Chapter 9

“Sister, you should rest! How can you go outside the courtyard?”

Xiao Suo saw Xia Qingqing take the medicine for her injuries and was about to walk outside, so she rushed up to grab her.

Xia Qingqing spread her hands and said, “I’m going to the bamboo grove behind to find crickets. I stepped on someone else’s cricket in town today, and I promised to compensate him!”

“Also, I need to find some snakes, bugs, and mice; tonight, when those guards are asleep, I’ll let them all loose in their rooms. I definitely need to take revenge on them!”

Just thinking about how those guards would look in a state of panic made Xia Qingqing want to laugh.

“Oh! So that’s it! Sister, won’t it be dangerous?”

Xiao Suo looked at her with concern.

“It won’t! I used to do this all the time to mess with others. In the end, they only begged our father for mercy!”

Xia Qingqing was confident about it.

Xiao Suo immediately patted her chest.

“I’ll go with you to find them! When I was in the countryside, I used to catch crickets for my younger siblings to play with! I can catch many bugs to feed our chickens!”

Xiao Suo volunteered enthusiastically.

“Great! Its much fastier we can complete the task! Let’s go!”

Xia Qingqing happily raised the sack in her hand and walked into the bamboo grove with Xiao Suo.

As soon as the Old lady returned to the palace, she sent a message to Emperor Jing.

Emperor Jing thought that something significant had happened, so he hurriedly ran to the Empress Dowager’s living quarters—Cining Palace.

“Son greets Mother Empress. I don’t know why Mother has summoned me.”

Emperor Jing cautiously glanced at the Empress Dowager, fearing he had done something wrong and would be scolded.

“Hmph! Your esteemed Minister Yan, what kind of son-in-law is he looking for? A useless man, a scoundrel, who mistreats his own daughter! How can such a person hold an official position? It’s a disgrace!”

The Empress Dowager berated him, causing Emperor Jing to shrink back in shame.

“Mother, please don’t be angry! This can only be considered Minister Yan being foolish, and it’s someone else’s family matter. As a son, I can’t interfere in other people’s private affairs, right?”

Emperor Jing cautiously tried to persuade the furious Empress Dowager.

“Family matters? If he mistreats his daughter to death, it will impact the health of my sixth son, so I’m only asking you to resolve this issue!”

The Empress Dowager sat in the phoenix chair, thinking that what her son said was indeed right; they had no right to interfere in the affairs of ministers’ families. But if he mistreated his daughter, what if she suddenly died, and there was no antidote left? What would happen to the sixth’s  son health?

It was best for the emperor to handle such a vile person.

Emperor Jing repeatedly agreed, “Yes, I will obey! I will go and remind Minister Yan; he happens to be waiting in the Imperial Study to discuss state affairs with me!”

“Get out!”

The Empress Dowager waved her hand.

Emperor Jing quickly retreated.

If he stayed too long and was scolded by his mother, he would surely become a punching bag, and being a punching bag is no easy job!

Emperor Jing hurried back to the Imperial Study.

He saw Minister Yan waiting outside the door with several cabinet ministers, and his face immediately turned pale. He had just been scolded, and now it was their turn to be the punching bag!

The ministers observed his expression; seeing that he looked displeased, they knew they were out of luck today! Everyone lowered their heads, silent as if frozen!

As Emperor Jing passed by Minister Yan, he snorted coldly and strode into the Imperial Study.

Everyone cast sidelong glances at Minister Yan.

It’s ruined!

Minister Yan must have displeased the emperor; look, the emperor just snorted at him!

The other ministers felt half of their tension dissipate.

They were worried that after Minister Yan was reprimanded by the emperor, he would come out and look for them to vent his frustration.

“Announce Minister Yan to enter the study!”

The eunuch stepped out, raising the feather duster in his hand.

Minister Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead, bent over respectfully, and quickly approached the eunuch, discreetly slipping him some silver and whispering, “Eunuch Gao, what’s wrong with the emperor?”

Eunuch Gao frowned and glanced at him, reminding him in a low voice, “Hey! Take care of your own son-in-law and don’t do anything immoral!”

Minister Yan was taken aback. “Son-in-law? He has always been cautious. His name is Xia Jinxing. What immoral thing has he done to anger the emperor?”

Eunuch Gao shook his head and said no more.

Minister Yan, filled with doubts, walked into the Imperial Study.

Emperor Jing sat on the dragon throne, looking down at the memorials.

Minister Yan didn’t dare to breathe, kneeling respectfully to greet him, “I pay my respects to Your Majesty!”

Emperor Jing ignored him.

Minister Yan continued to kneel.

The only sound in the Imperial Study was the rustling of the emperor flipping through the memorials.

After a while, Emperor Jing raised his head and looked in surprise at the kneeling Minister Yan.

“Minister Yan, when did you arrive? Quickly rise!”

“Thank you for your grace!”

Minister Yan tried to get up, but after kneeling for so long, his legs had gone numb, and he struggled to stand.

The emperor’s anger had subsided somewhat, and he gave a glance to Eunuch Gao.

Eunuch Gao personally walked over to help Minister Yan up.

“Thank you for your hard work, Minister Yan!”

“You’re too kind!”

Minister Yan quickly waved his hand.

He stood up, and Eunuch Gao brought over a stool.

Minister Yan sat on the stool, panting.

He was over sixty years old and had worked hard for the Great Hua Dynasty for over forty years. He never expected that today he would anger the emperor because of his son-in-law, Xia Jinxing!

He didn’t even know what had happened, and he was bewildered and punished by the emperor. Since the emperor didn’t mention it, he didn’t dare to ask, only thinking about how to teach that son-in-law a lesson when he returned home!

“Minister Yan, as the head minister, you need to manage your family affairs well. Your family should treat their children fairly, not neglect or even abuse them just because they are illegitimate. This makes me doubt their character. If you want them to be valued in the future, I will have to think carefully!”

Emperor Jing’s reprimand frightened Minister Yan, who quickly got up from the stool, bent over, and repeatedly bowed his head.

“I will strictly follow Your Majesty’s teachings! I will manage my family and strictly regulate their behavior!”

“Good. I hope our conversation today remains confidential. When you return, make sure to give your son-in-law a good talking-to. You should know what to say. Now, let’s discuss state affairs!”

Seeing that Minister Yan was perceptive, Emperor Jing stopped reprimanding him.

Minister Yan repeatedly bowed, “I will talk to my son-in-law!”

The two began discussing state matters.

In the evening, Minister Yan returned home in a fit of rage and ordered someone to summon his son-in-law.

Xia Jinxing arrived at his father-in-law’s house, confused.

“Kneel!”

In the study, Minister Yan commanded him to kneel on the ground.

“Thud!”

Xia Jinxing obediently knelt down.

“Father, what happened?”

“Hmph! How are you treating your illegitimate daughter?”

Minister Yan slammed the teacup he was holding onto the table, furious, his beard bristling.

Xia Jinxing replied, “Are you talking about the Narcissus? I’ve treated her well!”

“Hmph! What about the other one?”

“The other one? Qingqing! She’s living in the woodshed in the backyard. She resisted two days ago and almost hurt the third one! She’s an ungrateful wolf! What does Father-in-law want to do with her?”

Xia Jinxing thought that the third one, Xia Tiance, had complained to his father-in-law!