A Precious Pearl in the Imperial City

T/N: Before you start reading this chapter, I warn you all to brace your cheeks for the oncoming waves of laughter and keep your heart in check (imo it’s gonna melt). Good luck~

Having served Chen Wang for many years, this attendant was well-versed in the style of making ‘minor issues into major ones, and major issues into unending ones1T/N: Just for extra info, this (小事化大, 大事没完) is the complete opposite of the idiom ‘大事化小，小事化无’ which translates to ‘turning major issues to minor ones, and minor ones to nothing’. This attendant is following his master’s footsteps very closely xD‘. So he began speaking: “Officer, these two people discredited a court official, made assumptions about His Majesty’s thoughts and insulted the Imperial family with their words.”

 

Speaking badly about the family was discrediting a court official.

 

Mentioning the bestowal of a title was making assumptions about the Emperor’s thoughts.

 

Daring to accuse their prince of not obeying Da Cheng’s laws and regulations was insulting the Imperial family.

 

After the attendant finished speaking, he straightened his back. Every word he said was true; it was definitely not fabricated out of thin air.

 

The two on the ground: When did they speculate about the Emperor’s thoughts? When did they insult the Imperial family? If the two of them really had such courage, would they still be lowly servants?

 

“Your Highness, Officer, this ignoble one is accused wrongly!” No matter how stupid the two were, they knew that things becoming this big was anything but reassuring. They kowtowed repeatedly: “We implore Your Highness to investigate clearly.”

 

“Ben Wang is neither a member of the yamen nor works in the Dali Temple. The yamen will deal with the matter of investigation.” Seeing the snot and tears on their faces, Chen Wang looked away in disgust: “Since you two like to gossip so much, go and stand by the window first.”

 

How could they possibly gain the strength to stand up? Upon noticing this, the armed guards dragged them to the window very helpfully.

 

“Now curse yourself for half a shichen. Your voices can’t be too low lest Ben Wang is not able to hear you. But it must also not be too loud or else you will scare the passers-by.” Chen Wang raised his chin: “There are many customers here so pay attention when cursing. Use more elegant words.”

 

The duo: “……”

 

They had never faced such an unreasonable request.

 

Suddenly, the sound of a sharp blade being unsheathed was heard.

 

Beholding the chilly glint of the blade, they swallowed: “I’m ugly!”

 

“Your voice is too low, His Highness can’t hear you!” As a qualified bootlicker, the attendant had a rich experience in deliberately making things difficult for others: “Louder!”

 

“I’m as ugly as a pig!”

 

Chen Wang frowned: “You are not worthy of comparing yourself to a pig2T/N: This is because he calls Jiuzhu ‘little pig’ [猪]. The ‘zhu‘ (珠 – which means ‘pearl’) in her name sounds exactly the same as pig (猪) in mandarin. Hence people cannot catch this unless he were to write it down xD. Choose anything else.”

 

The two wiped the tears on their faces. Were they inferior to even pigs? At this moment, they only wanted to bawl their eyes out but they were afraid of those sharp swords.

 

Had they known this would happen, they wouldn’t have rushed before the stewards and done this kind of a thing.

 

The team leader of the Jinwu Guards turned his head silently, pretending not to see their pitiful appearance. He was gradually becoming proficient in handling these situations.

 

No one noticed two servants from Chen Wang’s residence slipping out of the teahouse quietly.

 

“Your Highness.” After the two left the teahouse, the attendant whispered in Chen Wang’s ear, “People have been sent to check the identities of these two people.”

 

Chen Wang nodded and looked at the two sobbing men: “Go on, Ben Wang appreciates your audacity to talk ill of Ben Wang’s conduct.”

 

Their cries intensified; they wailed grievously, wanting to disappear into the air.

 

They were clearly talking ill of the Ming family so why did it turn into them talking about Chen Wang?

 

“Fifth Brother.” Qi Wang pushed aside the screen and walked out. He didn’t even look at the two crying people before saying: “Since these two made fifth brother unhappy, why not have people escort them to the yamen? There is no need for fifth brother to take much trouble.”

 

“It’s fourth Brother ah.” Chen Wang raised his brows and looked at the screen that was pushed aside: “So fourth brother was present here from the start. Does fourth brother think these two people have offended me and wish to help me deal with them?”

 

Qi Wang sat down beside him: “They are just two ignorant commoners; not worth fifth brother making a big fuss over them.”

 

“Fourth brother doesn’t seem to understand this. Even if a five-year-old were to offend Ben Wang, Ben Wang will… ” Chen Wang paused and turned to look at a certain screen that was pushed apart by half a palm.

 

Why did he feel that the half of the face exposed through the gap looked a bit like Ming Xiaozhu’s?

 

“They’re not five or six-year-old children. Could it be that they do not know what to say and what not to say?” Withdrawing his gaze, Chen Wang put down his leg from over another, tidied up his robe and straightened the yupei hung at his waist: “We had agreed on doing it for half a shichen. Not even a stick of incense time3A stick of incense time [一炷香] – The time taken for an incense stick to burn completely, which is used to refer to a short span (generally 5 minutes). must be wasted.”

 

He picked up the tea and pretended to take a sip while looking at the narrowly split screen again from the corner of his eyes.

 

“Fifth brother, you are blowing things up so…”

 

“They can say bad things about Ben Wang but Ben Wang cannot get angry at them?” Chen Wang snorted coldly, “Even Father Emperor had never told such things to Ben Wang till now. So what are they?”

 

Seeing that Yun Duqing insisted on saying that the two were maligning him, Qi Wang immediately understood that he deliberately wanted to make a big deal out of this matter.

 

Were the commoners interested in the affairs of a prince or in the matters of a third-rank official?

 

They were more interested in the matter of someone offending a prince and being forced to curse oneself for half a shichen. This topic was enough for them to gather and gossip in their leisure time.

 

At that time, they would care less about who these two people were and what they really said.

 

As far as the commoners were concerned, the Ming family receiving titles had nothing to do with them; they were not even clear how distinguished these titles were. In any case, those were definitely not as elevated as that of a Wangfei.

 

Chen Wang’s attendant walked to the window and smiled at the two men huddling together: “His Highness is tolerant and magnanimous but I don’t. I have a bad temper. If you don’t begin, don’t blame me for not giving you face.”

 

“Ming meimei, why are you nodding?” Zhou Xiao asked Jiuzhu.

 

“I was thinking that this person is absolutely right. His Highness is tolerant and magnanimous.” Jiuzhu almost stuck to the screen and stared outside without blinking.

 

Even when she accidentally made him fall into a pile of snow, he didn’t get angry with her.

 

Zhou Xiao: “……”

 

The other young ladies: “……”

 

This was terrible.

 

With such a naive personality, wouldn’t this little sister from the Ming family be bullied after she marries into Chen Wang’s residence?

 

Qi Wang knew that Yun Duqing had a glib tongue and a stubborn personality, so he simply got up, intending to leave.

 

“Fourth brother.” Chen Wang called him: “You have always loved us brothers. Don’t you want to accompany me and teach these two troublemakers who disrespected Ben Wang a lesson?”

 

The ever-gentle and good-tempered Qi Wang suddenly had an urge to block Yun Duqing’s mouth with something.

 

“Since fifth brother wants your brother to accompany you, this brother will naturally not refuse.” As Qi Wang sat back in his previous seat again, the expressions of his attendants standing near him froze.

 

He was extremely frustrated but the other customers behind the screen watched with great enthusiasm. In order not to let Chen Wang find out, some people even discreetly took out pens, ink, paper and in stones, and began passing small slips to exchange their opinions.

 

【Worthy of being the overbearing prince who speaks and handles matters with the unique prestige of a member of the Imperial family!】

 

【If not the overbearing prince, who can dress in red clothes embroidered with gold patterns and still look so handsome?】

 

【The prince beside him is also quite good-looking.】

 

【The other princes are all stereotypical and repetitive, only the overbearing prince is a different one.】

 

【Just saw that the Ming family’s Young Miss is also here in the teahouse. I wonder if she had the opportunity to behold Chen Wang’s overbearing demeanor.】

 

Plop.

 

Jiuzhu, who was squatting behind the screen and wanted to open it a little more because Qi Wang had blocked her line of sight, slipped and fell out.

 

The attendants of Chen Wang’s residence and Qi Wang’s residence as well as the Jinwu Guards, all looked at her.

 

It was really her!

 

Seeing the person who fell out, Chen Wang got up and walked to her side nonchalantly. Then, h pulled her up from the ground.

 

“Your Highness.” Jiuzhu patted off the dust from her dress: “What a coincidence oh.”

 

Chen Wang: “……”

 

“Are your legs numb from squatting?”

 

“A little, yes.” Jiuzhu turned around to look at the group of girls sitting behind the screen only to find that they had closed it tightly; not even the tiniest gap was there.

 

Pretending not to know that there were other people behind the screen, Chen Wang glanced at the two people who were still cursing him: “Take them to the magistrate. There are women here, don’t let these two dirty their ears.”

 

“Quick quick quick, write it down.” Behind the screen, the Chen family’s Young Miss said to the others: “Do you understand how the overbearing prince and the delicate Young Miss get along now?”

 

Everyone nodded one after another. This was the real tyrant prince and his tender little wife. The stories told by the storyteller were practically tasteless, neither real nor exquisite.

 

Zhou Xiao: “……”

 

She suddenly had a feeling that she might be the only normal person in this group.

 

Hearing that they finally didn’t have to curse themselves any longer, the two were moved to the point of shedding tears again. This was a hundred times more unbearable than being cursed at by the stewards.

 

After the two were dragged away by the Jinwu Guards, Chen Wang coughed dryly: “Just now, Ben Wang…”

 

“Your Highness was incredibly handsome and dashing just now.” Jiuzhu looked at Chen Wang with burning eyes: “Exactly like a noble warrior who dropped from the sky and punished the wrongdoers for their misdeeds.”

 

Cough, there is no need to boast so sincerely.

 

Chen Wang smiled: “It’s just that Ben Wang couldn’t bear to listen to these people’s nonsense. Lord Ming is an upright and honest official with outstanding abilities. He is praised by all people, so how can Ben Wang allow these vile people to slander him?”

 

Which little guniang didn’t like listening to others praising the father she adored? At this moment, Jiuzhu’s gaze was not burning like the stars but rather like the scorching sun.

 

“Your Highness is as good as my father.” Jiuzhu’s smile was dripping with sweetness.

 

Qi Wang looked at this Ming guniang smiling brightly at Yun Duqing, and his brows moved slightly. He couldn’t understand why this young lady trusted and cherished the ignorant, incompetent and bossy Yun Duqing so much.

 

Had no one ever told her about Chen Wang’s past deeds? Or was it true that she deliberately fawned over Su Meidai and Yun Duqing for the sake of power, wealth and honor?

 

However, after looking at Ming Jiuzhu’s innocent smiling face, he wondered if she was really the kind of person that his Mother Consort made her be. Was she one to curry favor and help a villain do evil?

 

“That’s not true, that’s not true. Been Wang still has a lot to learn from Lord Ming.” Chen Wang raised his chin slightly, looking as proud as ever. Only, he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from curling upwards.

 

He squeezed Jiuzhu’s hair bun: “You should go have fun here. Ben Wang has to go meet the magistrate personally.”

 

If someone got away with scheming against his, Yun Duqing’s, future in-laws and future Wangfei and he didn’t teach them a lesson, he wouldn’t have any face left then.

 

The young ladies hiding behind the screen, realizing that they had already been spotted by Chen Wang, silently retreated to the table, picked up the teacups and pretended that they had never peeked there.

 

They were all proper young ladies from respected families, so how could they peek at the fun going on?

 

“Fourth brother.” Chen Wang didn’t forget Qi Wang as he left: “You should accompany Ben Wang for a walk to see the magistrate.”

 

Qi Wang looked at Chen Wang; he knew that this sentence was not a request.

 

He smiled slowly: “Okay. “

 

“Your Highness.” Jiuzhu reached out and tugged his sleeve promptly: “I want to go too.”

 

You are not a three-year-old child. Why are you still so clingy?

 

The magistrate’s yamen was a complete mess; there would often be people watching the excitement when a case is being judged and the sentence is being declared. It was not somewhere a little guniang could go.

 

Looking down at the sleeve that was grabbed a little from the corner, Chen Wang pulled it lightly. However, it didn’t move: “Then be obedient. Stay behind Ben Wang and don’t wander around.”

 

It was just… just because he was afraid that she would feel sad and burst into tears… It was nothing else!

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1T/N: Just for extra info, this (小事化大, 大事没完) is the complete opposite of the idiom ‘大事化小，小事化无’ which translates to ‘turning major issues to minor ones, and minor ones to nothing’. This attendant is following his master’s footsteps very closely xD2T/N: This is because he calls Jiuzhu ‘little pig’ [猪]. The ‘zhu‘ (珠 – which means ‘pearl’) in her name sounds exactly the same as pig (猪) in mandarin. Hence people cannot catch this unless he were to write it down xD3A stick of incense time [一炷香] – The time taken for an incense stick to burn completely, which is used to refer to a short span (generally 5 minutes).