Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine

Chapter 144.2: Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 144 Pt. 2

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

As a result, the number of masters living in Anqing Gongzhu Manor was no less than two hundred. As for the servants, one could only imagine how many there were. The population was constantly increasing, but the manor was only so big. Eventually, there was only one solution: expand the manor.

The problem was the fuma was a good-for-nothing, and Anqing Gongzhu’s descendants weren’t very promising. They all rely on Anqing Gongzhu’s title, lands and salary to survive. Money was extremely tight. Anqing Gongzhu would even need to enter the palace from time to time to ask for rewards to maintain the quality of their lives. Where would they have the money to expand the manor?

And the location of the gongzhu manor was simply too good. Her neighbours were all titled nobles or officials of high rank, so none of them were willing to make room for her. But there was truly no other way, so Anqing Gongzhu Manor began to encroach on the surrounding land, whether intentionally or not.

At first, it was public land that was occupied. There was a pathway between the houses, and no one lived there, so it was soon taken over. The other party was naturally unhappy. Who would want to live so close to their neighbour, separated by only a wall? It was just like those stalls in the marketplace, all crammed together. But the problem was the land didn’t belong to anyone and they were unwilling to offend the gongzhu, so they could only bear with it.

As an official, their career wasn’t always smooth. It was inevitable for people to slip up and get caught for a crime. Then their title would be revoked. Without a title, the manor awarded from above naturally would be taken back to wait for the next occupant. Whenever situations like this happen, it was time for gongzhu manor to get to work.

The wall would be taken down, then rebuilt. The yard of the neighbour would be pushed inwards while their own house expands outward. The most important point was that Anqing Gongzhu Manor acted covertly without being too greedy. They encroached on their neighbour’s lands little by little and no one noticed.

After getting swallowed bit by bit for decades, the house finally gained a new owner. The imperial court bestowed the manor as a reward. The entire family moved in, full of joy, only to discover that the house was smaller than expected. Did they misunderstand something, or was the manor bestowed by the emperor supposed to be so small?

The new owner of the manor was also a bit hotheaded. He immediately went to ask the Ministry of Works, and the people from the Ministry of Works personally visited the house to investigate. Only then did they find out that the size of the house was indeed wrong.

Now that the problem with this house was exposed, the other houses that had suffered for a long time also started to make trouble. The house on the left side of the gongzhu manor was just like the house on the right. Both their lands have shrunk significantly. The three manors in the back were even more unlucky. The road in front of their front doors was a lot narrower than everywhere else. It was narrowed to the point that it was difficult for carriages to enter and exit.

When the incident first broke out, the entire city was shocked.

People could do that?

Yet, it was indeed done, and it wasn’t something that happened in a day or two. People were probably already aware of it but didn’t report it for whatever reason. As for the Ministry of Works, they probably knew about it too, but simply acted unaware. The house wasn’t theirs nor did they live there. They simply fixed whatever needed to be fixed and built whatever needed to be built. As for the rest, it had nothing to do with them.

After the incident, Anqing Gongzhu entered the palace with a dragon head staff.

Unfortunately, Emperor Hongjing was busy with government affairs and didn’t see her. It was Empress Wei who received her. Empress Wei was respectful and courteous, listening to Anqing Gongzhu cry pitifully. But when asked for help, all she said was that this matter wasn’t something she could interfere with. After all, she was a woman and this involved the previous dynasty.

Anqing Gongzhu wanted to see Emperor Hongjing, but he was busy with government affairs every day. It was because Emperor Hongjing was terrified by her. Ever since he was young, he’d witnessed this aunt of his come into the palace every three to five days to ask for rewards and titles. Even though Emperor Hongjing always thought that having many sons and grandchildren was a blessing, when facing such a situation, all he wanted to say was that he couldn’t afford to raise all those good-for-nothings.

The imperial court could afford to raise the gongzhu. But what about her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren? It was unknown how many times Emperor Hongjing complained about the former emperor in his heart. Why did he have found such an incompetent man for Anqing Gongzhu?

It wasn’t that the Zhao Family couldn’t afford to support Anqing Gongzhu’s family, but they had to abide by the rules.

Emperor Hongjing simply refused to see her. Anqing Gongzhu knew in her heart that she was getting old and people simply didn’t put her in their eyes. Since she was old with a foot in the coffin, the only thing she wanted was to bring some blessings to her future generations.

This matter used to be hidden, but everyone knows about it now. Adopting an attitude of not wanting to return the land, she’d like to see who’s bold enough to throw her things out!

Who would dare? Although she was already married, she’s still a proper gongzhu after all. Plus, out of all the gongzhus, she had the highest status.

If he was the average person, he’d simply consider himself unlucky before moving on. However, Marquis Zhongyong, surnamed Qing, who stirred up all the ruckus, refused to concede.

Marquis Zhongyong was turning forty-one this year. It was rare to see someone titled as a marquis at such a young age. After all, this person didn’t engage in nepotism nor did he bootlick his way up. It was due to his own abilities that he made so many contributions to the court and received the title Marquis.

Marquis Zhongyong was originally a small chief of the Fujian Navy. The Japanese pirates often made trouble along the coast, so those who lived there had a difficult life. The court had sent troops to suppress the bandits several times, but they all returned without much success. It was also because during these recent years, the imperial court concentrated their troops in the grasslands. This resulted in the naval forces getting neglected.

But at this moment, Marquis Zhongyong suddenly sprang up and pushed back the Japanese pirates. With his troops, he won one victory after another.

He was a dash of colour against a white canvas!

Due to his efforts, Marquis Zhongyong was promoted three ranks, directly becoming the chief officer of the Fujian Naval Division. He led the officers and soldiers of the Fujian navy to wipe out the Japanese pirates along the coast. They even attacked their nest and forced the leaders to beg for mercy. Only after handing over a large sum of silver and promising not to make any more trouble were they let off.

Coming back with such a huge victory, the whole country rejoiced.

With this still fresh in everyone’s minds, how could anyone bear to let such a meritorious official suffer?

Marquis Zhongyong approached Emperor Hongjing twice. Emperor Hongjing then finally sent a message to the Minister of Works.

Although Emperor Hongjing did not see Anqing Gongzhu this entire time, he was still trying to come up with solutions. He asked the Ministry of Works to pass on a message that the gongzhu manor would be moved outside the city. The court would then spend money to build a new Anqing Gongzhu Manor.

But Anqing Gongzhu was unwilling. When has any gongzhu manor been built outside the city? Was she not a member of the imperial family?

To put it bluntly, she was worried about the little dignity she had that remained. If she was truly thrown out like that, Anqing Gongzhu would be mocked to death by others.

In the end, she was unwilling to relocate. But the problem was there simply was not enough space within the capital city for a household as big as hers.

There was no other way. Her house could only be forcefully broken down!

As for the unlucky person who was assigned such a distasteful task, that was naturally Jin Wang.

After learning that the person placed in charge of this task was Jin Wang, even the gentle Yaoniang started cursing people.

She called the Head of the Ministry of Works a scoundrel and a son of a bitch. Instead of dealing with this matter himself, he sent Jin Wang to do it. Yaoniang also scolded Emperor Hongjing for not knowing how to love his son and for disregarding Jin Wang’s reputation.

For the grand-nephew to go and demolish the house of his great-aunt, this was simply setting a target on Jin Wang’s back. No matter how good the reason for it, people wouldn’t blame the Ministry of Works or Emperor Hongjing. They would only call Jin Wang ruthless and unfilial.

Emperor Hongjing threw this heavy pot to his son, and Jin Wang couldn’t refuse it.

Worried, Yaoniang could only try to think of solutions for Jin Wang.

For example, he could pretend to be sick or make a visit just for the sake of going through the actions. All sorts of ideas were brought up but they were all refuted by Jin Wang. This matter had to be resolved sooner or later and Jin Wang was also unwilling to admit defeat so easily.

Now that the matter was settled, Jin Wang prepared for a few days before heading over to Anqing Gongzhu Manor.

He came to the door in person. Anqing Gongzhu knew what he was here for, and did not want to see him.

Lao Tzu dared to leave her hanging, so she’d leave his son hanging. It was tit for tat.

Jin Wang made three trips in a row before Anqing Gongzhu finally agreed to see him.