Ch35 - A Speculation

Qiu Yiniang looked left and right, and saw the first wife’s eldest maid Yan Hong returning with tea from one end of the corridor. She quickly retreated two steps, stood behind one  of the corridor pillars, and waited for the maid to reach the door before she stepped out slowly.

“Qiu Yiniang has come to deliver the account books.” Yan Hong saw her and quickly smiled. Qiu Yiniang would be promoted to second wife next month. Recently, the people in this household had become a lot more polite to her. “The eldest young master is inside; let me help Yiniang bring them in.”

“Thank you for the trouble.” Qiu Yiniang smiled, handed her the books, and turned to leave.

The two people inside the room stopped talking when they heard the maid’s voice. Waiting for the person to come in, Lady Du asked, “Yan Hong, who was outside?”

“When this maidservant came to the door, I only bumped into Qiu Yiniang who had come to deliver the account books. She let this maid intercept her and went back.” Yanhong smiled and put the books on the table.

The North Marchioness frowned; she had gotten Qiu Yiniang to examine this month’s accounts in the side office today. She had ushered out all the maids, but had forgotten about her. Fortunately, Yan Hong had come back in time. She had Yanhong go out and guard the door. Lady Du raised her head and said to Mu Lingbao, “You are the eldest in the family, and no longer a child – you even know how to go out and fool around! Don’t hang around with that pack of rogues and visit low-class brothels all day! If you have nothing to do, practice your martial arts more; the next time you fight that guy from Duke Mao’s, you won’t be humiliated again!”

“It wasn’t my fault; that turtle-like shit used a dirty trick!” When Mu Lingbao was scolded, he immediately refused to accept it and argued, “What are you afraid of? That Mu Hanzhang brat can’t learn martial arts; even if I practice casually, I’d still be stronger than him!”

Qiu Yiniang returned to her residence feeling distraught. She originally thought that Wang Ye treated Hanzhang rather well; his days would be better at the prince’s palace than the Marquis’s residence, so she herself hadn’t asked for much. But she had completely forgotten about the fight over the imperial throne! Cheng Wang was so brave and good at fighting – all the children in the capital knew that. Would this kind of person be content with remaining a Wang Ye all his life? And without any sons from a first wife, his children wouldn’t be able to inherit any of the nobility of a Wang Ye.

Qiu Yiniang had a mind to go find her son and have a proper talk with him, but she was still just a concubine, unable to leave as she pleased. Lady Qiu sighed and summoned her maid, Yan Cui, to send a letter to the Mo Lian Establishment.

“Yiniang, the second young master’s shop sells… sells perfumed ointment. How can this servant go in?” Yan Cui immediately blushed.

Qiu Yiniang glared at the girl making a fuss and said, “I just need you to send it to the front gates of our residence! Give this to the Wang family’s third son who drives the cart; don’t worry about the rest.”

The investigation into the attack on the second prince in the southwest had not clarified anything. The Government Office of Justice determined that the assassins were likely  commoners of unorthodox origin, such as the so-called Jianghu masters, who were desperate for money. However, Jing Chen had been dressed in plain clothes and gone incognito; only the few bodyguards at his side knew his whereabouts. Four of the bodyguards had been sent by the emperor, and two by Cheng Wang. No one in court said it aloud, but they were all suspicious. The assassination attempt on the second prince had to be related to Cheng Wang!

“Ca atja alwf, Jtfcu Qjcu lcrlrafv bc qgbnlvlcu sbe klat akb uejgvr; atlcxlcu jybea la cbk, atja kjr ageis rerqlmlber!” j uefra ja atf rfmbcv qglcmf’r gfrlvfcmf, Kfjmtfg Jtfc, rjlv rlcmfgfis.

Alcu Jtfc, ktb kjr lcpegfv jcv ja tbwf, kjr rlaalcu ja tlr ajyif, jcv tf ogbkcfv ja atfrf kbgvr. “Ktja’r eccfmfrrjgs ab rjs; Alcu Vtjb kbeiv cba tjgw wf.”

“Your Highness! In the imperial household, the strength of brotherhood is as thin as paper. Even your brothers cannot be trusted! Cheng Wang has great military achievements, but he married a male wife; his heart definitely wouldn’t be content. Chen has heard that he dotes on the Wang Fei very much in front of everyone, but that is inconceivable! One has to ask, if Your Highness had all the qualifications to take the throne, would you be content to remain Cheng Wang?” Teacher Chen wouldn’t let the subject be brushed off so easily.

“Enough!” Jing Chen slammed down the cup in his hand on the table. “Do not bring up those unfounded speculations about Jing Shao again!”

After driving out that flock of ceaselessly jabbering advisors, a tired Jing Chen rubbed the space between his eyebrows, took a pen, and began to write a memorial for the emperor.

“Your Highness, Teacher Chen and the others were saying that for your own good. There’s nothing wrong with paying them a little more attention.” The second prince’s Wang Fei, Lady Xiao, came in with a bowl of herbal tea to mitigate the heat and hesitated for a moment, but couldn’t help speaking.

“What are you inserting yourself in court matters for?” Jing Chen glanced at her and refused to discuss it any further. Lady Xiao would never be able to understand how much he treasured his brother. Jing Chen was tired of talking so much and didn’t want to explain it anymore. He knew from experience that this woman was short-sighted, and wasn’t able to understand many things no matter how he tried to explain.　

But if even his own advisors doubted Jing Shao, then there would certainly be people in court who also doubted him. Jing Chen’s brow wrinkled more deeply. This was a terrible situation no matter who was responsible. To the culprits, if he died, that would be for the best; if he didn’t die, the blame could be shifted to Jing Shao. No matter if it was to tarnish Jing Shao’s reputation as Cheng Wang or to cause conflict between brothers, the outcome would be in the opponents’ favor.

“Trying to investigate the assassins further will only do you harm,” Mu Hanzhang told Jing Shao early in the morning as he helped him tie on the jade belt of his court clothes. “Today, if someone targets you and tries to accuse you, you must scold him loudly and display your filial piety and fraternal duty. Don’t try to refute them with any kind of evidence or proof; you won’t be able to beat those officials in talking.” Knowing that Jing Shao had been suffering grievances in court these days, Mu Hanzhang was upset for him, but could only urge him to first swallow his words.

“I’m just so angry. I’m almost certain it was Jing Yu who did this! Are we going to let him get away unpunished?” Jing Shao furiously retorted. His Imperial Father should be clear about this matter in his heart, but Jing Shao was bitter at the current lack of clues. After all, they couldn’t do anything simply because he claimed Jing Yu was the one behind it.

“Even if the fourth prince was the one who did it, killing one’s brother is a big crime; if they dared to do it, then they would have to be completely prepared.” Mu Hanzhang sighed. “If Brother wants to protect you, he will certainly write a memorial to ask Imperial Father not to investigate this matter further. You just need to remember not to be impulsive.”

Jing Shao walked out, discontent; he barely took two steps before he turned back, arms drooping, and buried his face in his Wang Fei’s shoulder. “I’m so vexed – I don’t want to go today!”

Mu Hanzhang looked helplessly at the big fellow hanging onto his body, raised his hand, and patted him. “Don’t be so willful, go quickly.” Jing Shao groaned and wouldn’t move. Seeing that it wasn’t so early anymore, Mu Hanzhang was afraid that Jing Shao would be late, so he said gently, “Yesterday, Big Brother Zhou bought a pot of prawns. I’ll go to the Ministry of War at noon to pick you up. Let’s go to the Hui Wei Restaurant for lunch.”

When Jing Shao heard these words, he immediately became more spirited. “Then it’s settled: I just need to go to the Ministry of War at mao hour; I’ll be able to leave by si hour.”

Mu Hanzhang watched his Wang Ye leave energetically. He smiled lightly and shook his head. How come the man was becoming more and more like a child? He had to use food to bribe him to go out and handle his proper affairs.

At this morning court, as Mu Hanzhang had expected, those officials who liked to talk in circles insinuated that Jing Shao was suspicious. Jing Chen was still recuperating from his wounds and wasn’t present. The fourth prince kept his head down the entire time, and he didn’t say a single word.

Jing Shao listened to his Wang Fei’s advice and didn’t retort. Instead, he scolded the officials for their vicious thoughts and for looking down on brotherhood and filial piety.

Emperor Hong Zheng looked at Jing Shao, whose face and neck were red with anger. He didn’t say a word and waited until Jing Shao was finished. Then, he spoke slowly: “This time, the second prince was attacked by assassins. If it wasn’t for Cheng Wang’s guards risking their lives to protect him, everything would have ended in disaster. Thus, until we are able to clearly investigate the matter, we will not make any assumptions. Do you think Zhen is a three-year-old child?” He then threw the memorial at the feet of the Imperial Censor standing below the jade steps.

The Imperial Censor Fan Jie who had just spoken had done so the most vigorously. He was intimidated by the emperor’s imposing voice and had to kneel down to pick up the memorial on the ground.

That memorial was the one the second prince had passed to the emperor yesterday; in it, he sincerely urged his Imperial Father not to investigate the matter for the time being, because the one people would suspect the most would be his own little brother. As an older brother, he truly wouldn’t be able to bear that kind of situation.

“The second prince’s heart is tolerant and kind. This time, he went to the southwest to investigate the matter of the tribute. His contributions cannot go unnoticed. He will be conferred the title Rui Wang. Once Jing Chen recovers from his wounds, let the Minister of Confucian Rites pick a day.” After looking his two sons in the eye, Emperor Hong Zheng tossed his sleeves and left. His eyes were profound, the meaning in them unclear.

Mu Hanzhang had breakfast and took Yun Zhu out with him. He first went to the Mo Lian Establishment. Although he was the one who opened the business, this kind of thing wasn’t very pleasant to discuss, so it was said outside that someone else had opened the shop, and the Wang Fei just had shares in it.

Since the store opened, business had been very prosperous. Some people in the capital could see that this business earned money, but no one dared to step into it. This was simply because the establishment bore the name of Cheng Wang’s household, and the tyrannical Cheng Wang was known for being irrational. 

“Brother Lin.” Shortly after Mu Hanzhang entered the store, he saw a familiar figure come in. It was Lin-gongzi of the Marquis of Dingnan’s household. The Marquis of Dingnan was the second prince’s Wang Fei’s mother’s home; due to  this, they were considered relatives.

“Mu-gongzi…” When Lin-gongzi saw Mu Hanzhang here, he immediately felt a little embarrassed. “The box you gifted last time… en, I don’t have the face to ask my servants to buy this, so I could only come early by myself.”

Lin-gongzi’s husband was the bastard son of the Marquis of Dingnan. The old Marquis still hadn’t divided the family; naturally, he wouldn’t give this male wife any power, so it was inconvenient for Lin-gongzi to do anything.

Mu Hanzhang immediately understood the difficulty. He turned his head to look at the decorations in the shop. The common people didn’t pay much attention – if men came to buy the items, they wouldn’t be able to tell if they were the husband or the wife, so it didn’t matter. For male wives in noble families, however, there was definitely a lot of inconvenience. The cheapest iron boxes in the store sold the most, and the most expensive silver boxes could also be sold to those hedonistic sons of rich parents who wished to please beauties. The wooden boxes of perfumed ointment weren’t selling as well as Mu Hanzhang thought they would.

Mu Hanzhang considered this and the cogs in his brain began to turn. Every month, the Imperial Household Department would set aside a quantity for each household and send it over. So, for his customers who still needed the product but were inconvenienced, he could have them pay a set monthly fee, and he would have the products delivered afterwards.

“If it is inconvenient for Lin-Dage, tell me how much you need; at the beginning of each month, I’ll send someone with a sealed pack to your residence. You can just say that it’s something I sent you.” When Mu Hanzhang came to this conclusion, his mind was lively again. Every month, the household office of the Royal Palace would deliver the ample stipend on time. He could thus make the households of the princes that were inconvenienced and sorely in need  pay money regularly, and he would then send the products to them every month.

“This will definitely solve my □□ problem.” Lin-gongzi was very happy with this solution, and immediately paid in advance.

Mu Hanzhang left the Mo Lian Establishment, saw that it was still early, and walked to the Ministry of War’s office. Once he arrived in front of the door, at exactly si hour, he saw a figure punctually crossing the threshold.

“Wang Ye, this matter isn’t done yet, why are you leaving already?” Minister Sun came out holding a book and helplessly chased after him.

“You make the decision yourself, I have something urgent to do. I’ll talk to you about it later.” Jing Shao waved his hand impatiently at him. When he looked up, he saw his Wang Fei standing outside the door, wearing a light blue robe. The sight was so attractive that Jing Shao couldn’t help but draw back the corners of his mouth and rush towards him.