Chapter 47
Upon hearing this, Imperial Concubine Rong immediately stood up and asked, “What do you mean? Hasn’t the matter with the Eldest Prince been settled? Why is there another problem?”
Er Ya’s face was filled with panic as she explained, “It’s said that last night, the court astrologer saw a strange omen: Seven stars shining brightly in the moon, a sign of the guest overpowering the host! These seven stars just happened to align with the Eldest Prince’s destiny. Your Highness, our Eldest Prince truly has a troubled fate!”
But Imperial Concubine Rong suddenly calmed down. She asked, “You just said the report came from the court astrologer?”
Er Ya replied, “Yes, it was from the court astrologer.”
Imperial Concubine Rong paced back and forth, then said, “Go outside and invite Lu Hanzhi to come. Tell him I miss the little imperial grandson and want him to bring the little imperial grandson to the palace to see me.”
Er Ya was puzzled as to why Imperial Concubine Rong wanted to summon Prince An’s Wang Fei at this moment, but knowing that she was always organized, she quickly left to carry out the task.
A little eunuch from the palace came to find Lu Hanzhi while he was still worrying about his third-stage mission.
It was too difficult. He really couldn’t figure it out—how could he make two thousand taels in just ten days?
He had to make use of the resources he had and quickly earn the two thousand taels, but he couldn’t resort to trickery or shortcuts.
Although shortcuts might work in the short term to complete the mission, they would cause significant harm in the long run.
After all, future income would continue to rise, and without a solid foundation, completing future missions would be increasingly difficult.
Moreover, for the past few days, Yuwen Min had been constantly bringing up serious matters involving plans for usurpation, which he had been discussing with him. Plus, there were matters concerning his second brother and second brother-in-law, which also caused him to worry.
There were so many plot lines to consider, and on top of that, he still had missions to complete. Just thinking about it made Lu Hanzhi feel even more overwhelmed.
It was said that his second brother and Yuwen Min had sought the help of Cheng Sihan, the chief astrologer at the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. Cheng Sihan’s astrology skills were highly trusted by the Emperor.
Lu Hanzhi knew a bit about the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.
It was an ancient institution tasked with observing celestial phenomena, but Lu Hanzhi’s stereotypical view of it was simply that it was filled with a bunch of Feng Shui masters.
They monitored weather patterns, celestial events, and were also quite skilled in Feng Shui.
Many of the officials there were experts in the art of geomancy.
Cheng Sihan, the Bureau Chief, was a leading figure in geomancy.
Every year, on the first day of the lunar New Year, he would perform divination for the Great Zhou, predicting the year’s good and bad fortune, and pray for the country’s peace and prosperity.
The Imperial Astronomical Bureau was a mysterious department that combined superstition and science, and it was unmatched in this regard.
As he thought about his second brother and his wife, who were causing him so much stress, He Ming came in with the news that a little palace eunuch had arrived to summon him to the palace.
Lu Hanzhi immediately opened his wardrobe and took out his most luxurious outfit.
Although he had been promised in marriage, he wasn’t yet the Wang Fei, so he didn’t have the ceremonial robes of a Wang Fei.
After some thought, he also prepared some modest gifts for Imperial Concubine Rong.
It was nothing more than his homemade fragrant balm and snacks with unique flavors. Whether his future mother-in-law liked them or not, he figured it was better to be overly polite than not polite enough.
Lu Hanzhi climbed into the carriage and asked the little eunuch, “Excuse me, what does the Imperial Concubine wish to see me for?”
The little eunuch answered, “Replying to the young master, the Imperial Concubine misses the young imperial grandson and would like you to bring him over to visit.”
Lu Hanzhi, who was holding Ah Chan in his arms, noticed that Ah Chan was dressed in a little robe embroidered with animal and cloud patterns. He was happily gnawing on a teething stick, making soft munching sounds.
However, Lu Hanzhi fell into deep thought. Just a few days ago, Imperial Concubine Rong had already seen the young imperial grandson, asked all the questions, said everything that needed to be said, and given all the gifts.
This time, asking him to enter the palace surely wasn’t just for the purpose of seeing Ah Chan.
He thought to himself, today was probably the day when the Imperial Astronomical Bureau would report the sudden celestial event to the Emperor, wasn’t it?
Once he connected the dots, he understood.
He began pondering, should he reveal everything, or conceal some of it?
If he kept it a secret, Imperial Concubine Rong would definitely be worried. After all, matters concerning the nation’s fortune were no small issue.
On one hand, to prevent the country’s fortune from being affected, extreme measures could be taken, even killing someone to resolve it.
On the other hand, even on a smaller scale, someone would have to take charge and ask the National Master to change the fate.
Yuwen Min and Lu Xuzhi were working on the second plan, changing fate and altering destiny. How to go about it was entirely manipulable.
Since the Yang energy was too excessive, the solution was to gather Yin energy to replenish the Yin.
The great medicinal herbs of the Great Zhou were precious because they counteracted the excessive Yang, allowing a man to inherit the Yin fate.
This would make the Eldest Prince’s transformation into Xiao Langjun an ironclad fact.
Lu Hanzhi found it extremely troubling—Eldest Prince! Fourth Prince!
Did you guys not think to inform your parents before stirring up trouble?
By not informing your parents and pushing me out to take the arrows, isn’t that a bit too much?
So, as Lu Hanzhi sighed and complained to himself, the carriage drove into the Chixi Pavilion.
The morning court had not yet concluded, and Imperial Concubine Rong was still troubled.
She had already scolded her two troublesome sons in her mind a hundred times—one was in prison, the other had broken out of prison. Now, what were they doing to her?
Now that they had grown bolder and more capable, they had learned to keep everything from her?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Yet, she couldn’t drag her two unruly sons over and beat them, so she had to resort to using the family discipline.
These two brothers had caused trouble and disobeyed when they were children, and Imperial Concubine Rong had disciplined them with the family method.
It was a long wooden stick, a full zhang in length.
When Lu Hanzhi saw the stick, he was stunned. Truly, the daughter of a military family—Imperial Concubine Rong was formidable.
But… he swallowed hard and said, “Uh… Imperial Concubine, I’d like to suggest a compromise. Could we not hit the Eldest Prince? As you know, the Eldest Prince’s health is not as robust as the Fourth Prince’s. If you must hit someone… perhaps you could take the punishment for the Eldest Prince and hit the Fourth Prince instead?”
Imperial Concubine Rong: …
Her lips twitched as she nervously wiped her forehead for her little son.
She wasn’t sure whether it was a blessing or a curse for Yuwen Min to marry such a wife. He even planned to trick his own husband.
She stopped twitching her lips and said, “No! Those two always conspired to deceive me! Now I don’t even know what they are plotting. If it were anyone else who presented such a memorial to the Emperor, I would have truly been deceived. But the head of the Bureau of Astronomy, I know well. His master and your second brother’s master were from the same sect, and the two are considered senior and junior brothers. Due to political reasons in the court, they had never revealed this relationship before. I only learned about this from your eldest brother! Your second brother and eldest brother are close like brothers, and his master would never harm your eldest brother.”
Lu Hanzhi: …
It seemed his mother really knew her sons well!
But Lu Hanzhi still worried about the Eldest Prince. The Eldest Prince was carrying a child. If the stick fell…
Should he tell Imperial Concubine Rong the truth?
After much internal struggle, Lu Hanzhi finally decided to tell her the truth.
After all, Imperial Concubine Rong would never harm her own son. So, he kneeled in front of her and said, “You’re right, but… the Eldest Prince cannot be struck! It’s absolutely impossible to hit him!”
Ah Chan, sitting on the floor and nibbling on the osmanthus cake that Imperial Concubine Rong had given him, curiously looked over. A drop of saliva landed on his little robe.
He patiently wiped it and then looked up at his father, who was kneeling on the ground.
Imperial Concubine Rong was completely puzzled and asked, “Why can’t he be hit?”
Lu Hanzhi, with tears streaming down his face: If you hit him, you’ll regret it!
And so, amid his sobs, he told Imperial Concubine Rong the whole truth.
Imperial Concubine Rong was so shocked she couldn’t speak. After a long while, she was so furious that she began practicing the Rong family martial arts to release her frustration.
Despite this, she still hadn’t calmed down. She paced back and forth in the room, watching Lu Hanzhi as he began to scold: “He told me that he admires the talent and martial arts of the second son of the Lu family! He said that he wants to associate with the second son regularly, to learn from each other, and to become someone useful to the Great Zhao! He also said that the second son of the Lu family is humble, gentle, and easy to get along with, a person who can be nurtured! Ha! A person who can be nurtured? I think he’s just got a lot of guts! He’s taking advantage of being a prince, and even the newly-crowned top scholar isn’t safe from his advances! That Yuwen Jue, I’ve raised him for so many years, and after studying moral and scholarly books for over a decade, has he just thrown it all away? He hardly does any serious work but is shamelessly trying to seduce ministers!”
L
u Hanzhi: …Your Highness, please calm down. The image you’ve been trying so hard to maintain… it’s about to collapse.
After throwing a tantrum for a while, Imperial Concubine Rong probably hadn’t calmed down and continued: “And then there’s that Yuwen Min. As a younger brother, he didn’t properly advise his elder brother and instead joined him in causing trouble! It’s bad enough that he protected his brother’s crimes, now he’s even collaborating with the Astronomy Bureau to deceive the Emperor! This is outrageous! Truly unforgivable!”
Lu Hanzhi: …Wait a minute… You tolerated your younger son’s rebellion back then, and now you’re this angry over these two doing something minor?
Oh, but I guess it’s not such a small matter after all, given that it resulted in a loss of life.
Ah Chan, watching Imperial Concubine Rong pace around, couldn’t understand what was going on but found it very amusing.
Just as Imperial Concubine Rong was about to get even more upset, Ah Chan suddenly burst out laughing.
He laughed while wobbling, since he was still only five months old and couldn’t sit up properly.
After laughing a few times, he suddenly fell down with a thud, his plump face squashing into a piece of osmanthus cake, face-first.
Imperial Concubine Rong: …
Lu Hanzhi: …
This child doesn’t seem very bright.
But luckily, Ah Chan’s little interruption caused Imperial Concubine Rong’s anger to subside by quite a bit.
She stopped pacing and went to comfort the crying Ah Chan, who had just fallen.
At this moment, the court had just dismissed for the day, and both Yuwen Jue and Yuwen Min, pleased with their successful campaign, walked into the Chenxi Pavilion in high spirits.
They entered to find that the entire palace was empty, with everyone sent out on other duties.
Er Ya stood outside the door, looking at the two princes with sympathy on her face.
Yuwen Jue, still confused, approached and asked, “Aunt Er Ya, what’s… going on here?”
Er Ya sighed softly, opened the door, gestured for them to enter, and said, “Your Highnesses… you’ll know once you go in.”
Yuwen Jue and Yuwen Min, still confused, stepped into the room. As soon as they entered, they saw Lu Hanzhi holding a messy Ah Chan, sitting to one side.
Imperial Concubine Rong was seated at the head of the table, surrounded by the looming fear of the Rong family law, from childhood to adulthood.
Yuwen Jue hadn’t quite figured things out yet, but Yuwen Min had a pretty good idea of what had happened.
It was probably because his convenient wife had gone to complain to Imperial Concubine Rong about them.
The two princes immediately knelt and bowed, saying in unison, “Your son greets Mother.”
Imperial Concubine Rong, surprisingly no longer angry, slowly spoke, asking, “Do you know what you’ve done wrong?”
Yuwen Min and Yuwen Jue exchanged a glance, with one of them knocking their head to the floor as they both replied, “We know our wrongs.”
Imperial ConcubineRong, holding the family law, stood up and said, “Since you know you’re in the wrong, then let’s begin! Who will go first…”
She glanced at Yuwen Jue, thinking he was temporarily off-limits for punishment!
But without a beating, she couldn’t calm her anger. That’s when she thought of her daughter-in-law’s previous suggestion.
“Yuwen Min, come here and lay down!”
Yuwen Min’s usual emotionless face faltered for a moment. He almost wanted to say, “Mother, I’m an adult now, shouldn’t you show a little… tolerance?”
Before he could finish, Imperial Concubine Rong, who had been practicing martial arts all her life, pushed him straight onto a low table.
The author says:
Future tyrant: …He’s really my dear wife!
Lu Hanzhi: Of course, very dear!
Your favorite BL chaos wouldn’t be possible without coffee… lots of coffee….
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