by Ning er
“Yes, xiaojie!” Shui’er and Bing’er received Yun Qian Meng’s hidden hint and immediately turned to chase after Yun Xuan Zhi. Only, they carelessly bumped into some of the apprentices that were holding tools……
Yi Zhen was somewhat regretful that Yun Qian Meng wasn’t coming along and greedily savored a look at Yun Qian Meng for one more moment, before finally turning to leave in a hurry……
“xiaojie!” Shui’er and Bing’er had sent off Yun Xuan Zhi and returned to Yun Qian Meng’s side. They quietly called her and gave her a look of confirmation!
Yun Qian Meng saw that they completed thier assigned tasks then lightly smiled, nodded, and said, “Follow me into the room to see Su yiniang!”
There were servants keeping watch at Qi Luo Yuan, and Yun Xuan Zhi was also there. Even if Yi Zhen really wanted to do something, she feared that he won’t be able to find even half an opportunity!
But still, she had just sent him a huge gift, and didn’t know if his fate was strong enough allow him to step out of the xiangfu after today!
As expected, within ten minutes, Qian mama came running from Qi Luo Yuan until she was gasping for breath. Before catching her breath, she urgently said, “da xiaojie, xiangye wants to execute that Taoist Yi Zhen!”
Chapter 28: Su yiniang's scheme falls apart | Chu Wang Fei
龙凤 longfeng – dragon and phoenix, usually a symbol of royalty in ancient China
金牌 jinpai – gold medallion, received from the Empress Dowager before Yun Qian Meng returned from the palace, symbolizes Her status and authority
“Such a huge fuss over nothing, whatever next?! Be careful not to frighten xiaojie!” Mi mama saw that Qian mama’s hair had become disheveled from running, and noticed she poke while gasping urgently, suddenly frowned and berated her in a low voice!
“nubi knows her faults! But still, da xiaojie, that Taoist Yi Zhen is truly outrageous to actually steal the gold medallion! During the ritual, it fell out from his sleeves and he was caught red-handed by xiangye!” Even though she was scolded by Mi mama, Qian mama continued to report what she had just seen with her own eyes!
At that moment the crying and weeping noises from the inner room stopped, similar to a kite that had its strings cut. Yun Ruo Xue, who was originally causing havoc like she had lost her mind, was now staring blankly in place. Her alarmed eyes flashed towards Qian mama as she sternly demanded, “You, say that again!”
As soon as she spoke, everyone trained their gazes on her one after another, only to find that Yun Ruo Xue currently had a normal expression, her speech calm and logical. Everyone there suddenly realized the truth!
When Yun Qian Meng saw that Yun Ruo Xue’s act was so easily broken, her lips couldn’t help but curve upwards slightly as a mocking smile slowly spread across her face. Only, she didn’t speak yet, instead continuing to drink her tea in a mild mood!
Still, Yun Qian Meng might not have said anything, but it didn’t mean that others were willing to stay silent about it!
Liu Han Yu covered her mouth with a silk handkerchief and chuckled, then walked into the room before giving Yun Ruo Xue a once-over. She then lightly smiled and said, “er xiaojie’s recovery is truly strange!”
Yun Ruo Xue felt uncomfortable from head to toe under Liu Han Yu’s gaze, while also being ridiculed by her words; her face immediately flushed into a bright red. Only, with so many people standing inside the room, she couldn’t simply flare up. In order to avoid being grabbed by the handle and used as a tool by others, she could only lower her head and stood in place uneasily……
Right away, Su Qing threw herself at Yun Ruo Xue’s body, her eyes brimming with tears as she hugged her. Crying with tears of joy, she said, “Xue’er, have you recovered? Quickly, quickly let mom take a good look!”
The way she spouted such blind lies with her eyes wide open caused the servants in the room to all lower their heads and pretend that they didn’t see anything!
Liu Han Yu and Yun Yan eyes were filled with mockery. This manner of inverting black and white, was something only Su Qing and her daughter, who relied on receiving Yun Xuan Zhi’s affection, were able to do!
Yun Qian Meng just treated the matter as if it had nothing to do with her and continued to sip her tea calmly. Yet, Qian mama who, just now, had lost her head out of fear, had calmly straightened up and stood deferentially behind her. The edges of her lips almost seemed to be holding in a smile……
“Made enough noise yet?!”
Right as Su Qing was shielding Yun Ruo Xue with her words, nobody noticed that Yun Xuan Zhi had burst in from outside. They only saw that his expression was dark and gloomy, his lips tightly pursed as he directly stared at Yun Ruo Xue and Su Qing with a severe gaze. From the way his fingers that were pointing at them were shaking, they could tell that everything that had happened in the room had been seen and heard by him……
When Su Qing, who was originally comforting Yun Ruo Xue with care, saw that Yun Xuan Zhi looked like he was going to eat her, the color in her face disappeared. Her feet staggered and she almost lost her balance, endlessly panicking in her heart, but still forced herself to look innocent and pitiful. Her eyes brought joy when she called Yun Xuan Zhi over with pleasant surprise, “laoye, quickly come take a look, Xue’er has recovered!”
As she spoke, Su Qing quickly moved to Yun Xuan Zhi’s side and pulled his sleeves to bring him towards Yun Ruo Xue……
Right now, Yun Xuan Zhi’s expression was gloomy and scary, especially his hazy eyes stared unwaveringly at Yun Ruo Xue, had scared her so that she kept stepping back while watching him advance. Finally, she stepped on her own skirt by accident, and embarrassingly fell on her bottom……
“Don’t… Don’t… Don’t come over… Go away……” At last, Yun Ruo Xue couldn’t withstand Yun Xuan Zhi’s terrifying aura and cried out loudly in fear……
As Su Qing saw that her own daughter was so useless, the smile she had forcefully worn subsequently collapsed. She stood beside Yun Xuan Zhi while still planning to say something, but when she saw that Yun Xuan Zhi was now looking at her with such a dreadful expression, her heart nearly jumped into her throat and tears started to fall from her eyes……
“Qing’er, you have really disappointed me too much!” Yun Xuan Zhi stared at Su Qing for a long time, then finally spat out these words between gritted teeth. He then turned his face away and looked at Su Qing’s tear-striken pear-shaped face no more!
Su Qing had never been criticized by Yun Xuan Zhi like this, especially right now, it was in front of so many people, including Yun Qian Meng, she felt like she was being embarrassed in public. She only forcefully dragged at Yun Xuan Zhi’s sleeves while tearfully choking out, “laoye, Qing’er doesn’t understand what you’re talking about. But, at the time, you saw Xue’er’s condition with your own eyes. It can’t be that you don’t wish for Xue’er to recover, right?
As she said this, Su Qing’s face rapidly turned red and unexpectedly, started breathing heavily when she finished. At her condition Wang mama who was standing aside immediately rushed forwards, received a teacup from a yatou and lifted it up to Su Qing’s lips while stroking her stomach gently to help her regain her breath!
But Su Qing was stubborn. She pushed away Wang mama with a hand, then faced Yun Xuan Zhi to kneel without leave, both her hands still tightly grabbing onto his sleeves, as if afraid that he would disappear if she let go!
Yun Xuan Zhi was originally in a raging temper, but when he saw her like this, and noticed that there were servants filling the room, he forcefully pushed the anger back down into his stomach and waved his hands in annoyance for the servants to all withdraw to the yard. He then solemnly asked, “Qing’er, you are usually so cautious and prudent. But this time, actually because you were worried about Xue’er, you were fooled by that Taoist priest!”
Yun Qian Meng was just lifting a teacup, but hearing how Yun Xuan Zhi spoke while avoiding the important points and focusing on trivial matters, her movement
s momentarily stilled before she put the teacup back onto the table. She then noticed that Mi mama was concentrating on Su Qing’s wrist, so she turned looked towards Su Qing and saw she was wearing an emerald jade bracelet engraved with a dragon and a phoenix on her arm……
The West Chu country had a strict hierarchy. A normal commoner household definitely were not allowed to wear accessories that have dragon and phoenix engravings. Even families of officials could only possess one if it was bestowed by the imperial family!
Su Qing’s maternal family might be government officials, but for her, who entered the xiangfu with the status of a concubine, it was definitely impossible to own such a precious and valuable distinctive accessory!
Especially from calmly looking at Mi mama’s expression just now, she was afraid that the true owner of this jade bracelet was not Su Qing……
As she thought like this, a faint anger had streaked across her eyes, Yun Qian Meng put away her calm and gentle face and slightly narrowed her eyes to enjoy Su Qing’s performance……
When Su Qing heard Yun Xuan Zhi’s stern reprimands, her face paled a bit more, but she knew full well how to use the vulnerability of women. They only saw her wear a deeply hurt expression, looking extremely cute and pitiful, and innocently asked, “laoye, what on Earth are you talking about? Qing’er doesn’t understand!”
Yun Xuan Zhi saw that she really didn’t seem to know, tilted his head upwards and closed his eyes to calm down his mood. Then, opening his eyes, he took out a gold medallion from his sleeves. The gold medallion was engraved with a vivid and lifelike phoenix; the flowing curved lines and golden radiance it reflected caused the phoenix to look like it was soaring in the sky. At this, Su Qing’s body weakened, as she fell and sat on her calves, speaking in disbelief, “How can this be! This must be a set-up!”
Stealing from the imperial family was one of the highest crimes, even if he was sentenced to dismemberment from being torn apart by five horses, it would not be unexpected. No wonder Yun Xuan Zhi wanted to execute that Taoist priest Yi Zhen!
As she spoke, Su Qing’s eyes directly shot a vengeful gaze towards Yun Qian Meng……
“This gold medallion has always been worn close to Shui’er’s skin! Just now, didn’t I advise yiniang against this by any means?! But yiniang was muddled, unexpectedly, as if touched by magic, couldn’t listen at all! If I didn’t know better, I might even think that this was directed by yiniang!” Right now, Yun Qian Meng actually walked forward, both eyes calmly sweept across the gold medallion, before she met Su Qing’s gaze and said one word at a time!
Being pointed out and scolded by Yun Qian Meng, Su Qing’s face turned ashen. She coldly smiled, both eyes shooting out an unyielding hatred, as she clenched her teeth to say, “Without any evidence, even if da xiaojie’s status is respectable, also cannot accuse nubi wrongly! Besides, one may know a person’s face and name without understanding his heart. How could nubi have known that this Taoist priest was a deceitful thief?!”
Yun Qian Meng saw that she was stubbornly defending herself. Just as she wanted to refute, she saw Yun Xuan Zhi right his posture and look at Su Qing and Yun Ruo Xue before he continued with his decision, “Since Xue’er already recovered, in the future, don’t ever mention this matter again! As for the two of you, properly reflect in Feng He Yuan, unless I give the command, cannot leave without permission!”
Finishing, Yun Xuan Zhi handed the gold medallion over to Yun Qian Meng then brushed his sleeves to leave……
Yun Qian Meng saw that he went so far to shield Su Qing and her daughter, the coldness in her eyes abruptly rose. Pinching the gold medallion in her hands tightly, she followed to leave Feng He Yuan!
Chapter 29: Meeting nobility in the palace | Chu Wang Fei
贵妃 guifei – Imperial Consort, highly ranked imperial concubine
妃 fei – imperial concubine
臣女 chennü – I, your servant; address used by commoner girls towards royalty
公公 gonggong – eunuch (address)
姑姑 gugu – auntie
娘娘 niangniang – a suffix/title for the empress and/or imperial concubines
Su Qing and Yun Ruo Xue were grounded once again, but perhaps they were shocked by the attempted theft of the gold medallion, this time, the two of them seemed to have learned to be more obedient, and actually never took a step outside their rooms!
After all, the Taoist priest Yi Zhen was someone Su Qing had sent people to find. Even if she jumped into the river, she was afraid she still couldn’t wash herself clean of suspicions!
To begin with, the Empress Dowager had never found her pleasing to the eye. If she showed the slightest bit of dissatisfaction to the Emperor, don’t bother mentioning Su Qing, perhaps even her entire maternal family, the Su family would follow to meet with disaster!
That’s why, the other day, when Yun Xuan Zhi had pointed out the stakes involved, Su Qing had immediately sobered up!
Especially Yun Xuan Zhi’s words that had clearly yet secretly shielded them from harm truly caused Su Qing to be quite touched. She thought that even if she lost her popularity with everyone else, she could not, just because of her contempt towards Yun Qian Meng, push away Yun Xuan Zhi. That’s why, regarding Yun Xuan Zhi’s punishment, she didn’t make any more noise!
Moreover, what had been most frightening to Su Qing was how Yun Qian Meng, in order to set a trap for her, had unexpectedly ignored her own safety and well-being! With regard this kind of desperate struggling, Su Qing was wholly unable to compete until they ended in mutual destruction!
Wouldn’t be better to conceal her strength while biding her time, when she manages to regain Yun Xuan Zhi’s favor, would she still be afraid that she won’t have other opportunities?
Analyzing in this way, Su Qing gradually calmed down her original indignant feelings. Although she could only listen to the reports of the activities each courtyard from her scouts every day, she still managed to grasp all the large and small happenings and trends in the fu!
After Yun Qian Meng left Feng He Yuan that day, she called Mi mama over and inquired her in great detail why her expression was abnormal at that time!
Unexpectedly, as soon as Mi mama heard her question, she immediately kneeled down, her withered face streaming with old tears. Unable to bear it, she told her everything she knew!
After listening, Yun Qian Meng waved a hand for her to withdraw. For the following days, she stayed in her room to read and paint, her expression not at all different from usual!
Only, often when she raised her head and saw the boudoir that could only be described as utterly lacking, she would faintly sigh in her heart, just couldn’t help but feel sad for the late Yun furen!
Who would have thought that the dragon-phoenix jade emerald bracelet Su Qing wore the other day, was bestowed by the Empress Dowager, who was then still a guifei, to Yun furen when she was marrying to Yun Xuan Zhi so many years ago!
At the time, Fu Guo Gong Fu had been meritorious to the state of West Chu country. The late emperor, Xi Jing Emperor had decreed for the palace craftsmen to craft not a small amount of gold and silver jewelry for Qu Ruo Li. She was certainly an object of envy for all the unmarried young ladies in the capital back then!
But now, Yun furen had passed away for a long time, unexpectedly only leaving behind a tottering dilapidated house for her daughter. It was easy to imagine whose pockets that envy-inducing dowry had entered!
But without Yun Xuan Zhi’s tacit acceptance, surely even Su Qing wouldn’t be so presumptuous!
Carrying this ball of fire in her heart, Yun Qian Meng’s brush strokes couldn’t help but become somewhat heavier. Seeing a big black blot appear on the fine, gilded writing paper, Yun Qian Meng bitterly smiled and shook her head. She put her brush aside, and lifted the ruined painting to another……
At this moment, Shui’er walked in with a worried face, She bowed towards Yun Qian Meng and said, “xiaojie, the Empress Dowager is sending Qu gonggong to tak
e you to the palace. The carriage will be arriving at the gateway of the xiangfu any moment now!”
Yun Qian Meng maintained a mild smile on her face, but she was already flipping over a few pages in her thoughts. Soon, she unhurriedly asked, “Any idea what the matter could be? Don’t tell me that Empress Dowager’s health is at risk?”
Shui’er who also just received the news, could only shake her head. Together with Mu Chun and Bing’er, she helped Yun Qian Meng change into the new clothes that Liu yiniang had just sent over a few days ago!
After a bit of make-up, Qu gonggong just happened to arrive at the xiangfu on the dot. They had some tea and refreshments outside, then he welcomed Yun Qian Meng onto the carriage, before setting off towards the palace……
Yun Qian Meng brought Shui’er and Bing’er to sit in the carriage with her. Outside the carriage, the streets were surrounded with a large hubbub. It was apparently unusually lively. She thus understood in her heart that this West Chu country was definitely a rich and stable nation!
However, sitting in palace carriage right now, she had to keep the prestige of the imperial family as the most important in everything. She could only prick up her ears to listen to the freedom of the people in the marketplace, but not lift the curtains to take even a quick look!
The carriage travelled for two hours before it reached the palace gates, then took an hour to go in. Yun Qian Meng got off the carriage and took a seat on a soft sedan chair that had been prepared earlier, then set off towards the Empress Dowager’s chambers. Being tossed from side to side throughout the journey, when they arrived before her chambers, four hours had already passed!
Qu gongong saw that Yun Qian Meng still managed to keep a calm demeanor after such a long journey, and couldn’t help but nod inwardly. Saying a word of apology to Yun Qian Meng, he then entered the inner palace hall to notify of their arrival!
