CH 114.2

Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 114 Pt. 2

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

Now that the Meng Family tragedy was brought up, it became a little more complicated. The gist of the matter was that Emperor Hongjing convicted an innocent family after listening to slander, causing the entire Meng clan to be confiscated then executed. And this so-called slander was actually related to the crown prince. Afterwards, it was discovered that the crown prince was trying to cover up the crime for one of his foster brothers. It was a pity that by then, almost the entire Meng Family had been executed, and only Meng Huoxian was left.

And the person who overturned this injustice was precisely, Jin Wang.

Because of this, the crown prince’s reputation plummeted. If it weren’t for Emperor Hongjing, he would have been impeached by courtiers and long lost his position as the crown prince.

Because of this, Jin Wang was despised by Emperor Hongjing for a long time.

According to Emperor Hongjing’s thoughts, there were many solutions to this problem. Yet he just had to choose to make such a large commotion in front of a crowd under broad daylight. Not only was the crown prince humiliated, but even he also lost his face.

Afterwards, although the truth was revealed, the incident was hastily ended. No one would’ve thought that Meng Huoxian, who had disappeared inexplicably at that time, would join the Imperial Guards and even work in the Imperial City.

Hearing what Yong Wang said, An Wang and Dai Wang recalled the events of the past. Looking at the man in front of them, they confirmed that this person was indeed the orphan of the Meng clan, Meng Huoxian. Back then, it was the year for the young man’s coming of age¹. Although there were changes to his appearance over the years, it wasn’t anything big. Because of his old age, Emperor Hongjing’s memory wasn’t as good as it used to be, but even he could match up this current person with the one from the past.

Emperor Hongjing’s gaze towards Jin Wang turned sharp. Jin Wang had been entangled with this person back then. Could it be that it was Jin Wang who was the culprit behind what happened today?

“What else do you have to say? He’s your eldest brother! You targeted him so many times in the past, is your eldest brother an obstacle in your eyes?”

Seeing Jin Wang now being dragged into this, although An Wang and others didn’t show any expressions on their face, they couldn’t hide the hint of gloating in their eyes.

Qing Wang couldn’t help but take a step forward. “Father Emperor, please discern this matter clearly. Fifth Brother is not like that.”

An Wang grabbed Qing Wang and said, “Old Seventh, no need to be so bothersome. Father Emperor will definitely discern this matter clearly without letting go of the culprit who schemed in the dark.”

Lu Wang said, “Fifth brother, I’m not scolding you, but this move of yours is indeed a bit much. No matter how much you hate your eldest brother, there’s no need to find someone to make him wear a green hat².”

These words were a bit tasteless, but they did poke at the heart of the matter.

The crown prince couldn’t be bothered with lying on the ground, pretending to be dead any longer. He jumped up and said, “F*ck you Old Fifth. You actually dare to do such a thing to your eldest brother! Are you still a human?! Was the matter of that concubine seducing me also caused by you?”

Although the crown prince was incompetent, he wasn’t a fool and understood that this was his last chance. If he could Old Fifth carry this burden, then Father Emperor would take pity on him. 

But he was still as smart as a pig with a big build, full of fat. With such a large mass rushing at Jin Wang, it was undoubtedly akin to pressing down on one with the weight of Mount Tai.

Fortunately, Jin Wang sensed the danger and dodged to the side right before he could get run over. But because of his momentum, the crown prince then fell to the ground and landed like a dog who was eating sh*t.

The crown prince cried out in pain. Jin Wang looked at Emperor Hongjing with indifference. His eyes were sharp. “Hope Father Emperor will investigate this matter clearly. It wasn’t done by erchen.”

Yong Wang sighed from the side and said pretentiously, “Who else could it be if it wasn’t you? This Meng Huoxian would definitely be willing to repay the life-saving grace from that year. He also holds a grudge against eldest brother. Why wouldn’t he do such a thing?”

Jin Wang glanced at him without any expression, then sneered. “Since fourth brother solves cases like a god, without needing any physical evidence or witness, why don’t you ask Father Emperor to let you transfer to the central judicial office or the Ministry of Punishments? What’s the point of returning to Yongzhou to be a hated vassal prince?”

This was plain ridicule. Yong Wang’s face turned ugly and he flicked his sleeves fiercely. “This prince said it for your own good. You are the son of Father Emperor after all. If you take the initiative to confess your mistakes to Father Emperor, perhaps Father Emperor wouldn’t punish you as severely. “

Jin Wang didn’t speak. It was obvious that he didn’t want to talk to him.

Emperor Hongjing glanced over at Yong Wang, then at An Wang, the crown prince and the others. These sons all had different looks, which made it impossible for people to guess what they were thinking beneath the surface. The blue veins on his forehead bulged and he couldn’t help but reach up to hold his head. Then he set his eyes on Jin Wang’s face who was the hardest for him to see through.

Out of all his sons, the crown prince was incompetent. An Wang was cautious and shrewd but not tolerant enough. Dai Wang was a talent as a field commander, but he didn’t have the potential to be commander-in-chief. Yong Wang dealt with affairs as slippery as an eel and would make sure to not let a single drop of water leak out. But it was precisely this slickness of his that made Emperor Hongjing displeased. Old Sixth was cruel and tyrannical, and it was he who didn’t teach him well. As for Old Seventh and Old Eighth, they were still too young and immature to be of any use.

Only this Old Fifth, Jin Wang, couldn’t be seen through by Emperor Hongjing after all these years. He would always think to himself that this was his true face, but then he’d always be surprised, yet again.

Emperor Hongjing shifted his gaze to Meng Huoxian, who was lying on the ground with his eyes shut. “Who made you do this? You’d better tell the truth. Otherwise, Zhen has countless ways to make your life worse than death.”

Meng Huoxian, who was on the ground, moved. With a lot of effort, he shifted himself upright. During this period, his movements were very slow. It was obvious that the torture was quite heavy from how he could no longer support himself.

“You don’t need to threaten me, I will say it myself.” Meng Huoxian laughed, and a trace of blood came out of the corner of his mouth. “It was His Highness Yong Wang who told me to do it.” 

These words really shocked everyone.

Shouldn’t it be Jin Wang? Why was Yong Wang involved now?!

Meng Huoxian looked at Yong Wang whose face had turned ashen and smiled brightly. “Your Highness Yong Wang, I admit that you are brilliant and resourceful, but you treat everyone as a fool. Back then it was clearly you who found me first, but then you schemed to lure His Highness Jin Wang over because you didn’t want to make any enemies for my sake. After that, His Highness Jin Wang overturned the grievance that my Meng Family suffered. Although things didn’t turn out very satisfactory, I recognize his kindness. Yet who would’ve thought that you would take the credit to be a good person afterwards? You ordered someone to contact me in secret to tell me how much effort you put in to make all this happen. You also told me how His Highness Jin Wang had only driven the duck onto the perch.

“I was young and ignorant at that time, and His Highness Jin Wang was cold and indifferent, so I believed in you. You planned to hide me away to use me sometime in the future, and entering the Imperial Guards was also arranged by you. But you made a fatal mistake. You shouldn’t have hidden this chess piece of yours in the dark for so many years. This amount of time was enough for me to find all the clues. I had wanted to verify the truth of what happened back then, but instead, I found the truth of what you did. With this act of yours, you definitely didn’t reap a small amount of profit.

“Did you know? I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. You people are so high and lofty while people like us are like ants. But I want you to know that ants can also kill people! My Meng Family of 78 people has been waiting for this moment!”

Meng Huoxian grinned while his entire face was distorted. He choked as blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, then said, “I’ve said everything that should be said. If you want to kill me or cut me, do as you wish!”

After saying this, he closed his eyes, looking as if he was about to let go.

“You dare to slander me!” Yong Wang was shocked then furious.

At the same time, there was a loud shout. “Wow, Old Fourth! It was you who heaped all this misfortune on my head!”

This time, it was different from before. The crown prince was utterly infuriated now.

Actually, the incident itself had nothing much to do with the crown prince. He was blinded by that foster brother of his back then, so he spoke those words to Emperor Hongjing, who then caused such a tragedy. Because of this incident, the crown prince’s faction was hit hard, and the crown prince’s days in court took a turn for the worse. Every day, there would be ministers impeaching the crown prince, asking him to give up his position.

Although Emperor Hongjing saved him after the incident, the crown prince’s reputation was already so bad that he simply let go and abandoned himself to his whims.

Even now, whenever the crown prince gets impeached, the tragedy from that year would be brought up. Put differently, this matter laid the foundation for the beginning of the crown prince’s stupid and lecherous reputation. Before this incident, although he was incompetent, he was still honest and well-behaved.

Unlike Jin Wang, Yong Wang did not know any martial arts.

The heavy crown prince, carrying resentment, immediately overwhelmed him to the ground, and the two started scuffling on the spot.

The two of them were indeed laughable. Neither of them knew any martial arts so they fought like the shrews from the markets. They pulled each other’s hair, dragged on each other’s clothes and even scratched at their opponent’s faces. In just a blink of an eye, the two had fought multiple rounds. By the time the eunuchs went to pull the two apart, their hair was loose and there were several bloody gashes on their faces.

“Absurd! Absurd!”

Emperor Hongjing was shaking with fury. His eyes went dark, and he fainted.

Naturally, this farce could no longer go on.