Chapter 3

Chapter 3

His Majesty said I had rendered a great service, so I could pick any treasures I wanted.

I scooped up a little lion cat and held it in my arms. Jiang Shi had been fond of collecting fluffy treasures lately.

I was thinking about it so seriously that I did not notice Sixth Highness following behind me.

“Lord Yan, wait a moment. I miss Little Ten and would like to go home with you to see him. Would that be convenient?”

I felt Jiang Lu did not look like he missed his younger brother so much as he wanted to watch the fun, so I put on a fake smile.

“As Your Highness pleases.”

But when Jiang Lu saw Jiang Shi sound asleep in a rocking chair, basking in the sun, he questioned me in disbelief, one sentence after another. “Didn’t Father say that if we went to your house, we’d have to serve people?”

“Is this serving people? Isn’t this just pure enjoyment?”

I waved my hand, indicating that it was still fairly hard work. Every day there were account books to read, the inner household to manage, and a whole pile of trivial matters.

Jiang Lu looked at the tabby cat in Jiang Shi’s arms, then at the pug chasing its own tail in circles, and his expression looked as if the sky had collapsed.

“He can even lose himself in playthings?!”

I did not understand. “What ambition is he losing? If he likes them, then he can keep them.”

After all, he had come here as a princess.

Jiang Lu raised his voice. “No one keeps him in line?”

It was not that no one kept him in line. It was that no one dared to.

To show my respect for the imperial family, I said with a solemn face, “At present, Tenth Highness manages everyone in my household.”

Before Jiang Lu had finished being shocked, he saw the long-necked qilin in the courtyard, the peacock spreading its tail, and the little ponies nibbling grass everywhere.

After taking a long while to digest this, he finally asked, “Can a horse whose legs aren’t even long practice mounted archery?”

I was even more confused. “These are just kept for fun. Besides, it’s hot out. What if he gets heatstroke practicing mounted archery?”

“Then is that money from Father?”

I shook my head. “I can still afford little things like these.”

A spark lit in Jiang Lu’s eyes, and he turned and ran. “I’m going to ask Father for an imperial decree right now so I can marry into your Yan Family!”

“Even as a concubine!”

When I married Jiang Lu, His Majesty made another fortune in congratulatory gifts.

My great-grandfather tactfully advised His Majesty to stop sending his sons out.

But His Majesty said my family had too few people, so he wanted to make my household livelier.

I felt it was getting a little too lively.

After Jiang Lu married into my family, he did not care whether he was a wife or a concubine. He only raised two requirements: first, he would not get up early to pay respects; second, he wanted two cooks.

My mother said those barely counted as requirements and, with a wave of her hand, gave him four cooks.

Thank goodness she gave him four. If there had been even one fewer, they would have worked themselves to death flipping woks.

Jiang Lu’s mind was quick, too. He could make a single eggplant into all kinds of dishes, and even I feasted well because of it.

But my father quietly reminded me that I had to spread my favor evenly.

I looked at Jiang Shi teasing a parrot in the courtyard and said dryly, “This courtyard is pretty lively, huh.”

Jiang Shi said it was good for the courtyard to be livelier. “That way, the heart doesn’t feel empty.”

“You can go wherever you want. You don’t have to consider me.”

Those words made my heart ache. I led Jiang Shi straight to Jiang Lu’s courtyard. “Come on. Let’s go eat something good.”

“Once you’re full, your heart won’t feel empty anymore.”

Jiang Lu’s courtyard was full of smoke and fire. Jiang Lu said the two of us had come at just the right time.

“The roasted rabbit will be ready soon. Pair it with green plum wine to cut the grease.”

Rabbit?

I looked at Jiang Shi.

Jiang Shi’s eyes were slightly red, but he still forced himself to nod. “It was one raised in Jiangshi Courtyard.”

“It’s all right. I’ll just have some pastries.”

My face darkened. I directly took the four cooks from the courtyard back to Jiangshi Courtyard.

“You are the mistress in charge of my courtyard… no, the master in charge. Everyone in this courtyard answers to you.”

And so Jiang Lu began eating nine meals a day in Jiangshi Courtyard.

I had no idea how the spies the various households had planted in my home reported this to their masters.

Before long, all of the capital was saying that I stayed up day and night auditing the year-end account books sent in by the ministries, so exhausted that I could eat nine meals a day.

The entire court then joined forces to impeach me, saying that as a prince consort, I had no business holding such heavy authority over the Ministry of Revenue.

I snapped my head up and looked at His Majesty on the dragon throne.

I had forgotten about that!

His Majesty pulled off one of the jade-inlaid cloud-toed boots on his feet and hurled it at the Minister of Personnel’s head.

“Jealous, are you?”

“And here Minister Yan was kind enough to advise me that if your families are willing to build ships, you may set sail with the Royal Fleet!”

The court immediately split into two factions. The first consisted of aristocratic families with the money to build ships, who threw their support behind me on the spot.

The second consisted of upright scholars from humble backgrounds who could not get any benefit out of this and continued loudly impeaching me, demanding that I hand over my authority.

Just as the argument was getting loud enough to shake the roof tiles loose, my great-grandfather slowly opened his eyes. “By the Late Emperor’s grace, this old minister is also a prince consort.”

“This old minister shall return home at once.”

Only then did everyone remember that when the Founding Ancestor conquered the realm, he had taken a female general as his sworn younger sister, and she and my great-grandfather had been deeply in love.

After the Founding Ancestor established the Great Zhou Dynasty, he titled my great-grandmother Princess Jian’an, while my great-grandfather relied on his own talent to become Minister of Personnel.

Worse still, my great-grandmother was still hale and hearty.

From the oldest to the youngest, almost everyone in court had once been shoved into the ground by my great-grandmother and made to impersonate ginseng.

Their little mouths all snapped shut.

“For this voyage, I can grant my beloved ministers ten ship permits.”

His Majesty, enjoying the spectacle, added, “As for the list of names, let Young Lord Yan decide.”

My great-grandfather went right back to pretending to nap. My grandfather bobbed his head about, and my father stood to the side saying everything should be handled according to procedure.

The next day, I brought the calling cards submitted by all the ministers to discuss with His Majesty which families would get aboard.

His Majesty flipped through the two thick volumes of details I had filled from cover to cover and praised me. “As expected, my beloved minister’s idea of verifying assets was excellent. Now I know whose house to confiscate first.”

I said that was not what I meant.

His Majesty said he would give me twenty percent after the confiscation.

I raised my hand and flipped the register toward the back. “Confiscate the Minister of Rites’ estate.”

“The Minister of Rites committed examination fraud, embezzled while in charge, and formed factions for private gain. Every single offense is enough to warrant confiscation.”

The main issue was that Jiang Shi had bought another courtyard full of rare treasures and exotic pets, and Jiang Lu had found two more cooks from Sichuan.

My family’s various food expenses were shooting up by the day. I needed that twenty percent as a subsidy.

Perhaps my power had grown a little too great for some people to stomach.

So on a dark and windy night, I was kidnapped on my way home.

But this group of bandits was not very professional.

Before dawn, I returned home with a whole team of people in tow.

Jiang Shi was pacing anxiously around the courtyard, while Jiang Lu stood beside him sharpening a knife.

When the two of them saw me, they both rose at once. “You’re back?”

I had Li Qing first make arrangements for the people I had brought back, then told Jiang Shi to send a message to His Majesty.

“The Minister of Rites hired those men. Not only did he want to break my legs so I would stop running my mouth, he also wanted to break Fourth Highness’s and Fifth Prince’s legs, so Sixth Highness could go aboard the Treasure Ship in their place as the ballast prince.”

Jiang Shi crouched down and confirmed that both my legs were perfectly intact. “No, wait… hold on… huh?”

I nodded. “Yes. That leg.”

“They said someone wanted my family line cut off for good.”