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

Chapter 42 Prince Han is Sick 2
"Nephew meets Uncle San"

"Meet uncle"

"Sister-in-law is well"

"Hello, nephew. I heard that you went to the Taoist temple again." Zhu Gaosui, Zhu Zhanhe, Princess Wei of Han and others greeted each other.

As soon as Prince Zhao opened his mouth, he showed his ability to command the Jinyiwei personal army.

"Third uncle is very observant. I'm going to see the teacher. He is already in his seventies. It's always good to see him more often." Zhu Zhanhe had a good impression of his third uncle and spoke very politely.

Prince Zhao, however, was stunned. "What's going on? Why am I a little scared of this kid? Is he tall? Does that mean he's intimidating?" Bronze Pea was filled with wonder. He didn't dare to stare at his nephew any longer and quickly averted his gaze.

"Cough, cough." Prince Zhao coughed twice to cover up his embarrassment.

"Nephew, come on, take me to see your father." After Tongwandou felt that he was not so embarrassed anymore, he enthusiastically grabbed Zhu Zhanhe's hand and asked him to take him to see his second brother to check his condition.

"Mother, my third uncle and I will go see father. You continue to watch." Zhu Zhanhe had already noticed the thick stack of papers piled on the other side behind his mother. They were probably candidates for selecting a daughter-in-law!
"Sister-in-law, I'm going to see my second brother. You go ahead and do your work." Tong Wandou also hurriedly said goodbye to his second sister-in-law.

Princess Wei glanced at the two people who left, sighed softly, and continued to look through the portraits with Aunt Xiu'er.

On the other side, Zhu Zhanhe and his third uncle Tongwandou had already entered the bedroom.

As soon as Zhu Zhanhe opened the door, he felt a burst of heat. After entering, he found that the doors and windows around were closed, and there was a brazier lit in the room.

What was going on? Zhu Zhanhe entered the room, bewildered, and saw his father lying on the bed, the curtains drawn, covered with a thick quilt, and coughing non-stop.

"Second brother? Are you really sick?" Zhu Gaosui, the bronze pea, was also confused after entering the room. Looking at the furnishings in the room, he thought that the second brother Zhu Gaoxu was really sick!
"Young Master! Prince Zhao!" When Butler Hu, who was standing in front of the window, saw the person coming in, his face was full of respect and he knelt down directly.

"Go down! I want to talk to my second brother." Prince Zhao wanted to discuss important matters with Prince Han, so he wanted Butler Hu to go down first.

But at this time, Manager Hu acted as if he had not heard what Prince Zhao said. He continued to kneel with a submissive look on his face, and from time to time he secretly glanced at Zhu Zhanhe out of the corner of his eyes.

Prince Zhao saw that after he had spoken, Manager Hu was still kneeling, and he looked unhappy.

"Second brother, what's going on?" Prince Zhao looked at the chief eunuch Hu who was still kneeling in front of him and asked in disbelief. How could this little chief eunuch have such courage to disobey me?

The Prince of Han also watched with great interest, without any intention of speaking, but just looked at his precious son again and again.

"Go down and guard the door strictly. Dad and Third Uncle, please tell me if you have anything to say. No one is allowed to come near!" Zhu Zhanhe noticed that Manager Hu was looking at him secretly and was a little confused, so he spoke directly for the sake of Prince Han's face.

"Yes!" After hearing what Zhu Zhanhe said, Manager Hu looked respectful, quickly got up, bent his waist, and slowly backed away.

Manager Hu didn't raise his head until he had retreated to the door. He then bowed slightly towards the room, not forgetting to close the door respectfully. He then let out a long sigh...

Prince Han, who was lying on the bed, witnessed everything that had just happened, but he had no intention of speaking.

After Hu left, Zhu Gaoxu jumped up from the bed with a look of excitement. "He'er! How was my performance?" Zhu Gaoxu looked at his son with a smug look, a look of joy and excitement, and asked if his pretending to be sick was real.

"There's nothing wrong with your appearance, father, but you should talk to Third Uncle about your business." Zhu Zhanhe looked at his father's excited face and knew that he was happy at the moment, so he didn't want to spoil his fun and started to praise him.

But I also didn't forget to remind my dad to get down to business!
"Ah. Yes, yes, yes. If you hadn't mentioned your third uncle, I would have forgotten about it." Prince Zhu Gaoxu of Han was stunned and looked confused. He had just forgotten about this!

At this time, Prince Zhao Zhu Gaosui was also shocked and thought to himself: You ignored me after entering the door, I thought you had something important to do, it turns out you forgot about me!

"Third brother, come, let's discuss something important!" Prince Han finally remembered his third brother after his son's reminder. He immediately changed his previous unreliable attitude and immediately got into the state of mind, going to the small study behind the bedroom first.

"Okay, second brother!" Zhu Gaosui, the Bronze Pea, didn't mind what happened just now and happily followed his second brother's pace.

"He'er, come and listen too." The Prince of Han who was walking in front suddenly called out to his beloved son to come and listen.

Prince Zhao, who was following behind Prince Han, paused, his expression complicated, and no one knew what he was thinking.

"Okay, Dad." Zhu Zhanhe was not polite and directly followed the footsteps of the two people in front.

In the small study, Prince Han, Prince Zhao, and Crown Prince Han were gathered around a desk, on which was placed a map of the entire Yingtian Prefecture.

"Third brother, we'll start tomorrow. The request to change the city's defenses has definitely been approved by the Ministry of War. I'll bring Hu Tian's troops over to take over Yingtian City!

Third brother, take your men and make some noise to set fire to the gunpowder depot in the city.

"When the time comes, I'll take advantage of the chaos, lead my troops into the palace, and force the emperor to abdicate to me. By then, the overall situation will be settled, and you and I will share the throne!" Prince Zhu Gaoxu of Han, with a look of mastery and control, outlined the plan for tomorrow's attack.

Zhu Zhanhe looked at his father with a look of great ambition, and then looked at his third uncle with an excited look on the other side, and couldn't help feeling tired.

He really felt that his father's brain really needed to be carefully examined by an imperial physician!

His third uncle, Zhu Gaosui, was personally ordered by Emperor Yongle to take charge of the imperial guards! This position was the one the emperor trusted the most!

Moreover, Zhu Zhanhe remembered that after his grandfather Emperor Yongle moved the capital, Prince Zhao Zhu Gaosui was in charge of the military and political power of the entire city of Beijing!

His father, Prince Han, actually believed that Prince Zhao could join him in a rebellion. Is there really nothing wrong with his brain?
Yes! It is undeniable that Third Uncle Zhu Gaosui is definitely ambitious, but he has two older brothers! Even if one falls, there is still another! Only when both of them fall, can it be his turn to take the throne!

Otherwise, do you think Third Uncle is mentally ill for joining you in a rebellion? He must be hoping for you to rebel, so that something bad happens to both you and the Crown Prince! Then he can legitimately take the throne! That's the best outcome!

This is to imitate the old man, Emperor Yongle. The eldest brother died, the second brother died, and the third brother died, so as the fourth prince, he has the reason to ascend to the throne!
This little trick was clearly played by Uncle Tongwandou. Couldn't his father see it? Zhu Zhanhe was watching his father and Uncle Tongwan seriously discussing the rebellion plan for tomorrow, and he was also very tired!

　The Ming Dynasty's system of selecting concubines was relatively complex, with the following main features and procedures:
　　-Prefer poverty: The Ming Dynasty preferred women born in poverty when selecting concubines. Compared with daughters of prominent families, poor women were considered to have some advantages, such as relatively simple backgrounds in court struggles and being easier to be controlled by the royal family.

　　- Finalization: The remaining few dozen will enter the next round of assessment. Usually, the examiners are figures like the Empress Dowager or the Imperial Concubine Dowager. The assessment focuses on cultural knowledge and talents in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. The Emperor will ultimately select the person he favors as Empress, with the second and third positions usually being Imperial Concubines.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)