The Wife is First

Ch90 - Interrogation

A group of bodyguards and maids stood outside the study at Listening Wind Pavilion, but none of them dared to enter.

“Do you think trading with foreign countries is good for Dachen?” Emperor Hong Zheng sat behind the desk, playing with the crystal glass in his hand.

“Chen feels that the people overseas definitely desire Dachen’s products, but they have no direct access to them,” Mu Hanzhang said in a gentle voice as he stood in front of the desk with lowered eyes. “Chen read the account books of tributes in foreign countries, and asked an overseas merchant about prices in the southeast. It is said that one chi of silk can be exchanged for ten gold coins, that is, two taels of gold.”

“Hanzhang, why do you still refer to yourself as Chen even now?” Emperor Hong Zheng laughed, not replying to Mu Hanzhang’s words. Instead, he said, “From the day you married into the imperial family, you should refer to yourself as Erchen.” 

Mu Hanzhang pressed his lips together and said with embarrassment, “Erchen will remember with reverence.”

It was this scene that Jing Shao saw when he came in. Instead of the tension he had been imagining, it was a harmonious scene. He couldn’t help being a little dumbstruck.

“Where have you been?” When Emperor Hong Zheng saw Jing Shao come in, he immediately put away his smile.

“Erchen went to see off a friend,” Jing Shao replied honestly, muttering to himself about how he was the biological son of imperial father, but why didn’t he ever show a good expression when he saw him?

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.

Emperor Hong Zheng looked at him deeply for a long time. He looked down, picked up a book on the art of war and flipped through it as he said, “The Huainan King appeared in the capital recently. You knew, right?”

“Huainan King?” Jing Shao secretly glanced at his Wang Fei. “Erchen didn’t know.”

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“A Jianghu friend you met at Intoxicated Immortal restaurant?” Emperor Hong Zheng looked at him coldly.

Intoxicated Immortal restaurant! Jing Shao felt a buzzing in his head. Speaking of Intoxicated Immortal restaurant, imperial father had to know that the person was Gu Huaiqing! After his mind was blank for a moment, he suddenly remembered the words Duo Fu had passed on to him. Jun Qing had said that no matter what, Jing Shao had to deny knowing Huaiqing; he was just a friend from Jianghu. Also, his imperial father clearly didn’t send anyone to stop them when he knew that Gu Huaiqing was going to run away. That was to say, his imperial father wanted Gu Huaiqing to run away. He came here today to test whether Jing Shao was in collusion with the Huainan King.

In that electrifying moment, Jing Shao thought quickly, looked up at his imperial father and said calmly, “I met him in Jiangnan. He came to the capital to play. Today, he learned that his mother was seriously ill, and he was in a hurry to get out of the city, so he asked me for help.”

“Pa!” Just as he finished speaking, a solid slap fell on Jing Shao’s face, and Jing Shao staggered. 

“You are quite empathetic, aren’t you? Did you know that that person is Gu Huaiqing, the Huainan King?!” Emperor Hong Zheng looked at him bitterly. This son was capable, but he had been raised wild, and was completely unlike a prince. Instead, he was like a Jianghu swordsman with a short temper, who paid too much attention to those codes of brotherhood; it truly induced anger.

The corner of Jing Shao’s mouth began bleeding, but he couldn’t cover his face. He was stunned for a moment, then knelt down on the ground with a plop. “Erchen really didn’t know. He only said that his name is Gu Qing, and I met him by chance in Jiangnan. Erchen has always kept my identity secret from him. Erchen…” Jing Shao’s voice was very flustered, as if he had suddenly heard such shocking news and was dumbstruck.

“Imperial father, Erchen also met that man in Jiangnan. Wang Ye really didn’t know his identity.” Mu Hanzhang also knelt beside Jing Shao.

Emperor Hong Zheng looked at him, and his expression was a little less tense, because Mu Hanzhang had acknowledged from the beginning that the friend Jing Shao had sent off was their acquaintance from Jiangnan. If there were ulterior motives in his heart, he definitely wouldn’t say so. He glanced at Jing Shao, who was no longer flustered, but sullenly hanging his head. He seemed somewhat unsatisfied. “What, is there something you’re resentful about?” 

“Erchen dares not be.” Jing Shao lowered his head as he said this, but his tone was a little stiff.

“Zhen didn’t say you colluded with a vassal, but you’re feeling resentful first?” Emperor Hong Zheng was almost angered into laughing.

“Imperial father even told fourth imperial brother the Huainan King’s identity, but didn’t tell Erchen!” Jing Shao looked up at his imperial father. Although these words were to hinder the fourth prince, his words at that moment were from the heart. He always knew that no matter what mistakes Jing Yu made, Emperor Hong Zheng was biased, and it would never end in a punishment. Conversely, he was always hard on Jing Shao, and finally even locked him up over some baseless criminal accusations.

Emperor Hong Zheng was stunned for a long time. He then remembered that he indeed hadn’t told the fourth prince. He only knew because a minister who had been visited by the Huainan King came to report to him. Then, how did Jing Yu know? He walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. “You don’t think about where you’re wrong, but even criticize Zhen?” 

“Erchen dares not.” Jing Shao was obviously still a little resentful.

Emperor Hong Zheng pointed at him, and his finger trembled with anger. “Confine yourself to your palace and reflect on your mistakes. You are not allowed to go anywhere without my decree!”

“Imperial father, please quell your anger!” Mu Hanzhang quickly exhorted, and he pushed Jing Shao forward. “Wang Ye!”

“Erchen obeys this decree.” Jing Shao seemed to have just come back to his senses and he kowtowed to acknowledge his mistake. 

“Hmph!” Emperor Hong Zheng snorted coldly, tossed his sleeves and left. Before he went out, he turned back and said, “Hanzhang, write out the regulations you were talking about and show them to Zhen some other day.”

“Yes!” Mu Hanzhang answered quickly, and got up to send Emperor Hong Zheng off.

Emperor Hong Zheng waved his hand, indicating that he didn’t have to send him off. He took his guards and eunuchs and left furiously.

After a moment of silence, Mu Hanzhang came to Jing Shao’s side and crouched down to look at him. “Imperial father has already left.” 

Jing Shao slowly sat on the ground, wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and sighed. “Luckily, I have you.”

Mu Hanzhang stretched out his hand and gently rubbed his red cheek. His cool fingers comforted the scorching hot skin. Jing Shao rubbed greedily against his palm. No matter how unfair his father was, at least this man’s heart supported him. That was enough.

Mu Hanzhang quietly looked at the person who rubbed lightly against his palm. Just now, he hadn’t taken much note of the question posed to Emperor Hong Zheng, but he had clearly seen the resentment in Jing Shao’s eyes. Without his mother’s protection, the prince had no leeway to mediate with the emperor. When there was a conflict, he could only resolutely carry it on his own shoulders. Mu Hanzhang couldn’t help feeling pity in his heart. He slowly reached out and embraced him. “It’s not that imperial father is biased, but that he must maintain checks and balances as an emperor.”

The matter regarding the Ministry of Revenue was clear to Emperor Hong Zheng, but there had been no severe punishment for the fourth prince. In the end, it depended on the emperor’s intentions. There also always had to be checks and balances in court, and as long as it had yet to touch his bottom line, as a shrewd emperor, he would choose to turn a blind eye. Thus, the investigation was stopped. 

All of a sudden, Jing Shao was held in a warm and fragrant embrace. He was stunned for a moment, before he took a deep, greedy breath. He consciously arched his chest and put his hands around Jung Qing’s flexible waist. “Jun Qing, I’m under house arrest again. You shouldn’t go to court either.”

“Why?” Mu Hanzhang looked down at him.

“So we can sleep in and do it again in the morning!” Jing Shao said with bright eyes.