Clash:
‘The Empress isn’t feeling well?’
Hearing Yongfu’s report, Xiahou Yin raised his eyebrows. There was no trace of
worry in his expression, but he asked, ‘Has she been attended to by a doctor?’
Yongfu bowed, ‘Xia XI said the
Queen only had a cold. She was on the way to look for a doctor to get medicine
for the Empress. It’s just that the Empress fears she would transmit it to your
royal self. She is afraid she cannot attend to you tonight.’
Although, Yongfu thought to
himself, Xia Xi’s manner was a bit suspect. But, he didn’t dwell on it for it was
impossible for the Empress to be pretending to be sick. Oh, this was simply not
possible; how could she refuse the grace of the Dragon? (Zuben: How could she?!)
Xiahou Yin slumped and sighed,
‘Take some ginseng, ganoderma lucidum and sacred snow lotus to Feng Yi palace,
and tell Doctor Tai to go and see the Empress.’
‘Yes,’ Yongfu bowed. He had been
with the Emperor since he was a child and he understood the Emperor’s mind; the
Emperor must be relieved he did not have to go to Feng Yi palace tonight. Who
didn’t know the Empress wasn’t favoured? There are only two palace maids
serving Feng Yi palace. If it wasn’t for the backing of the Queen Mother and
the Minister, such a modest and docile Empress who hadn’t gotten pregnant would
have had a her post taken away a long time ago.
‘Will the Emperor still wish to go
to Feng Yi, or shall I inform Qingling Palace that you will visit?’ Yongfu
asked. Qingling Palace was the Emperor’s favourite place, he had visited there
regularly in the past six months.
Xiahou Yin’s lips hooked up,
‘Yongfu, you really understand our mind.’
Yongfu sneaked a look up at the
Emperor and found he was not angry. He immediately rose and preened, ‘Of
course, this small servant has been with you since childhood. Important
matters, this small one does not understand and is unable to share the
troubles. So in the matters of the Emperor’s comfort, I aim to care for you satisfactorily.’
Xiahou Yin laughed at Yongfu’s
words, ‘This kid; you can talk with this mouth.’ Such a close servant, he
really saved him a lot of trouble, ‘Send my order, I will be dining at Qingling
tonight.’ He said and then returned to the documents before him.
‘Yes,’ Yongfu bowed and went to
inform Qingling Palace of the Emperor’s visit.
Xiahou Yin returned to his work. He
put behind his mind his promise to the Queen Mother. For him, the women in the
harem were only there to relieve his boredom. He did not attach great
importance to female sexual attractiveness. If he wanted a woman, he could get
her. Why should he struggle to gain the favour of a woman in the harem when
there was another at his beck and call? As long as they don’t misbehave, he
would get along with them.
Of course he understood the
difficulties of an Empress managing harem. But what of it? Since Su Xiurong is
queen, it was her business to take charge of the harem. If she couldn’t do her
job, what does he need her for? (Zuben: I thought she was doing it well)
For now, the Empress had the Dowager to rely
on, but the day the Dowager is gone, he was afraid Su Xiurong would end up
being bullied by the harem?
Thinking of Su Xiurong, the writing
hand stilled. Xiahou Yin frowned, then immediately continued his work.
If she was having a hard time
managing the harem, he would find a concubine to assist her. He would not
remove her title. (Zuben: Would that assistant be Qing Fei?) If he did so, there would be trouble. The ministers would
oppose it, and his uncle would not be pleased with him. Su Xiurong would be
Empress, just one without power.
Give her a comfortable life of
riches and honour, calm and steady; so that she was not thin, right?
Xiahou Yin was happy with his
decision and continued his work happily, buoyed by the idea that he didn’t have
to go to Feng Yi tonight. It was really something to celebrate.
He thought of the gentle and
charming Qingling concubine, compared to Xiurong, was much better.
Tonight would not be boring after
all.
♛
At dinner time, Xiahou Yin headed
to Qing Ling Palace. He held his hands behind his back and walked leisurely to
his destination. There were a few eunuchs escorting from the rear, and in
front, Yongfu held the lantern leading the group.
‘Your Majesty…’ Yongfu called
falteringly. With his gaze he directed Xiahou Yin to the Court Lady kneeling at
the doorway. Yongfu’s face stiffened at the sight of the Court Lady.
Xiahou Yin saw that the lady was
one of the Dowager’s retinue,
‘Lu Xiu sees the Emperor.’ The
court lady bowed respectfully.
Xiahou Yin didn’t reply, he groaned
in dismay.
‘My Emperor, the Dowager Empress asked
Lu Xiu to wait for you and give you a message.’
‘What is this message?’
‘”I was not joking”’
A good monarch does not joke!
(Zuben: how boring)
Xiahou Yin suddenly had a headache;
is Esteemed Mother not really letting him escape? He could ignore the warning,
but he imagined that it would not long before she came to personally drag him
from Qingling Palace. Xiahou Yin knew his mother’s personality very well.
(Zuben: I thought she said she wouldn’t interfere too much)
Xiahou Yin closed his eyes and
turned reluctantly.
‘Your Majesty?’ Yongfu queried,
‘To Fengyi Palace,’ he said as he
began to walk off without waiting for Yongfu, ‘Yongfu will follow, the rest,
return to your posts.'
Yongfu quickly followed his master,
and he kept quiet knowing that anything could make the Emperor’s mood worse.
When he arrived at the doors of
Fengyi Palace, he cautiously asked, ‘Your Majesty, would you like this servant
to notify…’
‘No,’ it didn’t matter anyway, it
was destined to be boring tonight whether she was prepared or not, ‘Let’s just
go…’ he stopped and frowned.
‘What’s the matter, Emperor?’
Yongfu asked in confusion when he stopped mid-sentence. ‘what’s the- what’s
that scent?’
He sniffed around, ‘How come the
scent…’ seemed like it was coming from Fengyi Palace?
Xiahou Yin did not speak but
entered the palace compound, Yongfu hurriedly followed close.
The closer they got to the court
the stronger the smell got. Yongfu could not help but drool and lick his lips at
the delicious aroma. As they approached the inner court entry, they could hear
voices,
‘Niangniang, can we really eat
this?’
‘Of course, chicken butt is
delicious.’ (Zuben: Nice and fatty)
‘Is that so…’
‘Just try it if you don’t believe me…’
‘Oh…hot…hot. It’s really delicious!
Xia Xi, you have to try it.’
‘Oh alright oh…hot!’
‘Niangniang, be careful.’
‘Don’t mind me, just eat.’
Listening to the conversation,
Xiahou Yin frowned slightly in puzzlement. He walked through the archway and
saw three women sitting around a stone fire with an iron net over it where meat
was roasting and a bowl. Xia Xi and Chun Xi dipped brushes into the bowl and
daubed them over the roasting meat, and the delicious scent emitted as the meat
sizzled.
And his Empress…
Xiahou Yin’s puzzled frown
deepened; Su Xiurong who was had always been neat, docile and cowering, only
had on a light robe on. It wasn’t even tied up, not only her skin was exposed -
one could see her peach-pink dudou.
Her hair was in a messy braid and
held up with an ornamental pin. She sat in an uncouth manner; cross-legged on a
chair.
She grabbed a chicken leg and bit into it wide-mouthed.
Of course Yongfu saw this scene; he
quickly bowed his head so he could not bear witness to it. He did not dare look
at the Empress, but he was shocked.
Heavens, did he see correctly, was
this really the Empress?!
‘Xia Xi, I want to eat the wings.’
Chuwei said as she chewed on the leg in her hand, she reached for a jug to her
side did not pour the contents into a cup but drank directly from the jug. She
sighed with satisfaction when she’d had enough.
‘This osmanthus wine is really
good.’ She said with grin, although there was no cola to go with the barbecue
chicken, this wine was a really good replacement, but unfortunately there was
no ice, cold wine would be even better!
Although, Xia Xi and Chun Xi were
now used to the changes, there were still puzzled by it. How did she change so
much? But since their mistress was now happy, they didn’t want to think about
it too much.
‘Since Niangniang likes it, there
is still more,’ Chun Xi showed her the jug, ‘but Niangniang, this wine is
strong, don’t drink too much.’
‘Hao, I know.’ Chuwei replied with
a mouthful of meat – satisfied, but she did not forget to say, ‘Xia Xi, chicken
wings!’
‘Yes, Xia Xi knows.’ Xia Xi smiled
and turned back to the grill, but something caught the corner of her eye and
she looked up to see the people standing in the archway. She was alarmed and
quickly rose,
‘The, the Emperor?!’
Chun Xi looked over at Xia Xia’s
exclamation; she hurriedly dropped the chopsticks in her hand and rose as well.
‘Your Majesty!’
Chuwei was still chewing on her
chicken leg, her teeth were trapped in the meat when she heard the two maids
exclamations, she looked in the direction of the entryway and locked eyes with
Xiahou Yin.
She blinked, this was the first
time she had seen the Emperor. She was not surprised by his youth, she had
learned his age from Xia Xi and Chun Xi, but she didn’t expect him to look like
this…not bad. Well from her perspective as a magazine editor, he was very good
looking. (Zuben: yeah yeah)
She had assumed an Emperor who
lived all his life in the palace would be pampered, since he didn’t have to
work hard. He would be kind of a sissy who was white and clean or an obscene
silkworm larva with lots of belly fat – she was still bearing a grudge on the
matter of the bedroom but she had never imagined that he would be this handsome
enough to shake her.
From what she could see, he might
be a little over one hundred and eighty centimetres tall. He was wearing blue
robes embroidered with the noble five-clawed dragon and he exuded a noble
imposing aura – much different from what she had imagined.
Although he wasn’t swarthy, he
wasn’t thin. His stature was tall, upright and powerful. Don’t talk of a big
belly; he most definitely had a six pack!
His facial features were not
effeminate, but rather manly; angular yet beautiful. His narrowed eyes made her
think of the Dowager Empress. The Dowager Empress came to Feng Yi palace to
visit her sometimes, from the moment Chuwei met the woman she knew she wasn’t
simple not like the two maids beside her - so she kept up a docile front while
in the Dowager’s presence.
It wasn’t hard at all to put on a
look of gentility and obedience, look weak; she had been able to trick the
Dowager Empress but this Emperor whose eyes were like his mother’s, had a
shrewd glint. She knew this time she might not be so lucky. (Zuben: Well you
have been caught in the act, or you could faint? That seems to work)
As she continued to chew on her
chicken, Chuwei racked her brains for a solution to the current dilemma.
When Su Xiurong looked at him,
Xiahou Yin noted a flash of surprise before it was quickly hidden, and she
still continued to chew on her chicken leg.
This was not the Su Xiurong he
knew.
Jiang Chuwei got lost in thought
about solving her current problem that she forgot to be deferent.
‘Everyone leave!’ Xiahou Yin
commanded with a wave of his hand, his gaze was locked on Su Xiurong.
Xia Xi and Chun Xi exchanged a
glance, although, they were uneasy leaving their mistress, they could not
disobey the orders of the Emperor. They rose from their bow and left the inner
court with Yongfu.
Chuwei got startled out of her
reverie at Xiahou Yin’s words. She watched Chun Xi and Xia Xi leave and the girls
cast a worried glance back at her.
She turned her gaze to the Emperor
and saw he was staring at her. The dim light of dusk made her unable to read
his expression, but she also knew if she could not come to an agreement with
him, she would not be able to save her life.
She dropped the chicken bone now
stripped of meat and picked up her handkerchief to wipe her hand. She calmly
rose from her seat and bowed,
‘Chén qiè sees the Emperor.’
The Emperor did not reply. Chuwei
licked her lips, but she did plan to spend her time on bended knee so she rose
and stared at the Emperor Xiahou Yin.
Xiahou Yin could plainly see her
attitude was not respectful at all, there was no fear in her eyes. If he was
not mistaken, she was disdainful of him. (Zuben: how does he get to see in the
dusk light?) He stepped forward till he was right in front of her, but she did
not shy away. She stood firm and with her prideful eyes, stared directly at
him.
‘You’re not Su Xiurong,’ he
declared. Su Xiurong would never have such an expression on her face, she never
had such courage.
Xiahou Yin’s eyes were cold, and he
could not hold back, he grabbed her wrist and held it tightly, ‘Who are you?
Where is Su Xiurong?’
Suddenly having her wrist gripped
so tightly made her frown, ‘Hey! Let go!’ she cried. She wanted to struggle
free but he gripped her arm so tightly, she felt her wrist would break.
Chuwei got angry, she lifted her
leg to kick his shin, but he stepped back in a flash. She swept under him and
pulled his arm intending to throw him over her shoulder but she forgot that the
body was hot hers. Even though she was a black belt in Taekwondo, this body was
not. Xiurong’s body was not only thin, but weak as well.
‘Shit!’ she swore. Instead of
throwing him, both her arms were locked behind her. Her face distorted in pain,
‘Wait! Stop! Let’s not get excited. Just keep calm so we can solve this in a
civilised manner.’
She couldn’t beat him so she could
only beg for mercy. Chuwei smiled over her shoulder at Xiahou Yin with pitiful
eyes, ‘Your Majesty, as the ruler of a country, it is good to treat your woman
like this?’
Xiahou Yin did not pay attention
but asked, ‘Where is Su Xiurong?’
‘I am ah! Ah! Ah!--’ he twisted her
arms painfully, ‘Damn it! If you don’t believe me touch my face!’
She rose on tip-toe and pushed her
face close to his, ‘Touch it, touch this face and see if I’m not Su Xiurong.’
Xiahou Yin stared at the face close
to his, there were no suspicious marks, even the edges did not have any trace
of unevenness. He could not find any signs that this was not Xiurong. He lifted
a hand and touched her face. He felt everywhere and frowned as he could not
find a flaw. It was impossible, no matter how good the mask was, there should
be a flaw.
This person was really Su Xiurong?
Xiahou Yin released her.
As soon as she was freed, Chuwei
glared at her wrists that had been held till they were bruised. She glared at
him,
‘So do you believe me now?’
Seeing the confusion in Xiahou Yin’s
eyes made her happy. If the emperor is so wise, what would he think about a
change of souls.
‘Who are you?’ he asked. Though the
body was Su Xiurong, he knew the person standing before him no was not his
Empress. He didn’t think that Xiurong had been deliberately pretending to be
meek and well behaved. She didn’t need to do that kind of thing. And the
feeling he got from Xiurong and the feeling he got from this woman were
different; two completely different people.
Chuwei rubbed her wrist and looked
up at him with a smile and batted her eyelashes, ‘My name is Jiang Chuwei. As
for Su Xiurong...she is dead.’
Looking at Xiahou Yin’s puzzled
frown, she sighed helplessly and she told him the truth, ‘Actually, I was a
lonely ghost floating about in this world, very pitiful. I saw Su Xiurong
falling into the lake, and then I woke up and became Su Xiurong.’
Though this was an esoteric thing,
she thought that the ancient people would not understand it. Anyway, she hadn’t
lied, she did wake up and inexplicably became Su Xiurong.
Xiahou Yin did not miss the flash in
her eyes, he sneered at her,‘Do you think I would believe that kind of
nonsense?’
She wouldn’t have believed it
either if she hadn’t experienced it herself.
‘This kind of nonsense even an
ignorant person won’t believe it,’ Jiang Chuwei said with a flattering grin,
‘talk less of you, the Emperor! Who is the Emperor? The Son of Heaven! How
could someone as esteemed as you be a stupid ignorant person?’ She waved up and
down at his person. She nearly held her cheeks and exclaimed.
This woman...Xiahou Yin raised his
eyebrows, the irony in her eyes were more pronounced, ‘Do you think that I will
let you off because of your words?’
Okay so she could not flatter this
Emperor. She put away her smile and folded her arms across her chest. She
lifted her chin proudly and asked, ‘So what to you want to do? Kill me? This
body is really Su Xiurong, even if you told people I was not, no one would
believe you.’ She shrugged and gave him a false smile.
‘And even if you wanted to touch a
hair on my head, wouldn’t you have to explain yourself to the Dowager Empress
and the General?’ She knew very well Xiurong’s backing.
Looking at her smug smile, Xiahou
Yin wasn’t angered, he simply asked, ‘Are you threatening me?’
Chuwei held her hands up, ‘You’re
the Emperor! How can I dare threaten you?’ she said, ‘Let’s just treat this as
a transaction of sorts.’
Xiahou Yin raised an eyebrow, ‘What
sort of transaction?’ he asked. This woman who called herself Jiang Chuwei was
beginning to be very interesting.
Noting his interest, Chuwei became
hopeful, she stepped forward and placed a hand on his chest, ‘Be assured that
this will be favourable to you, no harm whatsoever.’
Xiahou Yin looked at the hand
resting on his chest; no one in this world had ever dared touch him like this.
‘I heard that you are wary of the
Dowager Empress and the Imperial Uncle’s influence in court,’ she said. He was
bound to be angry by that statement, she thought.
Xiahou Yin did not react or
respond, Chuwei took it as approval.
How pitiful, a puppet Emperor.
‘You had no choice but to marry Su
Xiurong and make her Empress, and then you have to come to Feng Yi palace under
duress. It must be really tiring.’ she said sympathetically shaking her head,
‘I am not Su Xiurong, therefore, I would not compel you to come here. Although,
your physique looks very good, one not assured of the ability…’
Ability…?
He followed her gaze to his pelvic
area; he could very well guess what her implication was. His black eyes
flashed.
This woman’s boldness was beyond
his expectations. With a word, he could take her little life, but since his
arrival, she hadn’t considered putting more clothes on. She did not show any indication
of being uncomfortable.
Jiang Chuwei coughed as she found
herself digressing, and continued on as though nothing happened, ‘I will
continue to be Su Xiurong: A queen with no voice. Before the Dowager and
Imperial Uncle, I will say good words on your behalf, even when you want to
dote on other concubines. If you want to deal with the Dowager and Imperial
Uncle, I will help you pave the path. How does that sound?’
‘It sounds good,’ it was favourable
to him, ‘but I think you are labouring under a misapprehension; there is no
need to deal with the Dowager and Imperial Uncle.’
Chuwei blinked and immediately
nodded in agreement, ‘Oh, I understand.’
What a useless guy.
Xiahou Yin could immediately tell
what she was thinking, he said quietly, ‘The Dowager and Imperial Uncle have
never been my enemies.’
What did he mean by that?
Chuwei watched him, thinking that
the was trying to save his self respect. But then she thought back to her
meetings with the Dowager, she was a smart and capable woman. While they
chatted sometimes, she would mention the Emperor. There was reprimand in her
tone but there was also a little helplessness…
Chuwei suddenly realised, that was
the look of a mother who loved her child.
She had ignored it before. Thinking
about it, if the Dowager really held the power, the Emperor would have been
clinging to Xiurong’s thigh every day.
‘Have you figured it out?’ he asked
with a satisfied smile seeing her horrified look.
‘Jiang Chuwei,’ he called.
‘What?’ she shouted, ready for
another fight.
‘You are very interesting. Moreso,
than Si Xiurong.’ Although, he did not believe her about being a ghost, he had
read in a book about soul exchange. In any case, he thought she was
interesting, much more than docile Su Xiurong.
Chuwei was about to speak when she
saw the playful glint in his eye. (Zuben: So you finally can read his
expression in the dusk) and the hair in the back of her neck stood on end.
‘We have a deal, you can stay in
the palace.’ he said with a wide smile. The handsome smile gave Chuwei
goosebumbs.
‘My Empress…’ he said deliberately.
In the warm summer night, Chuwei
felt a chill. Why did she have the sense that she had just dug her own grave?
(Zuben: Well, you were talking big without all the facts)
Thank you for the chapter. <3
ReplyDeleteDid you just threw in a reference from 'Cinderella Did Not Leave Her Shoe' about the fainting in there? It was glorious!
Teehee^_^/
DeleteGetting more interesting since JC is honest about taking over SX's body. Continue with the story please. Thanks
ReplyDeleteSo, he found a new woman to play with? He really needs his mother to manage him.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Wha.... done.. no more chapter.. 😭😭😭😭
ReplyDeleteBtw thank u for the chapter n love it so much 😊😊😊😚
Whoops. I didn't realise I didn't update the next chapter links. Done now.
DeleteThank you for the chapter~
ReplyDeleteReading the translators comments in between is so fun.
ReplyDeleteSo they just diregarded the dociles empress existence like *poof* welps she's gone, moving on
ReplyDeleteYes, well...yes. They liked fiesty version compared to docile one. I thought it was sad but with ten or so chapters, they couldn't drag that on.
DeleteUhh, caught in the act, tsk tsk, and even made assumptions, really hopeless!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like someone's on a binge - LOL. Have fun!
DeleteUggh! Another stupid character who thinks she is very clever and can outwit anyone. Like how stupid you have to be to challenge the emperor of an unknown land, even considering your "dominant" personality? Just an arrogant idiot. I don't like the emperor either. Both are arrogant idiots. I only feel l bad for the real empress. I hope the character develops something likeable in future.
ReplyDeleteThe image of his mom taking him by the ear and dragging him to the empress was very funny to me ngl.
ReplyDeleteAlso at just about the moment you were talking about nice and fatty chicken butt my cat jumped up and made a loud chirping noise. She sensed the conversation going on - the delicious delicious conversation.
Man I have genshin brainworms I think of it when i read osmanthus wine and when my mom gets osmanthus tea.
Also LOL if she had stood up from her chicken, gone ‘oh no my health!’ and stone cold pretended to faint to get out of the awkward conversation i would have choked laughing.
The directness of knowing her identity is something I like a lot, and the implication that he didn’t know how to use it was funny. I enjoy the trope of the bold headstrong character trying to charge through life and problems and meeting their unexpected match, so hopefully it lives up to it
I just feel bad for the OG Xiurong. She died thinking she was never loved for who she really is ☹️ Btw, the emperor annoys me. He's nothing but a playboy 🙄
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree.
Delete