Her guards

Chapter 47 Filial Piety of Children

The emperor agreed, and Princess Heicheng, like a satisfied child, did not linger and happily took her leave.

As I walked out of Kunning Palace, I looked back and saw that the palace maids and eunuchs who had been standing outside, including the two servants of the old lady of Yichun Marquis, had all gone into the palace.

Letting the servants in meant that there would be no more arguments or quarrels.

Princess Heisei breathed a sigh of relief and slowly walked out.

However, Princess Heicheng frowned slightly again. Her father and mother had actually argued because of the Duke of Ding'an? And it sounded like her maternal grandparents were also helpless.

My maternal grandfather, the Marquis of Yichun, was no ordinary man.

The title of Marquis of Yichun was bestowed by the Emperor, but it was not bestowed by the Emperor.

In the previous dynasty, the Chai family was the Marquis of Yichun.

During the reign of Emperor Ai, the country was in chaos. At that time, Marquis Yichun, Chai Yan, married his granddaughter Chai Feng to his father, thus establishing a kinship. Then, he mobilized the entire Marquis of Yichun to assist his father in his campaigns.

With his father's power enhanced, he swept through the land, defeated Zhao Tan, pacified various regions, and secured his rule over the empire.

Many people wanted to recruit Chai Yan, but he only chose his father. His father was very grateful to the Chai family and said he would make the Chai family a noble family for a hundred years, so he continued the previous dynasty's system of bestowing titles.

The Yang family of Ding'an is completely incomparable to the Chai family.

The Yang family was merely a wealthy household in the previous dynasty, not a powerful or influential family. They were simply from the same place as my father and had taken care of him when he was young.

Later, when his father went out to fight against Zhao Tan, he sent his soldiers to contact the surrounding villages and towns, and the Yang family followed suit and rebelled as well.

In fact, the Yang family was not good at fighting, nor did they have outstanding knowledge or strategic planning skills. They were trusted by their father to guard the rear, but after the new dynasty was established, they were even granted a noble title.

This surprised and angered many people at the time.

The emperor, however, said that a debt of gratitude must be repaid, and that without the Yang family, Deng Shan would have died long ago, thus silencing the doubts of others, who could only privately curse the Yang family for their good fortune.

However, being lucky enough to have the emperor's backing doesn't mean you can do whatever you want, especially when dealing with families that have truly made contributions.

Why is it that this kind of family seems to be causing my maternal grandfather's family a lot of trouble?
Princess Heicheng recalled that before she went to the Imperial Academy to choose a study companion, her father had mentioned that she should make sure that the young lady of the Duke of Ding'an's mansion was treated with respect.

That's why she specifically called Yang Hui over to talk to her.

In reality, since she could remember, the Duke of Ding'an's family had not come to the capital very often, only during festivals. It seemed that they were not very respectable in front of the emperor.

But she vaguely remembered that when the Duke of Ding'an and his wife celebrated their birthdays, her father, the Emperor, also bestowed gifts upon them, which was quite unusual.

That's really strange.

The argument just now seems to suggest that the three families had a connection before the emperor ascended the throne.

What is the origin of this relationship? The Empress Dowager never mentions the Duke of Ding'an's family, and the Emperor seems to be close to them, but he never talks about the past.

It's all because she was born too late. She was born in the capital, where there was a clear distinction between the emperor and his subjects. Unlike her elder brother, the Prince of Donghai, whose father was still at war when she was born, she was either with her father in the army or at her maternal grandfather's house. She often saw her father's comrades who were fighting alongside him and could hear their private conversations.

Princess Heisei nodded thoughtfully, saying she would find some time to ask her brother.

A whistle suddenly interrupted Princess Heisei's thoughts. She was startled, then smiled, looked up, and called out, "Wei Jiao."

Wei Jiao stood in front of the palace, swaying as he looked at her.

"You've come to see Father Emperor?" Princess Heicheng looked around; they had already reached the vicinity of the Emperor's study.

The study that her father specially prepared for her is also here, a privilege that even her elder brothers do not enjoy, let alone the other princesses, which shows how much he loves her as the eldest daughter of the emperor.

Wei Jiao bowed respectfully.

"So busy so early in the morning?" Princess Heisei asked. "What case have you uncovered this time?"

Wei Jiao raised an eyebrow: "Does the princess dare to listen to the cases I handle?" Then she smiled and said, "The princess is much bolder than the King of Donghai. The King of Donghai turns around and leaves as soon as he sees me, and never dares to ask about my cases."

Princess Heicheng glanced at him and said, "My brother has a grudge against you for stuffing incense ash into your mouth, so he doesn't want to talk to you."

“I strangled your beloved parrot the first time we met, and you didn’t hold a grudge against me or look down on me,” Wei Jiao said, waving his hand to stop Princess Heicheng from speaking. “Princess, you don’t need to be modest. You are better than the King of Donghai. It’s a pity you’re a woman, otherwise you should be the crown prince.”

Princess Heisei spat and said, "Don't talk nonsense."

Wei Jiao was outspoken, and others thought he was crazy, but there were some things she couldn't accept, so she quickly changed the subject.

"Father is with Mother, and Grandmother is here too. She'll probably come over after dinner. You can come later."

Wei Jiao exclaimed, "That's great!"

Why is this so good again? Although Princess Heping was one of the few people who could have a pleasant conversation with Wei Jiao, she was still often taken aback by Wei Jiao's words.

“Actually, I didn’t come to see His Majesty to discuss the case. Sigh—” Wei Jiao explained to her, letting out a long sigh, “The case His Majesty assigned has made no progress, and I didn’t want to see His Majesty at all.”

She sounded annoyed again when she said that.

"But my father sent someone to request an audience with His Majesty, and asked me to come and inquire about it."

After saying this, he bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I take my leave." With a flick of his toe, he turned around as the person who had been bowing away turned around, then rose and gracefully departed.

Princess Heisei felt as if she were watching a butterfly flitting about, both annoyed and amused. Wei Jiao's behavior was truly erratic.

But she's good-looking.

She couldn't actually remember the parrot that Wei Jiao had strangled; she only remembered that the boy holding the parrot in his hand was really handsome.

They're much prettier than parrots.

……

.......
Wei Jiao returned to the Embroidered Robe Office with light steps.

The embroidered-robed officials were either scattered outside spying or conducting trials in the prisons, making the already deserted yamen even more eerie.

However, there were seven or eight people squatting, standing, or leaning against the pillars in the courtyard today.

Upon seeing Wei Jiao enter, the group quickly stood up, one of the young men looking quite displeased.

“Wei Jiao, you—” he said.

Before she could finish speaking, she was stopped by the older man.

“Wei Xu, you must not be rude to the Third Young Master,” he said, then smiled kindly at Wei Jiao, “A-Jiao is back? Has His Majesty informed him?”

Wei Jiao shook his head: "Seventh Uncle, you've come at the wrong time. His Majesty is having dinner with the Empress and the old lady of the Marquis of Yichun. You won't be able to see him today. I'll try to find him for you tomorrow."

What kind of food is this? Enough to last a whole day? That's such a perfunctory answer.

The group exchanged glances, and another middle-aged man spoke up: "Let's deliver the invitations ourselves and ask for an audience. It won't be so troublesome for you to run back and forth, young master."

Wei Jiao raised an eyebrow: "What are you saying!"

The group was taken aback by his sudden change of expression, but the next moment they saw Wei Jiao smile.

“My father sent someone to pay his respects, how could I, as his son, ignore it?” he said. “How can a son sharing his father’s burdens be considered hardship? It’s only natural!”

The middle-aged man gave a wry smile, about to say something, but Wei Xu couldn't hold back any longer and pushed them aside, taking a step forward.

"Wei Jiao, are you deliberately causing trouble?" he shouted. "This is none of your business. We were traveling through the official post station, and you had the Embroidered Uniform Guard intercept us halfway and detain us in your Embroidered Uniform Guard's office. What are you trying to do—"

Before he could finish speaking, his vision blurred, and then there was a loud crack.

Wei Jiao slapped him across the face.

Wei Xu suddenly fell to the ground.

The others were startled. "Wei Jiao!" they shouted. "Why are you hitting people?" and surrounded the young man to prevent Wei Jiao from hitting him again.

Wei Jiao gently stroked her hand.

“What’s so strange about me hitting people? I’ve only been away from home for over five years. Have you all forgotten that I’m sick and like to hit people?” he said, looking at them and smiling again. “But I’m much better now. Now I have a reason for hitting people, unlike before when I was just going crazy.”

Yes, everyone in the Wei clan knows that Wei Cui's youngest son is a madman.

He was also a madman with immense strength.

The man called Seventh Uncle looked at Wei Xu, who had been beaten. This was his son, whose face was swollen from a slap, and whose mouth and nose were covered in blood.

He suppressed his anger and asked with a stern face, "Then what's the reason?"

Wei Jiao looked at him with a smile: "Seventh Uncle, you know I am a Captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, right? You know what we Embroidered Uniform Guards do, right?"

He fiddled with his fingers.

"Inspectors, relatives and friends are extravagant, overstep their bounds, and break the law."

"His Majesty has summoned Father to the capital time and time again, but he refused to come. Instead, he sent you, my seventh uncle, to come. Yet you swaggered into the government office and claimed to be here to pay your respects. This shows that you don't respect His Majesty."

"This is an overreach and illegal act."

Although Master Wei was in Longxi, he was certainly aware of the reputation of the Embroidered Robe Guards.

For transgressions and illegal acts, the punishment for the embroidered-robed women is usually light; their homes are typically ransacked.

Wei Jiao had a reason to hit someone.

He gritted his teeth and said, "The General's absence is due to unavoidable circumstances... He informed His Majesty, which is why he sent us to pay our respects and apologize."

Wei Jiao hummed in agreement and squatted down to look at Wei Xu, whose face was covered in blood.

“So I attacked first, so Your Majesty doesn’t have to,” he said earnestly. “I’m doing this to save your lives and my father’s reputation!”

Master Wei looked at him, his face twitching, and finally lowered his gaze: "Thank you for your help, Third Young Master."

Wei Jiao smiled, his eyes crinkling: "You're welcome. It's what a son should do."

(End of this chapter)