Yujin froze, his mind spinning around four words: Half a year’s salary deduction!
As for “reflecting properly,” it didn’t even register in his ears.
He was already content to shut himself away with his wife and daughter, too lazy to get involved in these messy affairs. What was there to reflect on at home? Nothing.
But having half a year’s salary deducted was unacceptable. It wasn’t long ago that Asi had mocked him about this very thing.
Seeing Yujin motionless, Emperor Jingming’s face darkened, and he asked irritably, “Why aren’t you leaving yet? Do you have any objections to my words?”
Yujin looked at Emperor Jingming, revealing a sincere smile.
He was handsome, with delicate features and bright eyes. Such a smile was quite pleasing to the eye.
However, Emperor Jingming became wary and snapped, “What are you smiling at?”
Unafraid, Yujin earnestly said, “Your son indeed has a small thought.”
Pan Hai secretly cast an admiring glance.
He had watched the former Crown Prince grow from youth to adulthood, and not once had he seen him dare to dispute the Emperor’s words face-to-face. The only time the former Crown Prince had been stubborn, he had foolishly gotten himself killed.
Perhaps Prince Yan, having grown up outside the palace, didn’t understand the concept of imperial authority.
If countless civil and military officials knew of Pan Hai’s thoughts, they would certainly scoff.
They had all grown up outside the palace too, yet which one of them didn’t understand imperial authority? Prince Yan was simply born with an oversized gut; it had nothing to do with growing up outside the palace.
Emperor Jingming glanced at Yujin and said in a deep voice, “Speak.”
He wanted to see what this rascal was planning to say.
Yujin timely showed a grateful smile and cautiously said, “Why don’t you punish your son with a longer period of closed-door reflection instead?”
“Oh?” Emperor Jingming raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Was there someone who thought the punishment was too light?
Seeing no signs of fury from Emperor Jingming, Yujin brazenly continued, “It’s just… could you not deduct my salary?”
“Hmm?” This time, Emperor Jingming’s nasal sound intensified, already showing signs of impending rage.
Yujin hurriedly explained, “Father Emperor punished your son with a year’s salary deduction not long ago, and the subsequent salaries haven’t even been issued yet.”
Emperor Jingming suddenly remembered that this rascal had already been punished with a salary deduction before.
“Are you really in need of that bit of silver?”
Yujin secretly rolled his eyes.
Look at how the old emperor phrased it, who doesn’t need money?
He wasn’t like those brothers who had their imperial consort mothers looking after them, occasionally getting extra allowances, which had accumulated quite a bit over the years. Ever since he established his household, married, and had a daughter, money had been flowing out like water. If it weren’t for some savings he had from the south, he would have been penniless by now.
Thinking of this, the look of grievance on Yujin’s face became genuine. “Father Emperor doesn’t know, for over a year now, your son has been relying on the Princess Consort’s dowry, Erniu’s salary, and Heshu’s noble stipend to get by…”
He sighed heavily as he spoke, “Your son is, after all, a prince, your son. Yet I have to be supported by my wife, daughter, and a dog—”
Emperor Jingming couldn’t bear to listen anymore.
This rascal had a point. For a prince to use his wife’s dowry and live off his daughter and Erniu’s stipends was too embarrassing. If one were to nitpick, wouldn’t it make him, the Emperor, look stingy?
He was, after all, the ruler of a nation. How could his son be in such a miserable state?
“Look at how capable you are. Is there no other source of income besides your salary?”
Yujin sighed, “Your son has only recently established his household. Getting married and having a daughter are all major expenses. It’s not like the other brothers who have had their households for many years and have income from their estates…”
Emperor Jingming thought this was also true. The seventh son indeed couldn’t compare to his other brothers in this aspect.
“Your son shouldn’t trouble Father Emperor. If you must deduct my salary, then so be it. I’ll just have to endure the Princess Consort’s teasing again—”
“Your wife teased you?”
Yujin put on an honest and simple expression, “Yes, I hadn’t thought much of it before, but when the Princess Consort brought it up, I realized that your son has been living off others all this time.”
Emperor Jingming felt awkward.
It was fine to punish his son however he saw fit, but to let his daughter-in-law laugh at him was losing face.
“Fine, I’ll waive the salary deduction this time. Go back to your residence and reflect well.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Emperor Jingming hesitated for a moment, then added, “Pan Hai, take five hundred… no, one thousand taels of silver from the imperial coffers for Prince Yan to take back.”
Pan Hai was impressed.
How did it turn out that not only did Prince Yan avoid punishment, but he also managed to get a thousand taels of silver from the Emperor’s private funds?
After Yujin left, Emperor Jingming came to his senses. He wanted to discuss with Pan Hai whether he had been fooled by his seventh son, but feeling embarrassed, he angrily pulled out a dusty novel to read instead.
Yujin returned to his princely residence, happily carrying a thousand taels of silver.
“What did Father Emperor summon you to the palace for?” Jiang Si was a bit worried about Yujin’s sudden summons to the palace.
The Crown Prince’s matter had just passed, and the Emperor was in a bad mood. Ajin had a personality that didn’t like to be taken advantage of. If he said something to anger Father Emperor, there might be trouble.
“Nothing major, just instructing me to behave myself. From now on, we’ll keep to ourselves and avoid getting involved with Fourth Brother and his people.”
Jiang Si pursed her lips and said, “It’s good not to get involved, but Prince Qi now has all the advantages. We can’t just watch him smoothly obtain the position of Crown Prince.”
She had said before that anyone could be the Crown Prince of Da Zhou, except Prince Qi.
Prince Qi’s wife had taken her life in her previous life. If she had to watch her opponent gloriously become the Crown Princess, it would have been a waste of her second chance at life.
Let go of grudges? She would naturally let go after taking down her enemy. Before that, forcing herself to be magnanimous and let go would be detrimental to her physical and mental health.
Yujin smiled, “The Crown Prince has just died. Father Emperor won’t be in the mood to establish a new heir for a while. Whoever makes too much noise will only annoy him. Fourth Brother thinks his opportunity has come, but he’ll have his time to cry. Don’t worry, Asi. If Father Emperor has a moment of poor judgment and intends to establish Fourth Brother, we can still hinder him then.”
Ahem, he also wanted to hinder Fourth Brother now, but he had just been punished with closed-door reflection.
Of course, there was no need to trouble Asi with such trivial matters, but there was another matter he must inform her about.
“Asi, I brought back a thousand taels of silver from this visit to the palace.”
Jiang Si was stunned, “A thousand taels? Where did it come from?”
“Naturally, it’s a reward from Father Emperor. Just keep the money safe. Who knows, Father Emperor might bestow even more rewards in the future.”
Although Jiang Si didn’t place much importance on these thousand taels of silver, receiving a reward was certainly better than being punished. She smiled and handed the money to Aqiao to store in the treasury.
As Yujin had said, Emperor Jingming didn’t mention a word about establishing an heir, coldly observing the words and actions of his sons.
The eldest had always been aloof from worldly affairs and could be ignored.
The fifth, a mere commandery prince, was lucky to have food to eat. What more could he want?
The seventh had been behaving himself in his princely residence lately, which was somewhat comforting.
The eighth wasn’t worth mentioning.
The fourth hadn’t made any moves himself, but what was the meaning behind those officials, who ate the emperor’s salary, frequently showing goodwill towards the fourth prince?
And then there was the sixth. This boy had been visiting his imperial consort mother in the palace much more frequently than before.
Emperor Jingming secretly kept a mental tally, letting the days flow by like water.
On this day, bad news arrived from the south.