Chapter 92
The Emperor’s hand trembled as he held the memorial. He was afraid that he had misread it.
The imperial physician reported that King Jing had four healthy boys. None of them were mute.
The Emperor pressed the memorial to his chest and took a deep breath. He had thought that his bloodline with Empress Xiaohui would be cut off by King Jing, but …
King Jing actually had four healthy children!
There was no news more exciting than this.
The Emperor laughed out loud. He no longer minded King Jing’s previous small offense. He was overjoyed that he had four children. He quickly ordered Luo Ruisheng to fetch an imperial edict and personally wrote an imperial edict to confer Li Yu the title of King Jing’s First Consort. King Jing’s eldest son would be the Heir Apparent, his second son would be a fifth-ranked Cloud Cavalry Officer, and his third son would be a seventh-ranked Grace Cavalry Officer …
The Emperor was overjoyed and conferred four titles in a row. He even muttered, “The title of Consort is an appointed marriage. It’s not a reward. Li Yu and King Jing have both performed meritorious deeds. I might as well confer titles to these little imperial grandsons.”
Steward Luo watched from the side and the corner of his mouth twitched. Seeing that the Emperor had conferred the title of Grace Cavalry Officer to King Jing’s youngest son, he thought to himself, You were also the one who refused the title of Consort no matter what. Now your attitude has changed!
However, Steward Luo also knew which thigh he should cling to in the future. It was also fate. The Emperor had other imperial grandsons. For example, the Marquis of An’s family hadn’t entered the palace for a long time, so the Emperor couldn’t easily remember them. Another example was the Third Prince’s family. The oldest was six years old, and the youngest was three years old. Recently, the Third Prince often asked them to meet the Emperor. However, they were all disciplined. Every time the Emperor wanted to meet them, he would feel bored after meeting them. In total, he only met them a few times. Unlike King Jing’s family, the Emperor hadn’t even met them yet, but he was already thinking about them.
Steward Luo was an astute person. He specifically chose the words that the Emperor liked to hear and said, “This servant heard from the Imperial Physician that the three imperial grandsons all look very much like His Highness King Jing. The youngest one looks more like Young Master Li.”
The Emperor had never seen Li Yu before, but he remembered how King Jing looked when he was a child. He thought for a moment and then said with a smile, “If that’s really the case, it’s quite interesting.”
The Emperor was very anxious to see his little imperial grandson. When he found out from Luo Ruisheng that the little imperial grandson looked like King Jing, he wanted to see him even more.
She had heard that the King Jing had governed the Western Frontier well recently. After all, it was not as good as the Imperial City. It was better not to let the young imperial grandchildren suffer.
The Emperor had originally intended to let his son, King Jing, train outside for two more years. Now that his son had a grandson, the Emperor couldn’t wait for King Jing to fly back immediately.
Thanks to Head Steward Luo’s persuasion, the little imperial grandsons had just been born. How could they endure the long journey?
Only then did the Emperor give up. He realized that he had been too happy. If he wanted to summon them, he would have to wait until the children were a little older.
This year, the Emperor was very satisfied with the various political achievements King Jing had made in the Western Frontier. In comparison, the Sixth Prince, who had only finished renovating Zhongcui Palace, seemed very mediocre.
Now that King Jing had a healthy legitimate son, even if he couldn’t speak, it wouldn’t be a big problem.
The Emperor couldn’t help but lean in favor of King Jing. Considering that King Jing’s entire family was in the Western Frontier, before King Jing returned to the Imperial City, it would be best not to spread the news that King Jing had a legitimate son.
The Emperor ordered Luo Ruisheng to secretly send out the imperial edict and reveal this news to Duke Chengen at the same time. As King Jing’s maternal grandfather, Duke Chengen should know of this good news. To prevent it from being leaked, the Emperor also told Luo Ruisheng not to say too much.
As for Ye Qian, he was the first to know that King Jing had a son. He was so happy that tears flowed down his old face. The Emperor’s instructions made him realize that something wasn’t right. After pondering for a while, he suddenly realized something.
Ye Qian didn’t say anything. He only ordered the gates of Duke Chengen’s residence to be tightly shut. He summoned an opera troupe to perform for three days and three nights. These days, the old man walked with the wind. His originally weak body also became strong.
The Emperor finally relented and made Li Yu his official consort.
Unlike the previous time when it was just an official reply, this time it was written in the imperial edict. The dust had settled.
King Jing had already expected this result. Next, he earnestly asked the Emperor to allow him to hold his wedding in the Western Frontier.
The Emperor was originally unwilling. As a father, how could he not be present at his son’s wedding? But now that he had a grandson, it wouldn’t be right if he didn’t get married. The Emperor himself couldn’t leave the Imperial City. After weighing the pros and cons, he could only agree to King Jing’s request.
Immediately after, King Jing handed a list of names to the Emperor. This was a list of the families that King Jing had encountered hoarding ducks when he was dealing with the locust plague. The Emperor understood that King Jing was trying to complain even though he had gotten a good deal.
Moreover, this complaint was quite clever. It allowed the Emperor to investigate it himself and King Jing didn’t interfere. Ever since the Emperor had sent King Jing to the Western Frontier, he had ordered people to keep an eye on the exchange of information between the Imperial City and the Western Frontier. In addition to this list of names, the Emperor quickly discovered that there was a power behind these hoarders.
During the time that King Jing was dealing with the locust plague, only the Marquis of Jinyi’s residence had sent news to the Western Frontier. The first family to hoard ducks was a distant relative of a Minister Counsellor surnamed Qin from the Ministry of Rites.
The Marquis of Jinyi’s residence and the Third Prince were in-laws. Minister Counsellor Qin was in the Third Prince’s faction and often worked for the Third Prince. There was no need to say who was behind this.
When the Imperial Bodyguards found out about Minister Counsellor Qin, they also found out that before King Jing had arrived at the Western Frontier, there were people spreading rumors that King Jing was ruthless and harmed the common people. This was also under the orders of Minister Counsellor Qin.
The Imperial Bodyguards even found the letters in Qin’s residence. There was a lot of evidence. The Emperor was shocked. Mu Tianming was right under his nose and could only go to the Imperial Study to study. How could he reach out to the Western Frontier? Was he trying to harm King Jing?
The Emperor originally didn’t want to touch the Third Prince. He wanted to give the Third Prince some face, but the Third Prince didn’t want it.
The Emperor’s face was cold. He first punished the restless Marquis of Jinyi’s residence and demoted the Marquis of Jinyi’s title to the lowest rank. Then he conferred the Third Prince the title of Marquis Ping. With the Second Prince, Marquis An, the two of them were a perfect pair.
Mu Tianming, who knew that he had been completely abandoned, stumbled to the palace gate. The Imperial Bodyguards in charge of guarding the gate stopped the Third Prince from entering the palace. The Third Prince could only face the direction of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, crying bitterly and kowtowing.
“Father, I beg you to see me. It really wasn’t me!”
Mu Tianming begged desperately with every kowtow.
He really couldn’t explain. The Marquis of Jinyi did help him gather information, but that was it. He didn’t ask the Marquis of Jinyi to do anything else. He also didn’t know why Minister Counsellor Qin was playing tricks. He also didn’t know how those letters with words and handwriting similar to his got into the Qin’s study.
However, the Emperor had already decided on him and didn’t want to hear a word of explanation.
The Third Prince knelt for a day and a night. The heavy rain from the sky soaked his heart.
Just as he was about to lose his mind in a trance, an oil paper umbrella came over and slowly raised above the Third Prince’s head.
Mu Tianming raised his eyes and met Mu Tianxiao’s face, which was full of concern.
The Sixth Prince under the umbrella was always cultured and elegant, with a graceful demeanor.
“Third Imperial Brother, be careful not to catch a cold.” Mu Tianxiao reached out to support Mu Tianming.
Everyone said that the Sixth Prince followed the Third Prince wholeheartedly. Even if the Third Prince fell into the dust, the Sixth Prince still didn’t abandon him. However, no one knew that Mu Tianming’s mood at this moment was even colder than being drenched by the rain.
“Mu Tianxiao, let me ask you.”
Mu Tianming slapped the Sixth Prince’s hand away and wiped his face. He said in a low voice, “Did Qin listen to your orders?”
Mu Tianming only gave the token to Mu Tianxiao. Since Minister Counsellor Qin’s actions weren’t ordered by him, then it could only be Mu Tianxiao. No wonder his handwriting was so easily obtained. It was Mu Tianxiao who planned all this behind his back, but the Emperor blamed him!
“Third Imperial Brother, have you finally realized?”
Mu Tianxiao smiled easily. He turned the umbrella in boredom and watched the raindrops drip down.
“I originally wanted to create some trouble for King Jing so that I can gain power as soon as possible. This is also for the good of Third Imperial Brother.”
“You’re talking nonsense! You’re clearly taking advantage of my trust and using me as a stepping stone. You — You forgot that you were useless in the past. Who was the one who protected you and gave you orders? ”
Mu Tianming became agitated and angrily grabbed Mu Tianxiao’s collar. He wanted to strangle this ingrate with his own hands.
Mu Tianxiao didn’t resist and let him shake him for a while. He curled his lips and said with a smile, “Third Imperial Brother, since things have come to this, I advise you to calm down.”
Mu Tianxiao pried open Mu Tianming’s fingers one by one. Mu Tianming was surprised to find that the Sixth Prince had such great strength.
Mu Tianxiao straightened his lapel and said unhurriedly, “Third Imperial Brother, Imperial Father won’t believe you anymore. It’s useless no matter what you say. If you’re content with being the Marquis of Ping, when I ascend the throne, maybe I’ll remember Third Imperial Brother’s good deeds in the past. ”
“How dare you — —” Mu Tianming couldn’t stand this kind of humiliation and wanted to pounce on him again.
The imperial bodyguards rushed out from behind Mu Tianxiao and restrained Mu Tianming.
Mu Tianxiao sneered and turned around, “Third Imperial Brother, please go ahead. Forgive me for not keeping you company.”
Mu Tianxiao held the umbrella and walked into the rain alone. No matter how much Mu Tianming cursed and howled behind him, he didn’t pay any attention to him.
Mu Tianxiao was completely free of the Third Imperial Prince and was in a good mood. When he returned to the Sixth Imperial Prince’s Estate, he heard his trusted aide report that the Emperor had bestowed a marriage for King Jing. The Princess Jing was Li Yu.
Mu Tianxiao couldn’t help but snort and laugh. If he married a man as his official consort, presumably King Jing wouldn’t be able to make any big waves.
He was secretly pleased with himself when his trusted aide took a step back and said in a low voice, “Your Highness, news just came from the western border. It said that King Jing has four healthy legitimate sons.”
Mu Tianxiao, “… What??”
Mu Tianxiao’s face was full of panic. Wasn’t King Jing going to marry a man? Where did these four legitimate sons come from, and all of them were healthy?
Was there a mistake?
Mu Tianxiao didn’t believe his trusted aide’s words. He snatched the secret report from his trusted aide’s hand and read it word by word.
The Sixth Imperial Prince didn’t have many people in the western border, so he couldn’t sneak into King Jing’s Estate. The so-called secret report was similar to what the people of Maple Town knew.
King Jing really had healthy children. In this way, his muteness was no longer an unerasable shortcoming for King Jing …
The Sixth Imperial Prince thought for a while, but he still couldn’t figure out how these children came about. However, he had already considered the consequences of King Jing having children. If King Jing didn’t have muteness, what advantage did he have to win against King Jing?
Was it because he had worked hard in the Ministry of Works for more than half a year to repair the palace? Or was it because his biological mother used to be a palace maid?
It wasn’t easy for him to get to where he was today under the Third Prince’s halo. He was about to marry a young lady of noble birth. He was about to receive the support of the Yue Clan. The Third Prince’s power was already at his disposal. He was walking towards that position step by step. Could it be that just because Luminescent Prince gave birth to a son, everything that was about to fall into his hands would be snatched away?
He would never allow such a thing to happen!
The Sixth Imperial Prince read the secret report over and over again, vowing to find King Jing’s flaws.
King Jing, who had no flaws, was in a terrible fix at this time.
Wang Xi saw the four children as four little lucky stars, so he found the best wet nurses for them. However, these four lucky stars, except for a few meals of milk on the day they were “born”, all they did was cry and refuse to drink milk. They really became four ancestors.
The imperial physician was invited to take a look at them, but he couldn’t find any problems.
Li Yu was very anxious, but strangely, as soon as he held the children, their cries immediately became softer. However, as soon as he handed the children to their wet nurses, they would cry until their faces turned red and their necks were thick, each more out of breath than the other.
It seemed that they had gotten used to being fish and couldn’t do without a fish father.
The children were still thinking about him. Li Yu was secretly happy, but if the children didn’t drink milk, they wouldn’t be able to survive. Did this mean that he was the only one who could feed them?
Feeding the children wasn’t like feeding fish. It seemed to be quite interesting.
Li Yu rubbed his hands excitedly, “Do you want me to try?”
King Jing, “…”
