"My father was only worried. If I were at home, I might be harmed again by my grandmother or second uncle while he was away, which is why he drove everyone out of the estate."
He paused after speaking: "Your Majesty, is my father guilty of unfilial conduct?"
Jing Luo's fair, tender face wore a wronged expression, and he lowered his head, not knowing what to think.
Jing Renyi, kneeling below, had not heard Emperor Hengwu's command and had yet to rise. Hearing his son's words, cold sweat was already beading on his forehead.
Emperor Hengwu stroked his beard in silence. His gaze lingered on Jing Luo for a long time before he said: "Enough! As long as your grandmother is properly settled and attended to day and night, it is no grave fault!"
"Renyi, get up. If you let this brat plead for you again in the future, I will not spare you!"
Kneeling on the ground, Jing Renyi felt a wave of relief. After expressing his gratitude, he stood up, smiling so hard his face creased into wrinkles: "Hehe, nothing escapes Your Majesty, but this time my aged mother truly drove me to fury! We are both her sons, so tell me, why must she be so partial to my second brother? Luor is her own grandson as well, yet for the sake of a hereditary title, she could harden her heart and try to kill Luor!"
Though advanced in years, Jing Renyi could not help his eyes turning red when speaking of his mother's favoritism.
Sitting on the high seat, how could Emperor Hengwu fail to understand this man's petty schemes? Yet, mindful of their past friendship, he did not expose him and only urged a young eunuch: "Why hasn't the imperial physician arrived yet?"
At that moment, the head eunuch outside the hall hurried in with an imperial physician: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Imperial Physician Hu, the most skilled physician for external injuries in the Imperial Hospital, was out on a house call, which caused a lengthy delay. However, this is Junior Imperial Physician Hu, personally trained by Physician Hu and sharing the same lineage. No doubt he can treat young master Jing as well."
With that, Junior Imperial Physician Hu stepped forward with his medicine box, knelt, and paid his respects. Emperor Hengwu waved a hand: "Rise, and go see how Luor's injuries are!"
When Junior Imperial Physician Hu looked up and saw Jing Renyi, he was startled, then said: "Why has Lord Duke come to the palace? Didn't you send someone to the palace to invite my uncle to treat him at the estate?"
Jing Renyi stared blankly for a moment, his old face flushing red as he said: "I truly apologize, I quite forgot about that and hurried straight into the palace with Luor!"
Emperor Hengwu, seated above, burst out laughing: "Renyi, you old fellow, when will you ever shed this careless nature of yours? It simply won't do to have no woman in the household. Would you like me to pick a few palace maids for you to take back?"
Jing Renyi's flushed face stiffened. He immediately knelt and said: "Oh, Your Majesty, I am already a pile of old bones. How could I ruin the lives of young girls?"
Jing Renyi lowered his head in embarrassment, not daring to meet Emperor Hengwu's gaze, which only amused the emperor further: "What? Are you worried that the ones I choose for you won't do?"
"No, it's just that at my age, how could I delay those young lasses? This old man of mine only cares about managing my share of affairs in the military now, and truly has no energy for anything else."
Seeing the sincerity in his words, Emperor Hengwu finally dismissed the idea of bestowing palace maids upon him.
By this time, Junior Imperial Physician Hu had finished his examination and bowed, saying: "Your Majesty, although young master Jing's head wound is not large, it is deep to the bone. Your servant will go prescribe some medicine right away. Lord Duke, the young master must be kept on bed rest as much as possible, otherwise he may suffer from chronic headaches in the future!"
Jing Renyi accepted the instructions with a worried expression, and Emperor Hengwu's expression was less than pleasant as well: "Luor has been severely injured this time. Did you hear that? Go back and rest properly! If I learn that you've been running around stirring up trouble again, I shall not spare you from punishment!"
Because Emperor Hengwu had spent his years stationed in the military, his own imperial princes had basically not grown up by his side. Moreover, Jing Luo's mother had passed away right after his birth, and Jing Renyi had been busy putting down rebellions at the time, which led to Jing Luo frequently being sent to the Empress's palace when he was little.
With ample time on his hands as Emperor, he and the Empress had shown extra care to the child. A child watched growing up with one's own eyes naturally commanded a deeper affection than others.
Jing Luo grinned and agreed, and was then taken back to the estate by Jing Renyi.
In the carriage, Jing Luoluo could not help but stare blankly out the window at the bustling streets. The original owner had not been truly bad at this stage; usually, he merely refused to pay attention in class, annoying the tutor enough to hit his palms on a whim, or wandering around outside with a few companions. He had never actually done anything heinous.
As for the Jing Luo in the book, he would be led astray and introduced to dissolute ways, mistakenly taking the male lead for a woman while drunk, and from there step by step guided into committing one disaster after another, becoming a notoriously dissolute wastrel in the capital.
Counting the days, the male lead should appear in another two years or so. However, he remembered that the female lead in the original novel seemed to be that little girl from the second branch of the Duke's Estate.
What was her name again? Jing Rou!
Yet ever since he arrived, the entire second branch had been driven out, causing a deviation from the original plot's trajectory. There was no telling if the male and female leads would still be able to meet.
Upon returning to the Duke's Estate, from afar they spotted a crowd of commoners gathered in a circle. The carriage pushed through the crowd, revealing the two father-and-son figures of the second branch.
Jing Deqing and Jing Shaoxuan were being blocked at the gates by the doormen and were throwing a furious tantrum!
"Have you dogs gone blind, daring to block the Second Master of the Duke's Estate and refuse him entry? Just wait until my elder brother returns, and see how I deal with you!"
The gatekeeper lads were unfamiliar faces specially handpicked by Steward Zhang precisely to prevent old servants of the estate from secretly letting people in. All the maidservants and pages who used to follow the second branch had also just been taken away by the summoned matchmakers!
Better safe than sorry. Rather than keeping them, it was better to sell them off in exchange for a fresh batch from the matchmaker and train them slowly from scratch.
Seeing the Duke's Estate carriage return, Jing Shaoxuan tugged at his father's sleeve and muttered in a low voice: "Father, the eldest uncle is back!"
Jing Shaoxuan's face was flushed red as he said unnaturally. The Duke's Estate where he had lived for over a dozen years was suddenly barred to him, and he knew all too well that his eldest uncle was on guard against his family at every turn.
At this moment, his heart burned with intense resentment. That little bastard Jing Luo spent all day idle and incompetent, yet was blessed enough to become the eldest uncle's son, meaning the entire vast Duke's Estate would belong to him in the future!
Yet he studied diligently and, young as he was, was already preparing to take the provincial imperial examinations. How could he settle his mind to study now that he was driven from the estate? Thinking of this, he could not help clenching his fists. Why wasn't he the eldest uncle's biological son?
Jing Renyi carried the boy down from the carriage. The gauze wrapped around Jing Luo's head had been changed by the imperial physician, but blood still seeped through from the bumpy journey.
The onlookers gasped upon seeing this: "I heard the other day that the young master of the Duke's Estate went to the mountains to pay respects to the Buddha and was nearly killed by a falling boulder. It turns out to be true!"
"Look at that head all wrapped up, there's even blood. I wonder if he can be healed?"
Seeing his eldest brother step down from the carriage, Jing Deqing rushed forward in two or three strides, attempting to grab Jing Renyi's arm, only to be sent flying backward by a merciless, full-force kick from the latter the very instant he made contact!
Jing Deqing collapsed to the ground, a stabbing pain shooting through his chest as he spat out a large mouthful of blood. With trembling fingers, he pointed: "Eldest Brother... Little Brother... how have I offended you that you would deal such a murderous blow?!"
"Father! Father, how are you? Eldest Uncle! My father is your own flesh and blood of the same mother, how could you resort to such vicious violence?!"