"The heir was healthy before; why is he suddenly so seriously ill?" Mu Hanzhang tucked the quilt around his mother.
Consort Qiu looked around before she whispered, "On the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, the heir went out to drink with Hua Feng and Yang Wen, but they somehow fell into the river."
Mu Hanzhang frowned when he heard these words. That was 27 days after the Winter Solstice, and one of the coldest days of the year. If they fell into the river on such a day, they would definitely suffer more than just a chill. But why would these three men go to the river on such a cold day?
"The three madams cried until they fainted. Hua Feng's feet have frozen beyond recovery, and Yang Wen is still bedridden. No one knows what the heir's condition is. An imperial physician came to see him, but the First Wife is keeping silent." While Consort Qiu put it like this, there was a hint of delight on her face. That year, it was these three boys who had pushed Hanzhang into the pond, harming his body. Now, they had met their retribution.
"How did they fall into the river so suddenly?" Mu Hanzhang felt this was very strange.
Consort Qiu looked out the window again and said in a low voice, "I heard that they offended Jianghu masters and were beaten and thrown into the water. They flopped around in the water for a long time before they were fished out."
As soon as he heard these words, Mu Hanzhang felt that something was wrong. The Jianghu people that he had heard Jing Shao talk about weren't that unbridled, unless they didn't know that it was the heir of the North Marquis. "Did they catch the culprits?"
"No." Consort Qiu shook her head. "They said they were going out drinking, but in fact, they were going to low-grade brothels behind their families' backs. They didn't bring a single servant, and truly don't know who beat them up." The three of them were infamous for being hedonistic sons of rich parents, and had offended many people; they really had no way of knowing who did it.
* * * * *
When court was dismissed, Jing Shao ignored the courtiers' congratulatory words. He said goodbye to his elder brother and went to Fengyi Palace. It happened that the fourth prince was also going in that direction. Jing Shao smirked and called out, "Is fourth younger brother also going to pay respects to imperial mother?"
Jing Yu stopped and took a deep breath. He turned around with a smile and greeted, "Third imperial brother, your Wang Fei will be bestowed the title of marquis. Younger brother still hasn't congratulated you."
"Tch, what's there to congratulate?" Jing Shao said with a fake smile. "If a male wife receives a title, I can't divorce of my own will anymore; moreover, I can't take in more concubines."
"Is that so? Younger brother is not clear on these laws and regulations." The fourth prince laughed awkwardly. He thought that the Cheng Wang Fei becoming a marquis would be a threat to him, but it now seemed that it wouldn't be the case. Song An had thoroughly offended Jing Shao today. Jing Shao would likely never spoil that daughter of his again, but he won't be able to take in more concubines, and Jing Shao didn't have any heirs yet...
"Hmph." Jing Shao sneered cryptically. That day, he had seen his own Wang Fei reading "Dachen Laws and Regulations." Out of curiosity, he also went over for a look and saw that if a male wife had a title, then he himself couldn't take in any more concubines. At that time, he had been thinking that he might as well kill Mu Lingbao and have the title of North Marquis passed on to his own Jun Qing so that he had a legitimate reason not to take in more concubines. The title conferral today had saved him a lot of trouble.
The two men who gave the appearance of respectful brothers made their way to Fengyi Palace together. The Empress still put on the face of a loving mother, even saying that Jing Shao looked even more healthy and robust after his expedition, which gave Jing Shao goosebumps all over. He hadn't brought any gifts for the Empress, and only said that the army camp was poor. Naturally, the Empress put on a doting face and even rewarded him with a lot of good things, which Jing Shao took without fear of being impolite.
