If not abolished

Chapter 105 Meeting the Parents

Although Zhu Zhanji didn't know why Hu Shanxiang had been avoiding him, fortunately she was not as repulsive to him as before, at least they could meet often to cultivate their relationship. As for the questions that Hu Shanxiang had been avoiding, he was not in a hurry. At most, he could give Shanxiang more time. One day, she would see his sincerity.

"It's not up to you to decide whether it's worth it or not. This should be my feeling. You don't have to feel too burdened. This is my own business. If you still don't want to do it this time, I won't force you, but at least give me a chance this time, okay?" Zhu Zhanji was afraid that she would be as decisive as before.

"If I still had the same idea as before, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you." Hu Shanxiang had to admit that she was a little moved this time. She didn't expect that Zhu Zhanji would actually travel thousands of miles for her.

Zhu Zhanji was happy from the bottom of his heart this time.

"This is delicious. Eat more. You are too thin." Zhu Zhanji happily kept picking up food for her.

"I've gained a lot of weight recently." Hu Shanxiang said, pinching her cheeks.

"How can you get fat so quickly? You're so cute when you're chubby and white." Zhu Zhanji looked at her pinching her face and thought it was so cute. Why didn't he realize she was so cute before?

"Other girls are all delicate and pretty, but I am white and fat. How can this be used to describe girls?" Hu Shanxiang felt something was wrong. What do you mean by white and fat? And cute? The word fat can be said.

"Then there is the saying that beauty is different in age from ancient times. Wasn't Yang Guifei considered fat to be beautiful?" Zhu Zhanji gave an example.

"How are they the same? She is a beauty with a pretty face. It's okay if she's a little fat. I'm not good-looking. If I get fat, I'll be doomed." Hu Shanxiang would not be fooled by him. How could she compare with Yang Guifei, one of the four great beauties.

"Who said you are not good-looking? I think you are very good-looking like this." Zhu Zhanji did not lie. Hu Shanxiang was still young. He remembered that in the last life, when they first met, Hu Shanxiang had grown up. Although she was not stunningly beautiful, she was also pretty. However, she was more introverted and restrained by rules. She was not as outspoken as Sun. Sun was bright and Shanxiang was elegant, just like tea, which should be tasted slowly. Besides, in the first few years after they got married, it was impossible to say that he was not moved at all. The two children he had at first were hers. At the beginning, they were as sweet as newlyweds. However, he loved to play later, and Shanxiang often advised him. It was okay once or twice, but he got annoyed after too many times. Then Sun took advantage of the opportunity and catered to him in various ways to make him happy. Slowly, his feelings for Shanxiang faded. It was not until Sun gave birth to a son that he thought of abolishing the queen.

"Your Highness, Zhu Zhanji." Hu Shanxiang even called out his name, and only then did Zhu Zhanji come back to his senses.

"Well, what's wrong?" Zhu Zhanji was still a little confused.

"Why are you distracted for no reason?" Hu Shanxiang also picked up a few dishes for him with his chopsticks, "You should eat more too."

"Okay." Zhu Zhanji quickly forgot all the mess in his mind. He had already done it again, and this time he had dealt with Sun first, so there should be no more obstacles between him and Shanxiang.

After the two of them had eaten and drunk their fill, they strolled around the street to digest their food. Zhu Zhanji bought some interesting things he saw. Just now, Hu Shanxiang stopped in front of a stall and said that the clay figurines were very cute. Zhu Zhanji immediately bought the entire stall. The vendor smiled from ear to ear and praised him for his good taste.

"The young master is so good to the lady." He said this to them at the end.

Hu Shanxiang blushed and left quickly. Zhu Zhanji asked Wu Cheng to take the things and follow her.

"That person just said it casually and offended you. Otherwise, I will explain to him." Zhu Zhanji was afraid that she would be angry.

"It's okay, it was just a joke, nothing, you don't have to apologize. Besides, after hearing what others said, you men got the advantage, shouldn't you be happy?"

"How could you think like that? You've ruined the girl's reputation for no reason. At the very least, you're a handsome hooligan. At the most, you're a person with bad character." Zhu Zhanji said righteously.

"You are a gentleman." Hu Shanxiang praised.

Seeing that it was getting late, Hu Shanxiang said goodbye to Zhu Zhanji and went home. Zhu Zhanji insisted on seeing her off, and she had no choice but to obey.

The carriage stopped outside Hu's house. Just as Hu Shanxiang got off the carriage and was about to go back, a figure suddenly appeared beside her.

Hu Shanxiang looked over and asked in confusion: "What are you doing?"

"Now that we are here, as a junior, I should say hello to the old lady," said Zhu Zhanji.

"No, you..." Seeing Zhu Zhanji about to go in, Hu Shanxiang hurriedly stopped him. "If you go in, my grandmother might be scared by you. Besides, you are the Crown Prince, it is not your turn to greet my grandmother." Really, what is wrong with this guy today? If I had known, I would not let him send her back.

"Today there is no such thing as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince or any relationship between the emperor and his subjects. It's just the grandchildren going to pay their respects to their grandmother. There's no need to be too nervous." Zhu Zhanji continued.

"That won't work either. With your status, grandma is not prepared at all. What if something happens? This is not against the rules. If others find out, it will be a serious crime. If His Majesty finds out, our family will not survive." Hu Shanxiang talked about the consequences. This was in a feudal society. If something like this happened, their family would be ruined.

"No one in Jining City knows me, so don't be afraid."

"That won't work. My family is not safe with too many people and too many gossips."

"Does your house have a back door? I can sneak in." It was not like Zhu Zhanji had never done this before. He had done it with Hu Xuan before.

"Your Highness, why do you insist on going in?" Hu Shanxiang was really convinced. Why was he so difficult to deal with? How could His Highness the Crown Prince even say something like going through the back door?

"Anyway, if you don't let me in, I won't leave today."

"No, you came to see my grandmother, but you didn't bring anything." Hu Shanxiang had just finished speaking when she saw Wu Cheng standing in front of her with a bunch of things. "You're ready so quickly."

"That's natural."

Hu Shanxiang had no choice but to watch him refuse to give up. If anything went wrong, he would be responsible.

"Don't worry, Shanxiang. I'll take care of anything that happens."

Seeing him say that, Hu Shanxiang had no choice but to take him home. She first asked someone to tell her grandmother that she had brought an important friend with her and asked her grandmother to get ready.

The old lady was confused by what she heard. She brought a friend with her and it was very important, so she asked her to prepare well.

"Is that what Er said?" the old lady confirmed with the servant.

"Yes, these are the girl's original words."

"Is this friend a man or a woman?"

"It's a man, whom we haven't seen before."

"I understand. You can go." The old lady wondered when her granddaughter met the strange man. Could it be... The old lady was shocked by her own thoughts. It shouldn't be possible.

Before the old lady could finish her guess, "Old lady, the girl is here."

"Let them in."

"Yes."

After a while, Hu Shanxiang and Zhu Zhanji walked in together.

"Grandma, please let everyone go out first." Hu Shanxiang said as soon as she entered the door.

"Everyone, go down. Don't come in without your permission." The old lady didn't know what her granddaughter was going to do, but she did as she was told.

Only after everyone had left did Hu Shanxiang breathe a sigh of relief. She was almost dying of nervousness.

“Greetings to Grandmother Hu.”

"What is this?" The old lady looked at her granddaughter in confusion and asked.

"Grandma, please sit down and listen to me first. Promise me not to get too excited." Hu Shanxiang came over and helped her grandmother sit down, fearing that she would get too excited later.

"Well, you said that grandma can hold on." The old lady thought it was something bad.

"This is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Today, he suddenly had the urge to ask me to bring him to pay his respects to you." Hu Shanxiang finished the story in one breath.

“Your Highness?” The old lady turned around and looked at Zhu Zhanji in shock. Then she quickly stood up, walked to Zhu Zhanji and said to him, “I am an old woman. How can I bear the greetings from Your Highness? Please sit down.” After Zhu Zhanji sat down, she turned around and said to her granddaughter, “What’s wrong with you? Your Highness…”

"Grandma Hu, I asked Shanxiang to bring me here. It has nothing to do with her. I insisted on coming here. Please don't blame her." Zhu Zhanji was afraid that Hu Shanxiang would be scolded, so he mentioned her first to plead for mercy.

"Okay, I understand." The old lady thought about it and decided that it was not appropriate to talk about her granddaughter in front of others. "I wonder what your Highness the Crown Prince has come here for today? If there is something, you can just call me over. I'm sorry to have you run all this way."

"You are Shanxiang's grandmother, which means you are my elder. Please treat me as a younger generation and come to visit me today. Don't feel burdened. Don't treat me as some kind of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"This is...good."

"I came here because I wanted to talk to Grandma Hu alone about this."

"It's just right for me to go outside and guard, so that no outsiders will come and disturb Your Highness." Upon hearing this, Hu Shanxiang immediately went out tactfully.

Wait until Hu Shanxiang closed the door.

Zhu Zhanji continued to speak.

Hu Shanxiang stood outside the door to let the people outside the yard go out. She didn't deliberately want to know what Zhu Zhanji said to his grandmother. Since she was allowed to go out, it was naturally not something she should know. Don't be curious, isn't there a saying? Curiosity kills the cat. You will know it naturally when you should know it.

At almost three quarters of an hour, Zhu Zhanji finally came out. Hu Shanxiang was drawing with branches in the yard out of boredom. When she heard the sound, she looked up and saw Zhu Zhanji coming out.

"Did you finish talking to Grandma?"

"Ah."

"Xue'er, please see His Highness off for me." Grandmother Hu's voice came from inside.

"I understand." Hu Shanxiang replied, and then said to Zhu Zhanji: "Let's go."

Hu Shanxiang saw the person out the door and the two said goodbye.