Chapter 61: Lan Yu's Loyalty! Hearts of Men and Acting!

Down in the hall, the officials all followed suit, wiping away their tears.
In an instant, the grand hall was filled with the sound of weeping.
"Your Majesty, please restrain your grief!"
After a long moment, an official finally spoke up.
The rest of the ministers snapped out of it and hurriedly chimed in.
"Your Majesty, please restrain your grief!"
"Your Majesty, please restrain your grief!"
"Your Majesty, please restrain your grief!"
......
The officials wept as they tried to comfort the Emperor.
Old Zhu sat down abruptly, his expression dim and desolate.
A civil official, skilled at reading the political winds, stepped out of the ranks and pointed at Lan Yu, demanding, "Lan Yu, you intentionally brought up the late Crown Prince just to make His Majesty grieve. What is your true intention?"
Lan Yu kowtowed and replied, "Since His Majesty asked, this subject dared not keep silence. Causing Your Majesty pain and sorrow is this subject's crime, and I am ready to accept any punishment."
That official felt as though he had punched a ball of cotton, finding no purchase for his strength.
Wanting to press further, he feared inadvertently touching Old Zhu's forbidden scale.
He could only glare resentfully at Lan Yu, biting his tongue in frustrated silence.
At this moment, Old Zhu's voice rang out.
"Lan Yu, you just said that even if Biao'er were to rebel, you would follow him. Is that your true heart?"
The ministers felt a chill in their chests; the Emperor had finally asked the critical question.
"This heart is as firm as iron, known to ghosts and gods, and witnessed by heaven, earth, sun, and moon."
Lan Yu's tone was exceptionally resolute.
"Hmph!" Old Zhu said coldly, "Then what am I in your heart?"
"In this subject's heart, Your Majesty is naturally Your Majesty," Lan Yu replied.
This answer was somewhat evasive and did not really answer the question.
Old Zhu pressed on, "Then you would rebel against my household?"
Lan Yu bowed and said, "Not at all. It is simply that if the Crown Prince gives an order, this subject has no choice but to obey."
"To disobey would be disloyalty on my part."
"If I am disloyal, what use would Your Majesty have for me?"
"For this subject to be loyal to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is to be loyal to Your Majesty."
"As for the talk of rebellion?"
Lan Yu paused slightly before continuing slowly, "What people in this world call rebellion is nothing more than the desire for the rivers and mountains, the desire for the dragon chair upon which Your Majesty sits."
"Yet if the late Crown Prince were still here, the rivers and mountains of this Great Ming, and the dragon chair upon which Your Majesty sits, would belong to the late Crown Prince by right."
"How could there ever be any talk of rebellion?"
The grand hall was dead silent, with only the echo of Lan Yu's words lingering in the air.
The civil and military officials gazed on, struck speechless with shock.
Since ancient times, the fiercest of court struggles has always been the power struggle between the emperor and the crown prince.
Although the crown prince is the rightful heir, it is precisely for this reason that he is always viewed with suspicion by the reigning emperor.
It has been so since antiquity.
After all, if the emperor were to die, the one who benefits the most is undoubtedly the crown prince.
There is no room for private affection in the imperial family.
Power can warp the mind.
The emperor inevitably worries that the crown prince might move against him.
At the extreme end, rulers like Emperor Xuanzong of Tang even executed three of his own sons in a single day—all driven by suspicion!
However, Old Zhu had always trusted Zhu Biao implicitly.
Yet, just how deep that trust ran had never been truly tested.
Perhaps only Lan Yu possessed the audacity to utter such words in the grand hall.
"Though Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, you are also a father."
"Your Majesty has sons, and this subject also has sons."
"Suppose my son were to tell me that he wishes to inherit my title, and just like me, command tens of thousands of troops, fight on the battlefield, and achieve glory for the nation."
"Suppose he wants my entire family estate and wishes to take charge of the Lan family clan."
"Would I consider that he is rebelling against me?"
"I would not!"
Lan Yu's tone was resolute. "This subject would only feel gratified."
"For my son has finally grown up and can be entrusted with the family legacy."
"Even if I were to die now, I would close my eyes in peace."
He raised his head to look up at Zhu Yuanzhang seated on high, and said, "Your Majesty, like this subject, is also a father."
"This subject believes that what dwells in Your Majesty's heart is no different from my own."
"If the Crown Prince wants the realm, then give it to him—where is the talk of rebellion?"
"For a son to want his father's possessions, for a son to inherit his father's legacy, is a matter of natural justice. How could there be any fault in that?"
"If this subject were to become disloyal to the Crown Prince on account of this, and unwilling to follow him unto death, that would be the true and ultimate disloyalty."
Lan Yu pressed his forehead to the stone floor. "When this subject commands troops in battle, orders are strictly obeyed."
"When I order an attack, the three armies move like thunder."
"When I order a retreat, the great army falls back instantly."
"If subordinate generals were to question my orders simply because the command was 'retreat,' or act on their own and disobey, this subject would have no choice but to behead them as a warning to others."
"Soldiers and generals must obey their commander-in-chief, and must not disobey out of doubt."
"To be a subject and a minister is no different."
"In the past, when I belonged to the Eastern Palace, I knew only to obey the commands of the late Crown Prince."
"If the late Crown Prince ordered me to go east, I went east."
"If the late Crown Prince ordered me to go west, I went west."
"I asked no other questions whatsoever."
"To harbor doubts regarding the commands of the late Crown Prince would already be an act of disloyalty!"
"I beg Your Majesty to clearly discern the reasons behind this."
He kowtowed once more.
In the grand hall, the civil and military ministers all wore astonished expressions.
Glances were exchanged and minds raced, yet no one dared to utter a word.
The mind of the emperor is as deep as an abyss.
No one knew what Old Zhu was truly thinking.
The official who had stepped forward earlier to accuse Lan Yu was already a living warning of the consequences.
Only Zhu Yunxue remained entirely calm and composed.
He had previously thought that a military man like Lan Yu was merely a rough-hewn, straightforward fellow who only knew how to act on impulse.
He had not expected Lan Yu to possess such strong dramatic flair.
The words he had just spoken must have struck straight to the deepest part of Old Zhu's heart.
Thus far, this round already carried a sixty percent chance of victory.
Upon the dragon chair, Old Zhu remained silent.
The hall was dead quiet.
Even the sound of breathing was deliberately suppressed by everyone, making it barely audible.
Zhu Yunxue continued to cultivate his emotions, maintaining an expression of deep sorrow and grief.
His eye rims were red, with tears swirling within, trembling on the verge of falling.
His original persona was that of the legitimate嫡-line grandson, which logically should have given him the advantage in the succession struggle.
Yet precisely because of the virtue of "filial piety," Zhu Yunwen had seized the initiative, causing him to fall behind step by step until he was completely left in the dust.
If he wanted to turn the tables now, it would be exceptionally difficult.
Regardless of whether it was still too late, he had to do his utmost to mend the fold after the sheep had bolted.
Since someone had brought up Zhu Biao—that father he had inherited—he naturally had to throw himself into performing grief and sorrow.
He could no longer allow Zhu Yunwen to profit by flying the banner of a "filial son."
Unconsciously, Zhu Yunxue's understanding of political struggle deepened by yet another notch.
When all is said and done, even the most formidable of men are still human.
They too have worldly passions and desires.
Even the toughest of warriors holds a fragile vulnerability buried deep within their heart.
Using that as a fulcrum, one can leverage immense weight with minimal effort, effortlessly swaying a person's heart.
And the human heart is the foundation of all things.
No matter how peerless your talent, how boundless your abilities, or how many crafty schemes you employ, in the end, they cannot outweigh the sheer weight of the two words "human heart."
For instance, if he were to have the brand of "unfilial" stamped upon him in Old Zhu's heart, then no matter how capable or talented he might be, the empire of Great Ming would have nothing to do with him!
Conversely, no matter how cowardly and incompetent Zhu Yunwen might be, as long as he retained the title of a "filial son," he would already stand in an unassailable position of victory.
Zhu Yunxue was slowly redeeming his image in Old Zhu's heart.
Ability came secondary; "filial piety" was the critical key that decided success or failure.
Though he was an imperial grandson, Old Zhu had numerous sons and grandsons.
Prior to this, Old Zhu had not shared a deep bond with him.
The person who truly shared a profound bond with Old Zhu—the one who tore at his heartstrings and haunted his dreams—was named Zhu Biao.
He was Zhu Biao's son first, and only then Old Zhu's grandson.
His feelings toward Zhu Biao would ultimately determine Old Zhu's feelings toward him.
However.
Zhu Yunxue felt virtually no genuine emotional attachment to this inherited father, Zhu Biao.
Therefore, he had no choice but to rely on "acting."
......
PS: The climax is coming next. Before the book goes on commercial release, I can only update two chapters a day—there's nothing I can do about it. Once it's released, I will definitely burst out with massive updates every single day!
I will add an extra chapter today, and another one tonight, though it will be quite late!