CH 54

The kitty had already fallen asleep by the time they finished a cup of tea. Chen Wang spoke up: “Consort Dowager, it’s late. We should take our leave now.”

“Leaving so soon?” Consort Dowager Zhao’s expression was a little reluctant. She placed the sleeping cat on a soft cushion and summoned a maid: “Are there any snacks from earlier in the kitchen? Little guniang likes them, so pack them in a box and let her take them home.”

After saying that, she looked at Jiuzhu: “Wait a moment, I have a few hand-stitched cloth tigers in my chamber. I’ll get them for you.”

Jiuzhu opened her mouth to refuse, but ultimately nodded with a smile: “Thank you, Consort Dowager niangniang.”

Soon, Consort Dowager Zhao came out of the room with a wooden box, filled to the brim with several cloth tigers.

Taking the box, she bowed and expressed her gratitude again. 

“These little trinkets are not worth your appreciation,” Consort Dowager Zhao touched the wooden box and smiled: “If my child were still alive, his daughter would have been as old as you.”

Jiuzhu didn’t dare to ask how her child passed away.

As they walked out of Jing’an Palace with the wooden box and snacks, the old consort dowager accompanied them all the way to the outer courtyard before finally stopping.

Jiuzhu stood on the steps of the red lacquered wooden door and looked back at the spacious courtyard. Seeing the old consort dowagers, who were so obviously curious about her and Chen Wang, not daring to approach them, her heart was full of indescribable sadness.

As the door closed before her eyes, Jiuzhu walked out of the winding alley with the box and asked Chen Wang: “Your Highness, did that Consort Dowager have a child?”

“Perhaps she did.” He was still very young at that time and couldn’t remember many things, “The late emperor had a lot of concubines so he sired many princes and princesses. Some of them died before they could even establish themselves.”

Seeing that Jiuzhu was feeling down, he thought she didn’t want to leave him and reassured: “Don’t be unhappy. How about this then? After your eldest Uncle sends someone to propose marriage to the Zhou family, I’ll ask Mother Consort to make you return.”

Jiuzhu wanted to remind him that he couldn’t say ‘return’ when referring to her coming to the Palace and that the Ming residence was her home. But guessing that he didn’t want her to leave, she swallowed those words and stood on tiptoes, whispering in Chen Wang’s ear: “Your Highness, I just thought of something that might be considered scandalous.”

“What is it?”

Chen Wang didn’t believe she could come up with something scandalous with her guts.

“You see, if the late emperor had taken in fewer concubines, wouldn’t there be fewer women suffering today?” Jiuzhu held the box tightly in her hands: “I was merely thinking this. Your Highness must not tell it to anyone.”

Or else, she would be in big trouble.

“You afraid that I’ll say it out loud, yet you still told me?” Chen Wang smiled as he looked at her.

“Your Highness is not an outsider, so it’s okay to tell you.” Jiuzhu’s gaze was erratic. “If you tell someone else about this, I won’t admit it. Anyway, besides you, no one can prove that I said it.”

“Hey, you’re quite clever.” Chen Wang reached out and poked Jiuzhu’s cheek, teasing her as she kept dodging and laughing.

“Ming Xiaozhu, don’t worry.” Looking at her cheeks flushed from laughter, he put his hands behind his back and said awkwardly: “I’m different from them.”

Jiuzhu blinked.

Seeing that she didn’t speak, Chen Wang surmised that she probably understood his meaning. He added stiffly: “Anyway, that’s my stance. Don’t think too much into it when you go back. A month… will pass quickly.”

He knew that she liked to be clingy, so he would let her stick to him.

A-anyway… she was his wife.

“Your Highness, are you blushing?”

“Oh, the cloak is too thick. It’s hot.”

“Your blushing face looks good, Your Highness.”

“Ming Xiaozhu, don’t speak.”

“……”

“Nevermind. Say whatever you’re thinking. Give me the wooden box, I’ll hold it for you.”

Early next morning, while the morning fog still lingered in the air, Sun Caiyao sat in the yard until the sunlight pierced through it and the warm sun could be seen clearly. However, she didn’t see Ming Jiuzhu come to Zhangliu Palace.

“Ming Xianzhu didn’t come today?” She looked at the unusually quiet courtyard and somehow missed the liveliness of the times Ming Jiuzhu was around.

“Junwangfei, Ming Xianzhu left the palace at dawn today,” a palace maid answered. “This slave heard from little Liuzi of His Highness Chen Wang’s courtyard said that she will come back on the lunar New Year’s Eve to attend the banquet held in the Palace.”

‘Come back?’

When Sun Caiyao heard these two words, she looked at the palace maid in a daze. Had these palace maids and eunuchs already started regarding her as Chen Wangfei?

She lowered her eyelids and sighed: “The whole Zhangliu Palace feels empty without Ming Xianzhu.”

“Precisely, several of the sisters were regretful when they heard that Xianzhu went home,” the palace maid smiled: “They even prepared strings, hoping to play string games1String games [花绳] – This game involves making strong figures using a string, aka cat’s cradle. This brings back memories haha, Nobita (from Doraemon) is an expert at this: with Xianzhu.”

“String games?”

“Yes.” The palace maid nodded: “A few days ago, when Xianzhu heard us slaves mentioning strong games, she became very curious. So we asked someone from the Department of the Palace to bring a beautiful and soft string that wouldn’t hurt the hands in order to teach her how to play.”

These palace maids went to find strings just because Ming Jiuzhu casually mentioned it. Was it because they truly liked Ming Jiuzhu or because they deliberately wanted to please her?

Maybe in the entire harem, everyone wanted to please the future Chen Wangfei. She heard that even those old consort dowagers who had never left the west side of the Palace where they resided, sent her a wooden box after Ming Jiuzhu visited them.

Human heart had always been the truest mirror to their face. 

She raised her head to stop the palace maid from talking endlessly, got up, and returned to her residence. Before entering, she thought for a moment and turned to the main house where Yun Yanze lived.

There were no servants guarding outside the door. She pushed aside the curtain and entered: “Your Highness…”

Yun Yanze, who was in the middle of changing clothes, pulled them over, covered the left side of his body, and turned toward her.

In that instant, she felt that his eyes were very cold and indifferent when he looked at her. Upon closer inspection, she saw a smile at the corners of his eyes. The so-called coldness must have been her imagination.

“Caiyao, how come you are here?” Yun Yanze put his left arm into the sleeve of the outfit, retracting his gaze.

Sun Caiyao walked to his side and helped him put on the right side. “Why is Your Highness changing clothes on your own?”

“I don’t want the servants to see the injuries on my body.” He turned around and put on a clean outer robe. “You’ve been accompanying me in the courtyard these days, are you bored?”

“I am not bored as long as I’m with Your Highness.” She shook her head, and was about to tidy his belt when she noticed a scratch on his left ear near his chin. She reached out and touched the scratch. “Your Highness, how did you get hurt here?”

“Where?” Yun Yanze touched it and looked up at his reflection in the mirror. He replied without much thought: “Maybe I accidentally scratched myself in sleep last night.”

Sun Caiyao sighed and turned to take a box of ointment from the table. “Your Highness should take good care of your body.”

“Okay.” Yun Yanze smiled gently and let Sun Caiyao apply the ointment. His smiling face was reflected in the bronze mirror. He adjusted his left sleeve and covered his arm tightly. He softly said, “Don’t worry, I will take care of myself.”

The man in the mirror was handsome, with sword-like eyebrows, shining eyes and a gentle and refined demeanor.

Like the best piece of jade in the world.

Jiuzhu got off the carriage and saw several carriages stationed at the entrance of her home. She asked the gatekeeper in confusion: “Are there guests at home today?”

“Young Miss is back?” The gatekeeper was happy to see Jiuzhu return and whispered: “Several lords from the Ministry of Revenue came to see Master today. Their expressions were grave and seemed to be in a hurry. Something major must have happened.”

Something major?

During the few days she stayed in the Palace, besides the demotion of Qi Junwang’s birth mother, it didn’t seem that anything major had occurred.

She walked through the courtyard gate, and Chunfen, who had been waiting for her, hurriedly approached. “This slave greets Young Miss.”

“Chunfen jiejie, did you learn these rules to poke fun at me?” Jiuzhu pulled her up. “Let’s skip them, or else I’ll feel uncomfortable all over.”

Chunfen laughed when she saw her expression. “Dear Young Miss, Madam is waiting for you in the courtyard. Please follow me.”

“The gatekeeper said that the officials from the Ministry of Revenue are looking for Father. What happened?”

“What else could it be for?” Chunfen whispered: “Naturally, it must be for His Highness Qi Junwang.”

Jiuzhu paused and turned to look at Chunfen.

“The Zheng family committed a serious crime and had been thrown into prison. In addition, Ning Fei niangniang had been banished to the cold palace. Those officials are worried that Qi Junwang might be implicated, so they came to see Master and seek a solution.” Chunfen shook her head. “This slave doesn’t understand the affairs of the court, but it seems that these officials are doing their best to help Qi Junwang.”

Jiuzhu remained silent and went to the main house where her parents lived. There, she was served a large bowl of nourishing soup by the worried Shen-shi.

“There are guests outside, your Father will come to meet you soon.” Looking at her daughter, who was dressed in new clothes and had a good complexion, her anxious heart finally calmed down.

Jiuzhu waved her hand, indicating the servants in the room to leave. Pinching the hem of her skirt, she lowered her head and asked: “Mother, will Father help Qi Junwang and the Zheng family?”

“Mom doesn’t have a clear understanding of the affairs of the court.” Shen-shi smiled: “But your Father is a decisive person. He won’t make decisions easily just because of others’ words.”

“Mother.” Jiuzhu raised her head and told her: “I don’t want Father to help Qi Junwang. And I definitely don’t want him to help the Zheng family.”

Upon hearing her daughter make such a request involving court affairs for the first time, Shen-shi was momentarily taken aback. But without asking for the reason, she nodded: “Alright, sit here and wait. I’ll go give a heads-up to your Dad.”

Not long after, Shen-shi returned, followed by Ming Jiuzhu.

“Don’t worry, dear daughter.” Ming Jingzhou saw his daughter’s somewhat uneasy expression and explained: “Father never had any intention of pleading for the Zheng family. They have been involved in quite a lot of muddled actions over the years. It’s their own fault that they ended up like this.”

“His Majesty is a wise ruler. Since he has put the Zheng family into prison, it means they must have committed unforgivable crimes.” He sat down beside his daughter. “Moreover, Dad’s good daughter doesn’t want him to help them, so of course Dad won’t.”

“There’s something that Daughter has been hiding from you.” Facing her doting parents, Jiuzhu buried her head even lower, unable to lift it due to shame. “Eight years ago, Daughter met Guifei niangniang and His Highness Chen Wang outside Lingzhou City on the Huaxi River.”

Ming Jiuzhu had been an official for many years. As soon as he heard this, he knew there was a hidden story behind it. The smile on his face gradually disappeared. “Jiuzhu, what happened to you back then?”

“The Zheng family wanted to kill me,” Jiuzhu recalled the events that happened back then. “That day, I was wearing the silver hairpin that Master gave me and went down the mountain to buy fish. On the way, I heard someone talking about a cook, and about something colorless and tasteless.”

“They discovered me.” Jiuzhu clenched her hands tightly, then slowly relaxed them. “The person I scratched on the chin with the silver hairpin said that I knew too much so he couldn’t let me live.”

The river water that day was particularly cold, constantly flowing into her ears and nose. She could only float in the water, sober and hopeless, waiting for death to come.

“His Highness rescued me.” Saying these words, Jiuzhu lifted her head as if finally welcoming a sunny day after heavy rain. “He also gave me candy to eat.”

T/N: I wonder how this doting couple will destroy Zheng family after this. Chen Wang’s credibility points must be shooting through the roof in Ming Jingzhou’s mind by now

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