Professional Ethics of a Concubine

After the emperor returned to the palace, Prince Jing took Feng Niankang to see Xie Mingli alone.

Xie Mingli's health was getting worse and worse. He no longer attended the morning court. He also retired due to illness from the Ministry of Revenue and handed over all the affairs on hand.

It was because the emperor remembered their old friendship and the old lady's face that he did not directly dismiss him from his post, but allowed him to retire due to illness, stop receiving salary and recuperate, giving him half a year.

If he is still unable to work normally after half a year, he will be dismissed from his post.

Xie Mingli stayed in the mansion, mostly resting in bed. His heart was dead, his energy and spirit were gone, he was tortured and lived in a daze.

After the Chinese New Year, Prince Jing had not seen Xie Mingli again. It was only March now, and when Prince Jing saw him again, he was shocked by his skinny appearance, which made him look neither human nor ghost.

Feng Niankang was also frightened. After a long while, he asked in a surprised voice,

"He turned out to be a little old man?"

Xie Mingli is only thirty years old this year, but his hair has turned a lot whiter.

Because he looked lifeless, he looked much older. Moreover, he was thin, had a frown on his face, and had wrinkles on his forehead. One look at him and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was fifty years old.

"No, I'm just thirty years old." King Jing shook his head.

Feng Niankang frowned, looked at him, and whispered,

"You reap what you sow. You deserve what you have done. If I feel even a little bit sorry for you, I would be letting my mother and myself down."

"...Who are you? You have similar features to Qingwan."

Xie Mingli didn't hear clearly what he said, he just spoke weakly and smiled at him.

Seeing that Feng Niankang didn't answer, he looked at King Jing next to him and continued with a smile,

"Where did the prince find this child? He is very pleasing to my eyes. I liked him the first time I saw him. It would be great to adopt him and let him inherit the title."

"There is no need for adoption. He is the stillborn baby you abandoned that year. He is your biological son." King Jing said.

"What!" Xie Mingli was shocked, and a surge of strength suddenly emerged in his body.

He got up from the bed, reached out and grabbed Feng Niankang, but before he could say anything else, tears blurred his eyes.

"Child, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Xie Mingli grabbed Feng Niankang, crying and apologizing. He couldn't stop crying. He was so emotional that he was talking nonsense.

"Wow, wow, wow... That's great! That's great! You're alive, that's great, you're alive! Thank you, thank you for being alive, thank you..."

Feng Niankang pulled his hand and found that it was not twitching, which made his hand hurt.

He made a bitter face and mouthed to King Jing beside him, "Uncle, please save me."

Jing·Uncle·Wang reached out and pushed Xie Mingli down again, "You hurt him, don't be so excited, you will scare him."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I was too excited and hurt you. I'm sorry, kid, don't be afraid. I, I won't hurt you."

Xie Mingli looked at Feng Niankang, and his originally dead eyes suddenly lit up again, as if a dying man had come back to life.

Feng Niankang,...

He was not afraid, he just felt a little uncomfortable and wanted to ridicule him. What had he done before?

"Xiaokang, go wait outside. I will talk to him." King Jing said to Feng Niankang.

"Okay." Feng Niankang was eager to go out for some fresh air. He would feel uncomfortable if he stayed here for any longer.

Xie Mingli kept watching him, watching him go out, and watching him close the door.

His figure could no longer be seen, but he still did not take his eyes away.

"What's his name? How did he survive? Your Majesty, how did you find him? Please tell me! I, I want to know everything about him!"

Xie Mingli sat up from the bed again and spoke excitedly in a series of words.

The whole person looks a little crazy.

"His name is Feng Niankang now. He can accept recognizing his ancestry, but he doesn't want to acknowledge you as his biological father."

Prince Jing's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Xie Mingli's head, calming him down a lot.

"...I can understand that. I, I am indeed not worthy of being his father. Back then, I was the one who ordered him to be abandoned. I was also the one who killed Qing Wan. It is not excessive for him to hate me."

Xie Mingli lay down again dejectedly. Although he was very discouraged, he still had more energy than before.

Feng Niankang's existence gave him more motivation to live.

From then on, the rest of my life was naturally about making it up to him, making it up to him desperately, and giving him everything I could.

Atonement, atonement to him, including Qingwan's share, make it all up to myself.

He didn't want to live before because he didn't even have anyone to atone for his sins, and he no longer knew what the meaning of living was.

But Feng Niankang's existence made him see the meaning.

What could he do for this child?

What else can be given to him besides the title?

I'm afraid my concern will only make him feel annoyed?

When Xie Mingli thought of this, he felt discouraged again.

"Your Highness, what can I do?" Xie Mingli asked Prince Jing. He did not expect to gain Feng Niankang's forgiveness, he just wanted to do something that would benefit him.

"Give him a title and help him accumulate chips for his career." King Jing said.

"It just so happens that I have something I need you to do. I didn't mention it before because the timing wasn't right and you didn't have the will to survive. Can you do it now?"

In another month, Minister Chen and the Crown Prince will be released from the small dark room. Together with the gains from the trip to Qingzhou, we can prepare to close the net.

After Minister Chen came out of the small dark room, he thought he could do his job again, so he was given a big gift to start his journey.

This requires planting a nail in the Ministry of Revenue, and Xie Mingli is a good candidate.

"Your Highness, if you say so, I can do it!" Xie Mingli immediately agreed.

"Even if you might be dismissed from office or exiled afterwards?" King Jing asked him.

"As long as it doesn't involve the child and the Marquis's Mansion, it's fine." Xie Mingli smiled indifferently.

"My broken body is of little use if I continue to live, and it annoys people. It would be nice if I could be of some use.

The more important and dangerous the task the prince asks me to do, the more I want it. This way, I will have the confidence to beg the prince to take better care of Xiaokang in the future, and hope that he can have a smooth life. "

King Jing looked at him for a long time, then said,

"You should take care of yourself first, then return to the Ministry of Revenue to take over the affairs. I will discuss with you later on how to proceed and what to do."

"Okay." Xie Mingli agreed without any objection, and then asked carefully,

"Can I, can I look at Xiaokang again? Can I talk to him again?"

King Jing walked to the door, opened it and called Feng Niankang in, and said to him,

"I have communicated with him. He wants to compensate you and atone for his sins. Therefore, he will not hurt you. He just wants to see you and talk to you."

Feng Niankang glanced at Xie Mingli on the bed, met his hopeful and bright eyes, sighed deeply, and looked tired and unloved.

“But I don’t want to talk to him. When I think of my mother, I get angry. I don’t want to forgive him even if he repents.

But he is really miserable now, and he has indeed regretted his mistakes, so when I see him like this, I feel uncomfortable and unhappy. "

"Okay, let's go." King Jing also respected Feng Niankang very much. If he didn't want to face Xie Mingli, he would not communicate with him.

Considering the terrible things Xie Mingli did in the past, I'm afraid only Buddha or Bodhisattva could forgive him.

Xie Mingli looked at Feng Niankang and listened to his words. His heart was broken and tears were streaming down his face. But he didn't have the face to say a word of begging for him to stay a little longer.

"Don't lie there like a dead person. You are still needed to trace your ancestral roots, open the ancestral hall, record the family tree, and entertain guests."

Before leaving, King Jing said to Xie Mingli, "You've made so many mistakes. This is your last chance. Don't make any more mistakes."

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness!" Xie Mingli stood up with difficulty and kowtowed to him.

After they left, Xie Mingli called his personal servant,

"Take the name card and ask the imperial physician to come. I don't want to die, at least not now..."

The servant wiped his tears happily and went to ask for the imperial physician.

-

On the other hand, when the emperor returned to the palace, he was told that Prince Su wanted to see him and had been waiting for him in the imperial study for a long time.

When the emperor heard that Prince Su wanted to see him, he quickened his pace. By the time he arrived at the imperial study, he was a little out of breath from walking so fast.

The emperor couldn't help feeling annoyed and lost. He was old after all. It was only a few steps away, but if he walked faster, he couldn't bear it and was panting like a cow.

"Royal brother, why are you in such a hurry? Is there a wolfhound chasing you?" Prince Su saw him, heard his rapid breathing, and teased him with a smile.

Only Prince Su dared to speak to the Emperor like this. There was no hierarchy between the ruler and his subjects, only the intimacy between brothers.

The emperor glared at him unhappily, thinking that he was in such a hurry to leave because he was afraid that he would get tired of waiting, what a heartless brother.

It's really a waste of time to raise it all these years.

"Royal brother, would you like to eat some melon seeds? I was sitting here bored just now, so I peeled them myself." Prince Su said again.

"...When did you learn to peel melon seeds?" The emperor looked at the small dish of melon seeds, picked up one and put it in his mouth, then asked him with a smile.

He is not an ungrateful person and even knows to peel melon seeds for him to eat.

"Nian Qiu likes to eat it." Prince Su said naturally.

emperor,……

Haha, he shouldn’t ask!