Chapter 22: Chang Sen's Untimely Death, The Prophecy Fulfilled

“Greetings, Your Majesty, greetings, Your Highness!”
The Emperor and the Crown Prince arrived together. Empress Ma and the young lady from the Chang family rose to meet them.
The Chang girl knelt and bowed. “Greetings, Your Majesty, greetings, Your Highness!”
“My girl, we’re family—why are you still so formal with us? It’s been so long since you’ve visited the Empress. Is everything well at home?”
At his words, the Chang girl’s tears fell in great drops.
Zhu Yuanzhang sensed something was amiss; he exchanged a glance with Zhu Biao.
“What’s wrong?” Old Zhu hurriedly asked.
“Your Majesty, my younger brother Chang Sen... today he accidentally fell into the water... and is gone.”
“What?”
The Chang girl wiped her tears as Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao’s expressions changed drastically.
Chang Sen was dead?
Their thoughts immediately turned to Zhang Yi’s brush—the fate he had written for Chang Sen on paper.
Chang Sen: untimely death...
Those simple words had indeed foretold Chang Sen’s demise?
“How did your brother die? How did it happen?”
Zhu Yuanzhang pressed for details. The Chang girl replied,
“Just now... he drowned in the rear garden, but no one saw it happen.
By the time the family found him, it was already too late.”
As the girl’s sobs filled the hall, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were lost in bewilderment.
Dead—just like that, a life ended?
“My mother has already sent word to my father, and she asked me to come to the palace to inform the Empress.”
Her words barely registered with Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao; both were still absorbed by Zhang Yi’s four characters—one person, gone just like that?
“Chongba...”
Empress Ma noticed the Emperor’s dazed state and gently reminded him.
“Ah, he’s gone... Right...”
Prompted by Empress Ma’s voice, Zhu Yuanzhang came to himself.
He comforted the Chang girl:
“Life rarely goes as we wish. You must bear your grief with strength. I am aware of this; I will have the Crown Prince escort you home... Later, I’ll send someone to pay respects.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“Crown Prince, escort the girl home, and offer my condolences to Lady Lan.”
Zhu Biao nodded, walked over, and invited the Chang girl to leave with him. Old Zhu watched them depart, unable to shake off his unease.
That brush of Zhang Yi’s—could it truly decide a person’s fate, as the stories claimed?
No—if it could foretell Chang Sen’s destiny, did it mean that others, like Chang Yuchun, might also face disaster?
“Chongba, is something troubling you?”
As Zhu Yuanzhang sat lost in thought, a pair of hands gently covered his own. Turning, he saw Empress Ma beside him, her presence soft and warm.
She wore plain robes; were she not his lifelong companion, outsiders would never imagine that this modest woman was the mistress of the Ming palace.
Her beauty was not striking—at most, delicate and refined. Yet, after seeing countless palace beauties, Zhu Yuanzhang still found himself captivated by her gentle gaze.
She saw through him with a single glance; old Zhu was not surprised.
Empress Ma had married him when he was still a common soldier. Over these years, they had supported each other through every hardship, finally reaching the throne together.
Any change in him never escaped her eyes.
“Sister, do you think anyone in this world can foresee the future?”
Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer her question directly, but asked his own.
Lady Ma smiled:
“Why not? Wasn’t Zhou Dian, that wandering Daoist, fond of making predictions? He made many for you, and most came true. But you, Zhu Chongba, are you truly a believer in immortals? When Zhou Dian said what you disliked, didn’t you have him thrown into the river to feed the fish?”
“When have you ever been one to revere spirits and gods? Why let such things trouble you now?”
Zhu Yuanzhang, hearing her mention Zhou Dian, fell into reminiscence.
Indeed, there had once been such a Daoist by his side.
He often made predictions, most of which came to pass. During the campaign against Chen Youliang, he declared certain victory, and Zhu Yuanzhang rejoiced.
But then, when the white dolphins appeared by the river, the Daoist predicted great casualties, unsettling the troops. Old Zhu promptly had him drowned in the river...
Such was Zhu Yuanzhang—no immortal could sway his will.
If you stood in his way, he’d kill even an immortal!
He recalled those days, yet understood Empress Ma’s meaning.
He sighed, saying,
“It’s not that I’ve changed, but this time the prediction concerns my descendants.”
Empress Ma’s expression shifted, as if she finally understood.
She was his confidante, and knew him best.
Zhu Yuanzhang had lost his parents young, his family destroyed and scattered. The memory of old suffering made him all the more devoted to kinship.
Family was his most sensitive spot; anyone who dared curse the Zhu family would surely find their head hanging from Nanjing’s city gates.

“Chongba, where did you meet this unusual person—is it that Zhang Zhengchang you’ve seen lately? I’ve heard the abbots of Dragon Tiger Mountain are famed for mystical abilities, but after eighty years of prosperity, they shouldn’t need to rely on fortune-telling to win your favor.”
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head. “Not Zhang Zhengchang, but his son—barely eight years old!”
“Sister, before Biao and I returned to the palace, that child told us that Chang Yuchun’s third son would certainly die young!”
Now it was Empress Ma’s turn to be moved; she finally understood why Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao had been so shaken by Chang Sen’s death.
Old Zhu recounted everything from meeting Zhang Zhengchang to the marvels of Zhang Yi for Empress Ma.
She listened quietly, and it was a full hour before he finished.
“That boy’s words are even more ominous than Zhou Dian’s—today, I nearly couldn’t restrain myself from killing him!”
As he spoke of Zhang Yi’s prediction, Zhu Yuanzhang was still indignant, but Empress Ma fell into deep thought.
“Your Majesty, when you kept Zhang Yi, what did you hope to gain?”
Her question caught Zhu Yuanzhang unprepared. He thought for a moment, then replied:
“I hoped to gain the advantage of foresight from him...”
“And did you?”
Empress Ma smiled as she gently prompted him.
“I don’t know whether the child’s words are true or not; matters of the immortals have always been elusive. But the future you sought—didn’t the child give it to you? Is it that you only wish to hear good news, and not misfortune?
I think you never fully trusted the boy, always suspecting he was tricking you. But let’s look at it another way—
If he speaks the truth, are these matters a blessing or a curse for you, for the Ming dynasty?”
Zhu Yuanzhang was no fool; he bowed his head in thought, and his anger gradually melted away.
“In former times, Emperor Taizong of Tang said, ‘With bronze as a mirror, one can correct attire; with history as a mirror, one can discern rise and fall; with people as a mirror, one can distinguish gain and loss.’
But Li Shimin didn’t have your fortune—he never had the chance to use the future as his mirror!
If we use that little immortal well, it will be a blessing for the Ming. Here and now, I congratulate Your Majesty!”
With a few words, Empress Ma dispelled Zhu Yuanzhang’s doubts. Her reasoning truly made sense.
Sometimes, old Zhu felt lost—whether his actions would benefit future generations, whether he could be a good emperor.
No one could know if their decisions were right.
But with Zhang Yi’s guidance, he could avoid many wrong choices.
“Sister, you really do know how to comfort a person!”
Old Zhu laughed heartily, holding Empress Ma’s hand tightly.