FDPBCT 03

Chapter 03

The Father-Daughter Duo Welcomes a Troublesome Task (Page 1/2)**

He couldn’t understand it. His father and mother were both outstanding figures, and he himself was exceptionally talented. Even his half-brothers were all exceptionally clever and capable. Only his own full-blooded younger brother was hopelessly stupid.

From childhood to adulthood, the messes he had cleaned up for this stupid younger brother were more numerous than the sage scriptures he had read.

The Emperor watched the father and daughter, who, in the middle of their argument, had started cursing each other’s ancestors. He was instantly furious, grabbed the inkstone beside him, and hurled it down.

“Enough!”

The father and daughter deftly sidestepped the inkstone flying toward them, then both knelt, lowered their heads, and fixed their eyes on the floor—the entire motion executed in one smooth, practiced sequence.

The moment the inkstone left his hand, the Emperor regretted it. But seeing those two scoundrels dodge aside and avoid injury, he let out a breath of relief.

Then, thinking of their unrepentant attitudes, his anger flared up to his head once more.

“I can see that neither of you has any idea where you went wrong.”

“From childhood to now, you’ve been punished for everything, but you forget the moment the punishment is over. Not a single disaster have you failed to cause.”

He paused, his gaze falling on the cowering Prince Duan. “At your age, you’re still this unreliable! You show no interest in court affairs, and you can’t even teach your daughter properly—always out there causing trouble for me every single day. I think you’re just too idle. From today on, I’m assigning you a task. From now on, you’ll stay in the yamen and do your duty properly.”

Then, he turned his gaze to Ye Qiong, his expression one of frustration mixed with disappointment. “And you! A young lady, acting so recklessly—if word of this spreads, how will you ever find a husband?”

“Since you insist on marrying none other than that Young Master Gu, I’ll grant your wish and bestow a marriage between you and him. The Gu family is a scholarly household. Once you marry into them, you’ll be able to temper your nature and stop learning all those absurd things from your father.”

Upon hearing this news, the father and daughter were struck as if by a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

Ye Qiong reacted first, gliding forward on her knees.

“Imperial Uncle, I was wrong! I don’t want to get married! I’ll just stay in the Prince Duan’s manor and never go anywhere!”

Following her lead, Prince Duan also slid forward on his knees to the Emperor’s side, nearly throwing himself onto the Emperor’s dragon robe as he wailed.

“Imperial Brother, I was wrong too! I don’t want to take on any duty! I’ll just stay in the Clan Court and never go anywhere!”

One didn’t want to marry, the other didn’t want to work. At this moment, both were crying their hearts out, each more pitiful than the last.

The Emperor ignored Prince Duan’s blubbering and frowned at Ye Qiong instead. “Isn’t it you who’s been clamoring day in and day out that you’ll marry none other than that Young Master Gu? Now that I’m granting your wish, why are you unwilling?”

Ye Qiong, utterly confused: “Imperial Uncle, when did I ever say I would marry none other than Young Master Gu?”

Prince Duan chimed in sourly from the side, “Daughter, before you hit your head, you used to chase after that Young Master Gu every single day. Even your father came second to that Young Master Gu.”

Ye Qiong pointed at herself. “Me?”

Prince Duan nodded firmly.

Ye Qiong was stunned, then quickly turned to the Emperor. “Imperial Uncle, I’ve changed my taste now. I don’t like that Young Master Gu anymore. I don’t want to marry him.”

The Emperor didn’t force the issue. After all, he wasn’t keen on marrying the only daughter of Prince Duan’s household into the strict and disciplined Gu family anyway. Not to mention that the Young Master Gu himself seemed indifferent toward Zhaoyang—if he were to bestow the marriage today, Zhaohua would surely cause an even bigger ruckus later on.

These two children were the same age, had similar titles, and had been bickering since childhood. They competed over everything, fought the moment they met, especially in recent years over that Young Master Gu—they had stirred up endless chaos in the palace. They were practically the two rotten apples of the imperial family.

He had only been so angry at the father-daughter pair earlier that he’d blurted out the idea of a marriage decree, thinking that if the girl got married, there would be less contact between her and her father, and that Zhaoyang’s temperament might settle down a bit.

The Emperor considered it further and felt that the reason these two kept causing trouble, again and again, was simply that they had too much time on their hands.

“Since you don’t want to marry that Young Master Gu, I won’t force you.”

Ye Qiong quickly expressed her thanks, showering the Emperor with a flood of flattery as if it cost nothing.

—

*(This chapter is not finished; please click the next page to continue reading.)*

But then, the very next moment.

“I’ve made up my mind. The reason you two are always stirring up trouble is probably because you’re too idle. I intend to specially establish the Kyoto Patrol Office. From now on, the two of you—one on the left, one on the right—shall serve as the Left and Right Patrol Envoys, responsible for maintaining law and order in the capital.”

It sounded impressive, but in reality, it meant handling all sorts of trivial, petty disputes between commoners on the streets of the capital.

Ye Qiong quickly refused, “Imperial Uncle, I’m a woman. If I were to take an official post, the censors would surely submit memorials of impeachment. Just let my father do it—he has nothing better to do anyway.”

Work? Even a dog wouldn’t want to work.

The Emperor waved dismissively. “During the reigns of several previous ancestors, there were women who held important positions in the court and achieved considerable merit. It’s just that such cases have become rare in recent times. Rare does not mean it’s impossible.”

Besides, this was essentially an insignificant honorary post—how could the court officials possibly make a big deal out of it?

Prince Duan still wanted to fight for an out. “Imperial Brother, I won’t go. I’m busy! Give this task to—”

“Shut up!”

The Emperor had reached his limit. “I don’t care what objections you have. In short, report for duty tomorrow—or I’ll bestow marriages upon both of you!”

Ye Qiong: !!!

“Going! Imperial Uncle, I’m going right now! I love maintaining law and order! I’m practically the embodiment of justice itself!”

Prince Duan: !!!

“Imperial Brother, I… I’ll go too! I’ll definitely do my duty well!”

With that, the father and daughter fled, terrified that the Emperor might suddenly get another wild idea and issue them each a marriage decree.

—

Back at Prince Duan’s manor, Ye Qiong hadn’t even had a chance to catch her breath when the estate steward came to inform her that people from the Gu family had come to demand someone.

Ye Qiong was baffled. “Demand who?”

The steward reminded her, “The man the princess seized yesterday—the Gu family says he’s a runaway slave from their household.”

A-Nu?

She had completely forgotten about that person since the moment the task showed as completed right after she’d brought him back yesterday.

“Bring him here.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Is it the Gu family?” the steward asked uncertainly.

In the past, whenever the princess heard that the Gu family had come, she’d be thrilled and would hurry to welcome them into the manor to personally attend to them.

But ever since the princess had hit her head and lost her memory, she hadn’t mentioned that Young Master Gu even once, let alone the Gu family.

Ye Qiong glared at him. “Of course I mean the person *I* snatched back!”

What was wrong with Uncle Wang? Had the Gu family bribed him or something?

Seeing that the princess showed no unusual reaction at the mention of the Gu family, the steward breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

He then promptly ordered someone to carry over the man the princess had taken.

“Hiss~”

“What happened to him?”

Ye Qiong knew the man was injured when she’d carried him back, but she hadn’t expected him to be this badly hurt.

A-Nu, lying on the wooden plank being carried over, saw his rescuer and struggled to get up, but Ye Qiong pushed him back down.

“Are you a runaway slave of the Gu family?”

A-Nu nodded.

“Signed a deed of sale?”

A-Nu nodded again.

“And your household registration?”

A-Nu looked bewildered, then shook his head.

A household slave’s identity was tied to their master’s household—they didn’t have independent registration.

“Then, princess, should we return him to the Gu family?” the steward asked.

“This princess snatched him fair and square. Why should I return him to the Gu family? Don’t I have any pride?”

The steward hesitated, “But…”

Ye Qiong looked at A-Nu. “Do you want to go back to the Gu family?”

A-Nu hastily shook his head.

“Then do you want to stay in this princess’s manor?”

A-Nu nodded quickly.

Ye Qiong watched him, seeing that throughout the entire exchange he only nodded and shook his head. She frowned.

Could it be that he was mute?