CH 128.1

Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 128 Pt. 1

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

When talking about Hui Wang Manor, some things need to be made clear.

Back then, Emperor Hongjing gave a mansion to all the princes, and the crown prince was no exception. However, the manor of the crown prince wasn’t exactly a place to live in, but it was more of a courtyard for recreation and entertainment purposes.

It was usually vacant, and the crown prince would use it at most once every year. Later, when Zhao Zuo grew older, he used this place to conduct business that wasn’t suitable to be out in the open.

Now that the crown prince was abolished, he would naturally need to move out of the palace, into Hui Wang Manor. But the problem was that this mansion was built when he was still a crown prince, with standards befitting of his status. The standards for a crown prince were similar to that of an emperor’s with only minor differences in the details. Now that the crown prince has become Hui Wang and is no longer the crown prince, his treatment should naturally be taken down a notch.

This means that the Ministry of Works would need to renovate Hui Wang Manor according to the new standards. Everything that wasn’t suitable for Hui Wang’s status would need to be removed.

There were many things unbefitting of his status. From the arch at the main entrance to the small tiles on the roof. For example, manors for qinwangs could only use green and gray glazed tiles for their roofs instead of the yellow glazed tiles that are commonly seen in the palace. As for the shape of the roof, the princes’ manors could only use the Ying rooftop style and not the Xie rooftop style used in the palace. From the decorations on the roof to the thickness of the floor tiles to even the nails on the door, they all mattered.

None of this was difficult to do. It was actually an easy job for the Ministry of Works. But the problem was that Hui Wang’s identity is too sensitive. He, who used to be a crown prince, was now demoted to being an ordinary qinwang. And not long after his demotion, they go to tear apart his house, wasn’t this simply asking for trouble?

It was one thing for Hui Wang to lose power, but the key point was that he still has a favoured son, an empress for a mother and an emperor for a father. Even if he was no longer the crown prince, it’s still as easy as eating and breathing for him to pinch one or two small officials to death. This was why the repairs department, who was assigned to this task, has been dragging it on without doing anything.

But they could only delay this matter. Sooner or later, it has to be done. If it was delayed for too long, the task may be given to others. When that time comes, the Ministry of Works would be in trouble.

But now that Jin Wang came to the Ministry of Works, the higher-ups couldn’t help having some ideas. They were both princes and brothers, so there was no way they’d fall out with each other over a matter as simple as this.

That day when Ministry Councillor Chen assigned the tasks, he mentally prepared himself to face His Highness Jin Wang’s wrath. Yet in the end, he didn’t even say anything.

Because of this, as the head of the repairs department, Ministry Councillor Chen couldn’t help but feel as if he had just avoided a huge disaster.

The next day, Jin Wang took people to Hui Wang Manor.

At Hui Wang Manor, they were likely unaware that the visitor this time was Jin Wang. As soon as they heard the other party was from the Ministry of Works, they shut the door. It wasn’t because the other party was rude, but because they were annoyed. After all, this was already the fourth visit from the Ministry of Works.

Zhou Wu smiled bitterly at Jin Wang, and whispered, “We sent people a couple of times before. The first time we were invited in for a cup of tea. But the second time, we were kicked out with the excuse that His Highness Hui Wang wasn’t in the mood to deal with us. As for the last time we were here, we weren’t even allowed past the door.”

The Ministry of Works wasn’t foolish. Since Hui Wang Manor needed renovation to make it appropriate for Hui Wang’s new status, they naturally sent people over. As for Hui Wang Manor, who knows if Hui Wang was truly in a bad mood or was simply faking it, but he did everything he could to avoid meeting them.

However, the servants of Hui Wang Manor adhered to the principle of ‘all good masters are bound to have a few evil slaves’. They didn’t even bother to wear a pretty face when facing people from the Ministry of Works.

To be honest, this act was commonly seen. Whenever the masters were reluctant to do anything out of concern for their face, they would have their servants speak for themselves. As of now, it was clear that Hui Wang Manor simply refused to take the people from the Ministry of Works seriously.

Of course, the Ministry of Works could ask for an imperial edict. The problem was that pushing this matter to the surface was equivalent to offending Hui Wang. As an official working in the capital, who would want to offend others for no reason?  Much less a great ancestor like him?

Jin Wang naturally understood all these principles and he was also aware that the Ministry of Works was using him as a scapegoat. But so long as he remained a member of the repairs department, these kinds of shitty matters were unavoidable.

During the past few days when Jin Wang was looking through the books from the repairs department, he noticed that several tasks had been put off for a long time. Seeing this, Jin Wang then understood why he had been placed in the repairs department. It must’ve been Hong Qi, that old fox’s idea.

With this thought in mind, Jin Wang motioned for someone from the Ministry of Works to knock on the door again but to report his name this time.

As expected, Jin Wang brought the people from the Ministry of Works through the front door successfully. De Shun, the chief eunuch of Hui Wang Manor, came forward to entertain them with a smile on his face.

“Unexpectedly, it’s His Highness Jin Wang who made the trip this time. It was this servant’s fault for not receiving you properly. Asking His Highness for pardon.” The old eunuch smiled so wide that his face resembled a chrysanthemum. While speaking, he feigned a slap on his face, but no one could be bothered with him.

Even if everyone was aware he had done it on purpose, it wasn’t appropriate for them to haggle with a servant. Therefore, Jin Wang didn’t say much but signalled to the people of the Ministry of Works. Someone took out a document with a list of all the elements within the manor that was unbefitting of Hui Wang’s new status.

De Shun took the piece of paper and sighed. “Look, this servant is illiterate…”

Jin Wang’s face remained cold, “Read it to him.”

A person walked out from behind Jin Wang and recited the content on the paper to De Shu. Without even looking at the content on the paper, the people from the repairs department could all recite it by heart.

After listening, De Shun looked terrified and said, “This- This servant can’t take on the responsibilities of the master. Your Highness, this matter may not be able to be done today, since His Highness Hui Wang is not at home right now. He’s visiting Duke Wei Manor. When he returns, this servant will fill him in on everything. After all, this matter is best left to the master to arrange.”

This man was simply playing the helpless card!

The rest of the Ministry of Works was frustrated, but they did not dare to speak up. It was truly unexpected that the dignified former crown prince, Hui Wang, would do such a thing. The things that were unbefitting of his new status, it was reasonable and to be expected to take them away. But to put on this act and make all sorts of excuses was simply disgusting.

But Jin Wang’s thoughts were another layer deeper. He knew that his good old brother was doing this on purpose to create a stumbling block for him. If he left Hui Wang Manor today without accomplishing anything, who knows how hard others would laugh at him. If he were to do another similar task in the future, everyone would be reminded of his failure this time and he’d lose all face.

Jin Wang has always had the temperament to return to others what they give him ten-fold.

As the saying goes, it’s the dogs who don’t bark that bite others, which describes him rather well. He wasn’t someone who’d easily bite others, but if he did, he wouldn’t let go until a chunk of flesh had been torn off from the other party.

He waved his hand with a calm expression. “No problem. Take your time to discuss it with him.”

De Shun was relieved and relaxed inside, thinking that he didn’t let down His Highness’s expectations. But before he even had time to unfurrow his eyebrows, he was taken aback by what Jin Wang then proceeded to do.

“All of you, go mark the places that need to be demolished. When we come back the next time, we’ll have an idea of what needs to be taken away.”