Chapter 66: The Old Prince Next Door 19

Within a month, the parasites within the Prince Chen Estate had been thoroughly purged.

Yet Su Huandan knew that before long, new parasites would emerge. Humans live for profit. Even in the modern era, where laws and regulations are so refined, they cannot stop the greed in human hearts. There will always be those who stray onto the wrong path; how could such people not exist in ancient times?

They certainly did. In ancient times, the power over a servant’s life and death rested entirely in the hands of the master. If caught, it meant death; there was no such thing as surviving after a few years in prison. Yet, despite this, parasites appeared one after another.

Anyone who does not conduct regular self-inspections and lacks the ability to manage their assets will eventually be bled dry by the parasites around them.

Prince Chen’s temper was truly terrible.

Gui Xi was the Head Steward. Since such a massive loophole had occurred, Gui Xi ended up being flogged¹ after all.

And this was someone who had grown up with the Prince since childhood.

On the day Gui Xi was beaten, Su Huandan looked at Prince Chen’s cold eyes and indifferent expression. Only then did she truly feel that she was living in an era of imperial power.

In the era of imperial power, the absolute control superiors held over subordinates was enough to strike fear into anyone’s heart.

What if she were the one who made a mistake?

Su Huandan told herself that, fortunately, she was just a passerby here. If life was comfortable, she would live until old age. If it wasn’t, once the ten-year limit was up, she would briskly return to the Underworld to hand over her mission. How wonderful was that?

Therefore, if she minded her own business and avoided meddling, this life would still be very much worth living.

How could the Palace not know about the affairs of the Prince Chen Estate?

The Empress Dowager wondered if she should also inspect her own private treasury.

Although her private treasury was not as abundant as Prince Chen’s, it was still her own property. If her things were truly stolen and replaced by those wretched servants, and she ended up distributing fakes to her children and grandchildren after her death… when her descendants looked at them and realized their old grandmother had used nothing but counterfeits to fool people…

No, that wouldn’t do. Just thinking about that outcome made the Old Empress Dowager feel like she couldn’t breathe properly.

She didn’t care much about the size of her private wealth; what she cared about was her reputation after death.

Investigate!

With the Empress Dowager leading the way, a wave of self-inspections swept through the Palace.

Subsequently, the Palace underwent a bloody purge. Many officials managing the Imperial Household Department were either exiled or beheaded.

Following closely, the nobles of the capital also went into a frenzy.

The great play had begun, and the common people rarely got to enjoy so much gossip all at once!

A steward’s daughter-in-law stealing from her mother-in-law’s private treasury, a mother-in-law embezzling the dowry of her deceased daughter-in-law, and so on. All sorts of bizarre incidents emerged one after another, providing the commoners with a grand spectacle.

“They say scholarly families are the most well-mannered, but look at this. The mother of a fourth-rank official² from the Ministry of Rites gave her deceased daughter-in-law’s dowry to her younger son. That deceased eldest daughter-in-law left behind a son and a daughter! According to the rules, that dowry should belong to those children, but it all went to the uncle. Tsk tsk, if you didn’t know better, you’d think the dead sister-in-law and the uncle had something going on.”

“So, once the deceased daughter-in-law’s natal family found out, they naturally had to seek justice for their late daughter and their young grandchildren. I heard the dowry couldn’t be recovered, so they stripped the fourth-rank official’s storehouse bare instead.”

The commoners gossiped just for the sake of the spectacle, but as these matters spread, people in the imperial court naturally seized the opportunity to stir up trouble.

A fourth-rank official was not a low position. In the imperial court, every position was like a hole waiting for a radish³; if one person was ousted for failing to manage their household, someone else would naturally take their place.

Consequently, the imperial court underwent a massive reshuffling of personnel.

By the time the situation settled down, the New Year was almost upon them.

Over the past few days, Prince Chen noticed that his Princess Consort’s temper was growing larger by the day. She found fault with everything she saw.

Since their marriage, Prince Chen had come to understand what kind of person his Princess Consort was.

Usually, she was easy to talk to and very organized in her work, but at her core, she was a very firm person.

She had laid out clear rules and frameworks for the household affairs. As long as everyone did their jobs well, the rewards she gave were never lacking.

In all honesty, she was a master at managing a household.

There was a lot to do at the end of the year. New Year’s goods had to be prepared, and gifts had to be arranged in advance. The tasks were quite tedious, but the servants were working diligently and meticulously. Yet, the Princess Consort still couldn’t control her temper and felt like lashing out.

Could it be that someone in the estate had offended her again?

“Gui Xi, go investigate. See who is so blind as to provoke the Princess Consort.” As Prince Chen finished speaking, he saw Gui Xi’s expression as if he had seen a ghost, causing the corners of his mouth to twitch.

Gui Xi thought to himself, “Your Highness, you spend every single day with the Princess Consort. Who would dare provoke her? Do they have a death wish?”

“What’s with that expression?” Prince Chen felt that ever since the Princess Consort entered the manor, Gui Xi had become increasingly unpleasant.

In the past, Gui Xi had arranged his food, clothing, and daily needs. Now that the Princess Consort had taken over, she was miles better than Gui Xi.

Everything was considerate and to his liking. He was especially happy seeing the Princess Consort busy herself for his sake.

Gui Xi: …

Your Highness, you’re talking nonsense. A wife is a wife, and a servant is a servant. You’re insisting on comparing a servant like me to your wife. I’d like to ask Your Highness, do you have some unspeakable feelings for this servant?

However, the tasks assigned by the Prince still needed to be done. Gui Xi left, suppressing his annoyance.

He returned in the evening and said unhurriedly, “Your Highness, I have investigated. No one has provoked the Princess Consort. Besides, Your Highness stays with the Princess Consort every day. You should know better than anyone if there was someone.”

This reminded Prince Chen. He covered his mouth with one hand, staring blankly at the snowflakes outside the window. Were he and the Princess Consort really that inseparable every day?

“Indeed, your relationship is excellent. It’s being rumored all over the capital that you are deeply infatuated with the Princess Consort.” As soon as Gui Xi finished speaking, the folding fan in Prince Chen’s hand came flying at him.

“It is clearly your Princess Consort who is infatuated with this Prince. She can’t bear to be away from me for a single moment. Outsiders don’t understand, but do you not understand either? Get out, get out. Go see what the Princess Consort is doing now. Is she missing me again?” Prince Chen absolutely refused to believe he was the one infatuated with his wife. While he liked her and their time together was comfortable and natural, “infatuated” was going too far.

Gui Xi sent someone to check.

He returned and told Prince Chen that the Princess Consort had not yet woken up from her afternoon nap.

Prince Chen usually took his afternoon nap with the Princess Consort in the Main Courtyard when he had nothing to do. Today, hadn’t some visitors come to see him and deliver New Year’s gifts? He hadn’t been free at noon, so he hadn’t returned to the Main Courtyard. Who would have thought that it was almost time for dinner and the Princess Consort was still asleep?

Prince Chen’s face turned pale. He stood up abruptly and pointed at Gui Xi. “Tell me, what use do I have for any of you? Who takes a nap for this long? How are you people even serving her? Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and get Imperial Physician Wang! Go to the Main Courtyard and have him check on the Princess Consort.”

As soon as Prince Chen thought about how the Princess Consort had been so temperamental lately, prone to scolding someone the moment things went wrong, he told himself that she must be ill.

It made sense; after all, he had married his Princess Consort with the intention of using the marriage to ward off his own bad luck and illness.

Now, although his physical condition still could not match that of a normal man, he was far better off than he had been before. Had the Princess Consort’s presence actually brought him back to life?

If that theory held true, then was the Princess Consort’s current illness his fault?

For a moment, Prince Chen felt a wave of sorrow, feeling as though the demons of his own sickness had migrated onto the Princess Consort.

Translator’s Notes