Chapter 1: The Miserable Transmigration

  As the only son of Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youtang to survive into adulthood, Zhu Houzhao never had any brothers or sisters and rarely saw his few cousins, with whom he didn't have a very deep emotional connection.

  At this moment, when Jiang Xia mentioned becoming sworn brothers, Zhu Houzhao was instantly overjoyed.

  Zhang Yong originally wanted to persuade Zhu Houzhao a bit, he had just opened his mouth "Your Majesty this..." After finishing these three words, Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and said: "What's all this, immediately go and prepare everything needed for the ceremony...". Zhu Houzhao turned his head and asked Jiang Xia: "What things are needed?"

  As the head of the Qianmen, making vows is a common occurrence. Jiang Xia recited the items needed for the vow-making ceremony as if they were precious family heirlooms: "A portrait of Guan Gong, three sacrificial offerings - pork, fish and eggs, one live rooster, a bowl of white wine, two copies of the Jinlan Scripture, and a pair of incense sticks."

  "That's right! It's these." Zhu Houzhao didn't know if the oath of brotherhood really needed these things, but his intuition told him that Jiang Xia was right. He urged Zhang Yong to hurry: "Go quickly, I'll wait here."

  Just now almost said a slip of the tongue, Zhu Houzhao was startled, he secretly looked at Jiang Xia, found that Jiang Xia's face color is no different, only then relieved.

  "Yes!" Zhang Yong responded with a single word and immediately ran out to prepare.

  Only Jiang Xia and Zhu Houzhao were left in the room. Zhu Houzhao looked at Jiang Xia and said, "My name is Zhu Shou, from Shuntian Prefecture, born on September 8th of the fourth year of the Hongzhi era, and I'm exactly twenty-one years old this year. How old are you?"

  "Ha ha, I'm Jiang Xia, a Suzhou native. I was born on May 10th of the second year of the Hongzhi era and am currently 23 years old, two years older than you. So from now on, I'll be the elder brother and you can call yourself younger brother."

  "Old Two..." Jiang Xia muttered this nickname in her heart and looked at Zhu Houzhao's appearance, suddenly unable to help but want to laugh.

  Zhu Houzhao was taken aback for a moment, pointing at his own nose and saying: "Am I the second child?"

  "Hmm... right, you're the second brother. You're younger than me, so naturally you're the second brother." said Jiang Xia.

  "No way." Zhu Houzhao shook his head firmly, "I've been the biggest one since I was a kid, and no one has ever been bigger than me. So I can't be the second, you be the second." After finishing speaking, Zhu Houzhao took out a stack of Da Ming Bao Chao from his arms and handed it to Jiang Xia: "As long as you agree to let me be the boss, you be the second, this silver is all yours."

  "Never mind! I won't be sworn brothers with you!" Jiang Xia suddenly stood up from his seat, his face filled with annoyance.

  His outburst not only scared Zhu Houzhao, but also Liu Jin and Kang Qingyan who were hiding in the adjacent Peony Pavilion to eavesdrop. Kang Qingyan couldn't help but mutter: "This fool, why is he being so arrogant with the Emperor? He's just a second-in-command, can't he just be content with that? There are still so many silver coins to be taken."

  Inside the Peony Pavilion, Jiang Xia shook his sleeve and stood up straight, saying: "Zhu Shou, you're insulting me! Although I'm poor, I have dignity. I think you're a good person and we have a connection, so I proposed to become sworn brothers with you. But now you're using silver to insult me. Is having silver that impressive? To me, Jiang Xia, it's nothing, because I've always viewed wealth as dirt."

  "How shameless!" Hearing this, Kang Qingyan, who was eavesdropping next door, couldn't help but mutter to herself. Someone who would argue with an old hag for money actually said they viewed wealth as dirt and did so with such a straight face. Kang Qingyan couldn't help but think that one must have incredibly thick skin to be so brazen.

  "Alas, what a pity..." Liu Jin sighed softly, "Young people are still too impulsive. The Emperor is the Son of Heaven, how can he possibly be second? He has now angered the Emperor and the wealth and glory that was within his grasp have vanished."

  Liu Jin had served Zhu Houzhao for many years and naturally understood his temperament. However, he understood the Zhu Houzhao who wore imperial robes, but not the Zhu Shou who made private visits in plain clothes. In Zhu Houzhao's life, there was only one person who had scolded him, that is, his late father Zhu Youtang. Now hearing Jiang Xia say this, Zhu Houzhao not only didn't get angry, but also felt a bit refreshed.

  He reached out and pulled Jiang Xia's sleeve, saying: "Jiang... Jiang Xia, I didn't mean to insult you by taking the silver earlier. It was just a habit of mine, so... sorry..."

  Jiang Xia turned back and looked at Zhu Houzhao: "Are you truly acknowledging your mistake?"

  Zhu Houzhao nodded slightly after a moment of stunned silence: "Right, I sincerely admit my mistake."

  "Alright, since you're truly sorry, I'll forgive you. But let me make one thing clear: as we become sworn brothers, it's only natural that I should be the older brother. If you don't agree, we can draw a line and compete in either literature or martial arts - whichever you prefer. The loser will be the younger brother, and the winner will be the older brother."

  "Alright, let's compare then." Zhu Houzhao agreed in one breath, "I'll compete with you..."

  What made Zhu Houzhao even more frustrated was that he knew he couldn't compare to Jiang Xia, Jiang Xia's good handwriting plus his unexpectedly excellent couplet with the word "long" repeated three times, just by looking at it you can tell he is a knowledgeable person, at least...more knowledgeable than himself. This bit of self-awareness Zhu Houzhao still had.

  Isn't literary talent more important than martial arts? The emperor, with his majestic dignity, was actually wrestling and fighting with someone else. This didn't seem quite right. After thinking for a moment, Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up and he said, "I've got it! Let's draw lots. Whoever draws the 'biggest' will be the biggest, whoever draws the 'second biggest' will be second. Everything will be decided by heaven, so everyone will have no objections."

  Jiang Xia thought for a moment and then nodded: "Alright, I'll follow you."

  "Then wait a minute, I'll let you go and do two shifts."

  After finishing speaking, Zhu Houzhao went out of the door.

  At the door, Zhu Houzhao happened to run into Han Yu, and he called out to him: "Hey, stop."

  Han Yu turned his head to take a look and saw Zhu Houzhao. Although he didn't know Zhu Houzhao's identity, he recognized Zhang Yong who was following Zhu Houzhao. Someone who could make Zhang Yong so cautious must be either the emperor or at least a member of the royal family, so Han Yu nodded and said: "Greetings, sir."

  Zhu Houzhao looked back and saw that Jiang Xia was not at the door, so he immediately took out a large Ming dynasty banknote from his pocket and handed it to Han Yudao: "You go and prepare three lots for me right away, with two 'Lao Er' and one 'Lao Da' written on them."

  "Second? First?" Han Yu was somewhat bewildered.

  "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and go!"

  "Oh, yes...!" Han Yu saw that Zhu Houzhao was somewhat enraged and was suddenly frightened. He immediately ran to prepare toilet paper for Zhu Houzhao.

  On the envelope, according to Zhu Houzhao's instructions, he wrote two "Lao Er" and one "Lao Da". Although Han Yu didn't know how to read or write, these few words weren't difficult for him.

  After finishing writing, Han hurriedly ran back and handed the paper over to Zhu Houzhao.

  Zhu Houzhao looked at it and nodded in satisfaction, then returned to his room.

  Inside the room, Jiang Xia sat leisurely on a stool and poured himself a cup of tea. Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "In order to be fair, I specially let the people from the Qunfang Pavilion write these two lots. Take a look, one is the first place, and the other is the second place."

  Jiang Xia glanced at it and nodded: "Although the words are written a bit ugly, they can still be recognized. Alright, since everything is ready, let's begin."

  "Good." Zhu Houzhao carefully stacked the slips of paper, trying to make them look identical. Out of the corner of his eye, he sneaked a peek at Jiang Xia, and when Jiang wasn't paying attention, he took out the slip of paper with "Old Second" written on it from his sleeve and swapped it with the one that said "Old First".

  Zhu Houzhao's plan was very simple, he just swapped them like this, and both pieces of paper would become "second". At that time, no matter which one Jiang Xia drew, it would definitely be "second", and after he casually drew one, he could take out the "first" from his sleeve and swap it with the "second", so no matter what, he would be the "first" anyway.

  Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but reveal a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth, and he himself thought that he was really too clever.

  After the two lots were placed well, Zhu Houzhao asked Jiang Xia: "How about it? Are you going to draw first or me? In order to show fairness, I'll let you draw first?"

  Jiang Xia looked at Zhu Houzhao and said with a hint of suspicion: "I feel like something is off. Why are you smiling so slyly? It's as if you've already won this round. Could there be some trickery in the divination text? I don't believe it, I have to open it up and check."

  As he spoke, Jiang Xia reached out to take the letter, and Zhu Houzhao immediately grabbed Jiang Xia's hand, tensely saying: "Wh...where is there any ghost? Didn't I just examine it for you earlier? How...how can you not believe me?"

  Jiang Xia nodded after looking at Zhu Houzhao for a while, withdrew his hand and said: "That's right, since we are going to become sworn brothers of different surnames, we should trust each other. I believe you."

  "Hmm..." Zhu Houzhao let out a slight sigh of relief.

  "Then I choose."

  "Hmm." Zhu Hou nodded, "You choose."

  Jiang Xia smiled slightly, and he took out a piece of paper from the two lots. Just as Zhu Houzhao was about to reach for the remaining piece of paper, Jiang Xia suddenly grabbed his hand and said: "No need to take it, I know I've already won. I dare guarantee that the one in my hand is definitely 'Lao Da'."

  After finishing, Jiang Xia didn't even look at the note and directly put the paper in his mouth, chewed it twice and swallowed it. Then he opened the remaining note and said: "I ate 'Old Big', so this one must be 'Old Second'."

  Jiang Xia opened the paper and indeed saw the two words "Lao Er" written on it.

  Jiang Xia pushed the paper in front of Zhu Hou and laughed, saying: "How's that? Heaven is helping me, it's destined that I'll be the boss. Hahaha..."

  Zhu Houzhao looked at the paper in front of him with "Lao Er" written on it, and he finally understood what it meant to not play by the rules. He had originally already won, but unexpectedly was turned around by Jiang Xia like this.

  Jiang Xia looked at Zhu Houzhao and said: "How is it? Are you convinced now? Why are you still stunned? Call me Big Brother."

  Zhu Houzhao looked at Jiang Xia in silence for about two or three seconds before finally nodding and calling out, "Big Brother."

  "Hahaha......" Jiang Xia's hearty laughter, he patted Zhu Houzhao's shoulder and said: "Alright, from now on you're my second-in-command."

  After finishing speaking, Jiang Xia looked at his own crotch and inexplicably thought of three words: Two old second?