Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 28 The Emperor Summoned Me Late at Night
Late at night, the palace.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. At that moment, our Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, dressed in off-white cotton clothes, with a golden cord around his waist, lay on his side on his small soft couch, covered with a golden dragon quilt, reading the memorials in his hand. Around him, piles of memorials filled the small couch to the brim, almost drowning the Yongle Emperor.

Elsewhere, a group of ministers gathered around a table, attending to various matters at hand. It was already late at night, but they still dared not leave. Each one of them forced themselves to work hard, excitedly following their boss, Emperor Yongle, through the night.

At this time, Emperor Yongle looked at the memorials in his hand, and the more he read, the more unhappy he became. Although these memorials were handled very well, it was precisely because of the good handling that he felt even more unhappy.

With a "bang", our Emperor Yongle slammed the letter in his hand shut and threw it directly to the ground.

Seeing this, Little Nose, who was serving Emperor Yongle, hurried over with small steps and light hands, bent down and skillfully picked up the memorial again, and then put it on the other side. These were the memorials that Emperor Yongle had reviewed.

Then, our Emperor Yongle's face turned ashen, and he opened the memorial in his hand again with anger. He took a look at it and then closed it again heavily.

The sound of "pop" was the sound of the folding paper being closed, and the newly closed folding paper was thrown casually on the small couch.

"Where is the prince? Go find him and ask him to come see me!" Emperor Yongle stood up, got off the couch and roared angrily.

Seeing this, Little Nose hurried to the emperor and looked at Emperor Yongle who suddenly lost his composure with a look of astonishment.

"Your Majesty, it's late at night, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not in the palace." Little Sniffle looked at the gloomy Emperor Yongle, feeling drunk in his heart. "You're not sleeping in the middle of the night, and you're suddenly looking for the Crown Prince. Where can I find His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for you in the middle of the night?! Should I go to the Crown Prince's Mansion and call him over now?"
"Go and call the prince over to me." Little Nose's guess turned out to be correct. The next moment, Emperor Yongle asked to call the prince over. Emperor Yongle was in a bad mood at the moment, so he wanted to see his fat son.

"Yes." Little Nose had no choice but to accept the order respectfully and prepare to go and wake up the prince.

"And call Prince Han over here too!" Little Snot had just taken two steps when the deep voice of Emperor Yongle came again.

"Yes." Little Nose quickly stopped, turned to look at Emperor Yongle again, and respectfully accepted the order.

Little Sniffle turned around again and walked outside. He walked lightly when passing by the ministers. He didn't want to cause trouble for these ministers who were working overtime late at night.

After leaving the palace gate, Little Sniff looked at the bright moon in the sky, sighed helplessly, and personally led the eunuchs out.

At night, Zhu Zhanhe, who had just finished fighting with his two beautiful girls, was still unsatisfied and kept pinching things with his hands. He was just about to go and see where his big crocodile was and when it would reach the port, when he suddenly heard a noisy sound outside.

He suddenly sat up and listened carefully to see what was going on. However, the noise was a bit too noisy and he couldn't hear clearly what was being said.

"Knock, knock, knock, Master, it's me, Xiao Xizi," there was a sudden knock on the door. Zhu Zhanhe didn't care about anything else and stood up straight away, picked up a set of pajamas from the window and put them on. The two little girls were already exhausted and fell asleep. They didn't hear the knock at all and didn't wake up at all!

"Come in." After Zhu Zhanhe put on a gray pajamas, he asked Xiao Xizi to come in.

"Young Master!" Xiao Xizi bowed respectfully to Zhu Zhanhe after entering the room.

"What happened outside?" Zhu Zhanhe was a little unhappy at this time. He had already been angry and hadn't vented it. Now someone disturbed his sleep, which made him feel bad. His tone was full of dissatisfaction.

"My Lord, the snotty eunuch from the palace is here, and he wants the prince to enter the palace now!" As soon as Xiao Xizi entered the room, he felt that the atmosphere in the room was not right, and the air was full of oppression. His Lord was in a bad mood! Xiao Xizi knew that he had disturbed the Lord's sleep, which must have made him unhappy, so he quickly bent over and started to explain, his voice trembling.

"Huh?! Entering the palace now?" Zhu Zhanhe was also shocked. Suddenly having someone enter the palace in the middle of the night couldn't be a good thing. He didn't even notice Xiao Xizi's panic. "Help me change clothes." So Zhu Zhanhe didn't hesitate at all and directly asked Xiao Xizi to help him change clothes.

"Yes!" Zhu Zhanhe was guessing various reasons and excuses in his mind, so his brows were always furrowed, and the atmosphere in the air was always depressing.

Xiao Xizi felt the terrifying atmosphere in the air, but he did not dare to hesitate at all. He quickly helped Zhu Zhanhe comb his hair and put on his clothes.

When Zhu Zhanhe arrived at the hall, Prince Han and Princess Princess were already there.

"Dad, Mom, and Eunuch Yi (Little Sniffle)" After Zhu Zhanhe came to the main hall, he greeted his parents and Eunuch Yi (Little Sniffle) who was dressed in a red robe respectively.

"Prince of Han" Little Nose was also very surprised when he looked at the burly and strong Prince of Han in front of him. He had never seen Prince of Han so strong before. It had only been a short time since they last met, but he had become so strong. Moreover, his face was full of majesty, which made him feel as if he had seen Emperor Yongle.

"He'er, why are you here? Your grandfather summoned me, so I'll go. You and your mother wait at home." Prince Han Zhu Gaoxu was also very confused at this time. His father suddenly summoned him in the middle of the night, and he was afraid that it was not a good thing, but he was not afraid. He still comforted his son and daughter-in-law.

Princess Wei didn't say a word, but just carefully arranged her husband's clothes, checking everything from the collar to the hem, from the belt to the jade pendant.

"Don't worry, Princess. The Emperor has also summoned the Crown Prince this time. I guess he wants to ask about some matters concerning the expedition." Little Nose saw that Princess Wei of Han was nervous, and quickly spoke to comfort her.

He had already been to the Prince's Mansion, and after leaving the Prince's Mansion, he went directly to the Prince of Han's Mansion. The Prince had already set off first, so the Prince of Han also had to hurry.

"That's good, that's good." When Princess Han heard that the Crown Prince was also going, she instantly felt relieved. After all, the Crown Prince was a generous man. With him around, at least the life of her own Crown Prince Han was guaranteed.

"Let's go." Prince Han looked indifferent. He knew that his father liked him and would not do anything to him, so he patted his wife's hand, gave his son a comforting look, turned around and walked out.

"Princess, Prince, the emperor is still waiting, I'll take my leave first." Seeing that Prince Han was so straightforward, Little Nose quickly said goodbye to Princess Han and Prince Han, and quickly chased after them.

"He'er...!?" Princess Han looked at her husband walking away, and the eunuchs in the palace, and she couldn't hold it in any longer. Seeing her son almost burst into tears, she could guess that her husband must have done a lot to win the throne. If something happened, what would happen to his family and his son?!

"Your Majesty, the prince will be fine," Aunt Xiu'er also hurried to comfort her.

"Mom, don't worry, my dad is fine, my uncle is here." Zhu Zhanhe looked at his mother with tears in her eyes and hurried to comfort her.

"How can I feel at ease? It's all about that position. What's so good about that position? What good can happen in the middle of the night?" Although Princess Wei also thought that the prince was a kind-hearted person, she was still unsure.

"Mom, my grandfather will be fine. He hates fratricide the most. With my uncle here, the worst outcome won't happen. All they need to do is ask my father to hand over his military power and ask him to return to his fiefdom as soon as possible. That's all." Zhu Zhanhe recalled the original plot in his mind, but because so much time had passed, some of it was not very clear. But he clearly remembered that Prince Han died during the Xuande Dynasty! So this time, there was nothing wrong at all.

"It's good to return to the fiefdom, it's good to return to the fiefdom," the Princess of Han murmured to herself.

Seeing his mother losing her composure, Zhu Zhanhe didn't go back to sleep. Instead, he stayed here with his mother and waited for Prince Han to come back!

　Imperial prisons, also known as "Jinyiwei prisons," were Ming Dynasty prisons operated by eunuchs and special agents. In addition to the prisons established by the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Censorate, the Jinyiwei, the Pacification Office, the East Factory, and the West Factory also operated specialized prisons.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)