If not abolished

Chapter 118 Preparation for the wedding

In the blink of an eye, Hu Shanxiang had been in the palace for more than half a month.

Early in the morning, Hu Shanxiang got up to pay her respects to Concubine Wang.

"Your humble servant greets the Imperial Concubine."

"I told you, there's no need to be so polite, but you always don't listen. Hurry up and get up."

"Your Majesty, please be considerate of me, but etiquette cannot be abandoned."

"Forget it, kid. I can't convince you. But after a while, when you and Agui get married, you won't have to perform such grand ceremony every time just because you don't have a rank yet." Concubine Wang suddenly mentioned.

"Wedding?" Hu Shanxiang asked in surprise. She didn't expect it to be so soon. She thought it would take at least a few months or half a year.

Concubine Wang patiently explained to her, "Yes, you and Agui's wedding is already being prepared. We are just waiting to pick an auspicious day. In fact, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. The palace has been preparing for the wedding since last year, but we just didn't let anyone know."

"This is too sudden, your servant..."

"I know this is indeed a little too fast, so I'm telling you first that it may take another month or two to figure out the date. Once the official notice comes down, if it takes a long time, I can still arrange for you to leave the palace and stay at home to get married, so that you can be reunited with your family."

"I thought it was already decided?" Hu Shanxiang thought she was going to get married soon? It turned out that the date had not been decided yet. There was no need to rush. She could still prepare herself mentally.

On the way back, Hu Shanxiang was a little dazed, and when she returned to Qingyun Palace, she sat down and stared blankly for a long time.

She didn't even notice that Zhu Zhanji had walked in. Zhu Zhanji didn't ask anyone to inform him. Lingzhi saw him and was about to shout, but was stopped by Zhu Zhanji.

Wu Cheng and Lingzhi walked out the door.

Zhu Zhanji sat aside, propped up his head and watched Hu Shanxiang in a daze, but did not disturb her.

When Hu Shanxiang came to her senses, she saw Zhu Zhanji looking at her with a silly smile on his face. She was startled, "Why is Your Highness here? I didn't even notice it. You didn't even call me."

"I saw you were so engrossed that I didn't have the heart to disturb you. I was just about to ask you, what are you thinking about so seriously?" Zhu Zhanji picked up the teapot on the table and poured her a cup of tea.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Hu Shanxiang was indeed a little thirsty, so she picked up the cup and drank most of it before putting it down.

"When I went to pay my respects to the Imperial Concubine in the evening, she mentioned the wedding."

"Well, what next? What do you think?" Zhu Zhanji asked.

"I...I didn't have any special thoughts at the moment, I just felt it was a bit sudden."

"Shanxiang, don't be afraid. If you feel uncomfortable in any way, just tell me. If you think it's too sudden, don't worry. We'll talk about it when you're ready." Zhu Zhanji has waited for several years and doesn't mind waiting a little longer, but he must not scare his wife away at this time.

After hearing what he said, Hu Shanxiang hastily denied it, "No, Your Highness, that's not what I meant. When the Imperial Concubine first said that, I did feel it was a little sudden, but then I thought about it and it was reasonable. After all, if it weren't for... your wedding could have been three years ago..."

"Shanxiang, my wedding will always be in three years. The only person who can marry me is you, and it is you I have always been waiting for. Do you understand?" Zhu Zhanji said in his heart. No matter in this life or in the previous life, he would wait until he was nineteen to get married with Shanxiang.

"Yeah." Hu Shanxiang nodded.

"Since you think there is no problem, then what are you worried about now?" Zhu Zhanji wanted to find out clearly whether there were other problems that Shanxiang was worried about. It would be even better if they could be solved.

Hu Shanxiang did not speak immediately, as if she had something to hide. After a while, she spoke: "I told you, Your Highness, please don't laugh at me."

"Definitely not, you tell me, I promise."

Hu Shanxiang took a few deep breaths and finally said, "I'm afraid I can't do it well."

"What can't be done well?" Zhu Zhanji still didn't understand.

"That's right. I'm afraid I won't be able to do well as the Crown Prince's Consort. The pressure is so great. What if I can't handle the palace affairs and interpersonal relationships? Wouldn't that make people laugh at me?" Hu Shanxiang accepted the fact that she was going to be the Crown Prince's Consort. The invisible pressure followed. As the saying goes, if you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. What if she can't do well? The more she thought about it, the more headache she had.

"So this is what's bothering you?"

"Yes, what do you think it is, Your Highness?"

"Nothing." Zhu Zhanji did not say what he was thinking, and prepared to enlighten Hu Shanxiang first, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. No one is born with these skills. It doesn't matter if you can't do it well."

"Your Highness is lying, but Lady Cao can do these things very well." Hu Shanxiang gave an example.

Zhu Zhanji was speechless for a moment, thinking: How could I have forgotten this person? "Yes, when you become the Crown Prince's Consort, won't Cao Wanyi be your subordinate? You can ask her to help you. She was chosen to help you in the first place."

"Is this still possible? I..."

"You see, as the emperor, it is impossible for him to do everything himself, so he needs the ministers to assist him."

"Your Highness, what you said makes sense."

"Yeah, besides, it's useless to worry about this now. It won't change anything and it will only add pressure to yourself."

"Yes, then I will learn from Miss Cao first. It shouldn't be that difficult." Hu Shanxiang said and was about to go out.

"Where are you going?"

"Go find Miss Cao and the others, chat and learn."

"Hey. I..." Zhu Zhanben was about to call her, but he didn't seem to have anything to do, so he stopped.

Wu Cheng saw Hu Shanxiang coming out, and walked to Zhu Zhanji in confusion and asked, "Your Highness, should we go back?"

"Go back." Zhu Zhanji also stood up and left.

Hu Shanxiang came to the yard of Cao and Chu.

"Ms. Cao, Ms. Chu." Hu Shanxiang greeted them.

"Miss Hu, is there anything I can help you with?" Cao Wanyi thought something was wrong when she saw her sudden visit.

"Nothing, I was just bored in my room, so I came to chat with you guys. Is that convenient for you?"

"It's convenient. You sit down first. I'll go call Sister Chu over." Cao Wanyi asked her to sit down.

"Thank you."

After a while, the three of them were sitting in the yard, eating cakes and chatting.

"Miss Hu, try this, it's delicious." Chu Xuanying recommended to Hu Shanxiang the new pastry she had just brought from the imperial kitchen.

"Thank you, Miss Chu, you're welcome. Just call me by my name."

"This..." Chu Xuanying looked at Cao Wanyi.

"Miss Hu, you're still talking about us, aren't you calling us ladies all the time? If you want to call each other by our names, then we can just call each other by our names." Cao Wanyi immediately thought of a good idea.

"Cao Shu...Wanyi's suggestion is good." Hu Shanxiang agreed immediately.

The other two had no objections.

"Have you two known each other since childhood?"

"Yes, Sister Cao and I have been playing together since we were young, and then we entered the palace together, and then we are like this now."

"It's great to have good sisters to accompany me in the palace." Hu Shanxiang said enviously.

"Shanxiang, don't be sad. If you are lonely and bored, you can come and play with us. We will be good friends in the future." Chu Xuanying has never been scheming. Besides, she has no feelings for Zhu Zhanji, so naturally she will not regard Hu Shanxiang as a love rival. For her, it is enough to have food and drink and be a parasite. Her family does not expect anything from her. It is enough for her to live safely in the palace.

"Really?" Hu Shanxiang couldn't believe it. Strictly speaking, they were rivals who shared the same husband. As the saying goes, there are no real sisters in the palace. However, Chu Xuanying didn't seem to be a cunning person.

"Of course it's true. Let me tell you, I have no feelings for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I don't know why I was chosen. I really don't know what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sees in me. I really want to say, is it not possible for me to change?" Chu Xuanying complained.

"Xuanying, keep your voice down."

"Oh."

"Don't mind it, Shanxiang. Xuanying is just like that, but she really just wants to make friends with you."

"You can see it."

The three of them started chatting.

Yikun Palace

Concubine Wang was discussing Zhu Zhanji's wedding with Zhu Di.

"Your Majesty, Agui's wedding can't be delayed any longer. Agui is already 19 years old this year. If it is delayed any further, there will be gossip. He'er and Xiaoqi from the Han family even had a child last year." Concubine Wang said.

"I know what my beloved concubine said. Hasn't it been delayed for a long time? I will ask someone to look for the nearest auspicious day. This year, I will definitely let Agui get married." Zhu Di has always believed that good things are worth waiting for, and his grandson's wait is worth it.

"Your Majesty, it's good that you understand. I thought you were so busy that you forgot about your grandson's important life event."

"How could that be? By the way, my beloved concubine has gotten to know Hu a little bit during the time she has been in the palace. What do you think?" All that Zhu Di knew about Hu Shanxiang was Zhu Zhanji's description. In his grandson's mind, Hu Shanxiang was perfect in every way. This evaluation was unreliable. Concubine Wang was not biased, so her words could be trusted.

"Your Majesty, based on my observations over this period of time, Mrs. Hu is well-mannered and well-behaved, but she may be a little young in doing things. She can learn this slowly in the future. In short, she is a good girl. With her by Agui's side, she will definitely be a good wife." Concubine Wang gave a fair evaluation. At first, she was worried that this girl would be as impetuous as Mrs. Sun before her, with the intention of currying favor with the rich and powerful. She would have a good appearance but a dirty heart. However, after these days of observation, she found that Mrs. Hu was indeed different from Mrs. Sun before her. No wonder Agui favored her so much. In order to marry her, he made sufficient preparations and waited for many years.

"Since you said so, it means that this Hu is indeed good. What is the Crown Princess's impression of her? The previous Sun made both the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess a little unhappy." Zhu Di felt a little uncomfortable when he thought of Sun.

"The Crown Princess also thinks that Mrs. Hu is pretty good. Your Majesty, do you think that the Crown Princess is a wicked mother-in-law? That was because Mrs. Sun did something excessive before, otherwise the Crown Princess wouldn't have acted like that. Don't you know the Crown Princess? She is famous for her good temper."

"In this case, the marriage must be settled. I will ask the Ministry of Rites to calculate a date. Oh, Agui, the clouds have finally cleared and the moon is visible." In the past few years, Zhu Di had also seen that Zhu Zhanji was worried about Hu Shanxiang, and now the two of them were finally going to get married.