Chapter 387: Stop doing stupid things!
“Your Majesty, Marquis Anjing has already gone.”

Xia Shouzhong paused and added: “The Queen is waiting for Your Majesty to come over.”

In the imperial study of the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Longyou smoothed out the rice paper, sorted out his thoughts, and sighed slightly.

“I understand. Let’s go now.”

“Return to the palace!”

After a while, Emperor Longyou returned to Kunning Palace.

As soon as I entered the palace, I saw the queen waiting outside for a long time, even her hair was a little messy due to the wind.

Emperor Longyou smiled warmly, stepped down from the palace sedan, took off the long gown he was wearing, and tied it around the empress.

“Although it is March, the weather is still a little chilly. Why does the Queen have to wait for me outside the door? It would be bad if she caught a cold. Ask the imperial kitchen to make some warm soup and send it over.”

Emperor Longyou turned his head to look at Jia Yuanchun and the many palace maids behind him, revealing a bit of displeasure.

All the palace maids shrank their necks and shivered even though there was no cold wind.

The empress tightened the laces of her gown, raised her hand to support Emperor Longyou, and said gently, “It was I who insisted on waiting outside. It has nothing to do with them.”

“Your Majesty’s health is more important. You must give me the dress. Please come into the room and talk.”

The two walked hand in hand into the palace. The queen even poked her head back and looked, “Your Majesty, didn’t you go to see Yue Ling? Did the child miss the time and didn’t arrive in the capital?”

“No, I saw him.”

The queen raised her eyes and asked in confusion, “Why didn’t he come to the palace?”

Emperor Longyou smiled and said, “He has been exhausted from the journey, and I did not want to keep him any longer. I wanted him to go back and rest earlier. But as the conversation got deeper, I changed my mind and asked him to go to the Shangshufang to meet the princes first.”

As he spoke, Emperor Longyou stopped in the corridor, holding onto the white marble railing, looking up at the sky, and sighed, “At first, I thought I was the champion marquis who was the bravest among the three armies, but now that I have seen Yue Ling again, I have changed my mind.”

The Queen followed Emperor Longyou and asked, “Who does your Majesty think he is now?”

Emperor Longyou stood with his hands behind his back, a smile on his face, and said, “I think he is more like Zhuge Kongming, who is just starting out.”

“Just now in the Imperial Study, he gave me a lesson, which benefited me greatly.”

The palace maids following behind the two men were all shocked at this moment.

Jia Yuanchun, who was standing in front of the other girls, felt her heart tremble.

The favor of ministers is also divided into levels. Some are temporarily favored, but become a knife in the hand of the emperor and will be punished later; others are rewarded for their merits and their grace will last forever.

However, Emperor Longyou compared Yue Ling to Zhuge Liang, which was of course even more different.

The story between Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei, apart from the most famous “Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage”, there is also the comparable “Entrustment of the Orphan to the Care of the Orphan at Baidi City”, and when thinking about the fact that Emperor Longyou sent Yue Ling to the Shangshufang, where the princes studied, Jia Yuanchun couldn’t help but become nervous.

Touching her chest gently, Jia Yuanchun secretly comforted herself, “Yue Ling holds such a unique position in His Majesty’s heart. Fortunately, I sent a letter to my mother earlier, asking her not to provoke him easily. It was a wise move! And it was also thanks to the Queen’s reminder.”

After hearing what Emperor Longyou said, the empress, as an old husband and wife, could better understand what Emperor Longyou meant, and said softly: “Your Majesty is thinking about it. Although Yue Ling was not able to rest earlier, he will definitely sympathize with your Majesty’s good intentions.”

Emperor Longyou nodded slightly, walked back to the middle of the corridor and walked towards the door.

As soon as the two of them crossed the threshold, the Queen changed the subject and asked, “Since Yue Ling didn’t come to the palace, did Daiyu not come with him?”

Emperor Longyou thought about it and said, “I haven’t seen them enter the mansion together, Chief Steward Xia, are you clear about this?”

Xia Shouzhong took a step forward and turned his head to look at Jia Yuanchun who was standing side by side with him.

Jia Yuanchun, who noticed it from the corner of her eye, was suddenly startled and raised her head in surprise.

“Your Majesty, when I entered the capital with Marquis Anjing, I saw someone from Rongguo Mansion taking Miss Lin away.”

“It was taken?”

The Queen turned around and looked at Jia Yuanchun, who was standing on the white marble steps under the eaves of the door. Her tone turned cold, “Xian De Fei, have I ever told you to restrain your mother’s family? Now that Marquis Anjing has just returned to the capital, the Jia family can’t wait to send people to block his way and try to gain some favors? Have you ignored my words?”

“What’s more, I heard that Daiyu was wronged every time she entered Rongguo Mansion. If the Jia family really wanted to have a family relationship with the Anjing Marquis Mansion, why would they pretend to be so righteous today? They would have gone astray many years ago!”

Emperor Longyou had already walked into his room, but when he heard the queen’s scolding, he turned back and asked in surprise, “How could such a thing happen?”

How could Jia Yuanchun endure such torture? Sweat immediately broke out on her forehead. She knelt on the stone steps and confessed her guilt: “It is my fault. I will… I will write a letter to reprimand you.”

The queen frowned and said, “Why are you kneeling? Why don’t you go quickly?”

“Yes.”

Jia Yuanchun bowed again, led the palace maids holding the zither, quickly left the team, and walked out of Kunning Palace quickly.

The queen relaxed her expression, took a long breath, and said, “Your Majesty, do you think I am meddling in your affairs?”

Emperor Longyou helped the empress walk into the room and consoled her, “It’s not that I’m meddling in other people’s business, but now that Yue Ling is involved, I have no choice but to intervene. I thought that once the news of the marriage was spread, those who didn’t know what was good for them would be more restrained.”

“I never thought there would be such chaos as today. They deserve their own destruction.”

After that, Emperor Longyou ordered: “General Manager Xia, you should send someone to tell the maid of the Lin family about the reward of the mansion, so that they can make preparations in advance.”

Xia Shouzhong looked embarrassed and asked carefully, “Your Majesty has not yet issued an imperial decree to the Secretariat for this reward, nor has he discussed it with the ministers. After all, it involves the promotion of rank, and it is not in accordance with the rules to just issue an oral decree.”

Emperor Longyou frowned, “How can you say you are breaking the rules? If I want to give my house to someone else, whose permission do I need? As for the title, I just need to go to the clan house to complete the formalities. You can go and do your thing first!”

Xia Shouzhong responded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, yes, I will send someone over right away.”

The empress smiled, helped Emperor Longyou turn around, and walked inside. When the door was closed, she advised, “General Manager Xia is only thinking about your majesty, your majesty should not be angry.”

Emperor Longyou nodded slightly, “I know it in my heart, but these old laws restrict me and make me unhappy.”

The Queen shook her head and stopped asking about government affairs. She changed the subject and asked, “Your Majesty, have you asked when Yue Ling plans to get married?”

Emperor Longyou thought for a moment, shook his head and said, “I really forgot to ask, but I should urge him now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty should preside over his marriage. Daiyu will be of age next year. By then, will Your Majesty have any thoughts of transferring Censor Lin to the capital?”

“What the Queen said is absolutely right. It is time for Lin Ruhai to come to the capital. Leaving him in Yangzhou to reform the salt law is a waste of his talent. In order to reward his achievements, we should consider granting him this marriage as a reward for his coming to the capital.”

The Queen blinked and asked, “Didn’t Censor Lin write to you before, saying that he was not willing to accept this marriage?”

Emperor Longyou leaned back casually on the pearwood chair with a phoenix head, opened the lid of the teacup, took a sip, exhaled the hot air, and then replied: “Confucian scholars like them who study the Four Books and Five Classics love to make excuses and insist that I send a few more private messages before the ceremony is completed. They are not as straightforward as Yue Ling who says whatever he wants to say.”

“I don’t think it’s troublesome, so I won’t bother with it. I’ll just give him a surprise when he comes to Beijing.”

The Queen covered her mouth and chuckled, saying, “Because Your Majesty and Yue Ling both came from military backgrounds, they have similar temperaments. Among all the ministers in the hall, who hasn’t studied the Four Books and Five Classics?”

Emperor Longyou put down his teacup and waved his hands repeatedly, rarely denying the Queen’s words.

“Your Majesty, what you said is wrong. Yue Ling and I are not exactly the same. Even if he has many good qualities, he is not as devoted as I am. Your Majesty, why don’t you send someone to find out how many women he has in his room now?” “Before he went to Jiangnan, he already had more than a dozen. After returning to Beijing, he also brought a troupe from Suzhou and kept them by his side.”

The Queen frowned and said affirmatively, “This is indeed not good. However, people always have to have some preferences. If he is perfect, wouldn’t he be like a saint? Your Majesty would not dare to trust him.”

Emperor Longyou chuckled, “The Queen knows me.”

He shook his head slightly and continued, “Yue Ling is so fickle, I advocated settling his marriage as soon as possible, but Lin Ruhai didn’t thank me and even refused. He really doesn’t understand my good intentions.”

The Queen nodded again, “It is indeed Censor Lin who is wrong…”

……

After leaving Kunning Palace, Jia Yuanchun became increasingly flustered. She could no longer maintain her well-trained gait, which had remained the same for more than ten years. Instead, she lifted her skirt and ran along the path.

Baoqin, who was following behind him, also ran quickly, panting as she chased him: “My queen, my queen, please slow down and watch your step!”

Jia Yuanchun was not willing to listen. Instead, she quickened her pace and rushed back to Fengzao Palace like a whirlwind.

As a concubine with a title, Jia Yuanchun enjoyed the treatment of a noble concubine in the palace and naturally had her own palace.

“The queen is back.”

After pushing open the palace gate, Jia Yuanchun had no intention of talking to anyone else. She kept calling out, “Quick, come and get some writing materials!”

Seeing Jia Yuanchun’s panic, the palace maids dared not speak louder. They divided the work among themselves and quickly prepared everything Jia Yuanchun needed.

Sitting at the desk, Jia Yuanchun picked up the brush and dipped it in ink. Her arms trembled in anxiety and a lot of ink was splashed out.

Taking a few deep breaths, suppressing the thoughts in her heart, Jia Yuanchun laboriously began to write a letter home on paper.

However, because he was too nervous, his body, arms and wrists were shaking, and the handwriting was crooked, and the table could not stop shaking.

This made Jia Yuanchun’s breathing even more rapid. “Why, what’s going on? Why are the legs of the table uneven?”

The palace maids turned their eyes to look at Baoqin, the maid Jia Yuanchun brought from the Jia family. Baoqin raised her head slightly, and felt even more distressed when she saw Jia Yuanchun’s uneasy look. Tears welled up in her eyes, “Madam, it’s not that the table is uneven, it’s you who is shaking!”

“Yes…really?”

Jia Yuanchun looked up in astonishment, rolled up the letter, pushed it to Baoqin, and said, “Quick, take this letter to the Ministry of Works to find my father! There can be no delay.”

Baoqin wiped her tears with her sleeves, put the letter in her arms, and agreed, “Okay, Madam, I’ll go.”

……

Outside the Imperial City, at the Ministry of Works,

Because of a letter written by Rong Guogong Jia Daishan before his death, Jia Zheng, as a son of the second branch of the family who had not inherited a title, was also granted an official position due to the merits of his ancestors and was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Works, a fifth-rank official.

In addition to the Shangshu, the court also used the Shilang, Yuanwailang, and Zhushi as key government officials. And the highest rank that could be granted by the influence of the emperor was the fifth rank, and Yuanwailang was right in the middle, so it could be said that he had a promising career in the government.

However, Jia Zheng, who preferred to be a pretentious person and did not like to take charge of affairs, was not good at dealing with officials. Because he was not a scholar, he could not fit into the circle of scholars because he was not a scholar.

Therefore, this official became less powerful and had no achievements to show for it.

The Ministry of Works was not a low-paying government office and there was plenty of money to be made, but Jia Zheng did not dare to do anything out of line, which made his job as an official even more boring.

However, all this took a turn for the better after Jia Yuanchun was conferred the title of Consort Xian De.

“Hey, Father-in-law, is it time to leave the government office?”

Situ Mingyuan, the Minister of Works, greeted Jia Zheng warmly.

Jia Zheng bowed and said shyly, “Master Situ, you are joking. How dare I call you the father-in-law of the emperor? There is nothing to do in the government office today. After the gong for leaving the government office has sounded, I plan to go back.”

Situ Mingyuan nodded and said with a smile, “Who doesn’t know that the eldest daughter of Rongguo Mansion was named a noble concubine? You deserve the title of father-in-law of the emperor.”

“Well, I didn’t give birth to such a good daughter to be selected into the palace. She must be from one of the four princes and eight dukes with a deeper background, so that the Japanese officials can visit your mother instead.”

Jia Zheng hurriedly cupped his hands and said, “Thank you for your kindness, sir. I will certainly clear the way to welcome you.”

“Okay, it’s a deal, take care, father-in-law.”

After leaving Situ Mingyuan, Jia Zheng continued walking out of the courtyard. All the colleagues he met along the way, no matter if they were higher, lower, or equal in rank, would respectfully address him as “Father-in-law of the Emperor”.

Although only the queen’s father is the official father-in-law of the country, the status of the imperial concubine in the harem is only half a level lower, and can also be called so in common colloquialisms.

Everyone got used to calling him that, and Jia Zheng was even happier to hear it.

In the past, they would never talk to him, or even look at his colleagues, but now they would stop and exchange a few words with Jia Zheng.

Jia Zheng was a man who cared a lot about his reputation, otherwise he would not have kept so many retainers in his house and listened to all kinds of flattery.

The change of roles made Jia Zheng feel satisfied with his sense of superiority in terms of face, and he almost fell in love with the feeling of going to work.

As he was walking out proudly and nodding to the people around him who greeted him, he ran into a palace maid with disheveled hair running towards him.

“Second Master, Second Master, there is a letter from the Queen!”

Jia Zheng looked over in the direction of the sound and was also stunned. “Baoqin? Why did you leave the palace?”

Baoqin entered the palace with Jia Yuanchun. The relationship between the two was immeasurably deep. Although she knew everything, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for Jia Yuanchun and hated the Jia family for doing so many bad things.

In person, she was even more unwilling to argue with Jia Zheng, and even exaggerated the matter: “Second Master, you don’t know the good things that have been done in the mansion! You will not be satisfied until you see the queen being banished to the cold palace one day!”

These words rang in Jia Zheng’s ears like thunder and immediately penetrated his brain.

Jia Zheng was just enjoying the status of being the emperor’s uncle. If Jia Yuanchun was banished to the cold palace, wouldn’t the Jia family’s sky be falling?

Jia Zheng couldn’t help but shudder. He didn’t dare to think about it any more. He immediately took the note brought by Baoqin and quickly read it up and down.

“Marquis An Jing will be made Duke! You guys still want to provoke Lin Daiyu, do you want me to be sent to the cold palace?!”

The handwriting was crooked and ill-formed. If one looked at it from an appreciative perspective, Jia Zheng would spit at it if he looked at it for even a second.

But as he held the note in his hand, he felt even colder.

It is not difficult to imagine how frightened Jia Yuanchun, who was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, was when she wrote these words.

Jia Zheng was getting more and more frightened. He didn’t dare to think about what was going on in the room at the moment, let alone delay. He immediately pulled a horse out of the door and said repeatedly, “Lend me a horse. There is an emergency at home!”

Holding the note tightly in his hand, Jia Zheng gritted his teeth and said to Baoqin, “Go back to the palace as soon as possible and let the imperial concubine feel at ease. Just tell her that it’s your father, no, I will definitely get things done!”

After saying this, Jia Zheng mounted his steed and rode away…

(End of this chapter)