Chapter 458: Scoundrel Man

With high-ranking concubines passing away one after another, noblewomen who came to the palace mostly went to see Princess Zhang, the wife of the crown prince. Most of the gifts given to their families by the palace were distributed by Princess Zhang on Zhu Di’s behalf. One day, as the attention around her lessened, Xiao Wu came knocking again. Zhu Ning, who was about to leave, simply took her with her to visit Princess Zhang in the crown prince’s palace. Once inside, thinking of Xiao Wu’s usual unrestrained nature, she suddenly regretted it, fearing the girl might say something foolish and cause trouble.

However, when they met, Zhu Ning introduced Xiao Wu to Princess Zhang, who laughed and said, “Sister Ning, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have remembered. So that’s the little girl whom Duke Rong often had with him back then!” She gestured to indicate her height, her face full of kindness, “You were only seven or eight years old then, so small, curious about everything, and always pestering Zhanji to tell you stories. Do you still remember?”

Whenever there were military campaigns or inspections, Daoyan would stay behind to assist the crown prince. After Crown Prince Zhu Zhanji started his studies, Daoyan was ordered to teach him personally. Since he was worried leaving Xiao Wu at home, he kept her with him and often brought her to the crown prince’s palace. Hearing about this, Xiao Wu became embarrassed and stammered, “It’s been so long—Princess, you still remember! I was naive back then and must have caused you a lot of trouble.”

It was the first time Zhu Ning had seen Xiao Wu look so ashamed. She couldn’t help but pinch her cheek before smiling and saying, “I was afraid you might say something wrong in front of the princess. I didn’t expect you to have been even more reckless back then! You little rascal—old monks have spoiled you. Who else in the world would dare let the crown prince tell stories?”

“It was also thanks to her that the crown prince’s palace was filled with so much laughter,” Princess Zhang added. Seeing Xiao Wu wearing a lotus-pink silk jacket and a lotus-pink pleated skirt, without any gold or silver jewelry except for a pair of pearl earrings, she waved her over, took off a white jade bracelet from her wrist, and put it on her. Then, with a smiling face, she said, “Good girl. I heard that Lord Du has taken you as his daughter now. It seems Duke Rong didn’t choose the wrong person after all. I also heard you’re learning medicine? For a girl, finding a good husband to marry is the most important thing—don’t worry too much about other things.”

Although Xiao Wu didn’t care much about external matters, she wasn’t truly foolish. Though she disapproved in her heart, she said nothing. Though she wanted to ask for something, seeing Zhu Ning giving her frequent eye signals beside Lady Zhang, she wisely swallowed back what was on her lips. After sitting with Lady Zhang for a while, Princess Hu, the Empress Dowager’s consort, came to pay a visit, and she received another exquisite phoenix hairpin. When it was time to leave, Lady Zhang gave her four more gifts as a token of appreciation.

After leaving Donghua Gate and boarding the carriage, Zhu Ning joked, “The Crown Princess and the Empress Dowager are always frugal, so the gifts they give are usually modest. But you’ve really gotten lucky today. By the way, why have you never talked about your time in the Eastern Palace?”

“It was all many years ago!” Xiao Wu pouted and added, “I remember when the Emperor returned from his northern campaign, he flew into a rage for some reason, and many people in the Eastern Palace disappeared. Many of the eunuchs and maids I knew were also gone. At first, I didn’t understand anything and continued to be cheerful as usual, so the Crown Princess often called me over to talk… Later, the old monk stopped taking me into the palace, and it was only much later that I learned many people had died in that incident in the Eastern Palace…”

Zhu Ning, who was already quick-witted, suddenly thought of the major scandal in the 12th year of Yongle’s reign when the Crown Prince’s failure to meet the Emperor in time led to countless deaths, and she gasped in shock. Seeing Xiao Wu looking gloomy, she quickly changed the subject. Prince Zhou, Zhu Tu, was not in good health, so she took Xiao Wu straight to his residence. When they got off the carriage at the door, she was surprised to see the chief steward coming out personally to greet them. After ordering someone to lead Xiao Wu inside, she followed the chief steward at a slower pace.

“A message just came in—Prince Runan is causing trouble again. It seems he almost fought with the crown prince after an argument. Prince Xinan is also siding with Prince Runan. Their words were very harsh, even targeting Prince Zhou himself, so the crown prince is in a difficult situation.”

Hearing the name Prince Runan, Zhu Ning immediately frowned, feeling extremely annoyed. She had many older brothers and sisters, but few were close to her. Among them, her second brother, Prince Runan, was the most detestable. She really didn’t understand why, during the Jianwen era, it had been he who first reported her father, Prince Zhou, for rebellion to the court. Yet after Zhu Di ascended the throne, he didn’t punish him; instead, Zhu Tu acted as if he didn’t have such a son. Strangely enough, Prince Xinan, who shared the same mother as her, was close to him. Would they end up together on the execution ground?

“Those two scoundrel men…” she muttered an indistinct curse. She wanted to curse more, but considering the proper hierarchy, she stopped reluctantly, thinking of her father who was living in fear in the capital, while those two seemed determined to create chaos. After some thought, she ordered, “Even when our father is around, it’s hard to restrain them, let alone now. There’s no need to worry about this—they cause trouble every few years. Don’t tell our father, or he’ll worry.”

The old steward quickly nodded in agreement, then glanced around and lowered his voice further. “Didn’t we talk about Arutai raiding Xinghe before? I heard there’s a decision to send Lord Zhang there. It seems like just a routine replacement of weapons and stockpiling of provisions, but because of our family’s connections, we’ve heard some confidential information.”

Learning that Zhang Yue was going to Xinghe, Zhu Ning felt her heart tighten. North of Xinghe was the grassland, which often served as one of the entry points for Mongol invasions. Moreover, there had always been only military officers there, no civil officials. Thinking of that spirited young official and the ongoing turmoil, she began to grasp the emperor’s intentions.

Could it be that this move was meant to silence rumors?

Seeing Zhu Ning’s attentive expression, the old steward didn’t dare keep her in suspense and hurriedly said, “This time, Arutai has gathered about 40,000 cavalrymen from various tribes, including those from the Wulangha and Duyan guards. During the last raid on Xinghe, the local defense forces suffered heavy losses; there are probably less than a thousand left now. Although Xuanfu is usually heavily garrisoned, Mongol spies are still very active. The current defender of Xinghe got drunk in a village three years ago when he took office and was killed by Mongol spies…”

“Enough, enough! The more you say, the more worried I get!” Zhu Ning was increasingly agitated. After taking a few steps, she suddenly turned to look at the old steward who had served her father his whole life and said strangely, “These are important matters. Without our father’s permission to use secret spies, it’s impossible to obtain such information. Where did your so-called connections come from? Could it be that you used unauthorized people just to ingratiate yourself with me? I can clearly distinguish between public and private matters!”

“Princess, I can’t bear such words. How dare I have such boldness!” The old steward wasn’t expecting Zhu Ning to be so perceptive and quickly tried to defend himself. But seeing her still staring coldly at him, he felt even more uneasy. After hesitating for a while, he cleared his throat and said, “It was Prince Zhou who specifically ordered us to keep an eye on Lord Zhang’s situation.”

Father? Why would Father care about Zhang Yue’s affairs?
Though she sensed something was amiss, Zhu Ning never imagined it was her father Zhu Tu’s doing. At that moment, she had no desire to argue further with the old steward; she gave him a cold glare before entering the main hall. When she reached there, she saw Xiao Wu sweating profusely as he performed acupuncture on Zhu Tu, while her father was comfortably humming. She felt both annoyed and amused, so she ignored them and went straight to the east room. She ordered the maid to grind ink and prepare paper, then picked up the pen, pondered for a while, and began writing. Once the ink on the sheets dried, she sealed the letters in envelopes with wax. When Xiao Wu left, she instructed him to take the letters back to Du Wan.
As soon as Xiao Wu left, Zhu Ning drove the eunuchs and maids out of the room, then turned to Zhu Tu with a mocking smile and asked, “Father, why have you suddenly stopped mentioning my marriage these days?”
Caught off guard by such a direct question, Zhu Tu was momentarily stunned before forcing a smile and saying, “Isn’t it because your fourth uncle is too busy with the northern campaign to pay attention to such things? Well, your marriage has already been delayed for so long—there’s no need to rush. Kaifeng suffers from floods frequently, so I can take this opportunity to stay in the capital a few more days. What, Ah Ning, do you only want your fourth uncle and not me as your father? Do you really want to get married quickly and get rid of me?”
This tactic of changing the subject was usually very effective on others, but Zhu Ning wasn’t fooled. She immediately grew stern and said, “Father, stop trying to change the subject. I know your temper well—you’ll never be satisfied unless things are done your way. The other day, you kept Zhang Yue for drinks, and when you were drunk, you said you wanted to see those two people’s appearances. Now suddenly you mention nothing about it and spend time outside! Don’t expect me to marry some scoundrel just because of you!”
Seeing Zhu Ning turn and leave after saying that, Zhu Tu’s face twisted in anger. Scoundrel… This girl was so stubborn. If she really chose a husband casually, her son-in-law would surely be treated as a scoundrel by her. Once, he had great ambitions and aspired to the highest position, but after years of idleness, those aspirations had long faded away. If he weren’t a prince, he could travel the world and explore various herbs; if Zhu Ning weren’t a princess, his choices wouldn’t be limited to such a narrow circle, and he could pick any husband he wanted…

Zhu Zhu fiercely knocked the teacup on the kang table to the ground, his chest heaving violently. He had always told Zhu Ning that he wanted to offer himself as one of the Three Bodyguards but hadn’t had the chance, insisting that he only wanted to live a peaceful life… But how could he possibly give up the last shred of self-protection he had! Without the Three Bodyguards, he would be nothing but a dog chained tightly by the emperor’s bedside!
In the end, Zhu Di was also a scumbag—so was he!