Chapter 7

TRANSLATED BY MYPEN_22

When she heard that Hua Ling wanted to compose a poem, the Queen Mother was shocked, she knew the details of Hua Ling. The two of them muttered and discussed for a long time before they came up with the present method.

    When Yang married into the Duke of Kangle's family, Hua Ling was still young, unable to walk or speak fully. A child like this was as white as a sheet of paper, and she was not allowed to pour ink on it? She could make him grow up to be whatever she wanted him to be. What does a child like that know? What does he know? He would have believed her even if she had described salt as sweet and sugar as salty.

    Without beating him or scolding him, she has taught him to be a waste of time who knows nothing. Even if she scolded him occasionally, she would say under her breath that it was for his own good. Instead of holding a grudge, he would be grateful to her. It is far more powerful to attack an enemy mentally than physically.

    Yang's treatment of Hua Ling has had many unexpected rewards, and nowadays, anyone who talks about Yang has to give her a thumbs up for being a good stepmother. Moreover, Yang has taught Hua Ling to be what she wants her to be. Apart from his face, which looked okay, there was nothing else to like. He is so obedient to her that he would be willing to give up his position as the son of the Duke of Kangle in the future, even if he were asked to do so.

    In fact, Yang wanted Hua Ling to become a bastard, to bully men and women, to eat, drink, whine and gamble, to do unscrupulous things, and then to kill himself. But Yang is afraid that if Hua Ling is unstable when he is young, if he meets someone after he leaves the house and is provoked to disobey her, she will keep Hua Ling in the house, where she has all her people and will not say anything to Hua Ling.

    This had the advantage of making Hua Ling more obedient, but the other consequence was that Hua Ling was too cowardly to go out of the house to see others. If he did not even dare to leave the house, how could he go out and do anything?

    The Queen Mother knew all this, otherwise why would she have agreed to marry Hua Ling to Yan Shi?

    Thinking of this, the Empress said, "Your Majesty, please let the couple go back to rest as soon as possible. They must be tired from the recent wedding."

    "Mother, I'm not tired," Hua Ling said to show that he was not tired, "Since Father wants to listen to my poetry, even if I'm tired, I'm not tired.

    Emperor Chongzheng and Hua Ling were chatting happily, so naturally he did not want to let him go back so soon: "Then let's make a poem."

    Hua Ling looked around the hall and looked down for a while before slowly saying, "The palace is so beautiful."

    When Emperor Chongzheng heard the first line, his expression was exactly the same as when he heard it last night, and before he finished being surprised, he heard Hua Ling continue, "Of course, the Queen Mother is the most beautiful."

    The Empress wanted to burrow into a hole in the ground, how could she forget to tell her sister not to tell him to show off his literary skills so easily?

    "Father is good looking too."

    Yan Shi wondered in his mind if the only word he used to describe beauty was good-looking.

    "Meet Father and Mother."

    "My heart is so happy."

    Emperor Chong Zhuan was so shocked that he could no longer speak.

    "Best wishes to Father and Mother."

    "Smile and be happy,"

    "Good cheer every day."

    Yan Shi said, "Not bad, four lines more than what you made last night in the king's palace, worthy of praise" .

    The Empress' face was already dark, and the Emperor had also recovered from his shock. How can you call such a mess a poem? Even a child of seven years old could write better than him. But looking at Hua Ling's smiling face and big eyes full of prayer for praise, Emperor Chong Zhuang coughed lightly: "Not bad, not bad. This limerick is well done, easy to understand and concise. Zitong, don't you think so?"

    The Emperess hurriedly nodded her head, "Not bad, not bad, this poem is really wonderful. Rewarded!"

    Hua Ling received many more rewards.

    Hua Ling happily kowtowed and thanked her, and then asked, "Father, do you think this son's literary skills will enable him to be admitted to the imperial examinations?"

    The emperor, who was one of the top five in the world, was a bit confused, as he saw that Hua Ling looked like a child.

    "Your Majesty, I heard that there was another case of disappearance today?" The emperor was worried about what to say, but the empress duly changed the subject, "A corpse was found in the pond west of the city this morning? Is this the person who disappeared before?"

    When she was about to answer, she heard Hua Ling ask, "How did you know that a corpse was found in the pond in the west of the city? I also know about this. In the morning, when we were about to leave the royal residence, a beautiful gentleman came to tell us about it."

    The Emperess heart thumped; it was a rule from ancient times that the harem must not interfere with politics. She was in a hurry to change the subject just now, so she brought the matter up.

    Naturally, Yan Shi would not let go of such an opportunity, "Yes, Mother, I didn't know this news until I entered the palace, Mother's news is really fast."

    The Empress became enraged, "What do you mean?"

    "Literally."

    Emperor Chongzhuan placed his tea heavily on the table, and at that moment neither of them said anything more.

    "Father, what's wrong with Father?" Hua Ling shivered in fear, "Yes, is it because this son cannot win the entrance examination? My mother said that even if I don't join the court, I can still eat and drink well."

    When Hua Ling spoke, Emperor Chongzheng's face eased a little. But after listening to what he said later, Emperor Chong Zhuan frowned unnoticeably: "Your mother said that even if you don't join the court as an official, you will still be able to eat and drink well?" Suddenly, he remembered Hua Ling's earlier words, "Those of us from families like ours should not compete with those from humble backgrounds for the scholarship. They are so poor that they need to be officials to live a good life." Then he asked, "What did your mother tell you about joining the imperial court as an official?"

    The Empress was a little anxious: "Your Majesty..."

    Emperor Chongzheng's voice was low and dignified: "Zitong!"

    "My mother said that it is natural to become an official in order to have a good life." Hua Ling said, "If you want to make a good living for yourself and your whole family, you can do whatever you want."

    The Empress couldn't help but interject, "Your Highness, don't talk nonsense, saying the wrong thing can lead to your head."

    Hua Ling subconsciously scowled, "I am not talking nonsense, what I said is true, that is what my mother said to me, I never lie.

    "How dare you!" The Empress was furious, how could someone as smart as her sister raise such a stupid person, didn't she know what to say and what not to say?

    Yan Shi stood by and enjoyed the show, "Are you angry, Mother? I think it's a good idea for you to invite my 'mother in-law' here to ask her."

(TN/what Yan shi meant by Mother in law here is Hua Ling step mother, the empress sister)

    Hua Ling was so frightened that he said, "Why are you angry, Mother? You were fine just now, weren't you? I'm scared because you are like this."

    "Zitong, don't talk any more without my order," Emperor Chonghuang glanced at his successor (I am not sure who the emperor is looking at here, either the empress or prince Yan shì), and then looked at Hua Ling, "Since the purpose of being an official is just to eat and drink, then what does the court need these officials for?"

    "Then my mother didn't say," Hua Ling thought for a moment, "Father, I will tell you after this son goes back and asks his mother."

    The Emperor said, "Yes," and said a few words to him before sending him back with Yan Shi.

    "Father," Yan Shi bowed, "I want to go and see Huo Jia."

    Princess Huojia was seventeen years old, and was born to the same Queen Yuan as Yan shi, who had only one son and one daughter.

    It had been a long time since he had seen his sister, but the Emperor had refused on the grounds that Princess Huojia had something to do, not even bothering to make excuses.

    However, the Emperor had already refused to go to the palace on the grounds that Princess Huajia had something to do. Hua Ling's words were really unfavourable to King Zhaoge's faction, especially when she explicitly said that her successor had interfered with the government.

    Although nothing could be changed yet, all the small mistakes would add up to a bigger and bigger snowball.

    It was time to change the sky in the imperial city.

    When he looked at his young concubine, he seemed to be looking better than before.

    "Brother, I miss Sister Mute," Hua Ling tugged on Yan Shi's broad sleeve robe and shook it as soon as he stepped through the door of Rui Ying's residence.

    "Sister Mute?" She didn't exist in the palace, but then he thought that Hua Ling had brought her over from the Kangle Palace.

    "Well," Hua Ling's face was a little red, and he lowered his head slightly, probably because he was a little embarrassed, "Mute Sister was my birth mother's nursemaid, and after my mother died of illness, she took care of me. Although she could not speak and could not read, she was especially kind to me. I have never been separated from her for so many years, but since I was married yesterday, it is the longest time I have been apart from her. Brother, do you know where Sister Mute is?"

    Yan Shi really did not know, so he called the housekeeper to ask him, and he brought the mute sisters to him.

    "Mute Sister!" Hua Ling was so happy to see Mute Sister coming, he ran towards her with his arms wide open, as if he wanted to hug her, but he didn't want to because of the presence of Yan Shi.

    Yan Shi looked at the mute grandmother, she was about sixty years old, thin and dry, her hair was white and her back was a bit bowed, and when she saw Hua Ling, a smile appeared in her eyes. She grabbed Hua Ling's shoulders and looked him up and down, gesturing with her hands, asking him how he was doing.

    These two looked less like master and servant and more like grandmother and grandson. Yan Shi sighed, how long had it been since he had enjoyed this kind of heavenly happiness?

    "Qingji," Yangshi asked the butler standing beside him, "how many maids and servants has the princess brought with him?"

    Qingji replied, "In reply to Your Highness words, apart from this mute maid, there are two maids and two servants."

    Yan Shi ordered, "Leave the mute maid to serve the princess, the rest of you go and do the chores."

    Qing Ji naturally knew what Yan Shi meant and went to do the job.

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