“It’s not being overly cautious. The empire has just been unified, and the palace is as mixed as the outside world. Even though we’ve screened people several times, there’s no guarantee there aren’t still Northern Yuan spies, or remnants of Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang lurking around.” Crown Prince took a sip of persimmon as he spoke, and praised:

“Not bad, it’s perfectly soft in the center.”

“Heh, I’ve had my eye on this persimmon tree for a long time.” Edward Johnson said smugly.

James Johnson sucked on the sweet, icy persimmon, but couldn’t suppress his parched mouth and tongue. He thought to himself, damn, those palace intrigue dramas weren’t lying. The palace really is dangerous. The idea of muddling through life without a care is definitely not going to work.

Seeing that the sixth brother’s face had turned pale, Crown Prince comforted him, “Don’t worry, even if there really is a killer, they’re probably not after you. You most likely just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“In other words, you were just unlucky.” Edward Johnson translated.

“Exactly. In fact, you’re the safest right now.” Crown Prince smiled. “Once could be an accident, but twice is impossible. If anything else happens to you, it will definitely provoke Father King’s thunderous wrath.”

“Father…” James Johnson felt a jolt in his heart. That’s the terrifying George Washington.

He remembered that after he fell into the water, Father King had come to see him once. But at the time, he was groggy and, afraid of giving himself away, simply pretended to be unconscious the whole time. He didn’t even dare open his eyes to see whether Mr. Johnson’s face was round or flat.

“As for what happened with Consort Chong, you can’t blame Father King entirely.” Crown Prince thought he was upset with Father King, so he took out a handkerchief to wipe the juice from his mouth, and gently comforted him, “Besides, Father King’s love for you will be just as it always was.”

James Johnson couldn’t help but complain inwardly—honestly, that “love” wasn’t much to speak of… But there was nothing to complain about. That’s just how it is with lots of siblings. There’s fatherly love, but not much of it.

Better to hold on to motherly love for now.

“What exactly did my mother do?” He looked at Mark Johnson, then at Edward Johnson, and decided it was better to ask the latter. “Fourth brother, just tell me, I’m dying of curiosity.”

“What’s there to hide?” Sure enough, he’d asked the right person. Edward Johnson’s face lit up as he said, “At the Mid-Autumn banquet, your mother slapped Consort Ding twice!”

“Just think, how humiliating is it to get slapped in the face, and twice at that?” Edward Johnson gestured as he spoke, full of admiration. “Left and right, one after the other! Consort Chong really is a heroine among women!”

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Mark Johnson glared at the mischievous fourth brother, then sighed and said to James Johnson, “That’s what happened, but as for the reasons and details, we juniors have no way of knowing, nor should we pry.”

“…” James Johnson’s head buzzed. If that’s the case, his mother really wasn’t wronged.

“Sigh, if only mother were here.” At this moment, William Johnson, Prince of Wu let out a soft sigh from the side.

“What the—Fifth brother, when did you get here?” Edward Johnson was startled by the voice and almost threw his half-eaten persimmon at his brother’s face.

“I came with you two…” William Johnson raised the persimmon in his hand with a look of grievance. “You gave me this, remember?”

“Oh, really? Didn’t notice. Hahaha, well, that’s what you get for always being so quiet…” Edward Johnson laughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject. “You’re right, if mother were in the palace, none of this nonsense would be happening.”

The “mother” they spoke of was the famous Empress Ma. The love story between this great lady of Ming and Mr. Johnson needs no further elaboration.

After George Washington took the throne, he wanted to grant titles to Empress Ma’s family, but she firmly refused, saying, “Granting titles and salaries to my own family is illegal.”

But when speaking of her parents’ early deaths, Empress Ma would still weep with sorrow. So George Washington posthumously honored her late father, Lord Ma, as King of Xu, and her late mother, Lady Zheng, as Lady of the King, and had their tomb and ancestral temple built in their hometown for eternal veneration.

This year, the tomb and temple for Empress Ma’s parents were completed. She took her second and third sons with her to Suzhou to hold the reburial and temple-establishing ceremony.

That’s why she hadn’t been in the palace for the past few months.

……

“When will mother return?” James Johnson asked hopefully. He felt that this stepmother was someone worth looking forward to.

“Third brother wrote a letter the other day saying she should be back in time for the New Year.” Mark Johnson replied.

“That late…” James Johnson’s eyes reddened. “I don’t even know if my mother can hold on until then.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already instructed the steward of the Inner Anle Hall to treat Consort Chong well.” Mark Johnson gently comforted James Johnson:

“Also, taking advantage of your accident, I persuaded Father King again. This time he’s clearly calmed down, and his tone has softened a lot… It’s just that Consort Ding still needs to relent before Consort Chong can be pardoned.”

“No way. That woman never lets things go, especially after getting slapped twice!” Edward Johnson said in frustration.

“Yeah, it won’t be easy.” Mark Johnson nodded in agreement. That Consort Ding really was a piece of work. He patted his sixth brother’s chubby cheek and said, “Don’t worry, big brother will think of something.”

“Thank you, big brother.” James Johnson thanked him sincerely. He could still tell who truly cared about him.

……

After the brothers finished talking, Crown Prince and the other two were about to leave.

James Johnson walked them to the gate of Wan’an, when the usually quiet fifth brother suddenly stopped.