Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 58: Dispute over Status
Zhou Dexing, Marquis of Jiangxia, died. Some people had no idea what was going on. This nobleman died suddenly.

More importantly, there were some abnormalities after his death, and only an official reported that Jiang Xiahou was dead.

There were many abnormal things. The emperor did not stop court for him, did not write an article to offer sacrifices, and did not even send an envoy to offer condolences. At this time, let alone building a statue in the Temple of Meritorious Officials, enshrining him in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, or granting him a burial, he was not even going to be given a posthumous title.

If it were any other marquis, this might be considered normal.

This is Zhou Dexing, Marquis of Jiangxia. Everyone subconsciously believes that after his death he will definitely be enshrined in the Taimiao, have a statue in the Temple of Meritorious Officials, and will be posthumously conferred the title of Duke.

But none of this happened. The emperor deliberately ignored these things, and the nobles were also surprisingly silent.

The civil service group was confused. They vaguely heard that Jiang Xiahou had offended the emperor's third grandson and committed suicide out of fear.

The death of Marquis Jiangxia was a big deal, but compared with the funeral of the crown prince, it was not worth mentioning.

The prince's body has been lying in state for more than three months, and it's time to bury him.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang had already established some funeral rituals in the fourth year of Hongwu, modeled after the funeral rituals of the Tang and Song dynasties.

However, the special thing is that what has been perfected is the funeral ceremony of the emperor, while the funeral ceremony of the crown prince and prince has not yet been perfected.

The coffin of Crown Prince Zhu Biao has been kept for nearly 100 days since his death, which has reached the emperor's standard. However, there is nothing that can be done about it. Although Zhu Biao was seriously ill before, no one expected him to die in his prime, and now the mausoleum has not been fully completed.

Including mourning clothes, not to mention the prince's descendants, even the princes who did not go to the fiefdom wore mourning clothes.

In fact, Zhu Biao's funeral ceremony was still under discussion, and Zhang Zhi, the Minister of Rites, and others had basically come up with a plan.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with wearing mourning clothes, prohibiting the slaughter of animals, stopping music, sacrifices or weddings, etc.

Now the key thing is the main priest who holds the tablet of the shrine and the red robes and pays homage to the ancestors.

Many people knew that Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunhuan were fighting. Now that the person who would preside over the ceremony had been decided, it basically meant that the crown prince had been decided.

On a new morning, when entering the court to report matters, Zhang Zhi, the Minister of Rites, came out and said, "Your Majesty, the Guanglu Temple has prepared all the supplies, and the tomb, temple, and hall have all been built. I request your permission to hold the funeral for the late crown prince ten days later."

A trace of sadness flashed in Old Zhu's eyes, and he asked, "Is ten days from now an auspicious day?"

Naturally, officials from the Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, and Qintianjian came out to confirm that ten days later would be suitable for the funeral.

Old Zhu no longer hesitated. Even if he was sad, he still had to do many things. "Ten days later, the crown prince will be buried. Fast for three days before the funeral."

This is nothing. Since Zhu Biao fell seriously ill and passed away, many things have been worked on overtime. The tomb site chosen by Zhu Biao is on the east side of the Xiaoling Mausoleum, and the construction of the mausoleum, sacrificial temple, etc. is also being accelerated there.

Not to mention Zhu Biao's mausoleum, even the Xiaoling Mausoleum, the joint tomb of Zhu and Empress Ma, has been under construction.

So now Zhu Biao’s mausoleum can be used, that’s enough, and it will continue to be improved in the future.

Zhang Zhi continued, "According to etiquette, the former Crown Princess should be buried with the Crown Prince."

Zhu narrowed his eyes. The former Crown Princess was naturally referring to Crown Princess Chang. She passed away in the eleventh year of Hongwu, when she was only twenty-four. Zhu stopped attending court for three days when she passed away, and he and Empress Ma also wore mourning clothes for her.

After all, neither Zhu Biao nor Princess Chang were considered among the three dead, and the ritual system also states that 'at funeral rites, the father shall wear mourning clothes for the eldest son for one year'.

Zhu Biao and Princess Chang had special status, so they also received such treatment.

Old Zhu said, "That's right. The Crown Princess will be reburied first, and the Emperor's grandson will be offered sacrifices."

Zhu Biao's mausoleum is next to the Xiaoling Mausoleum, and the mausoleum of the Crown Princess Chang was not there before. Since they were to be buried together, of course they had to move the tomb.

At this point, all the civil and military officials became nervous, knowing that the truth was about to be revealed.

Zhang Zhi mustered up his courage and said, "Your Majesty, which of the royal grandsons should preside over the ceremony?"

Old Zhu narrowed his eyes and asked, "Do you have a bad memory or are you neglecting your duties? The Minister of Rites doesn't even know the list of royal family members? Don't you know that my daughter-in-law has two sons and two daughters?"

Zhang Zhi immediately knelt down and said in a panic, "Your Majesty, the eldest grandson of the emperor died young, and the second grandson born to the Crown Princess is older." Some of the nobles were very angry. Zhang Zhi's meaning was very simple. Zhu Yunwen was older than Zhu Yunhuan and was now the "eldest grandson". He also emphasized that Lu was now the Crown Princess, which was an attempt to seize the status of "legitimate".

Old Zhu had a blank expression on his face and asked, "Yunwen is our grandson. When he was born, what was the status of his mother? When Yunwen was born, who was his stepmother?"

Zhang Zhi shuddered and didn't dare to answer.

"I asked you a question, how dare you not answer?" Old Zhu raised his voice slightly and asked directly, "Let me ask you again, who is Yunwen's mother?"

Zhang Zhi was terrified and dared not to answer, "The legitimate mother of His Royal Highness the Grandson is naturally His Royal Highness the Crown Princess."

This is a fact. Even after Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne in history, he could only respect his stepmother Chang as Empress Xiaokang. When he was born, his stepmother could only be Crown Princess Chang.

My biological mother, Mrs. Lu, is just my biological mother.

Seeing the emperor's final decision, Zhan Hui, who had no way to retreat, winked at Ye Xixian. But Ye Xixian, the censor, pretended not to see it, because he didn't want to die.

Without the vanguard, Zhan Hui had to fight alone. He knew that if Zhu Yunwen became the crown prince, he might still have a chance to survive. But once Zhu Yunhuan was made the crown prince, he could be killed at any time.

This is the greatest fear between life and death. Knowing that you might be killed, but not knowing when or for what crime, is even more terrifying.

Zhan Hui felt sad. Those who followed the wind had recently heard that the emperor's third grandson had frequently summoned nobles. Some ministers had also seen the emperor's third grandson standing by as punishment when reporting to the Wuying Palace, or that he had never been stopped when asking for a meeting.

It is also said that the emperor's grandson already has the Imperial Guards under his command, and his two elder sisters frequently go out of the palace to meet with the wives of nobles.

Coupled with the emperor's intentional or unintentional praise, public opinion changed immediately.

When the crown prince just passed away, the one mentioned as the emperor's grandson was Zhu Yunwen, who was kind, filial, and generous.

Nowadays, everyone talks about the third grandson Zhu Yunhu, who was extremely filial and the legitimate son of the emperor. No one mentions his past reputation as a playboy.

If Zhan Hui came forward, he would have no chance of survival. "Your Majesty, I request that His Majesty, the Second Grandson of the Emperor, preside over the ceremony!"

Chang Sheng suddenly became anxious and jumped out immediately, "Your Majesty, the Crown Princess already has a legitimate son, how can His Royal Highness the Second Grandson be the chief priest!"

Feng Sheng, who had already lost his sense of existence, also wanted to turn the tables, and immediately stepped forward, "Your Majesty, I have heard that since ancient times, 'the eldest son is appointed as the heir based on age rather than virtue, and the son is appointed based on nobility rather than age'. I believe that the eldest son is the heir, and this is the law for all ages."

Fu Youde was still organizing his words when Feng Sheng rushed out. He was also anxious, "Your Majesty, the emperor's grandson is the heir to the throne. This is the system of the clan!"

The saying that a mother is honored by her son is no longer acceptable in this era. Nowadays, a son is honored by his mother, and it depends on his birth and status.

Zhan Hui, who was alone and helpless, was even more anxious. He had just opened his mouth when three dukes suddenly appeared. He felt that he had stirred up a hornet's nest. He was very worried that he would be blocked and beaten by those nobles after the court session. Even if they didn't beat him, those nobles of superior rank would not take him, a second-rank official, seriously. If they asked a subordinate like him to salute, that would be enough for him to bear.

Old Zhu said coldly, "Call our two grandchildren!"

Many people were dumbfounded. Emperor Zhu did not play by the rules. At this time, the civil and military officials should be arguing, and some things should be decided in the court. Why did he directly summon the emperor's grandchildren?

Old Zhu continued, "It just so happens that the royal family is here too. Summon the King of Qin, the King of Jin, the King of Yan, the King of Zhou, and the King of Chu."

The current Clan Court is not a decoration as it was during the Yongle period. The Clan Court today is still in name only and is managed by nobles and relatives, while all its affairs have been transferred to the Ministry of Rites.

The current Zongrenfu is in charge of the clan registers of the nine clans of the emperor, compiles the jade books on time, records the legitimate and illegitimate children of the clan, their names, and titles, and is even responsible for reporting the requests of the clan members to the emperor, introducing talented people, and recording the crimes and faults of the clan members.

These five princes were the five decision-makers of the first clan court, and they are also the five oldest and most senior sons of Zhu Yuanzhang.

At this time, in front of the mourning hall, Zhu Yunhuan scolded Zhu Gaochi with a look of disappointment, "You are the prince of Yan, how can you be like this? Fourth uncle doesn't like you, but likes Gao Xu? How could you think of this? Is you, the prince, just a decoration? Or is Gao Xu not following the etiquette?"

Zhu Di immediately advised, "My nephew has misunderstood. It's not true. It's just that Gao Chi is very thoughtful and rarely seen. He thinks that we are partial to Gao Xu."

Zhu Yunhuan was about to scold him, but a eunuch came to convey his imperial decree.

Everyone was stunned. The important prince and grandson of the emperor were summoned to the court. Was there something big going on?
　Thanks to Tree Pillow Tail Bear for giving 100 Qidian coins

　　
　
(End of this chapter)