A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace-Chapter 721 A Mess
An imperial edict rushed eight hundred li from Guangnan to the Capital City.
No one was alarmed, as it went directly to the Shih Family!
Ever since the Emperor closed their shops and cut off their financial source, the Shih Family had been living under severe financial strain.
Grand Tutor Shih even liked to pretend to be incorruptible.
He dared not accept gifts, and there was no business to do.
One thing led to another, and life at the residence became increasingly difficult.
Madam Shih was getting on in years and didn’t have much desire for beautiful clothes and jewelry, so she was rather indifferent.
However, the many young and beautiful concubines in the household constantly squabbled, raising hell over the most trivial sums.
Fed up beyond endurance, Madam Shih sold them all in a fit of anger.
Grand Tutor Shih was so angry that his beard curled, but ultimately, he couldn’t say much.
Without beautiful women to attend him, Grand Tutor Shih became irritable, and it wasn’t long before he fell ill.
Madam Shih knew it was a sickness of the mind, so she simply ignored him.
The atmosphere in the house remained tense.
One day at dawn, before the sky had even lightened, a servant boy scurried through the front porch like a gust of wind to Grand Tutor Shih’s front courtyard.
"Master, Master!"
"An imperial edict has come from the south. Please, Master, go and receive the decree!"
The doors of the front courtyard were being pounded on loudly.
Ill in bed, Grand Tutor Shih was jolted awake. He cursed as he hastily got dressed.
"You little scoundrel! Just wait until I’m free, then I’ll deal with you!"
To be wrenched from a pleasant dream like this was infuriating! Simply intolerable!
But he couldn’t delay the Emperor’s imperial edict, so he had to content himself with muttering curses.
The servant boy, terrified, quickly knelt at the doorway.
"This servant is guilty! Please, Master, forgive me!"
Grand Tutor Shih glared at him, hurriedly finished dressing, and went out.
The courier from Guangnan had just arrived as well.
Then came the greetings and the reading of the edict.
Grand Tutor Shih was initially very pleased.
The Emperor is in Guangnan, yet he took the time to issue an edict entrusting me with state affairs—what an honor! But wait... was the Emperor’s earlier praise just a prelude? In actuality, was it... a call for my son to lead troops into battle in Guangnan?!
Grand Tutor Shih was so shocked by the content of the imperial edict that he was speechless.
So much so, he even forgot to express his gratitude.
The courier’s smile was unsettlingly ambiguous.
"Grand Tutor, please accept the decree, will you?"
Only then did Grand Tutor Shih return to his senses, quickly kowtowing to show his thanks.
After accepting the edict and rising, Grand Tutor Shih was still deeply shaken.
Only after he personally handed over a hundred-tael silver note did the courier say with a smile, "No need to worry, Grand Tutor. The Emperor said he wants to personally cultivate your eldest son from the Shih Family!"
"You, sir, just wait for your son to return with military honors!"
With that, the courier casually departed.
Leaving Grand Tutor Shih and his family utterly bewildered.
Cultivate? Return with military honors? Good heavens, did he not know what a good-for-nothing my son was? If Heng’er had the slightest bit of potential, I, as his father, would be burning high incense in gratitude! That little rascal. He was the unquestioned leader of the young ne’er-do-wells in the entire Capital City. I personally taught him to read and write in his youth, but that brat just wasn’t cut out for scholarly pursuits. Instead, he took to fighting and brawling, leading all the young household servants of similar age to commit every imaginable misdeed! Even at such a young age, he was an incorrigible troublemaker. As for the characters I taught him, they had likely been tossed to the winds, forgotten as if sent to Java! And as for martial arts, don’t even get me started. Although Shih Heng had picked up a few brawling techniques from local thugs and ruffians, could those possibly be used in war? It was laughable!
The thought of his son made Grand Tutor Shih’s illness worsen.
"UGH!"
The servant boy at his side hurried to support him.
"Master, what’s wrong? Our young master is about to make a name for himself; you should be happy!"
Grand Tutor Shih was so angry he felt like he might vomit blood. Summoning his strength, he sent a slap flying.
"Happy, my foot!"
"If he could lead troops into battle, I could ascend to the heavens and become a divine general!"
Madam Shih, kneeling at the side, also sensed that something was amiss.
She immediately cast aside her previous resentment, crying and wailing, "My lord, Hengheng is your only legitimate son, our Shih Family’s sole heir! If anything were to happen to him, I wouldn’t want to live either!"
With that, she began to cry and create a scene.
Grand Tutor Shih was very impatient.
"That’s all well and good, but the Emperor has issued his command. What can I do!"
He was worried sick too!
"What do you mean? Are you really going to watch Hengheng march to his death?"
Grand Tutor Shih was extremely exasperated.
"To defy an Imperial edict is to condemn the whole family to death!"
Hearing this, Madam Shih was unwilling to accept it. When begging didn’t work, she rose and started to scold.
"Well done, you!"
"You must be resenting me for selling off those little vixens of yours! You’re taking your anger out on us, deliberately making things difficult for me and my son!"
"I have only one son. I don’t care; whoever wants to go to the battlefield can go, but my son must not!" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
Grand Tutor Shih was so angry he almost fell over backward.
"You...!"
"What about me?" Madam Shih puffed her chest, declaring defiantly.
Grand Tutor Shih felt a wave of dizziness overwhelm him, and a nearby servant boy quickly supported him.
He trembled as he pointed at Madam Shih.
"You... how audacious!"
Madam Shih’s expression immediately turned fierce.
"Audacious? Even if I were truly outrageous, I wouldn’t push my own son into a pit of fire!"
"It’s clearly a path to ruin, yet you insist on sending our son there. What exactly are your intentions!"
Grand Tutor Shih was so furious his beard bristled.
"You wretched old woman! Defying an Imperial edict is punishable by death!"
But Madam Shih paid no heed, beginning her routine of crying, creating a scene, and threatening to hang herself.
Grand Tutor Shih, seething with helpless anger, could only roar, "If you don’t want him to go, that’s fine! Go and beg the Empress Dowager. This matter might have a chance of being resolved only if Her Imperial Highness intervenes!"
Upon hearing this, Madam Shih felt there might be some truth to his words.
She immediately got up from the ground and headed to the palace.
「In Xifu Palace」
Madam Shih sat on a chair, crying and sobbing.
"Wanxin, your brother... he has been appointed by the Emperor to lead the troops in Guangnan! You must save him! You must plead with the Empress Dowager!"
"Only the Empress Dowager can save him now!"
Noble Concubine Shih lay on the bed, her face pale. The severe pain in her back caused cold sweat to bead on her skin.
The thirty lashes from the Punishment Department had been brutally thorough.
Several days had passed. Although the wounds had scabbed over, the tissue beneath was still deeply bruised. How could it not ache terribly!
She had even run a high fever last night!
Though the fever had subsided now, she still felt groggy and utterly drained.
Yet Madam Shih, without even a word of inquiry about her daughter’s condition, began rambling the moment she entered, urging her to plead with the Empress Dowager.
Back when I was beaten, Mother certainly hadn’t shown such urgency!
Noble Concubine Shih could barely make out what her mother was saying; all she could hear was a jumbled noise in her ears.
After what felt like an eternity, Noble Concubine Shih finally couldn’t bear it any longer.
"Mother!"
That brought Madam Shih back to her senses.
"What is it? Wanxin, have you agreed?"
"Oh, my! My affection for you hasn’t been in vain, Wanxin, nor has your brother’s affection for you!"
"I knew you would agree!"
Hearing this, Noble Concubine Shih felt a surge of frustration. Suppressing her displeasure, she managed to say, "Mother! Look at me... in this condition, can I even get out of bed?"
Only then did Madam Shih realize that her daughter’s complexion seemed somewhat off.
She rose, went to her daughter’s bedside, lifted the bedclothes to inspect her back, and then gently covered her again with a thin quilt.
"The Imperial Physician said her bones and tendons weren’t injured. They’re just superficial wounds, nothing serious..."
Superficial wounds?
Master and servant, Noble Concubine Shih and Ying Qiu, were both aghast, while Madam Shih, for her part, continued to chatter endlessly.
