Chapter 91 Easier

Concubine Sun could never have imagined that the son she had carried for ten months would say such words to her. If she had not been sitting, she would probably have fallen to the ground in anger.

She had given birth to him, made him the eldest son of the emperor, and naturally made him the crown prince. Isn't this enough?

Zhu Hanjia quickly walked over to his mother, reached out and gently stroked her chest, saying soothingly, "Your Majesty has just begun to take over government affairs, and with the daily busy schedule, it's inevitable that he might be a little restless. I'm afraid Your Majesty isn't focused on this... Mother, don't worry about it. Given Your Majesty's filial piety, you'll definitely increase your honorific title in the future."

Concubine Sun shook her head helplessly, saying, "He's not just busy with affairs, nor is he impatient... He knows that giving me a title will do no good, and that I can't help him, so he ignored me, his biological mother..." As she said this, she recalled the past, and tears fell uncontrollably. "It's the same, they are all the same... They have harmed me to this point..."

Faced with his mother's tears, Zhu Hanjia didn't know what to do for a moment.

Even though what the emperor said was unpleasant to hear, it was the truth. Just like my father, no matter how much he loved my mother, he always chose to let her be patient and wait, simply to take advantage of these opportunities to make use of my elder sister more conveniently.

Zhu Hanjia was no fool. Even though she was in the deep palace, she knew how powerful those farm tools, spinning wheels, and looms were. They could help many people live a life of food and clothing. These things were all given by her eldest sister. Daddy was like a gold miner. In order to keep getting gold, Daddy would never let the mine collapse.

It’s not the Queen Mother’s fault or my elder sister’s fault that my mother is so weird, it’s all because of the late Emperor.

It's just that her mother valued her husband too much and was unwilling to resent the late emperor, so she could only target her mother and elder sister.

Now my brother's words have exposed my mother's whitewashing of the late emperor, which is why I am so sad.

Because of this, Zhu Hanjia really didn't know how to persuade his mother.

It is too cruel to ask a person who has always suppressed his true thoughts to face the fact that he is most unwilling to accept.

Concubine Sun looked at her daughter's bewildered expression, pushed her hand away, and said disappointedly, "He is your brother from the same mother, but I think the Emperor treats you worse than he treats Princess Shunde. If this continues, I'm afraid you will even be worse than Princess Yongqing. I didn't raise the Emperor, but what about you? Why don't you try harder? I don't expect the Emperor to still be the Empress Dowager. As a princess, if you're not close to the Emperor, what will happen after you get married? Do you still want to follow Princess Shunde's example and stay in the palace forever without getting married?"

Zhu Hanjia never expected that the accusation would fall on him. He was slightly stunned and pursed his lips for a long time. In the end, he ran out without saying a word.

Concubine Sun looked at her daughter's receding figure, not knowing whether she was angry or regretful. Her chest heaved for a long time, and finally she said to Ruilan, "Call the imperial physician..."

Ruilan quickly sent someone to invite the imperial physician over. She wanted to persuade Concubine Sun with a few words. After all, Princess Changde had been very caring towards her mother over the years. What she said just now was entirely for Concubine Sun's sake. Where did the hatred come from between mother and daughter?

It’s a pity that Concubine Sun was unhappy. She returned to the couch and began to rest. It was obvious that she didn’t want to say anything more.

Ruilan had no choice but to follow the mother and daughter.

These palace ladies have no other desires but to stay alive.

Zhu Hanjia returned to his room and lay on the bed, unwilling to move.

The palace maids finally caught up with him and comforted him, "Don't be sad, Your Highness..." Seeing that Zhu Hanjia still didn't move, she racked her brains for a long time before saying, "The Second Prince sent me a folding fan earlier, asking Your Highness to write an inscription on it and appreciate it. Would Your Highness like to take a look?"

After a long moment, Zhu Hanjia muttered, "Go find my elder sister and ask her to bring me some Taoist scriptures. I'd like to read them."

She didn't want to repeat her mother's mistakes and be troubled by these external matters in the future.

On the 30th day of the first lunar month, the emperor honored Empress Dowager Zhang as Grand Empress Dowager, Empress Hu as Empress Dowager Cihui, and Concubine Sun as Empress Dowager. The two empress dowagers moved to the small palaces on the east and west sides of Renshou Palace. Empress Dowager Cihui lived in Qingning Palace, and the empress dowager lived in Kangning Palace.

At the same time, the emperor's only surviving sister and brother were also rewarded. The princesses were given the title of Princess Chang, and the emperor's only brother was given the title of King of Qin and served as a vassal in the capital.

Because Zhu Qiyu was still young and could only live with his mother for the time being, Hu Shanxiang asked Wu Miaosu and Zhu Qiyu to move into her own palace, which would provide more space for Wu Miaosu and her son.

In addition, the new emperor followed his father's will and did not have to bury the other concubines without children with his father. They were all called "Xuan Miao Concubine" and moved to a vacant palace near Renshou Palace.

Although the living quarters are not as spacious as before, it is a blessing to be able to keep their lives. How could the concubines of the late emperor dare to have any other extravagant hopes?

These concubines were worried for a month, thinking that they would die, but unexpectedly they escaped by luck.

If Princess Shunde and Princess Yongqing had not braved the wrath of the world and presented paintings to the late emperor, begging for the grace to be spared from death, they would probably have been buried in the late emperor's mausoleum long ago.

They also knew that they had no family background, and Zhu Yuhuan was the eldest princess respected by the new emperor, and Zhu Youtong had never suffered with her sister, so they could only start from the side and often went to Hu Shanxiang's palace to ask about the two sisters' well-being.

Each of them treated Zhu Yuhuan and Zhu Youtong's biological mother with all their heart and soul to the two sisters, and gave the rewards Zhu Zhanji had given them to them without hesitation.

Because there was no queen, the affairs of the harem were still handled by Empress Dowager Cihui. Hu Shanxiang had always been fair and would not treat the concubines harshly. For those of them who had no children and were trapped in the palace all their lives, naturally, they did not care about the concept of "family background".

For those with a certain status, the royal family would give some money and rice. For those with lower status, the remaining monthly allowance would be given to their families outside the palace. However, the rewards such as ceramics and jades were all recorded in the royal files. It would be better to give them to Zhu Yuhuan and her sister as a thank-you gift. For these princesses who would be able to leave the palace in the future, it could also be regarded as a family property.

Zhu Youtong did not refuse and accepted all the things generously. On weekdays, when he had nothing to do, he would arrange a scene for his mother and sister to enjoy, and then paint a picture based on the scene and return it to the concubines of Xuan Temple.

Despite the replacement of the old with the new, nothing seemed to have changed. Only one person was missing, and the palace suddenly became much quieter.

Rather, except for Empress Dowager Sun, everyone felt more relaxed because of the new emperor's ascension to the throne.