CH 35.2

On the day of Qi Wang’s wedding ceremony, all the other princes, princesses, and court officials arrived at his residence to congratulate him. The entire residence was decorated resplendently with lanterns and colored banners. Even the treetops were not spared; gorgeous red lanterns were hanging from them. The road outside was jam-packed with the carriages of several officials. All in all, the atmosphere was incredibly lively.

Ming family’s carriage had to be stopped at the entrance of the alley. The guest whose carriage was in front of theirs, after recognizing the Ming family’s carriage, disembarked and apologized, intending to yield the spot to the latter.

“That won’t do.” Ming Jingzhou quickly refused this offer and spoke with a smile: “We are not far from Qi Wang’s residence. In my humble opinion, it would be better to let the coachman take the carriages back and walk over on foot.”

“Lord Ming’s words make sense.” He glanced toward the Ming family’s other carriage: “Are Lord Ming’s honored wife and daughter inside that carriage?”

“Precisely.” They cupped their hands and bowed to each other: “Brother, please feel free to go ahead. I will go and ask my wife and daughter to get off the carriage.”

“Watch your steps, Lord Ming.” The other person bowed again.

When Ming family’s Madam and Ming guniang got off the carriage, he couldn’t help but take a second look. He saw a girl in goose-yellow dress jump out of the carriage and turn around to stretch her hand inside with a smile on her face.

This little guniang had an adorable little face; the way she smiled was also very attractive.

It wasn’t until he saw Assistant Minister Ming’s wife getting off the carriage holding the little guniang’s hand and lovingly helping her adjust the golden hairpin by her temple could he be sure that this was the future Chen Wangfei.

No wonder it was known amongst the officials of the six ministries that Ming Jingzhou didn’t want his daughter to marry Chen Wang. Which father would be willing to let his cute and lovely daughter marry such a bossy prince?

“There’s a lot of people here.” Jiuzhu looked at the carriages that were packed at the crossing: “How will the bridal sedan chair enter the residence?”

“The Jinwu Guards will come to manage that later.” Shen-shi’s mood was a little low. She looked at the red silk hanging everywhere in the streets and alleys with a forlorn expression.

“Mother, are you feeling unwell?” Jiuzhu looked at Shen-shi worriedly.

“No.” Shen-shi looked at her daughter who was still as ignorant. This child, does truly know the meaning of marriage?

“Your eldest Uncle wrote a letter some days ago saying that he will return to the capital in about six or seven days.” She changed the topic: “When your Sixth Brother Fu brother asks you to go out and have fun with him, you must not agree.”

“Why?”

Shen-shi smiled: “Your Uncle wants to test his progress in his studies. I’m afraid he will use you as an excuse to escape punishment.”

“Oh.” Jiuzhu nodded slowly, secretly planning to help her Sixth Brother Fu out of trouble when her eldest Uncle decided to beat him up.

She was a girl. Moreover, it would be their first meeting. So he would never embarrass Sixth Brother Fu in front of her.

Shen-shi smiled. She saw through Jiuzhu’s plan almost immediately but didn’t expose her.

“Lord Ming, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites congratulates His Highness for the wedding along with his wife and daughter.”

Everyone heard the announcement and turned to look at the entrance. Officials who were acquainted with Ming Jingzhou came forward to salute one after another. After greeting them, Jiuzhu followed her mother to the inner courtyard where the female guests were gathered.

“Ming meimei.” When Chen family’s Young Miss saw Jiuzhu, she stepped forward and bowed to Shen-shi before holding Jiuzhu’s arm affectionately: “Us sisters have been waiting for you for a long time, quickly come and sit with us.”

With a gentle smile, Shen-shi watched Jiuzhu being pulled away by the sisters and turned around to sit with the other madams.

“Su Guifei of Mingyue Palace sent a messenger to congratulate His Highness Qi Wang on his wedding.”

“Xu Fei of Zhaoxiang Palace sent a messenger to congratulate His Highness Qi Wang on his wedding.”

“Lu Zhaoyi of Yunlai Palace sent a messenger to congratulate His Highness Qi Wang on his wedding.”

“Chen jiejie.” Jiuzhu asked Miss Chen in a low voice: “Who is this Xu Fei niangniang of Zhaoxiang Palace?”

Whether it was at Guifei niangniang’s birthday banquet or at the time of copying scriptures, she had never heard anyone mention Xu Fei.

“Xu Fei is His Highness Huai Wang’s birth mother. After His Majesty ascended the throne, she confined herself within her palace and abstained from eating meat, devoting herself to praying to Buddha. She rarely appears in front of people.” Miss Chen muttered: “No one knows what actually happened. Some people speculate that Xu Fei did something and disappointed His Majesty, but that doesn’t seem the case to me.”

Jiuzhu looked at Miss Chen in amazement.

“Fwaa1T/N: Here, she basically just exhaled slowly. I couldn’t come up with a better onomatopoeia so if you got a better one, do let me know..” The latter pulled her to the corner and whispered: “I know you are not someone who shoots her mouth off. Moreover, you will marry into the imperial family soon. There are some things that won’t harm you if you know. So listen to my words and be more careful in the future.”

“His Majesty’s birth mother was not valued by the late emperor, so her life in the harem was quite bitter. It is said that she died of a chronic illness without getting any effective medicine. Therefore, after he ascended the throne, he took pity on the late emperor’s concubines and especially had an interior branch of the Department of the Palace to prevent anyone from embezzling the food and clothing expenses of the concubines and the concubine dowagers.” Miss Chen sighed: “It’s a pity that Empress Dowager Shengmu2T/N: If you forgot who this is, please refer to the first footnote in chapter 29.2 as I have explained there. passed away long ago and did not get to enjoy the good fortune bestowed by His Majesty.”

“That…” Jiuzhu asked cautiously: “What does this have to do with Xu Fei?”

Miss Chen patted Jiuzhu’s cheek lightly: “Because His Majesty is a monarch, even if his pity for the women of the harem remains unchanged, it is impossible for him to put up with the faults of the person sharing his pillow. That is why I said those rumors about Xu Fei are not accurate.”

“Maybe His Majesty didn’t bother about this matter because he took the matter of her giving birth to His Highness Huai Wang into consideration?”

“You ah.” Miss Chen shook her head with a smile: “You don’t understand men.”

Jiuzhu was confused; why would such a simple matter involve men and women?

Her First Master had said that if one was unable to figure out something, then the truth was, perhaps, as simple as it appeared. It was just that people liked to complicate simple things and end up getting deceived by their own imagination.

When night approached and the bride got off the sedan chair, Jiuzhu and the girls all pressed together in the hallway to watch the bride and groom.

Sun family’s Young Miss was wearing a phoenix crown on her head. Her face was covered with a veil as she walked inside holding a red hydrangea ball. The groom, Qi Wang, was holding the other end. Set against the bright red clothes he was donning, his face seemed a little pale.

“The bride is entering!”

There was a cheer in a childish voice behind her. Someone pushed her hard but Jiuzhu, who happened to be holding on to the banister, didn’t budge.

She turned her head abruptly, meeting a certain brat’s eyes.

“You… I didn’t do it on purpose.” The second Young Master of the Zheng family squeezed out of the crowd, turned around and ran away.

He had barely run a few steps when he felt the clothes tighten around his neck and shoulder as his whole body rose high into the air.

“Ah…”

“Shut up.” Chen Wang glared at him impatiently: “If you dare to scream, Ben Wang will have your family’s title removed completely!”

Zheng family’s little brat looked at Chen Wang tearfully, not daring to shout again: “Y-you must not bully a child.”

“What’s wrong with bullying a child?” Chen Wang put the mischievous kid on the ground and smiled coldly: “Ben Wang can send twenty brats like you flying with one kick from ten years ago.”

Jiuzhu looked at Chen Wang with admiration: His Highness was even stronger than her.

The brat trembled in fear. He had heard from his family that this prince was very bad, and that children who didn’t go to bed obediently would be eaten up by him.

“Your Highness.” Jiuzhu squeezed out of the crowd with difficulty, stretched out her hand, and lifted the naughty kid again: “Why did you push me?”

“Let go of me, you bad woman!” The brat flailed his legs in the air, “I will complain to my cousin that you bullied me.”

“Complain against whom?!” Chen Wang flicked the brat’s forehead: “With Ben Wang here, you dare to complain against whom?”

The brat finally couldn’t help it and opened his mouth to bawl loudly.

“You dare to cry?” Chen Wang crossed his arms and said, “Someone go and call the adults of the Zheng family. Ben Wang is the fondest of hearing the old and the young cry together.”

“Hic–” The brat choked, suppressing his cry.

“You don’t understand human language?” Chen Wang sneered, this brat who feigned innocence and did bad things had the courage to show off his slight skill before the expert? One must know that he was the leader of the brats back then.

“Alright, put him down. Ben Wang doesn’t believe he will dare to escape.” Pretending not to realize Jiuzhu’s great strength, he noticed the craftiness in the brat’s eyes and continued: “If he dares to, Ben Wang will have all the Zheng family members taken to prison.”

Jiuzhu put the naughty kid down, stood on tiptoes, and asked in a low voice just beside Chen Wang’s ear: “Will the entire Zheng family truly be imprisoned?”

Chen Wang: “……”

She actually believed whatever he said to deceive a child?

“You want me to put them in prison?”

If Ming Xiaozhu really had such thoughts, he would work hard to fulfill them, it was not impossible.

“Forget it.” Jiuzhu looked down at Zheng family’s brat: “You deliberately pushed me just now, I saw it.”

“I did not do it on purpose.”

“It was on purpose.” Jiuzhu stood shoulder to shoulder with Chen Wang: “How could it not be intentional when you pushed so hard?”

The brat knew that he could refute it any further, and admitted, “I did it on purpose, so what?”

“Who asked you to become that Demon Consort’s lackey? Who asked you to marry a child-eating prince? If it weren’t for you, our family’s title wouldn’t have been demoted. People like you are… are…” The brat recalled about the word he had heard a few days ago: “called jinxes!”

When Jiu Zhu heard this, she started to roll up her sleeves.

“What are you trying to do?” Seeing that she was angry and was about to hit someone, Chen Wang quickly pulled her rolled-up sleeves.

“Beat the child!” Jiuzhu rolled up the sleeves that had gone down because of Chen Wang’s touch.

“Let it go, let it go.” Chen Wang grabbed her wrist: “Children are not sensible. He did it because the adults didn’t teach him well. I will take you to bully his family’s adults later.”

Jiuzhu struggled for a time before suddenly stopping and looking at Chen Wang with grievance: “But he criticized you and Guifei niangniang.”

Chen Wang was a little startled. He stretched out his hand to straighten the bead flowers by her temple: “Are you stupid? If you beat him here, the others will force you to let him go on account of his age.”

“Then what should I do?”

“Find a deserted place, dig a pit and bury him.” Chen Wang threw out this sentence lightly and sneered: “Such an obnoxious child won’t be rescued.”

The brat, who had been holding back for a long time, was finally scared to the point of crying out loudly.

Qi Wang was about to go greet the guests outside after sending the bride into the bridal chamber when a servant hurried up to him: “Your Highness, something has happened.”

“What is it?” Qi Wang frowned.

“Zheng family’s little Young Master tried to push Miss Ming. He was caught by Chen Wang in the midst of fleeing, and then insulted the Guifei, Chen Wang and Miss Ming.” It was unknown whether the servant was terrified or it was too cold, but he trembled.

Qi Wang sighed: “I’ll go and have a look.”

Inside the bridal chamber, Sun Caiyao became even more disgusted with the Zheng family when she heard the conversation outside. Besides causing trouble for His Highness, what else can this family do?

At this time in the side hall. Chen Wang looked at the cowering Zheng family members who did not dare to look up: “Ben Wang already felt that your family was extremely daring for condoning servants who made rash comments about the Imperial family but Ben Wang didn’t expect to underestimate you.”

“Your Highness, chenfu begs you to forgive her for not educating her child properly.” Countess Pingyuan knelt on the ground and wept, “Please be merciful, Your Highness. Ming’er is still a child…”

“Children are ignorant. They like to imitate adults.” Jiuzhu interrupted her: “So his words and deeds are influenced by adults.”

“Chenfu didn’t mean that.” Countess Pingyuan panicked: “Even if chenfu has courage as big as the sky, chenfu wouldn’t dare to criticize the Imperial family.”

After she finished speaking, she pulled her son over and slapped him hard twice: “Quickly apologize to His Highness and Miss Ming!”

“No need to put on the play by beating your child in front of Ben Wang.” Chen Wang stood up and said impatiently: “As fourth brother’s relatives, you have been doing things that keep on upsetting Ben Wang. I don’t care if you acted on your own initiative or someone instigated you, but today’s matter will never be let off lightly.”

“Fifth brother!” Qi Wang pushed open the door and saw the Zheng family kneeling on the ground: “Today is my wedding. So please don’t make me lose face in front of the outsiders.”

“When the Zheng family plotted against my future Wangfei, they didn’t think of giving you any face.” Chen Wang sneered: “Fourth brother, don’t worry. I will never misunderstand that you incited the Zheng family to do these things.”

The Zheng family’s expression changed simultaneously.

Qi Wang turned to look at Jiuzhu who was sitting beside him silently, and cupped his hands: “Ming guniang, fifth brother has always had a straightforward temperament. Please speak a few words to dissuade fifth brother to dispel his thoughts. If he makes things too difficult, it might end up embarrassing both sides.”

He could see that Yun Duqing treated the Ming family’s guniang a little differently, so he thought that she might be able to convince him.

“Your Highness.” Jiuzhu got up and curtsied to Qi Wang with a deep bow: “What happened today is due to your cousin targeting a weak woman like chennu, right?” Qi Wang glanced at the Zheng family and nodded slightly.

“His Highness helped chennu to uphold justice, but in the end, he was rudely insulted by your cousin.” Jiuzhu frowned, as if she couldn’t understand Qi Wang’s actions: “So, His Highness vented anger on behalf of chennu but you want chennu to speak up for you and stop him?”

“Your Highness Qi Wang, are you serious?”

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