Xiaobao held Jin Wangâs neck, and wouldnât let go.
Even though Jin Wang wanted to leave, Xiaobao still wouldnât let go despite Yaoniangâs persuasion. This little guy seemed to be determined to hang onto his father to death.
But the way he was grinning, so innocent with only his four front teeth showing, even if Jin Wangâs heart was as hard as a rock, he still couldnât bear to pull his son off with force.
Actually, he also enjoyed this feeling a lot, especially after seeing Xiaobao sticking to Yaoniang so often. Such a Xiaobao seemed to be able to dissipate the gloom in his heart.
Liu Da and the others have already arrived. Fucheng had already urged Jin Wang twice to go over and discuss the matter.
Fucheng, with a rattle and a little wooden horse in his hands, tried to coax Xiaobao from the side, but Xiaobao only looked at him, but still wouldnât let go.
Jin Wang stood up. âIf he doesnât come down, then he wonât come down.â He said to Yaoniang, âIâll be back later.â Then with a little sloth hanging around his neck, he left.
Along the way, the father and son duo attracted countless peopleâs attention. But they didnât dare to stare for a long time, lest the scene becomes too awkward.
Jin Wang had never cared about othersâ gaze, but this time it was inevitable that he was a little embarrassed. When they arrived at the study room in the front courtyard, there were already many people sitting inside. They were all confidants brought by Jin Wang for this trip.
Seeing Jin Wang appear like this, the always calm Liu Daâs feather fan slipped out of his hand. He hurriedly picked it back.
Only after Fucheng winked at everyone did they all regain their composure and bow their heads. Jin Wang sat down behind the bookcase.
He patted Xiaobaoâs butt and said, âSit down.â
To the surprise of many people, Xiaobao seemed to have understood and let go of his arms. He sat on his fatherâs knees honestly and looked curiously at the faces of the people around.
Mr. Hei smiled and said, âYour Highness, this baby of yours has a brain that seems to be smart to the extreme.â
Mr. Hei was indeed Mr. Hei, speaking in the Shu dialect as soon as he opened his mouth. Jin Wang had been with him for many years, so he understood what he meant. This was him exaggerating Xiaobaoâs cleverness.
Liu Da also nodded. âThis child has learned a lot despite his young age. His future is bound to be limitless.â
Others also said all sorts of compliments to Xiaobao, even with Xiaobaoâs thick face, he couldnât help but blush. In fear of showing too much emotion and attracting peopleâs attention, he turned his head and buried his face in Jin Wangâs arms.
âEnough. Time to talk about proper business.â Jin Wang cleared his throat.
Their discussion began.
They talked about the unusual actions that the various vassal princes had done. They also listed the manors the princes visited and what theyâd said when there. As for those so-called unusual actions, they only amounted to a few words or two. All this information was gathered by the spies located throughout Jin Wang Manor. Although a lot of this information seemed trivial, Jin Wang and his aides would look at the big picture. Then they would pick out useful nuggets here and there and connect them to get useful information.
Liu Da, Mr. Hei, and Li Maotian were in charge of the analysis and classification of the information in Jin Wang Manor. After cross analyzing everything, they would submit the important stuff to Jin Wang. Jin Wang would also occasionally ask them to pass all the information to him to take a look at in his spare time.
This was completely different from confrontation on the battlefield between two armies. There, it was clear at a glance who was stronger and who was weaker. Even if two armies were to face each other, there were still various tricks that could be deployed to deceive the enemy, much less this type of confrontation that was from thousands of miles away. The enemy was in the dark. No one knows who will do what to who, after all, there were simply too many enemies.
Right now, they could detect movements from several places. But no matter how they tried to dig out more information, they still couldnât find out what the other party wanted to do.
âHave people watch An Wang closely. He likes fishing in troubled waters the most. He and the Zhou family⌠and thereâs also Dai Wang. He has always stayed out of it, but I donât believe he doesnât have any thoughts. After all, heâs also born of the empress. And keep a close eye on Yong Wang. This prince has a feeling that heâs about to do something big. BesidesâŚâ
There was silence in the room, only Jin Wangâs magnetic voice lingered in the air.
At this time, the voice of a baby suddenly sounded. âGreat-great grandâŚâ
His voice was tender and cute. Jin Wang continued to talk while patting him. He thought it was Xiaobao being unruly and wanting to talk after hearing the adults talk.
ââŚAs for the imperial eldest grandson, donât face him head-on. Avoid him whenever possible and donât fight for the time beingâŚâ
âGreat grandfatherâŚâ Without waiting for Xiaobao to continue, Jin Wang lightly patted him on the butt and continued to talk.
Fucheng squatted beside Jin Wangâs legs and asked Xiaobao in a low voice, âIs the young master bored? Do you want Old Fu to bring you out to play?â
Xiaobao stared at Fuchengâs old face. Feeling very frustrated, he snorted and turned his head away.
He moved around a couple of times, seemingly wanting to play with the bookcase. Jin Wang let him play. He grabbed the rice paper from the bookcase. While Jin Wang was talking to his subordinates, he still watched him from the corner of his eye. After pulling the rice paper towards him, Xiaobao went to grab the bowl for washing brushes. Fearing that his clothes would get wet, Jin Wang took a small paperweight from the bookcase and placed it in front of Xiaobao.
Xiaobao poked his finger at it a couple of times in dejection, but still tried to reach past it towards the object. Liu Da and the others saw Jin Wangâs poker face, no different from the past.
Calm, cold, and indifferent, his long and narrow eyes showed no waves, no waves at all. Even the clothes he wore were still of the same old black, except there was now a baby in front of him.
A baby wearing a light cyan-coloured cotton jacket and trousers. White and fat, with beautiful eyes, he was sure to grow into a handsome man like his father.
This baby was a bit naughty, struggling towards the bookcase like a little turtle, waving both his hands and feet in the air. He seemed to want to grab something and his little face was red from exertion.
Actually, some people have already noticed that he seemed to want to grab the wolf-hair brush lying on the inkstone. They even had an urge to walk over and hand it to him. Fucheng could see this too, but he was afraid that Xiaobao would stain his clothes or Jin Wangâs clothes. He could only take a step forward and removed the inkstone himself, effectively putting an end to Xiaobaoâs thoughts.
Ahh!
Xiaobao yelled in anger. Fucheng lowered his voice and said, âYoung master, this isnât something fun to play with. This old slave will get you a clean one.â He took another clean wolf-hair brush and handed it to him.