Fierce Consort

Chapter 58

On this day after court, the Zhenguo Duke didn't leave and asked for an audience with the emperor.
Within the imperial study, Emperor Xi wore a violet robe embroidered with a five-clawed golden dragon. He was seated behind the royal desk.

"Uncle Mao Shan. Is something the matter?"

The Zhenguo Duke didn't beat around the bush. He directly offered up a long flat box. The general manager eunuch Zheng Hai Quan received the box and placed it onto the desk. After obtaining Emperor Xi's permission, he opened it.

Seeing what was inside the box, not only was Zheng Hai Quan confused, even Emperor Xi was the same.
The box was lined with a scarlet cloth, on top of which....was a meat skewer?

It was meat, right? But meat was normally placed on plates, but these were held in place by a meat skewer. There were a total of three pieces. Emperor Xi saw it very clearly.

The Zhenguo Duke had always been someone straightforward. Therefore, there had to be a meaning to this.

Emperor Xi didn't ask, and waited for the Zhenguo Duke to explain.

"Majesty probably remembers that his highness the fourth prince had lived in your subject's estate for a few days. This subject has a grandson who had just turned ten this year. Children are naughty and lively at this age. The fourth prince rarely left the estate while he lived there, and somehow ended up playing with this old subject's grandson. This subject thought that the fourth prince was rather lonely living in the estate, and it was good to have a playmate. Therefore, they played as they pleased....."

These words were spoken in a casual tone, and he even seemed to be laughing in spite of himself. He had an appearance of loving devotion towards the younger generation. He spoke about how the fourth prince slowly started becoming livelier after getting to the Zhenguo Duke Estate, dragging Shen Qi along everywhere.

This matter wasn't a secret. Emperor Xi had long known about it.

"Unexpectedly, the two hit it off rather well. After the fourth prince moved out, that grandson of mine also went to play at the fourth prince estate a couple of times. The two seem to have similar interests, and somehow, my grandson ended up asking to start his own little business. My daughter-in-law spoils the child and didn't ask too much before getting him some helpers....at first we thought he was just messing around and didn't think too much about it. Who would have expected him to bring back some silver yesterday as a show of filial piety...."

The Zhenguo Duke's words seemed a bit of a non sequitur, but Emperor Xi understood his meaning.
"This is what he came up with?" Emperor Xi picked up the skewer inside the box and asked.
He didn't specify who he was referring to, but they both understood his meaning.

"Yes. They started a small food stand. It's said business is pretty good, and they can earn some silver." The Zhenguo Duke spoke very vaguely.
Emperor Xi muttered to himself for a while before nodding. He said with a smile: "Uncle Mao Shan's grandson is intelligent for his age. He's able to earn his own silver early on. Not bad, not bad."

The Zhenguo Duke cupped his hands. "Majesty is overpraising."

"En. You may take your leave."

As the Zhenguo Duke was about to step outside, a faint voice sounded from above.

"That child is also not simple. We understand."

The Zhenguo Duke didn't pause as he left.
Although it seemed like they had been speaking randomly, each understood the other's meaning.
The Zhenguo Duke was saying one thing while also saying something else. He gave Emperor Xi a heads up on Shen Qi. This way, if something really happened due to the children playing together, the emperor would be forewarned. A loyal official was required to hold nothing back from the emperor.
He also mentioned that his grandson and the fourth prince started a business together. Shen Qi was a naughty brat. How could he come up with something like that?