In the first year of the New Ming era, the First People's Congress had just concluded its final session, and the atmosphere in the hall had not yet cooled from the heat of debate and celebration.
Zhu Cunji suddenly sprang up from his chair as if someone had lit a firecracker under it and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I am off!"
The sudden explosion of energy startled Zhu Youjian, Zhu Youzhong, and the rest of the gathered nobles so badly that they nearly spilled their tea.
"Hey, what are you doing, why are you making such a commotion out of nowhere," Zhu Youzhong complained while pressing his chest. "You are going to scare people to death."
Zhu Cunji threw his head back and laughed as if the whole world had just become his personal stage.
"Hahahahaha, a new era has begun. No one is going to chain me to my fief anymore. No one can tell me where I can or cannot go. Hahahahaha, I am finally free."
Zhu Youjian sighed and shook his head. "Even if the old restrictions are gone, you are still of royal blood. You should at least maintain some dignity. Referring to yourself as 'I' or even worse, 'me' in such a crude way is not appropriate."
Zhu Cunji waved his hand dismissively. "Dignity, nonsense. I have had enough of dignity. Dignity was the rope they used to tie me down. The court threw etiquette at me like bricks. A prince must do this, a prince must not do that, a prince must stay in his fief, a prince must shut up, a prince must breathe in a regulated manner. I am sick of it."
He took a deep breath as if expelling years of frustration from his lungs.
"Now I can do whatever I want. I can say whatever I want. If I want to call myself 'I' or 'me' or even something worse, I will. No one gets to tell me what a prince is supposed to be anymore."
Bai Yuan, standing nearby, frowned slightly and tried to sound reasonable. "Even without royal status, one should still observe proper etiquette. Rituals are one of the Six Arts of a gentleman after all. It is still important to respect tradition."
Zhu Cunji looked at him as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
"To hell with royal status, and to hell with gentlemen too. I never wanted to be a gentleman. I was born into it without a choice. If I could choose my parents again, I would have been born in Gao Village Family. I would even let Gao Sanwa be my mother."
The entire room fell silent.
Everyone slowly came to the same conclusion at the same time. This man had completely snapped free from all restraints.
Zhu Cunji continued without caring about their reaction. "I once stepped forward to lead the people of Shaanxi in rebellion. That matter is now settled. I am no longer interested in being their representative either. I am done. I am out."
With that, he ran straight out of the hall.
The people of Gao Village Family watching from the side could only shake their heads as they watched him leave.
Zhu Cunji ran out of the palace gates in three big strides and leapt into the streets of the capital like a child released from school on the last day of term.
"Time to play," he shouted, waving his arms dramatically. "Someone bring me my plan."
A shadow silently appeared behind him. One of his loyal death warriors handed him a worn sheet of paper.
The paper was covered in dense handwriting, layered over years like sediment.
His lifetime goals.
Visit the Great Wall
Visit the Sahara Desert
Visit the Dead Sea
Watch the tidal bore at Qiantang River
I want to go to Guilin, I really want to go to Guilin
The list continued endlessly, as if the man who wrote it had never stopped dreaming.
The ink density and handwriting style changed repeatedly, showing it had been written across many years, page by page, mood by mood. The edges of the paper were yellowed, slightly decayed, and even faintly moldy in places.
Zhu Cunji gently touched the first line with his fingers.
"Go see the Great Wall," he murmured softly. "I wrote this when I was eighteen."
The death warrior beside him lowered his voice. "My lord, the Great Wall at Badaling is very close to the capital. Shall we go now?"
Zhu Cunji immediately nodded. "Go. Of course we are going. Right now. Immediately. Do not waste another breath."
"Understood. I will arrange a carriage at once."
Just as he turned to leave, a sharp voice suddenly exploded from behind him.
"Hey, are you seriously planning to leave without me?"
Zhu Cunji turned around and froze.
It was the princess consort.
He blinked in confusion. "When did you arrive in the capital?"
The princess consort crossed her arms, looking both angry and slightly amused. "I arrived just now. I heard about the Congress ending, and I knew you would run the moment it finished. You did not even think about taking me with you, did you?"
Zhu Cunji scratched his head awkwardly. "Well, this is… I mean… it is not that…"
The princess consort suddenly burst into loud, theatrical crying right in front of the People's Congress building entrance.
"Everyone come and judge this man," she wailed. "When he was miserable, he stayed at home like a good obedient husband. Now that he is free, now that he is happy, he wants to abandon me and go travel alone. Is there any justice in this world?"
The crowd immediately turned their heads.
Officials, soldiers, journalists, and curious citizens all focused their attention on them like magnets snapping into place.
Zhu Cunji panicked instantly. "What are you doing? Are you trying to ruin me? If this gets reported in the news I am finished."
But the princess consort was already crying dramatically while quietly whispering through her sobs, "Take me with you."
Zhu Cunji immediately surrendered. "Fine fine fine, I agree, I agree to everything."
She stopped crying instantly, like a switch had been flipped.
Then she turned to the crowd and glared. "What are you looking at? Never seen a wife disciplining her husband before? Mind your own business."
The journalists looked at each other, disappointed that there was no scandal to report, and quickly lost interest, dispersing like water spilled on hot stone.
She then turned back to Zhu Cunji, instantly transforming into a gentle and affectionate expression.
"So husband," she asked sweetly, "where are we going first?"
"The Great Wall," Zhu Cunji said proudly. "We are going to Badaling."
Her eyes lit up. "I have always wanted to see it too."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let us go."
As they walked, Zhu Cunji flipped through his lifelong travel list again.
"After the Great Wall… hmm… where is closest…"
The death warrior raised a hand confidently. "My lord, Changbai Mountain is nearby. Very close."
The princess consort blinked. "Is that not the land of the Jurchen?"
Zhu Cunji waved his hand casually. "No problem. They are called Manchu now. Everything is fine."
"Then after that?"
"Then we go to the Mongolian Steppe."
The princess consort smiled excitedly. "I have always wanted to go there."
Zhu Cunji grinned. "Then we go. We will travel everywhere in the world."
And so, in the first year of New Ming, Zhu Cunji began his journey across the world.
In the tenth year of New Ming, his travel guide book Beautiful Mountains and Rivers was published nationwide. It sold out immediately and sparked a nationwide travel craze. Entire regions once considered remote suddenly became destinations filled with visitors, bringing prosperity to many forgotten places.
In the fifteenth year, Zhu Cunji was no longer satisfied with domestic travel. His footsteps crossed borders into Joseon, Japan, and the southern seas. The railways he promoted also began expanding outward like veins of a living empire.
In the eighteenth year, the railway from the capital to the Joseon capital Hanyang was completed.
In the twentieth year, the railway from Yunnan to Annam was completed.
In the twenty-second year, Zhu Cunji passed away during a journey in Europe.
The princess consort did not bring his ashes back.
Instead, she scattered them into the ocean, letting the wind and waves carry him into the endless world he had always dreamed of seeing.