Chapter 260: Practicing
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Was this supposed to be enough? Both senior and junior stewards saw how he embarrassed himself and was punished. Even if they didn’t dare to openly oppose him in the future, they would surely look down on him. It could be imagined how many people would secretly be eager to try and cause trouble for him, just like Li Quanxin did! He had lost his credibility. If he couldn’t handle things properly, naturally, he would lose trust and dignity, becoming worthless!
He refused to accept it! He clearly offended Fu Mingzhu only to be loyal to His Highness. Why didn’t His Highness stand up for him and let Fu Mingzhu torment him like this? Zhu Changsheng looked pitifully and despairingly at the door leading to the inner chamber, hoping Yuwen Chu would step out at the last moment to save him from this predicament. However, the door curtain remained motionless, and no one paid him any attention.
He couldn’t just sit and wait for his doom! Zhu Changsheng felt extremely disappointed. He didn’t dare to criticize Yuwen Chu, so he turned to Mingzhu and said, “Even if punishment is warranted, it must be justified! If the Wangfei wants to punish me, she must explain why, based on what reason?”
What reasoning does the esteemed Ying Wangfei have with a mere servant? If she truly were to argue with him here and win, it wouldn’t be honorable. Both parties know the truth: if she says he’s wrong, then he’s wrong! Mingzhu didn’t dwell on it, she simply ordered someone to drag Zhu Changsheng out and instructed Li Quanxin, “Thirty lashes, not one less. You go with them and make sure to publicly recount everything he said and did! Really, he almost made me cry… If it weren’t for His Highness coming back in time to support me, I might have been so ashamed and angered that I would have been driven to madness… Anyone who thinks he’s been wronged can come and speak to His Highness!”
The earlier words were fine, but the latter part was shameless. Didn’t she see that His Highness tacitly agreed? Then Zhu Changsheng must be in the wrong! It’s just Wangfei using His Highness to suppress people. The whole room fell silent, except for Li Quanxin, who was as happy as if it were New Year’s and he had received a bonus: “Your Highness and the Wangfei can rest assured, Zhu Changsheng is just confused by his arrogance and muddled by his brain. I will go and teach him some sense, and I’ll make sure he understands.”
Zheng Momo escorted Mingzhu back into the inner room, sneakily casting a glance at Yuwen Chu. Seeing him sitting calmly in front of the bed flipping through a book, seemingly unconcerned about Zhu Changsheng’s fate, she couldn’t help but feel a bit suspicious. Was the highly trusted Chief Steward being treated like this? Did he really have no thoughts about it? It’s not easy for any household to cultivate a capable Chief Steward, but to casually hand him over to the Wangfei for her to play with, and possibly ruin him, wasn’t that a pity?
Yuwen Chu immediately sensed Zheng Momo’s scrutiny and looked up at her, his expression calm and quiet, but enough to make Zheng Momo unable to meet his gaze directly. She quickly half-squatted down, deeply bowing to Yuwen Chu, indicating that she had no other intentions. Yuwen Chu withdrew his gaze and looked at Mingzhu with a faint smile, “Shall we have someone set the table? I’m hungry.”
Mingzhu was in a good mood, “It’s a good time to taste the new chef’s cooking. I only realized today how much effort and money His Highness has spent on my appetite.” She leaned against him affectionately, “What would you like to eat? Shall I have someone prepare it for you?”
Yuwen Chu glanced at her, smiling, “You won’t give me what I want to eat.”
Mingzhu immediately became alert, blushing, “Speak seriously.”
“I want to eat the food you cook yourself. What’s not serious about that?” Yuwen Chu was extremely surprised, but his narrow-mindedness couldn’t be hidden.
Mingzhu knew it wasn’t just that, but she couldn’t argue with him, so she instructed Xiangli, “Have the meal served, and bring a bowl of lotus seed soup.”
This sweet soup was specially ordered for herself. Yuwen Chu looked at Mingzhu and felt that she was particularly pleasing to the eye.
With Li Quanxin supervising, although Zhu Changsheng didn’t get beaten to death, he still received a real punishment. He couldn’t help but cry from the pain, combined with the loss of face and the bleak future, the slight pain turned into unbearable suffering. He was carried back all the way, crying and screaming, leaving everyone else trembling in fear.
The new Wangfei’s arrogant and domineering nature was already well-known, but everyone thought that with the presence of His Highness, this new Wangfei would have some restraint. However, since her arrival, she had been charging forward like a broken bamboo, thriving for those who followed her and perishing for those who opposed her.
It hadn’t been long since she took power, but she had already driven Xuancao, one of the two leading maids carefully chosen by the Imperial Consort to take care of Ying Wang, out of the mansion. Only Xiangli, who was still in the room serving, remained, but she was like a withered eggplant, unable to lift her head. Next was Yin Momo, who was extremely old and accustomed to relying on her seniority, had her tongue removed, along with a group of old Momos losing face; now, she had taken down Chief Steward Zhu, who was from the Imperial Consort’s family, a previously prosperous family, and had him stripped and beaten publicly, completely losing face.
And the usually fair and strict Ying Wang actually indulged her in her unruliness, who knows what he was thinking. Some speculated that this was like Zhengshuang Gong indulging his younger brother’s misdeeds; the more he indulged, the higher the interest when settling the accounts later. Some secretly criticized, saying that the otherwise smart Ying Wang, actually allowed such reckless behavior, it was truly speechless.
But no matter what, Mingzhu’s capriciousness and arrogance, and Yuwen Chu’s indulgence of her, had spread. Mingzhu woke up from her nap and took a long string of people for a walk in the garden. It was very obvious that the attitudes of the stewards and servant girls they met along the way had changed significantly. She was very satisfied and felt that she had recently killed these chickens particularly well, scaring monkeys and everything else.
Zheng Momo advised her, “The Wangfei acts swiftly and forcefully, and the results are very good, but there are pros and cons. Doing things this way may suppress people in the short term, but it won’t work in the long run. For example, telling someone to do something and them intending to do it well are two different things.”
Mingzhu listened seriously and said, “I understand, but if I don’t properly deal with these people who treat me like a fool, they may not even bother to do things properly. Let them be afraid first, and we’ll take care of the rest later.” Buying people’s hearts isn’t easy. It’s said that time reveals a person’s true nature. She wasn’t in a hurry; she couldn’t rush, but she would do it, and do it seriously. Whatever she lacked before, she would learn.
Yuwen Chu stood on the hidden third floor and looked down, just enough to see Mingzhu leading a large group of people walking and stopping in the garden, pointing and gesturing, looking like a mistress. A smile appeared on his lips.
Jing Song saw his expression and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. They say heroes are defeated by the charms of beauties; this seemed to be the case. Even the calm and composed Ying Wang, falling for the Wangfei in such a way, would it benefit or harm his future affairs?
“Jing Song, do you also think that I’m too indulgent with the Wangfei and letting her run amok?” Yuwen Chu, as if he had eyes behind his head, easily saw through his thoughts.
Jing Song remained silent for a moment, then bravely chose to speak the truth: “Yes! Although the Wangfei is the mistress of the mansion, the mansion belongs to Your Highness first. If Your Highness hasn’t spoken, then no one should covet the management rights of the mansion, let alone make things difficult for the Chief Steward personally appointed by Your Highness. Furthermore, inciting discord between the internal and external stewards is too damaging and not conducive to the management of the mansion. Therefore, I believe that Your Highness should not indulge Wangfei in this matter. Even if Zhu Changsheng is wrong in many ways, he did nothing wrong in this matter. He was just faithfully performing his duties and serving Your Highness.”
Yuwen Chu calmly said, “That’s my intention. I agreed to let the Wangfei manage the household affairs, and I instructed Li Quanxin that whenever the Wangfei has a request, he should provide her with the accounts he manages. Within the confines of not endangering the fundamental interests of the mansion, satisfy the Wangfei’s requests, and cooperate with her authority. As for Zhu Changsheng, he brought this upon himself.”
Jing Song couldn’t help but be surprised, “Your Highness…” So, only Li Quanxin was told to hand over the accounts to the Wangfei, but Zhu Changsheng wasn’t informed. Is Your Highness using the Wangfei to deal with Zhu Changsheng?
“Zhu Changsheng has indeed done many things over the years, but he is too self-centered. In his eyes and heart, his own interests come first. The words of the Imperial Consort are what he must obey, even I, perhaps, must take a back seat. I gave him opportunities, but he didn’t cherish them. So, I’ll leave him to Wangfei to practice her skills. Wangfei is inexperienced and needs someone to practice with. While he’s recuperating, you take over the accounts he’s been handling, and when there’s a suitable candidate, we’ll make adjustments.” Yuwen Chu glanced at Jing Song, his expression indifferent. “Is everything clear?”
Does this mean that His Highness has completely abandoned Zhu Changsheng? Is it really because Zhu Changsheng disrespected the Wangfei this time? No, it’s probably because of the poisoning incident involving the Wangfei earlier. Even if Zhu Changsheng was unaware and not involved, it was his negligence. He didn’t know how to behave and arrogantly thought that as long as he held onto the Imperial Consort and His Highness’s thighs, everyone else was insignificant. But he forgot that there’s still a term called “hitting someone’s sore spot.”
And there’s Xuancao, who was driven out, Xiangli, who was implicated and locked up before being released, and Beauty Zhang, who was abandoned and ignored in the side court… they all became pawns for the Wangfei to practice on. With such teaching methods, as long as the Wangfei isn’t a fool and is willing to learn and practice, she’ll definitely not be weak in the future. If His Highness’s major plans succeed, she’ll be a perfect candidate for the Country’s Royal Mother, and there will be no problem leading the harem. His Highness is really far-sighted and has been very thoughtful towards the Wangfei.
Jing Song was sweating profusely. Rarely, he stammered, “Your Highness, if the Wangfei asks me for these accounts again, what should I do?”
Yuwen Chu glanced at him, “What kind of backbone is this! Are you also afraid of the Wangfei?”
Jing Song nodded and bowed, not daring to speak, but in his heart he thought, by openly and covertly indulging her, supporting her, and establishing authority for her, you might fear that if someone doesn’t accept her and tries to harm her, especially after so many people have been sacrificed to help her practice and improve her skills, with such a treasure, who knows if the next person thrown into the fray to practice will be me.
But Yuwen Chu seemed somewhat pleased and said, “Don’t worry, the Wangfei won’t come looking for you. She’s not really clueless. She knows her limits very well.”
Jing Song really didn’t understand what he was so pleased about. He couldn’t help but speculate that His Highness was subtly boasting to him that he had already handled the Wangfei. Before he could think further, Yuwen Chu said again, “There have been too many different factions accumulating in the mansion over the years. It’s time to stir things up a bit with Wangfei’s help and sift through the sediment that’s settled at the bottom.”
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