The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Time flies like an arrow; half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

This was the day Yun Jin was about to give birth. Zhou Chu had never been so nervous as he was at this moment. At this moment, Zhou Chu was no longer the powerful Duke of Dingguo, nor the decisive commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but an ordinary man.

After a long wait, the sound of a baby crying finally put Zhou Chu's mind at ease.

"Congratulations, sir! Congratulations! It's a young master, weighing eight pounds and three ounces."

The midwife opened the door, her tired face beaming with a smile.

"Chunlan, give the midwife a red envelope."

Zhou Chu looked at Chunlan beside him and said.

"Thank you, sir."

Upon hearing this, the midwife's face immediately lit up with a smile.

Zhou Chu disregarded everything else and went straight into the room, where he saw Yun Jin lying on the bed, looking at the child beside her with a loving expression.

Zhou Chu came to the bedside and looked at the wrinkled little guy in front of him, feeling very complicated.

When Fang Heng was born, Zhou Chu was far away in Tibet, so he didn't feel anything. But now, seeing his son take action, Zhou Chu had never felt this way before.

"Second brother, let's name the child."

Yun Jin looked at Zhou Chu and smiled.

In front of others, Yun Jin usually calls Zhou Chu "husband," but in private she calls him "second brother."

"Let's call him Zhou Huasheng."

Zhou Chu had already decided on the name for his unborn child.

"Huasheng...that's a good name. My second brother and I both studied painting under a teacher. This child might have a talent for painting in the future."

Yun Jin looked at the little guy in front of her with a face full of expectation.

Zhou Chu smiled upon hearing this, but did not explain the origin of the name.

Another half month passed, and Lin Yao went into labor, giving birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

This surprised Zhou Chu, but also made him extremely happy.

The boy was named Zhou Ren, and the girl was named Zhou Ruozhao.

The birth of these three children caused Zhou Chu's originally firm resolve to waver slightly.

Zhou Chu hadn't told anyone about Australia because he had his own agenda.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty had not yet discovered Australia. The earliest record of Australia in later generations is in the book "Island Barbarian Records" written by Wang Dayuan during the Jiajing period. In this book, Australia is referred to as Luosuosi. Of course, this is not only because of this record, but also because many shipwrecks from the Ming Dynasty have been discovered in the waters near Australia in later generations, which is also evidence.

Even for Wang Dayuan, it would probably take another year or two to set off for Australia. In other words, while Australia was not undiscovered at this time, it was at least not recorded in official records and had not attracted the attention of the imperial court.

Australia, compared to the remoteness of the Americas, was within reach of the Ming Dynasty. It was practically a continent bestowed upon the Ming by heaven. Zhou Chu hadn't mentioned this to Jiajing before, not because he didn't know how to bring it up. Such things were easy to say; he could just make up a source.

The reason he didn't say it was because Zhou Chu was considering whether to leave himself a way out, so that if he had to resort to any means, he could use Australia as a fallback. At that time, he could do whatever he wanted with such a fertile land as Australia.

The thought hadn't been so strong before, but now it kept popping into Zhou Chu's mind, leaving him conflicted and unsure of what to do.

Yun Jin, who was standing to the side, naturally noticed that Zhou Chu had something on his mind.

"Second brother, is something on your mind?"

Zhou Chu looked at Yun Jin and touched her hair.

"I'm just thinking about whether to leave a way out for our family. If we do, then how am I any different from those families in Jiangnan? They're all thinking about extracting benefits from the Ming Dynasty and enriching themselves."

Zhou Chu sighed.