A Precious Pearl in the Imperial City

After leaving the Palace, Chen Wang had randomly chosen a teahouse that seemed to be livelier than the rest to find out if those outrageous stories about the domineering prince were still being told. He didn’t expect that as soon as he walked up the stairs, he would hear someone jabber nonsense about Ming Xiaozhu.

 

Given his violent temper, could he possibly tolerate this kind of a matter?

 

Of course, he couldn’t.

 

“Wh-who are you?” The other person who was not hurt looked at the row of armed guards1T/N: The text says ‘刀护卫’ (dāo hùwèi) which, word by word, translates to guards (护卫) with swords (刀). Since that sounds a bit awkward in English, I’ll be simply using ‘armed guards’. behind Chen Wang and stuttered: “According to our Da Cheng’s regulations, commoners are not allowed to carry weapons on the street. Those who violate the orders would be punished with a fine of twenty silver taels. You… you are openly defying the laws!”

 

Chen Wang sneered. He raised his hand and shushed the speaker before pointing to someone to speak up2T/N: The original text says: 宸王嗤笑一声，抬手点了点说话的人, 示意需要他去吵架的时候到了。But this part ‘去吵架’ doesn’t make sense as it translates to quarreling. I adjusted it to what I understood but if anyone has any suggestion, do tell me..

 

“You– What are you trying to do?” Seeing this, he stepped back in fear.

 

“According to Da Cheng’s regulations, upto thirty-six armed guards can accompany a qinwang3Qinwang [亲王] – Refers to a Prince of First Rank, typically the son of the ruling Emperor. when he leaves his residence. His Highness is not particularly fond of such ostentatious display so brings along only about ten people with him.” The attendant came forward and explained with a smile: “If a person slanders a member of the Imperial family without any cause or reason, they will certainly be punished. A light punishment is to get flogged ten times but in serious cases, they will be subjected to three years of forced labor.”

 

After finishing the explanation, the attendant silently retreated and stood behind Chen Wang while the armed guards escorted the two people to him.

 

“Y-you are a prince?!” The two people felt their legs lose strength as they knelt down with a loud thud without the guards needing to lend them a hand.

 

They merely found a teahouse with a lot of customers to spread a few words. Why did they have to meet a prince?

 

But which refined prince would come to such a boisterous teahouse? Would he still be worthy of the distinguished bloodline of the Imperial family?

 

“Coincidence or not, Ben Wang just happens to be His Majesty, the Emperor’s fifth son, Chen Wang.” Seeing the two people trembling upon hearing that he was Chen Wang, Yun Duqing frowned slightly. Being so timid, who gave them the guts to talk about the personal matters of a third-rank high official in the teahouse?

 

Back when the high-and-mighty Zheng family had Ming Xiaozhu give way to them, he made Yun Yanze, the maternal grandson of the Zheng family, bow and give way to her. And yet, some spineless outsiders still dared to talk of his fiancée.

 

Could it be that he had dealt with too few people recently and everyone had forgetten his temper?

 

“Your Highness.” Qi Wang’s attendant whispered from the side: “These two seem to be servants from the Pingyuan residence.”

 

“Are you certain?” As he watched the guards surrounding Yun Duqing through the narrow crack in the screen, Qi Wang’s expression turned solemn.

 

“When this subordinate went to deliver a message to the Pingyuan residence half a month ago, this subordinate saw them walking outside. The servants of the outer courtyard said that they were lower-ranked servants from the other manor of the family in the outskirts of the capital who came to deliver fresh fruits and vegetables.” For being able to become a prince’s attendant, having a sharp vision was the most basic skill required.

 

As the servants from another manor of the Pingyuan residence, why did they wear blue robes that scholars liked to wear and say something damaging about the Ming family in the teahouse?

 

“From your refined attire, you seem to be well-mannered and sensible people. But the words you spoke are so improper.” The attendant of Chen Wang’s residence admonished strictly: “What are your names? Where do you live? Have you passed the Imperial examination? Did you receive any rank?”

 

The two panicked. They didn’t have any rank; they merely wanted to make some contribution and be transferred to serve directly in the Marquis residence. It was only after eavesdropping on the conversation between the two stewards that they dared to come here to smear the Ming family’s reputation.

 

The day before, two stewards of the manor were privately discussing how the Ming family had offended the Marquis family in the grove. Hence, they were thinking of dressing up as scholars and spreading some malicious words about the Ming family so that they could ask for some reward and no longer have to be insignificant stewards in the manor.

 

The two of them were very courageous. Besides, they had just been oppressed by the stewards, so they decided to do it before the other two could. Thereupon, they dressed up a bit and came to a comparatively rambunctious teahouse.

 

They didn’t dare to go to those elegant tea gardens that were often patronized by the high officials and noble people. So they chose a teahouse like this which had many customers but their identities were not too distinguished.

 

What they didn’t know was that the storyteller of this teahouse had recently begun telling a set of anecdotes called «The Chivalrous Records of the Overbearing Prince» which quickly became very popular among the female customers. There were also several noble young ladies sitting behind the screen.

 

The two dared not speak; they just knelt on the ground and trembled all over.

 

“Your Highness, these two people seem quite suspicious.” At this moment, Chen Wang’s attendant also whispered in his ear: “This subordinate surmises that it is very likely for these two people to be sent here with some purpose.”

 

Chen Wang nodded slightly: “Teach them how to conduct themselves.”

 

“You two, do you have your nameplates?” The attendant suddenly thought of something and walked to the two of them: “Without nameplates, you might very possibly be traitors. In the whole of Da Cheng, no one does not know that the Ming family has two zhuangyuans and a tanhua. Years ago, in order to uphold justice, the three lords of the Ming family would rather be exiled to the border than surrender to the rebels and traitors. Now that you vilified the Ming family, I suspect that you two are the surviving supporters of the rebel prince.”

 

Rebel prince?! Getting related to the rebel prince from more than ten years ago would not only make one lose their head but also implicate their relatives.

 

With deathly pale complexions, the two men repeatedly kowtowed and begged for mercy.

 

As she watched the two who spoke ill of her family be frightened to the point that they couldn’t even speak clearly, Jiuzhu held up her dress, intending to go to Chen Wang.

 

“Hey, don’t you go out.” Both Miss Chen4T/N: The characters for this ‘Chen’ (陈) and Chen Wang’s ‘Chen’ (宸) are different. and Zhou Xiao grabbed her and asserted in a low voice, “It’s better to leave this kind of matter to His Highness Chen Wang.”

 

“Right.” Chen family’s Young Miss nodded: “Even though Chen Wang’s methods are… a bit fierce, it is exactly the type needed to deal with people of this sort.”

 

Jiuzhu leaned forward and stuck her face to the narrow gap on the screen, before whispering: “But His Highness is not fierce at all ah. He is very reasonable.”

 

Although he hit those people with a chair, it was only because they spoke too much nonsense and infuriated him. His Highness hadn’t said much since he entered. How can he be called fierce then?

 

The little sisters looked at the solemn armed guards behind Chen Wang, and then at Chen Wang’s attendant who made people tremble with fear as soon as he opened his mouth. This… was called being reasonable?

 

They almost couldn’t understand what reasonable meant.

 

“Jinwu Guards on patrol, who is carrying weapons inside the capital!”

 

A team of Jinwu Guards wrapped head to toe in armor rushed into the teahouse with solemn expressions: “We have received a report that someone here is carrying around weapons privately. By the rules of our Da Cheng, you cannot bring along weapons or fight and gather a crowd.”

 

The shopkeeper of the teahouse was so frightened that he bowed again and again: “Lord Official, this is all a misunderstanding, this is all a misunderstanding!”

 

The team leader of this small team of Jinwu Guards raised his hand to let the shopkeeper retreat and stand at the side. Entering the room, he saw a man clad in red sitting lazily on a chair while some guards surrounded two men kneeling on the ground. These two were dressed like scholars.

 

He frowned, ready to step forward to stop it.

 

Just at this moment, the man sitting on the chair turned his head and looked at him. These casual movements effortlessly became ones full of elegance and aristocratic charm when he did them.

 

“This commander pays respects to His Highness Chen Wang.” The team leader stopped in his tracks and greeted the person.

 

As the team leader of a small squadron of the Jinwu Guards, he would normally not have a chance of getting to know the distinguished princes but this one was too skilled in causing trouble.

 

One day he would have some fella whipped in the street because the expression with which he looked at a woman was too wretched and it made him feel disgusted; the next day, he would insist on having the ‘father’ of a girl run around yelling “I am a swindler” because he pretended to be dead and had her ask for money in exchange for selling herself to bury him in the middle of the streets.

[T/N: He’s doing good deeds! Though I feel these people might suffer PTSD due to his punishments, he’s lending you guards a very reliable hand xD]

 

He had endless methods of handling people. The Jinwu Guards practically received such reports every day so whenever he saw Chen Wang now, the first thought that popped up in his mind would be, who got in this prince’s way again?

 

“Why is it you again?” Chen Wang looked at the team leader, “Is there no one else in the Jinwu Guards?”

 

The team leader: “……”

 

In fact, he also wanted to know why he had to meet this fussy and arrogant idler5T/N: The term used in the raw is ‘大爷’ (dà yé/ye) has two types of meanings. Dà yé means arrogant idler/self-centered show-off while dà ye means uncle/a term of respect to an older male. I’m not sure in which context the author uses (hence this note) as Chen Wang in everyone’s eye is indeed an arrogant idler while this can also be another way of this team leader sarcastically calling him uncle (calling someone uncle/ dad/ grandpa/ grandma or any such title is a way of showing respect since elders are NEVER to be addressed by their names). again.

 

He shot a glance at the two people kneeling on the ground with tears and snot running down their noses in fright: “Your Highness, may I know how these two people have offended you?”

 

Chen Wang hooked his fingers and motioned for his attendant to step forward and explain.

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1T/N: The text says ‘刀护卫’ (dāo hùwèi) which, word by word, translates to guards (护卫) with swords (刀). Since that sounds a bit awkward in English, I’ll be simply using ‘armed guards’.2T/N: The original text says: 宸王嗤笑一声，抬手点了点说话的人, 示意需要他去吵架的时候到了。But this part ‘去吵架’ doesn’t make sense as it translates to quarreling. I adjusted it to what I understood but if anyone has any suggestion, do tell me.3Qinwang [亲王] – Refers to a Prince of First Rank, typically the son of the ruling Emperor.4T/N: The characters for this ‘Chen’ (陈) and Chen Wang’s ‘Chen’ (宸) are different.5T/N: The term used in the raw is ‘大爷’ (dà yé/ye) has two types of meanings. Dà yé means arrogant idler/self-centered show-off while dà ye means uncle/a term of respect to an older male. I’m not sure in which context the author uses (hence this note) as Chen Wang in everyone’s eye is indeed an arrogant idler while this can also be another way of this team leader sarcastically calling him uncle (calling someone uncle/ dad/ grandpa/ grandma or any such title is a way of showing respect since elders are NEVER to be addressed by their names).