Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 64 Zhou Prince's Mansion

Those who came from the official imperial examination system held an extremely high status in this era.

Even though Hong Jing was only a seventh-rank county official, this young man from the imperial clan still maintained basic respect for him.

After all, the civil officials of the Great Qi were notoriously reckless; if you really offended them, they might actually go to the capital to file a furious complaint against the emperor.

These scholars have a whole host of relationships, including mentors, teachers, and tutors, as well as fellow townsmen, classmates, and other acquaintances. Offending one of them can implicate a whole bunch of others.

The "young prince" patted Hong Jing on the shoulder and waved his hand, saying, "I'm not doing any official duties, Magistrate Hong, there's no need for that."

He smiled brightly: "In Yingtian City, the chivalrous tales published by your Deqing are quite famous. I inquired and everyone said that Magistrate Hong, you were quick to get the latest manuscript, so I came to Deqing to find you."

At this point, the young man frowned and said, "Speaking of which, this Deqing Bookstore is really too unorthodox. Throughout history, who has ever published a book bit by bit?"

The young man stepped forward, tugged at Magistrate Hong's sleeve, and said, "Magistrate Hong, since you have connections, quickly take me to find him. I want to get to know this Deqing Xiaoxiaosheng properly!"

This young man's surname is Jiang, and he is the crown prince of the current Zhou king.

Jiang Qi and Zhu Ming from another world have some similarities. Both started their dynasties in Yingtian and eventually moved their capitals to the north.

The difference is that Jiang Qi does not seem to have produced a second-generation vassal king who successfully raised an army; instead, the succession is in order of succession. In other words, Jiang Qi has not taken any special precautions against vassal kings so far.

Although the court carried out a round of reduction of power among the princes in the early years of the dynasty, the princes at this time still had a certain amount of power, at least in their fiefdoms.

Moreover, the Zhou royal line of the Great Qi is not the same as the founding line of the vassal kings. The founding Zhou king has been removed from the state due to some incident. The current Zhou king is not far removed from the line of the current emperor and can be considered a close relative of the royal family.

The Zhou King's fiefdom was not in Yingtian Prefecture, but in Bianzhou. The reason why this Zhou King's heir was studying in Yingtian was because he was too unruly and angered the current Zhou King. The Zhou King petitioned the court to send him to Yingtian to study at the Yingtian Imperial Academy to cultivate his mind and body.

Magistrate Hong wiped the sweat from his forehead.

In the past month or so, he did use Chen Qing's things to do a lot of favors, and he also sent several gifts to Yingtian Prefecture.

Originally, all of this was accumulated from his official career. He never expected that he would attract such a troublesome person.

Court officials and these princes and their relatives were often on parallel lines, rarely intersecting. Officials who came from the regular civil service examinations would not associate with any princes.

Because there's no future in it, and it's difficult to strike a balance.

The emperor would be displeased if he showed too much respect to these members of the imperial family.

If one is too disrespectful, the emperor will also be displeased.

Magistrate Hong took a deep breath and said, "Your Highness, this chivalrous tale was written in Deqing, but who is the author? This humble official..."

Before he could finish speaking, the young man grabbed his sleeve and glared at him, saying, "Don't try to make excuses!"

"The manuscript you sent to Yingtian has a different layout than the Xia Ji printed by Deqing Bookstore. It must have been given to you by that Xiaoxiaosheng from Deqing in advance!"

The young prince frowned and said, "Are you taking advantage of my young age?"

Having said that, Magistrate Hong had no other choice but to keep the matter quiet for now. He sighed, bowed, and said, "Please wait a moment, Your Highness, in the county office. I will go and invite you over."

The young man beamed with joy.

"Go quickly, go quickly."

Magistrate Hong bowed and saluted, but after taking only a few steps, he turned back, looked at the young prince, wiped the sweat from his brow, and asked in a low voice, "Young Prince, does Yingtian Prefecture know about your visit to Huzhou?"

The young man frowned: "Why should we need to know?"

His expression became somewhat impatient.

"Calling you Magistrate Hong is just being polite. If you keep nagging, I'm going to hit you!"

Magistrate Hong glanced at him, then looked back at the back office, thinking of his youngest son. He forced a smile and said, "Young Prince, how about this, I'll take you to find the person in charge?"

This Prince Zhou most likely left Yingtian secretly.

If he is allowed to linger in the county government office for too long, and the imperial court investigates in the future, while the imperial family and nobles may be fine, he, a mere minor official, may not be exempt from responsibility.

The young man's eyes darted around, and he said with a smile, "Alright, alright, you lead the way."

Magistrate Hong nodded hurriedly: "This humble official will go and prepare a sedan chair for the young prince."

After saying this, he first went to the back office and had someone summon the county clerk, instructing him: "In my name, immediately send a letter to Yingtian Prefecture, saying that the Prince of Zhou's heir is in Deqing." He paused, then added: "Also send a letter to the prefectural city, so as not to say that we did not report to our superiors in advance."

The clerk nodded quickly: "Yes, Your Excellency."

Magistrate Hong gave him a few instructions, then sighed and went to the front office to see the young prince.

He invited the Prince of Zhou into his sedan chair, and then walked ahead to lead the way, heading towards Mud Snail Lane where Chen Qing was.

When he arrived at Mud Snail Alley, Chen Qing happened to be returning from the Gu family. The two met at the alley entrance. Chen Qing saw Magistrate Hong and quickly stepped forward, smiling and bowing respectfully: "Greetings, Magistrate. What brings you to Mud Snail Alley?"

At this point, Chen Qing glanced at the sedan chair not far behind him, as if he had thought of something, and asked, "Has the Prefect arrived?"

The "prefect" he was referring to was not Chen Huan, but the prefect of Huzhou.

Chen Qing had met the prefect of Huzhou before. After all, the Chen family was considered an official family in the prefectural city, and they could occasionally meet government officials.

When Magistrate Hong saw Chen Qing, he breathed a sigh of relief. He looked back at the sedan chair behind him, pulled Chen Qing aside, and whispered, "A distinguished guest from Yingtian Prefecture."

"For the word sought you."

Chen Qing was taken aback, then realized what was going on. He glanced at the sedan chair behind him and quickly asked, "How important is the guest?"

Because the two had few opportunities to speak, Magistrate Hong only uttered two words.

"The last name is Jiang."

After saying that, he jogged to the sedan chair and bowed his head slightly: "Young Prince, we have just run into Deqing Xiaoxiaosheng, whom you are looking for."

The slightly overweight Crown Prince of Zhou lifted the curtain of his sedan chair, looked at Chen Qing standing not far away, and asked, "Is it him?"

Magistrate Hong took a deep breath and nodded, saying, "It's him."

"Stop the sedan chair! Stop the sedan chair!"

When the sedan chair stopped, the chubby boy bent down and got out, complaining, "This sedan chair is too narrow, it almost squeezed me to death."

After saying that, he patted his clothes.

"Magistrate Hong, please introduce me to the emperor."

"Yes."

Magistrate Hong led the young prince to Chen Qing. He looked at Chen Qing and said, "Young Master Chen, this is the heir apparent of the current Prince Zhou!"

Chen Qing looked up and sized him up, feeling slightly uneasy.

Previously, the highest-ranking official he had ever truly interacted with was his own father, Chen Huan. Now, after spending two months in Deqing, the Jiang family, a member of the imperial family, has come knocking on his door?!
However, because of Magistrate Hong's earlier remark that his surname was "Jiang," he was somewhat prepared at this moment, so he bowed and said, "My name is Chen Qing, and I greet Your Highness."

Magistrate Hong bowed to the Prince of Zhou and said, "Your Highness, this is Young Master Chen Qing, son of Chen Zhaoming, the Prefect of Yanzhou, and also the Deqing Xiaoxiaosheng that Your Highness is looking for."

"what?"

The chubby boy looked Chen Qing up and down, and asked in surprise, "You're actually from an official family?"

Chen Qing kept his head down and didn't say anything more.

The young prince stepped forward, circled Chen Qing once, and then began to shake his head and sway his body.

"Even if he is from an official family, if he has been reduced to writing vernacular novels, his life is probably not very good."

"Do you have any official rank or title?"

Chen Qing shook his head slightly: "No."

"That'll be easy."

He looked at Chen Qing and said with a smile, "Chen Qing, I really like what you wrote."

"I'll be returning to my fiefdom next year, and you'll come with me to my Prince Zhou's residence..."

"Become an advisor."

(End of this chapter)