Having a Baby Before Marrying a Wicked Husband - Chapter 123

The Grand Minister of Justice’s face changed color!

“What did the Prince mean by this?” He publicly disclosed all the details of the seized items, right in front of the Emperor. Could it be that the Prince did this intentionally? Or maybe he had made this trip intentionally under the Emperor’s order, and deliberately lured him into making false accounts and secretly deducting the money.

This was not entirely impossible. Who could understand the Emperor’s current mindset? One moment he might be smiling at you, the next moment he could order your execution.

Just look at how the Emperor treated his several sons and you would understand. Based solely on the Emperor’s actions, it was impossible to guess which Prince he favored more.

The Emperor was already of an age to pass on the throne to a Crown Prince. However, no matter how officials advised him, or even if the censors remonstrated in court, the Emperor remained unmoved, even counter-questioning them.

“Do you think that Zhen is about to ascend to the heavens tomorrow?”

As soon as these words came out, who would dare to remonstrate further? They all fell to their knees in denial, shouting long live the Emperor.

One simply couldn’t judge the Emperor’s attitude towards the Princes from his own demeanor. Therefore, when Yan Cai suddenly spoke the truth, the Grand Minister of Justice suspected a conspiracy.

Could it really be the Emperor’s intention? After all, in the capital now, who was the most prominent figure, the most favored one, if not the recently meritorious Carefree Prince?

Moreover, could someone who had risen from nothing to such a position be considered pure-hearted?

Of course not! The Grand Minister of Justice was absolutely convinced that Yan Cai was a cunning schemer, starting to speculate on what moves he made in this step, and how he deliberately cooperated with the Emperor to trap them!

Yan Cai: You’re really overthinking it. He really just hasn’t been a corrupt official before, hasn’t engaged in this kind of dishonest activity before, he’s just inexperienced, he’ll learn to do better next time.

But in the Grand Minister of Justice’s mind, the label of Yan Cai being schemer was firmly stuck.

Moreover, the Emperor was too accommodating. Upon hearing Yan Cai’s momentarily verbalized confession, he burst into laughter instead of getting angry at all.

In the Grand Minister of Justice’s mind, this further proved that the Carefree Prince and the Emperor were indeed putting on a show of mutual cooperation, like a scripted performance of “You Sing, I Respond”, wasn’t it?

Perhaps only Jiang Manyue among those present could guess what the Grand Minister of Justice was thinking. Seeing that the Emperor didn’t seem to be angry, Jiang Manyue finally relaxed.

“You took the initiative to confess. Zhen appreciate your initiative, so Zhen will spare you from punishment. However…” The Emperor’s lips curved with a hint of amusement, not showing much anger. After all, he had intended for Yan Cai, who had never experienced a house search before, to earn some money.

When the water is clear, there will be no fish. A completely clean official is not necessarily a good official. Besides, with the heavens high and the Emperor far away, the Emperor could not oversee everything. Sometimes, turning a blind eye was better.

It was impossible for the Emperor to raid the house himself, so he wanted to assign this lucrative task to Yan Cai. Who wouldn’t want to profit from it?

“Now that you’ve confessed everything, is there a reparation?”

Although Yan Cai had accidentally slipped up, he didn’t falter and quickly responded, “I have heartfelt loyalty and naturally want to hand it over to Your Majesty.”

“But if you hand everything over to Zhen, you won’t receive any reward for your half-day’s labor. Therefore, Zhen understand you. You can keep some items as a reward from Zhen.”

Since the Emperor had said so, Yan Cai didn’t refuse.

“Since Your Majesty says so, then I won’t be polite! I… I’ll take two pieces of jade and two pearls.”

He didn’t ask for much, and the Emperor understood. He knew Yan Cai wouldn’t push his luck. The request for two pieces of jade was understandable, considering that he had noticed Yan Cai’s particular fondness for jade before. But when did he become interested in pearls?

The Emperor asked the question, but Yan Cai was embarrassed and did not answer.

Jiang Manyue saw his embarrassed look and offered to help answer the question.

“Okay, Tanghua, please speak on behalf of the Carefree Prince.”

“Your Majesty, as for those two pearls… They’ve already been claimed by my son and used as toys. They were even urinated on yesterday.”

The father didn’t spare his son, openly revealing the embarrassing incident in court. The Emperor was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter.

“I’ve made Your Majesty laugh.” Yan Cai’s face turned red. This mischievous child had embarrassed him in front of the Imperial Court.

“But the pearls, well, they’ve already been urinated on. Kids just like these little trinkets,” the Emperor said, unconcerned. Then, as if remembering something, he chuckled and said, “If the young prince likes these little beads, let’s reward him with some more. Bring me my jar of glass beads and give it to the young  prince.”

Yan Cai was somewhat curious about how the Emperor came to possess such childish toys. However, he wasn’t a fool. Seeing the Emperor’s changing expressions—from a smiling face to a sudden hint of sadness—he refrained from saying anything. Besides, Jiang Manyue discreetly tugged at his sleeve as a reminder.

After thanking the Emperor for his grace, they left. The Grand Minister of Justice dared not offend Yan Cai in any way. Just by seeing that the Emperor not only wasn’t angry but also rewarded them, he knew he had won the Emperor’s favor and that his suspicions were further confirmed.

The Carefree Prince must be acting in collusion with the Emperor. He needed to remind his colleagues when he returned.

Back at home, after closing the door and leaving only family members present, Yan Cai finally brought up the issue of the glass beads.

The glass beads given by the Emperor were indeed beautiful—red, green, translucent. Qingke loved such shiny and colorful things. Upon seeing the beads, he even abandoned his luminous pearls.

However, wherever he bounced off to, he always carried a small wicker basket on his back. To prevent the prickles in the basket from piercing his skin, it was lined with soft satin, and inside, there was a potted plant.

The plant had sparse branches and solitary leaves, with a small flower bud at the top. For some reason, the younger child’s flower buds were much smaller compared to what the elder child had at the same age, and it didn’t look very healthy.

Jiang Manyue suspected it was because of the hardship in the military camp, compounded by his injuries, that had made the child anxious, causing the younger child to become thin.

However, Yan Cai didn’t see it that way.

The second child is quite demanding, needing much more energy compared to Keke. The amount needed to sustain the second child alone is equivalent to twice as much as Keke’s. These days, they’ve been feeding the second child blood just like they do with Keke, and the quantity has increased quite a bit.

During the time when the child was still inside him, it nearly depleted all his energy, Moreover, unlike with the older child, Yan Cai couldn’t sense the younger one’s movements at all. Fortunately, now that it was in the pot, it wasn’t as draining on his energy.

Qingke was particularly fond of his younger sibling. Wherever he went, he carried the basket, behaving like a good elder brother when taking care of his younger sibling.

Even if he was fascinated by the beautiful beads brought back by his father, he would never let go of the basket. With his small body, carrying the basket covered his entire back.

Jiang Manyue picked up his son and the younger child and placed them both on his lap, then talked to Yan Cai about the glass bead incident.

It turned out that these glass beads were leftovers from when they were awarded to several Princes in the past. Seeing these glass beads reminded the Emperor of some past events, which made him somewhat worried about recent matters.

Even though the Emperor maintained a façade of composure in front of his courtiers, in reality, he knew he should have already chosen a Crown Prince.

However, among his several sons, the Emperor found it difficult to make a decision.

After hearing this, Yan Cai didn’t inquire further and just focused on playing with his son. He had no interest in getting involved in palace affairs.

Regardless of which Imperial Prince it concerned, it had nothing to do with him. He absolutely wouldn’t meddle in royal matters!