The Beloved Imperial Consort - Chapter 135

QiCheng, Zhizhou Mansion.

“Your Highness, the three Misses of the house brought the servant girl Chun Yu Yao over to thank you.” Yan Cheng Zhou briefed with a hesitant expression. 

In the middle of the night, the Third Miss came asking to meet. Excluding her, who at least looked decent, the other two Misses were wearing thick makeup and were adamant about seeing his Highness. Yan Cheng Zhou was overwhelmed by them and finally came to deliver their message. Even now, the smell of the powder and rouge lingered with him.

Zong Zheng Lin was leaning against the couch bed, his right hand gently turning the pages. “Do you mean the Third Miss or that there are three women outside?”. 

In the day, that maid said she served the Third Miss. Now, coming here to express gratitude, two more people were added for no reason?

When Yan Cheng Zhou heard his Highness’ tone, he knew that he did not like these troublesome women. “His Royal Highness, it is true that Third Miss is here. Except for the eldest Miss in the house, the other Misses are waiting outside.”

“Let the Third Miss of the Wang family come in. The others I will not see.” Zong Zheng Lin put down the book on hand and tidied up his clothes. Putting his long legs on the ground, he slowly paced to the rattan chair to sit down.

After a while, a young woman brought a freshly dressed Chun Yu Yao into the house.

“This little girl greets His Royal Highness.” [1]

[1] What she says is 民女见过殿下, it is correct to say greet or seen, but I also remember reading somewhere that the greetings to the Imperial Family indicate a wish for them to live longer. In this sentence, the Chinese character 过 means “to live” so I’m guessing there’s a subtext where she’s also saying ‘wishing you health’.

“Get up.”

Although she looked ordinary, she followed the etiquette, even He Lian Min Min wasn’t a match to her. When Zong Zheng Lin noticed that she did not use incense to smoke her clothes [2], his face wasn’t so tense anymore.

[2] In Ancient China, incense was used as a perfume. People smoke their clothes with incense, so when they put it on, they also have that scent with them. In the novel ‘Greeting, Ninth Uncle’ the protagonist has an scene where she draws her bath, lits the incense and then puts on her clothes. There’s an interesting post here if you want to check it out.

“Expressing my thanks to His Royal Highness”.

Third Miss looked embarrassed. Looking at the majestic Sixth Highness, she didn’t know what to do or say. The thing is, she was forced to bring Chu Yun Yao over by the Second and Fourth Miss, her sisters, but the two of them were blocked outside, leaving her completely clueless about how to deal with the current situation.

Third Miss was like this, but Chun Yu Yao was even more restrained. After expressing her gratitude, she did not say anything else. The man in front of her was cold and indifferent, just looking at him was scary.

“You didn’t want to come, then were you forced?” When Zong Zheng Lin saw the expressions of the two of them, he knew what had happened tonight.

Seeing His Highness see through them, Third Miss instantly became agitated. If His Highness’ was angry at them, and therefore opened his honorable mouth [3] to scold them, even if he tried to make it sound nice and fair, their reputation would not be spared.

[3] 随便金口一开, the chinese character 金 means gold. The raw translates it to honorable, but I’m starting to think it means ‘royal mouth’.

“Are you shu [4] born?”

[4] 你是庶出 nǐ shì shù chū — shu (庶) means children born of a concubine. 

Zong Zheng Lin observed that her eyes were low and full of meekness, and couldn’t think of a di [5] daughter who would act like her.

 [5] 嫡 di refers to the legitimate/first wife, the original spouse of a man.

“Back to Your Highness’, this little girl was born from concubine Wu.”

He knew it. According to Mu Xi Yao, a concubine’s children that were raised at the main wife’s side, without a doubt would be raised to be little wooden characters, dim but with a virtuous appearance, very different from the spoiled di children.

Zong Zheng Lin remembered her crooked reasoning and compared it with the situation in front of him. Although the little woman’s words were unpleasant to hear, many times she was right.

As for the little defect of protecting her shortcomings all the time, the Sixth Highness has become accustomed and was already numb to it. All her dislike aimed at the main wife must exclude her mother and eldest sister. In the same way, all the sharp criticism against the concubines must not touch her and that useless shu sister of hers. Mu Xi Yao’s double standard has never made her feel like she has contradicted herself, and she was not ashamed of it.

Thinking of her blatant feelings of protection for her family, Zong Zheng Lin felt that Mu Xi Yao was especially cute. She was willful, but she had a warm heart.

Looking at Chun Yu Yao, who was cowering and didn’t dare to raise her head, Zong Zheng Lin endured that little bit of eyesore. Facing that familiar face, he couldn’t lose his temper.

In fact, Zong Zheng Lin felt that he was suffering greatly from this clear sense of violation. If Mu Xi Yao acted like this, Zong Zheng Lin would be one hundred percent sure that she had a ghost idea [6] in her heart. And even if she dare act like this, she would still have those lively eyes that were dripping with light.

[6] 有鬼 Have ulterior motives; have a bellyful of tricks; have sth. to hide.

“If you have nothing else, then go back.” Seeing the situation at hand, and knowing Chun Yu Yao’s character clearly, Zong Zheng Lin was not interested in keep on talking to them.

“Yes, this little girl thanks His Highness for his help. Then this little girl will go back with the maid.” Third Miss gave a big bow and then hurried out with Chun Yu Yao.

Yan Chen Zhou was still in a state of shock. Because the candle in the room was bright, he could clearly see that the woman named Chun Yu Yao was very similar to Mistress Yao. No wonder His Highness was extra gracious and allowed someone to come in. Looking at Ye Kai, who was waiting on the side, sure enough, it’s also a look of enlightenment.

“Yan Chen Zhou, where did they go before?”

“Your Highness, before they came, Misses and the servant girl went to the Fifth Prince’s place. Like you, the Fifth Prince also blocked the other two young ladies.”

Zong Zheng Lin nodded. The Third Miss was raised to be virtuous and had good manners. When Zong Zheng Ming saw Third Miss, he probably had the same thoughts as him.

 As for Chun Yu Yao… That woman was troublesome.

“Has the letter I sent to Cefei’s side arrived yet?” 

Zong Zheng Lin closed his eyes and imagined Mu Xi Yao’s peevish appearance with a smile on his lips. Pity he was too far away. If he was in front of her, he could tame such a disobedient rabbit. That kind of joy, His Royal Highness felt that every time he got to enjoy it, he was reluctant to let go.

Yan Cheng Zhou didn’t dare to speak casually, and after carefully calculating twice in his head, he gave a reply: “According to the days, it should arrive today or tomorrow.”

Zong Zheng Lin’s eyes flashed with anticipation, and a smile was obvious on his face. This time, Mu Xi Yao was destined to bow her head and admit defeat.

***

“Master, see who arrived!”. Gui Momo’s old face was full of smiles. 

She had originally gone to get little bun Cheng Qing to bring him to Danrou Courtyard, but then she unexpectedly bumped into Lady Yu halfway, which made her very happy.

Mu Xi Yao’s eyes widened, “Mother?”

Lady Yu hurried a few steps and pressed her to sit down. “Sit upright, Mother came to see you today and isn’t in a hurry to leave, no need to get busy like this.”

Mu Xi Yao heard her say she was in no rush, and immediately smiled sweetly. “Then eat at this daughter’s place. Later, don’t find a reason to hurry back to look after father.”

Seeing her pretending to be pitiful, Lady Yu smiled and flicked her forehead, “How old are you, still so jealous? Your father eats alone, where is he like you, with a group of people waiting on you?”

“This daughter understands, I’m just spilled water [7] that no one cares about. I understand, I understand.”

[7] 嫁出去的女兒，潑出去的水 is a Chinese proverb meaning ‘Married daughters are like spilled water’. Means that as soon as a girl gets married, it is like the water that is poured out, and her parents are not allowed to intervene. This was true in the old days, in modern China, and more after the one-child policy, this was no longer true. More info in the footnotes below.

“How is it that you don’t have no one caring about you? His Sixth Highness is holding you in the palm of his hand, so why are you complaining?” Lady Yu took her hand and looked at the person carefully. “Have you been feeling unwell recently? You don’t sleep well at night, and are easily sleepy during the day?”

Huh? 

“No, there is no such thing.” Mu Xi Yao was confused, why did Lady Yu ask this question out of nowhere?

“You still want to hide it? His Highness specially sent a letter to us, saying that you may be in low spirits during this period of time, and if I’m free, I should come to visit you. He’s afraid that something was wrong with you, and he wanted people close to you to take care of you wholeheartedly.”

Why did  Zong Zheng Lin write a letter full nonsense? Where was she out of energy? Not only did Mu Xi Yao didn’t understand, but the people around her were also baffled.

“His Royal Highness said that your energy was getting weaker and weaker. You used to be able to write him letters, but now it seems that this was too difficult. He is not in Sheng Jing, if he can’t hear from you, he can’t rest assured. He said if you don’t mind it, why don’t you dictate your letter to mother, and mother will let your father imitate your handwriting and help you write it?”

With this explanation, not one in the room didn’t know that this was His Highness and Mu Cefei exchanging blows [8] from thousands of miles of distance. Everyone’s expressions were straight, and there was no longer any confusion to be seen.

[8] 在凌空过招, the machine translators put it like this ‘fighting in the sky/are standing in the air a thousand miles apart’ which I think it’s almost like ‘two enemies facing each other in the air’ and it’s so funny, but I dunno if it’s a mistake or what. Anyways, add it here in a footnote.

Mu Xi Yao was furious when she heard this. Wow, Zong Zheng Lin, you jerk! Shameless! Even went so far as to snitch to the parents!

Demoness Mu was angry about being tattled on. Now that his sixth Highness had moved this chess piece Lady Yu in such a dignified manner, she really couldn’t do anything to block it.

Not only dictate to Lady Yu, even having Sir Mu ghostwrite it? Mu Xi Yao was afraid that Lady Yu would follow Zong Zheng Lin’s request and really go and do it. Thinking of the colorful and dazzling [9] content in those letters, she went almost dizzy and even gave herself goosebumps. If her father really saw it, wouldn’t he just say “immoral!” and scold her to death?

[9] 肉 was used, which means meat, and meat is used in Chinese works to talk about smut, lmao.

Seeing her Mistress’ blazing gaze, Mo Lan quickly looked away.

Those eyes were a sign of anger, but this time, Mistress really asked for trouble. Obviously, this could be avoided if in the past Mistress’ had written a few more words, but she choose to be dishonest and trick his Highness. Now that Furen asked about this, how could Mistress carry on her bad habits and continue being lazy? 

Mu Xi Yao’s face was stiff. No matter what, she couldn’t let such a humiliating thing happen.

Big boss was really insidious and cunning, and his belly was black and evil to the point of bursting! [10] Mu Xi Yao wished she could pounce on him and bite him twice to vent her anger.

[10] 腹黑 Fu hei. Used to mean that someone is secretly quite evil/sly/manipulative with a deceiving facade, so you will only know that the person is black belly after being eaten up.

“Mother,” Mu Xi Yao pulled at Lady Yu’s cuff, “his Highness was just talking nonsense.”

Before she finished speaking, Lady Yu stared at her fiercely. Mu Xi Yao quickly changed her words, “What this daughter means is that his Highness is distressing himself too much. This little thing is not worth his agitation.”

Mu Xi Yao was feeling depressed. She had to praise that bastard twice against her heart, obviously, she hated it. Taking a deep breath, she continued the interrupted ‘explanation’. 

“Isn’t it cooler these days?”. She pointed to Cheng Qing playing in the yard. “Children, they don’t like being confined in the house. So I took him for two laps. He was making a bit of noise, and as I’m pregnant, I too was a bit sleepy. Naturally, I was so tired that I didn’t want to write.”

Mu Xi Yao didn’t blink while talking nonsense, not feeling the slightest shame. Litte bun Cheng Qing was really useful, even when facing Consort Shu and Lady Yu, it was an easy task for him to take them down.

Gui Momo and the rest looked at their little master who was sitting on the ground playing puzzles obediently and then looked back at his mother who dodged responsibility. Everyone felt sorry for the little master.

How could such a well-behaved and obedient little master who was not noisy at all always be talked about by Mistress like this? Whenever Mistress was in the wrong, it was always the little master who saved the scene. The little master who hadn’t yet reached one year didn’t have it easy…

As soon as Lady Yu heard that she had gone outside to play while pregnant, she immediately expressed her disapproval and started to lecture her. This lecture did not stop completely until after lunch. From time to time, she would still give a couple of points, the most important thing was to warn her to not let His Highness worry, now that he was running an errand, it was best to let him have peace of mind, so he could concentrate on the task at hand.

For the first time, Mu Xi Yao was extremely hopeful that Lady Yu would go back to accompany her father to have a good meal. That would at least let her ears rest during dinner.

Mu Xi Yao bitterly acknowledged that the big boss was unethical and he operated in violation of the law.

The same method would not work with Consort Shu. Consort Shu loved Zong Zheng Lin’s emotional expression in any form and wished for Mu Xi Yao to stimulate his son to react more.

Mu Xi Yao was really sad and angry that she couldn’t use the tit-for-tat move. She didn’t have the guts to go to Emperor Yuancheng and sue his son for abuse of power, and for being deceitful.

Demoness Mu deeply felt that in Great Wei it was vogue to rely on his father’s wealth and prestige to get ahead. As expected, the emperor’s son was the most annoying, rich, and handsome!

So the Sixth Highness got what he wanted, and since then he received letters from Mu Xi Yao, all of which were full of spring breeze [11].

[11] Shine with happiness; be all smiles; be smiling from ear to ear; look like a million dollars; one’s face is full of joy.

***

▲ Footnotes 

[1] What she says is 民女见过殿下, it is correct to say greet or seen, but I also remember reading somewhere that the greetings to the Imperial Family indicate a wish for them to live longer. In this sentence, the Chinese character 过 means “to live” so I’m guessing there’s a subtext where she’s also saying ‘wishing you health’.

[2] In Ancient China, incense was used as a perfume. People smoke their clothes with incense, so when they put it on, they also have that scent with them. In the novel ‘Greeting, Ninth Uncle’ the protagonist has a scene where she draws her bath, lits the incense, and then puts on her clothes. There’s an interesting post here if you want to check it out.

[3] 随便金口一开, the Chinese character 金 means gold. The raw translates it to honorable, but I’m starting to think it means ‘royal mouth’.

[4] 你是庶出 nǐ shì shù chū — shu (庶) means children born of a concubine. 

[5] 嫡 di: refers to the legitimate/first wife, the original spouse of a man.

[6] 有鬼 Have ulterior motives; have a bellyful of tricks; have sth. to hide.

[7] “嫁出去的女兒，潑出去的水” a Chinese idiom: ‘Married daughters are like spilled water’. There’s a poem behind this idiom which is: On the day she weds / (Lamented the parents) / Like water flowing / Out and away /A daughter is lost. This was true in the old days, in modern China this is no longer true. 

In the context of the most traditional Chinese culture, a daughter who has married to her husband is equivalent to marrying to her husband’s family. She has to stay with her husband’s family, taking care of her mother-in-law and father-in-law and basically become part of her husband’s family. In fact in many decision-making, she has to side the family of her husband instead of her own original family.

[8] 在凌空过招, the machine translators put it like this ‘fighting in the sky/are standing in the air a thousand miles apart’ which I think it’s almost like ‘two enemies facing each other in the air’ and it’s so funny, but I dunno if it’s a mistake or what. Anyways, add it here in a footnote.

[9] 肉 was used, which means meat, and meat is used in Chinese works to talk about smut, lmao.

[10] 腹黑 Fu hei. Used to mean that someone is secretly quite evil/sly/manipulative with a deceiving facade, so you will only know that the person is black belly after being eaten up.

[11] Shine with happiness; be all smiles; be smiling from ear to ear; look like a million dollars; one’s face is full of joy.