If not abolished

Chapter 394 Ready to go

Because everyone had been on guard until the early morning the night before, and there was no need to attend court the next day, so they didn't have to get up early. While everyone was still asleep, something suddenly happened in the side hall of the Eastern Palace, at the residence of Concubine Guo.

"Crown Princess, something bad has happened. His Highness Zhanzhai is suddenly vomiting uncontrollably, and the Concubine is requesting the imperial physician." Yun Jin shouted loudly, not caring that the Crown Princess hadn't woken up yet.

The Crown Princess was not completely asleep either. She heard vague noises, which were not clear. When she realized it was Yun Jin's voice, she woke up immediately, stood up and pushed the Crown Prince beside her.

"Your Highness, wake up. Let's go check on the situation." Then he shouted outside, "Go and ask the imperial physician to come and take a look. Is he catching a cold or something?"

"Yes."

The prince was confused, "What's going on on New Year's Day?"

"Your Highness, please get up quickly. It is said that Zhan Kai suddenly vomited uncontrollably. I have asked someone to call the imperial physician." The Crown Princess quickly put on her clothes and hurriedly called someone in to help His Highness the Crown Prince change his clothes.

"Why did this happen suddenly? Did you catch a cold at night?" the prince asked, raising his hand.

"Your Highness, since I'm asking this question, I'm not an imperial physician and I haven't even seen the patient yet, so I don't know." The Crown Princess' hands were constantly moving, so she had no time to think about the reason. She would know the answer after the imperial physician came and made a diagnosis.

"That's not what I meant. Never mind. I'll go take a look first." The prince straightened his collar and left.

"Okay, I'll be there right away." After the Crown Princess had dressed him up, she also had someone do her makeup.

The prince came over supported by someone.

Concubine Guo was beside her son's bed, wiping her tears with a handkerchief. When she heard the prince coming, she immediately went over and cried, "Your Highness, you are here. You have to make the decision for Kai'er!"

"Get up first. What's wrong with you? Besides, the child is sick. Just ask the imperial physician to come and take a look. Why do you let me make the decision?" The prince helped her up.

"Your Highness, you don't know that Kai'er's illness was not an accident. Someone wanted to harm him deliberately." Concubine Guo said with a sob.

"What do you mean? Was Kai'er harmed by someone? Do you have any evidence to support your statement? Do you know who harmed him?" The prince asked a series of questions in surprise.

"Your Highness, I would not dare to speak without evidence." Concubine Guo took out some food and said, "Your Highness, look, she was fine after returning from the banquet yesterday. After returning, all the food and drinks were here. There was someone guarding the room the whole time, so she couldn't have caught a cold. I think it's just a problem with the food. I see that these were all sent by the young prince of the Crown Prince's family yesterday. What do you think..."

"Sister, what do you mean? Are you saying that there is something wrong with the things Nuannuan sent?" The Crown Princess just walked in when she heard the last words. She was instantly furious. Fine, she couldn't do anything to her and Agui, but now she even didn't let a little kid like Nuannuan go. Or was she too kind, letting her go again and again, which made her become even worse.

"I have seen the Crown Princess, but I did not say that. After all, whether there is any problem with this thing or not, the imperial physician needs to come and check it out. I am just guessing. After all, it is impossible for a person to get sick for no reason. There must be a reason."

"You didn't say that. Isn't that what you meant just now? The food that Nuannuan gave yesterday was not only for Zhanjie, but for all the children. According to what you said, everyone should be vomiting like Zhanjie. But except for your place, no other place has such a problem." The Crown Princess was not going to let her off like this. She was so bold to wrongly accuse her granddaughter.

"I... Is the Crown Princess too excited to be so aggressive? Only people who have really done this will be like this? Could it be true? Although everyone has it, the Crown Princess doesn't like me for a long time. Maybe she deliberately gave it to Ka'er alone. There is something wrong. It is not impossible."

The Crown Princess was so angry that she almost laughed, "How ridiculous! Since you know that I don't like you, if I really wanted to get rid of you and your son, I would not use such a stupid method. Do you believe that I can do it quietly, so that His Highness will not even notice it?"

"You... Your Highness, you see, the Crown Princess has said that she really wants to get rid of us mother and son. You have to make the decision for us!" Concubine Guo naturally knew that there were many tricks in the palace, but the Crown Princess never used them.

"That's enough, isn't it?" The prince was annoyed by the quarrel between the two of them. "Crown Princess, you should stop talking. Guo is just too concerned. The child is sick, and her mind was distracted for a moment. That's not what she meant."

"I was confused for a moment. Your Highness, do you want to listen to what she said? Your Majesty was still here when Nuannuan gave her things yesterday. How old is she, yet she is being wronged? Her kindness is really taken for granted. No wonder Nuannuan didn't like Guo when she just came back. Come to think of it, I'm afraid your sister still remembers the previous grudge and is now preparing for revenge." The Crown Princess thought of what happened before and really felt that her granddaughter was smart. She could be held by anyone except Guo. Such a person was not worthy.

"You are really wronging me, Crown Princess. It's just a small matter, I wouldn't bother with a baby." Concubine Guo sounded very magnanimous.

"Really? When did my sister become so magnanimous? What evidence do you have this time to prove that Zhan Kai became like this because he ate the things Nuan Nuan gave him? Is this a malicious speculation?" The Crown Princess became angrier the more she thought about it.

"I..." Concubine Guo was speechless.

"Everyone, be quiet. Let's wait until the imperial physician arrives before we discuss anything else," the prince immediately reprimanded Concubine Guo. "You too, are you the prince? Can you diagnose? You're talking nonsense here without knowing anything? How old is Nuannuan? Do you believe what you're saying? How can she know all this?"

The Crown Prince also thought it was outrageous. Guo was indeed becoming more and more outrageous, even dragging Nuan Nuan into this. In the past, he thought she was considerate and could help the Crown Princess share the burden, but she had changed so much in the past two years. He didn't know what was going on...

The two of them stayed quiet like this, and after a while, the imperial physician arrived.

The imperial physician felt the patient's pulse and observed him for a while before reporting to the Crown Prince and the others, "Your Highness, Crown Princess, it is very likely that the young prince has eaten something bad."

"Your Highness, look, the imperial physician said so, and you still said that I was making unwarranted speculations." When Concubine Guo heard the imperial physician say this, she immediately became excited.

The Crown Princess rolled her eyes to the sky, "That doesn't prove that he got sick from eating the food Nuan Nuan sent him."

"Does your Highness know what he ate to become like this?" the prince asked.

"Well, there is not much food left in the little prince's stomach, and most of it has been digested. We haven't made a definite judgment on what it is." After all, it had been a night, so it was really difficult to find out what it was.

"Imperial Physician, this is what Zhan Kai ate yesterday. Please take a look and see if there is anything wrong with it." Concubine Guo immediately brought over the leftovers.

The imperial physician spent some time examining each of them, and finally reported back, "Your Highness, there is nothing wrong with these things, and they are not the cause of this illness."

"How is it possible? These were all brought in from outside the palace. Who knows if they are clean? What if?" Concubine Guo immediately mentioned the possibility.

"This... what the Concubine said is indeed possible. However, the little prince should have eaten more than these yesterday. There were many delicacies at the palace banquet last night. If the little prince ate these again after returning, everyone's spleen and stomach are different. Eating too many different foods may also cause the current situation. But don't worry, the little prince is fine. I will prescribe some medicine for him and he will be fine after a few days. Just don't eat too much these few days. Eat light food and avoid meat." The imperial physician advised.

"Thank you, Imperial Physician. Please prescribe the medicine." said the prince.

"Your Highness, the imperial physician said that it might be caused by something unclean, so we cannot rule out the possibility that it is not a problem with these things." Concubine Guo still insisted.

"Alright, let's stop here. In my opinion, it was you who caused the child to eat the wrong food. He also bit others. Even His Majesty ate the food that Nuannuan brought back. We are fine."

"Your Highness, I don't think there's anything else to do here. It's New Year's Day and everyone is busy. I'll go back first." The Crown Princess really didn't want to waste words with this person anymore. Anyway, if she still wanted to do something, she didn't recommend doing something unlucky on New Year's Day.

"Well, you go back first." The prince nodded and let her go first.

"Your Highness..." After the Crown Princess left, Concubine Guo continued.

"I am warning you for the last time. If you do something like this again next time, I don't mind changing the mother for Zhan Kai and the others." After saying this, the prince turned and left.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, you can't do this to me. You clearly said that I am most likely to become the same as the Crown Princess. You said..." Concubine Guo panicked when she heard this. The child is her only hope now. If she loses the child, then she will have no hope at all and will be even more unable to fight.

"Shut up, when did I ever say such a thing? What nonsense are you talking about?" The prince pushed her away.

"Your Highness... Your Highness..." The prince walked away without looking back, no matter how she called him.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please calm down first. Let's take good care of the little prince first."

"Calm down. How can I calm down? Didn't you hear what His Highness said just now? What did he mean? Give Zhan Kai and the others a new mother? Humph, don't even think about it. No one can take my child away." Concubine Guo continued, "As expected, men's words. When I married into the Eastern Palace, the Crown Princess's family was in its heyday. He needed someone to hold me back, so he loved me in every way and doted on me. Even if I have ambitions, they were nurtured by him. Now that I have really done it, he thinks I have overstepped the boundaries. It's too late to stop him now. In this life, the Crown Princess and I will always have a life-and-death struggle."

"My lady, the family didn't send you here to have you fight to the death with the Crown Princess. If you don't want to, please be open-minded."

"Mammy, you are too naive. My family sent me to the Eastern Palace and my sister to the Prince of Han's Mansion. How could they not have had a purpose? They just hoped that we could go far. I have to give it a try. Even if I lose in the end, at least I have tried." Concubine Guo was not stupid. Her family had fallen into decline back then. If they had not sent their daughters to the palace, how could they have prospered today.

"But, Your Majesty, it is impossible for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to depose the Crown Princess. Moreover, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is so favored. If our princes can have a good fiefdom in the future, it will be a great honor to the family."

"Your Majesty is so old, accidents can happen at any time, and Zhu Zhanji may not be able to be safe and sound."

Seeing that she had gone crazy, the nanny couldn't persuade her anymore.

After the Crown Princess returned to her palace, she was extremely angry, "Do you think she is sick? She must have developed hysteria because of the house arrest. Why does she feel that someone is trying to harm her all day long? Even Nuannuan was dragged out. If Agui and Shanxiang knew about this, they would probably lock her up again. But she is indeed sick, so don't come out and bother people." It was rare for the Crown Princess to say such things to someone.

"Your Highness, drink some water first. It's not worth it for you to get angry with her. She is just confused. I just heard that the prince said that if she does this again next time, he will not let the little princes follow her and will give them new mothers."

"That's true. With her, don't teach the children bad things. The children are all fine, otherwise Nuan Nuan wouldn't have specially sent gifts."

"So, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is fed up with her, Your Majesty can rest assured."

"I've always felt that life in the palace is not easy. Why should women make things difficult for other women? Alas."

"Not everyone is as kind-hearted as you."

Let's put these things aside for now. After the New Year, Zhu Di began to prepare for the expedition again. In order to prevent any further complications, he asked the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to calculate the earliest time, which was February 2, when the dragon raised its head, a good omen.

Zhu Di counted the army, prepared everything, and waited for the time to come to set off.

He has waited too long for this day, and nothing can go wrong this time.

The palace of the great grandson.

"After all this delay, you still have to go to war. I have nothing to say. I just hope that Your Highness will return triumphantly. Nuannuan and I will wait for your safe return in the palace." A few days before Zhu Zhanji's departure, Hu Shanxiang reminded him.

It was not known whether it was because she was overly worried or something, but for some reason, Hu Shanxiang had been feeling rather uneasy these past few days. As time drew nearer, she felt uneasy as well. However, she did not want Zhu Zhanji to have any psychological burden, so she did not say anything. She thought that she was probably overthinking it. This was only the third expedition, and this year was only the 20th year of Yongle. There were still two years left, and they would definitely return triumphantly this time.

Zhu Zhanji had nothing to worry about. Apart from his battlefield experience in his previous life, he had led an army in person before, so he was not afraid at all.

He was like this, with anticipation, hidden worry, and reluctance in his heart. All kinds of emotions were intertwined, and the time to set off had come.