CH 130.2

Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 130 Pt. 2

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

“Play with Grandpa Emperor.” 

“His Majesty is busy right now. This old servant will find a small eunuch to play with you, who is very good at this game.”

Li Dequan glanced up, and a small eunuch with delicate features came running over. Xiaobao’s attention was immediately caught, and his eyes were fixed on the little eunuch. The little eunuch coaxed Xiaobao to leave with him while making cat meows.*

Once everyone left, Emperor Hongjing turned to look at Jin Wang.

“This child is getting smarter.”

“Xiaobao is an intelligent child.”

Emperor Hongjing snorted, “You are not modest at all.”

Jin Wang stopped talking. Emperor Hongjing could tell his thoughts from just looking at him and knew that whatever was on his mind must be something rebellious. His fifth child was honest to the point of not being willing to say any fake compliments or flatter others.

Luan’er had passed away early on, and he was busy with government affairs, so he was inevitably negligent during his childhood. By the time he had a chance to take a serious look at his son, he had already become like this.

A hard-working and serious man, but at the same time also taciturn with few words.

Back when the princes still had studies, he was the one who spoke the least and was not very popular with the tutors. Yet whenever there was an assessment, he’d rank in the top three. He had only praised him once, and that was enough for Jin Wang to work harder than before. Same for his martial arts. Amongst the princes, although they were all talented, old fifth was still the best.

Emperor Hongjing, who was trapped in his memory, did not speak for a long time and nostalgia and sorrow filled his eyes.

After a while, he recovered his senses and glanced at Jin Wang. “Enough, go back. That woman of yours already said she’s scared Zhen will scold you. If Zhen really scolds you, wouldn’t that be following her words?”

As for whether what Jin Wang did was right or not, Emperor Hongjing didn’t express any of his thoughts.

On the carriage on the way back, Jin Wang said to Xiaobao, “In the future, the words that mother and father say to each other must not be shared to outsiders…”

You think I wanted to?

Xiaobao played with the grasshopper in his hand, pretending not to hear. This grasshopper was made for him by the little eunuch just now.

After returning to the manor, Yaoniang couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief seeing both father and son come back safely.

Although she had said to Jin Wang that it was impossible for His Majesty to beat him, this matter wasn’t something small and Empress Wei’s presence couldn’t be ignored. She had no idea what would happen, but fortunately, everything turned out okay.

After Hui Wang left the palace, Jin Wang was called inside.

Everyone waited to see what happened. Unfortunately, no news was heard from the palace, and no clue could be seen from Jin Wang’s face.

But a day later, the people from the Ministry of Works arrived at Hui Wang Manor and renovated everything that needed renovating. The people of Hui Wang Manor didn’t say a word, and the Ministry of Works completed the job without any hiccups.

In the capital, there were bound to be eyes and ears everywhere. As long as a single mosquito flew to the right place at the right time, the information was bound to spread. With the way things are, it goes without saying that Hui Wang failed to please His Majesty and Jin Wang suffered no loss.

In the end, things were different now. The former high and mighty crown prince was now an abandoned son.

However, Emperor Hongjing continued to show care for the heir of Hui Wang. He’d be called into the palace from time to time to talk, and would occasionally stay over for a meal. With this, people could tell that even though Hui Wang himself was no longer favoured, his son was enough to uphold the honour of the household.

The number of people who are concerned about this matter and the number of people with schemes brewing at the back of their minds remains unknown. As the underlying current of the capital begins to settle down, the summer heat fades away as autumn sneaks in.

The morning light was faint as the sky began to dawn.

Qipan Street, bathed in the morning light, was as lively as usual. The sound of carriages and horses filled the air, and voices of greeting could be heard from time to time.

That day, Jin Wang woke up late again, and left without even eating breakfast. Before he left, Yaoniang handed him a bag.

Needless to say, this bag was full of food.

The meal provided for lunch was always very simple, so Jin Wang became increasingly reliant on this bag of food. The food changed every day. Due to the hot weather from before, Yaoniang could only pack some pastries and such. But now that the weather has cooled down a bit, she added some appetizers as well.

For example, the fried shredded beef was fragrant, spicy and chewy. In the past, Jin Wang’s palate was light. To put it bluntly, his taste was refined after many years of living in the palace. Now that he was introduced to the commoner’s way of eating, he found it to be quite novel. Once, he even finished two bowls of rice while eating this fried shredded beef.

Yaoniang mentioned that she had considered sending someone to deliver food to Jin Wang. She later rejected it because it would seem too conspicuous. She thought to herself that since Emperor Hongjing was trying to temper his sons, wouldn’t it be too eye-catching for delicious food to be delivered every day?.

Jin Wang didn’t really want to explain the complicated matters involved so he simply let this misunderstanding continue. After working hard all day, Jin Wang couldn’t help but feel a sense of expectation for lunchtime.

And this sense of expectation was a feeling he welcomed.

At this time, in the bag were a few buns wrapped in paper. The buns’ fillings included pork and prawns and they were tender and chewy. With a single bite, the meat sauce would flood the inside of the mouth. But the main point was that Yaoniang had made these steamed buns herself. Jin Wang never knew she had such good cooking skills before.

Thinking up to this point, Jin Wang couldn’t help but reach for a bun from his bag. After the bun was out of the bag, he took a giant bite into it. The first time he ate it, he didn’t take any precautions, which resulted in meat juice flowing down his hand. By now, Jin Wang could bite into the buns without spilling any of the meat juices at all. After sucking away all the meat sauce, he’d then begin to eat the steamed bun. The buns were juicy and not greasy to the stomach.

Jin Wang was eating steamed buns when suddenly a person ran up to him.

He was a tall and thin young man dressed in a blue official uniform. His uniform also had a heron embroidered on the front, symbolizing his position as a seven-rank minor official.

As soon as this person reached Jin Wang, his eyes lit up. With an excited look on his face, he said, “Your Highness Jin Wang, this lowly official is Xu Jinzhi, the editor of the Hanlin Academy.”

Jin Wang was in the critical stage of sucking away all the meat juice. With his mouth occupied, he could only nod his head as a response.

“Your Highness, are you eating steamed buns?” The look in Xu Jinzhi’s eyes caused Jin Wang to think that the steamed bun in his hands was extremely delicious. He even considered whether he should offer one to the other party when Xu Jinzhi spoke up again, “Then you enjoy. This lowly official will no longer disturb you.”

Once he finished speaking, the person left as abruptly as he arrived. It seemed like the only reason he approached Jin Wang was to talk about the meat bun in his hand.

Jin Wang felt a bit baffled but didn’t think too much about it, because the Ministry of Works was not far ahead.

After arriving at the Ministry of Works, Jin Wang noted his name and the time of arrival down on the register before stepping inside.

He headed straight to the repairs department and without greeting anyone, he made his way to his office.

With the renovation of Hui Wang Manor on the right track, Jin Wang returned to the state of having nothing to do. The renovation couldn’t be completed overnight, and Jin Wang only needs to visit every few days to monitor the progress. As for the other matters, it wasn’t up to him to worry about.

After sitting in his office for a day, when Shenshi arrived, it was time for Jin Wang to be off duty.

He signed his name on the register before walking out the gates of the Ministry of Works. Seeing no carriage outside to pick him up, he could only walk back by himself. It was only a quarter of an hour of a walk from the Ministry of Works to Jin Wang Manor. At a pace neither fast nor slow, Jin Wang walked home while carrying his bag in his hand.

A rush of horseshoes suddenly sounded, followed by the sounds of people shouting. With his back turned Jin Wang continued walking, but his eyebrows were now furrowed.

The carriage stopped less than half a metre behind him, and the coachman scolded with lingering fear in his heart, “What are you doing?! I already shouted to make way but why didn’t you move? What would happen if we really crashed into you?”

Jin Wang stopped walking, turned around and looked at the carriage driver, or more accurately, the carriage in general.

The coachman didn’t seem to expect this person to be an official. Seeing the heron on Jin Wang’s chest, he was taken aback before a look of contempt flashed in his eyes. Just as he was about to say something, the soft voice of a woman could be heard from inside the carriage.

“Feng Da, it was you who wasn’t careful with your driving and almost crashed into the other party. Why did you put the blame on the other person?”

Following these words, a pale tender hand stretched out from inside and pushed the curtains of the carriage to the side.

The owner of this petite hand was only a maid. Another woman was sitting in the carriage, dressed in a teal embroidered blouse and a blue floral skirt inlaid with pearls.

She had fair skin, clear brows and gorgeous eyes. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say her beauty was enough to cause the downfall of a city.

Jin Wang glanced at the emblem on the carriage, and a meaningful look flashed in his eyes. He was about to turn around and continue on his way, when the woman suddenly said, “Sir, this matter was caused by the negligence of my coachman. Are you troubled in any way?”