If not abolished

Chapter 176 The Princess of Han Dies

Yikun Palace

"Your Majesty, something bad has happened. The Han Palace has sent a report that the Han Princess suddenly fell into a coma early this morning and has not woken up yet."

"What did you say? Why is it so sudden?" Concubine Wang had just sent the concubines away. After hearing this, she was stunned and her face was full of disbelief.

Yunqi shook his head, indicating that he was not very clear. "Originally, the Han King and his family were going to leave the capital in a few days. Now I'm afraid..."

"Ever since Your Majesty sent Gao Xu to his fiefdom, the Prince of Han and his men have rarely come to the palace. I remember that the Princess of Han also complained of being unwell for a while last year, and she has been recuperating ever since. How come her condition has gotten worse?" Concubine Wang also remembered this.

"That's true. But when His Highness Qi got married, the princess didn't look very well. I wonder if she didn't recover well." Yunqi said, recalling the condition of the Princess Han before.

"Now that you mention it, I remember that the Princess of Han did not look well at that time..." Concubine Wang immediately put on her makeup, "The Princess is seriously ill. If she cannot survive, we should invite the imperial physician from the palace. Has His Majesty left the court?"

"At this time, His Majesty should be in the Qinzheng Hall..." Yunqi said after looking at the time.

Outside the Geunjeongjeon Hall

"The royal concubine."

"I have something to ask to see His Majesty. Please go and tell him, eunuch."

"Understood. I'll go right away. Your Majesty, please wait a moment." Seeing how anxious she was, Wang Jinghong quickened his movements.

After a while, Wang Jinghong came out and invited Concubine Wang in.

"See Your Majesty."

"Wang Jinghong said you had an urgent matter. What happened?" Zhu Di asked, looking up from the memorial.

"Your Majesty, I just received news that the Princess of Han suddenly fainted and is now unconscious, so I came to ask Your Majesty whether you should send a royal physician from the palace to take a look. After all, she is the Princess, even if..."

"In that case, let's arrange for an imperial physician to come over from the palace. You can handle it as you wish." Zhu Di didn't say much.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Concubine Wang had prepared a lot of speeches, but she didn't expect Zhu Di to agree so immediately. She was so busy expressing her gratitude that she couldn't react for a while.

"Since you are in a hurry to save people, go quickly." Zhu Di not only agreed, but also urged him in an uncharacteristically aggressive manner.

The Palace of Prince Han, where Concubine Guo resides.

Zhu Gaoxu was here with her at this time. "Doctor, can you find out the medicine?" Zhu Gaoxu asked.

"This, I am not too sure, but if the princess continues to be unconscious, I am afraid the palace will send a doctor over? What if the prince in the palace finds out something?" Concubine Guo had never been so scared before. Although she coveted the position of princess before, she still did not dare to really kill the princess. But she did not expect Zhu Gaoxu to be so cruel. It is said that a husband and wife will be grateful to each other for a hundred days after they are married for a day, but now it seems that it is just...

"What you said makes sense, but if the palace insists on sending someone over, I can't refuse. In that case, the best way now is to let her..." Zhu Gaoxu looked ferocious.

"The prince wants the princess to..."

"Your Highness, the Imperial Concubine just said from the palace that the imperial physician will be here soon. Would you like to go out and take a look?" the servant reported.

"The Imperial Concubine asked the imperial physician to come over?" Zhu Gaoxu stood up in surprise.

"Yes, this is news that just came out from the palace. The palace physician is coming, and the princess may be saved." The servant said with a happy look on his face.

"I understand. You can go down first." After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu immediately decided that the princess could not stay.

"Father, how is mother?" Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Zhanqi had been waiting at the door, but Zhu Gaoxu refused to let them in.

"I've already told you that your mother hasn't woken up yet, so go back first. By the way, the imperial physician sent from the palace will be here soon, so you can go outside the mansion to greet him." Zhu Gaoxu sent them away.

"Yes." When the two heard that the imperial physician was coming, they hurried out.

Zhu Gaoxu waited until they were gone and then walked in alone.

The Princess of Han was lying on the bed with a pale face. If she was not still breathing, at first glance you would think that the person lying on the bed had stopped breathing.

"Princess, don't blame me. Even if I owe you in this life, I will pay you back in the next life if you want to collect the debt." Zhu Gaoxu said to himself.

"Father, the imperial physician is here." The Zhu Zhanhe brothers brought the imperial physician in from outside. As soon as he came in, they saw Zhu Gaoxu crying with tears streaming down his face.

"Father, what's wrong?" Zhu Zhanqi suddenly had a bad feeling, "Could it be mother..."

"Imperial Physician, Imperial Physician, please come and take a look. How is my mother?" Zhu Zhanhe shouted.

"Prince, don't get excited. I'll come over and take a look." The imperial physician let go of his hand in fright as soon as he felt the Princess Han's pulse.

"Your Majesty, Prince, Your Highness, the Princess has already..."

"What nonsense are you talking about? My mother is still lying here well. If you dare to talk nonsense, I will bury your whole family with her." Before the imperial physician could finish his words, Zhu Zhanqi pulled him up by the collar.

"Second Prince, even if you kill me today, the princess will never come back."

"Xiaoqi, let go." Zhu Zhanhe grabbed his brother's hand and shouted.

Zhu Zhanqi was very angry at the time and would not listen to anything. He refused to let go. Zhu Zhanhe pulled his hand off with force, and Zhu Zhanqi finally let go.

Zhu Gaoxu calmed down and walked over to say, "The imperial physician should report the truth to your majesty and the imperial concubine. This incident happened suddenly and I am afraid that I cannot provide a good reception."

The imperial physician finally released his neck and took a deep breath. "I understand. Your Majesty, please accept my condolences."

After returning to the palace, the imperial physician reported the affairs of the Prince of Han's Mansion to Concubine Wang.

"I understand. Thank you for your hard work, Imperial Physician." Concubine Wang said after a long silence.

"My lady, don't be too sad. This is inevitable."

"Maybe if I had asked the imperial physician to go earlier, maybe it wouldn't have happened..." Concubine Wang suddenly blamed herself, thinking that she was too slow. "I should have asked the imperial physician to go first, and then told His Majesty, so I wouldn't have wasted so much time. Didn't His Majesty urge me at that time?"

"My lady, how can you be blamed for this? You have done your best, and that is enough."

Concubine Wang was still blaming herself when she heard that the emperor had arrived.

With a quick thought, he went out to greet him.

"Why is your majesty here at this time?"

"I heard that the Princess of Han has already..." Zhu Di helped her walk in.

"Your Majesty, was it my fault that I was delayed? If..." Concubine Wang suddenly couldn't hold back her tears.

"I knew you might blame yourself, so I came here specially to see you. Don't think too much. We can't change anything." Zhu Di said while holding her in his arms with heartache.

"But Your Majesty urged me at that time, but I didn't expect that I still couldn't catch up."

"You may be a little surprised today why I agreed so quickly." Zhu Di couldn't bear to see her sad anymore, so he changed the subject.

"It's indeed a bit unexpected. Is there any reason?" asked Concubine Wang.

Zhu Di did not answer immediately. He thought for a while, looked into the distance and said, "In the past, when Taizu was in power, the harem was not allowed to invite imperial physicians. Only Your Majesty and the Empress had this right at any time. My mother died because of this, so later I abolished this rule. All the concubines in the harem have the right to invite imperial physicians, just to prevent the tragedy of my mother from happening again. So you see, it's not your fault. If you want to talk about it, it may also be my fault. I didn't consider the situation that if a relative has something wrong, it might be too late to send an imperial physician from the palace."

"Your Majesty, your mother, didn't you grow up under the lap of the Empress?" Don't say that Concubine Wang didn't know Zhu Di's mother. If it weren't for today's incident, Zhu Di himself would have forgotten that he had a mother. In order to sit on the throne legitimately, she did not hesitate to erase everything about her biological mother, making everyone think that he was born by Empress Gao and was a legitimate son. But deep in his heart, he knew that it was just false evidence he used to deceive the world and future generations.

"Yes, my mother died very early, so I grew up with Empress Gao. She was sick, but because we couldn't find an imperial physician, the treatment was delayed, so..."

"No wonder Your Majesty..."

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Han's Mansion is now holding a funeral. I'm afraid the Prince of Han cannot leave Beijing so soon, right?" Concubine Wang asked after she calmed down.

"I didn't expect this matter of leaving the capital would have so many twists and turns. I feel like this decision is not appropriate. It's not going smoothly." Zhu Di said with some self-mockery, "But you are right. I'm afraid the King of Han won't be able to leave for a while. Let him leave the capital with the Crown Prince when the time comes. It should be about the same by then."

The next day, Zhu Di called Zhu Gaoxu to the palace to talk to him about this matter.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Gaoxu refused this time, contrary to his usual style. "Father, our family has suffered many misfortunes during this period. I don't want to stay in the capital any longer. After I have taken care of the princess's funeral, I will rush to the fiefdom. The princess said before that she wanted to visit the fiefdom earlier, but I didn't expect to wait until then. I ask for your permission to carry the coffin north to Le'an to bury the princess. I have been in the capital for too long, and everyone is worried. Fortunately, I can go to the fiefdom earlier and settle down." Zhu Gaoxu knelt down and kowtowed.

It was rare for Zhu Di to see his son so serious. He didn't react for a long time. After thinking about his words, he felt that there was nothing wrong. Since he didn't want to stay, he couldn't force him. Their family had been busy during this period. Maybe it would be better for him to settle down in his fiefdom.

"I am very pleased that you think so. Let's do as you say and let the princess be buried in the north." Zhu Di naturally agreed.

"Thank you, father." Zhu Gaoxu kowtowed to express his gratitude.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Han looks much better than before." Wang Jinghong said, looking at Zhu Gaoxu's back.

"As one experiences more things, one will naturally mature. After all, the princess has been his wife for many years. When the late queen left, I was also distracted like him." Zhu Di recalled the past.