Change of Fate

After listening to Zhu Yuanzhang’s introduction, Zhu Di was greatly astonished.

Then he hurriedly bowed to Qin Ning, “Zhu Di pays respects to the Immortal Master. Thank you, Master, for bringing my father and mother here before my death, allowing me to see them one last time. Now I can die without regret.”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately lost his temper. “Damn it, Lao Si, what kind of talk is that? Saying ‘see us one last time’? As if the ones about to die are your father and me! It’s us coming to see you for the last time, don’t twist things around!”

The poignant emotion Zhu Di had just mustered was wrecked by Old Zhu’s scolding.

However, a look of joyful tears soon appeared on his face as he said, “Father, scold me more. Mother, you scold me too. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you all these years. That I can see you both again before I die is enough to make me smile beneath the Nine Springs.”

“Lao Si, you’ve had a hard time all these years.”

Empress Ma, moved by his emotions, walked up to Zhu Di and couldn’t help but raise her hand to stroke the head of her fourth son.

No matter how old he was now, to her, he was still just her child.

Zhu Yuanzhang watched the scene before him with mixed feelings. He suddenly turned to Qin Ning beside him and asked, “Master, is Lao Si’s fate… truly sealed like this?”

“Historically, Zhu Di died of illness at Yumuchuan in the twenty-second year of Yongle,” Qin Ning said.

“Father, fate is determined by heaven. That I can see you and Mother before I die is already enough. Don’t grieve for me. In my Yongle reign, I committed great mistakes but also achieved great merits. Decades of anxiety and vigilance, not a single comfortable day. Father, I only wish to know before I die: can the achievements of my life cleanse the sin of my usurpation?”

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent, gazing at Zhu Di for a long time before speaking, “Lao Si, your father is proud of you.”

Hearing this, Zhu Di’s tears finally couldn’t be held back.

He truly had no regrets in death.

Empress Ma, driven by motherly love, looked at Qin Ning and couldn’t help asking, “Master, you once cured my illness. I wonder if you could also help Lao Si…”

“Mother, my fate is as it is—determined by heaven. Though the Master has divine and unfathomable means, able to bring you and Father here, defying destiny for another is not realistic. Please don’t trouble the Master too much,” Zhu Di said.

He had already accepted his fate and did not fear death.

Being able to see Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma before he died was already enough to fill the greatest void in his heart; he dared not ask for more.

But Qin Ning simply smiled, turned his palm, and produced a pill, handing it to Zhu Di. “Fate is determined by heaven, but I am the one who sets it. If I want you to live, heaven does not dare to let you die.”

“Take this pill and swallow it.”

Zhu Di carefully took the pill and asked excitedly, “Master, is this an immortal’s elixir?”

“You can think of it that way,” Qin Ning said with a slight nod.

Hearing this, Zhu Di did not hesitate and swallowed the pill in front of everyone.

In less than ten seconds, Zhu Di’s appearance visibly began to rejuvenate.

Not only did the wrinkles on his face disappear, but his hair and beard also turned from white back to black. He looked like a middle-aged man in his forties.

“Thank you, Immortal Master!”

Feeling the change in himself, Zhu Di bowed to Qin Ning in gratitude.

“No need for that. Among countless emperors throughout history, only a handful truly deserve to take my pill. Your achievements qualify,” Qin Ning said with a faint smile.

Then he turned to Zhu Zhanji and took out two more identical pills. “One of these pills is for you to take yourself. Take the other back to your father, Zhu Gaochi.”

Zhu Zhanji was stunned at first, then a look of ecstasy spread across his face. “Master, this… this is far too precious…”

“Just take them. In the original history, both you and your father did quite well. The reigns of Hongxi and Xuande are known as the ‘Ren-Xuan Golden Age.’ It’s a pity you both died too young. That era lasted only eleven years. Especially your father, Zhu Gaochi, who ruled for just ten months. He was in poor health—take this pill back to him.”

“What? Gaochi only reigned for ten months?” Zhu Di immediately felt devastated.

Qin Ning did not reply. Instead, he took out a token and handed it to him. “Hold this and silently recite ‘Hongwu’ three times. You’ll be able to travel to the Hongwu dynasty. If you have any questions, just ask your father and mother in the future.”

To Qin Ning, the later age of China was the main timeline, while the Hongwu dynasty was a sub-timeline, akin to a parallel time-space.

Dynasties that followed, such as the Yongle dynasty of the present, were secondary timelines beneath the sub-timeline.

Such secondary timelines could not connect directly to the main timeline of later ages but only to the Hongwu sub-timeline.

“I… I can go to the Hongwu dynasty on my own in the future?” Zhu Di was incredibly excited.

He had thought this would be his last time seeing his parents. Little did he expect that Qin Ning’s means were so astonishing—not only allowing him to live a second life but also giving him the ability to visit the Hongwu dynasty anytime to see his parents.

“The power in this token isn’t strong. Each time, you can bring at most two people back and forth between the Hongwu and Yongle realms. Later, I’ll help build a teleportation gate between the two, making it much more convenient,” Qin Ning said with a smile.

With that, he turned back to Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma. “Let’s go back first. It’s getting late. Changle and the others should have returned from shopping. I need to send them back to rest. Now that Zhu Di has the token, you’ll have no problem meeting again.”

“Good,” Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

Zhu Di was momentarily puzzled. “Changle?”

Empress Ma explained, “She’s Li Lizhi, Princess Changle, daughter of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin. She also came to our Great Ming with the Master earlier. Lao Si, Zhongba and I will take our leave now. After you’ve settled things here, you can come to the Hongwu dynasty to visit us.”

“I understand, Mother. I’ll definitely come. I want to see my eldest brother, see Xiongying, and some old friends too,” Zhu Di said, bowing in farewell.

Then, Qin Ning waved his hand and departed from the place with Empress Ma and Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the Hongwu dynasty, outside the Fengtian Hall.

On the square, Li Shanchang and a group of ministers were still learning to ride bicycles, but compared to earlier, they had become much more skilled.

Li Lizhi, Zhu Wanning, and Ying Shiman sat at a table, chatting while eating sunflower seeds.

Seeing Qin Ning and the others appear, they immediately came forward.

“Father, I heard from the Duke of Korea that you went to the later Great Ming?” Zhu Wanning asked.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. "I went to see Old Fourth. That kid is even older than us now, but the Master has already changed his fate and even gave him a jade pendant that can bring him back to the Hongwu Era."

He then looked at Zhu Wanning, "By the way, you two just went to Great Qin, right? How is Little Old Fourth doing over there?"

"Well..."

Zhu Wanning scratched her head, then recounted what she had learned in Great Qin.

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded. "That brat actually dared to set a fire in the Xianyang Palace of the First Emperor? Does he think that just because he's in Great Qin, my whip can't reach him? Wait... Fusu was also involved in the arson? And he was the ringleader? That doesn't seem right—it's not like Fusu's character at all."

"That's what happens when you drink too much. Let the First Emperor lock them up for a few days, it'll teach them a lesson," said Empress Ma.