If not abolished

Chapter 111 Injured

"What happened to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?" The people who came to seek support saw Zhu Zhanji lying on the ground and dismounted to check.

"When I was riding, the horse suddenly got frightened and fell off," Zhu Zhanji explained.

Zhu Gaoxu was still a little at a loss. Now thinking back on his actions just now, he was almost crying because of his own stupidity. If Zhu Zhanji really got into trouble here, he would probably not be able to escape the blame no matter how he explained to Zhu Di.

"Your Highness the Prince of Han, are you okay?" The men had already carried Zhu Zhanji away on a stretcher. Someone saw Zhu Gaoxu motionless and thought he had something to do too, so they came over to ask.

"Oh, I'm fine. It's just that Zhanji's horse was frightened just now, and I was also scared." Zhu Gaoxu came back to his senses.

The group hurried back.

Zhu Di was already worried about his grandson. When he heard that Zhu Zhanji was injured, he became extremely anxious and had already asked the military doctor to prepare.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is back."

Zhu Di rushed out of the tent without even listening to the words. Zhu Zhanji saw the emperor coming out in person and signaled them to let him down.

"Where is the military doctor? Come quickly and check on the injuries of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Zhu Di shouted loudly.

Zhu Zhanji was carried into the tent, and several military doctors immediately went in to examine him, while Zhu Di and others were kept outside the screen.

"What happened? Was Zhanji ambushed by the Oirat?" Zhu Di thought that he was injured while chasing the enemy.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince led his troops to Jiulongkou and then returned. His Royal Highness said that the injury was caused by the horse suddenly getting startled and falling off."

"The horse was frightened. Who was following His Royal Highness the Crown Prince at that time?" Zhu Di was obviously skeptical about this statement.

"His Royal Highness went ahead alone, and then His Royal Highness the King of Han said he wanted to compete with His Royal Highness in horseback riding, and then His Royal Highness's horse got frightened."

"Where are the Han people?"

"The prince is outside the tent."

Zhu Di walked out of the tent quickly and saw people kneeling on the ground outside.

Everyone knows that His Royal Highness is His Majesty's darling. Although he was brought out this time, he was not really sent to the battlefield. He was just here to take a look and broaden his horizons. If he was injured, they would lose their lives.

"Zhu Gaoxu, what's going on?" Zhu Di called him by his name, waiting for his explanation.

"Well... I don't know what happened. I was riding a horse and suddenly the horse got frightened, and then Zhanji fell off the horse. It happened suddenly and I didn't expect it." Zhu Gaoxu naturally could not admit what he had done, and could only say what Zhu Zhanji said.

"Zhanji has been learning to ride a horse since he was seven or eight years old, and nothing like this has ever happened to him. What's going on? Did the horse run into a ghost today?"

"I don't know either. I was alone with Zhanji at that time. If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, there is nothing I can do." Zhu Gaoxu didn't know what to say. If Zhu Di refused to believe it, nothing he said would be of any use.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants you to come in for a moment."

When Zhu Di heard his grandson calling him, he went in immediately.

"How does Zhanji feel?" Zhu Di asked as he walked to his bedside.

"It's nothing serious, I just broke my leg. I'm afraid it will take some time to recover."

"Imperial Physician, is there anything wrong with Zhanji's legs?" Zhu Di thought that the prince had difficulty walking since he had an illness when he was a child. It was with great effort that his grandson had been strong since childhood, so he hoped that nothing would happen to him.

"Your Majesty, fortunately, the Crown Prince's leg did not break any bones. It was just superficial damage, not to the bones. As long as he takes care of it during this period of time, it will not cause any problems in the future."

"That's good." Zhu Di felt relieved when he heard that there was no problem.

"Grandpa Huang, don't blame those people. It's my grandson's fault. It has nothing to do with them."

"How can it not matter? They are the ones who failed to protect you as well as I did."

"If this happened during a war, we can say that they failed to protect me. This is really an accident that happened because my grandson was in a spur of the moment competition with my second uncle. How can I blame them?"

"Hmph, you are ignorant, but is your second uncle also ignorant? Others can be forgiven, but he is by your side and just watched you get into an accident. No, he cannot forgive him." Zhu Di became angrier the more he thought about it.

"Grandpa Huang..."

"Okay, you don't have to plead for him. I'll punish him now." Zhu Di said and went out.

Zhu Zhanji thought, it’s not about begging for mercy for my second uncle, it would be fine to give him a beating.

The military doctor gave Zhu Zhanji medicine and let him rest. The people around him helped him take off his armor. After taking off his armor, Zhu Zhanji touched the thing on his chest. It was the amulet that Shanxiang had asked for him. It really saved his life. It turned out that Shanxiang was his destiny.

Zhu Di went out and said, "Others have excuses, but Han Wang Zhu Gaoxu failed to protect Zhanji, and he will be punished with thirty military sticks now."

"Father..." Zhu Gaoxu was immediately pulled away.

Zhu Zhanji could still hear the sound of his second uncle being beaten in the tent.

It was only thirty military sticks, which was considered light. At this moment, the uncle and nephew thought of the same thing. Zhu Gaoxu also thought that fortunately it was just a case of poor protection, only a few dozen military sticks.

For a while, the uncle and nephew could only lie in the tent to recuperate.

Because Zhu Zhanji was injured, Zhu Di prepared to fight this battle quickly and attacked the Oirat army several times. A month later, the Oirat surrendered and negotiated peace. After the Ming army defeated the Oirat, they announced the victory to Alutai, who soon sent envoys to the court. The next year, Oirat Mahamu and others sent envoys to apologize to the Ming Dynasty and resumed the tributary relationship with the Ming Dynasty.

In order not to delay Zhu Zhanji's studies, Zhu Di ordered scholar Hu Guang and others to go to the Mobei Army to give lectures on classics and history to Zhu Zhanji, the crown prince. Zhu Zhanji had plenty of time to recuperate these days, so several teachers took turns giving him lectures.

As soon as the war was over, Zhu Zhanji couldn't wait to ask Zhu Di for permission to grant him a marriage.

"Grandpa Emperor, let me discuss something with you." Zhu Zhanji came to Zhu Di.

"What's the matter?" Zhu Di saw that his grandson seemed to be in a good mood.

"After I return this time, I want to ask you for your permission to marry me."

"Marriage granting, which girl do you like?" Zhu Di recalled in his mind that his grandson had not liked anyone during this period of time. Could it be that he had set his eyes on a girl in Lu?

"Grandpa Emperor should have heard of this girl from Lord Hu's family."

"That Lord Hu?" There were several people with the surname Hu in the court, and Zhu Di didn't know which one it was?

"Lord Hu Rong, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, is the younger sister of Minister Hu," Zhu Zhanji explained.

"Oh, Hu Rong's family. I heard that they have seven daughters. Hu Shanwei is indeed quite capable. When did you meet her daughters?"

"Grandpa Emperor, you forgot that the two brothers of the Hu family served in my youth army. By chance, I met them twice in the capital. Last year, when I went to Shandong, the girl of the Hu family took care of my grandmother in her hometown, so we got to know each other better."

"I was wondering why you went to Shandong all of a sudden. It turns out it was for the girl?" Zhu Di suddenly understood his grandson's previous actions.

"Grandpa Emperor, you see it all but don't say it out loud." Zhu Zhanji suddenly felt embarrassed.

"Okay, okay, let's talk about it when we get back to Beijing."

"Grandpa Emperor, you agreed."

"Well, Zhan Ji, your marriage has always been a bit bumpy. This time, just in case, I will ask the Imperial Observatory to take a look when we get back. If you and this Miss Hu are really destined to be together, I will issue an edict to grant you the marriage without hesitation. How about it?" Zhu Di was also scared by the previous two times, so this time, nothing could go wrong.

"Okay." Zhu Zhanji had no objection to this. In his previous life, the Imperial Astronomical Observatory had calculated for him that the rear star was in Lu, so there should be no problem this time.

Zhu Di did what he said. As soon as he returned to the palace, he asked the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to come and look at Zhu Zhanji's marriage. In order to be more accurate, he also invited Yao Guangxiao to come along, as Yao Guangxiao was also very skilled in astrology.

After several days of observation, the Imperial Observatory finally gave Zhu Di a satisfactory answer.

"Your Majesty, after a few days of observation and calculation, we have concluded that the person destined for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is indeed in Lu. As for whether it is Miss Hu, it is not yet clear."

"What do you mean, you only saw the destined person in Ludi, but you don't know who it is?"

"Yes, but if it is the destined person, there will be signs and foreshadowing."

"Oh, that means we can just send someone to Ludi to check it out."

"Yes."

Zhu Di later informed Zhu Zhanji of the results of the Imperial Observatory's observations. Zhu Zhanji was not surprised, as this was basically consistent with his previous life. Last time, the Imperial Observatory calculated that there was a rear star in Lu, and it was the emperor who sent people to Lu to look for it, and found Shanxiang.

"Has the Emperor ever asked the Grand Tutor?" Zhu Zhanji reminded.

"Yes, if you hadn't told me, I would have almost forgotten. Yao Guangxiao might have seen it more accurately."

Yao Guangxiao also observed the stars for more than half a month and found that Zhu Zhanji's star signs had changed greatly, and the disaster that was originally destined for him suddenly shifted.

"Does the Grand Master have a more accurate answer to this question?" Zhu Di asked.

Yao Guangxiao turned the Buddhist beads in his hand and said, "I have seen the horoscopes of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Miss Hu San. They are indeed a match made in heaven. Moreover, Miss Hu San will not only bring good fortune to her husband, but also to the Ming Dynasty."

"Really?" Zhu Di's eyes lit up when he heard that Hu Shanxiang was prosperous for the Ming Dynasty. He wanted to invite Hu Shanxiang to the capital immediately.

"But..." Yao Guangxiao said again.

"But what?" Zhu Di was afraid that something might happen.

"But the fate of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Miss Hu has not yet come. I'm afraid they will have to wait a little longer before getting married."

"How long?"

Yao Guangxiao stretched out his hand and counted, "Three years. We'll get married in three years, a good time."

"That's not a problem. We can let Miss Hu enter the palace first and get married directly at that time. It's okay for Zhanji to wait for a few years." Zhu Di didn't mind having his grandson a little later.

"Did the Grand Tutor really say that?" Zhu Zhanji still wanted to settle it today and get married next year?

"Of course not. I can't lie to you. The Grand Master said that good days will come in three years. Why, you can't wait?"

"No, you don't know how popular your future granddaughter-in-law is. Shanxiang has a good reputation in Jining."

"That's right. Such a good girl cannot be snatched away by others. So, I will send someone to Jining to bring Miss Hu San to the palace. We will bring her here and get married in three years."

"Then my grandson will go there himself."

"Okay, okay, okay. I know you're worried, so go in person."