Chapter 20: The Battle for the Title
If Zhu Zijin was still lucky up to this point, then his subsequent life could be described as tragic.

After Zhu Su died, Zhu Youdun inherited the title of King of Zhou. He still had no son, so he was keen on raising his nephews.

People like Zhu Zihou, Zhu Ziqi and others were sent to the Zhou Palace at a very young age, under the pretext of fulfilling their filial duties on behalf of their fathers and grandfathers, so that the late King of Zhou could enjoy the happiness of family life.

However, Zhu Su died of illness when Zhu Zihou was three years old and Zhu Ziqi was four years old. After that, Zhu Su was raised by Zhu Youdun, the King of New Zhou.

After his father's death, Zhu Youjie felt that he was able to do it again, so he reported to his superiors every now and then, saying that Zhu Youdun was planning a rebellion.

Zhu Youdun kept defending himself.

After many years, Zhu Youdun still had no children, so Zhu Youxie started to think. He no longer mentioned Zhu Youdun's intention to rebel, but began to fight for Zhu Zijin's custody and ownership rights.

He threw a tantrum, went to the emperor to cry and make a fuss, and went to the royal family to cry and make a fuss. In short, Zhu Zijin was his son, he couldn't bear to part with him, and the King of Zhou must return his son to him!
Zhu Youxie made too much trouble, and Zhu Youdun persisted for several years, but he couldn't stand him anymore and returned Zhu Zijin to him.

Zhu Zijin was twelve years old at that time.

Of course, Zhu Youjie's attempt to snatch Zhu Zijin away was not because he loved this son so much, but because Zhu Youdun had no son. If he died, he, the second son of the King of Zhou, would be the first in line to the throne.

Zhu Zijin is still considered Zhu Youdun's adopted son, so what role does he have?

However, Zhu Youdun also had a temper. Like his father, he hated his younger brother very much. He would rather give the title to his illegitimate brother than to his full brother.

After Zhu Zijin was kidnapped, Zhu Youdun devoted himself to educating his nephews in the mansion and had a close relationship with his fourth brother Zhu Youjue.

When Zhu Youjue saw this, he couldn't stand it anymore, so he made up another set of false accusations, falsely accusing Zhu Youjue of having close contacts with Han Wang Zhu Gaoxu.

The emperor who was in power at that time was Emperor Xuanzong. Xuanzong did not have the good temper of his father. After finding out that it was a false accusation, he also discovered many illegal deeds of his uncle. He simply demoted him to a commoner and confined him to Beijing.

Zhu Zijin had become Zhu Youjie's eldest son from the heir of King Zhou, so he was naturally implicated as well. He was demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in Beijing together with Zhu Youjie.

It is said to be confined, but in fact he was kept in a piece of land designated by the clan office, which is a village in the suburbs.

Apart from clan members who had committed crimes, there were also managers and tenants working in the imperial farm.

They received no subsidies from the imperial court, and their freedom was restricted, so they could only farm the land. Therefore, although Zhu Zijin was only five or six years older than his two cousins, he looked ten years older than them at this time.

This shows how hard his life has been over the years.

After Pan Yun finished reading the important records about King Zhou in her previous life, she immediately discovered something different.

In her previous life, Zhu Youdun died in the fourth year of the Zhengtong era, but here, this year is the seventh year of the Zhengtong era.

In the previous life, Zhu Youdun never took Zhu Zijin back until his death, so after his death, his fourth brother Zhu Youjue inherited the title of King of Zhou. It was not until the Jingtai period that Emperor Jingtai released Zhu Zijin and sent him back to Kaifeng.

This is very interesting. Pan Jun looked up at the hospital bed.

Tao Ji had already finished writing the prescription and was now discussing ways to maintain health with King Zhou.

The former King Zhou was an expert in medicine. Although King Zhou did not inherit his father's mantle, he also possessed relevant knowledge.

Especially in recent years, he has been seriously ill from time to time and has been on the verge of death. He has his own ideas about health preservation, so he had a good conversation with Tao Ji.

They were having a pleasant conversation when the chief official of the palace finally arrived.

King Zhou waved at him and said, "Yuan Song, I need you to write a memorial."

Zhao Yuansong immediately stepped forward to obey the order.

King Zhou panted and said, "I want to ask for the title of Crown Prince of Zhou, Grandson of the Crown Prince, and you will write for me."

Zhao Yuansong quickly agreed.

Princess Gong immediately said, "Go and prepare the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone."

The maid beside her immediately obeyed the order and soon prepared the pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

Zhao Yuansong pondered and, according to King Zhou's wishes, requested that his adopted son Zhu Zijin be named the Crown Prince of Zhou and his adopted grandson Zhu Tongqie be named the Crown Grandson of Zhou.

The memorial had just been written and Zhao Yuansong was about to use his seal when hurried footsteps were heard outside the room. The curtain was suddenly thrown open and everyone turned their heads to look.

A middle-aged man with a stern look strode in, "Brother——"

He glanced at Pan Yun, Xuan Miao, and Tao Ji, and took a closer look at Tao Ji. He stepped forward and asked, "I heard that Qie'er was found?"

King Zhou looked gentle and nodded, saying, "I found it."

Zhu Zihou and Zhu Zijin stepped forward and called out "Dad". Zhu Youjue waved his hand and looked at the child in Zhu Zijin's arms. He frowned and said, "Who found this child? How did you find him? Have you found out? We have searched all over the Central Plains for the past six months but still haven't found the child..."

Because of Zhu Youjue's interruption, the memorial stopped at the step of stamping the seal.

Pan Yun glanced at the expressions of everyone in the room, and sighed inwardly. There were now four Zhou princes in the room, but the most anxious ones were the current Zhou princess and the people around her...

Princess Gong of Zhou was so anxious to step forward and stamp the document that she immediately ordered the memorial to be sent to the capital.

As if sensing his wife's anxiety, King Zhou patted her gently with his skinny hand, smiled at her, and continued to deal with Zhu Youjue, "The child is lucky to have met three Taoist priests. They saw that the child was of extraordinary origin, so they brought him back."

"So, those rumors are all nonsense," King Zhou said with a flushed face, "I am not unlucky with children. Now I not only have a son, but also a grandson!"

He said to the Chief Clerk Zhao Yuansong, "Sign it, and send someone to deliver the memorial to the emperor immediately. I still have some time to live, and I want to see them established as the crown prince and the crown prince's grandson." Zhao Yuansong signed it with a clang, stood up and said solemnly, "Your Highness, I will go to Beijing in person to see the emperor and urge the clan office to register the heirs back in your and the princess' names."

"Okay, okay," King Zhou said with shining eyes, "You should leave immediately and bring more money to clear the way. Let them remember it as soon as possible, so as to reassure my son."

Zhu Zijin knelt on the ground holding the child, tears streaming down his face, "Father..."

"Why are you crying? How can a real man shed tears so easily? How can you protect your mother, wife and children like this?" King Zhou taught him, "Everyone in the palace will rely on you in the future. You must be strong."

Zhu Zijin agreed while crying.

Zhu Youjue did not expect the Chief Clerk to act so quickly, and his elder brother's will to be so firm, and he was silent for a moment.

His eyes fell on the child, and he said in an ambiguous tone, "This child is indeed lucky. In this respect, he is very similar to my second brother. My second brother has been very lucky since he was a child. No matter what trouble he gets into, he can always turn it into a safe place."

Gong's face darkened and she said, "What are you talking about, fourth brother? Zhu Youjie has been demoted to a commoner. How can this be considered luck?"

She took the child from Zhu Zijin, patted him gently and said, "Our Qie'er is not like him. He is so blessed. He looks like the prince at first glance. Prince, do you think his eyes are exactly the same as yours?"

King Zhou smiled and nodded, "Yes, they are exactly the same as my eyes."

"Congratulations, Prince, and Princess," Xuanmiao said with a smile, "The palace has a double celebration. With such joy, if Prince can follow the doctor's advice and take good care of himself, he will surely recover, and Princess will also be blessed with a long life."

King Zhou murmured, "May you have both good fortune and longevity... I'll borrow Daochang's auspicious words, come here, and give me another reward!"

Gong's eyes turned red as she listened and she hugged the child tightly.

Zhu Youjue was so angry that he had no place to vent it, and his heart ached.

The title of prince was already in his pocket, who could have thought that his elder brother would suddenly remember Zhu Zijin and ask to release him?

Zhu Youjue finally said with all his might: "Brother, second brother is still alive. If he knew that Zijin became the crown prince again, then..."

King Zhou waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "I'm almost dead, how many years does he have left to live? He committed a crime and was deposed. Unlike our Zi Jin, it's not easy for him to get out."

Gong nodded repeatedly.

After Zhao Yuansong saw that they had finished talking and confirmed the prince's intention, he withdrew and went to gather the guards to go to Beijing together.

He dared not be careless at this time.

If he had never doubted Prince Xiangfu Zhu Youjue before, he no longer trusted him after Zhu Tongqie was abducted.

This memorial would determine who would receive the title of King of Zhou, so he dared not let anything go wrong halfway through.

The King of Zhou is in very poor health. The court physician made a diagnosis early this morning that he may only be able to survive in the next two days.

He had to send the memorial to the capital as soon as possible. You must know that before this, the court and the Zhou Palace had already reached a tacit understanding that after the death of King Zhou, the title would be inherited by the Prince of Xiangfu.

Even though the King of Zhou took his adopted son back half a year ago, the ownership of the throne has not been officially determined. Logically, it should have been inherited by the adopted son, but Zhu Zijin is still registered under the name of Zhu Youjie, and the clan office has not changed it yet.

The reason why it has not been changed is because Zhu Tongqie was abducted and disappeared shortly after he arrived in Kaifeng Prefecture.

Some say that Prince Zhou was born to have bad luck with children, some say that Zhu Zijin brought disaster upon his parents, and some even say that Prince Zhou and the lineage of the former Prince of Runan hindered each other.

Zhu Zijin and his son are descendants of the former Prince of Runan County. They and King Zhou should never meet again in this life in order to live in peace. Otherwise, if they meet, one of them will be hurt.

The one injured now is Zhu Tongqie, and the next one to be injured might be King Zhou.

King Zhou...believed it a little.

This King of Zhou was good in every way except that he was a little superstitious.

So for half a year, because of these rumors, he has not been able to clarify Zhu Zijin's status as his adopted son.

But he couldn't bear to send the child away.

After all, he was the child he had raised. Seeing how hard his life was, how could King Zhou be willing to send him to the capital to be imprisoned again?

Moreover, Zhu Zijin was extremely filial after arriving in Kaifeng. He was the one who took care of King Zhou, feeding him medicine, feeding him meals, and even bathing and changing his clothes. He would carry him to the courtyard to bask in the sun every day...

Although the servants can do these things, they do not do them carefully.

Moreover, he had been ill for a long time. The servants who served him did not dare to say it, but they were inevitably impatient, and their actions were not so gentle and considerate.

Zhu Zijin, however, took care of him like a child.

While he was taking care of him, King Zhou kept thinking back to the time when he took care of the young Zhu Zijin.

When Zhu Zijin was brought to them, he was not even a month old. It was his first time being a father, and Gong and he were busy raising him until he was twelve years old...

Thinking of these things and because of Zhu Zijin's filial piety, even though he was superstitious, he was reluctant to drive the person away.

Superstition is good. Superstition can hinder others, but it can also make others successful.

　The ten lucky numbers for this chapter are numbers ending with 8. The screenshots are for proof. The screenshot time is until the next chapter is updated. Join the group and post the screenshots to get Mo Yan's love.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)