The Eve of Yongle: Where Is My Brother?

On the first day of the fifth lunar month in the fifteenth year of the Hongwu reign of the Great Ming, in Nanjing’s Kunning Palace, Crown Prince Zhu Xiongying lay in bed, barely breathing. A tiny figure quietly climbed over the threshold and slipped inside.

Seeing that no one was in the palace, the figure struggled up onto the bed. Looking at Zhu Xiongying, he could not help letting out soft, broken sobs. “Brother, brother…”

At the sound, Zhu Xiongying struggled to open his eyes. It was his younger brother, Tong’er, who was not yet four.

He gently stroked Tong’er’s head, aching for him. When Tong’er stopped crying, he grinned at Zhu Xiongying. Zhu Xiongying’s heart ached even more. He knew he did not have much time left, but he could not stop worrying about his younger brother, who had been born only recently and had lost his mother before he was even a month old.

While Zhu Xiongying was still here, he could protect him for now. Once he was gone, who would protect his little brother?

Because their mother had died, their father had never liked him.

He took his brother’s hand. “Tong’er, listen to me. When I’m gone, you have to learn to protect yourself. Don’t fight or compete for anything. You must stay alive. Remember, no matter what, just stay alive.”

Seeing Tong’er nod, Zhu Xiongying felt at ease. His younger brother was unusually precocious, so he would surely remember.

Zhu Xiongying waved for his brother to hurry away before anyone saw him. With red eyes, Tong’er quietly slipped out.

Not long afterward, drums sounded through the palace: “The Crown Prince has passed away.”

In the fifteenth year of the Yongle reign, after Zhu Yuntong died suddenly, he was reborn in China in the 1990s. He went to university and became a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. In his spare time, he enjoyed reading, growing flowers with his own hands, and making crafts.

One day, an accident brought back his memories of his previous life. With those memories, he came to Nanjing’s Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum to find his brother’s grave, only to discover that it had long since fallen into ruin…