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

In the fourth year of Jianwen, Zhu Di rebelled, bringing his entire family with him. When his forces stormed Yingtian Prefecture, his most beloved grandson, Zhu Zhanji, mysteriously disappeared.

Zhu Di flew into a rage. Believing the Jianwen rebels were responsible, he slaughtered more than fourteen thousand rebels and their families, and exiled over thirty thousand orphans of the Jingnan campaign to show how much he mourned his grandson.

Eleven years later, a young man unsettled Zhu Di's mind. Zhu Di would often disguise himself as an ordinary old man and go hunting with him.

"Old man, I'm really not your grandson. I crawled out of a pile of corpses. I have no family."

Hearing Zhu Chen's confession, Zhu Di couldn't help but shed tears.

"Who says you have no family? I'll tell 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, stop trying to fool me."

Zhu Di replied, "Believe it or not, I owe you a grand restoration ceremony."

The next day, Yingtian Prefecture imposed a daytime curfew, and the streets emptied as one hundred thousand Ming cavalry rode into the city. At their head was the old man, clad in armor and full of vigor!

The grandfather and grandson exchanged a look from afar. 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!"