If not abolished

Chapter 115: Mourning? Preparing to enter the palace

The Hu family was dealing with the old lady's funeral, so it was inconvenient for him to stay in the Hu Mansion, so he had to go back to the post station to stay first.

Huang Yan had not left yet and sent a carriage to the Hu family to pick up Zhu Zhanji.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince." Huang Yan took Zhu Zhanji to the prepared room.

Zhu Zhanji was still reeling from the sudden death of Mrs. Hu.

"Your Highness, please do not worry too much. Madam Hu's condition is beyond recovery. There is nothing we can do about it."

“But, originally I thought I brought the imperial physician to give her hope, but in the end it became a death warrant. As soon as we came here, the old lady no longer had any regrets or concerns in her heart, and she immediately…” If Zhu Zhanji knew that this would be the result, he should not have rushed here so hastily, and should have stayed on the road for a while longer.

"Your Highness, you would be punishing yourself too much if you do this. Birth, aging, illness and death are common to all people. The old lady is just holding on to her breath."

"It makes sense, everyone understands it, but..."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is tired, so take a good rest first." Huang Yan saw that no one could persuade him, so he thought about taking a nap and talking about it after waking up.

"You go out first." Zhu Zhanji also wanted to be alone and asked everyone to go out.

After a while, he was the only one left in the room. He sat down, looked at his chest, and recalled the scene of Shanxiang crying on his chest a few hours ago, as if he could still feel the warmth of those tears.

At this time, Hu Mansion.

The whole family was in grief. Hu Shanxiang originally thought she could hide away and be sad, but her mother asked her to go and take care of her younger sisters. The elders all had a lot of things to do, and her two brothers also went to help. The eldest sister had not come back yet. She was now the eldest sister in the family and had to take on the responsibility of taking care of her younger sisters.

"My daughter, mother knows you are sad too. You can take your sisters to stay in your yard first. There are many people in other rooms now. I will ask someone to call you if there is anything. Today, please help take care of your sisters." Mrs. Hu looked at her dazed daughter and repeatedly reminded her.

"I know. I will take good care of my sister. You can go about your business without worry, mother." Hu Shanxiang agreed.

"He's the best."

"Sister." Hu Shanyi held her hand.

"Xiaoyi, follow your sister." Mrs. Hu said to her youngest daughter.

Hu nodded in agreement.

Hu Shanxiang brought several of her sisters to her yard.

After a while, the servants brought mourning clothes and asked them to change.

After Hu Shanxiang changed her own clothes, she changed them for Hu Shanyi.

Hu Shanyi grabbed the white ribbon and asked, "Sister, will I never see grandma again?" He even started crying when he said this.

"Xiaoyi, be good. Grandma is going to a very far place. Didn't she say that she has been with us for so long? Now she has to go and accompany grandpa. Otherwise, grandpa will be very lonely, right?" Hu Shanxiang tried to hold back her tears to comfort her sister.

"Well, they say that grandma has gone to heaven and she is watching us from heaven, but how can we see her?"

"Grandma has become a star in the sky. From now on, when we look up at the stars at night, we are actually looking at Grandma."

"really?"

"real."

"Then I will look at the stars every day," Hu Shanyi looked up, saw the blue sky and white clouds, and said disappointedly, "Why isn't it night yet?"

The funeral of Mrs. Hu was scheduled for ten days later. Huang Yan had originally advised Zhu Zhanji to return to Beijing first. The Hu family would have to observe mourning, so Hu Shanxiang's entry into the palace would probably be shelved, and it would not be a good idea for Zhu Zhanji to stay here.

Zhu Zhanji did not agree and asked Huang Yan to go back first. He would wait until the funeral of Mrs. Hu before leaving, mainly because he wanted to see if there was a chance to see Hu Shanxiang again.

Sure enough, after the funeral of Mrs. Hu, the Hu family had finished all the matters and Hu Rong came to the post station to find him in person.

"Your Highness, I have something to explain to you," Hu Ronggong said.

"Master Hu, are you going to talk about the third young lady's entry into the palace?" Zhu Zhanji didn't beat around the bush with him.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is intelligent. It is because of this that my daughter has won your favor. This is a blessing for our family. Maybe my daughter is not lucky enough and has missed your Highness several times. I came here this time to tell your Highness that according to the rules, my daughter has to observe mourning for her grandmother for a year. In this case, she will not be able to enter the palace. However, I am afraid that it will delay your Highness's marriage, so I ask for your forgiveness." After Hu Rong finished speaking, he knelt down and kowtowed.

Zhu Zhanji guessed the result: "Master Hu, don't worry. The marriage between me and the third lady is destined by heaven. We are waiting for the third lady to finish her mourning period."

"Your Highness..." Hu Rong did not expect Zhu Zhanji to be willing to wait, "But the palace..." Hu Rong was worried that this was just Zhu Zhanji's own idea. If His Majesty did not agree, it would be useless.

"The palace has the same opinion as mine." Zhu Zhanji gave him a reassurance.

"I don't know how..."

"Master Hu, there is no need to say anything else. I have one more request."

"Your Highness, please tell me how I can help." Hu Rong readily agreed.

"Girl, the master wants you to come over."

"Father is looking for me now? What did he say?"

"The master didn't say anything, he just asked the girl to go over there." Lingzhi shook her head.

Hu Shanxiang prepared herself and went there. On the way, she thought about her father's visit to Zhu Zhanji this morning, and she was afraid that the matter had come to a conclusion.

"Father." Hu Shanxiang shouted outside the door.

"Come in." After hearing Hu Rong's voice from inside, Hu Shanxiang pushed the door and entered alone.

"A father is looking for his daughter."

"Well, I went to the post station early this morning and told His Royal Highness the Crown Prince that you would observe mourning."

"Well, what does His Royal Highness the Crown Prince say?" Hu Shanxiang looked up and asked.

"Well, Your Highness should talk to you in person." After Hu Rong finished speaking, Zhu Zhanji walked out from behind the screen.

"Your Highness, I will take my leave now." Hu Rong said and went out.

After everyone left, Zhu Zhanji walked over to Hu Shanxiang and said, "Let's sit down and talk."

"Please sit down first." Hu Shanxiang asked him to sit down first.

After the two sat down, Hu Shanxiang spoke first: "Why is Your Highness here?"

"I want to talk to you in person about entering the palace."

"It's also okay to ask your father to relay it."

"I mainly want to see you. I can't stay here forever. I will be leaving for Beijing in a few days."

"I still want to thank Your Highness for coming here in person this time."

"I haven't been able to help much since I came here, and..." Zhu Zhanji paused and said, "Well, what I want to say is that you don't have to worry about entering the palace. I will go and talk to the emperor, and I will wait for you to finish your mourning period. Don't worry, I won't choose the Crown Prince's Consort before that. The position of the Crown Prince's Consort can only be yours." Zhu Zhanji promised.

"Wouldn't that delay His Highness's marriage?"

"It doesn't matter, I can wait."

"Your Highness, there is one thing I want to explain to you. According to the regulations, grandchildren only need to mourn for their grandparents for one year, but I want to mourn for my grandmother for three years, so..."

"Whether it's one year or three years, I'll wait."

"Since Your Highness has said so, I will not betray Your Highness' trust."

The day before Zhu Zhanji left, another person came back.

"It seems like the last time I saw Grandma Hu was just yesterday. I never expected that this would be our last farewell." Upon hearing the news, Du Ruheng rushed back from another place to burn incense for the old lady.

"Yes, it seems the last time was when we became brother and sister." Hu Shanxiang recalled. After that, Du Ruheng went traveling around the mountains and rivers until this meeting.

"This time when I come back, I also plan to spend more time with my family and stay at home for a while."

"You really need to spend more time with your family. Grandma Du is doing fine."

"It's all good, it's all good."

Hu Shanxiang sent Du Ruheng out.

"You don't have to send me off, sister."

"Brother Ruheng, take care."

"it is good."

The next day, when Hu Shanxiang saw Zhu Zhanji off, Zhu Zhanji said casually, "I heard that Du Ruheng is back."

"Well, he came to burn incense for grandma yesterday."

"Suddenly I don't want to leave."

"What's wrong with you?" Hu Shanxiang suddenly realized, "You are not... You are the Crown Prince, don't be so petty. Besides, there is no possibility between him and me."

"Who knows? He is your standard for a lifelong partner."

"Why do you sound sour?" Hu Shanxiang finished teasing. Seeing Zhu Zhanji's unhappy face, she immediately said, "I am in mourning and can't go out much. I won't meet him. Don't worry, he has no chance. I like powerful men like you."

"Really, it's almost time, it's time to go. Go, see you in three years." Hu Shanxiang said goodbye to him.

"I'll wait for you." Zhu Zhanji had no choice but to leave even though he was reluctant.

On the way, Zhu Zhanji said to Wu Cheng happily: "Did you hear just now? Shanxiang said she likes me."

"Your Highness, didn't you hear the last few words? The third lady said that she likes powerful men?" Wu Cheng thought, there should be nothing wrong with His Highness the Crown Prince's ears.

"This shows that Shanxiang is sincere. Think about those women. In fact, every one of them covets wealth and glory, but they still pretend to be noble. It just so happens that I am powerful. This is called being natural."

"Your Highness is right. In your heart, the Third Young Lady is good no matter what." Wu Cheng thought to himself. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince usually looks quite smart, but why is he like a fool when he meets the Third Young Lady? Could it be that all the marriages arranged by God are like this? I heard that Your Majesty was also like this in front of the late Queen. Speaking of which, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is also like this in front of the Crown Princess... So it could also be genetic.

Three years is neither long nor short. Although Zhu Zhanji and Hu Shanxiang have never met each other in person, they often correspond with each other.

In a blink of an eye, the three-year mourning period was over and Hu Rong had to return to Beijing to resume his post. After the one-year mourning period, the two brothers Hu An returned to the Youjun to continue their service.

"Hu Xuan, did Lord Hu say when he will return to Beijing?" Zhu Zhanji competed with Hu Xuan in the martial arts arena. After the competition, Zhu Zhanji asked him about the situation.

"My father wrote to me saying that he would be leaving in the next two days."

“都回来吧。”

"Don't worry, Your Highness. The whole family is coming this time, including my third sister." Hu Xuan knew very well that Zhu Zhanji wanted to know about Hu Shanxiang's situation.

Zhu Zhanji thought, finally, he could finally see Shanxiang, and Shanxiang could also prepare to enter the palace. No, three years had passed, and this time she was not entering the palace, but preparing for the wedding. The more he thought about it, the happier he became.

"What is your Highness thinking about? You are smiling like a flower."