Not long later, the Imperial decree reached Yufu. Return to the capital?
The summons were very urgent. It indicated how precarious the Qizhen Emperor's current situation was.
Lang Po asked, "Your Highness, now that the Emperor has summoned us back urgently, will we depart immediately?"
Jing Rong held onto the Imperial decree, a little suspicious about the motives behind it. Logically, after his own report had been sent to the capital, the officials of the Imperial court should have all flocked to Jing Yi's faction. The decree should also contain orders that forbade him from returning to the capital. The Emperor's current move was alarming.
When he didn’t respond for a long while, Lang Po continued asking, “Your Highness, what else are you thinking about? There won’t be a better chance than this.”
However, Jing Rong replied, “No. Right now is not yet the best time.” He had commented as such before; he wasn’t hesitant about taking action, but the appropriate timing had yet to arrive.
However, to Lang Po, now was the best time to take action. He didn’t understand what His Highness was waiting for. It truly was as the saying went, the Emperor’s in no hurry, but the eunuch is frantic with worry.
Jing Rong clearly understood that the Imperial Court was currently in total chaos. The courtiers still obeyed the Emperor’s orders on the surface, but they had all secretly already been aligned with Jing Yi’s faction and were already antic.i.p.ating their promotions when he ascended to the throne. Thus, they were all prowling around like hungry wolves, supporting his bid for the throne.
As a result, they also forced the Qizhen Emperor into a position where he had to designate his heir apparent. In such a situation, the only one the Emperor could think of to help resolve the situation, other than that powerless and sickly Jing Xian, would be Jing Rong, whom he had initially banished from the capital.
But what on earth is Jing Rong waiting for? Lang Po just couldn’t guess at his thoughts. After he was dismissed, he went to the backyard to check on the chickens, before going to the woodshed to cut some firewood. As he chopped the wood, he mused about when exactly the best time to take action mentioned by Jing Rong would be.
Thud! The axe in his hands landed solidly and cleaved the firewood neatly into two. Just then, Mo Ruo pa.s.sed by and came up to ask in a drawl, “Wow, it’s such a wonder to even see the great guard Lang taking care of chickens; why have you even started to chop firewood?”
Lang Po sighed and glanced at him, then continued to chop the firewood.
“Hey, I’m asking you a question.” [1]
Again, there was no answer.
Mo Ruo was puzzled, so he went to look for Jing Rong, his ever-present pot of wine dangling from his fingers.
That fellow was standing under the eaves outside his room, hands clasped behind his back and worried frown on his face.
Mo Ruo walked over and asked, “What’s with your Lang Po? He’s splitting firewood all alone in the backyard, pretending he’s deaf and not answering any questions.”
Jing Rong rolled his eyes at him without deigning to answer.
“Have both of you master and servant turned deaf?”
“...”
“Weirdos.”
Jing Rong couldn’t be bothered to say too much to him, and merely pa.s.sed him the imperial decree that had just been delivered.
“An imperial decree?”
“Mn.”
Mo Ruo took it curiously and opened it to take a look. He was shocked by what he read and flipped it closed with a hand. “His Majesty is summoning you back to the capital? Didn’t you just submit your report to the capital? For His Majesty to not ask for your head when you failed your investigation with the disaster relief silver is already very merciful; why would he summon you back?”
“Because of Jing Yi.”
“Prince Yi?”
“All the courtiers pet.i.tioned for the Emperor to designate Jing Yi as Crown Prince.”
Oh! Mo Ruo understood it now. “I didn’t expect that Prince Yi would be so anxious. He clearly had it in the bag - why would he do something so superfluous and end up making a mess of things instead?”
“Do you think that Jing Yi would be so foolish?” Jing Rong suddenly asked him.
This… Mo Ruo deliberated for a moment, “The courtiers sending a pet.i.tion appear to support Prince Yi as Crown Prince but the truth is more convoluted. The true motive for it is not to support him but to condemn him.”
Jing Rong nodded. “That’s right. Imperial Father is paranoid and the matter of the courtiers sending a pet.i.tion about designating an heir is in truth trying to force his hand.”
“As a result, His Majesty is worried that Prince Yi’s power is growing unchecked and summoned you back to the capital. He means to… use you to contend against Prince Yi?”
“Correct.”
“Then what do you plan to do?”
“Wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“The second imperial edict.”
Second? Mo Ruo had never involved himself with matters of the imperial court, and didn’t fully understand.
Ji Yunshu quickly got to know about this matter as well. She didn’t ask too much about it, knowing that Jing Rong had his own plans. “Whatever you may decide is fine. I’ll always stand by you.”
Jing Rong held her hands and smiled warmly.
Just as Jing Rong had expected, a second imperial edict soon arrived from the capital. Again, it was a confidential edict and an urgent summons.
“The time has arrived.” Jing Rong sent orders for an immediate departure.
The night before they were to leave, Ji Yunshu was packing her things in her room with Qiao’er and Zhuang’er helping. When they were almost done packing, the two girls started crying. “Teacher Ji, you surely won’t be back again this time when you leave. We all can’t bear to part with you.”
“That’s right, Teacher Ji, we’ll miss you.”
Ji Yunshu’s eyes also started turning red. During this period of time, the two girls had taken great care of her and she had also started to depend on them. If they really had to part, she truly felt rather reluctant. “Qiao’er, Zhuang’er, thank you for your care during this period of time.”
“It’s our fortune to be able to take care of Teacher,” Qiao’er said, “Teacher, why don’t you bring us along? We can also continue taking care of you on the way to the capital.”
Bring them along? Actually, Ji Yunshu had also considered this possibility. However, she didn’t know what would happen when she returned to the capital. Everything about the road ahead was an unknown! Moreover, she was also afraid. What had happened to Luan’er was still fresh in her mind and she didn’t want another maidservant of hers to come to harm because of her. [2]
Zhuang’er quickly added, “Teacher, just bring Qiao’er and I along. We won’t create trouble for you.”
“I know that you mean well, but the place I am heading to is the capital and even I myself must tread carefully there - how could I bring you two along as well?” Ji Yunshu took out two bags that she had prepared earlier and gave one each to Qiao’er and Zhuang’er. “After I leave, you don’t have to return to the yamen again. These are two bags of silver; it isn’t much, but should be sufficient to serve as your dowry when you find a good man to marry.”
“Teacher, this… how could we accept this?”
“Of course you can. This is an indication of my regard for you and thanks for your care and consideration these months. If you reject it, you are rejecting my good intentions and I won’t be able to leave with my heart at ease.”
Qiao’er and Zhuang’er looked at each other and could only accept it.
Qiao’er spoke with tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g in her eyes, “Teacher, you must take good care of yourself. I packed some medicine for dispelling chilliness - they’re dried properly and separated into doses already. You must remember to brew it in your water so you can drink it.”
“Mn.”
“I’ve also sewn a pair of gloves that you can use when winter arrives.”
“Mn.”
“Also…” Qiao’er listed down several sets of instructions that Ji Yunshu carefully noted down.
“Big Brother.” Little Xiyue dashed in and glomped onto her waist.
“Xiyue, why have you come?”
“Is Big Brother going to leave?”
“Mn.”
“I wanted to see you off.” She batted her eyelids entreatingly, “Will Big Brother still come back in the future?”
Ji Yunshu smiled and led Little Xiyue into the courtyard.
[1] Does anyone else hear Tang Si's voice here?
[2] Reminder: This was JYS's maidservant at the very beginning of the story. 500+ chapters ago... She was forced to hang as scapegoat for JYZ, JYS's brother.