Looking at his seventh son, Emperor Jingming’s mood became complex.
Of course, he was angry. For a prince to go watch the Top Scholar’s procession was ridiculous enough, but to bring his fiancée along!
How could this boy be so impatient? Had he never seen a woman in eight lifetimes?
Emperor Jingming grumbled inwardly, suddenly feeling he should do something for his son.
Hmm, he’d better grant the Seventh Prince two instructing palace maids later. It was time to make up for the lessons he had missed all these years.
It was a royal tradition across dynasties for princes to be taught about bedroom matters by instructing palace maids when they turned fourteen.
Amidst his anger, there was also an indescribable relief.
Thanks to the Seventh Prince being there, he had saved the Great Zhou’s auspicious sign in time. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Thinking about it this way, his son’s martial skills were quite impressive, even surpassing those of the hand-picked imperial guards.
Noticing Emperor Jingming’s scrutiny, Yu Jin smiled.
Emperor Jingming’s face hardened, and he looked away.
This brat becomes radiant with just a bit of sunshine. He still needs a good scolding later.
This interaction was caught by the sharp-eyed officials, who immediately exclaimed, “We are at fault, Your Majesty. It was fortunate that His Highness intervened to prevent a great calamity. This is all thanks to Your Majesty’s boundless fortune and brilliant leadership…”
The endless flattery pleased Emperor Jingming.
Hmm, at least they mentioned his son’s merit. These old fogies aren’t completely stupid after all.
“I don’t want to hear any more of this nonsense. Since the foreigner was captured alive by the Prince of Yan, it’s up to you to extract any information from him.”
The officials felt as if they’d been granted amnesty and hurriedly said, “We take our leave, Your Majesty.”
Yu Jin tried to slip out with them.
A deep voice called out, “Seventh, you stay behind.”
Yu Jin stopped in his tracks. “Does Father Emperor have any further instructions?”
With no outsiders left in the great hall, Emperor Jingming simply stood up and walked down the stone steps to stand before Yu Jin.
Yu Jin lowered his head slightly, waiting for Emperor Jingming to speak.
Emperor Jingming asked ominously, “Where did you go today?”
Yu Jin thought to himself, isn’t this just asking the obvious? Does he think I don’t know that the Eastern Depot has already summoned Third Miss Jiang?
“I’m asking you a question. Why aren’t you answering?”
Yu Jin smiled, appearing quite frank. “Your son is just a bit embarrassed.”
Emperor Jingming’s mouth twitched slightly.
Is this what embarrassment looks like? Does he think I’ve never been embarrassed in my youth?
“Your son had arranged to watch the Top Scholar’s procession with Fourth Miss Jiang,” Yu Jin confessed, looking honest and straightforward.
Emperor Jingming raised an eyebrow, thinking: At least this boy is honest. If only the Crown Prince could be this forthright, he’d have fewer worries.
Despite thinking this, Emperor Jingming maintained a stern face and reprimanded, “How improper!”
Yu Jin looked both wronged and puzzled. “How so, Father Emperor?”
“How so?” Emperor Jingming couldn’t help but tap Yu Jin’s shoulder with his fan. “You’re to be married in June, and now you’re arranging outings to watch the Top Scholar’s procession?”
“But Your son saw that all the young people around were doing the same. After getting engaged, they not only go out with their fiancées, some even hold hands!”
Emperor Jingming’s eyes widened. “Others are others. You are a prince. This is inappropriate!”
He had never dared to go out with his fiancée when he was young. What right did this boy have to do so?
“Your son was wrong. Your son should have stayed in the prince’s mansion and studied diligently.”
Emperor Jingming wanted to nod but felt something was off.
If the Seventh Prince hadn’t gone out, the Top Scholar might have been finished.
This left him conflicted. After much consideration, since the outcome was good, he decided not to pursue the matter further.
“You may leave.”
Yu Jin didn’t move immediately.
“What is it?”
“Father Emperor, Your son would like to send someone to the East Peace Earl’s Mansion to inquire if Fourth Miss Jiang was frightened. Her sisters were also present at the time, and one of them was pushed into the middle of the road in the crowd, which greatly scared Fourth Miss Jiang.”
Emperor Jingming said irritably, “Handle such trivial matters yourself.”
This son of his, so infatuated with his wife-to-be, truly lacks ambition!
After Yu Jin left, Emperor Jingming closed his eyes to rest. Pan Hai immediately came forward to massage his eyes.
Half-asleep, Emperor Jingming asked, “Have you found out anything? Is there any connection to the East Peace Earl’s Mansion?”
A young lady from the East Peace Earl’s Mansion had rushed into the middle of the road, immediately followed by the assassination attempt. The Prince of Yan happened to be watching from a nearby teahouse and intervened to save the Top Scholar.
It all seemed too coincidental.
Who was that foreign man with the deep-set eyes?
There was an island nation in the southeast of Great Zhou, where the people lacked intelligence but had excellent physiques. They were often trained as expendable agents by various factions.
Was the assassination attempt on the Top Scholar the work of some restless elements within the country, or was it orchestrated by the covetous neighboring countries?
Emperor Jingming felt troubled.
The Empress Dowager’s health had not improved, and now this incident had occurred. Things hadn’t been going smoothly since the beginning of the year.
Pan Hai replied in a low voice, “This servant has instructed experienced subordinates to question her. It seems someone deliberately pushed Third Miss Jiang out, but she was unaware of it…”
Emperor Jingming pondered for a moment, then said calmly, “Then let her return. She’s a young lady and the sister of the future Princess of Yan. It’s not appropriate for her to stay in the palace for too long.”
“This servant understands.”
Emperor Jingming closed his eyes again, suddenly remembering an important matter. “Oh, select two clever and steady instructing palace maids and send them to the Prince of Yan’s residence.”
Pan Hai was startled but quickly nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Tsk, tsk. Even the Crown Prince’s instructing palace maids were arranged by the Empress, and the other princes’ instructing palace maids were all arranged by their respective mothers. Yet the Emperor himself was concerned about the Prince of Yan’s instructing palace maids. Thinking about it this way, the Prince of Yan truly had the Emperor’s favor.
For a father to worry about such matters naturally showed that he cared about his son. After all, there were so many princesses in the harem that the Emperor couldn’t even match their names to their faces.
As instructing palace maids were managed by the inner palace, Emperor Jingming’s move quickly reached the ears of the concubines, but their thoughts were quite different from Pan Hai’s.
The Emperor personally assigned instructing palace maids to the Prince of Yan—was this because he found the prince lacking and wanted to give a warning to his future daughter-in-law?
A prince raised outside the palace and a princess-to-be who was merely pretty but unremarkable in other aspects—no wonder the Emperor couldn’t stand it anymore. Perhaps he was regretting the marriage decree now.
When Noble Consort Xian received the news, she laughed coldly.
The Emperor had too much free time, snatching away what should have been her responsibility.
She had planned to send people over closer to the wedding, but the Emperor had beaten her to it. Now the palace would gossip that she didn’t care enough about the Seventh Prince.
Noble Consort Xian immediately ordered her lady-in-waiting to select two palace maids to send to the Prince of Yan’s residence.
Yu Jin left the Imperial Palace and instructed Cold Shadow to send a message to Jiang Si, reassuring her about Jiang Qiao. However, shortly after returning to his mansion, he found two beautiful and dignified palace maids standing before him.
Yu Jin, holding his teacup, was shocked. “Where did they come from?”
The mansion’s chief steward bowed and replied, “Your Highness, these are the instructing palace maids sent by His Majesty.”
“Instructing palace maids?” Yu Jin was a bit confused.
There were too many titles in the palace, and he was at a disadvantage having grown up outside. He didn’t immediately understand what it meant.
As royal offspring were crucial to the nation’s fate, this was an important matter that didn’t need to be avoided. The chief steward explained seriously, “They are to instruct Your Highness in bedroom matters—”
Yu Jin spat out a mouthful of tea onto the chief steward’s face.