Demon Consort's Father 3
Before Noble Consort Guo entered the palace, she, Yan Yun, was the one who held the emperor’s deepest favor.
Yet, no matter how much Emperor Yongning doted on her, she could always keep her head clear, because she understood perfectly well: Emperor Yongning was nothing but a stubborn, self-serving, ungrateful scoundrel.
And in the not-quite-three years that she was favored, the Empress had made things difficult for her in every way, stirring up some mischief every few days. Although Emperor Yongning seemed to side with her, most of the time she had to rely on her own wits to handle it all.
When she and the Empress were evenly matched, each unable to get the better of the other, Yongning gave orders for the Guo girl to enter the palace. He delivered his promise with utmost sincerity, saying, “The Wang Family and the Guo Family both have significant influence. I had no choice but to first marry the Wang family’s daughter, then bring the Guo family’s daughter into the palace... I’ve wronged you. But don’t worry. Guo’s standing will be no less than Wang’s, and with Guo here, Wang won’t dare make trouble for you anymore... you’ve always been the one closest to my heart.”
She had looked moved on the surface, but in truth, Yan Yun took his words as utter nonsense. She also knew her little brother was enamored with Noble Consort Guo, but she was sure he understood how poorly she got along with Guo. If her brother insisted on always siding against her, then he shouldn’t blame her for complaining to their father!
When her father first went out to the northwest, he was only a fourth-grade military officer, but ten years later, he’d become a top-ranking Grand Marshal. Now, with her father’s great victory over the elite troops of the Jin, she could justifiably ask him to stand up for her and properly discipline that bratty little brother.
Three days later, when Qin Jingzhou received the family letter, he had just finished inspecting the workshop producing the special fertilizer he’d requested. In this world, the concentration of spiritual energy was still “better than nothing,” but it was nonetheless possible to grow some plants containing trace amounts of spiritual energy. If picked using the right methods, processed and blended into fertilizer, and then used with proper care, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and certain medicinal herbs could see yields increase three to five times over.
Only with grain and wealth could one raise troops, and only then could one set their eyes on the world.
With conditions this favorable, Qin Jingzhou figured, if he didn’t at least set himself up as a founding emperor this time, he’d have a hard time explaining himself to the World Will which had assigned him this quest and was eagerly watching.
Leaving the workshop guarded by trusted confidants, Qin Jingzhou sat in his carriage and perused the thick family letter sent by his cheap daughter.
His cheap daughter Yan Yun was, in the plot, one of the major antagonists who, in order to avenge the original host, bewitched Emperor Yongning by any means necessary, placing one obstacle after another in front of both the male lead Yan Duan and the female lead Noble Consort Guo.
This daughter knew he’d be returning to the Capital soon, so in the letter, she—down to the tiniest detail—complained: first laying into Emperor Yongning, with her main point being that he was good for nothing, then thoroughly exposing her little brother Yan Duan’s secrets.
To be honest, Qin Jingzhou wasn’t all that surprised. “So, now my good-for-nothing son is already entangled with Guo.” But when he saw how said son tried to “persuade his sister to make progress,” he couldn’t help but laugh again, though this time his smile had a colder edge... just slightly.
The system, always aware of the host’s feelings, proactively supplemented, “It wouldn’t be fair to say that Yan Duan is heartless, but when it comes to Guo, he’s ready to sacrifice everything—including his own life. Don’t forget, in the plot, it was to fulfill Guo’s wishes that he let himself be killed, fully aware that Guo’s own son had come to take his life.”
Qin Jingzhou folded up the letter. “For his sake, I need to get back to the Capital sooner rather than later. Since he loves Guo so much, I’ll just make sure they’re together.”
The system asked in a low voice, “You’re just going to shut the two of them up together and that’s it?”
Qin Jingzhou chuckled. “I’ve found some very useful medicinal herbs here, all quite good for concocting little remedies—like one that can temporarily sever the spinal cord and leave someone paralyzed for a time. I’ll have my good-for-nothing son paralyzed and then let Guo take care of him. Let’s see how long they can keep it up.”
The system couldn’t hold back. “Pfft...” After laughing its fill, it asked again, “Brother Zhou, what’s your plan for this cheap daughter of yours this time?”
Qin Jingzhou leaned back against his pillow. “I’ll wait until I get back and test her further. The original host has three children in total—my good-for-nothing son is out of the running. You know I don’t care whether my successor is male or female, only who is most suited.”
The system responded with a laugh, “Mm.”
That afternoon, after discussing with the Inner Cabinet and his own father-in-law—he only acknowledged Noble Consort’s birth father, Duke Anguo, as his father-in-law—Emperor Yongning issued an imperial decree ordering Grand Marshal Yan Jingzhou to return in triumph to the Capital.
That same night, Yan Yun sent her confidant to contact her elder brother Yan Jun, with only four characters in the letter: Be extra cautious.
Yan Jun, currently living at the family manor on the outskirts, had no reason to doubt his own little sister. After burning her letter, he immediately ordered his men to stay alert: since their father had left household troops to him, if the worst happened, at least he’d be able to run.
At first, Yan Jun was completely defenseless toward his own wife and had no reason to suspect her. But after repeatedly falling ill—so sick he couldn’t even attend the Imperial Academy—no matter how slow-witted he might have been, he started to sense something was off. And Yan Jun was no fool.
Some time back, he’d made up his mind to investigate, and he not only found out his wife’s motive for harming him, but also discovered that the reason it took him three years to notice anything amiss was, in large part, thanks to his half-brother’s interference!
Yan Duan’s infatuation with Noble Consort Guo was no secret to either Yan Jun or Yan Yun.
What Yan Jun couldn’t imagine was that for Guo’s sake, Yan Duan would cast his own blood brother aside! Yan Jun wanted to confront his brother, but feared things could spiral out of control.
After all, his wife’s uncle was Noble Consort Guo’s uncle, a powerful second-grade Minister of War.
If he recklessly exposed this scandal, and the Minister of War bore a grudge, even the tiniest delay in military rations could mean disaster for their father at the front.
For the greater good, he could only pretend not to know—for now.
But holding it in was unbearable, and he feared it would fester into a real illness. Now that their father was about to return, he felt he could finally... confess everything.
So, along with the imperial decree, Qin Jingzhou also received an even thicker family letter from his eldest son.
Qin Jingzhou felt no irritation at all. Judging from the plot, the original host’s eldest son and daughter weren’t the sort he disliked. Although they hadn’t met yet, they’d both written ahead, reminding him and even acting a little spoiled...
The system added, right on cue, “Favorability up?”
Qin Jingzhou laughed. “Eldest son Yan Jun is still shy of twenty-three. Where I come from, you start school at seven, and without skipping any grades, you might not even be done with college at this age. In my eyes, he’s still half a kid—one who needs my patience and guidance.”
The system recalled how, in previous worlds, this host’s attitude toward children he didn’t think much of was, while not exactly spelled out, unmistakably cold: “Now you have your own family, best not to come to me.”
It fell silent.
Qin Jingzhou guessed the system’s thoughts, but was utterly self-assured. “What’s wrong with a little favoritism?” With that, he began reading through his eldest son’s “report”.
The eldest son started by describing his younger sister’s circumstances.
Guo was beautiful, and upon entering the palace had captured all of Emperor Yongning’s affection.
Coming from the Duke Anguo’s household, the Empress was naturally both jealous and obsessed with bearing a legitimate son. She watched Guo with cold eyes, finding her even more dazzling than his younger sister had been when she first entered the palace, so the Empress thought to reconcile with his younger sister and team up against Guo.
But his younger sister would never stoop to collaborating with the Empress—so she flatly refused.
This made the Empress resent her all the more, but Guo was truly adept at winning people over. Every time the Empress clashed with Guo, she ended up losing with nothing left to say.
But even though the Empress suffered defeat after defeat, she never gave up, determined to suppress Guo, or at least to make her miserable and prevent her from conceiving.
Guo, pushed to her limits and unable to guard against every scheme, pondered for some time and finally decided to find the Empress something else to do. She approached his younger sister herself, offering to join forces.
The younger sister ignored the Empress and had no intention of forming an alliance with Guo either. Was the Empress so much better than Guo? When it was time to retaliate, didn’t Guo also rely on bribing the Empress’s attendants and spreading rumors?
Yan Duan stated bluntly in his letter: his younger sister had managed to offend both the Empress and Guo, but so what? She didn’t care for the emperor’s favor nor did she want to give birth to a prince and join any succession struggle.
Upon reaching this point, Qin Jingzhou couldn’t help but say, “This rascal is still testing me. I’ll have to properly set him straight when I get back, let him see who his real father is now.”
He read on.
After the failed alliance, Guo felt embarrassed, so she wrote to the second brother for help, asking him to persuade his younger sister.
He was utterly obedient to Guo, so at her request, he immediately took action and wrote to his sister, telling her not to be ungrateful—which only infuriated the younger sister.
She didn’t hold back either, calling Guo over and flinging the brother’s letter in her face.
Guo was quite embarrassed and stayed quiet for a long time afterwards. But after news reached the Capital that their father had led his troops to a great victory over the Jin elite, Guo was sure to call on the second brother for help again—who knows what outrageous letter he’d send this time.
From his cheap daughter’s letter, Qin Jingzhou could already see the extent of his “char siu” son’s sycophancy, so this bit didn’t faze him at all.
When he got to the end, where the eldest son detailed how he’d uncovered the truth of his own misfortunes, Qin Jingzhou’s mood didn’t falter. If he was going to be emperor, families like the Wang and Guo clans, who held military power, would certainly be on his “purge list.” Old and new grudges simply meant he’d be all the more thorough.
The system, ever eager for drama, added, “In the original plot, when the rebel army approached, Emperor Yongning took off in a flash and Guo’s younger brother was the first to open the city gates in surrender. At least the Empress’s family put up a fight.”
Qin Jingzhou sighed, “Guo is a transmigrator. She surely knows her family’s true face. That’s why she asks Yan Duan for help instead of looking to her own family.”
No sooner had he finished speaking, a Prince’s Personal Guard stepped to the door and reported, “Grand Marshal, the eldest Miss of the Min family is up ahead. She says she’s an old acquaintance of yours…”
Qin Jingzhou sent out his restrained divine sense, sweeping through the carriage to see a red-clad young lady with a golden orb atop her head, standing by the road, attended by several dozen maids and retainers.
Lifting the curtain, he met her bright and irrepressible gaze. “I was just thinking of looking for you.”
Ling Jing strode forward and grabbed the carriage window frame. “You have to take me with you. I’ve been promised to Guo Sida!”
Guo Sida was Guo’s very own father…
The system couldn’t help but interject, “So what are you planning to do about Guo Sida?”
Qin Jingzhou replied breezily, “Better castrate him in advance.”