Until Cheng Ji's weak voice flicked him, "Your Highness..."
Zhu Hui turned his dulled face towards him.
"Is this the fate we have to accept when it comes to power?" Zhu Hui asked, his mutter mixed with the gusts of the mountain wind, formed a heart-rending orchestra.
Cheng Ji only replied to Zhu Hui's question with silence. Birds chirp giving a sense of peace was not in tune with the situation right now.
"Yes. This is what we all have to go through when it comes to power." Zhu Hui continued. "Power is a matter of lust, because power never knows how to stop. Everyone can't just stay still in a safe place, everyone must try to keep climbing up even if we have to step on corpses and skulls, otherwise, it is we who become the pile of corpses and skulls."
Slowly, Zhu Hui took off his luxurious robe, clothes by clothes, until he only wore the thin, white clothes.
"Hence, I don't want to have any business with power, not anymore. Now, Gu Wang has gone. He's dead. There is only Zhu Hui. Zhu Hui, an ordinary commoner, who is no different from other Ming people... no, I'm different. Because I don't want to interact with society anymore. I will become a monk."
Cheng Ji was thunderstruck. "Your Highness?!"
"I've got enough of the luxury and enjoyment of life by being born as a Prince of Ming. Every kind of pleasure and delight, I've got it. So what else do I need to pursue? What else should I look for? What else do I need to be sorry about for letting go of a status that seems great on the surface but actually causes much more trouble? Now it is the time to carry out the summon of Heaven. My time to have fun as a Ming Prince has ended. Now it is the time to dedicate myself to this world."
"Your Highness, by becoming a Fan Wang and helping many people you have dedicated yourself to the world, and instead by leaving your position as Fan Wang you'll make the people suffer from a big loss?!..."
"Alright," Zhu Hui cut him sadly. "Don't block me anymore. The Emperor will think of you as a defector if you keep blocking me. Go back to the Palace, and tell the Emperor about this. Tell him, don't worry about Gu Wang anymore, because Gu Wang is dead. The one who is still alive, is Monk Zhu Hui."
"Your Highness…" Cheng Ji's voice shook. After all, since he knew that it was indeed the best way of life to save Zhu Hui's life, he nodded reluctantly. "I... carry out your orders!"
The atmosphere of Mount Yun Mu was very peaceful as it escorted Cheng Ji to return to the palace. Zhu Hui looked around. The mountain was quiet and serene. The trees lushed, accompanied by the sweet song of birds. And the wide blue sky was boundless...
Yes. The outer solitude was much more beautiful than his palace in Changsha. He was sure, the way of life he had taken, was totally correct.
***
Hundreds of kilometers away from Changsha, at Kaifeng Palace.
"I pay respect to Fu Wang and Mu Fei!"
Zhu Youjue paid his respect to Zhu Su and Hu Nayin, who was looking at him with a wide smile. Zhu Youjue had grown into a handsome young man, and he would soon get married. He was calm, gentle, polite, also knowledgeable and reliable, just like his father. Hu Nayin's hope was finally accomplished.
"I've just finished my new poem. Would you like to see it?"
Zhu Su nodded excitedly. "Sure, Youjue! Come on, show it to us!"
Zhu Youjue raised a piece of paper and read it with a calm, clear, and elegant voice. The whole room quickly fell silent.
After Zhu Youjue finished reading his poem, everyone clapped their hands.
"Amazing, amazing!" All of them praised.
After completing Jiuhuang Bencao, Zhu Su continued his life as a Fan Wang which was dull and tended to be boring. And he had been passing through that way of life for twenty years. Now he had become a sixty-year-old elderly man. So did Hu Nayin, she was in her fifties right now. Zhu Youdun had got married and was busy with his own households, although he still often met and chatted with his father. The same with Zhu Su's two daughters, they had been married and lived with their husbands and children. Wu Qi and Xue Mei had been married for a long time, they had three children who were at the same age as Zhu Youjue. Likewise, the members of the Team of Wellbeing had been undergoing the times of relaxation which tended to be boring. Zhu Su was no longer going through dramatic times full of ups and downs. But even though he still had reminiscent of it, he was unwilling to live that kind of life once again. Basically, he was neither adventurous nor gallant. He was a quiet academic who preferred to dwell on books and knowledge. A life full of political intrigue, exiles, and prisons, fleeing to another country, and doing war was totally not his hobbies. Hence, he did not mind even though his life was boring. Nor did he longed for the dramatic and romantic life craved by most noblemen who were tired of the rule-filled court life. According to him, they were accustomed to living in luxury, they would not understand the difficulty of life which they considered dramatic and romantic - for him, it was full of suffering. He did not want to experience it again, totally not. So he was content to be an inconspicuous noble. He liked boredom. He had heard the sad story of his younger brother Zhu Hui, so he stayed away from the government and reduced much his interaction with people. Even though, as the result, the people began to forget about him. But he did not care.
May the people know nothing about me, and I don't need them to adore me. Because after all, the reason why I wrote those medical books and helped the people isn't for getting fame, but because of my own passions. I no longer long for fame. The tranquility of life is more important than anything. As long as I don't become like Yi who had bad character and eventually died young, everything will be alright.
Zhu Su's prediction finally came true. Zhu Yi died not long after Zhu Su advised him, at that time the spoiled Fan Wang was still in his mid-twenties. The reason remained unknown, but Zhu Su was sure it was because of his younger brother's bad habit of having many sex parties. He wanted to satisfy his lust nonetheless, even though we all know that lust can never be satisfied at any time. Finally, he died. Although many people suspected that it was due to his own karma of being a bad leader who tormented the whole Luoyang.
Qu You joined in, "The young prince has a brilliant talent no less great than his father. Zhou Wang also has written Yuan Gong Ci which contains hundreds of chapters, and each chapter is so beautiful. It must be not easy, not all poets can do it!"
After several intermittences and sometimes discontinued, Zhu Su finished Yuan Gong Ci twenty years later. Nevertheless, completing Yuan Gong Ci was not an easy matter as it consisted of hundreds of chapters.
Zhu Su smiled slightly. "Ah, you just flatter me."
Zhu Youjue responded excitedly. "But what Sir Qu said is true, your Yuan Gong Ci is indeed beautiful!"
"May I suggest; you should show it to the nobles and other government officials."