CH 122.2

Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 122 Pt. 2

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

But coming to the capital this time, there was suddenly an extra son and concubine. Emperor Hongjing had always been indifferent to the matter of women. He felt that it was normal for a man to have three wives and four concubines. If he wished to favour one, then so be it. As long as he wasn’t being too excessive, that would be enough. But who would’ve thought that such a thing would happen? Old fifth actually wished to divorce his wife. Obviously, this matter couldn’t have been decided within a day or two, but the grievances must have accumulated for weeks or even months.

“This woman surnamed Xu is undignified and indecent, with none of the demeanour that the main wife should possess. But to divorce her, wouldn’t that be making a mountain out of a molehill?”

Li Dequan didn’t dare to express his thoughts. He only smiled and answered with ambiguous words that didn’t really mean anything.

Emperor Hongjing suddenly said, “Call Ming’er to the palace. Zhen wants to ask him what his thoughts are.” 

The next day, Jin Wang arrived at Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Hongjing had just finished discussing matters with some of the older ministers and summoned him in without delay. With his hands holding a memorial, he asked, “Have you thought it through?”

Jin Wang naturally understood what he was asking. “Erchen has thought it through.”

“She’s only a concubine.”

Jin Wang had a lot to say about this. Unfortunately, what he had in mind wasn’t suitable for someone like Emperor Hongjing to hear, so he simply didn’t say anything.

This wasn’t the first time for Emperor Hongjing to face this son of his, and it could be said that he understood certain mannerisms of Jin Wang quite well. Once Emperor Hongjing saw him like this, he knew that he must be having rebellious thoughts in his heart.

Seeing this, he didn’t intend on speaking in circles anymore. He waved his hand seemingly annoyed and directly said, “Don’t bring this up again. Zhen won’t allow it.”

“Why?”

With a solemn expression, Emperor Hongjing said, “Zhen is doing it for your own good. “

Just like how Emperor Hongjing understood some of Jin Wang’s mannerisms, Jin Wang also understood some of Emperor Hongjing’s habits. Seeing his father like this, a thought flashed through his mind and he immediately realized why Emperor Hongjing had acted the way he did.

Wasn’t it all for the sake of Hui Wang’s heir, Zhao Zuo, also known as the previous crown prince heir?

To be honest, Emperor Hongjing had already chosen a consort for Zhao Zuo early on. She was the youngest di daughter of the Chen Family. Although the Chen Family wasn’t a high-ranked official family, they were still members of the nobility. Many young prodigies from the family had passed the imperial exams and were well on their way to becoming pillars of the nation. For Zhao Zuo to marry the daughter of the Chen Family, it was tantamount to adding wings to a tiger. His path would be a lot easier when the time came for him to ascend the throne.

Unfortunately, Jin Wang discovered this and messed it up. The daughter of the Chen Family ended up eloping with her cousin. The Chen Family could no longer fulfill their end of the bargain so they had no choice but to report that she had died from an illness. Of course, this was only an announcement made to the outside world. Both the Chen Family and Jin Wang knew that the young miss of the Chen Family had in fact not died.

With the date of the wedding gradually approaching, the fiancée suddenly fell ill and died. Sighing at the inauspiciousness, Emperor Hongjing felt sorry for Zhou Zuo. Wanting to compensate him, he appointed another marriage for him.

This time, his fiancée was of even higher birth than the previous one. She was a member of the Wang Family, an old family, and her grandfather held a leading position among the officials. She was also the di daughter and had been pampered from birth.

The wedding was originally scheduled for October this year. But who would’ve thought that something would happen, causing the young lady to change her mind?

Elder Wang personally approached Emperor Hongjing to explain that his granddaughter was spoiled and had been strong-willed ever since she was a child. The old lady of his family also always indulged her. For some reason, his granddaughter suddenly clamoured to not marry anymore, saying that she wished to spend another two years keeping her grandmother company. The little girl was crying, and the old lady too. Both of his grandsons had tears streaming down their faces so Elder Wang had no choice but to enter the palace to find Emperor Hongjing.

For Elder Wang to be able to sit in his position, he naturally wasn’t a fool. How could he simply approach Emperor Hongjing, asking to break off the engagement? Naturally, he had to be tactical. Once he recounted everything, he sat down on the floor of Qianqing Palace and started crying. Because of his age, it wasn’t easy nor appropriate to be making such a fuss so Emperor Hongjing couldn’t help but take pity on him.

Naturally, this tactic was learned from his old lady. Everyone in the capital knew that Elder Wang’s ethics and principles were top-notch. The only thing that could be said was that he feared his wife. But this wasn’t a grave crime. After all, there had been many famous officials and generals throughout history that had a reputation of being afraid of their wives. On top of that, Elder Wang is old and his beard had long turned white. Because of his age, rarely anyone would feel comfortable making fun of him.

But to be so afraid of his wife that he even dared to go against the monarch’s wishes, he was the first. The main point was that Elder Wang had thrown away all face for this farce. Emperor Hongjing was angered to the point of frothing at the lips, yet Elder Wang still ignored him and simply kept on bawling.

He cried and cried until Emperor Hongjing’s stance softened.

Emperor Hongjing could only back down. This marriage had never been publicized anyway since he didn’t make an imperial decree. Fortunately, he didn’t make a decree. Otherwise, he would’ve had no way to retreat.

He naturally understood why Elder Wang had come to withdraw from the marriage. None of his words today held the truth. The facts were that Eastern Palace had lost its power and was now abolished. But Elder Wang was a veteran, having survived the power restructure that came with the changing of the monarch, so how could he let himself be at a loss? Even at the very beginning, Elder Wang had been reluctant to agree to this marriage. He repeatedly said that his granddaughter had been spoiled from birth and that it was inappropriate for her to be the crown prince heir’s consort. His old lady was also unwilling to let her beloved granddaughter marry into the imperial family.

It was only after Emperor Hongjing had repeatedly promised that his grandson would not mistreat his wife and asked Elder Wang to persuade his wife, that this marriage was settled. It must be said that Elder Wang was truly a thousand-year-old fox. He had even prepared a Plan B if things were to go south. As long as he said his old lady was insensible and did not agree, all his problems would be solved.

But another important factor was that Emperor Hongjing was also reluctant to get into a stalemate with this reliable minister.

During this period, another incident soon followed. Not long after Elder Wang withdrew from this marriage, Consort Yong and the young miss from the Wang Family became close. Close to the point that when Consort Yong expressed her intentions to have her marry into the household as the side consort, the young miss from the Wang Family didn’t even refuse on the spot.

Although this was only a matter of women, the backyard and the relationships among the ministers were inextricably linked. It was now a known fact that the princes no longer had a vassal state and must remain in the capital. Should no mishaps occur, these princes were all powerful contenders for the future crown prince, so people couldn’t help but overthink.

After that, another incident happened but it shock others as much as one would expect. Lu Wang approached Emperor Hongjing, announcing that he wished to marry the young miss of the Wang Family. Then he asked if Emperor Honjing could issue an edict of marriage. Although he was refused, these incidents were proof enough that the fight for the throne had officially begun.

Now Jin Wang went through so much trouble in an effort to divorce Consort Jin. In the eyes of the suspicious Emperor Hongjing, it was definitely not for the sake of a measly concubine. It was more likely an act to show his sincerity by vacating the position of the main wife to win over the Wang Family. After all, the eight princes were all married. How could the position of a side consort be as tempting as the main consort?

Jin Wang was a man with a brilliant and discerning mind. All sorts of thoughts flashed through his head in just a moment.

He didn’t expect that just because he wanted to abolish the consort, he would be so unlucky as to be connected with this matter. All he had wanted was to…

Jin Wang returned to Jin Wang Manor after leaving the palace.

He arrived at the courtyard where Yaoniang lived and as soon as he walked in, he saw Yaoniang holding Erbao, breastfeeding, with Xiaobao standing next to her.