swimming pool attendant who likes to fill and drain the pool at the same time?
And the farmer who always keeps rabbits and hens in the same cage?
What about Xiao Ming and Xiao Hong, who always like to break up at the school gates?
And the construction foremen Contractor A and Contractor B, who cooperate with perfect chemistry and clear division of labor?
And the small grocery store owner who is always running clearance sales yet never goes bankrupt..."
With every sentence Chen Lin spoke, Zhu Xiongying's eyes grew a little brighter.
"Wow~ Master, what are you talking about? It sounds so interesting!"
Chen Lin chuckled: "As long as you find it interesting, when the time comes, Master will teach you how to beat the crazy pool attendant to a pulp. Master hated that attendant the most when he was a kid..."
Zhu Xiongying nodded frantically: "Yeah, yeah, yeah! Let's beat him up together..."
Watching her young master's spirits recover, Chen Xiao Lan standing nearby finally felt a slight weight lift from her heart.
Yet, what on earth was the source of Young Master's deep hatred for the Wokou...?
Inside the room, Zhu Yuanzhang and the other two were watching the video. At first, they didn't think much of it because they couldn't understand the Mandarin dialect, making it somewhat difficult to follow.
Moreover, the simplified subtitles looked rather awkward; although they could roughly guess the meaning, something felt missing.
However, as it continued to play, the images on the screen began to distort and transform.
Airplanes, warships, cannons!
They could not comprehend these advanced weapons, but they could clearly understand the cruelty of the battlefield.
Shattered walls and desolate ruins!
Under the airstrikes and bombings of the Japanese invaders, a toddler who couldn't even walk sat by the roadside, covered in blood and crying bitterly as it searched for its mother.
Women had their clothes torn off and were subjected to unspeakable humiliation.
There were even horrific scenes of pregnant women having their bellies cut open and unborn infants ripped out.
Finally, when the three of them saw the massacre pits, civilians being mowed down by machine-gun fire, and people being buried alive, they completely broke down.
Zhu Yuanzhang slammed the phone down onto the floor in a rage!
"Wokou, Japanese fiends~~~~"
He gritted his teeth, desperately struggling to suppress the fury raging in his heart!
Yet how could such monstrous rage be suppressed?
He couldn't take it anymore. He overturned the table with a single motion, shouting and roaring madly to vent his overwhelming emotions.
Empress Ma sat to the side, quietly weeping tears, while Zhu Zhu closed his eyes, not daring to recall the horrific images he had just witnessed.
"Father, Chen Lin is right. The scourge of the Wokou must be resolved in our hands; we must never leave this responsibility to future generations. This is our historical mission."
Zhu Yuanzhang turned back abruptly: "You are right. Even if we must exhaust the strength of the entire nation, we will annihilate the Wokou, leaving not a single one alive!"
"Chen Lin, get your ass in here!"
........
There was no movement.
Zhu Zhu ran outside to check, but Chen Lin was nowhere to be found.
"Father, Chen Lin has left."
Zhu Yuanzhang said viciously: "Find him for me. He can't possibly walk out of the imperial palace."
Empress Ma stepped forward and said: "Little Chen probably went to sleep. Let's talk about it tomorrow; I could see he was quite exhausted earlier."
Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "Very well. The boy seems to carry a heavy burden, single-mindedly wanting to change history, make up for those regrets of the past, and prevent bad things from happening. But why won't he just lay it all out in the open?"
Empress Ma also sighed: "Perhaps he has his unspeakable difficulties. Take your time; isn't he opening his heart to us bit by bit?"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "That's true. Altogether, we've only known him for a few days. We should give him some time."
"Biao'er, you must carefully study the Cabinet system and the Grand Secretariat system that Chen Lin gave us with your brothers. Find suitable talents to fill these positions and boost the national strength of Great Ming as quickly as possible.
You must remember that everything is built upon a foundation of strong national power. The extermination of the Wokou must be put on the agenda as soon as possible."
Zhu Zhu bowed and said, "This son obeys the decree!"
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Go get some rest. Don't work too late; your health is what matters."
Zhu Zhu bowed once more: "This son understands."
As Zhu Zhu stepped down, Empress Ma expressed lingering concern: "Chongba, regarding Lady Lü..."
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his broad hand: "A real man, what does a minor setback like this count for? You must have faith in Biao'er."
"And what about the Fourth Prince's side?"
Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent. After a long while, he finally spoke: "Right now, as the Emperor of this Great Ming, I can no longer just think of the Zhu family; I must make changes. As for the Fourth Prince's side, I plan to do as Chen Lin suggested and let the Second and Third Princes go out together to make a stir."
"The Wokou, is it? Just wait for me..."