Duan Mingxi thought the Qi Wang residence was probably going to get even livelier. Side Consort Zhao came from a respectable background, and her Royal Father held real power in court—how could he possibly swallow such disgrace?
As expected, two days later, Side Consort Zhao’s Father seized an opportunity to harshly impeach Side Consort Ming’s Father for dereliction of duty.
Side Consort Ming’s Father’s official rank wasn’t as high as Side Consort Zhao’s Father’s. Such external pressure was extremely severe for women in the inner court.
A married woman’s glory in her husband’s house relied heavily on the strength of her natal family.
Strike where it hurts—Official Zhao was clearly not a simple man.
Mingxi casually mentioned this to Xiao Muchen. Xiao Muchen sneered, “Abusing public office for personal gain—snakes and rats in the same nest.”
Mingxi: …
That “nest” probably included Qi Wang himself.
What Mingxi didn’t expect was that a few days later, a censor impeached Official Zhao, and even accused Qi Wang of having chaos in his household, letting inner-court disputes spill into court politics.
The Emperor flew into a rage and gave Qi Wang a fierce scolding, suspending all his duties.
Qi Wang had never expected such a small matter would snowball into such serious consequences.
He felt wronged—it was just that Side Consort Ming had recently become pregnant and was feeling unwell, so it was reasonable for him to go and check on her.
Besides, taking a side consort wasn’t like marrying a primary wife. At best, it’s called “wedding night and candlelight,” but frankly, what kind of side consort even deserves such pomp?
He just wanted a son. So what if he cared more about the child in Side Consort Ming’s belly?
But such a small matter blew up like this, and even cost him his post—how could he not be angry?
Qi Wang erupted in fury at his residence. Because Official Zhao interfered in the household matters, he took his anger out on Side Consort Zhao. Even Side Consort Ming, who had originally been fanning the flames, got scolded too.
If she hadn’t insisted on making him stay despite the circumstances, how would all this mess have even happened?
Both concubines were severely reprimanded by Qi Wang. Ironically, Qi Wangfei, who had skipped the banquet in a huff, ended up benefiting from the chaos. The sharp-tongued couple even managed to smooth their relationship a little.
Mingxi didn’t pay much attention to the affairs of Qi Wang’s household. Disputes among the inner court women were usually kept out of public sight. But Kang Wangfei and Qi Wangfei had been at odds and delighted in each other’s misfortunes. Who would’ve thought Qi Wangfei would gain the upper hand in the end? In her letter, Kang Wangfei implied that Qi Wang’s brain probably wasn’t functioning properly.
Mingxi was thoroughly amused. Truly, for someone as smart as Qi Wang to do something so idiotic—it was quite the surprise.
However, Qi Wangfei being able to seize this opportunity and lower her head must have something to do with Side Consort Ming’s pregnancy.
Mingxi had been very busy these days. Ever since Gao Zhan assumed the position of Governor in Donggang, many changes had occurred.
For example, when imperial decrees reached Dongjiang, they would subtly change. The changes were slight, and if Mingxi wasn’t good at commerce, she wouldn’t have noticed anything suspicious.
She brought this matter up to Xiao Muchen.
“Fishermen depend on the sea for a living. That’s just common sense. But now they’re being taxed for going out to sea—where does that logic come from? If fishermen have to pay tax on their catch, they’ll sell the fish at higher prices, which means buyers pay more. That’s not good for the livelihood of the people.”
Xiao Muchen’s brows furrowed deeply. “And no one has brought this up?”
“Maybe such a ‘small’ matter doesn’t seem important to the officials. But for the common people, this isn’t small at all. And if they’re using even trivial things to extract wealth, what about the bigger issues?”
Xiao Muchen put his robe back on and looked at Mingxi. “I’ll have someone investigate right away.”
He hoped this wasn’t connected to Gao Zhan. Otherwise, just as he rose, they could make him fall.
Xiao Muchen left in a rush, while Mingxi went to her study to write a letter to her cousin. Her Father had gone to the island to oversee mining operations and would only return to the capital once or twice a year, mainly to escort the refined silver.
Mingxi found it difficult to even get a chance to see him. Madame Xu, worried about her husband, had gone along as well.
However, her cousin and cousin-in-law were still in Donggang. Now that Donggang had come under court control, under her Father’s leadership, both cousin and cousin-in-law had each established their own fleets.
In the last letter from her cousin, he had mentioned that her cousin-in-law He Yuan’s family wanted his elder brother to take over his business in Donggang. They even deliberately left her cousin and child back home to hold him back. Once her uncle found out, he led people to confront them directly.
Cousin-in-law He Yuan traveled all the way from Donggang back home. Seeing how much his wife and child had lost weight, he finally made up his mind to split from the family.
Normally, a family shouldn’t be divided while the parents were still alive. But his parents were clearly biased toward the elder and younger sons, treating He Yuan like a workhorse—only wanting him to make money without treating his wife and child well.
He Yuan issued an ultimatum: if they didn’t agree to the split, his wife would return to her natal home in Donggang. It was her uncle’s connections that got him the job in Donggang to begin with. If he left, the Duan family would no longer recognize ties with the He family.
The matter of the split caused quite a stir locally. Fortunately, her uncle had prepared in advance and revealed all the mistreatment He Yuan had endured over the years, clearing his name of “unfilial conduct.”
After all that, He Yuan declared that the Duan family recognized only him, not the He family. Knowing they couldn’t gain anything more, the He couple finally agreed to the split. But the terms were hardly worth mentioning.
Not even a single shop was given to him—just a few hundred taels of silver.
Her uncle, furious, returned the silver and publicly declared it to be a “retirement gift” from a son-in-law. From now on, they owed nothing to the He family.
After the split, He Yuan brought his wife and child to Donggang, bought a house, and gradually settled into life.
Having been deeply hurt by his parents, and already a capable man, he threw himself into work at the docks with even greater determination.
Later, her Father, seeing how hard He Yuan worked, decided to let her cousin and cousin-in-law divide their business and work independently—this was how he helped He Yuan establish his own footing.
It was said that day, her cousin-in-law hugged her Father and cried like a child.
Mingxi sighed. Parents playing favorites was something that truly defied reason.
Just like her and her biological parents—after a thousand words, all that remained was one phrase: there was simply no familial bond.
Fortunately, He Yuan was not blindly filial. When he was alone, he was willing to be worked to the bone for his family, but once he had a wife and child, he could still support his own household.
After finishing the letter and sealing it, she had someone deliver it to Donggang.
The recipient was her cousin Xu Qingyao. Ever since arriving in Donggang, her days had been pleasant and carefree, and the sorrow between her brows had disappeared.
She took the letter to find her brother, and as it happened, her husband was also present. They were discussing matters of going out to sea. When he saw her arrive, He Yuan quickly stood up and walked over. “Why did you come yourself? If there’s anything, just send word and I’ll come right back.”
“It’s a letter from Wangfei. I didn’t feel at ease handing it to anyone else, so I brought it myself,” Xu Qingyao said softly as she looked at her husband.
“Come in quickly,” He Yuan said, taking his wife’s hand and leading her inside.
Xu Qingyao took out the letter and placed it on the table. Xu Jishu picked it up without ceremony and opened it. As he read, his expression grew a bit complicated.
