Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine

“This old servant also feels heartache for Your Majesty. As Young Master Chen said, these memorials won’t grow legs and run away if they are not read for a day or two. At worst, there are still those old ministers in the Wenhua Hall who can keep an eye on the court and prevent chaos. Your Majesty should prioritize taking care of your health.”

“Enough, stop pestering Zhen. Go have someone prepare the meal. Xiaobao and Zhen will eat some food together.”

The imperial meal was quickly served. As Emperor Hongjing’s health was delicate, the food was light and not heavy on meat and oil. However, Emperor Hongjing had a taste for rich food and only ate a few bites before putting down his chopsticks.

“Your Majesty, you should eat a little more.”

Emperor Hongjing just shook his head. Xiaobao was already full and ate a few more bites, so the imperial meal was hardly touched before it was taken away.

“What has your father been up to lately? It’s been a while since Zhen has seen him in the palace.”

“Grandfather Emperor, did you forget that father is working on repairing the Western Park.”

Emperor Hongjing then remembered that Jin Wang was currently leading people to repair the Western Park.

Speaking of the Western Park, it was a place where the imperial family would go to escape the summer heat and play. It had existed since the previous generation and was located next to the Forbidden City. In order to enrich the royal garden landscape, the Southern Sea was dug and connected to the Central and Northern Seas, forming the Taiye Pool. The Yingtai Pavilion, also known as Xiao Penglai, was built on top of the Taiye Pool.

Numerous pavilions, towers, and palaces were built along the coast, with magnificent mountain, rock, flower and grass scenery. With splendid gold and jade decorations, it was a gorgeous place to live near the water and it did not seem to belong to the mortal world.

When Emperor Hongjing was young, he loved to go to the Western Park to escape the summer heat, but as he aged and his energy declined, he gradually went less often. The Western Park had not been repaired for over a decade, and although it had been talked about, nothing had ever come out of it. It was only at the beginning of this year that Emperor Hongjing mentioned it and Jin Wang took charge of the repairs.Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs Novᴇ(l)ꜰɪre .ɴᴇt

So during this recent period of time, while there was heated debate outside about the issue of appointing a new crown prince, Jin Wang was living like a hermit in Xiao Penglai.

“Let him do the repairs. It’s peaceful there without anyone to cause any trouble.”

Hearing Emperor Hongjing say this, Xiaobao’s eyes lit up and he said with a smile, “Father said Xiao Penglai will be repaired soon. When the time comes, Grandfather Emperor can move there to recuperate.”

Emperor Hongjing smiled and said, “Okay, when the time comes, Grandfather Emperor will bring Xiaobao to live there for a while.”

“Grandfather Emperor’s words are as good as gold. Your grandson has never seen what Xiao Penglai looks like.”

“Grandfather Emperor’s words are always true.”

Unfortunately, Emperor Hongjing did ultimately break his word.

Everyone thought that his illness was just a matter of resting for a few days. After all, Emperor Hongjing had been suffering from dizziness for some time, but he had always been taking good care of himself. However, he suddenly fell unconscious. The palace spread the news that Emperor Hongjing had collapsed. Xiaobao couldn’t believe it because he had just seen Grandfather Emperor the day before. Although he looked a bit tired, his complexion was still fine. How did he suddenly collapse? What happened?

Jin Wang didn’t have time to ask more questions. He hurriedly brought Yaoniang and Xiaobao into the palace. Erbao was not brought along because he was still young, and it wasn’t convenient to bring him into the palace.

When Jin Wang’s family arrived, the Qianqing Palace was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.

Not only was Empress Wei there, but also several high-ranking concubines. The various princes and their households also received the news and rushed to occupy the halls of the Qianqing Palace.

The people from the imperial hospital were also present. The chief eunuch led several imperial physicians to diagnose Emperor Hongjing’s pulse.

Consort Qian cried like a weeping willow, “How could His Majesty suddenly collapse? You were perfectly fine before…”

“That’s right. Yesterday, Princess Zhaohui came to pay her respects to His Majesty, and this concubine saw that His Majesty was in good spirits. His Majesty even said that he would return to court in two days,” said Imperial Concubine Kang, who was also weeping with tears in her eyes.

Princess Zhaohui was a princess born from Imperial Concubine Kang. Ever since Emperor Hongjing had fallen ill, these princes and princesses have come to the Qianqing Palace almost every day. Princess Zhaohui was particularly favoured by Emperor Hongjing, so everyone knew about it.

“This concubine, Noble Lady Li, and Noble Lady Ying all live together in the Chuxiu Palace. Yesterday, during the night shift, Noble Lady Li and Noble Lady Ying seemed to have gone to the Qianqing Palace and didn’t return until the second watch…” said a soft voice from beside them, belonging to a woman known as Noble Lady Tao.

Although her voice was small, someone with sharp eyes and ears heard it. Imperial Concubine Kang looked shocked and asked, “What did you say, Noble Lady Tao? Noble Lady Li and Noble Lady Ying went to the Qianqing Palace last night?”

Noble Lady Tao was scared by Imperial Concubine Kang’s reaction and shrank back, saying, “This concubine heard it from the maidservants below…”

“What did they say?”

Noble Lady Li and Noble Lady Ying stepped forward and spoke up when they heard their names being mentioned. “Noble Lady Tao, don’t make such groundless accusations! You’re slandering us!”