A country cannot live without a king for a day.

Even if he is the crown prince, he must be determined early so that the people below him can feel at ease.

Now Emperor Hongzhi only has one son, and it doesn't look like he can have another son.

After all, it has been so long. If I had wanted to give birth, I would have given birth already.ъìＱυＧΕtＶ.℃ǒΜ

If something happens to the prince, they must prepare in advance.

But I don’t dare to do this openly.

After all, Zhu Houzhao may not be fine now.

Zhang Sheng could only reply in a low voice: "Don't worry, Mr. Liu, I will go and check it myself."

After the two of them finished talking, Zhang Sheng did not go to the side hall to rest, but took advantage of the moonlight to return to the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites.

For the ministers in the palace, they can only make all possible preparations.

Then I anxiously waited for the final confirmation to come.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night.

The night is already deep.

Emperor Hongzhi did not go to the harem, but rested in his palace.

After all, in his state, Queen Zhang would probably be able to tell that something was wrong with him as soon as he arrived in the harem.

If she were to know Zhu Houzhao's current situation, she would definitely cry.

Crying won't solve the problem.

It is better to wait until it is confirmed before making plans.

But Zhu Houzhao's matter was not settled for a day, and Emperor Hongzhi felt that he could not sleep or eat well.

It was better during the day, and he still remembered his responsibilities as emperor when discussing matters with everyone.

But at night, the palace was quiet.

At this time, he was just a father who cared about his children.

What the ministers said was quite tactful.

If the worst happened, Emperor Hongzhi could only harden his heart and put the overall situation first.

But after all, this is his only son.

Usually I would only scold him a few times and punish him to copy books and memorize them.

The last time he got beaten up, he was kind enough to give him a few days off. He even went to see him in person because he thought he would lose his temper.

Now when he thought that his son might have some bad accidents, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't sleep at all.

He tossed and turned in bed, just hoping that the sky would light up soon and news from the border would be returned soon.

Thinking of Zhao Ce who set off earlier than them, Emperor Hongzhi thought again that Zhao Ce didn't know whether he had found the prince.

Dingxihou is a man who has some merit in battle.

He previously led troops to suppress rebellions, and it is said that he is best at defeating many with less.

And if nothing else, Zhao Ce is smart and has many ideas.

If he is around, then there is a high probability that his son will not have any safety issues.

Emperor Hongzhi kept thinking about it in bed, seeming to squint for a while.

He didn't know whether he was asleep or not, but he woke up again when someone was walking around outside.

"Your Majesty, it's time for morning court."

Hearing the gentle shout from the chamberlain, Emperor Hongzhi sat up from the dragon bed.

"Light the lamp."

The lights were lit in the palace, and Emperor Hongzhi washed himself, but he still couldn't hide the tiredness in his brows and eyes.

He rubbed his brows, thinking about whether to cancel today's morning meeting.

Not many of the Jiuqing people over there could sleep.

The prince's condition has been tugging at everyone's heart.

A group of old men had arrived in the palace early, waiting for Emperor Hongzhi to come to discuss matters.

Upon seeing this, Emperor Hongzhi directly asked people to cancel today's morning court.

Since he ascended the throne, he has basically been at full attendance in the morning.

Not to mention the morning dynasty, even the newly added noon dynasty was full of attendance.

But there is really nothing we can do today.

Everyone looked at Emperor Hongzhi's haggard face and advised him one after another: "The current situation of His Royal Highness is just our guess. Your Majesty should take better care of your health."

Emperor Hongzhi replied in a feeble voice: "My dear friends, I am interested. I just couldn't sleep last night."

"Mr. Bao Guo should have some news coming as soon as possible today. I'll just go and have a rest after his news is delivered."

No one spoke anymore.

What I am thinking about is that I am afraid that after listening to it, you may not be able to sleep even more.

If you hook up with a prince, you can't hook up with an emperor, right?

Emperor Hongzhi also had breakfast given to everyone, and he ate with them in the palace while waiting.

Others have no energy and no appetite.

It's just that I didn't eat anything yesterday, so my body will definitely collapse if this continues.

As a last resort, he could only force himself to eat a lot.

After eating, he listened to everyone's discussion while anxiously waiting for the news about Duke Bao to continue to come.

Logically speaking, if Baoguo Gong and his people rush to catch up with Zhu Houzhao, they will definitely be able to catch up in a day and a half.

After catching up, sending the message back to the capital will be faster.

If there is any news, it will probably be sent back before noon.

The sky goes from dark to bright until the sun rises.

Emperor Hongzhi became increasingly anxious.

He couldn't sit still anymore, so he stood up and walked back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back.

Others also paused their discussions and waited anxiously for news.

finally.

The person who gave the order has arrived.

"Urgent report from the frontier! Urgent report from the frontier!"

Everyone suddenly became energetic.

Emperor Hongzhi didn't need to say anything, and the servant at the door quickly led the people in.

This man was also tired from the journey and was sweating profusely from running.

As soon as he knelt on the ground and before he could speak, the anxious Emperor Hongzhi took the lead and asked.

"Is there any news about the prince?"

The visitor said: "Return to your Majesty."

"Dong Baoguo led five thousand troops out of the city in the early morning and marched in the direction of Baiyangkou."

"Finally, before yesterday's ugly time, I found His Highness the Crown Prince on the road."

Really found out...

Emperor Hongzhi asked: "How is the prince now? Is he injured?"

The person who sent the order said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not injured, and the Marquis of Dingxi is also with the Crown Prince."

"At that time, His Royal Highness the Prince encountered one of our grain transport teams being attacked by the Tatars, so he led everyone to repel the attack of the Tatar army."

Not injured...

Emperor Hongzhi and everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

Just be fine.

Although we encountered Tatars, with the defenders of the grain transport team and the 5,000 troops led by Duke Baoguo, we would definitely be safe.

And, as expected, Zhao Ce went after the prince.

The heart that Emperor Hongzhi had been thinking about was finally relieved.

"In that case, has Duke Bao Guo escorted the prince on his way back to Beijing?"
To be continued...