Summer, the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, in a side hall of the Wenhua Palace.
The air is so still that the fall of incense ash can be heard. Zhu Yunwen kneels behind a rosewood desk, his back taut as a drawn bow. Today, his imperial grandfather will test his studies. It is the opportunity he has long awaited. His father has just died, and his grandfather is grieving. The importance he places on "benevolence, filial piety, and composure" has reached its height. Zhu Yunwen must be perfect.
Out of the corner of his eye, his younger legitimate brother Zhu Yuntong gazes down at The Great Learning, his profile looking somewhat dull in the shifting light. A faint sense of superiority passes through Zhu Yunwen's mind. Born of the principal wife? That is nothing but an empty title. What the realm demands is a good reputation, political skill, and the will of the people. Yuntong, what can you possibly use to compete…
