judgment
"I'll have someone investigate who the Imperial Concubine has been in contact with recently." Lou Xuan reacted immediately once she recovered from her emotions.
"Could it be that someone in the capital knows about our plans and is deliberately trying to distract you?" Jiang Jin gently blew on Lou Xuan's wound and carefully fed her a bowl of tea.
"No, it wasn't something that could make Father Emperor decide to establish an empress overnight." Lou Xuan stood up and glanced through the door at Chang Yi sitting in the courtyard.
"He saw you come in?" A hint of murderous intent flashed in Lou Xuan's eyes. To ensure Jiang Jin's safety, he was willing to sacrifice anyone if necessary.
"Your Highness is alright. Chang Yi is a smart man and knows what to say and what not to say." Jiang Jin grasped Lou Xuan's hand and slapped herself across the face. "Your Highness, please forgive me. I overestimated myself."
Hearing the noise, Xueya rushed in and saw Jiang Jin kneeling in the middle. Lou Xuan's eyes were full of anger. As their gazes met, Chang Yi silently turned his head away.
"Close the door!" Lou Xuan's cold face made Xue Ya tremble. She hurriedly closed the door and knelt down beside Jiang Jin.
"Jiang Jin, I've spoiled you too much, letting you overestimate yourself like this!" Lou Xuan picked up the hangover medicine and smashed it in the opposite direction. The shards of the porcelain bowl didn't even reach Jiang Jin's eyes.
"This is just a stopgap measure," Jiang Jin said, getting up and rubbing his cheek. "I'm doing this to protect our allies."
"Is he really worth all this trouble?" Lou Xuan was about to apply medicine to Jiang Jin when she nimbly dodged her.
“How can you apply medicine right after a punishment?” Jiang Jin pulled Xueya up. “Go and run a bath for your prince. He reeks of alcohol; anyone who didn’t know better would think some drunkard had run away.”
"My lady, I'll have someone escort you home." Xueya looked at Jiang Jin's face, which was slightly swollen, and then turned to see Lou Xuan's distressed expression.
"No need. I'll have someone come and pick up the awakened Wang family lady tomorrow. I'll feel more at ease if she stays under my watchful eye." Jiang Jin tugged at the corner of her mouth, then stopped when she felt a sharp pain.
"Xueya knelt down on her own after returning to the capital. I didn't embarrass you, but that doesn't mean I condone your actions." Jiang Jin was about to plead for Xueya when Lou Xuan's glare silenced her.
"Just because I haven't punished you doesn't mean I don't remember. If there's a next time, you'll be punished for the same offense!" Lou Xuan glared fiercely at Jiang Jin. "No one is worth you hurting yourself, neither me nor Wei Shu."
"I know Your Highness is worried about me, but I know what I'm doing." Lou Xuan was tired of hearing Jiang Jin's repeated explanations.
"Just you wait, see if Wei Shu will scold you when you get back." Lou Xuan tenderly touched Jiang Jin's cheek.
"How could he dare say that to me? Now, if I wanted the moon, he'd find a way to give it to me." Jiang Jin felt a chill run down her spine. She glanced at the water clock, her heart pounding, and covered her face as she left the room.
"Is she in such a hurry to go back to sleep?" Lou Xuan glanced at Jiang Jin's retreating figure and then at the water clock.
"I overheard Lady Jiang saying she'd be back soon, but it's been an hour already. General Wei must be getting impatient." Xueya crouched down and slowly picked up the porcelain shards.
"I don't know if she's manipulating Wei Shu or Wei Shu is manipulating her." Lou Xuan shook her head. "Let's have everyone outside leave. It's not stuffy having everyone in the courtyard."
"Your Highness, Commandant Chang is still waiting outside. Should we let him in?" Xueya put all the porcelain shards into the copper basin and then ordered several maids to replace all the furnishings in the room.
"No need, I'm going to sleep, let him go." Lou Xuan now felt an inexplicable anger towards Chang Yi.
"Yes." Xueya didn't say anything more; her respect for Jiang Jin grew even stronger.
"Wei Shu, I'm back." Jiang Jin was about to push open the door when she suddenly remembered the scars on her face and felt guilty. She quickly turned to run away, but Wei Shu, who was guarding the door, grabbed her arm.
"So, Madam did come back after all!" Wei Shu looked at the hesitant Jiang Jin with some confusion. "I didn't blame you, so why won't you look at me?"
"I... I tripped and fell..." Jiang Jin covered her face and slowly turned her head.
"Put your hand down!" Wei Shu knew Jiang Jin was lying the moment he saw the swollen patch on her cheek.
"Let's go inside!" Jiang Jin pushed Wei Shu through the door. The handprint on Jiang Jin's face was even more obvious in the candlelight.
"Princess Zhaoyang did this?" Wei Shu frowned, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes before disappearing.
"To be precise, I hit His Highness by holding his hand." Jiang Jin knew she couldn't hide it from Wei Shu, so she had no choice but to confess.
"In Chang Yi's eyes, if I could persuade him to enter despite the princess's wrath, and even persuade him, he would surely investigate secretly. His Highness has murderous intentions towards Chang Yi, and I resorted to this desperate measure in desperation." Jiang Jin carefully applied the ointment to her face.
"Your Highness has already scolded me, so please don't scold me anymore." Seeing Jiang Jin gasping for breath in pain, Wei Shu couldn't bear to say anything more.
"Is Princess Zhaoyang anxious because His Majesty wants to make Consort Gui Empress?" Jiang Jin asked, her eyes lighting up as she looked at Wei Shu. "Is there any other news?"
"After the coronation ceremony, the Fifth Prince will be adopted by the Empress." Wei Shu sighed. Having served the Emperor for so many years, he no longer understood the Emperor's actions.
"Then the most anxious one should be the Third Prince, right? He's neither the eldest son nor the legitimate heir; won't he be driven to his death by anger in the capital?" Jiang Jin was completely stunned by this news.
"Let's hurry back to the capital! We can't miss this spectacle; the coronation ceremony is sure to be incredibly exciting!"
Jiang Jin naturally knew a bit about the Imperial Concubine, but in the past she only focused on the infighting and jealousy in the harem. This time, she really didn't know if supporting and adopting the Fifth Prince was His Majesty's idea, or if someone was plotting against her behind the scenes.
"What are you thinking about?" Wei Shu picked up Jiang Jin and placed her on the couch.
"I'm wondering what His Majesty means." Jiang Jin put his arm around Wei Shu's neck. "Do you still remember where you used to live?"
"It should be a picturesque town. My parents were farmers, but when the flood came, they all left. I was still young, so I grabbed onto a piece of driftwood and followed the disaster victims south. Later, I met His Majesty."
Mentioning these things makes Wei Shu feel a little sad. Although her parents' faces are somewhat blurry in her memory, she can still recall the floods of that time in the middle of the night.
"As long as we don't forget them, they will always live on." Jiang Jin grasped Wei Shu's hand.
"After my mother died, my father was depressed for a while and then married my mother. My mother was very kind and took my sister and me into the courtyard. She treated us like her own children, teaching us music, chess, calligraphy, painting, interpersonal relationships, housekeeping, and accounting. After a while, my father also got over it, but my sister and I stayed in the same place."
Jiang Jin gave a bitter smile. "I'm afraid no one in the manor remembers that there was a former madam."
"I will avenge your maternal grandfather alongside you." Two kindred spirits drew closer in the dead of night.
"Wei Shu?" Jiang Jin opened her eyes and saw the empty bed beside her. She glanced at the water clock placed by the window.
"It's only three-quarters past Chen Shi (7:45 AM)." Jiang Jin lifted the thin blanket and sat down in front of the dressing table, looking at the still-damp ointment on her face. It seemed that Wei Shu had reapplied the ointment when he got up.
Jiang Jin dressed, casually put her hair up in a bun, opened the door, and saw Wei Shu outside delivering a message.
"Any news from the capital?" Jiang Jin lifted her skirt and walked to Wei Shu's side.
"The imperial edict regarding Wang Juesong has been issued: all male members of his three clans will be beheaded, and the female members will be sent to the Jiaofangsi (a government-run brothel) as slaves, with no possibility of release until pardoned." Jiang Jin was taken aback upon hearing this. "Jiaofangsi?"
"But I remember that the punishment for family members is only to send them to the inner palace." Jiang Jin's heart sank. Perhaps His Majesty was using Wang Juesong's daughter to humiliate daughters of noble families.
"It's exactly what you think." Wei Shu covered Jiang Jin's eyes. "Noble families take pride in their blood ties, and having their own sisters perform dances at banquets for others to enjoy is just throwing their dignity on the ground and trampling it."
“That Li Niang is a slave. Have someone test her. If she poses no threat, then remove her slave status. As for Wang Zhiyue…” Jiang Jin paused for a moment.
"Since she wanted to return to the capital with us so much, she must have wanted to use Li Niang's identity. Unfortunately, she didn't expect that we would protect Li Niang."
"Don't worry, those soldiers aren't pushovers; they won't let anyone escape." Wei Shu released his grip, but noticed Jiang Jin wasn't happy.
"What's wrong? Do you want to keep her?" Wei Shu could tell from Jiang Jin's expression that she had made up her mind.
"Wang Zhiyue went to great lengths to avoid entering the Imperial Harem, but now she's being sent to the Music Bureau instead. She must be living a life worse than death right now." Jiang Jin didn't voice her true intentions.
"I'm going to see His Highness. What happens next is not for you to hear." Jiang Jin patted Wei Shu's shoulder and, wearing a veil, arrived at Lou Xuan's courtyard.
"Madam Jiang," Xueya carefully led Jiang Jin inside, "His Highness has just gotten up and is currently getting ready."
"You're up early today." Lou Xuan yawned with his eyes still closed. "The matter at the Prefectural Governor's residence is over. Someone will come to escort them back to the capital."
"Does Your Highness think Wang Zhiyue is suitable?" Lou Xuan opened his eyes upon hearing this. "What do you intend to do?"
"She's a ruthless person. All this trouble is just to live with some dignity. Entering the brothel would be worse than death for her, but if you put a seemingly safe but ultimately deadly path in front of her, I think she'd walk it without hesitation." Jiang Jin's smile frightened Xueya.
"Who do you want to give her to?" Lou Xuan put on her hairpin and looked at Jiang Jin in the mirror.
“Fifth Prince.” Jiang Jin smiled and walked to Lou Xuan’s side, leaning slowly against the wall. “Wei Shu said that after His Majesty’s ceremony to establish the Empress, the Fifth Prince will be adopted by the Empress.”
"No wonder I was wondering why they insisted on making that idiot empress; now I understand." Lou Xuan laughed, feeling a surge of satisfaction.
"I thought Father was blinded by love, but I didn't expect he had other plans." Lou Xuan felt relieved. "As long as a ruler doesn't let love cloud his judgment, there is still room for maneuver."
"It's a pity we don't have Wang Zhiyue's weakness. It wouldn't be good if someone like her were to turn around and bite us back." Lou Xuan looked at Jiang Jin and curled the corners of his mouth.
"Is it that difficult? Zhai Wan has quite a lot of poison. Isn't her weakness precisely that she values her life?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com