Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 145 Pt. 1
Translated by gingercat
Edited by gingercat
Anqing Gongzhu soon left and Emperor Hongjing was unwilling to continue with official business. After saying that they would continue another day, he asked all the ministers to withdraw.
The palace was silent. Emperor Hongjing sat on the dragon chair and it was unknown what he was thinking. His expression was very complicated: sometimes amused, sometimes melancholy, and sometimes even a little embarrassed.
Li Dequan stepped forward, handed Emperor Hongjing a cup of tea, and stood beside him.
Emperor Hongjing picked up the tea, took a sip, and said, “I underestimated him.”
Although he didn’t name who specifically, Li Dequan knew he was referring to Jin Wang.
Indeed, no one had thought Jin Wang would be able to handle this task so successfully. He had done it so flawlessly and earned a great reputation for Emperor Hongjing in the meantime.
After the performance of this show, both Emperor Hongjing and Anqing Gongzhu’s reputation soared, not to mention Jin Wang’s. It could be said to have killed three birds with one stone.
“He actually dared to say all this in front of the eldest gongzhu! When did I ever tell him that the eldest gongzhu was a sensible and knowledgeable person? And if Zhen couldn’t bear to tear down her house, why would Zhen send him there in the first place?”
Emperor Hongjing showed an expression of disdain as he sipped his tea. Although his tone was quite unpleasant, the corners of the mouth were upturned.
It wasn’t appropriate for Li Dequan to respond to his words, so he could only smile and say, “His Highness Jin Wang had been smart ever since he was young. Now that he has grown up, naturally, he can’t be too bad.”
Emperor Hongjing nodded. “Like Consort De.”
Thinking of Consort De, Emperor Hongjing paused for a moment. His fingers, which were playing with the teapot lid, stopped moving and time seemed to have come to a standstill. He appeared to be deep in thought, but at the same time, it seemed like he didn’t have anything in his mind. He squeezed the teapot lid. Then he poured himself another cup of tea and took a sip.
After a sip, he put down the teacup and stood up. “Consort De’s death anniversary seems to be approaching soon. Don’t neglect it.”
“Yes.”
Emperor Hongjing brought this up every year, and Li Dequan would always reply this way every year.
How long has Consort De been gone? It has already been over twenty years. Yet, His Majesty still remembers her after all these years
Li Dequan sighed with emotion and followed behind Emperor Hongjing.
Together, they went out the door of the main hall. Looking far into the distance, one could see the far mountains and the countless palace roofs with yellow glazed tiles. Everything seemed so small and insignificant.
Under the heavens, only the monarch could look down on all this with deep and dignified eyes.
Emperor Hongjing stood for a while before turning to leave.
As soon as he lifted his foot, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Zhao Zuo, the Hui Wang Shizi, walking down the corridors. He seemed to have seen the person dressed in the bright yellow dragon robes, standing in front of the palace hall. He quickened his steps in this direction.
He raised his head and lightened his footsteps. Hui Wang Shizi had a look of surprise, delight and respect on his face.
“Hui Wang Shizi is here,” announced Li Dequan in a teasing manner.
Emperor Hongjing only paused for a moment, before walking away. He acted as if he didn’t see or hear what Li Dequan said.
Li Dequan lightly snorted. This Hui Wang Shizi had been too diligent in running to the palace these past few days. It was no wonder His Majesty didn’t want to see him.
Seeing that the person standing in front of the palace hall was about to leave, Zhao Zuo subconsciously wanted to call out to him. Then, he remembered that random noise was forbidden here.
He ran up, panting, but the person he wanted to see had already left.
Did Grandfather Emperor not see him?
Anqing Gongzhu actually agreed to move her manor.
Ever since this matter blew up, countless people paid attention to it. The two sides were in a stalemate, one party being the eldest gongzhu, while the other, was a meritorious official of the imperial court. Whether imperial authority or the heart of the people would reign supreme, no one knew for certain.
What seemed to be simple was actually not that simple.
Forcibly demolishing the gongzhu manor would be unethical, unfilial and disrespectful to the elders. Throughout the dynasties, the emperors all emphasized the importance of filial piety. But if meritorious officials were neglected, their hearts would chill. Once the hearts of the officials and soldiers turned cold, who would be willing to risk their lives and sacrifice for the good of the country?
Then, this matter fell onto Jin Wang. Many speculated that Jin Wang would suffer a loss this time. Regardless of whether he demolished the manor or not, it was unlikely he’d be able to go far in the future.
But, who was to blame? If one had to be blamed naturally that would be the emperor. Without the acquiescence of His Majesty, the Head Minister of the Minister of Works wouldn’t dare to assign this job to Jin Wang.
To put it bluntly, the emperor was pushing Jin Wang out to take the blame.
But what everyone couldn’t imagine was that Jin Wang would take advantage of this opportunity.
Without anyone realizing it, the matter was done. If Anqing Gongzhu hadn’t gone to the palace to cry with great fanfare, no one would’ve known that the old woman had changed her mind.
As for why she changed her mind, no one knew. Well, except for maybe Jin Wang. Long story short, this incident allowed Jin Wang to stand out in the capital.
Then just as everyone was discussing this matter, Jin Wang suddenly filed for a leave of absence from the Ministry of Works.
Without even providing a reason.
The Ministry of Work didn’t say anything except that Director Zhao had worked hard and asked him to enjoy his rest for the next few days.
So Jin Wang no longer went to work. After three days of idleness in the manor, Yaoniang finally started persuading him to go back to work.
“Be careful not to overdo it. Otherwise, how will you stay in the Ministry of Works in the future?”
Jin Wang didn’t speak and only adjusted himself to a more comfortable position. At this moment, he was on the bed, half-reclined with one leg straight and the other slightly bent, reading a book.
A cat was lying beside his legs. It was Huahua.
Huahua had changed a lot. When she was first brought back by Xiaobao, she was only the size of a palm. Now her body was more than twice as long and more than twice as wide.
She became a fat little cat.
It was also because Chun’er and Qiu’er adored her. Rongxi Courtyard never had a shortage of food, so naturally, the young master’s beloved pets didn’t go hungry either. When she was young, she drank goat’s milk. When she grew a little older, she enjoyed three meals a day of fish broth and rice. Now that she was even bigger, she would eat three to four small crucian carps every day. Each of them was about five inches long, and she’d eat some snacks on top of that as well.
This cat was also strange. She’d eat anything but only what was fed by Xiaobao, whether it be chicken buns or small fruit snacks.
Huahua was even skilled at eating grapes. She even knew to spit out the grape skins after eating the flesh.
Because of this skill, all the servants in Rongxi Courtyard treated Huahua like a godly cat. Together, they spoiled Huahua to death. The more they spoiled her, the bigger her guts grew.
To the point that Huahua even dared to pester Jin Wang
Huahua liked Jin Wang ever since she was a little kitten and enjoyed clinging to him. But back then, she was still young and couldn’t even climb over the door sills. Now that she grew up, she could run back and forth from one room to another, but she especially liked to drill around Jin Wang’s legs and meow.
Whenever Jin Wang came to Rongxi Courtyard, she would follow him wherever he went. At first, Jin Wang was annoyed to death and did not let her get close to him. However, after being entangled many times, he gradually began to ignore her. At most, he’d kick her away when started drilling into his leg.
Of course, it was a very light kick, similar to a nudge. But Huahua was a shameless cat. Whenever Jin Wang pushed her away with the tip of his boot, she’d climb onto Jin Wang’s boots and grab onto it with her claws.
After all this pestering, Huahua could finally stay by Jin Wang’s side. Occasionally when Jin Wang was lying on the Kang, she’d sneak up to lie beside him. By now, Jin Wang no longer grabbed her by the scruff of her neck to throw her off the bed. However, there was still one place Huahua had yet to conquer, which was the bed of Yaoniang and Jin Wang. She had tried twice, but without exception, she failed every time.
Seeing Yaoniang talking, Huahua raised her body and gave her a meow.
She seemed to be expressing, if he doesn’t want to go, then don’t go. That way we’d be able to spend more time together.
Yaoniang couldn’t understand cat language, so she continued to say to Jin Wang, “By the way, Duke Zhenguo Manor sent me an invitation and asked for me to bring Xiaobao along. It was an invitation from Madam Shizi.”
“You can go. Sun Mang is not an insensible person. At the palace gate that day, it was his wife who came to thank us with the child in her arms. By now, everyone in the palace likely already knows the ins and outs of the matter. Even if you have a good relationship with Madam Shizi, others wouldn’t link it to a connection between me and Duke Zhenguo.”
Yaoniang was just about to ask about this. As she began to socialize more, she gradually understood what it meant to avoid suspicion. It was kind of similar to when she was young, if the adults of two families were in a conflict, their children wouldn’t play together.
But now there was another layer to it. In order to avoid Emperor Hongjing’s suspicion, one couldn’t appear too close with those who hold great power.
This was why Yaoniang had to ask to make sure.
“Since this is the case, then I can rest assured. I’ll go tomorrow.”
