Chapter 39: Zhus' Beautiful Concubine

  When Prince Guangping left the palace, the sun was already setting in the west.

  He stayed in the Qianqing Palace for a full two hours, and then went to pay his respects to his mother, Empress Dowager Jiang Shufei, and chatted with her for a while.

  Jiang Shufei was as gentle and loving as ever, but there was a hint of sadness between her eyebrows. The King of Guangping had asked the palace staff who attended to her privately and only then did he know that during his long absence, the Emperor had only visited Jiang Shufei twice, apart from going to the Empress on the first and fifteenth days of the month as per custom, and spent all other nights at Zhu Li's place. The other consorts hardly even got a chance to see him alone. Although the Emperor had also doted on Zhu Li before, being so exclusively favored was unprecedented. Zhu Li had just given birth to a young prince not long ago, and wasn't exactly new, what was it about her that captivated the Emperor?

  It's just that this matter isn't something a son should be concerned with, and apart from comforting the queen dowager, there was nothing else he could do. On his way back to the palace, his mood wasn't very good.

  He arrived at the Wang Fu, tidied himself up, hastily ate some snacks to fill his stomach, and then called over the left and right long history of the Wang Fu to inquire about the affairs of the mansion during this period. At this time, his younger brother, the fourth prince Le An Wang Gao Jue, came over with the guard commander Fan Ben Zhang.

  Le An Wang is only nineteen years old this year, with a slender figure and a gentle appearance. He is the clever and lovely youngest son in his parents' eyes, as well as the intelligent and agile younger brother in his elder brother's eyes. He has always been close to his twin brother, Guangping King Gao Yu, and was eager to see him as soon as he heard that his brother had returned. Unfortunately, he was still busy with official duties at the Ministry of Works at the time, and it wasn't until all matters were settled that he rushed to the Guangping King's mansion, only to find that his brother had gone to take a bath. He could only wait until his brother finished washing and having dinner before asking Fan Ben Zhang about his experiences on this trip south.

  So when he sat down with Guangping King to talk, he already knew the details of Zhao Jiong's case very well. The first sentence he asked was: "Imperial brother, did Zhao Jiong really become paralyzed? Can't move at all?"

  The King of Guangping smiled and nodded: "Indeed, he didn't necessarily have no chance of recovery, but unfortunately, he missed the good doctor and became a mediocre doctor, delaying his injury, and now it's too late to save him. This can be considered as his retribution."

  "It serves him right!" King Le'an sneered, "He's done something even worse than a beast, and if he can escape with his life, it's already a blessing from his past life! He's lucky that Father Emperor had originally sentenced him to exile for a thousand miles, but now that he's unable to move, it's actually a good thing for him."

  The King of Guangping thought that he couldn't be exiled to Liaodong, but rather it was a good thing. He asked the King of Le'an: "In these days when I am not in the capital, which minister does Father Emperor summon more often? Is there someone he often asks for advice?"

  Le An Wang furrowed his brow: "It's about the same as before, but some time ago, because many people were pleading for Zhao Jiong's wife and children, Father Emperor summoned the ministers less often, and didn't show special favor to anyone." He paused, "However, my younger brother once heard a rumor in the palace, I don't know if it's true or not."

  "Oh?" Guangping King raised an eyebrow, "What rumor?"

  "It is said that the Emperor was troubled by the matter of the succession to the title of Duke of Southern Building, and asked the Empress Dowager and the Empress about their opinions. They all said it was not convenient for them to interfere in politics, and asked the Emperor to decide on his own. Only Zhu Li Concubine spoke ill of the Zhao family, feeling that they had instigated so many people to come and plead for them, causing a lot of trouble for the Emperor. If it weren't for the fact that the body of the Duke of Zhao was still warm, she would have wanted to teach them a lesson. The Emperor listened to her words and felt very pleased, and became even more fond of her, almost going to her place every day, and constantly complaining about the Zhao family's affairs with her. Zhu Li Concubine often agreed with the Emperor, occasionally even coming up with ideas for him to reject those who came to plead, making the Emperor even happier. Fortunately, she was not a big mouth, when others asked her what the Emperor had said about the Zhao family, she wouldn't reveal a single word."

  Is it Princess Zhu Li again?

  The King of Guangping furrowed his brow.

  Zhu Li was the daughter of a former Ming imperial clan, but she came from a collateral branch and her ancestors were all born out of wedlock. Before the fall of the Ming dynasty, her father's family had only a nominal title as members of the imperial clan, and their lives were not much different from those of ordinary people, and they even lived in relative poverty. Zhu Li herself was beautiful, although not stunningly so, but among the palace ladies she was considered a standout. Due to her special background, she was seen as a symbol of the generosity of the Great Chu imperial family towards the former Ming imperial clan, and the willingness of the former Ming imperial clan to submit to the Great Chu. She was taken into the palace with the rank of pin from the beginning, which never changed. At the beginning of the year, she gave birth to the sixth prince, Gao Kan, and the former Ming imperial clan briefly celebrated wildly. However, although the emperor doted on his youngest son, he had never indicated that he would give him special treatment. The future position of Crown Prince was very stable for the third prince, Guangping King, and even if he were not available, there were three other older princes who would take precedence over the sixth prince, a mere infant.

  Zhu Li should be very clear about this, so she has never sought anything for her son in front of the emperor. Although she is extremely favored, she is always courteous and humble to the empress and concubines who are higher than her in rank, making it impossible to find fault with her. Guangping King had also been wary of her because of her former identity as a Ming dynasty imperial family member, but later discovered that she was quite law-abiding and only then relaxed his guard against her. Has something happened now that he doesn't know about?

  The King of Guangping thought of this and asked the long history on his side: "Has there been any unusual movement from Zhu Li's family recently?" Zhu Li lived in the palace and could not go out. With her status, she had to see people outside the palace through the permission of the empress, but the emperor did not like the concubines to contact outsiders, so the empress would never do anything extra. The sixth prince was still a child and had not yet established his own residence, if the Zhao family or the Ying Wangfu wanted to communicate with Zhu Li, they could only do it through her natal family.

  Both the senior historians shook their heads in denial, but the left historian hesitated for a moment before adding: "Zhu Li's brother entered the Imperial Guard three months ago as an administrator of the seventh rank, but last month he was promoted to the fifth rank as a pacification commissioner by the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guard himself."

  Qishou Wei was one of the imperial guards, and his leader happened to be a former subordinate of Zhao Jun Gong. He had held this position for over ten years and could be said to have earned the emperor's deep trust. The king of Guangping felt a stir in his heart, thinking that he might have discovered something, but also feeling that this answer was a bit too simple. He still needed more investigation to draw conclusions, lest he wrongly accused a loyal minister, and once this position became vacant, it would be easy for someone to take advantage of the situation.

  At this time, Fan Ben Zhang suddenly interjected and asked Guangping King: "Your Highness, when do you plan to send out the letter from Mrs. Zhao?" He remembered that Zhang had a letter written to this flag hand Wei Tongling.

  The King of Guangping sighed: "How could I possibly contact the commander of the Imperial Guard privately? Of course, I reported it to my father, and my father took away the letter, saying that he would let someone deliver the letter to the recipient at an appropriate time."

  Fan Ben Zhang was shocked: "Your Majesty, what do you mean? Shouldn't Zhao's old lady's letter be delivered as soon as possible? It must be let the military personnel know the truth of the matter as soon as possible, so as not to be deceived by the South Building Houfu!"

  The Guangping King couldn't say anything, and the Emperor didn't know why he had a bad feeling. He thought that many people in the army were not entirely loyal to him, but only supported him because of the Zhao Jun Gong's influence. Now that the Zhao Jun Gong was gone, it was hard to guarantee that there wouldn't be one or two people who would harbor dissenting thoughts. The Emperor wanted to test them out, and if anyone was easily swayed by the Ying Wang and no longer supported him, then this person couldn't be used in the future. The Guangping King worried that this would harm innocent people, but the Emperor firmly believed that true gold wouldn't fear the fire of a red furnace, and those who would rebel were absolutely not innocent. He also told him not to spread the news around.

  Guangping King thought that the Emperor was still clear-headed and rational when handling government affairs, so why did he make repeated mistakes in dealing with Zhao Jiong's case of killing his brother and the matter of Ying Wang? He wanted to advise his father, but feared that it would anger him, so he could only slowly plan for it.

  Fan Ben Zhang felt that this was not right, but if the Emperor hinted to Guangping King not to reveal the news, then Guangping King should not go against the imperial will. Le An Wang was somewhat eager: "Father let the Crown Prince not reveal the news, but didn't stop me, why don't I go and say it?"

  "Impossible!" Guangping King hastily stopped him, "A thousand pieces of gold can't buy a son, and this kind of thing doesn't require you to do it personally?" He hinted at Fan Ben Zhang: "The guards and attendants who followed me south have all worked hard. Once they hand over their duties, give them three days off and let them go home and reunite with their loved ones."

  Fan Ben Zhang's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood. The guards had personal experience and knew what Zhao Jiong had done. They were afraid that the reputation of Zhao Jiong's family in the capital would not be notorious enough. Even if they startled the snake by hitting the grass, it was better than letting people misunderstand the emperor and give rise to different intentions.

  The King of Guangping asked Le'an Wang and the two long historians: "What's new with the Marquis of Jianan's mansion recently?"

  Zuo Chang Shi reported: "Before the Emperor's edict was issued to sentence Zhao Jiong, the South Building Hou Fu had relatives and friends visiting every day. Zhao Jiong and his wife almost went out every day. After the Emperor's edict was issued, the number of visitors suddenly decreased, but Zhao Jiong went out even more frequently. His wife, Jiang Shi, would occasionally return to her parents' home. It is said that she followed the heavenly envoy back to their old home in Shanghai, fearing that her father-in-law would suffer during his exile and wanting to help prepare luggage for the journey."

  Le An Wang sneered, "How ridiculous! The husband is exiled, the wife doesn't take care of him, the son doesn't take care of him, but instead lets the daughter-in-law take care of him. Where are the rules of their family? If Zhao Jiong wasn't already paralyzed, I'm afraid his daughter-in-law would have ruined her reputation too, and she's even willing to do so!"

  Yu Chang Shi said: "Now that Zhao Jiong is already disabled, can he still go to Liaodong? The Emperor should issue another edict, shouldn't he?"

  The King of Guangping nodded: "His Majesty said that tomorrow he will discuss with the ministers and issue another edict, probably to send Zhao Jiong back to the capital and imprison him in the Supreme Court Temple. But now he is paralyzed, and being imprisoned in the Supreme Court Temple would require additional personnel to attend to his daily needs, which is really troublesome, and it's unknown whether the sentence will be changed or not."

  Le An Wang asked, "There's something strange going on. Although Zhao Jiong's title has been revoked, the plaque at the entrance of the South Hou Mansion is still hanging there. I've already asked the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works about this, but the Ministry of Rites is Tian Shangshu's territory, so naturally they're helping his family. What's strange is that the old Minister of Works, who is clearly Father Emperor's confidant, hasn't spoken up to have the Zhao family take down the plaque. Now outsiders are all saying that Father Emperor intends for Zhao Jiong to inherit the title, which is why he won't let them remove the plaque."

  The King of Guangping smiled lightly, this was the Emperor's trick to confuse Prince Ying and the young master of the Zhao family, giving them a glimmer of hope, making them think they would soon get their titles, but the imperial edict would never come.

  He lightly said: "It's just a plaque, if the Emperor doesn't issue an edict to appoint a new Lord of Jian Nan on this day, even if the Zhao family hangs many more plaques, they will no longer be the Houmen Mansion."

  Le An Wang laughed and clapped his hands: "Really makes one applaud with joy! I'm just waiting to see him make a fool of himself in the future!"

  Guangping King smiled and thought of Mrs. Zhang, the old lady of Zhao's family. If she knew about the difficulties that Zhao Kuang's wife and children were facing now, she would probably be delighted too?

  At this time, Zhang's face was cold and she slapped the table heavily: "Get her out of my sight! Who does she think she is putting on a show for with her fake kindness?!"

  Outside the temple gate, Jiang wore a blue cotton dress and knelt down with her eyebrows lowered and eyes cast downward, her face full of warmth and humility, only the tightly clenched fists under her sleeves revealed her true feelings at this moment.