Yu Jin left satisfied after shamelessly begging for favors from his beloved.
Finally experiencing some peace, Emperor Jingming wearily closed his eyes.
The Grand Eunuch Pan Hai stood silently nearby, not daring to make a sound. While others might not realize it, he understood very well that the Emperor was not in a good mood at the moment.
Those people treated the Emperor as a ruler, even daring to file complaints against Prince Yan. But the Emperor still had normal human emotions. Who wouldn’t side with their son?
After keeping his eyes closed for a while, Emperor Jingming said to Pan Hai, “Let me see what Zhen Shicheng slipped to you before he left.”
Pan Hai immediately presented the items.
Emperor Jingming took them and unfolded three signed confessions. After silently reading through them, his face turned completely dark.
It was already bad enough that those insignificant children had gone to Gold Water River for leisure, but now it turned out there was even more to the story. Initially, he had sympathized with the Minister of Rites for losing his grandson at such an old age, but now it seemed the boy was purely seeking his demise.
Emperor Jingming’s hands shook as he gripped the papers, feeling both angry and ashamed.
Zhen Shicheng was known for his impartiality. By privately handing over the confessions to Pan Hai, he had allowed the Emperor to save face.
After all, Yang Shengcai was the Crown Princess’s brother and the Crown Prince’s brother-in-law. The fact that he had developed lustful intentions towards an Earl’s son would be an enormous joke if word got out.
It was better that such a disgraceful person had died. To cause such an uproar over someone like that, and to even bring the matter before him, showed that these families didn’t think their children had done anything wrong.
Emperor Jingming wasn’t surprised by this. He could understand the privileged class having special rights when dealing with commoners, but to come before him, the Emperor, and act willfully when they were clearly in the wrong was unacceptable.
As Emperor Jingming pondered these matters, he decided that in addition to rewarding Jiang Si with a jade ruyi scepter as originally planned, he would also bestow the four treasures of the study upon Jiang Zhan as a consolation. This would let people know that even if the true situation couldn’t be widely circulated, he as Emperor wasn’t confused about what had happened.
As for the others, they needed to be taught a lesson!
“Pan Hai, go summon the Crown Prince.”
As Pan Hai went to deliver the imperial edict to the Eastern Palace, he silently lit an incense stick for the Crown Prince in his heart. As the Emperor’s confidant eunuch, even he couldn’t understand why the Crown Prince was about to be in trouble again…
In the Eastern Palace, the atmosphere was oppressive.
The Crown Princess had already learned of her younger brother’s death by drowning, and her eyes were swollen like walnuts.
The Crown Prince listened to the faint sounds of sobbing with great impatience. In the past, he would have already left to go flirt with his concubines, but now he forced himself to stay. Recently his luck had been poor, and he seemed to displease his father without even doing anything. It was best to keep a low profile. With his brother-in-law just having passed away, staying to comfort the Crown Princess was the most appropriate course of action.
“The dead cannot be brought back to life, stop crying,” the Crown Prince said to the tearful Crown Princess, with little patience.
The Crown Prince was fond of novelty. Even though the Crown Princess was beautifully endowed, as an old married couple he had long since tired of her. To the Crown Prince, even a palace maid sweeping the floor was more exciting than the Crown Princess he had been married to for many years.
Of course, such thoughts could never be spoken aloud, but the Crown Princess wasn’t a fool. How could she not sense the Crown Prince’s cold attitude?
‘The dead cannot be brought back to life so stop crying?’ What kind of consolation was that? It was purely irritating her.
“He was my only brother,” the Crown Princess said tearfully.
Seeing that the Crown Princess didn’t know her place, the Crown Prince’s face turned cold and he stopped trying to comfort her. He sipped his tea while idly surveying the palace maids attending to the Crown Princess.
Because the Crown Princess’s brother had passed away, the maids didn’t dare dress too colorfully. They all had red-rimmed eyes, and one of them caught the Crown Prince’s interest.
That maid had a svelte figure and a pointed chin. Her reddened eyes made her look pitiful yet adorable.
The Crown Prince set down his teacup and stroked his chin.
He hadn’t noticed before how charming this maid was. Looking at her, she bore some resemblance to Imperial Consort Yang, who was currently most favored by his father.
Thinking of Imperial Consort Yang’s every smile and frown, the Crown Prince suddenly felt an itch in his heart. He quickly shook his head, not daring to think further. No matter how lecherous he was, he couldn’t make a move on his father’s woman.
Soon Pan Hai came to deliver the imperial edict.
The Crown Prince followed Pan Hai to see Emperor Jingming, finally feeling at ease this time. The Crown Princess’s brother was his brother-in-law, so no matter what, he should be on the receiving end of comfort.
Due to his overconfidence, the Crown Prince didn’t even think to ask Pan Hai about the Emperor’s mood.
Pan Hai was naturally happy not to mention it.
“Father Emperor—” the Crown Prince called out as he stepped into the imperial study.
Emperor Jingming turned around, his expression slightly dark as he stared at the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince blinked. This seemed a bit different from what he had imagined.
“Where did you come from?” Emperor Jingming asked.
The Crown Prince thought to himself that staying with the Crown Princess had been the right move. He hurriedly reported his good deed: “Your son was just with the Crown Princess. You may not know, but the Crown Princess’s brother met with an accident last night—”
Emperor Jingming’s unsightly expression made the Crown Prince instinctively stop talking.
“Go back and tell the Crown Princess to set a good example for her younger sisters-in-law when she returns to her maiden home. Tell them to cherish their blessings and not stir up trouble that would tarnish the Crown Princess’s and your reputation,” Emperor Jingming said coolly. Seeing the Crown Prince’s dumbfounded expression, he became angry and immediately assumed the role of a strict father, giving him a harsh scolding.
Emperor Jingming had many sons, which was precisely why he treated the Crown Prince differently. As the Crown Prince, he needed to be more outstanding. Otherwise, how could he command respect? Because expectations were high, demands were naturally high as well. However, the Crown Prince’s talents were limited, so being scolded was a common occurrence.
Leaving the imperial study, the Crown Prince was about to stamp his feet in anger. Why was it that when his brother-in-law died, not only did he not receive any comfort, but he was scolded instead? Just how displeased was Father Emperor with him?
Furiously returning to the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince directly vented his anger on the Crown Princess and then ordered his officials to investigate the situation.
When the officials reported back, the Crown Prince’s face twitched in anger.
He had long noticed that whenever Seventh Brother was involved, he would have bad luck. That old fool of a father-in-law of his actually couldn’t even figure out Seventh Brother’s status before running to the Shunyi Prefecture to file a complaint.
Wasn’t that just asking for trouble?
The Crown Prince had already become annoyed with the Crown Princess because of Emperor Jingming’s scolding. Now he didn’t even bother to keep up appearances and didn’t show his face before the Crown Princess for many days.
This storm within the palace was contained behind the high vermilion walls. Meanwhile, Jiang Ancheng hurriedly rushed to the Hall of Harmony to see that Jiang Zhan had regained consciousness. Only then did he feel relieved and bring his son and daughter back to the manor.
“You’re all tired. Go back to your rooms and rest,” Jiang Ancheng said.
Just as he finished speaking, a maid from the Hall of Kindness came to deliver a message: “The Old Madam has summoned you, along with the Second Young Master and Fourth Miss.”
Jiang Ancheng couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
“Father, Second Brother is still very weak. Let Ah Ji help him back to his room to rest. I’ll go with you to see Grandmother,” Jiang Si suggested.
Jiang Ancheng was somewhat displeased with Old Madam Jiang’s impatience, but a mother’s orders were hard to disobey. So he took Jiang Si along to hurry over.
As soon as Jiang Si entered the room, Old Madam Feng immediately started berating her: “Fourth girl, you’ve disgraced yourself at the government office! As a young lady, what were you thinking?”