Everything in the Anguo Gong mansion looked exactly as it had when Lou Jing was married. Lou Jing leapt off the horse carriage, and his lips curved upwards slightly as he looked at the signage that declared that this was the Anguo Gong mansion. What was meant to be his would be his; even Heaven couldn’t take it away from him.
He went up the stone steps and saw that the main gate was already open. The butler stood at the door to personally welcome him. “Shizi ye, you’re back,” he said.
Lou Jing glanced at the butler. “Where’s Father and the Furen?” he asked.
“Guogong ye and furen are both waiting for Shizi ye in the main hall. Your Second and Third Uncles are also there,” the butler said, smiling.
The smile on Lou Jing’s face didn’t change. He rewarded the butler with five beads of silver, then went straight into the main hall. His two maids and eight Eastern Palace guards followed behind him.
The Eastern Palace guards were personally loyal to the Crown Prince, and naturally could not remain as guards of the Eastern Palace any more. Ordinarily, they would follow the Crown Prince to his new fief, but Xiao Chengjun was worried that Lou Jing wouldn’t have enough people to use back home, and so gave Lou Jing the eight guards who usually stood guard at Bafeng Hall.
The Anguo Gong residence’s servants all didn’t dare to speak or look at Lou Jing as he walked toward the main hall. The butler couldn’t help shivering a little in fear when he took in the sharp, organized way in which the Eastern Palace guards marched behind Lou Jing, and also the serious, attentive look on their faces. The power balance in the Anguo Gong mansion was likely to change very soon.
“Since Zhuoyu has come back in glory, the family assets need not be split any more. I’ll get Zhuoyu to return the dowry and family assets back into the main asset pool. We’re still one undivided family after all,” Lou Jianyu said, looking at his two brothers.
The Second and Third Uncles exchanged a look with each other, then nodded in unison. It was beneficial to them to have Lou Jing return the assets he took back into the main pool, as this meant that they would receive much more as their share next spring when they divided the assets between the three of them.
Madam Wei also looked much calmer and happier in recent days, likely because she and her husband had come up with a good plan to deal with her secret pregnancy. She wasn’t freaking out any more.
Lou Jing entered the main hall. What greeted his eyes were four uniformly cordial-looking elders, and he couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows at the sight. Had they already discussed as between themselves how they wanted to deal with him? His smile didn’t waver as he stepped forward to bow to the Anguo Gong. “It’s been a while since we last met. Father, I hope you are well,” he said.
“I’m fine,” Lou Jianyu replied nonchalantly. He noticed the eight Eastern Palace guards standing outside the door, and his expression darkened immediately. “You’re not the Crown Prince Consort anymore. Why did you still bring Eastern Palace guards with you?”
“Replying to Father’s question, I’m used to having these guards do things for me, and Min Wang Dianxia isn’t shorthanded, so I specially asked for them. I was worried that Father would not have enough people to assign to me when I returned,” Lou Jing said.
“You…” Lou Jianyu met Lou Jing’s eyes and saw the faintly amused look in them. He was shocked; this fellow didn’t come with good intentions at all!
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Shizi is back, and we’re still going to be a family in future. The expenses of Zhuque Hall will be paid for out of the main residence’s accounts. Whatever you need, just let me know,” Madam Wei said with a placatory smile. She was sitting in the seat of the principal wife next to the Anguo Gong, and used the back of her hand to nudge Lou Jianyu’s arm on the table. She gave him a meaningful look, reminding him not to miss the wood for the trees; the main point here today was to get the family assets back. Everything else was secondary.
Lou Jianyu collected himself and pretended to nod in agreement. “Since you’re back, you’re still the Shizi of the Anguo Gong peerage. The dowry has to be returned to the main asset pool so that you can use it as betrothal gifts to your future wife. Get Cheng Xiuru to go down to the government office tomorrow and transfer the assets back to the Anguo Gong residence,” he said.
Xunxia came forward quickly with a cup of tea, and Lou Jing took a languid sip after saying these words.
Lou Jianyu was purple in the face by this point. The Third Uncle was worried they’d start quarreling again, and quickly spoke up. “Zhuoyu, your dad isn’t dead yet. How could you split the assets now?” he said.
The Second Uncle elbowed the Third Uncle hard. How could he say something like that?!
As expected, Lou Jianyu’s expression became even more foul on hearing this. The Second Uncle quickly cut in. “Your Grandfather hasn’t even been buried for three years, and your father is still alive and well. For you to want to split the assets now – if this was brought up before the government officials, they would certainly say that you’re being unfilial! You still have many years ahead of you, and you’re the Shizi. The Anguo Gong assets will all be yours one day. Why do you need to be so stubborn?” he said.
From the Second Uncle’s standpoint, Lou Jing’s behaviour was very unbecoming; he had returned to resume his position as the Shizi, and when he inherited the peerage, all the tribute fields, generational assets, and even the things that he would be returning today would all still be his. To him, this was why Lou Jing was duty-bound to return his share of the family assets to the main pool.
Lou Jing used the teacup cover to push the floating dregs aside, then sipped at the tea slowly. He raised his head to look at his father. “The family assets were split before the Crown Prince was deposed. The assets that have already been transferred to my name and stamped with an official seal are now my personal assets,” he said. Whatever had already been given to him was his, and whatever he would inherit in future as the next Anguo Gong was also his.
“You… you BASTARD!” Lou Jianyu grabbed the teacup on the table and threw it hard at Lou Jing.
Lou Jing’s hands moved smoothly to catch the teacup. He even caught the lid neatly. He looked over at Lou Jianyu, whose sleeves were soaked with spilt tea, and shook his head gently. “What a pity. This was Longjing tea gifted by the Emperor,” he said, passing the cup to Xunxia, who was standing behind him. “Pour another cup for Father.”
The most frustrating kind of arguments were the ones where one party was so angry that he was ready to throw a fit, whilst the other was still as calm and unshakeable as a mountain. It was rather like having a monkey clap and squeal with glee on seeing your face and neck turn red with anger.
Lou Jianyu was so furious that he started trembling. “You little bastard, you’re going to hand over the family assets today, or I’m going to report you to the Emperor for being unfilial, and request that you be removed as the Shizi!” he shouted.
“There’s only one legitimate son in this entire residence, and that’s me. Father, if you remove me as the Shizi, who are you intending to give this position to?” Lou Jing said, accidentally-on-purpose looking over at Madam Wei’s belly. “Father, you can’t already have a new Shizi waiting in the wings, right?”
Madam Wei’s expression changed to one of shock. Her red dankou-stained fingernails nearly drew blood from her own palm, she was clenching her fists so hard.
“Zhuoyu, you can’t say things like that! Your father is still in his mourning period!” the Second Uncle protested. He naturally understood what Lou Jing was hinting at, and immediately voiced his dissent. It was highly unfilial to get your wife pregnant during the mourning period, and this was the kind of thing that shouldn’t even be said out loud. If someone heard it and started spreading baseless rumours, the Lou family would lose face big time.
“Exactly! You can’t say things like that!” the Third Uncle echoed. He had gotten a real shock when Lou Jing said those words earlier. He lowered his voice before continuing. “No matter how dim-witted your father is, he would never do something as embarrassing as this. Don’t make wild accusations!”
Lou Jing smiled knowingly at his father as the latter’s expression became angrier and angrier.
Lou Jianyu saw Lou Jing’s expression and realised that things were not looking good for him and Madam Wei. He cast his eyes in the direction of his two non-legitimate brothers, who obviously had no clue what was happening but were spouting all sorts of nonsense. A wave of anger and embarrassment took hold of him. “When I asked you two to come, was it to be shit-stirrers? Scram! Go back to your house and stop being an eyesore here!” he yelled.
The Second and Third Uncles were both struck dumb by this outburst. The Second Uncle felt they didn’t deserve this treatment and wanted to fire back a retort, but the Third Uncle stopped him, pulling him to his feet. The Second Uncle could only swallow his words. “We both aren’t going to interfere with this any more. You’re father and son, you sort it out between yourselves,” he said coldly.
The two uncles turned to leave in a huff, leaving the father and son pair to glower at each other from their seats. Madam Wei sat trembling to one side, her face pale and wan.
“What do you want to do?” Lou Jianyu asked, glaring fiercely at Lou Jing. It was as plain as day that Lou Jing knew something, and that was why he dared to behave in this insolent manner.
“I think that’s something I should be asking you, Father,” Lou Jing said. He put down his teacup, then leaned on his hand, supporting his temple with a finger. “A pregnancy during the mourning period is extremely unfilial. If I told the Emperor about this, do you think the Emperor would immediately remove you as the Anguo Gong and appoint me in your place?”
“You…” Lou Jianyu was shocked beyond words. He hadn’t thought that this bastard was this vicious!
“Shizi, please be serious,” Madam Wei said, forcing herself to remain calm with effort. She hadn’t seen an Imperial Physician all these months, and had only consulted Qinglian Temple’s Priestess Ning Xin, so even if Lou Jing knew something, he was probably just grasping at straws. He likely had no real evidence to back up his accusations, and was just trying to scare them into submission.
“I’m absolutely serious. Why don’t you wait a month?” Lou Jing said, his expression becoming icy as he sat up straight. “Father could have made the decisions for the Lou family whilst I was married to the Crown Prince as his male wife, but now that I’m back, I am not going to let this vile spawn sully the honour of the Lou family! My reputation is tied to the Lou family’s good name. That creature will never be my legitimate brother or sister!”
Madam Wei’s face became even paler within seconds. Lou Jing had clearly made a decision, and he was not going to let her off. Now that he had resumed his position as Shizi, he only needed to say that the Anguo Gong furen was feeling unwell, and an Imperial Physician would come down to examine her. At that point, everything would be exposed.
“You bastard! Even if this child was not begotten honourably, it’s still your brother or sister by blood!” Lou Jianyu said angrily. His face was all scrunched up in fury. “You vicious creature!”
This sort of thing was not uncommon amongst the nobility, and a major reason why he wanted to marry Lou Jing off was to cover up this situation. He had expected that Lou Jing would never let this child off because he was a heartless, unscrupulous person who also greatly revered his Grandfather and would never let anything sully his Grandfather’s memory. He also expected that Lou Jing would use this to bring him to ruin and drag his name through the mud.
Lou Jing smiled coldly as he listened to his father ranting. “If you had been honest with me at the outset, Father, it wouldn’t have come to this, no matter how angry I was. I would have just played along and sent furen to a country estate for two years. You think I want this sort of thing to be associated with the Anguo Gong peerage? My reputation is tied to the Anguo Gong’s honour!” he said.
Lou Jianyu’s eyes widened despite himself.
“However, you beat me half to death without any good reason, and you made me enter the Eastern Palace as a male wife without knowing anything at all,” Lou Jing continued, staring frostily at his father. His tone became less harsh then. “If the father doesn’t perform his duties as a father, he can’t blame the son for being unfilial. Since you and I can’t stand the sight of each other, moving forward, I’ll live in Zhuque Hall, and you can continue living in the main residence. We’ll have nothing to do with each other after today.”
Madam Wei sighed quietly in relief on hearing this. Lou Jing was still the Anguo Gong’s Shizi after all, and had to protect the honour of the peerage. He also couldn’t make this matter public.
“However,” Lou Jing continued, his tone stern again as he leaned back on his chair. The change in tone of voice made Lou Jianyu and Madam Wei’s hearts fly back into their mouths. “Even if this child is born, he can never be considered a legitimate child born of the principal wife.”
“What?!” Madam Wei screeched.
“In a few days, I’ll send furen to stay in a country estate in Fu County. After she’s given birth in spring, she’s to return at earliest opportunity. The child will be brought back here after a few years, and you will all say that this child was born to one of Father’s concubines,” Lou Jing said firmly, his lips curving into a menacing smile. His true intentions were now revealed.
Lou Jianyu looked at the dark smile on his son’s face, and in that moment, felt that he hadn’t raised a son, but a cruel wolf. This wolf had only just revealed the sharp fangs it had been hiding all this while, and would rip his throat apart the moment he let down his guard.
Before Madam Wei could object further, Lou Jing took out a thin piece of paper from the folds of his clothes. “This is a written statement given by the Priestess Ning Xin of the Qinglian Temple. That you can even preserve this child’s life is already an enormous blessing. I would urge furen not to be greedy,” he said. The threat was clear; if Madam Wei dared to assert that the child was a legitimate son in future, he would use this written statement to prove that the child was conceived during the mourning period.
“No, no…” Madam Wei shook violently from head to toe, then her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed onto the floor.
Beansprout: The moment you’ve all been waiting for! The revelation of the pregnancy