That evening, Yun Qing went to see Huo Changqing and told him about his plan to establish the Bureau of Supervision. "Kong Yang's ...
That evening, Yun Qing went to see Huo Changqing and told him about his plan to establish the Bureau of Supervision. "Kong Yang's case happened precisely because there was a lack of supervision. Setting up the bureau is very necessary."
Huo Changqing had never objected to the idea of setting up the bureau. His only concern was that the officers under their command might take it the wrong way. Their hold over the region had still been shaky at the time, but things were different now. Over the past year, they had firmly established their authority in the northwest. Now, after Kong Yang's case, their subordinates would not dare to object to the establishment of the Bureau of Supervision either. "Since you have decided, then go ahead and do it!" When he had rejected Han Shi's proposal back then, he knew it was only temporary. He knew that, once Han Shi had made up her mind, she would never give up halfway.
Yun Qing gave a sound of acknowledgement.
Huo Changqing hesitated for a moment, but he still told Yun Qing what was on his mind: "Yun Qing, you can hand over government affairs to Zaozao's mother, but she must not insert her hand in military affairs." Only by controlling military power could one stand in a place where one could not be defeated1. At that time, even if Han Shi had other intentions, there would be nothing to fear.🦊
Yun Qing frowned and asked, "Uncle Huo, did you hear someone say something?" Otherwise, why would he think that Yuxi wanted to control the military?
Huo Changqing responded, "I am only worried that once she has tasted the flavour of power, she will never want to let go again. If she is allowed to stain her fingers3 with military affairs as well, you won't be able to restrain her." He admitted that Han Shi had performed very well. However, people's hearts could change easily. If Han Shi changed one day, and Yun Qing could not restrain her, then no one would know what might happen.
Yun Qing's expression turned displeased as he said, "Uncle Huo, you are overthinking it. Yuxi is not that kind of person. Besides, if she really wanted military power, I would give it to her." He and Yuxi were one body; what was his was hers too. Of course, what was hers was also his.
Huo Changqing raised his head and looked at Yun Qing, reminding him, "Don't be so absolute about anything. No one knows what the future will bring."
Yun Qing's expression became even uglier.
Huo Changqing waved his hand. "I am only reminding you. As for what to do, you still have to make the decision yourself. By the way, Zaozao will turn three in the fifth month, so it's also time for me to start teaching her martial arts."
Yun Qing nodded. "I know."
As he looked at Yun Qing's departing back, Huo Changqing shook his head. He didn't want to play the villain either, but there were some things he had to say. Whether Yun Qing listened to him or not was up to Yun Qing himself.
After Yun Qing went out, he called Xu Wu over and asked, "Has anyone come to see Uncle Huo these past two days and said anything to him?" Huo Changqing's sudden outburst made Yun Qing suspicious.
Xu Wu shook his head. "Recently, no one has come to look for Yifu4." During this period, aside from visiting the estate in the suburbs to check on the children's training, Huo Changqing had mostly stayed at the residence and had little contact with outsiders.
Noticing Yun Qing's unpleasant expression, Xu Wu asked, "Wangye, what's wrong? Is Yifu4 unwell?"
Yun Qing shook his head. "No." After saying that, he returned to the rear courtyard.
As soon as Yun Qing entered the children's room, he saw Yuxi telling stories to the two children. She was recounting tales from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, a habit born of her frequent reading of history books.
Never mind Liu'er, who was just over one year old; even Zaozao, who was almost three, could not understand what Yuxi was talking about. However, when Yuxi told stories, her voice was very gentle, like a lullaby. Sure enough, the two children fell asleep after listening for less than fifteen minutes.
After Yun Qing and Yuxi left the children's room, Yun Qing commented, "Your stories are too profound. How could the children understand them? If you're going to tell stories, you should tell some simple ones."
Yuxi smiled and replied, "Fine, then you can tell them next time. I'll also come and learn from your experience." The two children were still so young; even if the story were simpler, they would not understand it.
Yun Qing had not expected to be countered with a check in chess5, but he did not get stage fright either. He smiled and said, "Just watch. Zaozao is guaranteed to like the stories I tell." In fact, Yun Qing had never told a story in his life. But if he didn't have any, he could always collect some!
Yuxi smiled and changed the subject. She asked, "Did Uncle Huo agree?" Actually, even without being asked, she knew Huo Changqing would agree.
Thinking about what Huo Changqing had said earlier, Yun Qing felt somewhat uncomfortable. However, he did not plan to tell Yuxi about it. "How could Uncle Huo possibly not agree? By the way, he said he would start teaching Zaozao martial arts once her birthday has passed!"
Yuxi had already thought it through, so she wasn't unhappy about it. "I know."
After talking for a while, Yun Qing's heart became like a monkey and his mind like a horse6. He nibbled Yuxi's ear and whispered, "It is getting late. We should go to sleep too!"
Yuxi gently held down Yun Qing's large, unruly hand and pointed out, "We haven't bathed yet!" Her voice was indescribably charming and alluring.
Yun Qing knew that Yuxi had many specific requirements. For example, she absolutely would not allow marital intimacy if they had not bathed first. Yun Qing called out, "Prepare the water. Wangfei and I are going to bathe." The implication was clear: the two of them were going to bathe together. Otherwise, there would have been no need to announce it so deliberately.
Yuxi's face turned slightly red, but she didn't say anything to object.
When Mama Lan heard the commotion, she said to Momo Quan, "Momo, Wangfei's body has already recovered. Shouldn't it also be time to give the Eldest Young Miss and the Second Young Miss a little brother?"
Momo Quan shook her head. "For Wangfei's body to reach its best condition, she still needs to be nursed and regulated for a period of time. Only then can the child be healthy too."
Mama Lan hurriedly asked, "Then how much longer will it take?" She urgently hoped that Yuxi could give birth to an heir sooner; only then would she truly feel at ease.
Momo Quan replied, "At least one year, at most two." There was no set timeframe for this kind of matter; it depended entirely on Yuxi's physical condition.
In front of Momo Quan, Mama Lan confessed, "I am truly worried that one day another woman will appear in the residence." Once there was a first, there would be a second and a third7.
Momo Quan smiled and assured her, "Don't worry. Wangye and Wangfei are very much in love with each other right now. No one else will appear and come between them within the next three to five years." However, she did not dare to be certain about what would happen after that time.
Mama Lan insisted, "It would still be best to have a son sooner rather than later."
Momo Quan returned, "Even if she gives birth to a son, if his health is poor, not only will the child suffer, as will his parents. So this matter cannot be rushed." It was not that Yuxi could not become pregnant now. But any child she gave birth to would definitely not be as healthy as Zaozao.
Momo Quan was thinking much farther ahead than Mama Lan. Liu'er was a girl; if her health was a little poor, they only needed to raise her carefully. But if a son was born with poor health, that would cause endless problems in the future. Yun Qing was now a wang, and the legitimate eldest son would have to inherit the title. If his health were poor, how could he shoulder this heavy burden?
Seeing that Mama Lan was hesitating, Momo Quan said, "Have you forgotten about Fu Tianlei's wife, Chen Shi? She ignored her own health and was desperate to have a son. In the end, she damaged her health so badly that she could no longer conceive and lost the child too." What Chen Shi did was truly a case of losing the wife and losing the soldiers8 too.
Chen Shi could no longer bear children, and Fu Tianlei still had no son. Therefore, as soon as his body recovered, Fu Jian demanded that he marry a secondary wife to produce an heir.
However, Fu Tianlei did not agree. "Dad, for now I still don't want to marry a secondary wife." Which good young woman in Yu City would be willing to become someone's concubine? As for the bad ones, he did not consider them worthy of his attention either.
Fu Jian snapped, "You don't even want to consider taking a secondary wife? Do you want the Fu family line to end with no sons or grandsons?" Fu Jian also had only one son, Fu Tianlei; otherwise, he would not be making such a fuss.
Fu Tianlei shook his head. "Let's talk about this matter later. I have already sent a letter to Yun Qing, telling him that my body has recovered." After more than a year of recuperation, he had finally recovered.
At the mention of Yun Qing, Fu Jian was full of anger: "What use is it for you to tell him that you have recovered? Could it be that he will still let you go to Haocheng? I advised you back then, but you wouldn't listen. And what happened? Now that he has succeeded, he has thrown you aside." Among the people who followed Yun Qing, everyone except his son had been promoted and prospered.
Speaking of this, Fu Tianlei felt somewhat ashamed. "Yun Qing entrusted me with the task of defending the city, but I did nothing in the end." As soon as the battle started, he was poisoned. He had made no contributions at all, so how could he have the face to go and ask for credit? Besides, Yun Qing had given him a miraculous medicine, for which he was already very grateful.
Fu Jian was extremely furious. He simply could not understand how he had given birth to such a stubborn, one-tendon9 son: "Let us not talk about anything else now. I will only ask you this: when can you give me a healthy, fair-skinned, chubby grandson?" Once he had a grandson, he would definitely educate him well and make sure he was not as disobedient as Fu Tianlei.
Fu Tianlei said, "Before the end of next year, I will definitely give you a grandson. If I fail to do it, then when the time comes, you may do whatever you want."
Only then did Fu Jian say nothing more.
Although Chen Shi was sickly and listless, she was still in charge of the household affairs. She soon learned that Fu Jian wanted Fu Tianlei to take a secondary wife. This time, however, she knew that she could no longer stop it.
Looking at Chen Shi's grief-stricken face, Mama He tried to comfort her. "Madam, do not overthink it. The General refused, didn't he?"
Chen Shi answered expressionlessly, "He is not refusing. It's just that in Yu City, he cannot find anyone who satisfies him." They had been married for ten years; how could Chen Shi not know Fu Tianlei's temperament? If even the guards and attendants under Yun Qing could marry noble young ladies from prestigious families, how could Fu Tianlei be willing to marry a girl from a small household?
Mama He sighed inwardly and advised, "Madam, the most important thing for you now is to recover your health as soon as possible. The rest can be discussed when the time comes." In Mama He's opinion, Chen Shi was more than half to blame for how things turned out this way. Had she listened to her and not been in such a hurry to get pregnant, but instead taken care of her health first, she would have been able to give birth to a son. Then the General would never have married a secondary wife.
Chen Shi shed tears as she protested, "So what if I recover my health?" For a husband and wife to have reached this point, even her heart had turned to ash, and her will had gone cold10.
Mama He calmly and unhurriedly advised her, "Madam, you mustn't think like that. If something were to happen to you, what would become of the Eldest Young Miss and the others in the future?" Perhaps the old master would be eager for her to die so that he could make the general take a new principal wife. A successor wife and a secondary wife were worlds apart.ℹ️
Chen Shi clutched the quilt and said, "You are right. For Baihe and the others, I must also recover my health. Otherwise, the moment I die, that old one who will not die12 will immediately have the General marry a new wife." Once there was a stepmother, there would also be a stepfather13. Her daughters would definitely be tormented to death in the future.
P.S. (Author): Embarrassing—I went out yesterday without bringing an umbrella, and in the end I got soaked like a chicken fallen into soup14. When I came back, I felt something was wrong with me.
Author's Note:
Recommended book by a fellow author: The Ghost King Dotes on His Wife: The Black-Bellied Little Demon Consort, author: Qixi Yan🔗 .
Synopsis: Shouldn't the Ghost King have an ugly and terrifying face? Then who is this handsome man before her, beautiful enough that he seems to be cast from metal?
Footnotes Full List
- 立于不败之地 (lì yú bù bài zhī dì) — to be in an unassailable position
- I believe some readers may be triggered by Uncle Huo's warning.
- 染指 (rǎn zhǐ) — means to meddle in or get involved with something one should not touch.
- 义父 (yìfù) — adoptive father
- 反将一军 (fǎn jiàng yī jūn) — means to turn the tables on someone.
- 心猿意马 (xīn yuán yì mǎ) — literally "the heart is like a monkey and the mind like a horse"; means restless, distracted, or filled with wandering desires. Here it implies romantic/sexual distraction.
- 有了第一个,就有第二个第三个 (yǒu le dì yī ge, jiù yǒu dì èr ge dì sān ge) — means one precedent may lead to many more.
- 赔了夫人又折兵 (péi le fū rén yòu zhé bīng) — means to suffer a double loss.
- 一根筋 (yī gēn jīn) — means stubborn, inflexible, or one-track-minded.
- 心灰意冷 (xīn huī yì lěng) — literally 'the heart is ashen, and the will is cold'; means to feel discouraged, disillusioned, and hopeless.
- Just to clarify, a successor wife has the same rights as a principal wife, though she won't have the same prestige. She would be called a 继室 (jìshì), just as Yuxi's deceased mother was. A secondary wife (二房 (èr fáng)), on the other hand, is only a concubine, albeit of a slightly higher rank than a normal concubine.
- 老不死的 (lǎo bù sǐ de) — an insulting phrase meaning 'that old b@stard/old thing'.
- 有了后娘,就有了后爹 (yǒu le hòu niáng, jiù yǒu le hòu diē) — once a father remarries, he may become cold or harsh toward his former wife's children.
- 淋了个落汤鸡 (lín le ge luò tāng jī) — means to be drenched completely, like 'soaked to the skin'.
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