I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 148: Prince Xing is about to cry

Concubine Shao's life was quite hard. Her sons were all given fiefs one after another, leaving her alone in the palace, and she received one bad news after another.
Her second son, Prince Qi Zhu Youqi, was enfeoffed in De'an Prefecture in the eighth year of Hongzhi's reign, and then died in the fourteenth year of Hongzhi's reign. Because he had no offspring, the kingdom was abolished.

Her third son, Prince Yong Zhu You, was enfeoffed in Hengzhou (now Hengyang) in the 12th year of Hongzhi. In the 2nd year of Zhengde, he was injured by the collapse of the palace in Hengzhou due to an earthquake. He died soon after without a son, and his kingdom was abolished. This way of death is unique among the princes of the Ming Dynasty.

His first son, Prince Xing Zhu Youlang, had two sons and four daughters, but one son and two daughters died young.

Concubine Shao in the deep palace heard that her sons had died one by one, and her grandchildren had died young. This was a huge blow to her. It was extremely painful for the elderly to see their children die young, but she was just a powerless concubine, so what could she do? She could only cry and cry.
The former imperial concubine, now a marginal figure in the Forbidden City, Concubine Shao cried her eyes blind.

In real history, the old lady was in relatively good health and lived until November of the first year of the Jiajing reign. She managed to survive in the Forbidden City and waited until her grandson, her only grandson, inherited the throne.

Prince Xing Zhu Youlang was extremely distraught at this time. He had lost all the reserve of an adult and showed his most vulnerable and helpless state in front of Zhu Houxuan.

Zhu Houxuan sighed in his heart. He really did not lie about this matter. He did meet Concubine Shao when he went to Beijing four years ago. Concubine Shao was indeed blind. It was just that they did not meet by chance. Instead, he took the initiative to find Concubine Shao. He had already made arrangements in advance at that time. Concubine Shao was also considered a relatively important figure.

However, what he didn't expect was that Prince Xing Zhu Youju didn't know this news. He was immediately shocked when he heard the news.
"Uncle Xing, please take care of yourself and don't cry too much." Zhu Houxuan handed a handkerchief to Xing, the Prince Zhu Youlang, who was crying.

"My uncle and I are already parents, so we can naturally understand Concubine Shao's painstaking efforts. Concubine Shao must be afraid that my uncle would be sad after knowing the news, so she has concealed it from him until now. After all, the royal family system is there, what can my uncle do even if he knows the news?" Zhu Houxuan comforted him.

After hearing this, Prince Xing Zhu Youlu cried even louder, and it took a while for him to stop crying. "No wonder my mother has not seen the messengers I sent to greet her since six years ago, and only asked questions through the curtain. So that's how it is, so that's how it is! I wonder what my mother is like now?"

Zhu Houxuan thought about it and said honestly: "The body of Concubine Shao is still strong, but her energy is not enough, and her hair is all white."

Upon hearing this, Prince Xing Zhu Youlang's defenses broke down again, and tears welled up in his eyes again, "Nineteen years! Nineteen years! I haven't seen my mother for nineteen years! I miss my mother so much! When I left the capital, my mother still had a head full of black hair, but now it's all white. I'm unfilial! I'm incompetent! I left my mother alone in the deep palace, and I'm afraid I'll never see my mother again in this life" he wailed in great sorrow.

Zhu Houxun, who was watching on the side, also felt sympathetic. The harsh feudal system of the Ming Dynasty had caused countless human tragedies!
"I am my mother's only child now, but I can't do anything. I can only let my mother stay in the deep palace and grow old day by day. My mother is in that condition, but she still hides her situation from me, fearing that I will worry about her too much. I am not worthy of being a son!" Prince Xing Zhu Youlang cried like a tearful man and almost collapsed from crying.

Zhu Houxuan looked at Prince Xing Zhu Youlang's expression and knew that he had to intervene now, otherwise Prince Xing Zhu Youlang might really end up in trouble.

He grabbed Prince Xing Zhu Youji's shoulders with both hands and shook him vigorously, which made Prince Xing Zhu Youji sober up a little from his sorrow. "Why can't you do anything? If you miss Concubine Shao so much, just take him from the palace to Anlu Prefecture!"

Prince Xing Zhu Youju stared at Zhu Houxuan blankly and said aggrievedly: "I have petitioned for this matter before, but all my requests fell on deaf ears. There is no precedent for this matter, and the court will definitely not allow it."

There was indeed no precedent for this matter. This memorial would not be taken as a big deal even if it was submitted to the Imperial Household Department, and Zhu Houzhao probably had never even seen the memorial.

Seeing that Prince Xing Zhu Youlang was becoming listless again, Zhu Houxuan became a little angry. He shook him again and said loudly: "Is there any precedent for me to go to the capital to manage the royal family's industry? This is an era of change. Don't be bound by past experience. Everything is possible!"

A glimmer of hope suddenly flashed across the dull eyes of Prince Xing Zhu Youju, and he said anxiously, "Yes! Yes! Everything depends on human effort! Everything depends on human effort!"

He grabbed Zhu Houxuan's shoulder and said anxiously: "Nephew, help me, nephew, help me! Nephew, you have such a good relationship with His Majesty, you can definitely help me, right?"

"This matter is difficult and simple. Your Majesty is not the kind of person who sticks to the rules, but uncle still wants to show his value to Your Majesty. There is such an opportunity right now." Zhu Houxuan reminded. "Yes! Yes! Lend money to Your Majesty, right? I have been a vassal for a short time. Fortunately, I don't like extravagance and have saved some money. It is about 300,000 taels of silver. I will lend it to Your Majesty. I will present it to Your Majesty as long as Your Majesty allows me to take my mother to Anlu Prefecture." Xing Wang Zhu Youlu said anxiously.

"What do you mean by presenting it to your majesty?" Zhu Houxuan scolded, "If this gets out, people will think that your majesty is using Concubine Shao to threaten my uncle. This method is absolutely not feasible."

"Then what should my dear nephew do about this matter?" Prince Xing Zhu Youlang ignored Zhu Houxuan's scolding and said in a panic.

"Uncle Xing still wants to lend the silver to Your Majesty, but the interest is..."

"I don't want any interest!" Prince Xing Zhu Youju said hurriedly.

"Then I would like to thank Uncle Xing on behalf of His Majesty, but there are still some things I would like to ask Uncle Xing for help with."

"Nephew, please tell me. I will help you if I can!"

"Although Uncle Xing Wang's loan is interest-free, I hope that when we publicize it to the public, it will be said that Uncle Xing Wang asked for 60% interest."

"This is easy, just do as my nephew says."

"Also, next I will go and persuade other princes to borrow money, so I ask uncle to help persuade other princes secretly."

"That's no problem. I will do my best to persuade him." Prince Xing Zhu Youqiu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then the matter of welcoming the Concubine Dowager out of the palace will be left to my nephew. When I arrive in Beijing, I will inform Your Majesty of all the efforts that Uncle Xing has made to raise funds for Your Majesty when Your Majesty is happy, and then I will propose the matter of welcoming the Concubine Dowager out of the palace at the appropriate time."

Upon hearing this, Prince Xing Zhu Youju felt more relieved and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, my nephew."

"Uncle Prince Xing, don't worry too much about the capital. We will return it intact in three years." Zhu Houxuan couldn't help but say.

"As long as we can bring my mother back, these floating assets are not important." Prince Xing Zhu Youlu said firmly.

The two formed an alliance, and at this time Zhu Houxuan suddenly found that Zhu Houcong had woken up without knowing when.
"Cousin, when did you wake up?" Zhu Houxuan asked calmly.

"I woke up when my father started crying." Zhu Houcong said honestly.

Prince Xing Zhu Youjun looked at his son and didn't know what to say for a moment.
"I think my father is right. We should welcome grandma to Anlu Prefecture."

Prince Xing Zhu Youju's eyes suddenly turned red again.
(End of this chapter)