Chapter 36 (1/2)

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郡王妃 junw.a.n.g fei: the official wife of a junw.a.n.g

郡王 junw.a.n.g: second-rank prince; also referred to as junw.a.n.g ye, i.e. ”His [Your] Royal Highness”

王妃 w.a.n.g fei: princess consort

府 fu: compound or estate; junw.a.n.g fu: prince's estate/compound

本王 ben w.a.n.g: literally ”this w.a.n.g/prince”; illeism used by princes

Chapter Thirty-Six: Fake Gentleman

The matter of Xian Junw.a.n.g Fei being wounded by the Imperial Brother-in-law who let his horse run amok quickly spread through all of Jing. Because the Imperial Brother-in-law had been arrogant in his conduct before, many people had been discontent with him. Now they heard thisperson had done something even more outrageous: he had shocked Xian Junw.a.n.g Fei's carriage and wounded Xian Junw.a.n.g Fei's forehead, which caused Xian Junw.a.n.g to be extremely distressed.hey also heard that when the Imperial Brother-in-law went to apologize, he had looked down on others and when he left the junw.a.n.g fu, he even kicked the stone lion at the gates. This was extremely outrageous and meant that he even looked down on the people of the Imperial Family.

The stone lions represented the face of a family. Families without status could not put out stone lions. Even if they did, there were many details and protocols. This Imperial Brother-in-law was great. He carelessly kicked another family's prestige. What was this if not arrogant?

Among the prestigious families, the Fang Family was a n.o.ble one that only rose up because of their daughter. Calling the Fang Family ”n.o.bility” was due to the Emperor and the Crown Prince. Otherwise, no one would even look at a family like this that had no manners.

There were no secrets in Jing. Everyone saw Fang Cheng De's speech and actions. The Imperial Family members in Jing felt that Fang Cheng De had gone over the line, and were dissatisfied with both the Fang Clan and the Empress. Right now, the memorandums that were criticizing the Fang Family increased, but Qi Long Emperor had pushed all of them down. This caused the members of the Imperial Family to be even more discontent. Right now, this Imperial Brother-in-law dared to treat Xian Junw.a.n.g so. When the Crown Prince succeeded the throne in the future, how would they—these members of the Imperial Family who couldn't be considered as prominent—live? could the members of the Imperial Family such as they who did not have such high status life? Would they have to live under the power of the Fang Family? Where would the respect and dignity of the Imperial House be?

Maybe it was because he knew that the Imperial Family members were dissatisfied with this matter that Qi Long Emperor sent a decree in front of the court punis.h.i.+ng Fang Cheng De a few days later. The decree did not mention what the Fang Family had done in the background, only criticizing Fang Cheng De for letting his horse run free and harming the innocent. He was sentenced to losing his wages for three years, and was demoted from a first rank marquis to a third rank marquis. He was ordered to reflect inside his home and could not leave the compound.

This decree was very strict at first impression, but if one thought carefully, they would find that this was really nothing. Fang Cheng De still had the marquis t.i.tle. Even if he was demoted in rank, it would just take a few words from the Emperor to restore his previous rank.

This kind of punishment would not be as pleasing as beating Fang Cheng De in front of the palace a few dozen times. The Emperor's actions were just done to act for those common people who did not understand politics, and were not an explanation for the Imperial House.

Yan Jin Qiu was not surprised at all by the Emperor's decree. Because no matter how capable the Emperor was, he had a fatal weakness—the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was not a wise person, was proud and greedy. But he was the only son of the Emperor. The Fang Family was the maternal family of the Crown Prince. If the Fang Family fell, then if the Crown Prince succeeded the throne, he would have a hard time in the future. So the Emperor had to protect the Fang Family because the Fang Family was the Crown Prince's maternal family and on his side. Fang Cheng De was useless, but his two children, just over ten years old, were hardworking and intelligent. When the Crown Prince succeeded the throne, they would be at an age when they could enter the court and would be good helpers for the Crown Prince.

Thinking about this, Yan Jin Qiu smiled coldly on the inside. So what if the two Fang children had talent? Young children were not set in their personalities. Also, it was unknown if the Emperor could really manage to survive until then. It was uncertain if a crown prince who still did not have any children and had a bad reputation could really establish himself on the throne.

”Junw.a.n.g Ye, the spies who made their way into the fu have been found.”

”Take them to the dark room.” Yan Jin Qiu lowered his face and closed the book he was reading. A sliver of a smile came onto the corner of his mouth. ”Ben w.a.n.g will have to question these people well.”

The person who came to report lowered his head more. ”Yes.”

The underground pa.s.sageway to the dark room was actually very bright. Embedded on the wall at every few steps were night pearls that shone with a warm light, and all kinds of luxurious decorations. If people accidentally came into this place, they would only feel that this was the place where the junw.a.n.g fu stored its precious metals and expensive artifacts. They would not connect these things to something else.

When the pa.s.sageway reached the bottom, there was a little room that was not very small yet not very large. There were all kinds of precious treasures inside that could dazzle and blind people's eyes. In the place where the light was brightest, Yan Jin Qiu's subordinate walking behind YJQ’s tapped on a brick that seemed like the others. Even the sound of tapping was not any different. He then pushed the brick down three times, and then the thick wall at the side slowly opened to reveal a slightly dim pa.s.sageway.

Going down slowly through the pa.s.sageway revealed the true secret room. Torture tools that emanated the smell of blood, a slightly damp ground, the enormous beast in the corner with an open mouth whose eyes were made from night pearls—it seemed extremely vicious in the dim room. No one would think this was the air hole for the secret room.

The spies were chained up by their ribs. The height they were dangling from was just the slightest bit higher than their own height. If they did not want their ribs to hurt from being hurt by the metal hooks, they had to go on tiptoes. But having lost a lot of blood, they did not have enough energy to persist long in that position. When they used up their energy, the metal hooks would once again pull at their wounds. After the cycle repeated, this tormented them to the point that they wanted death. They desired to have someone come and kill them with a blow to end their suffering.