If not abolished

Chapter 359 Goodbye Yu Qian

"Isn't this too risky? What if the Eastern Palace finds out and reports us to His Majesty?" Zhu Zhanqi didn't expect his third uncle to be so bold. But when he thought about it, it made sense. Anyone who could rebel with his father to seize the throne must be very courageous.

When King Zhao heard him mention his elder brother in the East Palace, he was not afraid at all and said indifferently, "As long as we don't let His Majesty know about this, even if the Crown Prince knows about it, he won't complain. Besides, His Majesty is very suspicious. If he complains about this, it will probably backfire. It won't bring us down, and it will arouse His Majesty's suspicion. We are not the crown prince, so even if we form cliques, His Majesty will not think it is a threat. It's not like your father rushed to his fiefdom like you did. But if the Crown Prince forms a clique for personal gain, that would be a real power grab. So don't worry, the Crown Prince won't complain even if he knows about it."

"Third uncle is wise." Zhu Zhanqi didn't have much contact with the prince, and his impression of this uncle was that he was plain-looking, kind, and lacked dignity.

"But the other person in the Eastern Palace is the one we should not be wary of. Oh, no, he now has his own Crown Prince Palace. If he gets to know about this, we'll be really finished." Ever since Zhu Zhanji grew up, Zhu Gaosui didn't get any advantage in the few times he dealt with him. This forced him to pay attention to his nephew, the one who took away all the love from his father at birth. If it weren't for him, how could his useless elder brother have sat firmly in the Eastern Palace for so many years? It's all because he gave birth to a good son.

Now he even built a separate Crown Prince Palace for him, which showed that he didn't take them seriously at all. Since his father was able to rebel against his nephew, why couldn't they do it? It was a tradition passed down from generation to generation.

Inside the Palace of the Grand Sun

"Your Highness, you asked us to keep an eye on His Highness the Prince of Zhao and Young Prince Zhanqi. Just now, an informant reported that they seem to be checking the list of Jinshi this year and the official arrangements. Do you think they are really so bold as to directly reach out to the official selection?" Wu Cheng thought, the precedent of His Highness the Prince of Han is still there, why are they...

"Are there any outstanding people on this year's list of Jinshi?" Zhu Zhanji thought for a long time, and suddenly a name appeared in his mind, "Yu Qian, Jinshi in the 19th year of Yongle, 92nd in the third class." Zhu Zhanji naturally did not have such a good memory. The reason why he remembered it so clearly was because Yu Qian left a deep impression on him. He still remembered the first time they met. He had just ascended the throne and encountered a rebellion by his second uncle. He went to quell the rebellion in person. Yu Qian was just a small censor, but after his second uncle surrendered, he came out and reprimanded him harshly. At that time, he felt that this person was extraordinary. Afterwards, he specially found the files to check Yu Qian's resume. The 19th year of Yongle, wasn't that this year's Jinshi.

Zhu Zhanji trembled all of a sudden. He never expected that Yu Qian would later turn the tide and save the Ming Dynasty.

"Have the official positions for this year's Jinshi been determined?" Zhu Zhanji suddenly asked.

"Well, because the capital is being moved and His Majesty is preparing for the northern expedition, it's so hasty, so it should not have happened yet. But it's only been these few days, and the prince is probably busy with this matter?" Wu Cheng said after thinking for a while.

"Go find someone for me. His name is Yu Qian. If he is in the capital, ask him to come to the palace to see me." Zhu Zhanji was already impatient. He wanted to meet Yu Qian immediately.

"Your Highness, could you please explain it a little more clearly? Who is this person? Where is his hometown? Is he the Jinshi who passed the imperial examination this year?" Wu Cheng was confused when he heard the name.

"Yes, he is ranked 92nd among the top three this year. He is from Qiantang County, Hangzhou Prefecture. Don't ask so many questions, just go and find him." Zhu Zhanji urged.

"Yes, I'll go right away." Although Wu Cheng didn't know what His Highness was going to do, seeing Zhu Zhanji was so anxious, he thought something important was going to happen. "But Your Highness, if we go to look for someone in such a high-profile manner, will it arouse other people's suspicion?"

He suddenly thought that Prince Zhao was also trying to build up connections among this year's successful candidates.

"I am not looking for him to do business, I just want to meet him, I don't care what others say." Zhu Zhanji couldn't care less about so many things now. What's more, even if he wanted to win him over, Yu Qian's upright character was not something he could win over.

"Yes." Seeing this, Wu Cheng said nothing more.

Zhu Zhanji was very excited and couldn't calm down for a while. He had to find someone to tell his thoughts. Others would definitely think he was crazy. After hesitating for a long time, he decided to find Hu Shanxiang to talk about this matter. Although Shanxiang might not understand what he said, he knew she would definitely understand his feelings.

Zhu Zhanji immediately put down what he was doing and came to Hu Shanxiang's yard.

"Your Highness, the Queen is inside. I will go and inform her right away." Lingzhi and the others saw Zhu Zhanji coming early and immediately went to inform Hu Shanxiang.

When Hu Shanxiang heard that Zhu Zhanji was coming, she hurried out. Zhu Zhanji was also anxious to see her, so the two almost bumped into each other at the door.

"Your Highness, why are you so anxious today? Is there something urgent?" It was rare for Hu Shanxiang to see Zhu Zhanji like this.

"I..." Zhu Zhanji supported her and held her in his arms. Hu Shanxiang whispered, "Who else?" Then she pushed him with both hands. Zhu Zhanji held her even tighter. The palace maids immediately went out, closed the door, and notified the wet nurse not to let Nuannuan come to disturb them.

Seeing that everyone had left, Hu Shanxiang did not resist and let him hug her. She hugged him back and patted him gently without asking anything. She believed that Zhu Zhanji would tell her naturally when he calmed down.

"Shanxiang, do you know?" Zhu Zhanji spoke after he finally calmed down.

"Huh? What?" What does she know.

"I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but who would have thought that our Ming Dynasty, which is now so glorious and has attracted many nations, would almost rewrite the path of Zhao Song's migration to the south in the near future."

"Your Highness, how did you know..." Hu Shanxiang was shocked. Zhu Zhanji had been dead for more than ten years since the Battle of Tumu. How could he...

"You know that too?" Zhu Zhanji's eyes were also filled with shock.

"I..." Damn it, she spoke too quickly. In history, Hu Shanxiang did not live to see the Battle of Tumu. "I was trying to say that the Ming Dynasty is thriving now. How could the things Your Highness said happen?"

Fortunately, she didn't say too much, so she was able to make up for it.

"Oh, I thought you had the same dream as me, predicting the future." Zhu Zhanji was shocked. He thought Shanxiang was the same as him. However, Shanxiang, like him, had lived a second life, so maybe he knew something.

"Predict future?"

"Well, in the first few years after I came back, I sometimes had some strange dreams. I dreamed about some things that happened after I passed away. You don’t know, that bad boy Zhu Qizhen listened to the eunuchs’ slander and went on a personal expedition without thinking, which almost ruined my Ming Dynasty. If it weren’t for Yu Qian’s efforts to save the situation, I’m afraid that my Ming Dynasty would have lost the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the barbarians like the Zhao Song Dynasty did." Zhu Zhanji talked about his experiences.

Hu Shanxiang thought, no wonder, Zhu Zhanji's preference for Empress Sun is acknowledged by history and it was also achieved through untold hardships. She was wondering why Zhu Zhanji had such deep feelings for Empress Hu as soon as she traveled through time, and why he would fall in love with someone else so quickly. Now it makes sense, Zhu Zhanji knows about his own troublesome son.

"So your highness is..." Hu Shanxiang still didn't know why he was so excited today.

"That incompetent Zhu Qizhen not only lost the battle but was also captured, which was a disgrace to the royal family. The enemy directly entered Beijing, and this official advocated moving south. If Yu Qian had not stood up and organized a battle, our Ming Dynasty would have... Alas."

"This Lord Yu Qian is indeed a talented person." Although Hu Shanxiang had never seen it with her own eyes, her favorite Ming Dynasty historical novel "Things about the Ming Dynasty" recorded the process of the defense of Beijing in detail. Whenever she saw this part, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Right, Yu Qian is this year's Jinshi. I have asked someone to find him. I want to use him earlier. You don't know that this man doesn't know how to please others in the officialdom, so it is harder for him to be promoted than others." Zhu Zhanji originally thought that it would be enough to just meet him, but now he has changed his mind and he wants to use him in advance.

"Your Highness, you can't do that..." Hu Shanxiang suddenly objected.

"Why?" Zhu Zhanji frowned.