I Asked Zhu Di to Pretend to Be My Father, and He Actually Believed It

In the thirty-first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yunwen ascends the throne and summons Prince of Yan Zhu Di and his four sons back to the capital, intending to strip Zhu Di of his fief and bring him under control. Prince of Yan Zhu Di pretends to be ill and begs Zhu Yunwen to let his four sons return to Beiping. Zhu Yunwen refuses, releasing only the prince's third son and keeping the fourth, four-year-old Zhu Gaocan, in Nanjing as a bargaining chip.

That same month, Zhu Di feigns madness, returns to Beiping, and launches the Jingnan Campaign in the name of restoring the throne.

In the fourth year of Jianwen, the Beiping army storms Nanjing. The Jianwen Emperor vanishes in a great fire at the Forbidden City, along with Zhu Gaocan, the fourth son of the Prince of Yan.

In the first year of Yongle, Zhu Di overthrows the Jianwen Emperor and ascends the throne. He orders the Embroidered Uniform Guard to search the entire realm in secret for Zhu Gaocan, but they find nothing.

In the seventh year of Yongle, Xiao Fan transmigrates to the Ming dynasty and arranges to marry the county magistrate's daughter. But somehow, a father appears out of nowhere in his family genealogy.

He needs to find someone to pretend to be his father and go to the county office to propose on his behalf.

"Uncle Huang, could you do me a favor and pretend to be my dad?"

Zhu Di: ?

In the days that follow, Uncle Huang often starts calling himself Xiao Fan's father.

Until one day, Uncle Huang transforms before his eyes. "Fourth son, I'm done pretending. I really am your father."

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.