If not abolished

Chapter 395 Zhu Zhanji is missing

Beijing, Prince's Palace.

In the middle of the night, Hu Shanxiang suddenly woke up and found herself sweating all over. She felt like she had a nightmare, but she could not remember the specific content of the dream at all.

"Empress, are you awake?" Today was Yan Nan's night watch. She had dozed off, but she woke up when she fell down. She looked back into the room and saw a figure in a trance. She thought she was seeing things at first, but after a closer look, she found that it was really the Empress who had woken up.

"I had a nightmare and woke up suddenly." Hu Shanxiang's voice was still a little hoarse, and Yan Nan immediately poured her a glass of water.

Hu Shanxiang was indeed thirsty, so she took a big sip.

"Don't panic, my lady. As the saying goes, dreams are the opposite of reality. I'm sure everything will be alright."

"I hope so." In fact, what she was thinking was that her dreams were quite accurate.

Later she lay down to rest, and it took her a long time to fall asleep. Yan Nan knew that she did not sleep well in the second half of the night, so he sent someone to the palace to tell her that the queen was not feeling well today and would not go to pay her respects. The imperial concubine and the Eastern Palace both sent people to inquire about her, and said that they would ask the imperial physician to come and see her. Yan Nan naturally nodded in agreement, and said that he would ask the imperial physician to come and check the queen's pulse when she woke up.

Hu Shanxiang had been sleeping soundly, and because no one called her, she didn't know what time it was. When she woke up, it was an hour later than usual.

"Lingzhi, why didn't you wake me up? It's too late." Hu Shanxiang immediately called for help.

"Don't worry, madam. The servants have already told the imperial concubine and the crown princess that you are not feeling well and you need to take a day off today."

"Okay, I'm really not in good spirits today." Dreaming is exhausting in itself, and because of that dream, I didn't sleep well in the second half of the night. Now I feel a little dizzy.

It is the rainy season now and the weather is gloomy, just like Hu Shanxiang's mood at the moment. With such weather, she feels more and more irritated.

"Everyone is going to get moldy because of all the rain. It has been raining for more than half a month, and there is no telling when it will be sunny again?" Lingzhi and the others discussed.

"It used to rain like this in Yingtian, but why is it still like this in Beijing?"

"Who says it's not true? The rainy season in the south is in March and April, but in the north it's in June and July. It's really amazing."

"When do you think His Majesty will return to the court?"

"We don't know about that yet. I heard that His Majesty has captured the person. He should be back soon." Because Zhu Zhanji was also in the Northern Expedition, a copy of all the information would be sent to the Crown Prince's Palace so that Hu Shanxiang could rest assured.

They didn't know the general situation, but Hu Shanxiang was indeed calculating the time. Before leaving, Zhu Zhanji told him that they would be back by early September at the latest, and they had won a great victory.

It is now the beginning of July, and there are still two months left.

In this way, Hu Shanxiang survived the plum rain season and a hot August. In September, she was waiting for news of Zhu Zhanji's return.

"Lingzhi, is there any news?" Hu Shanxiang calculated the time and found that there had been no news for more than half a month. This was not normal.

"Not yet? But didn't you say before that His Majesty had dealt with those people this time? He should be on the way back. Maybe His Highness wanted to give you a surprise, so he didn't write a letter?" Lingzhi guessed.

"That's possible. I'll go pay my respects to my mother first." Hu Shanxiang thought about it and it was possible. After all, she would be back soon, and it was possible that she would come back without sending any news.

East Palace.

After Hu Shanxiang entered, she keenly felt that the atmosphere today was a little abnormal.

"Mother." Hu Shanxiang greeted the Crown Princess.

"Shan Xiang, you're here. I was just about to look for you." The Crown Princess' voice changed and there were traces of tears on her face.

"What's going on?" Hu Shanxiang walked to the side of the Crown Princess.

"Look at the news that just came in. It's a letter from the King of Zhao. It says... that Agui is missing, and that His Majesty is suddenly seriously ill. It also says that His Majesty's illness is caused by Agui... How can this be possible?" The Crown Princess refused to believe it. How could she not know what kind of person her son is? And there must be a reason for doing things. Why did Agui do this? It didn't benefit him.

"What?" Hu Shanxiang thought it was a letter of triumph from Zhu Zhanji. How could it be... She took the letter and read it word by word.

It was exactly the same as what the Crown Princess said. "This is impossible. The Prince of Zhao and his men have been secretly colluding with the Prince of Han and are plotting treason. Maybe they have framed Your Highness. We can't believe it. The letter only says that the Emperor is seriously ill. They must be on their way back. When the Emperor comes back, we will know everything." She wouldn't believe a word of it.

"You are right. His Majesty has not returned yet, and there is no evidence for these things." The Crown Princess did not react at first.

"Mother, we can't panic. What's going on with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? Does anyone else know about this?" Although they certainly believed that Zhu Zhanji would not do such a thing, after all, not all ministers were loyal and might be bribed. What's more, if the people knew about it, the rumors would be impossible to suppress.

"Only the Crown Prince and I know about this now. We haven't told anyone else, not even the Imperial Concubine, for fear that she won't be able to accept it."

"Okay, mother, Prince Zhao also said in the letter that they will return to the court soon. If this matter does not spread during this period, it will be fine. But if Prince Zhao has another trick up his sleeve, after all, Prince Zhao's influence in the capital cannot be underestimated, we must be prepared." Although Hu Shanxiang had no experience in palace fighting, she had watched a lot of TV dramas and novels. Hasn't she seen pigs run even if she hasn't eaten pork?

This time it is probably not the small-scale fighting like before, but a real battle for the throne. Moreover, there is no history to learn from this time, because this has never happened before.

"I know. I will keep an eye on the palace, but I'm afraid the officials outside the palace..."

"Mother, before His Highness left, he left someone for me. Let me try." In fact, Zhu Zhanji did not leave anyone behind, and she did not know how many people in the court were Zhu Zhanji's people, but she knew that the He family was his people, so He Yunyue should know more or less.

"Okay, I will discuss this matter with the Crown Prince again, but I'm afraid this matter can't be kept secret for too long. King Zhao and his men have been preparing for a long time, and we are completely unprepared."

"But we must at least hold on until His Highness comes back. Believe me, His Highness will definitely come back." Hu Shanxiang didn't believe that Zhu Zhanji would just disappear and abandon them.

"You're right. Maybe Prince Zhao wanted to do something to Agui, so he escaped. That's why he was said to be missing." The Crown Princess came to her senses immediately.

"Mother is right. His Highness must be secretly thinking of a way. He may have returned to the capital, contacted people, and is ready to wait for Prince Zhao to come back to prove himself." The more Hu Shanxiang thought about it, the more she felt that it was right. Isn't that how it's played in TV dramas? Besides, the author can still write the male protagonist to death. It's too bad after writing it. Isn't he afraid of being scolded to death by readers?

The Crown Prince was not in a good state at the court meeting today. He asked people to leave soon and did not ask the ministers to stay for a talk. Several cabinet ministers were puzzled, but they did not dare to ask more. After all, the Crown Prince was not in good health, and sometimes he would be like this.

The prince immediately rushed back to the East Palace. The couple dismissed everyone and talked about something that could not be revealed in the house.

"Have you told Shanxiang?" asked the prince.

"Well, this can't be concealed. Moreover, when she came here, she gave me an idea and a suggestion. She said that the Third Brother might have a trick up his sleeve. He might be planning to spread the news to the whole city before he comes back. The main thing is that Agui is missing now, and he can't explain himself. His Majesty hasn't come back yet, and everything was said by the Third Brother."

"I know that my father is seriously ill, maybe he is controlled by them. But given my father's character, he will not be threatened by others, right?" It must be said that no one knows a father better than his sons. Even if these sons are combined, they cannot defeat Zhu Di. Zhu Di is not Li Yuan, who can be threatened by his sons and then abdicate to become an emperor. If Zhu Di can be controlled by them, then he must be unconscious or already...

The more the prince thought about it, the more frightened he felt. His third brother probably didn't have the guts to do that. But since they were all ready to rebel, maybe they would just go all out. After all, when it came to being ruthless, his two brothers were even more ruthless than their father.

"Your Highness means that His Majesty might..." The Crown Princess naturally thought of that possibility, "But it's very likely. Maybe they planned to take Agui away, and then Agui ran away, so they said Agui was missing and pushed the matter of His Majesty onto Agui. In this way, there will be no evidence... Agui's life will be over, and so will we."

"Don't say such discouraging words. This matter is not over yet. You have to have confidence in our son. He will definitely find a way." The prince had also seen a lot of things. His father was fighting for the world on the front line. Although he was not on the front line, he defended the city of Beijing.

"You also said that if you hadn't been so tolerant and forgiving of your two younger brothers in the past, they wouldn't be in this situation now. Now they have become like this. I have said that you should not be merciful when you shouldn't be merciful. Sooner or later, it will kill you." The Crown Princess felt angry when she thought about it now.

"What's the point of you saying this now? Okay, okay, this time I will definitely not let them..." The prince did not figure out how to deal with them for a while. First, they were his own brothers after all, he could not kill them; second, Zhu Di was still alive, and if there was anything, it would be Zhu Di who would deal with it personally, and it was not his turn to speak.

"So what? You still can't bear it?"

"No, it will be His Majesty who will deal with this matter when the time comes. I will definitely not plead for them this time." The prince promised.

On the other hand, Hu Shanxiang couldn't go out by herself, but wanted to contact He Yunyue. Who should she find?

"Lingzhi, go find my elder sister and tell her that I have something urgent to discuss with her. Ask her to hurry up." This was the only solution Hu Shanxiang had now.

"Okay, I'll go right away." Although she didn't know what the queen was going to do, she still went to do it.

Hu Shanxiang took advantage of this time to write the letter to He Yunyue. In order to prevent others from reading it, she specially wrote some other things so that He Yunyue would definitely understand it.

Not long after, Hu Shanwei came over.

"What are you looking for me for in such a hurry?" This was the first time that a younger sister was looking for her in such a hurry.

"Sister, the situation is urgent now. I can't explain it to you clearly in a short time. In short, you must leave the palace as soon as possible and make sure to hand this over to Sister He in person. It is very important." Hu Shanxiang didn't waste any words.

"I'm confused by what I heard. What is this..." Hu Shanxiang didn't understand it at all.

"You don't need to understand. By the way, in order to avoid suspicion, why don't you give a reason and ask for leave, preferably a longer one. I'm afraid something is going to happen in the palace, it would be better if you go out." Hu Shanxiang changed her mind and thought that this might be a troubled time, so if she could avoid it, she would.

"No, what happened?" Hu Shanwei was confused.

"Sister, don't ask first, just do as I say. By the way, be careful not to be followed when you go. If it is not convenient to go to the He Mansion, you can go to the He family's properties. They are all managed by He Yunyue." He Yunyue had talked to her about this in Zhongdu at the time, but she didn't expect that it would be used in the end.

"Okay, although I don't know what's going to happen, but looking at your expression, I'm afraid something big is going to happen. What about you? Are you safe in the palace?" The first thing Hu Shanwei thought of was the safety of his sister.

"I'm in the palace, no one can do anything to me, just rest assured."

"Then I'll go."

"Ah."

"Mrs. Hu, why do you suddenly want to take a long vacation?"

Hu Shanwei suddenly became embarrassed and said, "It's not that my marriage is not settled yet, my mother is almost sick with worry, and she told me that if I don't go back to see her, I won't be able to go home in the future. Don't you know that there is a concubine in this family, and I am under a lot of pressure? So this is not... I just want to take a leave and go home to see her. If it really doesn't work, I can comfort the old lady."

"You are indeed right. Okay, okay. Anyway, His Majesty hasn't come back yet and the palace is not that busy, so you can go back. But let's make it clear that it's only half a month, no more." This was done out of consideration for Hu Shanwei, who had hardly had a vacation in so many years.

"Thank you, sister. You are the best." Hu Shanwei went back happily.

She did not forget her sister's advice to prevent being followed. She had not paid attention before, but now she noticed that someone was indeed following her. She pretended not to see it and went home on her own.

When she got home, Mrs. Hu was surprised to see her. "Why are you back during this unusual time of year?"

"I just missed you, so I came back to see you." Hu Shanwei said, pulling her sleeve.

"Who are you trying to fool? You're so eager to go home that I won't miss you, but you've come back specially. Have you done something wrong?" Mrs. Hu suddenly had a bad guess.

"Mother, can't you just hope for something better from me?" Hu Shanwei was speechless.