Reborn as Powerful Minister's Beloved
Chapter 133: Three Watches of the Night

Chapter 133: Chapter 133: Three Watches of the Night

Zheng Nianru stepped into the inn once again, feeling somewhat out of place.

Nanmen Yu had finally left, and although the outcome wasn’t what Zheng Nianru had hoped for—far from ideal—there was still some gain. Nanmen Yu’s master had died, but ultimately, it wasn’t her fault, was it? It was the Duke of Jing Ci who wanted to kill her, and she wasn’t the one who killed the Duke of Jing Ci.

Moreover, the Duke of Jing Ci didn’t die; he was merely severely injured.

Given how much stuff Nanmen Yu left behind, it was clear that the Duke of Jing Ci wouldn’t be dying anytime soon.

Once again, Father Ping and Mother Ping, along with Xing Cheng and Xing Le, stood gratefully in the lobby of the inn. They had never imagined that their savior would be a descendant of Prince Duan, the Commandery Princess. On her journey back to the city from the Traveling Palace, she had seen Xing Cheng and Xing Le playing with some young refugees and was moved to compassion, which prompted her to save them.

This time, Prince Duan had even pleaded with the Crown Prince, allowing them to be freed.

If Father Ping had been wary of Prince Duan before, now he felt nothing but gratitude. Things had come to this point, and the hatred of Pinghu Village toward the Crown Prince wasn’t solely due to the disappearance of their family. In the end, the Crown Prince even magnanimously released Uncle Han, leaving Father Ping with nothing more to say.

The management of the two inns was now in the hands of two people personally appointed by Prince Duan, born to his household—reliable, mature, and loyal. Within a few days, they had managed the affairs of the inn in perfect order.

But Zheng Nianru always felt something was missing—everything was by the book, lacking a personal touch.

The men sent by her father were good indeed, but too rigid. They followed her for an hour without changing their expression or tone of voice from beginning to end.

"Commandery Princess, there is another matter I need to report to you," Zheng Nianru, nearly dozing off, perked up at these words and nodded for him to continue.

"I took a count of the servants in the inn and found one missing; this person was also sent by the Commandery Princess," Lin Da cautiously began. He hadn’t been transferred from the estate for long and was unclear about the Commandery Princess’s temperament. Moreover, no one in Prince Duan’s Mansion really understood the Commandery Princess, so everything was like groping one’s way across a river by feeling the stones.

Zheng Nianru was initially stunned, but then she remembered the person picked up halfway. It seemed there was such a person, related somewhat to the Eldest Princess. Out of a moment’s soft-heartedness, Zheng Nianru had brought him back, which was better than letting him die on the road.

"Gone?" Zheng Nianru asked casually. After leaving the person here, she had forgotten about his existence.

"Before I took over the inn, this person took advantage of the chaos and left. All the other servants have their deeds with us, but this one..."

"Let it be if he’s gone. He was just a pitiful soul picked up from the street," Zheng Nianru waved it off, indifferent to his departure.

Lin Da sighed in relief. He had thoroughly inquired about the circumstances of that person’s arrival, yet the descriptions of his appearance and demeanor by several servants hardly seemed to fit an ordinary person.

...

Wen Zan’s leg injury had indeed required two months of rest, and Old Master Wen Kang had found the very best physicians throughout Nanzheng—Imperial Physicians and local physicians took turns examining him, fearing that his only son would end up disabled like himself.

After resting for a month, Wen Zan could no longer stay in bed. He was quite scared at first, but the Imperial Physicians and physicians all said that Young Master Wen was extremely fortunate; though his bones were affected, thankfully, his muscles and bones were not seriously injured, a chance so slim it seemed like a divine mercy.

Therefore, Wen Zan’s leg healed faster than expected. After lying down for a month, he could no longer stay in bed and was eager to go out.

Old Master Wen Kang and Second Madam Wen, how could they let their only son go out? Second Madam Wen, in particular, watched by his bedside every day, fearing that Wen Zan would injure himself again without paying attention.

Old Grand Madam Wen was even more afraid that her precious grandson would be stifled by boredom. She arranged for theater troupes to come to the residence on rotation; after two days of plays, she brought in singing girls, and in another two days, various entertainments like cockfighting and cricket fighting—all sorts of diversions, but none brought a smile to the face of Second Young Master Wen.

Because Wen Zan’s interests did not lie in these diversions, and with Second Madam Wen watching daily, he dared not touch the fabrics, embroidery, or needles he loved. The Wen family was originally a martial family, with twenty-one men having served on the battlefield in the Northwest Border Region—a resounding name indeed.

But from a young age, despite changing many martial arts teachers, Wen Zan failed to exhibit any achievement. Also, because Old Grand Madam Wen doted excessively on her grandson, Old Master Wen Kang could not discipline him, leading to a character fond of cockfighting and idling, achieving nothing of significance.

Wen Zan endured for a month and finally had his trusted servant secretly bring in some items and people to the residence, including a type of fabric from Nanyu made of a mix of lotus and silk threads—extremely valuable. The embroidery girl, whom Wen Zan kept outside the residence, was also secretly brought in by the servant and was now in Wen Zan’s private quarters.

Wen Zan stayed quiet for two days and Second Madam Wen, feeling her son had finally become sensible, was overwhelmed with joy and slightly relieved. She had been by his bedside for over a month and was utterly exhausted. Seeing Wen Zan behaving and not causing trouble, she felt naturally reassured and allowed herself to be persuaded to take a rest.

However, before that priceless piece of special fabric could be embroidered, Old Master Wen Kang caught him personally embroidering the petals.

Old Master Wen Kang did not see clearly at first, and the servant was also hurried by Wen Zan to fetch more embroidery threads. When Old Master Wen Kang approached and clearly saw his son, who was neither scholarly nor martial, focused on embroidering, he was so upset that he collapsed on the ground.

After Old Master Wen Kang regained consciousness, the first thing he did was to have each of Wen Zan’s servants beaten up. The second thing was his attempt to cut off one of Wen Zan’s hands. Old Grand Madam Wen and Second Madam Wen desperately intervened, saving his hand in the process.

The following day, Old Grand Madam Wen personally went to plead with the Empress Dowager and secured a good position for Wen Zan, cutting off his ability to idle and shirk his duties.

Empress Dowager Yan Ping considered the matter and recently reports indicated that those assigned to transcribe the Life-Sustaining Scripture were top young talents from the unified exams. Being in the company of such talents would naturally influence him. Old Grand Madam Wen was extremely grateful, feeling that this arrangement was more than satisfactory.

Old Master Wen Kang did not wait for Wen Zan to fully recover for three months in the residence but urged him to take up a position in the Youchun Workshop immediately, to avoid any further shameful acts.

When Prince Duan found out that his selection of personnel suddenly included Wen Zan, he wished he could throw him out directly, but since Old Master Wen Kang had personally delivered him and even offered several apologies, Prince Duan, having nowhere else to vent his frustration and unaware of his intentions in selecting personnel, begrudgingly accepted him.

Wen Zan was reluctant to go and was taken to the Youchun Workshop limping and under coercion. Unfortunately, the precious fabric he had gone to great lengths to obtain was lost in this process.

Wen Zan was naturally unwilling and secretly sent people to search for it, only to discover that another person was also seeking the same fabric.

Wen Zan remembered that this fabric had been handled by the Imperial Merchant of the Wen family, and he had specifically instructed them, so only the trusted individuals in the Wen family knew of it.

Upon inquiring, it turned out to be Fourth Prince Zheng Haoyuan.

What did he want it for? Wen Zan thought perhaps Fourth Prince might share a piece with him.

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