CH 108.2

Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 108 Pt. 2

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

Taixu Building was full of guests as usual.

But today, the entire second floor was reserved by someone.

No matter who came to ask, the entire floor was booked and there was no room for other people.

In the largest private room on the second floor sat a few men. They seemed to be enjoying their drinks with smiles all over their faces, but it was unknown how many times they had fought with each other in the dark.

It was quite a coincidence for Jin Wang to meet with An Wang and the others at Qianqing Palace.

Only then did he know that Emperor Hongjing didn’t only call for him, but all the princes who came to the capital. Then Emperor Hongjing asked about their respective fiefs and gave praises and reprimands to those who deserved it. The reprimand was naturally for Lu Wang, the infamous sixth prince

Lu Wang stood there with an ugly face, not daring to be angry or speak up.

After Emperor Hongjing finished his speech, he started reminiscing about the past. It seemed that many people were like this once they got old. The emperor brought up memories of his past, stories of his sons as well as their childhoods. Not a single person was skipped. Yet no waves were stirred up because they were already used to it.

During their childhood, they all saw the eunuchs and palace maids more than their own father. When they were older and officially started studying, different factions were formed. Because of their different backgrounds, the princes were all divided. In the imperial family, there was no such thing as brotherhood affection. There was only caution and wariness of others surpassing themselves.

The older princes such as the crown prince, An Wang, and Dai Wang had long been fighting each other to death. But before there was anything to show for their efforts, younger brothers who were better than themselves appeared one by one.

Of course, it wasn’t that brotherhood affection wasn’t there, but it was only on the surface. Everyone knew that it was all an act, except for Emperor Hongjing who stood above them all.

Or he knew but pretended not to know.

There was no father and son in the imperial family. This had been true throughout history, but there were always people who refused to believe this, feeling that they may be an exception.

Since they were acting, they had to perform to the end. Before leaving, An Wang invited his several younger brothers for a drink. Even if they didn’t want to go, they still had to go. This was why there was a gathering at Taixu Building.

An Wang, using his status as the elder brother, persuaded them to down glass after glass of alcohol. His actions made it seem that he was close to his younger brothers. He also said a few words here and there that seemed to be plain and unremarkable, but were actually all provocative remarks.

They were clearly drinking together, but the smiles on their face were getting colder and colder. Some who couldn’t endure An Wang’s words couldn’t help but get angry.

Lu Wang slammed his wine cup down and stood up. “Second brother called us all here to drink to pick at our faults? Not fun, not drinking anymore!” With that, he swaggered away.

An Wang wanted to pull him back but he missed. He didn’t expect Lu Wang would call him out so obviously. Embarrassed, he tried to explain himself, “Old sixth’s temper is getting worse and worse. He doesn’t have a shred of respect for his elders. Was I wrong to call you all here for a drink?”

Yong Wang smiled and said, “Of course it’s not second brother’s fault. As old sixth gets older, his temper gets worse. Even Father Emperor’s words he doesn’t like to listen to, what more words of us brothers.”

Dai Wang stood up. “Since old sixth has left, let’s disperse. It’s not early anymore, I will return to my manor first.”

Jin Wang also stood up and said, “Thank you elder brother for this wine. I also won’t remain any longer.”

Seeing Jin Wang about to leave, Qing Wang would naturally not stay any longer either. “Then I’ll be going as well.”

With everyone leaving left and right, no matter how good An Wang’s temper was, he still couldn’t help being a little annoyed. He looked at Yong Wang with a fierce look in his eyes. “Old fourth, don’t say you also have to leave.”

Yong Wang smiled gently and patted An Wang to comfort him. “Enough, brother. Your kind intentions, us brothers are aware. With only the two of us remaining, what’s there to drink? In the future, I’ll invite you over to my place.”

But the main thing was whether he would dare to go. Who wasn’t afraid of others harming them in the dark? If it wasn’t because they were in front of Emperor Hongjing, none of them would be here and An Wang’s face as the second brother would’ve been long lost.

Yong Wang then left as well, leaving only An Wang and the young Wu Wang behind. Wu Wang was the youngest person present, and his mother was only a palace maid. Only after she gave birth to Wu Wang was her status elevated to be a concubine. So ever since he was young, he didn’t have many thoughts of his own and only knew to avoid offending others.

Even though he didn’t have many thoughts of his own, he knew that shouldn’t stay any longer. Wu Wang hurriedly stood up, cupped his fists and apologized, then hurried off.

An Wang was the only one left. He gave a meaningful sneer.

One of his men walked in from the outside, “Your Highness, such a good opportunity…”

An Wang glared at him, “Are you harming Lao Tzu¹ or helping Lao Tzu? If something were to happen after leaving this place, those who are not dead will swallow this prince alive.” Regardless of whether or not it had to do with him, others would still give him the big hat of being cruel and harming his own brothers.

“Then now…”

“Have people follow them until they’re back in their manors.”

An Wang inviting them for this drink was simply performing a thankless task. If an accident were to occur, it would be blamed on him. But he also expected that no one would be so stupid to do something in this current situation. Him arranging people to escort them was simply for appearances and to leave a leeway for himself should something were to happen.

His intentions behind this invitation were to probe the others’ situation and to leave behind a good impression in front of Emperor Hongjing. It was a pity that none of his younger brothers were easy to deal with and he was unable to find anything useful. Even the grumpy Lu Wang had nothing for him.

From that day on, Xiaobao went to Duke Ningguo Manor every day without fail.

If he wasn’t allowed to go, he would kick up a huge fuss. The crux of the matter was that Duke Ningguo also liked this kid.

Because of this Yaoniang was sad for a while, feeling that her son had grown up and didn’t need a mother anymore and that her baby doesn’t like herself anymore.

Fortunately, the maids were sensible and gathered around to coax her. Hong Fei even taught Yaoniang how to play cards. Yaoniang, who was addicted to the game, immediately forgot about her distress over her son. Besides eating three meals a day, eating some snacks and getting in some exercise, she would play cards with her maids.

She won some and she lost some but overall, she had a lot of fun.

Seeing this, Jin Wang finally breathed a sigh of relief and rewarded Xiao Shunzi.

This idea was given to Jin Wang by Xiao Shunzi. Fucheng had been following Xiaobao these past few days, and it was Xiao Shunxi who finally landed himself the opportunity to serve Jin Wang. Now others call him Eunuch Shun with respect and there was no need for him to do anything personally. He only needed to give orders and the people below would scramble to get it done.

Xiao Shunzi, who understood why Fucheng was so favoured, naturally takes everything his godfather does as the standard for behaviour. Not only must he understand how to read others’ expressions and thoughts, but he also needed to know to do things appropriately. Look, it was only a game of cards but it could make Lady Su so happy, which in turn caused His Highness to also be happy.

With the masters happy, their job as a servant was also much easier.

The imperial decree from the emperor finally came down, and Su Yaoniang was officially titled as Jin Wang’s side consort. At the same time, the imperial decree for the eldest son of Jin Wang also arrived and Xiaobao was given the name ‘Chen’.

Chen, which also meant treasure.

It was probably because of Xiaobao’s words ‘Bao’er, mother’s Bao’er’² that day that Emperor Hongjing gave him this name.

From then on, Xiaobao finally had a formal name, Zhao Chen.