Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine

Chapter 144.1: Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 144 Pt. 1

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

Only after the carriage of Jin Wang Manor was out of sight did Madam Shizi, Qiao-shi1, take her daughter back to join the others from Duke Zhenguo Manor.

The Shizi2 took his daughter from her and asked in a low voice, “Have you thanked the side consort of Jin Wang Manor?”

He had originally planned to go in person. But then considering the current situation in the capital, he decided not to go. He wanted to avoid causing trouble for the family and making the other party suspicious. In the end, Sun Mang simply had his wife bring their daughter along. As long as she conveyed the meaning, Jin Wang should be able to understand.

He was turning twenty-six this year and had already married once before. Unfortunately, the other party was short-lived and passed away not even a year after their marriage. Later, Sun Mang went to Jiangnan to work as the bailiff and happened to meet Qiao-shi who went to the temple to offer incense. Since she was the daughter of a merchant family, her status was a bit low, but Sun Mang was used to hearing harsh rumours, so he didn’t care about it.

Sun Mang returned to the capital to persuade his family, then married Qiao-shi with three matchmakers and six cards. Since their marriage, the husband and wife were in love and had a harmonious relationship with both a son and a daughter. The eldest son, Sun Xian, was four years old, and their daughter was Yueyue, who had yet to turn three.

Sun Mang was born tall, with high eyebrows, deep eyes, and a strong appearance. On the other hand, Qiao-shi was small and exquisite, with a gentle temperament unique to Jiangnan women. At this moment, Sun Mang, holding his daughter in one hand and protecting his wife with the other, was walking towards the carriage. With the bright moon hanging in the sky, the scene seemed to have come out of a painting.

Unfortunately, no matter how Duchess Zhenguo looked, the scenery was not pleasing to the eyes at all.

Sun Mang helped Qiao-shi into the carriage, then got on his horse and together, they headed back to Duke Zhenguo Manor.

Inside the carriage, Duchess Zhenguo glanced at Yueyue with some disgust, and said to Qiao-shi, “Girls should be meek. How dare she try to beat other people? Especially the emperor’s grandson? Does she not think she’s causing enough trouble for the family?!”

Not only were Duchess Zhenguo, Qiao-shi and Yueyue sitting inside the carriage, but also Xian Ge’er. Back then, Xian Ge’er wasn’t in the same room as Yueyue and the others. By the time he learned that the children inside were fighting, the matter was already over.

Duchess Zhenguo’s disgust was so obvious that not only did Qiao-shi lower her head but Yueyue also shrank into her mother’s arms. Xian Ge’er was already sensible and wanted to explain on his sister’s behalf, but eventually, he didn’t say anything. If he were to speak up, his grandmother would only scold his mother and sister even more so he chose to keep silent.

Sensing her daughter’s fear, Qiao-shi touched her soothingly. Then she said to Duchess Zhenguo, “This daughter-in-law will definitely teach Yueyue properly when we go back. The child is still young and ignorant.”

“She may be ignorant, but what about you?!”

Xian Ge’er could no longer hold himself back and said, “Grandmother, don’t blame little sister. It was the young master of Jin Wang Manor who took the initiative to fight with the young master of Lu Wang Manor. It was because Sister Zhuzhu from Qing Wang Manor was involved and it had nothing to do with little sister.”

“Xian Ge’er, you don’t need to explain on your mother and this girl’s behalf. This all happened because your mother didn’t teach her well. If this kind of thing happens again in the future, she’ll move into the main courtyard and I’ll educate her myself.”

Upon hearing this, Qiao-shi subconsciously tightened her hold on her daughter.

When her son was less than two years old, her mother-in-law took him from her and said she’d raise him herself and teach him personally. After her daughter was born, her mother-in-law didn’t bring this up. Qiao-shi knew this was because Yueyue was a girl. If she was a boy, she would definitely be taken away.

Filial piety came first. As a daughter-in-law, it was expected for her to be filial to the elders of her husband. However, Qiao-shi was aware that her mother-in-law wanted to take the child away, not because she liked the child a lot, but just for the sake of it.

She forcibly endured the grief in her heart and whispered, “Mother, daughter-in-law will definitely teach Yueyue well when we go back.”

Duchess Zhenguo snorted and said nothing.

Soon they returned to Duke Zhenguo Manor. Sun Mang first helped his father, Duke Zhenguo, to dismount, then his mother. Once the two elders were gone, he went to his wife’s side.

Seeing his wife’s gloomy expression, he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

“Mother said, if I don’t teach Yueyue well, she’ll take Yueyue away to the main courtyard. Xian Ge’er has already been taken away. If Yueyue leaves my side as well, I…”

Sun Mang took his wife’s hand and frowned. “Don’t be afraid, I won’t let mother take Yueyue away.”

“But…”

“Xian Ge’er is almost five years old. Once he turns five, I’ll have him move to the front yard. As for mother’s side, I’ll talk to her. Don’t worry.”

Since her husband had already said this, Qiao-shi could only nod with tears in her eyes.

The next day, Emperor Hongjing’s imperial decree arrived at Wang Family Manor.

When the news came out, everyone was shocked. What surprised everyone even more, was that the Wang Family simply accepted the decree without doing anything else. No matter how the outsiders asked, the Wang Family kept their mouths shut.

For a while, rumours spread throughout the capital. These rumours were all about how the Wang Family raised three daughters who were about to marry into the imperial family. For those who didn’t understand the situation, they’d naturally admire how capable the Wang Family was. As for those who did understand, it was inevitable for all sorts of ideas to take root in their minds.

Some said the Wang Family was coerced. Others said the Wang Family was extremely scheming for withdrawing from the marriage to Hui Wang Shizi and directly marrying Hui Wang instead. However, this action was still difficult for many to understand.

All in all, some of the words being passed around were particularly nasty.

The Wang Family suffered from the rumours. Elder Wang reported to Emperor Hongjing that he was ill and had to stay at home behind closed doors to recuperate. The Wang Family faded out of the eyes of the public overnight, but the impact of this incident was undoubtedly huge.

Seeing that the Wang Family was about to collapse, it was inevitable that some had thoughts of wanting to replace them. With this, the court turned even more chaotic. However, the Wang Family had great influence and was only remaining low-key to stay out of the limelight. Now that so many wanted to cross the line, naturally, it was impossible for them to sit still and not fight back.

This autumn was undoubtedly a chaotic one. The civil servants who had always worked together started attacking each other and dividing into factions. Countless people took advantage of this opportunity to fish in troubled waters. When the civil officers shed all senses of pretence, they were no better than the military officers. Rolling up their sleeves and taking off their official hats, they almost started a fight in the middle of the court. It wasn’t until Emperor Hongjing exploded with anger did they stop.

In the end, the strength of the Wang Family was greatly damaged, and Elder Wang submitted a memorandum asking to resign.

The Wang Family, a behemoth that stood in the court for decades, finally collapsed. Naturally, there were other rising stars. Perhaps they would even end up in the same boat as the Wang family, but this was a matter for the future. Many were aware that the journey to the peak of officialdom was fraught with danger, but no one could resist the sweetness of power.

As chaos continued to reign in court, the circumstances of the various princes were also different.

Ever since what happened at the Mid-Autumn Festival, Hui Wang began to stay inside his house without leaving. Yong Wang also kept a low profile, while Hui Wang Shizi, Zhao Zuo, started running into the palace more and more diligently. On the other hand, An Wang changed from his previous style and suddenly became more high-profile. He adopted an attitude of being courteous and considerate to those with talents and soon, court officials began to gather around him.

Meanwhile, there was another person in the limelight, Jin Wang. This was because Jin Wang did something that utterly dumbfounded everyone.

This matter was related to the second task Jin Wang took on.

This task was related to Anqing Gongzhu3.

Anqing Gongzhu was the aunt of the current emperor. Although she wasn’t the late emperor’s full-blooded sister, out of all the siblings, only Anqing Gongzhu remained. Given her distinguished status and high level of seniority, Emperor Hongjing usually treated her quite well.

In the past, when Anqing Gongzhu was still young, she was a smart person who knew how to distinguish right from wrong. Now, who knew if it was because she was getting old and muddleheaded, but it was common to see her using her power to bully others, attracting a lot of criticism.

Once a gongzhu gets married, she’d move into her own manor. The construction of the gongzhu manors were all regulated, but Anqing Gongzhu Manor, like herself, had existed for too long. Anqing Gongzhu was already seventy-five years old. Her manor was built the year she married, which was when she was eighteen. It has already been more than fifty years.

Soon after the marriage between Anqing Gongzhu and her fuma, she gave birth to a son. The son then grew up and gave birth to a grandson, then the grandson gave birth to a great-grandson. The most important thing was that Anqing Gongzhu could give birth. She alone gave birth to five sons and two daughters, not to mention the children borne by the two concubines of her fuma. Once her five sons grew up and got married, the household was divided into five branches. Each of her sons was the head of a branch and they continued to reproduce.