Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Impeaching Your Majesty: Failure to Raise a Son
Ji Qingwu asked softly, "Besides the injuries on your face, are you hurt anywhere else?"
When Yan Zongrang heard his grandson had been in a fight, he had immediately berated Yan Bing mercilessly. He had never once asked so gently if he was hurt anywhere else.
Yan Bing replied weakly, "My leg hurts. I bumped it."
Ji Qingwu lifted his pant leg and saw a large, dark bruise, just as she’d suspected. She winced just looking at it.
She pressed the area gently with her hand. Yan Bing endured the pain without a sound. "You haven’t broken any bones. Just apply some ointment for bruises, and it’ll heal in four or five days."
Seeing that she had the audacity to examine the wounds, Imperial Censor Yan grew even more incensed. "When a son is not taught, it is the father’s fault! Your child is so young, yet so unruly. This must be the result of your improper parenting and lack of family discipline!"
Ji Qingwu hated this kind of rhetoric. ’He doesn’t even know the truth and he’s already making baseless accusations.’
She turned her gaze on him. "When a child is not taught, it is the father’s fault. Perhaps you should go find her father and take it up with him."
The day the Ji Family’s Fifth Missy returned home, she had received rewards from the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, making her the talk of the entire city.
But behind the glamour lay all sorts of vicious rumors.
Everyone in the city knew Ji Qingwu was a widow. Her husband was dead. If one wanted to find the child’s father, one would have to go to the underworld.
"You—you!" For once, Imperial Censor Yan was at a loss for words.
Ji Qingwu ignored the old man and continued questioning Yan Bing. "Young Master Yan, looking at your injuries, apart from the scratches on your face, the rest look like they’re from a fall. Did Jiu Jiu cause all these injuries?"
Yan Bing snuck a glance at Imperial Censor Yan and nodded.
Ji Qingwu turned her gaze to her daughter. "Jiu Jiu, you tell me. Did you hit him?"
Jiu Jiu first nodded, then shook her head.
Then, in a clear voice, she said, "Mother, he started it. He said I’m a bastard with no father."
’A bastard?’
Ji Qingwu’s brow furrowed. ’I knew it. Jiu Jiu wouldn’t fight someone for no reason.’
Her voice, laced with ice, was not directed at the children but straight at Imperial Censor Yan. "May I ask, Mr. Yan, is this what you call a proper education and a respectable family upbringing?"
Imperial Censor Yan said with a stern face, "This is nothing more than a children’s squabble. The one who strikes first is the most at fault."
"In your opinion, Mr. Yan, how should this be handled?"
"She will write a public apology and post it on the bulletin board at the market gate for three days. Every day at noon, she will read it aloud. And you, her mother, will accompany her. Let the entire city see the consequences for bullying others by relying on family influence!"
To use such language showed how deep this Imperial Censor’s prejudice against the Ji Family ran.
Ji Qingwu’s suspicion was correct. Yan Zongrang was using this incident to humble the Ji Family and make them lose face. He would never have been so aggressive had it been any other family.
But a public apology, for three consecutive days no less, was enough to make Ji Qingwu drop her previously respectful demeanor.
’Give some people an inch, and they’ll take a mile.’
She said coldly, "Mr. Yan."
"If you want an apology, you can have one. It’s just that your grandson’s injuries don’t seem to warrant such a grand apology. How about this: I could dislocate one of his arms or break one of his legs. Then my apology would feel much more sincere."
Yan Bing trembled at her words, and Imperial Censor Yan was so enraged his beard began to quiver.
"Mr. Qiao, did you hear that? The disrespect from your own granddaughter..."
Ji Qingwu raised an eyebrow, cutting him off. "Watch your words, Mr. Yan. As you yourself said, we are only borrowing this venue for our discussion. The dispute between us has nothing to do with my grandfather."
Mr. Qiao gazed at the floor, feigning utter detachment, and indeed said nothing.
Jiu Jiu had never seen her mother so stern. Though young, she knew apologizing was a shameful thing. "It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me, Mother!" she said, her voice thick with grievance. "I didn’t hit him."
Ignoring the expressions on their faces, Ji Qingwu tenderly wrapped her arms around her little girl.
"I believe you."
Imperial Censor Yan boomed, "If not you, then who else could it be? When the little eunuch from the Upper Study Room came to break up the fight, you were straddling my grandson and scratching his face!"
Jiu Jiu had intended to stay loyal and take the blame, but she couldn’t bear to let her mother be shamed because of her.
She stepped forward. "A handsome older boy hit him."
A stunned silence fell over the room.
Jiu Jiu pointed at Yan Bing and demanded fiercely, "You tell them! Who pushed you down the steps!"
Imperial Censor Yan hadn’t expected this windfall. He pressed on, "Aha! So you had an accomplice! Ah Bing, tell us, who was the other person?"
Seeing his grandson stammering, he encouraged him, "Ah Bing, don’t be afraid of powerful people. Your grandfather will see that justice is done for you."
"Yuan..." Yan Bing mumbled softly.
No one could hear him clearly.
"The Yuan Family?" For his age, Imperial Censor Yan’s hearing was still sharp. He quickly guessed which family it was and asked with rising excitement, "Was it the Yuan Family from the south side of the city?"
The Yuan Family of the south city was connected to the Ji Family by marriage; Old Mrs. Ji and the matron of the Yuan Family were sisters. Pulling up one would drag the other out of the dirt. Taking down both families at once would be even better.
Seeing Yan Bing lower his head, too scared to speak again, Imperial Censor Yan urged him on impatiently.
"Speak up!"
"It was... Young Master Yuan Heng." After spitting out the name, Yan Bing burst into tears.
The excited look was still on Imperial Censor Yan’s face, but it froze for a moment. He slowly confirmed, "It was Young Master Yuan Heng who hit you?" Yan Bing nodded, still crying.
Ji Qingwu’s heart churned, her gaze flickering. ’It was Yuan Heng.’
’That little boy with the defiant eyes.’
’Her little boy.’
Ever since she’d seen Emperor Wu Su that day, she had returned home only to be startled awake every night.
This father and son pair haunted her dreams.
She dreamed of either being recognized by Emperor Wu Su and beheaded, or of Yuan Heng struggling in the Taiye Pool.
Ji Qingwu’s brow furrowed into a knot, and a deep sadness clouded her eyes.
Jiu Jiu thought she had made her mother sad and quickly tried to explain. "Mother, he called me a bastard with no father first! Then the handsome older boy kicked him in the butt, and I just rushed over and scratched him once! We didn’t do anything else."
The cuts on Yan Bing’s forehead and knees were from the fall; they had nothing to do with it.
Ji Qingwu knelt and stroked Jiu Jiu’s little head.
"I’m not blaming you."
But as she spoke, a tear escaped and rolled down her cheek, falling to the floor and shattering.
Seeing her silently holding back tears, her slender shoulders trembling, everyone in the room felt that Imperial Censor Yan had been too harsh today.
Mr. Qiao spoke sternly, "Mr. Yan, since this was not my great-granddaughter’s fault, you should take your grandson and leave."
Being told to leave, Yan Zongrang was losing face, but he stubbornly persisted, "Did you not hear? She still scratched my grandson! If he’s scarred, it will affect his future career as an official and his marriage prospects!"
Seeing him still refusing to let the matter drop, Ji Qingwu suddenly turned to face him.
Her eyes were wet with tears, but her expression was all the more defiant. She raised her voice, "Mr. Yan, if you insist on accountability, then you must be fair! That method of apology you proposed—should we ask His Majesty to accompany the Prince to do the same?!"
How could one possibly trouble the Emperor over a trivial matter like a children’s squabble?
Imperial Censor Yan was starting to have second thoughts, but in this standoff with Ji Qingwu, he refused to lose ground to this young widow from the Ji Family.
An Imperial Censor’s duty was to supervise officials and admonish the sovereign.
"Fine! Tomorrow, I will not only submit a memorial against the Ji Family!"
Yan Zongrang declared defiantly, "I will also submit one against the Emperor—for failing to properly raise his son!"
