Chapter 75 This World

On December 21, the ninth year of the Xuande reign, the emperor was unwell. Taibai was visible during the day, which was considered a good omen. Princess Shunde asked to become a Taoist and pray for the country. She became a disciple of the late great Taoist Liu Yuanran and was given the title of "Chizhen".

This decree was met with some surprise throughout the court and the public. After all, the last time a princess became a Taoist nun was during the Tang Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, many women practiced Taoism to avoid marriage or to avoid marriage. However, most of these women Taoists were not worthy of the title and continued to socialize and have fun as usual.

Letting Princess Shunde become a Taoist priest, if such a thing becomes a trend, what will happen?

Fortunately, Zhu Zhanji himself had a reason. The Taoist priests of Zhengyi Dao were different from those of Quanzhen Dao. They could also marry and have children, had no taboos on speaking, and did not need to practice in Taoist temples.

In other words, except for being a Taoist priest in name, Princess Shunde was just like a princess in every other way. The emperor had only one ultimate goal: he didn't want Princess Shunde to marry. But why did His Majesty do this? It's a bit puzzling.

Different from the ministers' attitude, the people quickly split into two factions after hearing the news. One faction felt that Princess Shunde must have offended His Majesty, so she was not allowed to marry. The other faction believed that His Majesty doted on Princess Shunde too much and was reluctant to let her marry so soon.

Getting married and having children is a big deal for women, so both of these statements make sense.

If he liked Princess Shunde, he should have let her get married and have children early so that she would have descendants to support her in the future. But if he didn't like Princess Shunde, why did he give her so many privileges, such as running a business and owning a princess's mansion? Since the founding of the country, no princess had ever been treated like this.

The news was spreading like wildfire outside, with many different opinions, which overshadowed the news of Zhu Zhanji's illness.

Silence reigned within Changle Palace. Concubine Sun, wearing a headband and looking sickly, leaned against her pillow in silence. After a long moment, she finally spoke, "Your Majesty, are you serious about allowing Princess Shunde to enter the Daoist realm? Did you hear correctly?"

The maid who returned to report didn't dare to utter a word. Ruilan winked at her, signaling her to leave. Then she said to Concubine Sun, "Your Majesty, I've inquired many times, and it's indeed true..."

Concubine Sun clenched her fists, finally unable to hold back, she said, "Your Majesty clearly promised me, clearly promised me... that he would find a marriage for Princess Shunde. It's fine if he kept making excuses before, but now..."

Ruilan could hear Concubine Sun's disappointment and sadness over Zhu Zhanji's breach of trust. She felt complicated for a moment and didn't know how to comfort her own consort.

Men are fickle and shifty. There are many cases of "women are unhappy and men are unfaithful". Why should Your Majesty care about this?

After thinking for a long time, Ruilan could only comfort him: "I heard that Zhengyi Dao and Quanzhen Dao are different. Taoists of Zhengyi Dao can still get married. After all, the Empress is still here. The Emperor can't let His Highness stay in the palace for the rest of his life, right? Even the Empress wouldn't agree."

However, Concubine Sun was not easily appeased as usual. She just stared into the void in a daze.

Over the years, even with the arrival of new concubines, His Majesty still favored her, but it was a pity that she never gave birth to a child. She could also convince herself that even though she didn't have the title of Queen and couldn't stand shoulder to shoulder with him, she was still important to His Majesty.

But Zhu Zhanji's breaking of his promise this time seemed to have punctured the self-deceiving fantasy she had been having. Her request was obviously not excessive, but Zhu Zhanji still broke his promise.

Zhu Hanjia also heard about her elder sister's entry into the nun's life, and she immediately guessed what the situation was like in her mother's palace. She was worried about her mother, and even though she felt a little scared, she still came to the main hall.

Ruilan heaved a sigh of relief when she saw the Third Princess. She greeted the Third Princess as if asking for help, saying, "This servant greets the Third Princess."

Zhu Hanjia looked at her mother, who was still lost in thought. She first asked someone beside her to pour her a cup of hot tea, then brought it to Concubine Sun and said, "Mother, have some tea." Seeing that her mother still didn't say anything, she said, "Mother, father is the king of a country, and he must have his own reasons for doing things. Mother is the prince's biological mother, and father must also hope that you can serve grandmother and show great love to the prince."

Ruilan looked at Concubine Sun hopefully, but saw that she still looked dejected.

Seeing his mother like this, Zhu Hanjia couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

The New Year was approaching, but Changle Palace was filled with gloom and doom. She was somewhat envious of her elder sister's ability to enter the Tao, perhaps this would allow her to escape these troubles.

"Wow, so this is a Taoist robe..." Zhu Youtong fiddled with the clothes in his hands and couldn't help but sighed: "It looks really good, it will definitely suit my sister very well."

Zhu Yuhuan smiled helplessly and said, "This isn't a Taoist robe at all. The clothing bureau simply made it a bit more elegant, replacing the gold weaving with embroidery. A dress like this must have taken a lot of work."

Hu Shanxiang sat at the table in deep thought, with all the palace documents placed aside, and she hadn't opened any of them for a long time. She was obviously not as relaxed as Zhu Youtong.

It was not that she was worried about whether Zhu Yuhuan would get married or not, but Zhu Zhanji's sudden move gave Hu Shanxiang a bad premonition.

She knew that Zhu Zhanji's doting on his daughter was mostly for the purpose of exploitation, but this time was different from the past. Zhu Zhanji directly let his daughter become a Taoist nun. It was no longer a simple temporary exploitation, but he was probably trying to squeeze out the value of his daughter.

People's hearts are fickle. When the prince grows up, I am afraid that Zhu Yuhuan's fate will be even more miserable.

Zhu Yuhuan noticed that his mother was in a bad mood and said, "Mother, why don't you let me take care of the sick? I don't plan to leave the palace at this time."

Seeing that Zhu Zhanji was about to die, Zhu Yuhuan certainly would not choose to leave the palace at this time.

Hu Shanxiang came back to her senses, smiled at her daughter, and said, "It's okay. You should stay out of the spotlight right now. If people see you walking around casually, they'll probably gossip about you."

Zhu Yuhuan suddenly thought of something, touched his sister's head, and said, "Tongtong, please help me take the scriptures I copied in the study and find someone to bind them. I will send them to grandma during the New Year celebrations."

Seeing that his mother and sister had something to say, Zhu Youtong responded obediently and quietly retreated with the palace servants, leaving the space to Zhu Yuhuan and Hu Shanxiang.

Only mother and daughter were left in the room. Zhu Yuhuan walked over to his mother and said seriously, "Mom, I'm afraid Daddy is not going to make it... He hopes I can assist the Crown Prince."

Hu Shanxiang suddenly looked up at her daughter, stood up immediately, and said, "Your Majesty is crazy!"

Putting aside the fact that there had never been a minister entrusted with the care of an orphan in this dynasty, how many ministers entrusted with the care of an orphan in previous dynasties had a good ending, let alone a princess overstepping her authority to assist the crown prince. The only example Hu Shanxiang could think of was Princess Taiping during the reign of Emperor Ruizong of Tang, whose fate could be summed up in one word: death.

Zhu Yuhuan took Hu Shanxiang's hand and said in a deep voice, "Mom, I don't want to stop here."

Hu Shanxiang was stunned when she heard this, as if she didn't understand what Zhu Yuhuan was saying for a moment.

Hu Shanxiang stared at her daughter intently. After a long moment, she finally gave a wry smile and said, "I've thought of that a long time ago..."

Her daughter was born with ambitions that were not bound by this conventional world.