Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 142 I Must Take the Crown Prince to Play in the Water Immediately [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

"Exactly!"

Yan Shifan snapped out of his daze and immediately gritted his teeth and blurted out,

“My son had someone investigate before. That vile woman’s name is Bai Lu, courtesy name Suzhen. She is a woman from the Bai family in Fengcheng, Jiangxi!”

"Snapped!"

Another slap landed on Yan Shifan's face.

"mother?"

Yan Shifan felt both confused and aggrieved.

He couldn't understand his mother, who had never laid a finger on him since he was a child.

Why did he suddenly develop the habit of gesturing in his father's face after his father was demoted, and why does he seem to get more and more comfortable doing it?
"You foul-mouthed bastard!"

Ouyang Duanshu immediately frowned and scolded,

"If I remember correctly, about twenty years ago, a young aunt from my mother's family married into the Bai family in Fengcheng."

"I heard that she married the current patriarch of the Bai family, but unfortunately she did not live a long life and passed away three years ago."

"However, with this relationship, the Bai family and the maternal family are now in-laws."

"Your connection with Yan Maoqing and Bai Lu is so strong that you could very well be considered distant relatives. When you curse them, aren't you also cursing yourself?"

Yan Shifan was taken aback upon hearing this, and his expression became even more peculiar:
“Mother, Bai Lu’s birth mother passed away three years ago. She was engaged to Yan Maoqing and stayed home to observe mourning. She only finished her mourning period this year and married Yan Maoqing. The Bai family escorted her all the way to the capital to consummate their marriage. Do you think it could be that…”

His mother, Ouyang Duanshu, was from Ji'an, Jiangxi. During this era, intermarriages were frequent among local gentry and wealthy families.

If Ouyang Duanshu was able to marry Yan Song of Fenyi, Jiangxi, then other women in the Ouyang family could naturally marry into the Bai family of Fengcheng, Jiangxi, and the probability of this happening was not low...

"Have you found out exactly what her birth mother's name is?"

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Duanshu straightened up, her expression showing a hint of surprise.

“This… My son’s trusted servant went to Jiangxi and hasn’t returned yet. This servant is quite meticulous in his work, so if he comes back, he will surely be able to find out the truth.”

Yan Shifan shook his head, and when he mentioned this servant, his tone became somewhat hesitant.

"There are hardly any coincidences in the world, especially since it's the Bai family. It shouldn't be too bad."

Ouyang Duanshu hesitated for a moment, then said with certainty,
"So, if you meet Bailu, you'll probably have to call her 'Little Aunt' according to seniority!"

"what?!"

Yan Shifan froze instantly, his one eye widening like a bull's, and he couldn't even speak coherently.
"Then...then...when my son meets Yan Maoqing, according to seniority, shouldn't he have to call him 'little uncle'? Even my father has to call him 'little brother-in-law'?!"

"Have you and your son been wronged?"

Ouyang Duanshu glared at Yan Shifan's stiff, fat face and scolded him again.

"You should first understand the current situation. Your father is no longer a second-rank minister, and you don't even have an official position anymore."

"On the contrary, Yan Maoqing was promoted to a third-rank minister in his early twenties. He is bound to have a bright future. Perhaps he will be the one who entered the cabinet in a few days, the one your father never managed to enter in his entire life!"

"When your father wants to be reinstated, and you want to return to the court as an official, you may have to rely on them!"

"Tell me, how is it unfair to you or your father to accept this promising relative?"

"But Mother, I'm afraid there's already a rift between him..."

Yan Shifan thought his mother's words made sense, but then hesitated and said...

“When he was staying at the Yuzhang Guild Hall, which was sponsored by my father, my son impulsively kicked him out, and he probably still holds a grudge.”

"So when he moved to Shengjiang Hutong a few days ago, my father and I tried to resolve the conflict by bringing generous gifts to congratulate him on his housewarming, but he refused to let us in..."

He didn't dare to say the other, even more heinous things.

However, he felt there was no need to say anything, because those matters were handled privately by him and Yan Song, and no outsiders knew about them. Therefore, Yan Maoqing certainly wouldn't know, and Ouyang Duanshu naturally wouldn't know either…

Before he could finish speaking...

"Bastard thing!"

Ouyang Duanshu was already furious and immediately shouted at the maid,

"Cuilian, fetch me the feather duster!"

……

Yan Maoqing was naturally completely unaware of this strange occurrence of "the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple".

Even if he knew, he would only feel disgusted with his past self...

Despite being Yan Song's cousin-in-law, he shamelessly acknowledged Yan Song as his godfather in order to gain official rank and title.

In fact, Yan Song only had two adopted sons clearly recorded in history: Zhao Wenhua and Yan Maoqing.

Perhaps Yan Song was able to adopt Yan Maoqing as his godson and continuously promote him, eventually appointing him as the most lucrative Salt Commissioner in the land, probably because of this so-called distant kinship.

Of course, Yan Maoqing would not now be willing to make peace with Yan Song and his son because of this relationship.

Regardless of his preconceived notions about these two people, after the "illegal adultery" incident, a petty person like him had no room for reconciliation with Yan Song and his son.

The reason we haven't continued to hunt down the father and son is because...

It's just that there hasn't been a suitable opportunity yet, and the overall situation of "retiring and returning to one's hometown" still needs to be prioritized...

Like now.

"Ugh……"

Amidst the laughter and merriment of the Yan residence, Yan Maoqing forced a smile while secretly grieving.

He knew better than anyone else that taking on the role of the Crown Prince's tutor was like jumping into a bright fire pit, and he had to get rid of this burden as soon as possible!
After all, being a prince in the Ming Dynasty was an extremely dangerous thing.

Zhu Houcong had a total of eight sons in his lifetime.

The eldest son, Zhu Zaiji, died just over a month after birth and was posthumously named Crown Prince Aichong.
The second son, Zhu Zaiyi, who is now the Crown Prince whom Zhu Houcong ordered to tutor, underwent his coming-of-age ceremony on the fifteenth day of the third month of the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing's reign. He was crowned on the sixteenth and suddenly fell ill on the seventeenth. He died shortly afterward at the age of fourteen. He was posthumously honored as "Zhuangjing" and became known as Crown Prince Zhuangjing.

The third prince, Zhu Zaihou, was the only prince to live to see the death of Zhu Houcong. He became the future Emperor Muzong of Ming. After ascending the throne, he indulged in sensual pleasures and developed "consumption of lust". He also raised an emperor, the Wanli Emperor, and died at the age of thirty-six.
The fourth prince, Zhu Zaizhen, was in a power struggle with the third prince, Zhu Zaihou, who was supported by Xu Jie, because Zhu Houcong had not established a crown prince for a long time after the succession of the crown prince Zhuangjing. This struggle was known as the "Struggle for Succession between the Two Princes". Later, Yan Song fell from power, but Zhu Houcong was still not satisfied with the third prince, Zhu Zaihou. As a result, a year before Zhu Houcong died, Zhu Zaizhen suddenly fell ill and died. From then on, the third prince, Zhu Zaihou, became the only son, thus establishing his de facto position as the crown prince.

Then there are the fifth son, Zhu Zaishang; the sixth son, Zhu Zaitu Gui (the characters Tu and Gui are combined into one character; as everyone knows, the Zhu family likes to create rare characters, which are impossible to type); the seventh son, Zhu Zai; and the eighth son, Zhu Zaitu Su (same as the sixth son).

None of these four princes lived past the age of one. Historical records summarize their fate in just five words:
He died before he was even a year old!
Given the alarmingly low survival rate of the princes in this dynasty, Yan Maoqing would never believe there was no conspiracy or scheming involved.

Even now, if anyone still wants to harm him, Zhu Zai Rui is his biggest weakness!

Those people were able to make Zhu Zaiyi die on the second day after his coming-of-age ceremony, which coincidentally matched the prophecy of "two dragons never meeting," and made it impossible for Zhu Houcong to find out anything.

So now, killing Zhu Zaiyi, who is not yet six years old, would probably be an easy task even without Tao Zhongwen.

If Zhu Zaiyi were to make a mistake during his tenure, and someone were to deliberately implicate him, that would be a good opportunity.

That would most likely not be a matter of whether one could retire and return to their hometown, but rather whether or not their property would be confiscated and their entire clan executed...

So he had already made up his mind in secret.

Now that he has taken office, he is determined to act against the grain, turn the Crown Prince's residence upside down, and make Zhu Houcong regret entrusting the Crown Prince to him for guidance, so that he will find another job as soon as possible.

If we could use this opportunity to disappoint Zhu Houcong, strip him of his official position, and order him to leave the capital, that would be perfect...

"Big Fool Zhu, I hope you won't be ungrateful. My patience has its limits, and I don't believe you don't!"

With this in mind, Yan Maoqing called Bai Sheng to his side.

"Prepare a set of fishing gear for me. Tomorrow is my first day in office, and I must take the Crown Prince out to play in the water immediately!"

(End of this chapter)