Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine

After the fifth day of the first lunar month, Jin Wang began to get busy again.

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   Only after asking did she learn that His Majesty’s birthday was in the third month.
As His Majesty’s son, Jin Wang would need to return to the capital to celebrate his fiftieth birthday.

 

   Naturally, this birthday celebration couldn’t be taken lightly.
Even commoners’ sons would carefully prepare a birthday gift for their father, much less the son of the Emperor.
The city that Jin Wang Manor was in was also thousands of miles away from the capital, so all the guards and carriages must be arranged in advance.

 

   Plus, once Jin Wang leaves, all the matters and affairs of the fief must be handed over to trusted and reliable subordinates.
However, some jobs couldn’t be left to others, so he had to deal with them in advance.
For example, one of the most important responsibilities of Jinzhou, as a city near the border, was to resist the barbarians.

 

   So these past few days, Jin Wang was so busy that he only came back when it was dark.
Yaoniang spent her days in Rongxi Courtyard taking care of her pregnancy while Xiaobao learned to walk.

 

   Normally, when children learn to walk, they would be impatient and rush their steps, then end up falling.
This was why adults had to watch over them.
But Xiaobao was different.
From the very beginning, he walked without adults holding him by supporting himself with furniture and other objects.
His steps were also careful and slow, so he never had any major falls.

 

   One day after Jin Wang finished dealing with his work, he suddenly realized that his son could walk.

 

   In the evening, he returned to Rongxi Courtyard.
As the servants were cleaning his face and washing his hands, he suddenly noticed that a short little boy was standing in front of him.
Only a bit higher than his knees, he was wearing a thin cotton-padded jacket and pants that were easy to move in.
With a small tuft of hair on his otherwise bald head, he looked very cute.

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   Jin Wang lowered his head and watched the child swaying back and forth, trying to walk.
Suddenly, the little boy was about to fall to the side, so Jin Wang reached his hand out to lift him up.

 

   He was picked up again! And his father was holding him as if he would with a cloth bag!

 

   Xiaobao stuck out his chin towards Jin Wang’s arm then took a bite.
Unfortunately, Jin Wang didn’t even flinch, and instead, it was him whose teeth hurt from biting down too hard.
When he looked up, everyone in the room was staring at him, including the man holding him.
With a waaaaah, he started to cry.

 

   How humiliating!

 

   Yaoniang hurried over from another room.
“What’s the matter?” 

 

   When she came in, she saw Jin Wang carrying Xiaobao and putting him on the Kang.

 

   “Why are you carrying him like that again? Xiaobao doesn’t like people lifting him.
Every time you lift him, he becomes upset.” As a mother, it was still she who understood her son best.

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   After Xiaobao did something so dumb, he felt too ashamed to face others.
When Yaoniang came over to hug him, he buried his face into his mother’s shoulder and refused to look at anyone.
As he spent more time as a baby after rebirth, he realized that he was becoming more and more childlike.
The problem was that his childishness always emerged spontaneously, and he couldn’t control it at all.

 

   There was an awkward look on Jin Wang’s cold face since he didn’t know how to explain that this was the only way he knew to carry a child.
He could only watch Yaoniang pat Xiaobao’s back, coaxing gently, “Baby, it’s your father who doesn’t know how to hold a child properly.
In the future, he will gradually learn how to.”

 

   With these words, Jin Wang became even more embarrassed.

 

   He cleared his throat then sat down on the edge of the Kang.
Hong Chou offered some tea, then led the other people to withdraw.

 

   “This prince plans to take you for this trip.”

 

   Before Yaoniang could react, she automatically asked, “Where?”

 

   “To the capital.” Jin Wang picked up the tea, took a sip, and said, “The matter of you being titled as side consort needs to be reported to the court.
Xiaobao also needs to be listed in the imperial family’s genealogy.
We can use the trip to get it all done.”

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   To be honest, there was another reason that Jin Wang didn’t say, which was that he didn’t feel safe leaving her alone in the manor.
When he enters the capital this time, he would need to take away a large number of people.
The situation of the manor’s rear court was already complicated enough.
It was also unknown who was behind all those women that were bestowed from above.
As for whether those spies have all been flushed out, no dared to say for certain.
Rather than worrying about her staying in the manor, he might as well take her with him.

 

   “I can go? My belly…”

 

   “I’ve asked Doctor Liu.
He said that it wasn’t a problem to travel on the road, as long as we aren’t rushing.
And there’s also a part of the trip that includes travelling by water.”

 

   “The Xiaobao—”

 

   “Bring him along as well.”

 

   Yaoniang nodded, already thinking about what to bring for the trip.

 

   For this trip, not only would Jin Wang, Yaoniang and Xiaobao go, but also Consort Jin.

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   The day before setting off, Side Consort Xu suddenly made a fuss about leaving as well.

 

   She took out a letter from Xu Family, saying that her mother was seriously ill so she needed to go back to visit.
This reason of hers was valid.
Filial piety was the most important so even if Consort Jin knew that the other party was lying, she couldn’t produce any evidence to disprove her.
She was so infuriated that she suddenly thought to bring along Side Consort Liu with them as well, on the grounds that Side Consort Liu had yet to visit her maternal home after marriage.

 

   Jin Wang didn’t make any comments.

 

   So the trip to the capital to celebrate the emperor’s fiftieth birthday included all the notable masters and mistresses of Jin Wang Manor.
The matters of the fiefdom were left to the trustworthy subordinates.
As for the matter of the backyard, Consort Jin entrusted it to Lady Li.

 

   Lady Li was someone who’s been a part of the manor for a long time and there were only a few small concubines left, so there was nothing major to worry about.

 

   On the day of departure, the procession left the city with great fanfare and vigour.

 

   At the same time, another two carriages, accompanied by twenty-something plain-clothed guards, left quietly