Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine

Chapter122，Part1: Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 122 Pt. 1

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

“Zi Han!” screamed Consort Jin.

Zi Han, who was standing to the side, immediately knelt down with a plop and kowtowed repeatedly. “Your Highness, don’t blame this servant. This servant is still young and doesn’t want to die. Us servants have tried to persuade you, but you only listened to Mommy Zhou’s words and even tried to do such a thing. As the master, even if things are revealed, you would remain safe and sound, but us servants would all be sentenced to death.”

“Servants?” muttered Consort Jin to herself then she suddenly sneered. Her eyes seemed to be shooting poisonous daggers as her gaze landed on Zi Meng, Zi Die and the others.

Zi Yan shook her head repeatedly, exclaiming that it wasn’t her. Zi Meng and Zi Die lowered their heads and remained silent.

Out of Consort Jin’s four personal maids, three had betrayed her, leaving only Zi Yan.

How pathetic!

Mommy Zhou ran over and fire seemed to be shooting from her mouth as she said, “Great! You sluts dare to sell your master for glory. This old woman had long noticed that whenever Her Highness wanted to get something done, you few would always coax her against it. You would even do whatever is necessary to chase this old woman out, lest this old woman becomes too close with the consort… I’m going to beat all you shameless sluts to death! All your families still work for Duke Xuguo Manor. You must’ve all eaten a bear’s heart and a leopard’s gall…”

As Mommy Zhou scolded, she rushed forward like a weasel rushing into a chicken coop. Zi Meng and the others didn’t dare to fight back, so they could only shrink back. The room fell into utter chaos.

Zi Yan wanted to pull them apart, but she didn’t know how. Yet if she didn’t pull them apart… After all, they’ve been like sisters to each other over these past few years. The four of them were the consort’s dowry maids and they have served by the consort’s side ever since they were young. Despite sharing over a decade’s worth of affection, she never expected that Zi Han and the others would betray the consort.

Zi Meng had always had a fierce temperament. After being slapped twice in the face and having her hair pulled by Mommy Zhou, she couldn’t hold back any longer. She pushed her away, and said, “If it weren’t for you instigating the consort, would the consort do such a thing? As for chasing you out, that had always been the consort’s wish, not us! And it is because our families work in Duke Xuguo’s Manor that we can’t take any risks. His Highness is an imperial prince, and the child in the belly of Side Consort Su is the grandson of His Majesty. If the matter is found out, not only would we die, but all nine generations of our families would be executed. By that time, do you think Duke Xuguo’s Manor would protect us……”

Zi Die wept and said, “Yes we did turn our back on our master, but it wasn’t without reason. I started serving the consort when I was eleven years old and thirteen years have gone by. This year, I will be twenty-four. Have you seen any unmarried maidens at this age? The consort had always said that she would find us a good match, but she only said those words without meaning them. I don’t want to be a spinster my entire life! If you want to scold, then scold! But if you start using your hands, then we’ll have to fight back!”

Mommy Zhou had always enjoyed high prestige and was treated with respect. Normally, all these maids treated her with the utmost respect, even to the point of borderline reverence. When has she ever been treated like this before? But the truth was that what these maids had said struck at the heart. Speechless, she had no idea what she could say at this point.

As if struck by lightning, Consort Jin looked around at her maids with a pale face. She squeezed the words out of her throat one by one, “All are your thoughts like so?”

Despite having the courage to talk back to Mommy Zhou, it was a different story when facing Consort Jin. Whether it was out of guilt or something else, none of them responded and they all averted her eyes. When Consort Jin’s gaze landed on Zi Yan, she said, “Your Highness, I never intended to marry.”

Consort Jin looked shocked, then smiled bitterly. “I always thought that I was being good to you, yet I didn’t expect it to arouse your hatred. What’s so good about marriage? A woman’s lifelong suffering starts with marriage.”

She said this in a very low voice, almost like a mosquito. The others only saw her lips move and didn’t know what exactly she was saying.

She suddenly smiled.

At this moment, her smile was extremely beautiful.

She looked at Jin Wang, her eyes gloomy. Not a trace of light could be seen. “I have nothing to say. If you wish to kill or cut, do as you please.”

Li Dequan sighed.

He didn’t expect that from following His Majesty’s orders to come to Jin Wang Manor to bestow a reward, he would witness such a scene. Just now when Jin Wang stopped him from leaving, he had wondered what it could be. Yet never in a million years did he expect it to be like this.

Jin Wang ignored Consort Jin, and said to Li Dequan, “Let Eunuch Li see a joke.”

Li Dequan chuckled, “Your Highness, this— this old servant is still waiting to return to the palace.”

“This prince will see you off.”

The pair then left together, as casual as when they arrived, leaving behind a room of desolation.

After all these long years, they were both veterans of the imperial court. Li Dequan could understand Jin Wang’s meaning.

After returning to the palace, he reported to Emperor Hongjing that both the mother and the child were safe. The second young master of Jin Wang Manor was very healthy. Once his words fell, he paused. Then he proceeded to tell Emperor Hongjing what he had witnessed at Jin Wang Manor, leaving nothing out.

After listening to what Li Dequan said, Emperor Hongjing was silent. He put down the zhubi1 in his hand and said, “Then what do you think is Jin Wang’s meaning?”

“This—” Li Dequan bent lower at the waist. “His Highness Jin Wang likely wishes to abolish Consort Jin.”

Otherwise, why would he bother to spend so much effort to have him witness such a scene?

Emperor Hongjing had spent all day going through memorials, some of which were accumulated from the previous days. He could feel his shoulders and waist getting tense and sore, so he got up from the dragon seat. He paced around a couple of times, and stretched a bit, before saying, “Back when a wife was being chosen for old fifth, Zhen chose the wrong woman.”

Li Dequan didn’t say a word.

To be honest, this couldn’t really be said as Emperor Hongjing’s fault. Consort Jin had a decent upbringing and a great appearance. In the capital, she was also well known for being a talented woman. Before Jin Wang left for Jinzhou, Emperor Hongjing had already known that the relationship between the couple was very poor. But he had simply chalked it up to Jin Wang’s personality and believed that their relationship would improve over time.

But who would have thought that over all these years, there has yet to be a di son from Jin Wang Manor? Because of this, all sorts of rumours had spread outside. Thinking that the problem didn’t lie with his son, he tried to bestow Jin Wang several women but was always refused. The only reason those women were accepted the last time was because he had sent those women over without much warning or even a heads up.