Ch86 - Numerous and Disorderly

In robes as white as snow and with picturesque features, who could it be if not Gu Huaiqing?

“Wang Ye, Marquis!” The plump lady saw the two come in and busily welcomed them with a salute; this etiquette was something she had obviously just learned, and when she did it, it was incomparably awkward.

“Elder sister Hao, I trust you have been well since we last met?” Mu Hanzhang said hello with a smile.

Jing Shao, however, was having a stare-off with Gu Huaiqing. He confirmed that this truly was the Huainan King himself, and asked him with his eyes why he was here. 

But Gu Huaiqing seemed to not understand. He got up and greeted them. “Greetings, Wang Ye and Marquis.”

“I met Brother Gu on the way,” the plump madam explained eagerly. “My pack mule became lame halfway on the journey. Fortunately, I ran into Brother Gu, who kindly let me hitch a ride. Brother Gu is just an official. He came to the capital to do business, but he has no place to stay, so I decided to let him stay here.”

“This subordinate is Gu Qing, magistrate of Huaiyang County in Jiangnan. I came to the capital to report on my work. I am fortunate and thank General Hao for not abandoning me and for allowing me to stay for a couple days.” Gu Huaiqing looked at the plump lady gratefully. His words were modest, polite and clear-cut. If it wasn’t for that rare handsome face, Jing Shao really would have thought that he had recognized the wrong person.

Mu Hanzhang pressed his lips together to hide his smile. The so-called Huaiyang County was from the previous dynasty. It had been renamed Danyang City, and Danyang City was the capital city of the Huainan fiefdom; could he be considered its county magistrate?

Seeing that the Wang Ye didn’t disdain the presence of the stranger, the plump lady warmly had them take a seat. She turned to go back to the kitchen, and planned to cook a couple more dishes.

There were only a few servants in Hao Dadao’s residence to begin with. Those who had come to set the table were sent off to do other work. As soon as the plump lady left, only the three of them were left to stare blankly at each other.

“Why are you here?” Jing Shao lowered his voice and asked.

“It was just a coincidence that we met on the way,” Gu Huaiqing said innocently. 

Jing Shao felt the veins in his forehead throb; vassal kings couldn’t enter the capital without being summoned. Once he was seen, it would be no small matter. Look at how the situation had already developed, yet he was still in the mood to joke!

Mu Hanzhang placed his hand over Jing Shao’s fist, patted it placatingly, and said in a soft voice, “Is there some important matter that elder brother came to the capital for?”

This question was unavoidable. Gu Huaiqing smiled and put down his tea cup. He feigned melancholy and said, “There was a beautiful person I saw once whom I was never able to forget; not seeing them for one day makes me go crazy.”

“What do you mean?” Jing Shao frowned. This person was problematic: The more anxious you were, the more he wouldn’t get to the point, speaking so cryptically and simply driving a person mad. 

Mu Hanzhang just looked at Gu Huaiqing in astonishment. “Elder brother must be joking.”

Gu Huaiqing immediately put away his melancholy and smiled. “Is Jun Qing doubting my sincerity?” Saying that, he was about to grab the hand that Mu Hanzhang had put over Jing Shao’s hand, but unexpectedly, Jing Shao’s fist welcomed him instead.

“Elder brother, you must not take advantage of your friends’ wives.” Before Jing Shao finished his words, his fist had already reached the corner of Gu Huaiqing’s slightly upturned eye.

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Gu Huaiqing was so unprepared that he almost fell face-first from his chair. He put his hand over his chest and coughed for a long time. “Cough cough… It isn’t proper to beat a court official. Whatever will you do next?”

“Don’t talk like my brother!” When Jing Shao heard “whatever will you do next,” he got angry again and gave him another fierce blow.

When Hao Dadao came in with the wine jar, he saw the three people sitting quietly and not chatting much, but Gu Huaiqing had covered his chest with one hand and was rubbing it slowly. 

“Brother Gu, what’s the matter?” Hao Dadao had a good impression of Gu Huaiqing, who had kindly escorted his wife to the capital.

“I have had heart sickness since I was a child. It’s not of importance.” Gu Huaiqing gave a weak smile, looking rather like a sick and feeble scholar.

“Then you should see a doctor.” When Hao Dadao heard that, he frowned, and was about to go out to find a doctor.

“No need, no need.” Gu Huaiqing quickly grabbed the upstanding and cordial General Hao. “I was so happy to see the Wang Ye and Wang Fei that I got too excited for a moment.” 

When Jing Shao heard that, his forehead throbbed and he wanted to hit him again.

Most of the homely dishes were cooked by the plump madam herself. Her skills were obviously far from those of the imperial chefs, but these three didn’t often eat these kinds of simple dishes, and they tasted fresh and interesting. Even Mu Hanzhang couldn’t help but eat an extra half a bowl of rice.

“Madam’s skills are very good. General Hao is really blessed,” Mu Hanzhang said with a smile as he held a cup of tea after the meal.

“You’re still so good at talking,” said the plump lady, her eyes narrowed with a smile. “But he doesn’t think he’s blessed, disliking what I cook every day.” 

When Hao Dadao heard his wife begin to scold him again, he felt a little uneasy. He turned to Jing Shao and said, “Wang Ye, this subordinate received something the day before yesterday. I want you to have a look.”

Jing Shao looked at him. “All right.” He then got up, told his princess to stay here for a little while, and went out of the hall with Hao Dadao.

Walking to a corner of the corridor, Jing Shao stopped and looked at the flowers in the garden. “What did you want to say?” The general’s mansion was newly built and the flowers and plants had yet to flourish. Hao Dadao also didn’t know much about planting rare and valuable plants, so he just planted several elm trees in the courtyard. They had sprouted, and the short trees were full of green leaves.

“That Sir Gu said he knows Wang Ye, but that news of him coming to the capital cannot be made public. I wasn’t able to tell you outside your palace today. I hope Wang Ye will forgive this general for not informing you earlier,” Hao Dadao said in a low voice. This was something Gu Huaiqing had told him alone, and even the general’s wife didn’t know about it. 

“He’s right,” Jing Shao turned his head and said to Hao Dadao. “Let him stay with you first; just say he’s a relative of your wife’s family. I’ll have him leave in two days.” Gu Huaiqing was always cautious. When he was in Jiangnan, none of Jing Shao’s subordinates had seen him, including Hao Dadao. He didn’t know how that guy had tricked Hao Dadao into trusting him.

“He also brought two bodyguards. Because he wanted to see Wang Ye, this general didn’t let him bring them to the front courtyard.” Hao Dadao then reported all of Gu Huaiqing’s words and actions.

Jing Shao nodded, patted him on the shoulder, and praised that Hao Dadao was always much more reliable than Zhao Meng. If Gu Huaiqing stayed here, he trusted that nothing would happen.

On the way home, he took out the thing which Gu Huaiqing had stuffed into his hand. 

“What’s this?” Mu Hanzhang picked up what was in his palm and looked at it. It was a jade ornament. It was made of green jade and was exquisitely carved. It was cool to the touch and connected to a red silk waist tie.

“Just now, when I was fighting with him, he stuffed it into my hand and said to help him return it.” Jing Shao felt puzzled, as Gu Huaiqing hadn’t said who he was to return it to.

Mu Hanzhang heard this, and with a strange look on his face, he leaned against Jing Shao’s chest and held up the jade ornament so that it reflected the sunlight. He looked at it carefully. “This kind of jade ornament is of a very high grade. With this quality, it can only have been worn by princes or high nobility.”

“This should be my brother’s.” Jing Shao held the reins in one hand and slowly wrapped the other around Mu Hanzhang’s waist. 

“But…” Mu Hanzhang felt as if he had discovered some secret.

“What’s the matter?” Enjoying the sweet-smelling and warm body in his arms, Jing Shao secretly grinned and asked the question casually.

Mu Hanzhang frowned and turned to look at him. “This shape means that it was probably embedded in a belt…” How did a jade ornament embedded in a belt fall into the hands of another?

Soon after, the two extremely curious people turned the horse around and directly went to Rui Wang’s palace. 

Jing Chen had not yet taken his siesta and was enjoying the cool air in the courtyard as he read a book. He heard that the two had come, so before they arrived, he had the servants bring two more stools.

“Why did you come here?” Jing Chen frowned. It was starting to get hot in the fifth lunar month. Running here when the sun was beating down at midday, it had to be something urgent.

“Gu Huaiqing is in the capital,” Jing Shao lowered his voice and said.

Jing Chen sat up straight and asked, “What is he doing here?” Right now, the situation was tense. Coming to the capital at this time, wasn’t it expressly giving the court fuel to use against them? 

“I also don’t know.” Jing Shao scratched his head. Nine out of ten sentences which Gu Huaiqing uttered were fake. Even after asking the entire time during lunch, Jing Shao still wasn’t able to get a straight answer. “He said that he wanted me to return this for him, but this thing belongs to brother?”

Jing Chen looked at the green jade ornament which Jing Shao handed over and his expression turned dark immediately. He rubbed his aching forehead and said, “Tell him to hurry up and leave. There are many people with eyes in the capital who will more likely recognize him than not.”

Just then, Rui Wang Fei came with tea and said, “The weather is hot. I’ve brewed herbal tea. Try it.”

“Thank you, sister-in-law.” Mu Hanzhang took it with a smile, but Jing Shao didn’t have a good expression. His Wang Fei elbowed him before he took it. 

Rui Wang Fei’s complexion still wasn’t very good, but she looked better than when Jing Chen hadn’t been in the capital.

“Is sister-in-law in better health?” Mu Hanzhang took a sip of tea and asked.

“Thanks to Marquis’s good wishes, I am a lot better,” Consort Xiao replied politely.

“Sister-in-law’s words give more credit to Hanzhang than is due.” Mu Hanzhang’s smile faded a little, and he lowered his head to drink the tea. He had originally wanted to praise that the tea was brewed well, but now he couldn’t say it. 

Jing Chen took a glance at her. “If you are not well, then don’t come out. Go back to the room and have a rest.”

Before Rui Wang Fei could open her mouth, the servant in the front yard rushed in to report that a young boy servant from the Cheng Wang’s palace had something urgent to report.

It was Yun Song who had come. He was sweating from running and he gave a hasty salute before he said, “People from the North Marquis’s household came to tell us that the secondary wife is experiencing symptoms of miscarriage.”

Mu Hanzhang abruptly stood up. “What’s the situation?” 

“I’m not clear about the details. They  just said that they have already fetched an imperial physician.” Yun Song knew that this matter was very important, so he had looked for them from the general’s house all the way to Rui Wang’s palace.

“Jun Qing, don’t worry.” Jing Shao took his hand and looked back at his brother.

“You two go there quickly, I’ll send another imperial physician over.” Without waiting for Jing Shao to speak, Jing Chen also stood up and urged them to go quickly.

Looking at the figures of the two people as they left in a hurry, Jing Chen called for his personal servant. “Go to the imperial hospital and have Imperial Physician Zhang head over there.” 

His subordinate accepted the order and left. Consort Xiao looked at Jing Chen’s face and said, “It’s said that the secondary wife of the North Marquis is already seven months pregnant; it shouldn’t be an issue.”

Jing Chen nodded and looked at her. “When I wasn’t here, did Jing Shao come?”

“They were here once. They just said a few words and then left,” Consort Xiao said, playing down their visit.

Jing Chen heard this, frowned and looked at her pensively. “Why are you dissatisfied with brother-in-law?” 

“What does Wang Ye mean? How can I be dissatisfied with brother-in-law? ” Rui Wang Fei asked in puzzlement.

Jing Chen looked at her with deep eyes for a long time. “It’s fine if you don’t want to give Xiao Si to Jing Shao. Why embarrass them?”

When Consort Xiao heard these words, she immediately felt wronged. She had had a difficult birth with their youngest son. They ran into so much misfortune, and both mother and son almost hadn’t survived. How could she be willing to let her son be adopted by others? After Jing Chen mentioned this, whenever she saw Cheng Wang and his husband, she couldn’t put on a good expression. “Wang Ye, it’s not that I don’t want to, but Xiao Si’s health is not good; how can we give him to two men to be cared for? What’s more, Imperial Father had Cheng Wang marry a male wife for the sake of not…”

“Shut up!” Jing Chen immediately scolded her and didn’t let her finish the rest of her words. 

While it wasn’t peaceful in Rui Wang’s palace, the North Marquis’s residence was in even more of a mess.

Jing Shao took his Wang Fei and had Xiao Hei rush through the back gate of the Marquis’s residence, frightening the servants who were guarding it.

They ran all the way to Consort Qiu’s small courtyard. The imperial doctor was treating the consort inside the room, but the North Marchioness was standing outside the door with a poor expression on her face, several of the maids behind her trembling with fear and not even daring to breathe too loudly. Only two of Consort Qiu’s maids were busily running back and forth carrying in hot water and cloth towels.

Seeing this situation, Mu Hanzhang felt that something was wrong. He said hello to Lady Du, then rushed into the inner room. 

Jing Shao couldn’t enter the inner room at will, but he didn’t leave. He sat in the seat of honor in the main room.

When the North Marchioness saw that the Cheng Wang had actually entered the inner residence and didn’t look like he planned to leave, her face became even uglier, but she could only have people wait carefully on them. She herself sat stiffly in the subordinate seat, not knowing whether it was better to stay or leave.