If not abolished

Chapter 212 Preference (2)

The prince and his wife looked at each other, and the princess asked, "Your Highness, you are not going to hide even from your own son, are you?"

"How could that be? Who am I hiding from? I'm leaving now." How could the prince admit it?

The Crown Princess followed behind, smiling and shaking her head.

When Zhu Zhanji saw the two people coming out, he stood up and greeted them, "Greetings to my father and mother."

"Get up." The prince walked to the top and sat down. "Why are you here so early?"

"I just came to see you and pay my respects to you two." Zhu Zhanji came to see how his father felt. After all, he was scolded by the emperor in front of everyone, and today was his father's birthday, so his father was naturally sad. However, looking at the prince's expression, it seemed that he was better than he thought.

The prince felt that Zhu Zhanji had been staring at him, and he coughed to break the quiet atmosphere, "Don't worry, I'm fine, I'm used to it. This is not the first time your grandfather has scolded me. In the past, he said even worse things in front of the court officials. If I kept it in mind every time, I would have collapsed long ago."

"Yes, father has a broad mind that few can compare to." Zhu Zhanji felt relieved after hearing what the prince said, but he still felt more at ease when he came to see it himself.

"Okay, I have a rare rest today, and I want to spend some time with your mother. Please don't be an eyesore here." The prince was about to send him away after a while.

Zhu Zhanji didn't react for a moment, "Father, do you think your son is an eyesore?"

"Of course. You have a wife now. You don't want to spend more time with her and be disturbed by others, right?" The prince said clearly.

Zhu Zhanji replied: "That is true, but I have never seen you like this before. Besides, my son is different from you." Of course, Zhu Zhanji said the last sentence in a low voice, and the prince did not hear it very carefully.

"Okay, go away and accompany your own wife." The prince waved his hand to send him away.

Before leaving, Zhu Zhanji asked, "It's father's birthday today, shall we follow the previous arrangement?" Zhu Zhanji was afraid that his father would not celebrate it if he was in a bad mood. After all, when the emperor grandfather was fighting outside, his father sometimes did not celebrate his birthday, saying it was a waste. So Zhu Zhanji asked just in case.

The Crown Princess had never dared to ask, and now she could only look at the Crown Prince to see what he would say.

The prince thought for a moment and said, "It's still the same as before. Let's just have a meal together as a family. Keep it simple."

"Okay." Zhu Zhanji breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that his father would not be direct and the birthday gift he had worked so hard to prepare would be wasted.

Zhu Zhanji got a satisfactory answer and left immediately.

The prince looked at Zhu Zhanji's back as he quickly left, turned around and asked the princess, "Did this kid prepare something good for me?" He couldn't be driven away just now, but now he left immediately. The prince couldn't help but suspect that this kid's visit was fake, and he really came to inquire about his birthday.

The Crown Princess looked at him and said, "Your Highness, what you said is true. Agui didn't prepare a birthday gift for you that year, but every time he did, he prepared it carefully."

"That's true." The prince thought about it and it seemed to be true.

After Zhu Zhanji returned, he dismissed the palace maids and worked in the small kitchen with Hu Shanxiang. Zhu Zhanji was afraid that he would make mistakes, so he tried it a few more times while there was still time. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. After several times, Zhu Zhanji had done a very good job. After all, it was the first time for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to cook.

Zhu Zhanji looked at his results with satisfaction, and then waited for the evening to come.

"My brothers, sisters, and concubines should all be here tonight, right?" Hu Shanxiang asked casually.

Zhu Zhanji originally said, "Of course, even if father doesn't want to have a big wedding, the concubine with children will come anyway." Suddenly, Zhu Zhanji seemed to have thought of something, "However, I heard that Concubine Guo is ill, so she probably won't go."

"Sick?" Even if Hu Shanxiang was not very smart, she could guess from what happened yesterday how many hidden things were involved in this illness.

The two of them didn't say anything else. Zhu Zhanji mentioned Concubine Guo and then he remembered that he had actually seen that woman. It seemed that she was behind Concubine Guo yesterday. If he hadn't seen her yesterday, he wouldn't have remembered what that woman looked like. Although she gave birth to a son for him, she had always raised the mother and son outside the palace. He remembered that he was seriously ill at the time and asked his mother to bring the child back.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, you are so engrossed in your thoughts that you didn't respond when I called you several times." Hu Shanxiang called him for a long time but there was no response, so she patted him.

This brought Zhu Zhanji back to his senses.

"Well, what did you say?" Zhu Zhanji came back to his senses and asked.

Hu Shanxiang shook her head. She just felt it was strange that she hadn't spoken for a long time.

"Shanxiang, when can we have a child?" Zhu Zhanji said without thinking.

Ha... this, Hu Shanxiang was also confused by his question, "This, this, how should I know..." Hu Shanxiang's face turned red, and she lowered her head and did not dare to look at him. Why did this man talk about this for no reason?

Zhu Zhanji looked at her shy look and stopped teasing her. He held her in his arms. Shanxiang's health had recovered well this year. In fact, their eldest daughter would be born next year. In her previous life, Shanxiang was in poor health. After giving birth to Shunde, her health became even worse. Later, she gave birth to Yongqing, who was also in poor health and died at the age of ten.

This time he will definitely protect the three of them, mother and son.

"Let's try harder this year, okay?" Zhu Zhanji had never cared about Shanxiang's two daughters in his previous life. Now that he thought about it, she couldn't even remember what Shunde looked like when she was born. They were already a few years old in her last dream.

Hu Shanxiang hid in his arms without saying a word. What could she say? She could only be a quail.

Seeing her silence, Zhu Zhanji took it as her consent.

After Concubine Guo went back, the Crown Princess announced to the public that Concubine Guo had caught a cold and needed to recuperate in her own palace. Everyone listened, not knowing whether it was true or not.

As soon as the news came out, the concubines below began to discuss, "What do you think, is Concubine Guo really ill?"

"I heard that the concubine lost face at the palace banquet last night. She is usually so proud. I'm afraid she is not sick, but too ashamed to show her face to others."

"That may not be the case. I heard that the Concubine knelt in the main hall for most of the night after she came back yesterday. It was windy tonight, so maybe she was really sick. After all, the Concubine has fallen out of favor recently. On His Highness' birthday, she would come out to seek favor if she could."

"Oh, no matter whether she is really sick or not, the Crown Princess has already ordered her to stay in the palace to recuperate and not leave."

"That's right, no matter who is favored, as long as the Crown Princess is here, no one can get past her."

"Hey, but have you heard? Qingluan from Concubine Li's palace was also brought back by the Crown Princess's people this morning and was also locked up in the palace. I don't know what happened?"

"This is..." Several people immediately started talking in a low voice.

Life in this palace is hard. Every day we talk about things here and there to pass the lonely time.

Yikun Palace

Concubine Wang glared at Zhu Di, and Zhu Di coughed awkwardly.

"My beloved, please don't look at me like that." Ever since returning from the palace banquet yesterday, Concubine Wang has not been in a good mood with him. She directly said that she was not feeling well yesterday and refused to let him in. Now he came to see her early in the morning, but she did not have a good face.

"Your Majesty, do you remember what day it is today?" Concubine Wang suddenly asked.

Zhu Di thought about it, what day? When asked this question, Zhu Di couldn't remember it for a long time.

Concubine Wang knew from the look on his face that he must have not remembered it, or Wang Jinghong who was standing beside him slapped his head and said, "Oh, damn it, this servant of mine, today is the Crown Prince's birthday, it is my fault that I forgot to remind Your Majesty." Zhu Di was busy with all kinds of affairs every day, and there were too many things to remember, so how could he remember so many things without having the people around him remind him.

"Your Majesty himself doesn't even know where he forgot it, what's the point of blaming the eunuch?"

"This... I really didn't think of it at the moment. Well, go to the warehouse and pick out some things to send to the Eastern Palace." Zhu Di then remembered that, yes, the prince was born one day after the Mid-Autumn Festival.

"Your Majesty, this way of giving a sweet date after a slap in the face is really... When you scolded the prince yesterday, why didn't you think about the fact that the next day is the prince's birthday? The prince has always been generous, otherwise..." Concubine Wang seemed to remember something and continued, "I remember that the late queen told me that your majesty is partial. Now it seems that it is true. If it weren't for Agui, your majesty would be too partial to anyone."

"I did that all for the sake of training the Crown Prince, all for his future. How could I be partial?"

"But your majesty, don't forget that you and the prince are not only monarch and subject, but also father and son. Sometimes you still have to take these into consideration."

Zhu Di also understood it in his heart, but sometimes it is just... Alas, maybe being born in the royal family is their fate, being alone...