Chapter 1631: The Qin Wang Demoted to Jun Wang

After leaving Wang Fu, Mu Yiguan Mu could no longer contain his urge to complain. He grabbed Chen Chen Guanlou and said, "Has my lord gone mad? She has an obsession, but my lord does not. Why play along with her? If my lord truly wants a child, wouldn't it be better to marry a woman and bring her home? Or let the heir's son have another one. Why get tangled up with that one?"

"Don't you think she's beautiful?" Chen Chen Guanlou answered with a question.

Mu Yiguan Mu was instantly so furious he nearly ascended to heaven on the spot. "I never knew my lord was the sort to be blinded by lust. There are countless beauties under heaven, and with her status… you really know how to make trouble for me."

Dog of a man!

Whether fragrant or stinking, he drags them all to his side.

At his advanced age, he still has to endure this kind of shock. He truly wants to die.

"I don't want a child. I just couldn't refuse." Chen Chen Guanlou said with a grin, showing not a shred of remorse.

Mu Yiguan Mu sighed. "Truly unafraid of death! Go on with your folly then. They say Jingcheng has no secrets. I would very much like to see how you two will keep this secret and ensure the child is born safely."

"In a few months, she'll claim her health is poor and use it as an excuse to recuperate at an estate outside the city." Chen Chen Guanlou had already arranged everything. The servants at the estate had been vetted once over to ensure nothing could go wrong.

Mu Yiguan Mu: …

Speechless.

The child was already in her belly. They couldn't just get rid of it.

He was only surprised that Chen the Prison Warden could also have his muddled moments.

Chen Chen Guanlou had always acted on his own whims, and once he acted, he never regretted it. He knew full well he shouldn't have agreed to Consort Jing's request, but since he had already done it, he naturally would not back away. The path he had chosen, he would walk down even if it meant gritting his teeth and pressing on.

He was also confident he could keep Consort Jing and her child safe.

Only Consort Jing's elder brother, Eunuch Shen, was loud and brash all day long, not steady enough. If anything went wrong in the future, it would surely start with him.

He discussed it with Consort Jing, found an excuse, and arranged for Eunuch Shen to be sent on a business trip—a long-distance one, the kind from which he wouldn't return for a year or two. It would also serve to draw some of the fire.

Eunuch Shen was unwilling to leave Jingcheng. Sleeping rough and eating poorly—he couldn't endure that kind of hardship.

Although life at the Rui Wang Fu was not easy, his own little days were quite comfortable. He had servants to attend him, and food and drink were never a concern. As long as he didn't go out, no one would make things difficult for him.

Going out on assignment was exhausting.

He went crying to Consort Jing, demanding someone else be sent on the trip.

Consort Jing kept a cold face and said nothing. Eunuch Shen cried and cried until his voice grew smaller and smaller, until at last he didn't dare cry anymore.

He feared Consort Jing's silence most of all. It would have been easier to bear if she had just scolded him.

"What does Your Highness mean? Say something at least!"

"This palace cannot command you, then? My words are useless, are they?" Consort Jing put on the full bearing of rank. Now she spoke only of hierarchy and propriety, not of brother-sister affection.

Eunuch Shen instantly trembled. "I didn't…"

"You did! You know perfectly well I have no one else to use. I trust only you, so I can only arrange for you to go out and share my burdens. Why must you refuse? So you simply don't care about this palace's situation, don't care about the Rui Wang's situation. If mother and son starve to death, you wouldn't care either, would you?"

"I didn't! Your Highness misunderstands! I'll go, isn't that enough? Please calm yourself, Your Highness. I just didn't think it through for a moment."

Eunuch Shen was still feeling rather wronged.

He had grown this old without ever leaving Jingcheng. He was accustomed to a life without having to rush about. Suddenly being arranged to go out, and to the distant south at that, made his heart tremble with dread.

Traveling outside, he wouldn't even dare to throw his weight around, for fear of bringing disaster upon the Rui Wang Fu. Just thinking about it felt stifling.

No wonder he didn't want to go out.

Consort Jing took a deep breath. "Someone will go with you. You need only follow orders and do as you're told. Keep a tight grip on the money pouch for me—don't let anyone embezzle it. Whether our family eats meat and fish from now on, or chokes on chaff and vegetables, depends on this one trip. I don't want you to leave the capital either, but this palace has no room to maneuver in Jingcheng. If we want to make money, we can only avoid Jingcheng. Can you understand this palace's difficulties?"

Eunuch Shen understood perfectly well.

Jingcheng was full of tigers and wolves everywhere. Trying to do any business, one was thwarted at every turn. Not losing money was already considered good—don't even think about making money.

He wiped his tears. "I just can't bear to part with you all."

"This palace will have my elder brother and sister-in-law come stay. With them here, you needn't worry about me and the Wang Ye. Do your duty well, and do not disappoint this palace's expectations."

After a round of brainwashing, Eunuch Shen, clutching his reluctance, left the capital in misery to travel about.

Consort Jing arranged for her elder brother Shen Wenbin and his wife to stay in a side courtyard. The hastily tidied courtyard still carried the lingering scent of fresh timber from the newly built structures.

Anyone who saw the state of the Rui Wang Fu would have to say: miserable!

Everyone lived in the front courtyard, which was very cramped. The rear courtyard, the gardens—all were unfinished projects. Some were half-built, some had only foundations laid, some had only a pit dug, with no time even to fill it back in with stones…

All manner of building materials were piled on the open ground in a chaotic mess. After tidying up, all they gained was a single passable path.

Shen Wenbin and his wife lived in just such conditions—a side courtyard, barely finished being repaired, with half an acre of wasteland reclaimed to grow vegetables and raise chickens.

They had wanted to raise pigs, but Consort Jing firmly forbade it. Too smelly! Even a dilapidated Wang Fu could not be disgraced like that.

To lull the palace into complacency, every half month Consort Jing would send people to the Court of the Imperial Clan to demand money and grain, rain or shine.

The Court of the Imperial Clan had grown weary. Each time they fobbed them off with various excuses. Eventually they couldn't even be bothered to find excuses and simply gave them the cold shoulder. As long as the palace didn't speak up, there was no money, and no grain either.

What if the Rui Wang starved to death?

Consort Jing had the nerve to let the Rui Wang starve to death? When the time came, everyone would settle the score together.

If she didn't have the nerve, then she should dig into her own private purse and keep him properly fed. Even if she was unhappy, she'd have to hold her nose and endure it!

These tactics were truly disgusting!

This set of tactics, the Court of the Imperial Clan would not dare use on the Ning Wang. The Ning Wang was an adult, he had a mouth, and he had ministers in court who supported him—he would make a fuss. Once a fuss was kicked up, it would be the Emperor's face that was lost.

The Court of the Imperial Clan did not dare to smear the Emperor's face.

The Emperor cared about face, but not that much.

He had agreed with Zhengshitang that no major prison cases would be revived in the west, on the condition that the case of Imperial Consort Xiao's poisoning be left unresolved. But he seized the opportunity to strip the Shun Wang of his Qin Wang rank, demoting him to Jun Wang, and renaming him the Shuncheng Wang.

The reason was ready-made: during the late Emperor's funeral rites, the Shuncheng Wang had behaved with unseemly mirth and anger at the mourning hall, showing grave disrespect.

He was simply taking out his frustrations on the Shuncheng Wang.

Xie Changling deliberated for a moment, then went along with the Emperor's wishes.

A mere Shuncheng Wang was of no consequence.

The Shuncheng Wang received the demotion edict, and the moment the eunuch who announced it left, he flew into a rage on the spot, kicking over the incense table with one foot.

The Ning Wang hurriedly sent the attending servants away, then ordered his own guards to restrain the Shuncheng Wang and forbid him from going mad.

"Wang Wang Qiren has gone too far, gone too far! Aaaah, I'm going to kill him…"

"Who are you going to kill? Shut your mouth!"

Prince Ning slapped Prince Shuncheng across the face. "Be careful, walls have ears. Are you afraid he can't find a reason to deal with you? All day long you spout nonsense, no filter on your mouth."

Prince Shuncheng's eyes were blood-red, as if he had suffered a qi deviation. "You hit me! You tell me to swallow my anger, but the other side is pressing us step by step. Today it's a Commandery Prince, tomorrow a Duke, the day after a General, and after that a commoner! Step by step, humiliating us from head to toe. You can endure it, but I can't!"