CH 162.1

Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 162 Pt. 1

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

Emperor Hongjing quietly arrived without any fanfare. Yaoniang didn’t even realize it until she saw a bright yellow figure under the lanterns across from her.

A servant came over and told Jin Wang to follow him. Qing Wang also left.

Not long after, Jin Wang came back. Qing Wang also followed. However, Qing Wang’s face was pale, as if something had happened.

Jin Wang brought up bringing Yaoniang out to admire the lanterns. Yaoniang asked shouldn’t they stay here to accompany his Father Emperor? During events like this, if Emperor Hongjing didn’t leave, it wasn’t appropriate for the son to leave first.

Only then did Yaoniang know that Emperor Hongjing’s dragon body wasn’t feeling well, so he returned to the palace ahead of schedule.

Consort Qing and Yaoniang came out together, so naturally, they had to leave together. Qing Wang was standing under the lanterns from his manor in despair.

“What happened to him? Did he receive a scolding?” Yaoniang asked in a low voice.

Jin Wang said, “Father Emperor found out and reprimanded seventh brother.”

Jin Wang’s words had actually glossed over a lot of it. In reality, Emperor Hongjing was furious, and it was unknown who brought it up. Emperor Hongjing scolded Qing Wang for not being strict with his family, favouring his concubine, and neglecting his wife.

These words seemed simple, but they were quite serious. Even for ordinary officials, this matter would be considered to be taboo, let alone a prince with a title.

From what Jin Wang can tell, Emperor Hongjing must’ve already had something troublesome on his mind, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been in such a rage. Qing Wang was unlucky to be taken as a punching bag for Emperor Honjing to vent. But this was true. Qing Wang didn’t even have a chance to defend himself. He couldn’t do anything other than kneel and kowtow to admit his mistake.

At that time, with all the princes watching, Qing Wang was very humiliated.

Jin Wang knew that his Father Emperor had always been biased against old seventh. Although he couldn’t be called a kind father, he always saved face for his sons in front of others. From childhood to adulthood, among all the princes, he had only treated old seventh indiscriminately. Although he was his son, his treatment sometimes wasn’t even as good as a servant’s

Therefore, Jin Wang could understand why Qing Wang would fall for his Goryeo cousin. The feelings had probably sprung from empathy and a sense of common suffering. In this kind of situation, onlookers wouldn’t be able to persuade him. They can only watch him as he walks down the path he chose, wondering when he would finally be able to understand.

In the past, Jin Wang would always say a few words in defence of Qing Wang. This time, he did not speak and remained silent.

After listening to Jin Wang’s narration, Yaoniang didn’t dare to say anything. She only smacked her lips because Consort Qing was still following behind them. After saying a few words to Jin Wang, she approached Consort Qing to walk beside her.

“His Highness wants to bring me to admire the lanterns. Let’s go together.”

Consort Qing shook her head. “I won’t go.”

Yaoniang said anxiously, “It’s a festival that only happens once a year. I haven’t had the chance to admire the lanterns in the capital yet. I heard from His Highness that there will also be fireworks later. We can take this opportunity to relax. Besides, Yan Ge’er and Zhuzhu are still in the manor. When the time comes, you can go back to the manor with us to pick them up.”

Consort Qing was still thinking about how to refuse when she suddenly saw a few people walking toward them. Her eyes lit up and said, “It’s not that I’m not going. I’m just not going with you and fifth brother. My brothers and sisters-in-law are here, so I’ll be going with them instead of disturbing you and fifth brother. When the time comes, I will go to the manor to pick up Yan Ge’er and Zhuzhu.”

Yaoniang also saw the people from the Xiao Family.

Xiao Qian and Xiao Kun bowed to Jin Wang, “Thank you, Your Highness, for taking care of my sister.”

Jin Wang’s eyes were a little complicated, but he didn’t say anything and just nodded.

Afterwards, Consort Qing and the Xiao Family left, while Yaoniang strolled around with Jin Wang.

The streets with lanterns were divided between two areas: the inner city and the outer city. The inner city was where Yaoniang and Jin Wang were walking, while the outer city was located outside Dong’an Gate. There were also lanterns hanged at Liuli Chang and Mishi Kou.

Walking through these streets was like wandering through a different world.

Lanterns of various colours were everywhere, row after row, so many that it was hard for the eyes to take in. There were also many types of lanterns, including dragon lanterns, palace lanterns, gauze lanterns, flower lanterns, dragon and phoenix lanterns, angular lanterns, revolving lanterns, etc. Their shapes varied from circular to rectangular to cylindrical and polygonal. There were large ones and small ones with a great variety. The largest lanterns were as tall as several floors while the smallest ones were only the size of a palm.

There are also countless vendors selling snacks, utensils and gadgets. Jugglers, singers, and performers were also everywhere.

Jin Wang had one arm wrapped around Yaoniang’s waist. Besides Fucheng and Yu Chan following the two of them, An Shi, An Shiyi and several other guards also disguised themselves as ordinary people and protected them from the crowd.

During their walk, Yaoniang ate a bowl of glutinous rice balls, watched the dragon dance for a while, and bought the most common jade rabbit lantern, holding it in her hand. Her face was flushed with excitement.

Jin Wang looked at her with affection in his eyes. He didn’t take her out to play enough. But when Yaoniang wanted to put the unfinished rice balls into his mouth, he still chose to refuse.

“It’s delicious! Why don’t you want to eat it?”

Jin Wang couldn’t be bothered to explain. It wasn’t like it was the first day for him to not eat sweets.

They passed by a stall that involves throwing bamboo rings onto small trinkets, Yaoniang bought 30 bamboo rings for half a tael of silver. In Jin Wang’s mind, the rows of trinkets on the ground look okay, but the craftsmanship wasn’t the best. However, since Yaoniang wants to play, he can only accompany her to play.

Unfortunately, her skill was greatly lacking and none of the thirty bamboo rings found themselves on the target.

Jin Wang listened to her mumbling ‘oops’ under her breath. When all the bamboo rings in her hand were tossed out, a grand zero of them managed to land on the trinkets. The look of disappointment on her face was absolutely priceless. Standing next to them, Fucheng and Yu Chan both fought to restrain their laughter. Jin Wang watched helplessly as she stared at the trinkets on the ground. She seemed to be hesitating about whether she should buy more bamboo rings to try again.

“Yu Chan, give me another half a tael of silver.”

Yu Chan hurriedly took out the silver and went forward to exchange it with the bamboo rings.

This time Yaoniang was even more careful than before, but she still landed none of them. Her closest shot hit the side of the trinket and then fell, so it didn’t count.

Why couldn’t any of the rings land on the trinkets?

Yaoniang stared at the trinkets with a burning gaze. The vendor who set up the stall seemed to have a bit of a conscience. He hurriedly picked up an ornament from the ground that resembled a cat and handed it over. “Madam, this one’s for you.”

Yaoniang felt that this cat resembled Huahua. Since she had wasted so much time on it, and the boss was willing to give it to her, she immediately smiled and reached out to take it.

The vendor fell into a daze, willing to give everything in his stall to please this beautiful lady. But before Yaoniang extended her hand, she was blocked by someone.

It was Jin Wang.

Jin Wang glanced at Fucheng, and Fucheng squeezed forward. He took the ornament from the vendor’s hand and placed it back on the ground. He stretched out his hand to ask the vendor for more bamboo rings. The vendor promptly handed over a handful of bamboo rings, without bothering whether Fucheng had given him any money.

Fucheng took them and returned to Jin Wang’s side.

Jin Wang took them from him. Without even needing to aim, the bamboo rings flew out at a speed invisible to the naked eye. When Yaoniang looked down, all the trinkets had a bamboo ring around them. In the farthest corner, even the most beautiful revolving lantern had a ring on it.

In fact, many people were attracted to this stall because of the revolving lantern.

There was a painting of carp swimming in a stream painted on this lantern. Despite the lack of wind, the revolving lantern made it look like a school of carp chasing after food in the water. Add in the bright colours and the lantern became extremely eye-catching.

But if someone wanted to buy this revolving lantern, it would cost 10 taels of silver. On the other hand, a few wens were enough to buy a bamboo ring.

What if they managed to land it? Many people wanted to test their luck and were covetous of minor advantages. This was why this stall became so prosperous.

Unfortunately, the bamboo rings were small, and the position and shape of the revolving lanterns made it very tricky. No one has ever managed to land this lantern. Earlier, Yaoniang had used over 20 rings trying to get it. Eventually, she realized the difficulty and gave up trying on it to focus on the other objects. Who would’ve thought that Jin Wang would manage to land it?

“Your Highness, you’re really amazing!” After praising Jin Wang, Yaoniang turned around and instructed Fucheng and Yu Chan to pack up and take away everything with a ring on it.

“There’s so much stuff. Fucheng and the others won’t be able to carry all of it.”

Only after Jin Wang’s reminder did Yaoniang realize this cruel fact.

Jin Wang motioned for Fucheng to carry the revolving lantern, while he leaned over and picked up the ornament that resembled Huahua.

He rubbed it between his fingers and handed it to Yaoniang. “Whatever you want, Benwang can give to you.” His implication was that she wasn’t allowed to accept things from others.

Yaoniang couldn’t help blushing upon meeting his intense gaze. She didn’t expect that Jin Wang would be jealous of this.

Seeing that his money-making tree was taken away, the vendor felt like the sky was falling. Even when the pair left he didn’t dare to call after them. He hadn’t forgotten that the lady had addressed him as ‘Your Highness’.

How many people in this world could be called Your Highness? Having lived in the capital city for so long, the vendor naturally knew that they couldn’t be provoked.

Suddenly, a piece of silver fell in front of him. The vendor looked up and saw an ordinary man passing in front of him, and he grabbed the silver with great joy.

A noble was a noble. Even for small matters like this, he could be so generous. Once he goes and buys another lantern, his business would be able to resume like before.