The Salted Fish’s Political Marriage - Chapter 17

Song Mingzhi’s eyelashes trembled lightly.

The peach blossoms drifted down and landed on the ground. During that split second of blinking, Song Mingzhi quickly grew alert and collected his thoughts.

Although he lacked the original owner’s memories, he understood one thing: as a noble from Shulan, the original owner would have only begun learning the Central Plains dialect around the age of six or seven. Based on that timeline, it was nearly impossible for him, while lost and in a state of panic, to have spoken such a complex sentence at that age.

Song Mingzhi smiled, raised his eyes gently, and replied calmly, “Does Your Highness understand Shulan?”

Mu Yanzhou frowned. “Naturally, I do not.”

Song Mingzhi shook the bell casually and looked up at him. “Then how does Your Highness know what I said when I was young?”

Silence descended outside Huiming Hall for a few seconds.

A moment later, Mu Yanzhou suddenly laughed softly and shook his head. “What a pity. It seems Ah Zhi did not say it back then.” He reached out to brush a fallen petal from Song Mingzhi’s shoulder and added, “Then we shall owe it for now.”

He paused, then unreasonably added, “Right now, you owe me twice.”

With that, he finally called for the servants. Laughing, and ignoring Song Mingzhi’s protests, he had him escorted back to Zhuohua Courtyard. He himself reached out to poke the bell on the door, walking into the room with a faint chuckle.

“It is getting late. Let us sleep.”

The night breeze blew through the courtyard, swaying the bell under the eaves.

Song Mingzhi looked back toward Huiming Hall amidst the jingle-jangle sound. He was certain that the black shadow from earlier was no illusion. So, who exactly would be lurking outside the door of Huiming Hall in the middle of the night, observing every move the Prince of Qi made?

The night breeze gradually died down. The jingle-jangle sound began to fade.

Suddenly, the person within the palace hall appeared in Song Mingzhi’s mind.

The servants in the Prince of Qi’s manor noticed something: since getting married, Mu Yanzhou no longer spent his days riding horses, fighting crickets, or drinking wine with that group of dissolute nobles.

Although somewhat reluctant, under the Prince Consort’s strict supervision, he finally showed signs of doing proper work. Consequently, the group of nobles who followed him around also started to reveal a hint of seriousness. For instance, when they came to the Prince of Qi’s manor, their topics of conversation finally shifted from eating, drinking, and playing to government affairs.

Although most of them were forced to do so.

The weather in Chongjing warmed day by day. The sun bathed the peach blossoms in the courtyard, making them curl slightly and drift with the spring breeze, looking like a layer of mist from afar.

Early that morning, the doors and windows of the east room of Huiming Hall were wide open. Most of the young nobles around Mu Yanzhou had no interest in court affairs, but there were a few who loved to pontificate—the type who knew just enough to be dangerous. Now, they finally had their chance.

On the crescent-shaped stool by the window, a certain noble from Chongjing set down his teacup and, like a storyteller, gestured wildly. “My father said that Minister Du returned to the Ministry of Revenue before his injuries had even healed, turning through memorials and official documents in one go. After investigating back and forth, that matter in the Ministry of Revenue seems to have truly been a miscarriage of justice!”

When he reached this point, he suddenly picked up his teacup, took a sip, lowered his voice, and leaned toward Mu Yanzhou. “According to insider news, it seems they have already traced it to a minor official named Feng Ronggui.”

At this moment, Song Mingzhi arrived outside the courtyard in a sedan chair.

The servants guarding the courtyard entrance had not yet had the chance to bow when Song Mingzhi interrupted them. “No need for formalities.”

He walked through the front courtyard alone and arrived outside the main hall of Huiming Hall. He not only heard the noble’s words, but also saw a servant in a jade-green robe standing under the partition outside the study, carrying a pot of tea. The servant’s expression was extremely tense, looking exactly like someone who was eavesdropping on the conversation inside.

This morning, the doors to Huiming Hall had not been closed. Song Mingzhi looked up at the bell on the door, stepped over the threshold quietly, and walked toward the study. He paused for a few seconds before suddenly speaking in a cold voice, “What are you doing standing here?”

Song Mingzhi walked without making a sound. The servant had been listening too intently and had not noticed his arrival at all.

The startled servant widened his eyes. His hand shook violently, and the white porcelain teapot fell to the ground, shattering with a crisp sound that completely interrupted the noble in the study.

The noble was shocked. “Who is outside?!” He sprang up from the crescent stool, pressed a hand to his chest, and looked out of the study.

Mu Yanzhou slowly frowned and stood up from his chair. He cast a casual glance at the servant, then looked through the gap in the partition at Song Mingzhi, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

Outside the study door, the servant dropped to his knees. While bowing to those inside and outside the study, he scrambled to clean up the shattered porcelain. “Your Highness, please forgive me! It is all because this slave is clumsy!”

Song Mingzhi’s appearance had been too sudden. The cold tone of his voice shattered the servant’s nerves, and he instinctively began to defend himself. However, the more one says, the easier it is to expose one’s panic. “This slave, this slave was just, just afraid to disturb the Prince and Master Qiao talking, so I have been waiting outside the door.”

Song Mingzhi said nonchalantly, “Why are you so jumpy?”

The servant paused, and a sharp shard of porcelain sliced across his fingertip, leaving a deep wound and a pool of crimson blood. “N-no.”

By this time, the noble had recovered his senses. “That is right. The Prince Consort hasn’t even said anything yet; what are you so afraid of?” He let out a long breath and took his hand off his chest.

The servant trembled like a leaf in the wind. He stammered for a long time without being able to form a complete sentence, only knowing how to kowtow to the people in Huiming Hall, insisting that he had not done it on purpose.

The morning sun illuminated the entire study. Song Mingzhi squinted slightly, fixing his gaze on the servant.

Some of the servants around the Prince of Qi had been bestowed upon him by the old Emperor when he moved out of the palace years ago. They held high positions among the servants and were primarily responsible for the Prince’s daily needs. Usually, they were mixed in with ordinary servants, appearing completely indistinguishable.

However, ever since the Prince began learning about court affairs, a small group of them had started to grow restless. Aside from the shadow seen that night, several ordinary servants around the Prince had begun secretly investigating his movements and eavesdropping on what he had learned about the court.

If he was not mistaken, these individuals were likely placed there by the old Emperor to monitor whether the Prince of Qi had been acting suspiciously recently.

“Ah Zhi, were you startled just now?” Mu Yanzhou walked out from behind the partition. He didn’t even look at the person on the ground as he spoke to Song Mingzhi. “Did any tea spill on you?” With that, he lowered his head to check Song Mingzhi’s clothing.

It was only then that other servants, who had been hiding somewhere, scurried into Huiming Hall, hurriedly dragging the person on the ground away and stooping to clean up the shards.

Song Mingzhi shook his head gently. “Your Highness, I am fine, but…”

As he spoke, he lowered his head. He frowned slightly at the trembling servant on the ground and said, “The Prince is currently studying. As a servant, you not only fail to serve well but are also so jumpy that you interrupt the Prince’s important work. This is truly unacceptable.”

Mu Yanzhou agreed, “That makes sense.”

The servant was still shaking. “Your Highness, please forgive me.”

The noble who had been boasting earlier was suddenly left out in the cold. He couldn’t help but clear his throat and say to the person on the ground, “It is the Prince you disturbed; what is the use of begging the Prince Consort for forgiveness?” He immediately turned and grinned at Mu Yanzhou. “Prince, am I right?”

Mu Yanzhou did not even look at him. He turned to Song Mingzhi and asked, “Ah Zhi, how do you think we should handle this?”

Song Mingzhi had long been prepared. The ability of certain servants around the Prince to monitor him was truly abysmal. Song Mingzhi had identified several of them with little effort, and the most jumpy among them was definitely the one in front of them today. Song Mingzhi had intentionally frightened him just now, waiting for this exact question from Mu Yanzhou.

He immediately straightened his expression. “Naturally, we should transfer all those in Huiming Hall who disturb the Prince’s studies to other posts and bring in some more capable people to serve the Prince.”

Mu Yanzhou had an epiphany. “That makes sense.”

He lowered his head and looked at the servant on the ground with an expression of regret. “From now on, you can go to the backyard and feed the horses.”

The servant shuddered. “Yes, yes, Your Highness.”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was dragged away.

Most servants in the Prince of Qi’s manor were lazy and lax. Finding an excuse to clear them out of Huiming Hall could not have been easier. Song Mingzhi’s gaze slowly swept over the others as he added, “With such a loud commotion just now, why did it take so long to come and clean up? Perhaps we should replace more people around the Prince.”

Mu Yanzhou raised an eyebrow slightly and chuckled. “Very well, I will listen to Ah Zhi in everything.”

A sense of alarm spread through the Prince of Qi’s manor. Within a short half-day, the entire estate knew: someone in Huiming Hall had been careless, interrupted the Prince’s reading, and had been transferred elsewhere. Because of this incident, the Prince Consort had developed the idea of adjusting the servants around the Prince. The once-peaceful manor was now in an uproar behind closed doors. The servants in Huiming Hall were terrified, afraid that one slip would lead to their transfer, while the other servants secretly hoped they would be the ones promoted to serve the Prince.

In this atmosphere, even Yuan Jiu could not help but worry. “Prince, the Consort even if he is not necessarily a spy, is it not… too indulgent to let him rearrange the manor’s staff?”

Setting aside the motive behind the Consort’s actions, he only knew that the Consort’s recent behavior was simply too willful. Although the Prince was pretending to be infatuated with him and needed to be indulgent, if this continued, who knew if he would do something even more lawless, perhaps even harming the Prince’s interests?

Behind the gold-embroidered flower-and-bird screen, Mu Yanzhou, who was fiddling with the chessboard, paused his fingers. He stopped for a moment and laughed softly. “No matter, let us watch him stir up trouble for now.”

At this moment, even Mu Yanzhou could not help but be curious which servants would Song Mingzhi transfer away, and whom would he bring into Huiming Hall?

Seeing Mu Yanzhou appear so indifferent, Yuan Jiu grew increasingly anxious. “But, if you give him too much power, will you still be able to control him in the future?”

Mu Yanzhou placed a piece on the board and replied nonchalantly, “There is no need for that just yet.”

Yuan Jiu asked in disbelief, “Then in the future.”

Mu Yanzhou paused and replied with a casual smile, “When the time comes, when I want to control him, I can naturally do so at any time.”

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