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THE PRINCE OF HERBS

1389 AD, Ming Dynasty, China "Guardsmen! Take him to his exile in Yunnan, right now!" "Fu Huang!..." "Shut up! Oh... how can my own son stab me from behind... Not only other people I can't trust, and now I can't even trust my own son either!... It's far more painful..." *** "Tomorrow morning," Xie Wang said slowly. "Tomorrow morning... you will see dozens of dead bodies lying all over the streets in Yunnan." Xie Wang looked straight to Zhu Su, his eyes as sharp as a knife, "This is a war. The battle between me, Yuan Prince, and you Ming Prince. A battle to determine who is the most suitable to be the next ruler of Yunnan!" *** "Your Highness... Bad news, Your Highness!" Wu Qi was breathless as he answered, "All streets in Yunnan... are full of dead bodies..." Zhu Su stunned. It can't be, Witchcrafts of Xie Wang is the hell real?!? He just walked not any longer, yet he had found a dead body was lying face down on the street. The farther he walked, the more corpses he found. And finally, he arrived at the town square, where people had been crowded together. *** "I am Zhu Su, the fifth son of Hongwu Emperor, I promise to smash the Witchcrafts of Xie Wang, and get you all free from the outbreak!" Zhu Su sharpened his voice. "The promise from a leader is not a children's game. Bear it in mind!" A man in early forties, who seemed to be the leader of rebels, held his spear up, shouted, "Fine! We appreciate your determination, Ming Prince, so keep your promise! If you fail to keep it up, then I'll make sure that Ming honor, as well as yours, will be ruined!" *** A biographical novel of Prince Zhu Su, the fifth prince of the Hongwu Emperor who was the founder of Ming Dynasty, who devoted himself for medical science and humanity. But before he could fulfil his devotion, he was forced to go through royal disputes, conflicts, power struggles, punishments, rebellions, and even death threats. Could he overcome those problems and reached his noble dream? Find out in this novel. This is a work of biographical novel about a real historical figure. Some characters, plot premise, and certain sections of the story are based on historical events and figures, but there are some parts which are pure fiction. Some of names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner; any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This novel is an original work of myself, not a translated work. Last but not least; I hope you enjoy this story. And thank you very much for your appreciation and support! Have a nice day!

amelia_siauw · History
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TWIST OF THE FATE 3

A night gentle wind blowing through the interspace of windows made Zhu Su get stunned. Suddenly, a strong eagerness guided him to go out of this house.

Well, it's okay to go to bed later than usual. I'm not a legitimate Fan Wang who has many duties and therefore should be responsible to go to sleep on schedule at all. Maybe, watching the night sky can enlighten my messy mind, who knows...

The brisk wind patted his whole body when he opened the door. A night scenery was stretching wonderfully in front of him. The sky was vast and magnifying, and somehow miraculous, it owned a unique aura differed from his palace in Kaifeng. Yunnan night sky was filled with stars. Thousands, or maybe millions of stars were outspread around, filled the boundless galaxy.

Zhu Su got a strange feeling that he was being pulled into the vortex of the mega galaxy. He was totally spellbound with the magnificent of starry might, he seemed to forget that his feet were still on the ground. This strange feeling - he was almost sure about it - he had never experienced such kind of strange feeling before. Not in Kaifeng, or Yingtian, or Fengyang or wherever it should be.

As if I have integrated with The Entire Nature...

And, just at that time, something shocking appeared in a sudden.

Not something. More precisely to say, someone.

A very old man. His long and fully-white hair flew down his cloak, as well as his long beard which was fluttering. But it was not the appearance of the old man who surprised him, instead, it was the aura of him. His aura was indeed very difficult to express in words. Mystical... mysterious... intriguing... and at the same time, giving a sensation of pragmatic, respect, and somehow menacing... His aura even seemed to bind Zhu Su's entire body so tightly he could not move even his finger.

"So glad I can meet you here, O The Prince of Ming." The mysterious old man opened his mouth.

Zhu Su was about to reply when he found his voice seemed to stuck in his throat.

"I know you've always been looking for me all this time. But I refuse to appear. You know why? Because the moment hasn't arrived yet. Your greatest destiny has not yet opened. Now the wheel of fate has turned, opening your Great Destiny. The misfortune you are enduring is what now opens your Great Destiny. And, I can appear here as you wish."

Zhu Su finally could found his voice, "Who... are you?... Have I ever met with you before?..." He tried so hard forcing his disheveled mind to remember actually whom he really wished to meet yet until now he had no chance for it. He could meet everybody very easily anyway, as long as that person was the citizen of this country. Was there anyone being so crazy by having the guts to refuse the meeting with a prince, especially when the prince was eager to meet with him?

However, no matter how hard Zhu Su forced his mind, he still did not get even the slightest hunch that he recognized this old man.

"You have been looking for me all this time, remember? You want to meet with me because you want to be like Bian Que who managed to obtain magical medicine. However, your status as a prince can't give you a privileged to meet directly with me. It shouldn't. Human beings are all the same, there is no difference between prince and beggar. All people have their own destiny they should take, so they still have to wait patiently if the moment has not yet arrived."

Zhu Su's eyes sparkled. "You are... Chang Sang Jun?!? God of Medicine?!?"

The old man smiled, and it made the mysterious aura covering him become thicker.

"You want to learn medical science, don't you?"

Nothing blocked Zhu Su's vocal cords this time; he could answer in a straightforward and firm manner, "Yes, definitely! That has been indeed my dream since I was a teenager!"

"You are ready to bear all the consequences for that?"

"I fully understand that there will be no great success just by taking the easy way. So, nothing can obstruct my intention to study medicine."

"Boy, I need to emphasize something; Being a medical expert is different from becoming a prince. The duty a medical expert has to carry is far nobler, as his job is to help those who are trapped in one of the Four Dukkhas * - Illness. And to be able to carry out this hard duty successfully, everyone must go through a really difficult testing process. You've heard the stories about many famous physicians who died because they were murdered by the authorities, or by the rivals who were jealous of them, right?" The old man raised his eyebrows. "You are certain, you will be able to endure that way of life?"

"But still, a prince must live the same dangerous life. In fact... speak honestly, all human beings have to experience such the suffering life if they are by chance get some bad luck. So many innocent people have been executed horribly by my father..." Zhu Su thought more deeply. "Okay then! I'm ready to face any kind of consequences! I'm ready to receive your guidance in studying medicine!"

"And once more, the most important thing..." The old man said seriously. "That hatred inside your heart, you must diminish it. Towards everyone - and most of all, towards your own father."

What the old man said this time made Zhu Su feel as if he just got struck by lightning since it was really shocking him.

"Actually, a physician can heal others because his heart is full of love. Because of his compassion, that is, being touched by seeing the suffering a person must endure. On the contrary, hatred wants to see other people suffer. What hatred dislikes the most is happiness. So, if you still keep hatred in your heart, how can you be compassionate towards others? You won't be able to cure people." The old man stared straight into Zhu Su's eyes. "And, above all, you mustn't keep hatred to your own father. Devotion to parents is unquestionably important. It is parents who have raised you from childhood to adulthood, even though for that they must get through many difficulties. Without hard work and great pain your parents have paid out, you can't live until now, let alone get such excellent life as a prince. After all, the benchmark of the children who have been devoted successfully to their parents is merely their commitment to give happiness for their parents."

"But that's my father who has sent me into exile right now! Because of that illogical reason! That unfair reason! And then how... how can I still love him after all?!..."

Finally, after staying quiet for this time, the complaints and whimpers that buried inside the deepest part of Zhu Su's heart now burst out like the explosion of a volcano. Zhu Su had to admit that it was his father whom he hated the most in this entire world right now.

And, God of Medicine wanted him to completely erase the hatred for his father?!?

The old man's face turned cloudy.

"It's beyond my expectations, your hatred for your father is too deep. If so, you're not fit in the way of medicine. Cleanse your heart from hatred first. Then you are permitted to study medicine."

"But... God of Medicine!..."

But God of Medicine did not heed his call as he had disappeared from sight.

...

* Dukkha = an important Buddhist concept refers to the fundamental unsatisfactoriness and painfulness of mundane life. It includes four types of conditions: birth, aging, illness, and death.