Jiang Chenghan saw his child in this state and felt deeply heartbroken, but there was nothing he could do to bring Mo Yan back. He had no choice but to spend more time with Jiajia together with Yan Jingshu, thinking that with the passage of time, the child would slowly recover.
However, not long after, something completely unexpected by Jiang Chenghan happened in the imperial palace. Speaking of which, this matter was somewhat related to Jiang Chenghan, but also not really. Because the main character of this incident was none other than Mo Yan, who had not long ago been taken from the Jiang family by the Prince of Chuxiang and had now reverted to his original name, Xiao Yanchu.
Jiang Chenghan did not know the specific details of what had happened. He only knew that just over a month after Kangkang's full moon ceremony, Xiao Yanchu, who was originally only nine years old, held no official rank, and should have remained in the palace to be raised and educated, was suddenly enfeoffed by the emperor as the Commandery Prince of Rui and was permitted to leave the palace to establish his own residence.
Moreover, according to convention, although the emperor issued an edict assigning a residence to an imperial prince, this usually happened only after the prince had reached adulthood. Furthermore, because the residence often required renovation and decoration, which took a considerable amount of time, it typically took at least several months before one could move in.
But in Xiao Yanchu's case, only about ten days passed between the issuance of the imperial decree and Xiao Yanchu leaving the palace and moving into his residence. Although the palace kept the matter tightly under wraps and no news leaked out, anyone could guess that something must have happened in the palace, prompting the emperor to send Xiao Yanchu out in such a hurry.
Of course, since Xiao Yanchu was only nine years old, he could not be without caretakers. Thus, the empress also simultaneously assigned nearly a hundred people to serve him, including momos, palace attendants, and guards.
Even so, people in the capital felt even more sympathy for Xiao Yanchu. Originally the son of the Crown Prince and a potential future heir to the throne—however, this all ended when his father was deposed, forcing him into exile to live as a commoner. After struggling for years, he finally managed to survive until his father's case was overturned and he himself could restore his status as a member of the imperial family. Yet, just a few days after returning to the palace, he was essentially kicked out again, which was truly lamentable.
Jiang Chenghan had raised Xiao Yanchu for a considerable amount of time and knew he was a very good child. Because of this, and especially due to Jiajia's attachment to him, Jiang Chenghan was worried about Xiao Yanchu's situation. After hearing the news, he went to seek out the Prince of Chuxiang to ask for details. It was only through this conversation that he discovered the entire situation had been another one of the Prince of Chuxiang's schemes.
The matter traced back to the day Xiao Yanchu was taken from the Jiang family. Seeing how reluctant Jiajia was to part with Xiao Yanchu, the Prince of Chuxiang began to make a plan.
Of course, at that time, he only had some ideas and did not act presumptuously. He had privately asked Xiao Yanchu for his opinion beforehand and, upon learning that Xiao Yanchu shared the same intention, he began to execute his plan.
Although it was a plan, it wasn't particularly complicated. He simply arranged for the emperor to witness Xiao Yanchu being bullied by his young imperial uncles, then whispered reminders about the Crown Prince to the emperor, stirring his guilt. Finally, he proposed enfeoffing Xiao Yanchu as a prince to make amends. And since Xiao Yanchu was enfeoffed with a princely title, naturally he could no longer stay in the palace and had to move into his own residence outside the palace.
The emperor inherently trusted the Prince of Chuxiang greatly. Furthermore, although the Prince of Chuxiang had brought Xiao Yanchu back, he had also led troops to bloodily purge the Eastern Palace back then. Therefore, the emperor never suspected that Xiao Yanchu and the Prince of Chuxiang were secretly colluding. Step by step, he followed the Prince of Chuxiang's scheme, allowing Xiao Yanchu to smoothly leave the palace.
Once Xiao Yanchu was out of the palace, he was naturally no longer bound by palace restrictions. As the highest authority in his princely residence, and with guards secretly assigned there by the Prince of Chuxiang, the momos and palace attendants who looked down on his youth and inability to speak, and sought to control him, could do nothing. Thus, Xiao Yanchu could essentially do whatever he wanted, such as visiting the Jiang family to see Jiajia.
Jiang Chenghan returned home and told Yan Jingshu about this matter. After listening, Yan Jingshu was silent for a long time. Although he disliked the Prince of Chuxiang as a father, it was primarily because of Xie Huan. Yet, now that the Prince of Chuxiang was going to such efforts for Jiajia, he couldn't remain completely unmoved, though he was still not willing to acknowledge him.
Jiang Chenghan simply truthfully relayed everything to Yan Jingshu without adding any further comments. How to treat the Prince of Chuxiang was something he left entirely to Yan Jingshu's own discretion. Afterwards, he went to tell Jiajia about this. According to what the Prince of Chuxiang had said, once Xiao Yanchu had settled matters in his residence, he would be able to visit Jiajia in a few days.
Hearing that his Brother Mo Yan was coming to see him, Jiajia was overjoyed, and a long-absent, heartfelt smile finally appeared on his face. Seeing this, Jiang Chenghan was, of course, also very happy.
Jiajia didn't have to wait too long. Just three days later, Xiao Yanchu came to the Jiang family. Not only did he play with Jiajia for the entire afternoon, but he also invited Jiajia to visit his princely residence. Jiajia immediately agreed.
Because Jiajia was eager to see his Brother Mo Yan's new home, Yan Jingshu took him to the Commandery Prince of Rui's residence the very next day.
Although the move was rushed, the Commandery Prince of Rui's residence was originally built to the specifications of an imperial prince's mansion, complete with all the required structures. With only Xiao Yanchu as the master, he had initially instructed the Imperial Household Department to only renovate the main courtyard and his own living quarters first. The other courtyards were temporarily unnecessary, so there was no hurry to refurbish them, which was why he was able to move in after just ten days.
No comments:
Post a Comment