If not abolished

Chapter 169 Afterwards

The next morning, Zhu Gaochi woke up with a hangover headache. When he opened his eyes, he saw a woman lying beside him, and he was immediately awakened by the shock.

"Why are you here?" Zhu Gaochi's brows were knotted when he saw clearly that it was the palace maid he brought back from Concubine Guo.

"Your Highness..." Qingluan turned around and said.

"Get lost!" Zhu Gaochi didn't have time to talk nonsense with her.

Qingluan was so scared that she immediately put on her clothes, got out of bed and knelt beside him.

Zhu Gaochi also put on his clothes in a hurry, rubbed his temple and shouted outside the hall: Someone come here.

The eunuch immediately opened the door and came in. Looking at the situation inside, he felt a chill in his heart. Why did he feel that something was wrong?

"Go and call the Crown Princess over, and don't alarm anyone." Zhu Gaochi no longer wanted to know how all this happened. It had already happened, and there was no point in saying more. The most urgent task was to find a solution.

"Yes."

The Crown Princess's place.

"The Crown Princess doesn't look very well?" Yun Jin said as he looked at the Crown Princess's tired expression.

"I don't know why, but I couldn't sleep well. I even had a dream in the second half of the night, but I couldn't remember it after I woke up," the Crown Princess said as she sat down. "My eyelids kept twitching, and I felt like something was wrong."

"They say dreams can be detrimental to the mind, Crown Princess, please have a good rest later."

"Well, is everything okay with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?" asked the Crown Princess.

"Your Highness did not go to that lady's place yesterday. He stayed alone in the main hall. There should be nothing wrong."

"That's good. I wonder when Agui will come back?" The Crown Princess instinctively felt that her son was more reliable.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. We have already sent someone. His Royal Highness will definitely return to the palace today at the latest."

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asks you to come over." A palace maid suddenly came to report.

"So early, did you tell me what it is?" The Crown Princess was surprised.

The palace maid shook her head and said, "Just tell your Majesty to go over there quickly."

The Crown Princess arrived at the main hall in confusion. Just as she was about to go in, the eunuch said, "His Highness said that only the Crown Princess can go in."

"You all wait outside." The Crown Princess ordered, then walked in alone.

"See Your Highness."

"You're here." Zhu Gaochi was in great distress, and when he saw the Crown Princess coming, it was like he saw a savior.

The Crown Princess looked up and saw the Crown Prince sitting aside, wearing only his inner garments, and a palace maid kneeling on the other side.

"Your Highness, what's going on?" The Crown Princess looked at the scene and had a guess in her mind, but based on her understanding of the Crown Prince as a couple over many years, she knew that the Crown Prince would not do such a thing. However, the Crown Prince had been acting out of character these past few days, and she suddenly became unsure.

"I don't know what happened. It was like this when I woke up in the morning. I only remember that I drank a lot of wine last night, and then..." Zhu Gaochi really didn't remember anything at all. He really didn't know whether he had done it or not.

The Crown Princess found a seat and sat down. Since the Crown Prince didn't know what was going on, this palace maid must not be drunk.

"Since Your Highness doesn't remember, what about her? She must know what happened, right? Look up and answer. Tell me everything that happened last night."

"I have met the Crown Princess. What happened is this: Last night, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was in a bad mood and drank too much. Then I asked Eunuch Lu to put sobering soup in a wine jar and coaxed His Royal Highness to drink it to sober him up. I can find witnesses to this." Qingluan said in a tearful voice.

"And then, how did you get to His Highness's bed?"

"Later, I and Eunuch Lu helped His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to his room to rest. I was originally preparing to leave, but at this moment His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly grabbed me and wouldn't let me leave..." Qingluan glanced at the Crown Prince as she spoke.

"What do you think, Your Highness? Can we trust what this palace maid said?" After hearing this, the Crown Princess immediately asked the Crown Prince.

The prince called Eunuch Lu in again to question him, and what the two said was almost the same.

"This palace maid looks unfamiliar. Is she new to His Highness?" The Crown Princess stared at Qingluan for a long time and found her very unfamiliar.

"What new one? It's the one we brought over from Guo's place two days ago." The prince now deeply regretted his sudden decision. What was going on?

"So it's her?" The Crown Princess thought to herself that this person is really not a simple one. If Guo knew about this, she would be so angry that her face would turn green.

"What do you think we should do about this?" The prince really had no idea what to do and had to ask the princess for help.

"Didn't Your Highness say yesterday that you would not let me be in charge from now on?" The Crown Princess was still angry when she thought about what happened yesterday.

"Yesterday I was just foolish for a moment. Your Majesty, please be magnanimous and forgive me this time, okay?" The prince also knew that some of the things he had done in the past few days were indeed shameful, and now he could only beg for forgiveness.

"Your Highness was very tough at the time, but now you know you were wrong?"

"I know. I really know."

"This matter is easy to handle, but it is also difficult to handle. It is just a palace maid. If His Highness favors her, then we can keep her in the East Palace. But it may be difficult to explain to Guo. You know Miss Guo's temper?"

"It's already this late. No matter what I do, she will be angry. If she does anything, you are the Crown Princess, the mistress of the East Palace, so you have to do what you have to do."

“Your Highness, it’s easy for you to say it now. If you feel sad again later, it will be all my fault.” The Crown Princess knew that the Crown Prince was angry with Guo. Who knows what will happen when his anger subsides in a few days?

"When have I ever told you about this? Just let you handle it. I have no objection."

"Then give this maid a title."

"what ever."

At this moment, Qingluan, who had been silent for a while, suddenly said, "Your Highness, Madam, I have something to say. I cannot accept this title."

"Oh, this is a rare thing. I'd like to hear the reason." The Crown Princess didn't find anyone who didn't want a title. If it were an ordinary palace maid, she would have been extremely happy and would never refuse.

"In reply to the Crown Princess, actually...actually nothing happened between me and His Royal Highness last night. His Royal Highness was extremely drunk at the time and fell asleep in a short while. He just held on to me and wouldn't let go, so I had to..."

After hearing Qingluan's words, the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess looked at each other and exchanged glances.

Finally, it was the Crown Princess who said, "Although nothing happened between you and the Crown Prince, you stayed in His Royal Highness's room for a whole night. Others will not care whether it was true or false. If the news reaches His Majesty's ears, the Crown Prince will probably be reprimanded. So now, whether you are willing or not, this matter cannot be undone."

"This... I understand. I'll leave it to the Crown Princess to decide." Qingluan bit her lip, looking at a loss.

"now it's right."

After dealing with this matter, the Crown Princess personally helped the Crown Prince to wash and go to court.

"Your Highness, please stop being willful. This incident is a lesson for you. Fortunately, this palace maid is not too fussy. If it were someone else, I'm afraid the matter would have been settled long ago."

“I know, and I won’t do it again next time. I have been acting badly these past few days, and I shouldn’t have said such things to you. If it weren’t for you all these years, I would have been dead in this palace a long time ago…” The prince knew very well that the reason he was able to keep his position as the emperor was largely because he had a good wife and a good son.

"It's good that you understand, Your Highness. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes."

After the Crown Princess returned, she arranged a side palace for Qingluan to live in.

“Send two more people to serve. Don’t be negligent. If Guo bullies others, report to me immediately.” The Crown Princess had already thought that if Guo knew about this, Qingluan would probably suffer.

"Why does your majesty want to protect Qingluan? Even if Concubine Guo goes to cause trouble for her, it has nothing to do with us."

"Who said I would protect her? I'm just looking for a reason to punish Guo. Although the prince has been angry with her these past two days, now something like this has happened. If she doesn't make a fuss, Your Highness will definitely feel guilty. Then she'll cry in front of Your Highness, and Your Highness won't feel bad. But if she gets angry and causes trouble for Qingluan, what will Your Highness think?"

"So that's it."

"After all, we are master and servant. Remember to arrange a palace closer to the Guo family."

"clear."

The matter in the palace was basically settled. On the other side, Zhu Zhanji and Hu Shanxiang hurried back to the palace after receiving the news.

On the way, Hu Shanxiang asked, "Why are we suddenly asked to go back? Is there something wrong in the palace?"

"Originally I thought something had happened, but the person who came didn't seem to be in a hurry. He just told us to go back without saying what happened. It didn't feel like anything big had happened. Maybe we were out for a little too long this time, so mother asked someone to ask us to go back?" Zhu Zhanji speculated.

"The Crown Princess must be getting anxious waiting in the palace. Will I be scolded when I get back?" Hu Shanxiang thought to herself, isn't that usually the case? When the mother-in-law gets angry, she naturally won't say anything about her precious son. Wouldn't that be scolding the daughter-in-law?

"Don't worry, if mother has anything to say, it will be me. She will definitely not say anything about you." Zhu Zhanji said confidently. No matter in the past life or this life, his mother loved Shanxiang very much and would never say a word about her even if she scolded him, her own son.

The two finally returned before lunch, and after eating, they went to pay their respects to the Crown Princess.

"See mother."

"Get up quickly." The Crown Princess said to Hu Shanxiang.

The two of them stood up together.

"Who told you to get up?" These words were obviously directed at Zhu Zhanji.

Zhu Zhanji knew that the Crown Princess smiled and asked Hu Shanxiang to sit down.

"Mother." Zhu Zhanji shouted.

"I heard you. No need to shout," the Crown Princess continued, "Did you have a good time out there?"

"It's okay." Zhu Zhanji thought for a while and said.

"You didn't even know to come back. If I hadn't sent someone to invite you, would you have planned to spend the holiday outside?"

"That's not the case."

"Mother, you can't blame Your Highness entirely. This matter is also my fault..." Hu Shanxiang was about to say something to Zhu Zhanji.

"Don't say anything. I don't know him yet. He must be the one who wants to play."

"Mother is right. It was because my son was playing around. But is there something wrong with mother suddenly calling us back?"

"There was something wrong originally, but it should be fine now. Let's get up."

"Thank you mother."