If not abolished

Clean up the palace

"Your son has something important to report." Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu came early in the morning. Zhu Di knew that he would not come to him for no reason, so he asked him to reply.

"Last month, Xie Jin originally went to Beijing to report on his work, but because his father had not returned from the northern expedition, he stayed in the capital for a while. Later, he actually met with the prince privately." After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, he looked up at Emperor Yongle.

Zhu Di frowned and said, "I am not in the palace, the Crown Prince is the regent, so it is fine for him to meet the Crown Prince."

Zhu Gaoxu was afraid that Zhu Di would not believe him, so he quickly said, "But he not only met the prince privately, but also returned to Qianzhou without reporting to the six ministries. Father, is he really here for official business? Why did he come to Beijing when you were not around? The emperor's personal expedition had already been announced to the world, wouldn't he not know? It is not proper for a minister to come to Beijing to see the prince privately when the emperor was not around, father."

"Did the prince meet him?" Zhu Di still wanted to know whether this matter had anything to do with the prince.

"It is said that there is no such thing. However, when Xie Jin was in Nanjing, he often sowed discord between you and your sons. If the Crown Prince saw this, wouldn't it be... So, even if the Crown Prince is fine, Xie Jin's intentions are obvious. Keeping him will always be a disaster."

"Okay, I got it. Is there anything else you want to come here for?" Zhu Di had already made a decision on the matter.

"Your Majesty, I have nothing else to do."

"Well, let's go back then," Zhu Gaoxu bowed and was about to step back and leave, when Zhu Di suddenly spoke again: "By the way, don't just stare at the prince all day long, do something yourself."

"Father, your Majesty has taught me this, and I will obey your orders."

Zhu Di sat there looking out the window, "Do you think this has anything to do with the Crown Prince?"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince has always been a man of courtesy." There was only one person standing aside, Wang Jinghong.

"It's not that I don't know that the King of Han is deliberately finding fault with the Crown Prince, but I have no doubt that Xie Jin is the Crown Prince's man. When the Crown Prince was appointed a few years ago, Xie Jin helped the Crown Prince a lot, and the Crown Prince even went to thank him. Humph, he doesn't even think about the fact that this position was given to him by his father. What does it have to do with him, Xie Jin?"

"Your Majesty, if you want to know the full story, why not ask the adults who are governing the country with the Crown Prince?"

"You do have a point."

In the afternoon, Zhu Di summoned Yang Shiqi, a Hanlin scholar who assisted the crown prince in regulating the country, and others to learn about all aspects of the crown prince's regulation during this period.

Without exception, all the ministers said that the prince handled affairs very well and there were basically no major mistakes.

When they finished speaking, Zhu Di threw out a question: "I heard that Xie Jin came to the capital to report on the matter. Doesn't he know that I am not in the capital?"

There was a moment of silence, and finally Yang Shiqi spoke up, "Master Jie came to the capital to report on the matter of grain and pay."

"Then why didn't he go to the six ministries to report on the matter, but went back?" Zhu Di dropped another bomb.

The officials standing there were sweating profusely.

"When Lord Jie arrived in the capital, he learned that His Majesty had not returned from the northern expedition, and he didn't know when His Majesty would return." Yang Shiqi replied again.

Zhu Di was silent for a long time after hearing this. Just when everyone thought that the matter was over, he asked, "I heard that he had a private audience with the crown prince. Do you know about this?"

"When the Crown Prince was regent, he always discussed matters with the ministers and usually did not leave the East Palace."

"The Crown Prince is a good person, but Xie Jin's behavior was indeed not in accordance with etiquette. Since someone has raised objections, in order to prevent such behavior in the future, Xie Jin should be imprisoned." After Zhu Di said so much, he had no doubts about the Crown Prince, but he had nothing to say about Xie Jin.

At this time, Xie Jin was traveling with the inspector, Prince Zhen, through Guangdong, touring the mountains and rivers, and petitioned to dig the Gan River to connect the north and the south. The people who arrested him fled far away, and he was not arrested until the next year and put in prison.

Zhu Di asked some more questions about the Crown Prince's regent duties and then asked the ministers to go back. The clothes of several adults were wet and they were all scared when they came out.

When the prince heard about this in the East Palace, he was so frightened that he stood up, but nearly fell down because of his disabled legs, causing another chaos.

At this time, the eunuch Hou Tai came to report: "Your Highness, the little prince is here."

After the prince was helped by the palace servants to sit down, he said, "Let Agui come in."

"Your son greets his father."

"Agui, is there something wrong with coming here suddenly?"

Zhu Zhanji came in and sat down and said, "There is something. I was originally planning to wait for my son to confirm it before reporting it, but I just heard about what happened to the emperor this afternoon. I'm afraid this matter must be resolved immediately."

The prince looked puzzled and asked hurriedly, "What's the hurry?"

Zhu Zhanji took a sip of the tea that was served to him and said, "Some time ago, I sent someone to Yongcheng to check on the situation of my grandfather's family. I didn't expect that the person who came back found out something incredible. I heard that my uncle and aunt are looking for talented and beautiful women in Yongcheng to train them." After saying this, no matter how dumb the prince was, he could hear the problem with this matter.

The king's uncle's family already has a crown princess, and they are preparing so many people. It is obvious who they are choosing for.

"Why did you suddenly think of checking on Grandfather's family?"

"My grandmother often came to the palace to talk with my mother, and she also mentioned many times the matter of choosing a concubine for her son, so I have been keeping an eye on her for a while."

"But this is not a big deal." The prince knew that his son was always smart, so he naturally didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but this matter was not a big deal.

Zhu Zhanji reminded again: "If it was before today, there would be nothing wrong with uncle's doing this, but father, don't forget that if second uncle and third uncle knew about this, it's hard to say what will happen to the emperor. In a small way, it's just that my grandparents are preparing some women of the right age for their son, which is just a routine. But in a big way, my grandparents already have a crown princess, but they are still not satisfied, and they are even preparing to get involved with the crown prince's concubine. When the time comes, my second uncle and his family will definitely put this account on father's head, and put all kinds of hats on him for seizing power. How will father explain it then?"

After this reminder, the prince realized that no matter what the matter was, if his two good brothers knew about it, who knows what would happen.

"Does your mother know about this?" The prince half-closed his eyes and suddenly stared at Zhu Zhanji.

When Zhu Zhanji heard this, he immediately stood up and knelt down: "Mother has always strictly controlled my family. If mother knew about this, how could she let them do this? Father, please understand."

"Okay, get up quickly. I just asked you this question. Look how worried you are."

"Thank you father."

"Since you are here, have you thought of a solution to this problem?" The problem has been raised, and at this point, all we can do is think about how to solve it.

"The best way is to have my uncle send those people back home, but the East Palace is too conspicuous now, and I'm afraid that too much noise will arouse suspicion from others. So for now, I can only have my uncle tell the public that these are people prepared for this year's election, and send them all to the palace."

"But this is not a good way to put it..." The prince was still worried.

"Let's deal with these talents first. Besides, everything Grandpa Huang does is to train you and let you know that he has the final say. No matter how you look at it, we are doing this to show our loyalty to Grandpa Huang, and that's enough."

"After what happened today, I'm afraid the people below will be swayed by the wind again."

"True loyal ministers will never fall, and those fence-sitters are useless to keep."

"Just do as you say."

After Zhu Zhanji came out from the Crown Prince's place, he went to the Crown Princess and told her about the matter in general.

"Let me have dinner with you."

"Okay." The Crown Princess had no appetite and asked someone to leave after eating only a few bites.

Zhu Zhanji saw that the Crown Princess was in a bad mood and comforted her, "Don't worry, mother. Father won't blame you. As for grandma, if she comes, just pretend you don't know. They were the ones who were inappropriate in this matter."

The Crown Princess smiled and said, "I'm not the one who did this. I'm just worried about your father. I didn't help much and almost held him back. Really."

"Mother need not blame herself."

One day, when Concubine Guo came to pay her respects to the Crown Princess, she mentioned intentionally or unintentionally that the King's uncle had filled the harem. The Crown Princess looked a little surprised, but she didn't know how to get angry.

Yiku Palace, where Concubine Wang lives.

"Isn't Your Majesty angry? What's going on? The Crown Princess's mother's family has selected so many people for Your Majesty, and now Your Majesty wants to arrange accommodation for them in the palace." The palace people spoke up for her.

"Why are you so angry? It's just some people coming in. They don't have any children, and they're not the daughters of some noble family. What's there to be angry about?"

"The Crown Princess should be the one to arrange this."

"What are you talking about? Get out and slap me in the face."

The nanny beside her brought her some tea and said, "Madam, please take a rest."

"The Crown Princess has come to pay her respects and is waiting outside the palace."

"Put these away quickly and invite the Crown Princess in." Concubine Wang sat upright.

"The daughter-in-law pays respects to the mother."

"Stand up. Show the Crown Princess some tea."

"Thank you, concubine."

The Crown Princess hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, "Mother has been working very hard lately. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know."

Concubine Wang smiled and said, "Nothing much, the talent show is over, there's nothing to do next."

The Crown Princess didn't know whether Concubine Wang was being polite to her or deliberately keeping her distance, so she could only smile and say nothing. She chatted about some family matters before leaving.

"I guess the Crown Princess isn't feeling well either." Concubine Wang sighed after the others left.

The nanny beside her was puzzled: "Could it be that the Crown Princess is completely unaware of this?"

"I guess he doesn't know. Not only does he not know, but he might have been tricked by his own son."

"Your Highness, I am confused."

"These people should have been prepared for the Crown Prince. The King's uncle's family is secretive. If they didn't deliberately investigate, how would they know about this matter? His Majesty just troubled the Crown Prince about the matter of superintendent, and the Crown Prince took the opportunity to tell him about this matter. At this time, the East Palace was like a frightened bird, and this matter fell through. The Crown Prince not only eliminated the hidden danger for the Crown Prince, but also warned the Crown Princess's mother's family, and secondly, paved the way for the future Crown Princess. Killing three birds with one stone."

"How could His Royal Highness calculate this so well?"

"How could the heir that His Majesty has chosen be an ordinary person?"

Qingyun Palace

"Big brother." Princess Jiaxing trotted into Zhu Zhanji's arms.

"Jiaqing is heavy."

"Big brother, will you take us out to play today?" Jiaxing likes big brother the most.

"Yes, I'll take you and my eighth brother to play together today."

"Hello, big brother." The Eighth Prince Zhu Zhanqi was led by someone to pay his respects to Zhu Zhanji.

The two children were of similar age. Zhu Zhanji often brought his own family to play in the palace, but this was the first time he brought Zhu Zhanqie with him.

Before we knew it, we were playing until the sun went down.

"Brother, can I take you to Mother's palace for dinner?"

"Okay, let's go together, mynah bird?" Jiaxing was extremely happy when he heard that he was going to his mother's place.

"But I haven't told my mother yet. She would be worried." Zhu Zhankai said in a low voice.

"It's okay. Big brother will ask someone to tell Concubine Guo. We will send you back after dinner." Hearing Zhu Zhanji say this, Zhu Zhanji nodded.

Concubine Guo was extremely anxious when she saw that it was getting late and her son had not returned yet.

"Your Highness, the Eighth Prince asked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to take it with him, and said he would send it back after dinner."

"What is your highness the Crown Prince going to do?" Concubine Guo asked loudly.

"Your Majesty, please keep your voice down. Why did His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly take His Royal Highness the Eighth Prince away?"

"Is that right? I told the Crown Princess about it and she wanted revenge, but she came for me. Why did she take my son away? No, don't go to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." After saying that, Concubine Guo hurried out.