Starting out with half a bowl, conquering the world by force—that’s my dad.

The most stable crown prince in history—that’s my big brother.

The only vassal prince in history to successfully rebel, Grand General Who Conquers the North, Happy forever—that’s still my big brother.

The only emperor in history to be successfully overthrown by a vassal prince, “I’ll show you just once how a flying dragon can possibly lose”—that’s my eldest nephew.

The most... the fattest emperor in history? A three-hundred-pound fatty—what evil could he possibly harbor?—that’s still my eldest nephew.

What? Who am I? I’m Sixth Brother.

Please enjoy this long, ancient costume palace comedy family drama—“Every Member of the Old Zhu Family Is a Weirdo,” featuring “My Father Isn’t That Scary!”

A beautiful name for it: “A Father Who Could Rival a Nation”!

Volume One: In the Great Hall

Chapter One: His Highness the Prince of Chu

After the first frost, the sky was a clear, washed blue, and the forests of Purple Gold Mountain were ablaze with color, dazzling and vibrant.

These richly colored mountains, set against the glazed yellow tiles of the imperial city before the mountain, and the rippling reflections of powder and rouge on the Qinhuai River, together formed a magnificent autumn scene of Jinling.

“Damn, it’s really beautiful…” The breathtaking view made a chubby child with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and an innocent face blurt out this rather uncultured exclamation.

After indulging in the scenery for a while, he finally remembered the purpose of climbing up high to look far, and quickly shaded his eyes with his hand, gazing into the distance.

His gaze swept over the tall palace walls, finally seeing the government offices and mansions outside the palace, pavilions and towers, and farther still, rows upon rows of markets and residences, bustling streets filled with carriages and horses, rivers crowded with boats…

But there wasn’t a single tall building, not a single utility pole, not a single signal tower… As far as the eye could see, all the way to the horizon, there was absolutely no sign of industrial civilization.

“What the hell…” The boy stood stunned for a long while, finally ceasing to doubt the reality of the world before him, and at last accepting that he had once again become a person of the Ming Dynasty.

Wait, why “again”?

“Oh my, Your Highness, are you trying to fly to the heavens?!” At this moment, a panicked shriek from below snapped him out of his daze.

That’s right, he had hit the jackpot this time and become a prince. And not just any prince, but the sixth son of the Hongwu Emperor, His Highness the Prince of Chu, James Johnson!

Hmm, compared to being the sickly son of a poor scholar, the paralyzed child of a disgraced petty official, or the little rascal grandson of a fallen bureaucrat, this identity was much easier to accept.

At the moment, James Johnson was standing on the ridge of the main hall of the Wan’an Palace, where he had grown up. Looking down, it was hard not to feel as if the entire Forbidden City was beneath his feet.

A gust of autumn wind blew by, and he couldn’t help but shiver. It really was cold up high.

His shudder made the old eunuch below go weak in the knees, shrieking repeatedly.

“Oh, don’t move, don’t move. Please, little ancestor, don’t move.”

With both hands held in a delicate pose, the old eunuch stamped his feet at the palace attendants who had rushed over: “What are you standing around for? Hurry up and get His Highness down from there!”

Several agile palace attendants quickly climbed up to the roof along the ladder James Johnson had used. Then, as if handling the most precious porcelain, they carefully escorted the Prince of Chu down.

“Little ancestor, be careful.” The old eunuch, wearing a steel-forked hat and a sky-blue lined robe, tiptoed over to receive James Johnson, slowly setting him down on the ground before finally letting out a long sigh of relief and wiping the sweat from his brow.

It was hard to say whether it was from fright or because His Highness was just too heavy…

“Sorry for the trouble,” James Johnson apologized out of habit.

To his surprise, the old eunuch was so shocked he covered his mouth, then apologized and felt his forehead. “Oh my, why is the little ancestor being so polite? Are you still not well?”

James Johnson was at a loss—being polite was considered an illness? Looks like he’d have to get used to being a prince.

“You need to teach me… how to act?” He raised his chin and shot a disdainful glance at the effeminate old eunuch.

“Yes, yes, this old servant was out of line.” The old eunuch was relieved and quickly explained:

“Last month, Her Ladyship moved into the Inner Anle Hall, and then Your Highness… sigh, one misfortune after another in this Wan’an Palace, this old servant is truly terrified…”

As he spoke, he picked up the little floral-embroidered cloth at his waist and began to sob, “If anything were to happen to the little ancestor, how could this old servant ever face Her Ladyship?!”

…Watching the old eunuch cry so pitifully, James Johnson felt a pang of guilt and even shed a few tears himself.

The memories from the little boy’s own life were a bit hazy; James Johnson only remembered that his mother, Consort Hu, had been sent to the Cold Palace, and that he himself had fallen into the water a few days ago.

It was that very incident that allowed him to “replace the plum with the peach.”

Actually, “replace the plum with the peach” wasn’t quite right; it was more like the two had merged into one. For example, these tears now, and the heartache when thinking of his mother, clearly came from the little boy’s emotions.

Ah, whatever, he’d just have to get used to it.

James Johnson was an easygoing sort. He composed himself, wanting to comfort the still-sobbing old eunuch, but was momentarily at a loss for words.

After all, he was only ten years old, and had been muddleheaded before, with a terrible memory. For instance, he couldn’t even recall the name of the chief eunuch of Wan’an Palace standing before him.

So, for the first few days, he hadn’t dared say or ask anything. Now that he was more familiar, he chuckled and asked, “So, are you called Old Smith or Old Walker?”