Chapter 4
Chapter 4
The next day, news that City B Museum had received the donated artifacts Portraits of Successive Emperors and the Xu Furen Dagger shot to the top of the trending searches.
Before long, the news seemed to sprout wings and fly across the entire world.
That evening, the number of viewers in my livestream hit a new high once again.
Only tonight, the comments were different from usual. Quite a few of them were in foreign languages.
A quick glance told me none of them were saying anything nice.
I pretended not to see them and started today’s stream right away.
Soon, the system notification announced that the connection had been established.
An imposing, solemn old man appeared on the screen.
He wore a golden dragon robe, his temples were streaked with white, and his eyes were sharp and predatory, like a wolf on the prowl or a tiger glancing back. One look was enough to make a person tremble.
“My surname is Zhu. My given name is Yuanzhang.”
His tone was mild, yet his words struck the entire livestream like a clap of thunder.
Zhu Yuanzhang!
The Hongwu Emperor!
The founding emperor of the Ming dynasty!
“I’ve long admired you!” I said, my voice brimming with excitement. “May I ask what you came to the livestream to ask?”
“I wish to know when the Crown Prince will recover from his illness.”
Zhu Yuanzhang’s voice was dignified and calm, but his eyes were red at the rims.
Only then did I notice that his eyes were bloodshot, as if he had not rested for many days.
I opened the history books.
“In the summer of the gengwu year, the sixth month, the Crown Prince suffered severe pain from a carbuncle on his back and cried out without cease.”
…
“Two years later, the Crown Prince’s illness worsened, and he passed away.”
With every word I read, Zhu Yuanzhang’s expression grew uglier.
By the time I finished, he could no longer hold back the grief in his heart. Covering his face, he broke down sobbing.
“If Heaven hates me for being brutal and without virtue, why not punish me directly?
“What did the Crown Prince do wrong? What did the Empress do wrong?!”
Desperate, agonized sobs slipped through his fingers.
The livestream fell deathly silent.
Everyone silently watched the tears of this emperor who had ruled an age.
At this moment, he was not an emperor.
He was only a husband who had lost his wife.
A father about to lose his child.
“Actually… there isn’t no way to save him.”
I flipped through the history book and spoke cautiously.
Zhu Yuanzhang jerked his head up.
Tear tracks crisscrossed his aged cheeks, but the instant he heard my words, light returned to his eyes.
“According to historical records, Zhu Biao had a carbuncle on his back?” I asked.
“Indeed! Biao’er has a large red, swollen patch on his back. He suffers unbearably every day.” At the mention of Zhu Biao’s illness, Zhu Yuanzhang’s eyes reddened again.
“In your time, this illness is a malignant disease, an incurable one. But a few hundred years later, it won’t count as anything serious.”
I took out amoxicillin, hydrogen peroxide, and a whole series of disinfectants for external wounds, then transmitted them all to Zhu Yuanzhang in one go.
“Here. Use these to save your son.”