After Jing-wang returned to the Imperial City, the Emperor began to regard Jing-wang more highly. With the backing of his achievements in the West Frontier and the fact that Jing-wang was the son of the Emperor’s first wife, even though he couldn’t speak, the government officials ultimately couldn’t say any words of objection.
For a period of time previously, the 6th Prince had dominated the arena by himself. After he was reprimanded by the Emperor for bribery, he rarely appeared in front of people again. His choice to temporarily lay low from the spotlight made plenty of officials who supported the 6th Prince start to hesitate.
These officials were originally part of the 3rd Prince’s party. When the 6th Prince revealed his talents, he even did it under the banner of a united front between the two Princes. Now that the 3rd Prince had fallen out of favor, these people didn’t say any words of mercy for the 3rd Prince at all, but instead directly moved over to the 6th Prince’s side. They were opportunists from the start, to be internally conflicted was normal for them.
The 6th Prince had his plans and didn’t bother pacifying them. Currently, Jing-wang was one step ahead. Not only did he have merit, he was even able to rely on his son to temporarily gain the Emperor’s favor. Because of Liang-shi’s pregnancy, the 6th Prince had already seen clearly that internally, the Emperor was biased towards Jing-wang. If he openly fought with Jing-wang, he’d only be following the 3rd Prince’s footsteps and become disliked by the Emperor. However, if he first pretended to be weak and accurately discovered Jing-wang’s fault, then made the Emperor lose trust in him, the Emperor would no doubt turn back to the 6th Prince.
As for what fault Jing-wang had, the 6th Prince was already very confident in his knowledge. Concubine Zhang recently found some new helpers for him, distant relatives of the Zhang family; the 6th Prince was able to trust them. Privately, he sent a rather capable and smart helper to verify; the best possibility was if he could obtain the thing that the 6th Prince wanted. Outwardly, the 6th Prince couldn’t possibly seem more at peace and content with his ranking, as if Jing-wang’s gradual rise in power had nothing to do with him. In fact, he was only waiting for a precise piece of news.
Then, he’d strike down Jing-wang with one hit.
Jing Estate.
Recently, Bao#1, Bao#2, Bao#3, and Bao#4’s wet nurse, Qin-shi, encountered a bit of trouble. Her son was doing business and lost a large amount of money. The debtor practically followed him home and came knocking on his door. Qin-shi used up all of her savings, but was still unable to make up for all of it. These last two days, she looked miserable and anxious. She was also unusually negligent in taking care of the Baos and made several mistakes. Although they weren’t particularly severe, according to Jing-wang’s temperament, it was enough to fill her cup.
Qin-shi knew she was wrong and knelt down, begging Jing-wang not to expel her from the estate. With her current job, she would be taken care of by the Jing Estate in the future, no longer needing to worry about her family for the rest of her life. However, if she was expelled, then she’d have nothing.
Qin-shi pretty much counted as Li Yu’s personal servant. Jing-wang looked towards Li Yu. Although Li Yu was wangfei now, he’s been basically avoiding his duties, never getting involved in affairs inside the estate. Jing-wang considered helping Li Yu establish authority and reputation, however, thinking about what happened with Auntie Xu, he estimated that this sense of authority probably won’t be possible. Jing-wang can pretty much guess what Xiao Yu will do, so why not just let Xiao Yu build a good relationship here.
Jing-wang handed Qin-shi’s affairs completely to Li Yu to deal with.
The olive branch that he handed over, Li Yu accepted.
Originally the fish wangfei didn’t want to deal with anything because husband and wife with reversed authority wasn’t often seen. Li Yu thought he’d last longer if he stayed far away from power and authority. However, the shitty system had already arranged a “share the nation” task for him, even if he wanted to be idle like wild cranes or floating clouds, it probably wasn’t possible.
Since he couldn’t avoid it, then he needed to meet it head on bravely. Li Yu extended a foot towards the direction of management and carefully experimented.
He’ll start with handling Qin-shi’s issue first.
The estate rules were readily available. It would be easy to just follow it; problems could be avoided. However, Li Yu remembered that Qin-shi usually had a pretty good work ethic and she was also very meticulous. Why would she make mistakes one after another?
Li Yu asked patiently: “What exactly is going on with you? Is there a reason for your frequent mistakes?”
Qin-shi felt teary eyed. She was only a servant. The little masters hadn’t required her milk for a long time. Wangfei only asked her to help take care of the little masters and play with them. She didn’t actually have much duties right now, yet she was still getting the salaries of a wet nurse. To make mistakes like this, even Qin-shi felt a deep sense of shame, like she had forsaken wangfei’s trust. However, not only did wangfei not reprimand her, he even asked her for the reason. Qin-shi didn’t even care about losing face and started weeping as she described in detail the issue her son was facing.
Li Yu asked the exact amount of money he owed. Qin-shi said a huge sum. Li Yu pondered for a moment and said: “This isn’t really that difficult. Qin-shi, since you’re the Baos’ wet nurse, you will be supported by the Jing Estate in the future. The Jing Estate can first pay this amount of money for you in advance, then the cost will be subtracted from your monthly salary.”
What Li Yu meant was to utilize the Jing Estate to lend Qin-shi money, then have Qin-shi return it in increments every month. Although he had no luck in buying antiques, he at least knew that his hubby, who gave him a pile of gemstones to play with, was very wealthy. This money shouldn’t mean anything to Jing-wang, however, to Qin-shi, it was enough to save a life. Saving a life was priceless.
Furthermore, it’s not like he was giving it away for free. Instead it was lending money, the kind that had no interests. Having Qin-shi return a bit at a time monthly, Qin-shi wouldn’t feel too distressed and also wouldn’t feel ashamed.
Actually, since Jing-wang gave him full power to deal with this issue, he could ask Jing-wang to directly help Qin-shi pay off her debt. However, since he was the wangfei now, naturally his thoughts needed to be more profound.
Qin-shi was the one who made the mistakes first. If he just helped her return the money for free, it’d be too unreasonable. What would the other servants think? That they could take advantage of their mistakes?
In comparison to lending aid, the Jing Estate’s reputation was also very important.
That’s why he chose to lend the money. This way the Jing Estate won’t lose out; Qin-shi would also be able to get through her hardship with her own strength. In addition, people viewing this matter would think that the Jing Estate was very benevolent.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Qin-shi was overjoyed by the unexpected good news of Li Yu’s arrangement. She wrote down a receipt for the loan on the spot. Li Yu first looked over it once himself, then asked Jing-wang to examine it before finally giving it to Wang Xi to put away for safekeeping.
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Alcu-kjcu: “……”
Alcu-kjcu ecmbcrmlberis rwlifv. Lf bglulcjiis kjcafv ab tfiq frajyilrt jeatbglas jcv gfqeajalbc obg kjcuofl, sfa lc atf fcv, kjcuofl frajyilrtfv jeatbglas jcv gfqeajalbc obg tlw lcrafjv.
How could Wang Xi not realize that this was for Jing-wang’s benefit? Jing-wang already had a terrible reputation outside. Before it wasn’t anything, but now that Jing-wang had the Emperor’s favor, the most he feared was being dragged down by his reputation. If everything could go according to wangfei’s words, it would be considered a good thing!
Wang Xi expectantly waited for his master’s reply. Jing-wang gave him an eye gesture: Go do it.
Wang Xi went off to make the arrangements in a flurry.
All in all, Qin-shi made mistakes. She still had to be punished according to the estate’s rules in order to placate the masses. Li Yu had a slight objection to the lowest punishment of the estate, which was 30 spanks with a big wooden plank. Since he was going to manage the estate, Li Yu wanted to seize the opportunity to change the rules a bit.
Before when he was a pet fish, the most that he could do in front of Jing-wang was act cute; it wasn’t very useful. Now that he was wangfei, he should at least do what was within his capabilities!
“TianChi, let’s discuss for a moment. How about 10 hits on the first offense, then 30 hits on repeat?” Li Yu cautiously consulted with Jing-wang.
He originally wanted to make it 15 hits, but if he directly said 15 hits, it might make Jing-wang feel like it decreased too much. Therefore, Li Yu used a little trick and started with only 10.
How could Jing-wang not know what he was thinking? Lips pressed together, he wrote on the paper: First offense, 15 hits. Repeat offense, expulsion from the estate.
For the “repeat offense” to be harsher, there’s no arguing against that.
Li Yu internally ‘yay’d with a victory sign. Outwardly, he agreed reluctantly.
Qin-shi gave thanks nonstop and went to accept the punishment herself. After receiving the punishment, she used the loan receipt to retrieve money from Wang Xi-gonggong. Then she limped off to return the debt.
Seeing Qin-shi’s appearance, the debtor thought that she had tried to steal her master’s money and was beaten up. He scoffed coldly in disdain several times.
“Considering your wretched appearance, you probably don’t have any money. However, I actually have a method here that can help you return the debt. It all depends on if you’re willing or not.”
Although Qin-shi held the banknotes that Wang Xi had allocated to her in her bosom, she ultimately wanted to be cleared of debt for free as well. Therefore, she chose to listen first instead of revealing that she had money immediately.
The other said: “I know you’re the wet nurse of the Jing Estate. I want something. If you can get it, I’ll clear your debt.”
Qin-shi’s heart jumped rapidly. The other had heard that the little masters inside the Jing Estate were quadruplets and wanted to take something of the kids to make into a protection amulet, so that he can ensure the safety of his pregnant wife at home.
This dynasty did have this kind of custom. Actually, a young child’s bracelet or handkerchief was enough. Qin-shi had plenty already. Just as she agreed to consider this, the other said unexpectedly: “I don’t want anything else. I only want a drop of the little heir’s blood.”
On one hand, she could honestly return the debt with the money from Jing Estate. On the other hand, she could do what this person had instructed. She had more opportunities to get close to the little heir than other people. It was only obtaining a drop of blood. She can just wait to do it while the little heir was sleeping; it wasn’t a hard task.
Qin-shi was somewhat hesitant. When she reached her hand into her bosom and touched the banknote that Wangfei gave her, Qin-shi bit her lips.
Wangfei helped her out of kindness. How can she ignore that, bite the hand that fed her, and hurt the little heir in return!
This person’s intentions were still unknown. Qin-shi composed herself and decided to first delay this person. She said she needed some time to think about it and practically flew back to the Jing Estate. Then she knocked on the door to Jing-wang’s study.
The candlelight inside the study was lit long into the dark hours of the night. After Qin-shi left, Wang Xi entered and stayed for quite a while as well.
The next day, Qin-shi found the debtor and said she was at the end of her ropes and was willing to help. That person’s eyes were overflowing with a smile of satisfaction.
Qin-shi was originally going to do it herself. However, that person said: “Bring me into the estate. I’ll do it.”
Qin-shi knew that the other didn’t really trust her. Therefore, she could only follow the other’s words. Feigning the other was her relative, she told people that she had brought a relative to the Jing Estate, asking Wang-gonggong to possibly give him a job.
After numerous questioning and examination, Wang Xi finally agreed to let the man enter the estate.
Immediately after entering the gates, the man was practically dazzled by the water winding around and flowing everywhere inside the Jing Estate. Qin-shi said with a smile: “His highness loves to raise fish. This is prepared for Master Fish.”
The man nodded his head indifferently. Jing-wang’s love for raising fish was practically infamous in the Imperial City.
The Jing Estate was guarded heavily. After that, Qin-shi and the man were examined several times by guards. Finally, she led the man to a courtyard.
For some reason, there were actually two fat ducks being raised inside this courtyard. They quacked noisily, and were very annoying. The man took a step inside. The two fat ducks actually flew over and started to peck him all over on top of his head.
The man raised his palm, about to hit them. Qin-shi hastily said: “Don’t hit them. These are wangfei and the little masters’ pet ducks, brought over from the West Frontier. If you hit them and hurt them, the guards outside will discover. Even causing them to lose a single duck feather will lead to physical punishment.”
The man: “……”
First, the pet fish, now the pet ducks. What kind of messed up princely estate was this?
The West Frontier ducks were very spirited and hurt the man quite a bit with their beaks. However, for the sake of the big scheme, the man can only silently endure it.
Qin-shi decreased her pace and led the man into the inner room. On the bed, there was a child laying there, face pointing inward and sleeping soundly.
Qin-shi walked over with quick steps and lightly called out: “Young master.”
Half asleep, the child turned over. From afar, the man glanced at the child’s appearance. It was the same as the drawing that he had in hand, therefore, he became confident.
Seeing that the child was about to wake up, the man hastily made Qin-shi coax the child back to sleep.
After the child fell back asleep, the man pulled out a handkerchief and covered the child’s face with it, holding it in place for a while.
Qin-shi thought he meant to harm the little heir and hastily made a rescue attempt. The man pushed her aside harshly with one hand. Figuring it was enough time, he finally took off the handkerchief.
This handkerchief didn’t cover too tightly, not enough to take anyone’s life. However, belladonna powder was smeared on the handkerchief, which can cause sleep.
The man saw that the child was really sleeping. Only then did he feel reassured to pull out a silver needle and white porcelain bottle from his other sleeve.
Qin-shi collapsed and sat on the floor, unable to watch.
After obtaining the blood, the man also took one of the two matching silver bracelets that the child wore and then walked off without any lingering thought of those left behind.
All of this was seen by the people waiting next door.
“Is he gone?” Holding Bao#1, Li Yu made a hand gesture at Jing-wang.
Jing-wang nodded his head.
Bao#1 sat in fish dad’s arms, not even daring to breathe loudly. He also saw the scene just now and faintly understood what fish dad meant by ‘scary’ before.
Bao#1 knew that he was still small, unable to do anything. Instinctively, he imprinted that person’s face to memory, wanting to tell grandpa Emperor in the future.
Jing-wang made certain everything was safe, then shook a jade bell. Soon afterwards, Wang Xi brought Qin-shi into their room.
Qin-shi stood there submissively. Jing-wang ordered Wang Xi to rip apart Qin-shi’s debt receipt, letting her keep the money as a reward. Qin-shi kowtowed repeatedly in thanks.
The ‘child’ laying on the bed also jumped up and came into the room that Jing-wang was in. In front of Jing-wang, he pulled out a bottle of liquid medicine and skillfully wiped his face with it.
The little chubby face that was originally looking similar to Bao#1 instantly turned into an adult’s face. Even his voice was that of an adult.
This was actually an almost child-sized midget, one of Jing-wang’s special agents. Jing-wang summoned him for the sake of working together with Qin-shi and Wang Xi to perform an act.
The agent finished his greeting and raised his head. Li Yu’s eyes lit up immediately. Li Yu thought that this agent was really super impressive. When he pretended to be Bao#1, he was at least 50% similar. However, he had to lay down for the somewhat different body physique to become unnoticeable.
Using him to trick someone who had never seen Bao#1 before and relied on a drawing for recognition, it was more than enough.
“Was that face sculpting?” Li Yu said excitedly.
He had already transmigrated into a book, changed into a fish, and gave birth to children. Who would have thought he’d even be able to see face sculpting in this lifetime.
The agent froze briefly and then said with a smile: “This subordinate doesn’t know what face sculpting means. It was just some makeup just now, a small insignificant skill.”
“Even if it’s not face sculpting, it’s still very impressive. How did you manage to do it?” Li Yu couldn’t even hold back his curiosity.
The agent was originally going to explain to Li Yu in detail, however after glancing at Jing-wang’s extremely dark face, which was black like the bottom of a pot, the agent respectfully cupped his hands towards the two masters and then decisively asked to be excused.
Li Yu: “…….”
The absent-minded wangfei returned to paying attention to the hubby’s grand scheme.
Plotting against someone together with Jing-wang, this kind of feeling was too fun and satisfying!
Especially when the other had believed that victory was within grasp and that he had already obtained the little heir’s blood, when in actuality, he dug himself into a corner.
Who this man was, Li Yu can guess with even his toes. He was only worried, would the 6th Prince feel suspicious?
“Your highness…… will he believe it?” Li Yu asked.
He will. Jing-wang was rather certain.
The 6th Prince was a cautious person. If everything went completely smoothly, then he definitely would have been suspicious. That’s why Jing-wang had ordered the guards to cross-examine several times. Li Yu even let out the duck army to guard the house and peck the man several times in succession.
The more ‘dangerous’ a situation was, the more ‘real’ it would make the other feel.
Jing-wang knew that the 6th Prince had been searching for a weakness of his all this time. Now he voluntarily handed one over.
If the 6th Prince went back to concealing himself, it would be hard to deal with him. However, what if he was given information that was extremely detrimental to Jing-wang, what would he do?
Although this info was fake, as long as the 6th Prince believed it to be true, it was enough.
Thank You for the chapter（*’∀’人）♥
thanks for the chapter!
Scary for a second! Thanks for the update ❤️
Fuck i thought she fell for it for a second- i was scared thank god its an act!
Ayo that sentence “as long as he believed it to be true” was also something the sixth prince said about the emperor!
Lol, they gave #6 enough rope to hang himself.
Let the face slapping begin!!