CH 102.1

These words utterly stunned Yaoniang. She looked at Jin Wang, then turned to look at Xiaobao.

Back when they were still at Qianqing Palace, after Emperor Hongjing took Xiaobao away, he ordered one of his personal eunuchs to check whether the child had a red mole behind his ear. After confirming that there was nothing wrong, he sat there and talked to Xiaobao, completely relaxed and unhurried.

One had the mind to make polite exchanges, while the other acted naive, but they both complemented each other in the end.

After a few words from Xiaobao, then adding in what Jin Wang had said before. Emperor Hongjing pieced together the story of a young mother, who was a good girl with a kind heart. To be honest, when he actually thought about it, back then, it was his son who wronged the girl. The girl became pregnant with the child but the man had disappeared. The worst part was that she didn’t even know where or how to find him.

After being kicked out by her family, she endured hardships and gave birth to the child. A single mother raising her child, he could imagine how tough it was for her.

“Your mother has led a bitter life. Forget it, Zhen won’t look into the fact that your father had fabricated a fake story for a woman from a brothel. Ah, the cub had grown stiff wings, don’t know whether he still recognizes Lao Tzu¹ as his father or not…”

How could Emperor Hongjing know that should Jin Wang really wished to hide the truth from him, it was definitely possible. It’d be hard to say elsewhere, but it wasn’t a problem in Jinzhou. The only reason why he hid a part and exposed a part was on account of his status and position.

The Dagan Dynasty was the fourth dynasty. From the beginning of the establishment of the dynasty, there had been a centralized framework.

After the Founding Emperor ascended the throne, he divided all his sons into different regions to strengthen his rule. These feudal lords could be roughly divided into two types. The first being in charge of the frontier fortresses. Along with that position, was military power to control the soldiers and horses along the border to defend against the barbarians. The other type were those who were stationed in various interior provinces to supervise the local officials.

Afraid of the vassal princes’ power threatening the centralized rule of the monarchy, the Founding Emperor declared, “Nobles can not stay with the people, and no land is granted to the princes.” To put it more simply, the prince only has the power to supervise, but can not control the military and political power.

But this did not apply to the feudal lords in charge of frontier fortresses. They needed to have the power to command troops to restrain the barbarians. For example, Dai Wang, Yong Wang, and Jin Wang were all in charge of strategically important locations. The number of troops they commanded, depended on their location.

Amongst them, Jinzhou had the greatest military strength.

There was no father and son in the imperial family. This saying has been used throughout the dynasties. Revealing appropriate flaws every now and then was nothing more than a way to reassure those in power.

Perhaps Emperor Hongjing also understood this, but it remained a tacit understanding.

When they came out, Xiaobao was still held by Emperor Hongjing, but with an extra jade buckle in his hand. Fearing that he may eat it by accident, Li Dequan ordered a maid to thread a red string through it and hang it around Xiaobao’s neck.

After that, Emperor Hongjing bestowed a banquet, and Xiaobao was in the limelight once again. By then, the entire Forbidden City likely knew about Jin Wang’s young son, who was a genius and very talented person.

After listening to Jin Wang explain in brief words what had happened, Yaoniang reached out and poked at the jade buckle on Xiaobao. “I was wondering where this thing came from, but I didn’t take a closer look.”

Xiaobao shifted his butt a little. The pillow was too soft, causing him to feel like falling over, but fortunately, he was still hanging onto the carriage curtains. Then Xiaobao actually let himself fall. After finally getting back up, he looked a little dazed. Seeing his parents staring at him, he started to bawl.

With Xiaobao crying, Yaoniang completely forgot about her son refusing to call ‘father’ and put her arms around him to coax him.

While coaxing, she sighed at Jin Wang, “Why are you so fierce to him? He’s still young. What can he understand? If he could do everything you say, wouldn’t he be a little monster? This is what all children are like. Perhaps, he’ll call you ‘father’ in a few days.”

Jin Wang sneered, staring at the little brat who was acting.

This brat was indeed a little monster.

It’s a pity that the little monster was lying in his mother’s arms. Feeling comfortable now, he had no energy to pay attention to his father.

In the Eastern Palace, the emperor’s eldest grandson, Zhao Zuo, received the news from Qianqing Palace.

When he heard that his fifth uncle Jin Wang had an incredible son, who his Grandfather Emperor was greatly fond of and even held in his lap to feed, Zhao Zuo only smiled lightly and didn’t say anything.

Tall and thin, with a gentle-looking face, he had the inherent noble temperament of an imperial family member. Clearly, he was only eighteen, but he was unlike those other young men at his age. On the contrary, he had a clear mind and his strategies weren’t inferior to those wily old ministers.

The fact was that Zhao Zuo was born with a golden spoon in his mouth.

From the moment he was born, his father was the crown prince, his mother was the crown princess, and his grandfather was the current Emperor Hongjing. Because of his talent and intelligence, Emperor Hongjing was very fond of him when he was still a child. Later, as he became more and more dazzling, he even occupied a huge part of his father, the crown prince’s limelight.

From the way things were currently, everyone suspected that when the emperor dies, he may pass the throne directly to his eldest grandson, skipping over the crown prince.

“This old servant had thought that His Highness Jin Wang was an outstanding one and didn’t expect that he was no different from His Highness An Wang and the others. Whenever they enter the capital, they rack their brains to think of ways to please His Majesty. Using the same old method, they only know to use their children to please people. A young and ignorant child, how can he be as great as you when you were younger? This old servant thinks that these words are only the exaggerations of the people below. “

In the past, if Zhao Zuo were to hear these words, there would be a slight smile on his face, but today, he only raised his eyebrows a bit.

He suffered a series of losses because of Jin Wang recently, and even his Grandfather Emperor had grown dissatisfied with him. He didn’t think that Jin Wang’s methods were anything simple. This time, he was already uneasy with Jin Wang entering the capital. Now hearing these words of his servant, although they seemed to be mocking Jin Wang, they were more like mocking himself.

This mentality of his was hard to understand. Zhao Zuo was about to say something when someone came in from outside the door.

He passed the message that the crown prince was calling him over to speak.

Zhao Zuo frowned even more, thinking that his good father was drunk again.

When he arrived, just as he had expected, the crown prince was drunk. The crown princess was by his side, holding a bowl of sobering soup.

“Your Highness, you should drink this bowl of sobering soup first,” persuaded the crown princess. Her hair was messy and it was obvious that she had been entangled with the crown prince for a long time.

“Drink what? Do you also think I’m drunk? I’m not drunk, I’m doing perfectly fine and can still drink a few more rounds with my good brothers.” The crown prince was reclined on the bed, while the crown princess was beside him, trying to serve him sobering soup, but was pushed away by him.

The sobering soup was spilled everywhere, and the crown princess almost fell to the ground but was caught by Zhao Zuo from behind.

Crown Princess Wu’s face was haggard as she anxiously said to Zhao Zuo, “Zuo’er, look after your father. Drinking like this, he didn’t even think that by tomorrow, the entire court would know about it. Making a fool of himself, he’ll only provoke your Grandfather Emperor’s anger.”

Zhao Zuo patted her shoulder comfortingly, “Mother consort, you go back first. Son will stay here to look after father.”

“If he scolds you, ignore him. At worst, leave him to the eunuchs to look after but make sure to keep their mouths shut.”

Zhao Zuo nodded, “Son knows, you should go back and tidy up first.” 

The crown princess sighed then left.