Chapter 271 - 272: Empress Zhou

Chapter 271: Chapter 272: Empress Zhou

Jin Qianqian said, "Tang Seng isn’t bad either. Look at how all those female demons were scrambling to get their hands on him."

Gu Wenheng replied with a perfectly straight face, "It’s probably not Tang Seng, but a bandit chief."

The same comedy routine came to Jin Qianqian’s mind, and she instantly burst out laughing. "Whatever. You always have some twisted excuse."

Gu Wenheng said, "Am I not speaking the truth?"

Jin Qianqian nodded through her laughter and gave him a thumbs-up. "Everything you say makes sense."

"..."

* * *

After Jin Qianqian’s postpartum confinement ended and they had held the baby’s one-month celebration back in Fu County, Gu Wenheng began directing people to pack their luggage. "Even though we’re not far from Shangjing," he said, "we should still bring everything you and the children are used to."

"But this is way too much," Jin Qianqian said. "It’s like we’re moving our entire house."

The belongings for just her and their two children would likely fill at least three carriages.

"There’s the baby’s cradle that he’s used to sleeping in, and Luo Luo’s favorite toys. We can’t leave those behind, right? And then there are their clothes. We’ll probably have to have new ones made as soon as we get to Shangjing, since these are all getting a bit heavy."

"Won’t this be too conspicuous?" Jin Qianqian asked. ’I wish I could just put everything in my space, but that’s impossible. There are too many servants around, inside and out. It would be impossible to explain.’

"Don’t forget, you’re an Imperial Merchant now," Gu Wenheng said. "If we bring too little, people will start to doubt your wealth."

The rules of the imperial examinations stated that scholars could not engage in commerce, but there was no hard-and-fast rule preventing their wives from using their dowries to run businesses.

Over the years, all the properties they had gradually acquired, as well as their other ventures, were all registered under Jin Qianqian’s name.

In the past, some of his fellow students, acting out of selfish motives, had tried to use this to find fault with him. But Gu Wenheng simply threw up his hands and declared that he didn’t have a single bit of property to his name. Everything the family owned was the result of his wife’s business acumen with her dowry.

Everyone at the time was stunned. They never expected that Gu Wenheng, respectfully addressed as Gu Juren, was actually being completely supported by his wife.

When Gu Wenheng heard their gossip, he just said smugly, "If you’re so capable, then go find a wife like mine.

"Jealous? If you’re jealous, just say it out loud. It’s not like I’ll laugh at you."

His fellow students who heard this were left speechless, but there was absolutely nothing they could do about him.

"If you pass the exam and become an Advanced Scholar, you’ll be appointed to an official post," Jin Qianqian said. "We don’t even know where we’ll end up. If we pack everything now, we’ll just have to go through the whole ordeal again later."

"Don’t worry," Gu Wenheng said. "I’m afraid we won’t be leaving Shangjing for quite some time."

’Besides, Qianqian has only just finished her postpartum confinement. I can’t bear to make them travel so much.’

"Prince Bai sent you a message again!"

"Even if he hadn’t sent me a message, I would have guessed as much," Gu Wenheng replied.

"The imperial court has been unstable for the past few years. The current Holy Emperor is in a battle of wits against two factions of ministers. No matter how you look at it, I’ve already been labeled as one of his men. Do you think that ’the one on high’ would easily let me leave the capital before we’ve had a chance to build a relationship and a good rapport?"

Over the past two years, although his correspondence with Prince Bai seemed ordinary, Gu Wenheng was able to glean crucial information from those letters.

Besides, Dao City wasn’t far from Shangjing, so he had a good understanding of the key figures and factions within the court.

He and Jin Qianqian had even gone so far as to draw up a relationship chart, mapping out even the connections through marriage.

But Jin Qianqian still held out a sliver of hope. "They say ’to serve a king is to live with a tiger.’ I’d actually prefer it if you were assigned a post somewhere else."

"That will depend on my ranking in the imperial examination," Gu Wenheng said.

Jin Qianqian was full of confidence in Gu Wenheng. After all, with the extra ’cheating’ time afforded by her space, he had more than double the study time of anyone else—perhaps even more.

Coupled with their ever-increasing wealth over the past two years, Gu Wenheng had been able to get his hands on and work through practice exams from all over the country and from previous dynasties. It all came down to this final test.

* * *

As soon as Bai Jinglie entered the Southern Study Room and performed his salutations, he flopped unceremoniously into a nearby seat.

"What kind of behavior is that?" Hua Shunming chided with a laugh. ’Still, I enjoy that my only cousin and closest friend can be so unguarded with me.’

"When are you going to let me out of here? I’m sick and tired of being stuck in Shangjing," Bai Jinglie complained, without making any effort to fix his posture.

"If all else fails, I’ll arrange a marriage for you. That would be better than anyone Marquis Bai and the others pick out for you."

Bai Jinglie’s face fell. "Oh, spare me. I’m fine as I am. Any Heir’s wife you choose for me would probably just be forced by them to stay in Shangjing to ’serve’ them, all in the name of filial piety.

"With Ms. Kuang’s machinations, I’d rather not ruin some poor girl’s life."

Hua Shunming was unconcerned. "Even if that’s the case, plenty of families would still be willing to marry their daughters into your estate. It’s just a matter of everyone getting what they want.

"Look at my own harem. I used to be disgusted by how they would neglect important matters just for a concubine position."

Bai Jinglie shot him a look. "Easy for you to say now. When you made Miss Zhou the Empress, you stunned everyone. It took them a good long while to even remember she was the granddaughter of the Border City Commander.

"You gave them some concubine positions, sure, but your harem hasn’t exactly been peaceful these past few years, has it?"

Hua Shunming took a sip of tea, a self-satisfied smile on his face. "You’re mistaken about that. My harem may be lively, but it’s not nearly as outrageous as you imagine."

A wave of satisfaction washed over Hua Shunming as he thought about the Empress’s actions over the past two years.

’As expected of someone with a military background. Although she wasn’t versed in schemes and conspiracies, the Empress firmly believed that brute force could overcome any subtlety. With my full support, the entire harem is now so well-organized it’s just short of having morning and evening drills like an army barracks.’

Bai Jinglie had heard rumors about this as well. "Those old ministers must have raised a fuss, right?" he asked curiously.

"What if they did?" Hua Shunming said. "The harem is naturally the Empress’s domain. Too bad their daughters aren’t the ones sitting on that throne.

"I just asked them one question: ’How do the wives and concubines in your own households get along?’ That shut them up immediately."

"But an imperial concubine is still different from an ordinary household concubine."

A cryptic smile played on Hua Shunming’s lips. "Those officials said the same thing. So, how are they different?"

Bai Jinglie was speechless. ’Now I kind of understand how those old ministers felt. So, after all that effort they put into raising their proper daughters, they just end up as lowly concubines once they enter the palace.’

He silently sympathized with them for a few seconds. "So, the rumors about how Empress Zhou manages the harem are true?"

Back when he was still stationed outside the capital, Bai Jinglie had heard whispers that the concubines in the harem, in addition to their mandatory daily greetings to the Empress, were also required to run several laps around the palace grounds.

Apparently, Empress Zhou found their constitutions lacking and worried they wouldn’t be able to properly bear children for the Holy Emperor. She claimed it was to strengthen their bodies, saving them from gasping for breath after every step and needing palace maids to support them.

At this, Hua Shunming spoke up in Empress Zhou’s defense. "That’s all an exaggeration. My Empress simply has them get a moderate amount of exercise each day to keep them from having too much spare energy to stir up trouble.

"The method works wonders. See? My harem has been peaceful for the last two years. When I have free time, I quite enjoy taking a stroll through it."