Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 125 The White Lotus Saint
"Chen Qing!"

After leaving the Imperial Study, Prince Jiang followed Chen Qing eagerly, his eyes shining.

"You're amazing!"

The chubby boy turned to look at Chen Qing and laughed, "Those old men, even I don't dare to offend them easily. You just entered the palace, and this is the first time you've met them, yet you dare to speak to them like this!"

Chen Qing turned to look at the Prince of Zhou and said with a smile, "If I met them in private, I certainly wouldn't dare to do this, but today is different."

The chubby boy said with a smile, "I know, His Majesty is here today, and you want to curry favor with him."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing smiled but did not reply.

In his view, he is not currying favor with the emperor today, or at least not simply doing so.

While it's generally easy to curry favor with the emperor, the emperor's position inherently carries a sense of coldness, and simply clinging to him can sometimes be risky.

Chao Cuo from another world is a good example.

What Chen Qing did today was, in fact, to give that young emperor a good leverage point while choosing sides.

This would allow the emperor to use this as a leverage point to outmaneuver the old prime ministers.

This time, the result was obvious: the young emperor had already figured out his next plan.

The Zhenfu Division has the privilege of supervising all officials. If Chen Qing, a centurion of the Zhenfu Division, is sent to investigate this matter, he will be transformed into an imperial envoy in charge of the court's discipline!
The emperor could then take this opportunity to replace some of the truly important positions in the court.

Having ruled in his own right for over three years, it's about time he reached this point.

Most emperors need this period of time to consolidate their position. In another world, Emperor Yongzheng only began to formally raise the sword against his brothers in the fourth year of his reign.

This process of consolidating one's position is essentially the process of gaining control of the army, since only by controlling the army can one's rule be considered stable.

By now, this young emperor of the Jiang family has probably basically taken control of the army and is preparing to move on to the next step. However, in Chen Qing's opinion, he is a little weak in character, which is why the progress is somewhat slow.

Chen Qing's mind raced for a moment before he looked at the chubby boy and asked, "Where is the young master planning to go right now?"

"It's already afternoon."

Prince Jiang looked at Chen Qing and said with a smile, "Come on, let me treat you to some wine."

As he spoke, he shook his head and sighed, "When I knew I was going to let you into the palace, I was worried that you would be scared and say something wrong. But now it seems that you are much bolder than me."

"I wouldn't dare do those things."

As he walked and talked, when he reached the palace gate, the Prince of Zhou suddenly turned to look at Chen Qing and frowned: "It looks like you're about to rise to prominence."

"Will you continue writing your chivalrous tales?"

The chubby boy looked at Chen Qing and said, "Even if you don't write anymore, you absolutely have to finish The Legend of the Condor Heroes, or I'll be furious."

Chen Qing smiled and said, "Your Highness, don't worry, I will definitely continue writing whenever I have time."

At this point, he thought for a moment and continued, "This chivalrous record might be useful in the future at the Zhenfu Division."

After Chen Qing made his promise to Jiang Chu, the two had already left the palace gates. Only then did the eldest son of Chen say seriously, "We are fortunate to have this opportunity today, thanks to the young master. I would like to invite the young master to a banquet."

The chubby boy waved his hands repeatedly and laughed heartily.

"It's my treat! It's my treat!"

...

………………

The drinking session lasted until evening, and when Chen Qing returned to his residence in Da Shi Yong Fang, he was already reeking of alcohol.

Fortunately, he had a good tolerance for alcohol. The chubby boy was already unconscious and was carried back by the guards of the Zhou Prince's Mansion, while Chen Qing was only four or five parts drunk.

As soon as he entered the room, Xiaoyue smelled the alcohol on him and immediately stepped forward to support him, scolding, "Where did you go drinking again, young master?"

Chen Qing said with a smile, "Isn't socializing normal when you're in the Zhenfu Division?"

He looked around and asked, "Where are Uncle Gu and Pan'er? Where did they go?"

"Master and Miss are in the main hall. They bought some things and would like Young Master to take them to Zhifang Alley."

Chen Qing exhaled a breath of alcohol and nodded, saying, "No problem, I'll bring it over tomorrow."

If Chen Qing had some reservations about contacting Zhao Shilang's family before, he had none after today. Today, he could be said to have made a name for himself.

Even if it doesn't manifest in official rank for the time being, within institutions like the Imperial Guard and the Garrison Command, the emperor's attitude outweighs any official position.

From now on, his situation in the Zhenfu Division will likely be very different from what it was before.

As Xiaoyue helped Chen Qing walk inside, she whispered, "Young master, that girl surnamed Mu is recovering very quickly. She was able to get out of bed and walk around today. I even saw her exercising in the backyard today."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing nodded silently: "I'll go check on her in a bit."

Mu Xianniang is a useful asset to the Zhenfu Division, but such a person from the martial arts world is quite powerful, and her presence in the Gu family would be a threat to them.

Although it's unlikely that she would target the Gu family based on her motives, there's always a chance something might happen.

While Chen Qing was still pondering, Master Gu and Gu Pan came out to greet him. Master Gu personally helped Chen Qing to sit down in the main hall and then told him about sending things to Zhifang Hutong.

"Zizheng, that's about it. If you have time in the next few days, take it to them."

Chen Qing looked at the contents of the bundle; it contained food, everyday items, and some loose silver.

He nodded and agreed.

After chatting for a while, Miss Gu and Xiaoyue went to make Chen Qing a hangover soup. Only then did Chen Qing ask Master Gu, "Uncle Gu, is Miss Mu fully recovered?"

"It won't be that easy to get better."

Mr. Gu shook his head and said, "However, normal activities are no longer an issue."

Chen Qing nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "I'll go see her. If she's recovered, she can't stay in the Gu family any longer."

After saying that, Chen Qing stood up and walked to the door of Mu Xianniang's room, knocking on the door: "Miss Mu."

A moment later, the door opened, and Mu Xianniang stood in the room, looking up at Chen Qing with a pitiful expression.

"Why is Young Master Chen here so late at night?"

After saying this, she frowned slightly: "Young master, have you been drinking?"

Having lived in the Qinhuai River area for many years, or even grown up there, she sometimes unconsciously revealed a seductive charm in front of Chen Qing.

I don’t know whether it was intentional or unintentional.

Seeing her like this, Chen Qing knew that she had indeed recovered almost completely, or at least, only some external injuries remained to heal slowly.

She's not so weak anymore.

"Tomorrow or the day after, the White Lotus Sect members will be executed at Caishikou."

Chen Qing didn't waste words with her, but went straight to the point: "Bai Sanping, because of his heinous crimes, was sentenced to death by a thousand cuts."

"The other bandit leaders also mostly faced the death penalty."

Normally, unless it is a serious crime like treason, such a severe punishment as slow slicing is rarely used. However, the act of mutilating a living person was too heinous, so this time, the court directly gave Master Bai the maximum punishment.

Upon hearing the words "death by a thousand cuts," even Mu Xianniang couldn't help but frown, a hint of fear showing in her eyes.

She looked up at Chen Qing, her voice returning to normal: "What does Young Master Chen want to say?"

Chen Qing looked at her, paused, and continued, "After Bai Sanping and others are executed, the White Lotus followers in the capital and Zhili area will be so frightened that they will not dare to show their faces, and may even stop contacting each other for a short period of time."

"I see that the girl's injuries are almost healed."

Chen Qing looked at Mu Xianniang and said, "Tomorrow, I will take Miss Mu to the Zhenfu Division to meet the superior of the Zhenfu Division. Then, we can begin to prepare for our previous plan."

Upon hearing this, Mu Xianniang remained silent for a moment, then sighed, "Young Master Chen, my shoulder injury is still not healed."

As she spoke, she was about to tear open her clothes to show Chen Qing the injury on her shoulder.

Chen Qing remained unmoved and said seriously, "The fact that you are injured makes you even more trustworthy to those White Lotus Cult members. They will not think that you could have any connection with the Zhenfu Division."

At this point, Chen Qing said without further ado, "The matter of going to the Zhenfu Division tomorrow is settled. As for the follow-up plans, we'll discuss them after we get there."

Young Master Chen gave Mu Xianniang a deep look.

"I look forward to Miss Mu becoming the White Lotus Holy Mother of the entire White Lotus Sect in the future."

(End of this chapter)