Chapter 33: Conferred the title of Princess
As expected, as Empress Zhang said, on October 23rd, Zhu Gaochi issued an edict to appoint Zhu Zhanji as the Crown Prince, and Hu Shanxiang was also appointed as the Crown Princess. In this way, Zhu Zhanji's continued stay in the Eastern Palace was finally justified.
Among all the rewards, Zhu Yuhuan also benefited from it. At a young age, she was granted the title of Princess "Shunde", and was called Princess Shunde.
Zhu Zhanji had three daughters, but only Zhu Yuhuan had a title. Normally, most royal women would only be given titles before they got married. Zhu Yuhuan was only the daughter of the crown prince, but she was already a princess. Even though she received the titles together with other women, she was still quite eye-catching. Therefore, many court officials noticed this newly appointed princess.
Zhu Gaochi had many reasons for this. The first was that Zhu Yuhuan was older and in good health, so there was no need to worry about his early death. The second was that Zhu Yuhuan was a child and didn't need to participate in every funeral ceremony, but Zhu Yuhuan was very conscientious and attended every one. Not to mention that when the news of the late emperor's death reached the palace, Zhu Yuhuan cried more heartbrokenly than most people, which was enough to show his filial piety. As for the third reason, it was because Zhu Di had said before his death that he would confer the title of County Princess on Zhu Yuhuan after returning from the Northern Expedition. Although he was gone, his promise remained unchanged. If he conferred the title now, Zhu Yuhuan would be able to take the next step and become a Princess.
Zhu Yuhuan felt a little complicated when looking at this imperial edict which was issued for various reasons.
This great honor naturally made many people envious. Gifts were sent from various palaces. Even Sun Mengqiu specially prepared her own embroidery for Zhu Yuhuan, full of envy. Even the palace maids in Zhu Yuhuan's palace changed their address to "Princess" instead of "Little Master", obviously to elevate Zhu Yuhuan's status.
Only Zhu Yuhuan himself knew that all of this was just because of Zhu Gaochi's needs. After all, he was now busy releasing Yang Pu, Xia Yuanji and others who had been imprisoned in the imperial prison, and abolishing some of Zhu Di's edicts. Naturally, he did not have much time to prove his filial piety. With a ready-made tool like Zhu Yuhuan, he could worry less. Conferring more titles on Zhu Yuhuan was also a proof of his filial piety to the emperor and his good teaching.
Knowing this in his heart, Zhu Yuhuan felt nothing about the so-called "personally conferred the title of Princess".
Compared to these, Zhu Yuhuan is more concerned about when she can continue to study military tactics and formations with Saihazhi as before. She is now laying the foundation, and she doesn't want to delay her studies because of other things except funeral ceremonies.
However, Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji were both very busy, so Zhu Yuhuan naturally couldn't use these "little things" to delay them. He could only find a way to find his own grandmother to inquire about the situation.
Empress Zhang was originally handling palace affairs. Seeing Zhu Yuhuan running over, she asked in surprise, "Oh, Huanhuan, why are you here? Grandma heard that you haven't been going out much recently."
Of course, Zhu Yuhuan couldn't say that he was worried that the knife above his head might fall at any time, so he didn't want to show up in the short term.
Zhu Yuhuan just hugged Empress Zhang's arm and shook it as usual, saying, "Grandma, the emperor is busy presiding over government affairs now, and Huanhuan can't bother him, so I can only come to ask you..." She originally wanted to give Empress Zhang a simple reminder so that she could help her say a few words in front of Zhu Gaochi, but unexpectedly, Empress Zhang still looked calm after listening, obviously waiting for Zhu Yuhuan to speak herself. Zhu Yuhuan had no choice but to say shyly, "Grandma, after all, I haven't practiced martial arts for long. Commander Saihazhi is still waiting for me to go back to class. I can't just waste my time like this."
Empress Zhang finally laughed, patted Zhu Yuhuan on the cheek, and said, "Silly girl, why shouldn't you be embarrassed to express your desires? People should learn to face themselves and take the initiative to fight for what they want."
Zhu Yuhuan thought to himself, can my status be like yours?
She asked tentatively, "Then... Huanhuan goes to thank Grandpa Huang?"
Empress Zhang smiled and nodded. "Won't your grandfather, the Emperor, grant your approval if he's pleased?" She raised her chin slightly, letting Zhu Yuhuan look at the documents before her. "Look, Grandma still has to prepare for the female official examinations. Otherwise, delaying the salaries of these palace servants would only create resentment among everyone."
Zhu Yuhuan agreed, thinking that this was indeed a solution. After all, expressing gratitude was a common practice, but most women of high rank would thank the empress, and Zhu Yuhuan was still a child. As long as he informed her, it wouldn't be considered an overreach. If he was truly uneasy, the worst that could happen was to wait until Zhu Zhanji was free, and then Zhu Yuhuan could ask him to take him to express his gratitude to Zhu Gaochi.
Zhu Yuhuan was about to leave, but he was still a little worried about the young eunuch from before. He hesitated and asked, "Grandma, the young eunuch from that day..."
Empress Zhang looked at her with a smile and asked, "What little eunuch?"
Zhu Yuhuan exchanged a glance with her, vaguely guessing what Empress Zhang meant by her question. She immediately realized she shouldn't have asked so much. A chill sank in her heart, and she changed her words, "Nothing... Huanhuan was just thinking about what Grandma said about having a few more palace maids around me, so she asked casually..."
"No rush." Empress Zhang then picked up the pen she had put aside and said, "It will come naturally when the time comes. It won't take a while."
Zhu Yuhuan responded with a "yes" and then slowly left the room, but her expression gradually became gloomy after leaving Kunning Palace.
Shouldn't she have taken that young eunuch to Empress Zhang that day? Historically, it seems that it was Yang Rong who risked his life to deliver the message, but in a moment of desperation, she took that young eunuch to Empress Zhang. Now it seems that this action undoubtedly cost him his life...
A life was lost just because of her carelessness.
Zhu Yuhuan thought that he had lived a second life and had some understanding of the affairs of this era, so he would not make any mistakes. It turned out that he was just complacent.
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