Great Ming: Abandoned from the Start, I’m Begged by Yongle to Claim the Throne

In the fourth year of Jianwen, Zhu Di raised a rebellion with his entire family in tow. When he stormed into Ying Tian Fu, his beloved grandson and heir apparent, Zhu Zhanji, mysteriously disappeared. Enraged, Zhu Di blamed the Jianwen rebels, then slaughtered more than fourteen thousand of them and their families and exiled over thirty thousand orphans of the Jingnan campaign, all to show how much he cherished his grandson. ...Eleven years later, a young man unsettled Zhu Di’s mind. Zhu Di often disguised himself as an ordinary old man and went hunting with him. “Old man, I really am not your grandson. I crawled out of a pile of corpses. I have no family.” Hearing Zhu Chen’s monologue, Zhu Di could not help but shed tears. “Who says you have no family? I’m telling you now: your grandfather is the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, and you are the eldest legitimate grandson of the Ming emperor.” Zhu Chen said, “Old man, don’t lie to me.” Zhu Di replied, “Believe it or not, I owe you a grand restoration ceremony.” The next day, Ying Tian Fu imposed a daytime curfew. The streets were deserted as one hundred thousand Ming cavalry rode into the city. At their head was the old man, clad in armor and full of vigor! Grandfather and grandson exchanged a glance from afar, and Zhu Di smiled. The one hundred thousand Ming cavalry dismounted, knelt respectfully, and shouted, “We welcome the eldest legitimate grandson of the Ming emperor back to court!”