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

Chapter 223 The Collapse of Prince Zhao
"Erniu, send someone to deliver this information to Father and Third Uncle." After thinking for a moment, Zhu Zhanhe decided to inform his father and third uncle, who were currently rebelling, about the current situation in their fiefdom.

"Your subordinate obeys!" Liu Erniu replied decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

"The arrangements for the Prince's residence in the coming period have been mostly finalized."

Another point is that if there are suitable officials, it is advisable to reserve them in advance, as they will definitely come in handy later.

"Let's go back to the Prince's Mansion." After Zhu Zhanhe finished arranging and deploying the key tasks for the Prince's Mansion recently, he simply chose to head back home.

"Respectfully seeing off Your Highness!" The crowd responded in unison, as if they had rehearsed it beforehand.

After returning to the Prince's Mansion, Zhu Zhanhe took his third brother, Zhu Zhanci, to check on the children's studies. Meanwhile, the Crown Princess Xia, accompanied by her maid Xiaozhi, went to visit Princess Wei.

After entering the room, the Crown Princess Xia, the "mother," bowed respectfully to Princess Wei.

"Get up quickly, child. You're pregnant now. You need to learn to take care of yourself."

"Come, come to my side and let's talk." Princess Wei looked at her pregnant daughter-in-law with doting eyes, urging her to get up and sit down with her to rest. After all, the future grandson in the Crown Princess's belly was very important!
"Thank you, Mother." Princess Xia slowly rose, walked gracefully to the Queen, and quietly sat down next to Lady Wei.

"Tell me, what do you want to discuss with me?" Princess Wei looked at her daughter-in-law with a puzzled expression, inquiring about the reason for her visit. She knew very well that this daughter-in-law was a very filial and opinionated person, and anything that could make her indecisive was no small matter.

"Mother, I wish to take concubines on behalf of His Highness, and fill the vacancies for His Highness's secondary consorts, wives, noble consorts, and maids as soon as possible." The Crown Princess Xia said this with a firm expression, although even the Princess Consort Wei could see the faint sadness in her eyes.

"What? Guan'er, tell me, is it that brat He'er who forced you like this?"

"Just you wait, and see what your mother will do for you!" Upon hearing her daughter-in-law's words, Princess Wei stood up abruptly, her face filled with anger. She assumed that her son was pressuring the Crown Prince's wife to help him take a concubine because her daughter-in-law was pregnant.

"Mother, it's not like that. This was my idea, and it has nothing to do with His Highness. His Highness doesn't even know about this yet." Seeing that her mother had misunderstood, the Crown Princess Xia quickly stood up and took the hand of Princess Wei to explain.

"What?!" Princess Wei was stunned by her daughter-in-law's words. She never expected that the Crown Prince's wife would personally propose that the Crown Prince Zhu Zhanhe take a concubine while she was pregnant. She was very suspicious. What was her daughter-in-law thinking?

"Mother, it really wasn't His Highness's idea. He doesn't even know yet. This was my idea." Princess Xia, the Crown Prince's wife, took Princess Wei's hand, helped her sit up again, and explained.

"My lord, why?" Princess Wei was puzzled by her daughter-in-law's actions. Even if she was pregnant and unable to serve her husband, didn't she still have two maids and a dowry maid? Or, if she wanted to serve her husband well, she could simply take a concubine; why rush to fill the positions of the heir apparent's concubine and wife?

"Mother, His Highness displayed divine might today; he will surely have a bright future!"
"As the first wife, I am currently pregnant and wish to produce an heir for Your Highness as soon as possible to alleviate your worries about the future." The Crown Princess Xia's words made perfect sense, but what she truly meant was: Zhu Zhanhe has a bright future and must have offspring to protect him, as well as many offspring to stabilize his future rule. This matter should be addressed sooner rather than later!

Princess Xia was worried about her brothers-in-law seizing power in the future, so she had to give birth to an heir for her husband as soon as possible!
"My lord, I'm sorry to have wronged you." After hearing her daughter-in-law's explanation, Princess Wei understood her thoughts. Considering what had happened during the day, even she herself felt that her daughter-in-law's words made a lot of sense. However, it was indeed unfair to the newlywed bride, who had only been married for a little over a month and was already arranging for her husband to take a concubine. Feeling indebted to her daughter-in-law, Princess Wei affectionately patted her hand to comfort her.

“Mother, I’m not wronged. This is what I should do.” Princess Xia was comforted by Princess Wei’s words; after all, her mother-in-law was reasonable and kind. “Daughter-in-law, this matter can be handled. But only after you give birth to the eldest grandson. I think He’er will agree then. I’ve made the decision.” Princess Wei finally agreed to her daughter-in-law’s request.

After all, no matter how you looked at it, her daughter-in-law had handled the matter very well, and she had no reason to disagree. However, Princess Wei still postponed the matter for a while, waiting until the Crown Prince's wife, Xia, gave birth to the child before proceeding.

"Mother, if I give birth to a daughter..." Princess Xia knew very well that the reason her mother, Lady Wei, had postponed the matter was to wait until she gave birth to a son so that the position of the eldest grandson of the king could be directly established. However, whether a child is born a boy or a girl is not something they can decide!
"Didn't the old Taoist priest say that it was definitely a boy?" Princess Wei asked in surprise, noticing her daughter-in-law's doubts. After all, the old Taoist priest Zhang Zhengheng had said that it was definitely a boy.

“Mother, there’s always a chance of something going wrong!” Princess Xia said firmly. After all, no one can guarantee anything, and she wouldn’t gamble on uncertain factors.

"After you give birth, if you give birth to a princess, I will personally arrange for you to take a concubine. You should take good care of your health and serve the heir apparent again with the others. At that time, you will surely give birth to another heir apparent." Seeing her daughter-in-law's doubts, Princess Wei pondered for a moment and then came up with an idea. She said to her daughter-in-law meaningfully.

"Thank you, Mother!" A woman as intelligent as Princess Xia could easily understand the meaning behind Princess Wei's words. It was nothing more than the matter of the switched prince; however, since they were all His Highness's children, Princess Wei spoke with such confidence. Therefore, Princess Xia thanked Princess Wei for her actions.

"No need for that. I'm very satisfied with your honesty." Princess Wei was quite pleased with her daughter-in-law's frankness. After all, such tactics were not uncommon in the inner quarters, and how could Princess Xia, the Crown Prince's wife, not have thought of such a thing? However, Princess Wei was very pleased that her daughter-in-law had specifically told her about this matter.

"He'er has arranged for General Liu to send someone to find your father, and I will also write a letter to the Prince to inform him of your pregnancy and ask him to name the future eldest grandson." Princess Wei held her daughter-in-law's hand and told her another important matter: to ask the Prince of Han to name the child in Princess Xia's womb.

"Thank you, Mother. Thank you, Father." Princess Xia expressed her gratitude to her mother-in-law with great emotion. After all, the fact that the Prince of Han personally named the child meant that the Prince of Han acknowledged the future eldest grandson's status!

On the other side, Prince Han and Prince Zhao were in the rebellion camp.

"Crack!" The sound of ceramic shattering on the ground echoed continuously in Prince Zhao's room.

"Explain yourself! What exactly happened?!" In the room, Prince Zhao's voice, as mournful as an owl's, echoed throughout the entire space.

Then look at Prince Zhao, he's like a mad lone wolf, his eyes bloodshot, his hands clenched tightly on the table, veins bulging on his hands, craning his neck to look at a member of the Imperial Guard in front of him, questioning him angrily.

"Your Highness, we have checked it carefully several times."

His Highness had caught a cold while in Beijing, and his condition had been fluctuating since then, with the royal physicians taking care of him.

But after arriving at his fiefdom, His Highness the Crown Prince's condition gradually worsened, eventually becoming uncontrollable, and he subsequently died! The Imperial Guard standing opposite Prince Zhao was almost crying with fear. He was covered in cold sweat and his body was trembling unsteadily. He had come to inform Prince Zhao, Zhu Gaosui, of bad news: His Highness the Crown Prince, Zhu Zhanyi, had passed away!

"My little one!" In an instant, Prince Zhao's shrill and furious roar echoed throughout the empty room.

(End of this chapter)