If not abolished

Chapter 165 Palace Maid

Yikun Palace

"Look, these are some of the new palace maids who entered the palace this year. If there is any need for additional staff in the Eastern Palace, please arrange for some of them to be sent there." Concubine Wang handed the Crown Princess some lists and said.

"Your Highness has always advocated frugality. The palace servants around him are all old people who have served for more than ten years. However, some of them have indeed reached the age to be released from the palace this year. Also, there are not enough people serving in Agui's Qingyun Palace, and there are still some vacancies." The Crown Princess thought about the situation in the Eastern Palace.

"Your words have reminded me that there are palace maids in each palace who have reached the age to be released from the palace. I will write down the names of the people in the next few days and release them all."

"Yes."

After the Crown Princess returned to the Eastern Palace, she made a list of the palace maids who were to be released from the palace.

"Yunjin, go ask the Crown Princess to come over." The Crown Princess said, holding the list.

"Yes."

After a while, Hu Shanxiang came in.

"Your son pays his respects to the Crown Princess." Hu Shanxiang saluted.

"Come here quickly and help me take a look at this." The Crown Princess waved her hand and asked her to come forward.

Hu Shanxiang only saw a string of names and asked in confusion, "What is this?"

The Crown Princess explained to her, "Just now, the Imperial Concubine called me over and said that a new batch of palace maids had arrived. She wanted to see if there were any palace maids to be added to the East Palace. You are the Crown Prince's Concubine, so naturally I am here to discuss this Qingyun Palace with you."

"I don't quite understand this. Just let your Highness make the decision." Hu Shanxiang really didn't understand the rules in this regard. She just watched what the Crown Princess did and followed her lead.

"It's easy to explain. According to palace rules, eunuchs are not allowed to leave the palace. When they get too old to work, they go to a special place to retire, so there are basically no changes. It's mainly the palace maids. According to palace rules, palace maids must be sent out of the palace when they reach the age of 25. Of course, it's not certain. Some people don't want to go out, so they stay in the palace. That's why there are people like Nanny in the palace."

Hu Shanxiang nodded. She knew a little about this. If someone had to leave, someone else would naturally come in to fill the vacancy. She understood this principle. "So, are these the palace maids in the East Palace who are over 25 years old?"

"Well, according to the palace rules, these people will be sent out of the palace. There are five people in Qingyun Palace, so you go back and tell them that they can prepare to leave the palace. If someone doesn't want to leave the palace, they can come to me and tell me. Then there is one more person. According to the rules: you have six palace maids around you. Now there are only six, and there are two vacancies, so you have to add more. And Miss Chu and Miss Cao also have people around them who will be sent out of the palace, so they also need to be added."

"I understand. I will take care of this matter when I return. Is there anyone you would like to add to your side, His Royal Highness?"

"The eunuchs around Agui were all selected by His Majesty himself. Although the senior palace maids around him have served for many years, they are not yet of age, so there will be no changes for the time being." The Crown Princess thought about the people around Zhu Zhanji.

"Oh, I see." Hu Shanxiang nodded.

After Hu Shanxiang returned, she asked the palace maids. Three of them wanted to leave, and two said they had no relatives at home and didn't know where to go after leaving the palace. They wanted to stay in the palace.

Then Hu Shanxiang told the Crown Princess about all this, and the Crown Princess asked her to pick someone from the list. Hu Shanxiang saw several palace maids with the surname Wu. She didn't know if it was because the woman who gave birth to Zhu Qiyu in history was surnamed Wu, but when she saw this name now, she felt inexplicably uncomfortable or there were ripples in her heart.

"Take a look, I heard these are all good." The Crown Princess suggested to her.

It just so happened that among the palace maids the Crown Princess pointed out to her was a maid named Wu. Could it be that this was a sign from God? Was God telling her to pick a palace maid named Wu? Should she choose her or not?

"I am not familiar with this son either. Why don't I go to choose her?" After a fierce ideological struggle, Hu Shanxiang threw this difficult problem to the Crown Princess. Just leave everything to fate. If Zhu Zhanji was destined to be with this Miss Wu, it would be useless no matter how much she tried to obstruct him. She should be more indifferent and let fate decide everything.

"Then this, this... all right." The Crown Princess picked a few and said, "Let these people report to Qingyun Palace when the time comes."

"Thank you, Princess."

"Yannan, do you know the names of the palace maids around His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?" Although Hu Shanxiang kept telling herself that she didn't care about this Miss Wu, she still felt uncomfortable in her heart and really wanted to ask.

"I know. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has six palace maids, namely Chuncai, Chunyan, Yuetao..."

"Wait, is this their own name?" Hu Shanxiang interrupted her before she could finish.

"Some are, some are not. You know, some masters like to rename their maids, so some people's names will change."

"Yes, then do you know what they should do?" Hu Shanxiang asked again.

"That's not very clear. Generally, servants call each other by their first names, and few people know each other's last names." Yan Nan shook his head and said he didn't know.

"That's it."

"But if Your Majesty wants to know, Eunuch Wu should know. You can go and ask him." Seeing that Hu Shanxiang seemed very interested in this, Yan Nan gave her some advice.

"I'm not really curious. It's just that the Crown Princess mentioned the palace maids today, and I thought that I don't know a lot about many of the palace maids in Qingyun Palace, so I wanted to learn more about them." Hu Shanxiang found an excuse.

"I see. Logically, all palace servants have a list. You can ask Eunuch Wu for a list."

"That's a good idea."

A few days later, Hu Shanxiang found Wu Cheng.

"Greetings to Her Majesty the Crown Prince's Consort." Wu Cheng was called over suddenly and had no idea what was going on. However, he knew the Crown Prince's Consort. She was a very easy person to get along with, so it shouldn't be a big deal.

Hu Shanxiang smiled and said, "Eunuch Wu, please don't be polite, just have a cup of tea." As she said that, Lingzhi brought him a cup of tea.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I wonder what it is that you have asked me to come here today?" Wu Cheng said with trepidation as he took the tea that Lingzhi brought over.

"Oh, it's my fault. I didn't tell Eunuch Wu clearly beforehand when I asked him to come. It's not a big deal. A few days ago, the Crown Princess said that Qingyun Palace would increase the number of palace servants. I was lazy, so when the Crown Princess asked, I didn't know much about the situation of many palace servants. So, I thought that Eunuch Wu was an old man in Qingyun Palace and had served His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for many years. You should know more about the situation of some palace servants in Qingyun Palace than I do, so I specially called you over to ask."

"Your Majesty, thank you for your kindness. So that's what's going on. Well, I'll have someone bring you the list of palace maids and eunuchs in Qingyun Palace so that you can look at it in detail." Wu Cheng understood immediately.

"Don't be in a hurry, father-in-law. You should always have a cup of tea before you do anything."

"Yes, yes, yes." Wu Cheng quickly took a sip.

"Eunuch, the palace maids have all been selected. Why does Her Majesty still want a list of palace maids? The earliest ones will leave the palace in five or six years." The eunuchs around Wu Cheng were puzzled. If Hu Shanxiang had asked for the list at the beginning, it would have been understandable. Now that everything has been settled, what's the point of asking for the list now? Does she have to call out the names one by one to check on them?

"As servants, we should do whatever our master says. Don't ask other questions." Wu Cheng said.

"Yes."

"Why do I feel that the Crown Princess called me over specifically to talk about this and gave me those instructions, as if she didn't want Your Highness to know." Wu Cheng didn't know why he had such a feeling.

"It's not a big deal. Even if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince knew about it, it wouldn't matter, right?" The young eunuch was even more confused.

"What do you know? Come on, go find the list and send it to Her Majesty. Just pretend this never happened and keep your mouth shut." Wu Cheng still gave her a warning.

"Yes."

The next day, Hu Shanxiang received the list. After getting it, Hu Shanxiang began to look through it.

"Your Majesty, are you very curious about this list?" Not only Wu Cheng felt strange, but even Lingzhi and Yannan beside her also raised questions.

"You're overthinking it. It just happened to be delivered to you, so just flip through it." Hu Shanxiang said as she looked at it.

It was strange. After looking for a long time, there was not a single palace maid with the surname Wu in the entire Qingyun Palace.

According to records, Concubine Wu entered the palace around the tenth year of Yongle, but there is no record of when exactly she started serving Zhu Zhanji. We only know that it was during the period when Zhu Zhanji released the crown prince. But now it is the sixteenth year of Yongle. If Concubine Wu has not appeared yet, then where would she be? Could she really be among the group of people she selected to enter the palace a few days ago?

Wait, since she knew that Concubine Wu would give birth to Zhu Qiyu in the future, Zhu Zhanji would naturally know it too. He would definitely know it. It is impossible that he had forgotten it. Then, according to Zhu Zhanji's personality, he would not let the woman he didn't like in his previous life have the opportunity to get close to him in this life.

Thinking of this, Hu Shanxiang suddenly understood why there was no palace maid named Wu around Zhu Zhanji.

While waiting for Zhu Zhanji to come at night, the two lay on the bed, Hu Shanxiang lay in Zhu Zhanji's arms, and Zhu Zhanji naturally hugged her.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Hu Shanxiang looked up and kissed his chin.

"Why are you suddenly saying this?" This made Zhu Zhanji a little confused.

"Anyway, thank you for everything, Your Highness." Hu Shanxiang thought for a moment and added, "I will definitely give birth to a legitimate son for Your Highness."

"Why are you suddenly talking about this?" The more Zhu Zhanji listened, the more confused he became.

"Your Highness, didn't you keep the palace maid named Wu around just in case?" Hu Shanxiang explained.

"What maid?"

"Huh? Your Highness forgot?" Now it was Hu Shanxiang's turn to be confused.

"I don't remember anything, are you giving me a hint?"

"Are you the mother of your youngest son Zhu Qiyu in your previous life?" Hu Shanxiang asked directly.

"What happened to his mother?"

"Isn't her last name Wu? Is she serving you?"

"Is her last name Wu?" Zhu Zhanji said he didn't remember at all.