CH 55

“Could I ask which family this lady is from?” Lou Jing asked, his brow creasing slightly. The Side Consort was not an ordinary concubine, and could not be taken in from any random family, particularly not given the Anguo Gong’s high status in society. At the very least, she had to be a daughter born to a Side Consort of a noble family.

“She’s the eldest legitimate daughter of the Jiuchang Prefectural Magistrate in Jiangzhou,” Lou Jianyu said proudly. He was very pleased with this upcoming marriage of his. 

The eldest legitimate daughter of a Prefectural Magistrate? Lou Jing was very surprised. Civil officials were as picky as the nobility when it came to choosing a match for their daughters, and even though a Prefectural Magistrate wasn’t considered a high official, it was still a reasonably important government position. Why would he agree to marry off his eldest legitimate daughter as a Side Consort?

The very excited Lou Jianyu didn’t seem to have any intention of giving his son an explanation. All he said was that he was telling Lou Jing this out of courtesy, followed by a warning to Lou Jing not to create trouble.

Lou Jing also couldn’t really say anything about his father taking in a Side Consort. He acknowledged what his father had said, then returned to Zhuque Hall and called his butler over. “Who’s the one who arranged for Father’s marriage this round?” he asked.

“This servant doesn’t know. Guogong ye didn’t accept any jobs after spring, and I didn’t see any civil officials coming to visit, either,” the Zhuque Hall butler said, equally confused. 

Lou Jing dismissed his butler, then called Yun Ba in and instructed him to look into this Jiuchang Prefectural Magistrate. Marrying off a legitimate daughter as a Side Consort for no rhyme or reason didn’t seem to be something a scholar would do. There were really only two possibilities. Either the Prefectural Magistrate was trying to curry favour with the Lou family, or there was something off about that girl.

Two days later, Yun Ba came back with news.

“Shizi, do you remember how the noble families were lending out money to civil officials before the New Year?” Yun Ba said. After Lou Jing had mentioned this Jiangzhou official to him, he had made a special effort to go through the list of people who had borrowed money from the Anguo Gong, and had indeed found this Jiuchang Prefectural Magistrate’s name on it.

The Jiuchang Prefectural Magistrate’s name was Yang Xin. He was a very distant relative of the Lou family. He was originally a County Magistrate, and had been promoted to a Prefectural Magistrate last year.

It was only now that Lou Jing remembered how Shen Lian insisted on receiving a “gift” from these officials upon their entry into the Capital, with the minimum sum for this “gift” being a thousand taels of silver. On the high side, the price of this so-called gift ran into the tens of thousands of taels of silver. Many of the officials didn’t bring that much silver with them, but they feared getting into trouble with Shen Lian, so they borrowed money from the wealthy people in the Capital. The Lou family was one of these wealthy families, and Lou Jianyu had happily lent out money to quite a number of people.

“So, basically, that Prefectural Magistrate borrowed money from my father?” Lou Jing asked, raising his eyebrows. Using this as an excuse to suck up to the nobility was certainly enterprising. What he wanted to know was whether this Jiuchang Prefectural Magistrate was interested in sucking up to the Lou family as a whole, or just Lou Jianyu as a person.

“Yes,” Yun Ba said, taking out a piece of paper. “This subordinate copied this set of accounts from the account books in the main residence. All the rest of the debtors have paid back the silver they owed. Yang Xin is the only one who hasn’t paid in full.”

Lou Jing took the piece of paper and read through it carefully. The contents were that Yang Xin had borrowed a thousand taels of silver, and had sent a hundred and twenty taels in the second lunar month. Thereafter, he didn’t pay anything further toward the debt. 

“I’ve asked one of the servants in the main residence, and he said that Guogong ye apparently agreed with the Yang family that he would accept their daughter in lieu of full payment of their debt,” Yun Ba said, lowering his head and reporting everything in detail.

Yun Ba took Lou Jing’s personal seal and went to ask an official in the Ministry of Personnel about the kind of person the Jiuchang Prefectural Magistrate was. They had assumed that he would be a greedy official who was willing to even sell his daughter in exchange for money and power, but the answer they got was completely unexpected.

Yang Xin was born into a poor family that farmed for a living and taught peasants how to read on the side. They only had a few mu of barely fertile land to their name. Six years ago, Yang Xin passed the Imperial Examinations and was posted to Jiangzhou as a County Magistrate. He was a serious, straightforward official who didn’t know how to butter up his superiors, and his career stagnated for quite some time as a result. He had finally been promoted to a Prefectural Magistrate last year. When he didn’t repay Lou Jianyu the one thousand and two hundred taels of silver he owed, it was very likely because he simply didn’t have the money, and thus had no choice but to marry his daughter off.

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Shen Lian was very strict about collecting his “protection money”, and he refused to let anyone slip by without paying it. Lord Yang probably felt like he had been backed into a corner when he finally decided to borrow money from Lou Jianyu as a stop-gap measure, and hadn’t thought that when he returned to Jiangzhou, he really couldn’t find a way to produce the silver he owed. At that point, he had no choice but to suppress the ache in his heart and agree to marry off his daughter into a noble family as a Side Consort.

Lou Jing put the paper down onto the table with a soft thud. What was this, really? The Lou family was actually stooping to snatching daughters when their fathers couldn’t pay up on their debts?! What, were they some evil, overbearing noble lords now?

“Shizi, don’t get involved in this,” Cheng Xiuru said. Even though he sympathised with the Yang family, Lou Jing couldn’t get involved in this business; his father taking in a Side Consort was not something he could object to.

This news that the Anguo Gong was going to take in a Side Consort soon spread through the whole residence. When Lou Jing’s paternal Second Aunt heard about this, she smiled in sadistic glee, grinning so hard that the corners of her mouth practically reached her ears. This Madam Wei had practically just stepped out to nurse her temporary ailment when her husband had suddenly decided to take in a Side Consort. 

“What’s good about this? The family assets haven’t been split, and taking in a Side Consort isn’t like buying a concubine. Lou Jianyu has to give wedding gifts to the bride’s family, and this is going to come out of the main household’s budget,” the Third Aunt said quietly, pursing her lips in dissatisfaction.

The Second Aunt’s grin froze immediately. “Surely not! This won’t do. I had better write a letter to the furen,” she said.

The legitimate wife, the furen, had to agree to her husband taking in a Side Consort. Even though Madam Wei might not be able to stop Lou Jianyu from doing as he pleased, she might be able to come back and create a huge scene. She and the Third Aunt might then be able to make use of that to get the family assets split before Lou Jianyu’s marriage to the Side Consort. Plus, it gladdened her spiteful little heart to think that she was making some trouble for Madam Wei.

The Second Aunt was as good as her word, and she called a senior maid over to send some items over to the Guogong furen in Fu County. 

“You know what to say, right?” the Second Aunt asked the old servant.

“Yes, madam. Please do not worry, I will carry out this task well,” the senior maid said. She accepted the reward the Second Aunt gave her, then walked away with a big smile on her face.

Madam Wei naturally could not come out to meet a maid who worked in the main residence, so her personal maid went out to accept the items. That maid was a straightforward young girl, and she related everything that the senior maid had told her to Madam Wei.

The Guogong ye was going to take in a Side Consort who was a civil official’s legitimate daughter, and she was only eighteen years old to boot! 

Side Consort, legitimate daughter, eighteen…

Madam Wei’s face became paler and paler, then she suddenly fainted, her eyes rolling back in her head.

“Furen suffered a shock and the baby was delivered prematurely,” the Fu County servant said, reporting to Lou Jianyu in the main residence.

“Is it a girl or a boy?” Lou Jianyu asked, smiling immediately. 

The young servant was stunned by Lou Jianyu’s question. Wasn’t he concerned about the furen’s well-being at all? “It’s a little girl, and thankfully, both mother and child are safe,” he said.

When Lou Jianyu heard that the child was female, the smile faded from his face. He instructed some servants to send nourishing herbs to Fu County, but didn’t say anything after that. If the child was a non-legitimate son, it’d be much easier, but now that what he had on his hands was a non-legitimate girl. It would be very hard to find a good marriage for her in future. How irritating!

Lou Jing only nodded blandly when he heard the news. He couldn’t be bothered with the rubbish that was happening in the main residence. He pulled out a black-coloured wooden box from a secret compartment, then opened the lid. Inside it was the Third Prince’s jade waist pendant – the one he stole from the Third Prince’s person that day in the Imperial Gardens.

He stuffed the jade pendant into his sleeve, then opened a map. He tapped the spot that was marked as Minzhou, then ran his finger over the paper to the part marked as Lingnan. If he asked for permission from the Emperor to go to the Southeast, the Chunde Emperor was very unlikely to agree. However, if he went to Lingnan, would he bring disaster upon his Jiujiu and his family? He wanted to go and look for Xiao Chengjun as soon as possible. This separation was quickly becoming unbearable, and the only reason he hadn’t taken any action as yet was because he was still considering what the best move would be. 

He needed a reason, one that could appease the Chunde Emperor but not bring any calamity upon himself.

“Shizi, we have a problem!” Gao Yi said, rushing in. “There’s a ruckus going on in the front courtyard.”

“What’s going on?” Lou Jing asked, putting the map back into its place, then looking up at Gao Yi.

“There are people here from Jiangzhou, and it seems like something went missing. The main residence is in a real mess,” Gao Yi said, a gloating expression on his face. 

Lou Jing frowned, then headed for the front courtyard of the main residence.

“Guogong ye, my master didn’t do this intentionally. The mountain bandits in Jiangzhou are running amok, and they’ve been particularly vicious of late. My master doesn’t dare to allow his daughter to travel through those parts,” one of the men who was in servant’s garb said, a doleful expression on his face as he knelt before Lou Jianyu.

“Please. You’re asking me to believe that mountain bandits would be so daring as to rob an entourage surrounded by the Prefectural Magistrate’s guards?” Lou Jianyu snorted. He didn’t buy this at all. That fellow Yang Xin obviously just didn’t want to send his daughter over.

“The new Prefectural Governor of Jiangzhou is presently going after these mountain bandits, and all the guards in the Prefectural Magistrate’s residence have also been called up for this task,” the servant said pleadingly. Jiangzhou was in chaos now, and Yang Xin certainly wouldn’t let his daughter travel to the Capital with things as they stood. He could only send his servants over and ask for an extension of time. 

“So Jiangzhou’s in the midst of catching these bandits?” Lou Jing asked. He walked in just in time to hear this. “How has it been going?”

The crease between the Yang family’s servant’s brows deepened even further. “This situation with the mountain bandits has been going on for quite some time, and the new Prefectural Governor wants to eradicate the problem at its root. The problem is, these mountain bandits are really difficult to deal with. The commoners are being caught in the crossfire and are suffering very badly as well. The roads are completely unsafe right now – no one can travel on them.”

Lou Jing had a flash of inspiration. The corners of his mouth lifted in a slight smile, and he turned to leave immediately.

“Your Majesty, the Anguo Gong Shizi requests an audience. He’s been waiting outside for two hours now,” Huai Zhong said quietly to the Chunde Emperor, who had just woken up from his afternoon nap. 

“The Lou family’s young fellow?” the Chunde Emperor asked curiously. Ever since the Crown Prince had been deposed, Lou Jing had never sought an audience of his own accord. “Ask him to come in.”

The Chunde Emperor put on his daily-wear robes, then went into the Panlong Palace to meet with Lou Jing.

“Your Majesty!” Lou Jing cried. He didn’t greet the Emperor as propriety and etiquette demanded. He instead fell dramatically to his knees and kowtowed ostentatiously. “Chen has received word that the mountain bandits in Jiangzhou are causing trouble. I ask that your Majesty allow this subject to go forth and assist in the efforts to apprehend these bandits!”

The Chunde Emperor stared blankly at him for a moment. The news from Jiangzhou had arrived in the Capital just yesterday, so it was very surprising that Lou Jing already knew about it. More than that, mountain bandits were a perennial problem in many areas, so this was nothing new, and the situation was not so bad that they needed to send troops to deal with it. He hadn’t intended to pay much attention to the Jiangzhou situation, in fact. “Why do you want to go to Jiangzhou out of the blue?” the Emperor asked. 

Truth be told, the Chunde Emperor was keeping Lou Jing in the wings in case he needed to be sent to the Northwestern front. The Fourth Prince still had not managed to repel the Tartars since he left some months ago.

Lou Jing pressed his lips together, then gazed at the Chunde Emperor in silence before finally speaking up. “My father wants to take in a Side Consort, and her family is in Jiangzhou. She’s stuck there and unable to come to the Capital…”

“Zhuoyu, tell Zhen the truth,” the Chunde Emperor said. He really did hold Lou Jing in high regard, and on top of that, that botched marriage to the Crown Prince made him feel like he owed Lou Jing somehow. He couldn’t help speaking to Lou Jing as if he were a beloved nephew.

Lou Jing’s eyes reddened immediately. “Chen can’t stay in the Capital any more. Your Majesty, I beg you to be magnanimous,” he said, kowtowing. 

The Chunde Emperor frowned, and his tone became severe. “You need to give me a very good reason as to why you, the Left Commander-General of the Yulin Troops, want to run off to the desolate mountains to fight with some bandits!” he said.

“Chen…” Lou Jing straightened his back and knelt in silence for a while before continuing. “The Lou family has been the faithful servant of the Yu Empire for generations. I was taught by my grandfather since young that the very purpose of my existence is to be faithful to your Majesty, and I only wish to be of use to your Majesty one day, but…”

At this juncture, Lou Jing’s voice broke a little, as if he couldn’t bear to continue speaking.

“Speak. If you have been wronged, Zhen will right the wrong for you,” the Chunde Emperor said. He understood what Lou Jing was getting at – it sounded like someone was making things difficult for him, and he couldn’t help feeling angry. The whole reason he had promoted Lou Jing was so that the rest of the noble families wouldn’t treat him badly after the fiasco with the marriage to Xiao Chengjun. And yet, it seemed that someone actually still dared to make things difficult for him! 

Lou Jing pressed his lips together, then took a jade pendant out from his sleeve. He held it with both hands, then raised it above his head respectfully. “Chen may be of mediocre talent, but Chen still believes that he can be useful to your Majesty. I married the former Crown Prince in obedience to your Majesty’s edict, and it was also the Lou family’s honour to be able to do so. However… I have never thought to seduce anyone…” he said.

The Chunde Emperor’s eyes widened, and he snatched the jade pendant from Lou Jing’s hands.

The accessories worn by the Imperial family all had special markings on them. The Chunde Emperor certainly recognised this jade pendant. It was the one he had given to the Third Prince Xiao Chengduo! He looked at Lou Jing’s red-rimmed eyes, then at the jade pendant; it was easy to put two and two together. Did he really need Lou Jing to spell it out?

— 

Beansprout: I’m not sure if you guys got it from the paras above, but Lou Jing is accusing the Third Prince of coming on to him in a roundabout manner. You sly little devil Lou Jing…