Chapter 15: - The Imperial Concubine is having an affair with the Prime Minister
Zhuang He Ming was born a commoner. His parents had high hopes for him and asked a teacher to give him a name.
They hoped he would stand out among the crowd and make a stunning debut.
Living up to everyone’s expectations, he became the top scorer at the age of eleven; at thirteen, he passed the provincial examination and went to the capital for the imperial examination that same year.
In the golden palace, he was summoned by the previous Emperor. He heard the surprised laughter from the dragon throne: “This policy essay was actually written by a thirteen-year-old child?”
“Your Majesty, this top scorer…”
“How can a thirteen-year-old top scorer command respect? Let the rankings after the top scorer all move up one place.”
“As for you, I see that you have some talent, so go and be a study companion to the Second Prince.”
This was a favor bestowed by the previous Emperor. All Zhuang He Ming could do was clench his fists tightly and kowtow heavily:
“Thank you for Your Majesty’s great kindness.”
This palace was most adept at stepping on the high and flattering the low. He suffered all kinds of humiliation in the palace. The only one he got along with was Song Yu, a medicine boy from the Imperial Physician Institute.
He entrusted Song Yu to bring money and letters to his parents, apologizing for not being able to fulfill his filial duties by their side.
When Song Yu returned to the palace, he told him:
He had gone to the capital and had been absent for a long time. Everyone thought he had died on the way to the examination. Only his parents were still stubbornly waiting for their son to return.
To repay the debts incurred due to his journey to the capital for the examination, his father, while worried, had worked himself to death.
His mother, in her grief and seeing no hope of her son’s return, had also…
Died of illness.
He was stunned.
“Brother He Ming, please restrain your grief.”
Restrain his grief? No, he was exceptionally calm, and exceptionally angry.
The anger continued to burn until the previous Emperor and the previous Crown Prince died one after another. It wasn’t until the Second Prince he had supported ascended to the throne, and then it was extinguished.
The intense emotions were all exhausted during that time. He became indifferent, his heart as calm as still water.
Until he met her. She always did some very inappropriate things, just like now!
Zhuang He Ming came out of the Imperial Study, preparing to leave the palace. He was walking along when he suddenly heard someone whispering his name.
Turning his head, he saw Jiang Xin Ren poking out half of her fair face from behind a rockery, smiling at him.
Not far ahead, the eunuch leading the way was not one of his subordinates, and someone could pass by this path at any time. What was she doing here?
Judging from her appearance, it wasn’t anything urgent. Zhuang He Ming pretended not to notice and intended to leave.
Jiang Xin Ren was anxious. She knew that the Emperor had assigned him a mission to go to Jiangnan, and today was his last day in the capital!
She looked around and saw that no one was paying attention. She lifted her skirt and ran towards him.
Zhuang He Ming heard the slightly hurried footsteps behind him, followed by a tightness around his waist. He staggered a step from the impact.
Had she gone crazy?
Seeing that the eunuch holding the lantern in front had heard the commotion and was about to turn around, Zhuang He Ming immediately picked her up and deftly hid in a nearby rockery.
His guard also stepped forward quickly and pulled the eunuch into an embrace:
“Eunuch, the Prime Minister just remembered that he has urgent matters at home, so he took a shortcut and left first. Please forgive him.”
The eunuch holding the lantern was flattered and repeatedly said, “I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare.”
Not far behind them in the rockery, the two were entangled in an embrace, their heavy breathing particularly noticeable in the darkness.
“If Your Highness wanted to see me, you could have sent a message through the palace servants. Why risk coming in person?”
He lowered his voice and tried to release the person in his arms.
Jiang Xin Ren tightly hooked her arms around his neck and said aggrievedly,
“If I don’t say it, you won’t come to see me. Even if I say it, you might not come.”
He was at a loss for words. After a long while, he said, “So, Your Highness, do you have any important matters today?”
Jiang Xin Ren nodded, “I do have something very important to tell you.”
Zhuang He Ming listened attentively.
She leaned close to his ear, opened her mouth to take his earlobe, and said in a slurred and drawn out voice voice, “I want a child.”
The wet and hot lips and tongue licking him made him stiffen. The words that followed, however, shocked him into speechlessness for a long time.
“Wh-what? Can Your Highness say it again?”
“I said, I want a child,” she changed to licking his Adam’s apple, “I want your child.”
His body felt hot. He reached out to grasp her slender shoulders and gently pushed her away, creating some distance between them.
“My lord…”
To allmost all of her requests, he was powerless to refuse.
But this time, it was really not possible. Even if they could conceive a child by deceiving the heavens, what about the child’s appearance?
If the child took after her, it would be fine, but what if the child resembled him?
He closed his eyes and forced himself to say, “This matter, let’s discuss it another day, not today.”
“But you’re going to Jiangnan tomorrow.”
Jiang Xin Ren persisted, standing on tiptoe to kiss him. Zhuang He Ming raised his head, and her red lips landed on his chin, leaving a moist mark.
As the two were at an impasse, pushing and refusing, they suddenly heard the Emperor’s question not too far away:
“Why is the Beloved Consort here?”
Both of them were startled and immediately stopped. Then they heard a delicate female voice:
“Replying to Your Majesty, this concubine thought that Your Majesty has been busy and working hard all day, so I came to bring you some soup. I did not expect to encounter Your Majesty here.”
Jiang Xin Ren breathed a sigh of relief. She looked up and saw Zhuang He Ming frowning, paying attention to the movement outside. She mischievously rubbed against him.
He immediately locked her body in place, not allowing her to cause trouble, and gave her bottom a warning pat.
“Just agree to my request,” she whispered, her moist breath hitting his Adam’s apple, “Please?”
He was teased until his body trembled. Subconsciously wanting to take a step back, this rockery had many pebbles. He stepped on one, and it bounced away.
“What was that sound?”
The Emperor had obviously heard it. He asked in puzzlement, thinking of the assassin discovered just a few months ago. His heart turned cold, and he immediately signaled to the person beside him with his eyes:
“Go and take a look.”
Hearing the footsteps getting closer and closer, heading towards the rockery, there was no extra hiding place in this rockery. If they stood here, the two people in a disheveled state, embracing each other, would be discovered.
Zhuang He Ming held her tightly, pressing her face against his chest, trying his best to shield her behind him.
The footsteps stopped in front of the rockery.
Rong Shun looked at Zhuang He Ming, then glanced at the woman behind him, with only a corner of her clothes visible. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
What were these two doing here in the middle of the day?
Were they so uncomfortable staying in the palace that they had to run to the Emperor’s presence?
Muttering in his heart, he put on a serious face and turned to the Emperor:
“Your Majesty, it was a sparrow carrying a small pebble.”
Come to think of it, if it was really an assassin, they would have probably jumped out to make an attempt by now.
The Emperor laughed and hugged the concubine beside him, “Since the Beloved Consort has carefully prepared soup for me, I must personally have a taste.”
“Someone, prepare the palanquin!”
The group left with great fanfare.
Jiang Xin Ren relaxed and fell softly against Zhuang He Ming. She felt the hand pinching her waist was so strong that it hurt, and she couldn’t help but struggle slightly.
“What are you running away from?”
Zhuang He Ming pinched her chin, visibly angry.
He was annoyed by her willfulness, her lack of consideration for herself, and putting herself in danger.
“Didn’t you want to have my child? Fine! I agree.”
Amid her exclamation, he picked her up horizontally and quickly walked towards the more secluded rockery deeper in the garden.