Chapter 69
Chapter 69
He Yuan and Shu
guifei
have a little talk. We get a bit of perspective from the Emperor.
Chapter Sixty Nine
"Your Majesty, are you going to flip a name tonight?" The
taijian
from the Department of Household Affairs, who was responsible for the daily life of the Emperor, presented the placards of the
feipin
to the Emperor. On the tray were the fish-shaped signs which represented the status of each concubine.
Qing De Emperor finished reading the message that
lao er
had presented. He didn't look at the signs and put the folder gently on the table, "Tonight,
zhen
is going to Zhong Jing Palace. Jing
guifei
has been worried about Duan Wang's wounds these days. She has lost a lot of weight recently,
zhen
has to go check on her."
"Yes," The
taijian
in charge of recording the life of the Emperor wrote down the Emperor's words and bowed as he left.
Qing De Emperor felt that even though the one he loved was Shu
guifei
, Jing
guifei
was a clever pearl and a satisfying confidant. When he was irritated, he liked to go sit at Jing
guifei
's palace. Thinking about the worry Jing
guifei
had gone through these past days, he felt bad.
Everyone had seen the heightened attentions the Emperor had given Duan Wang and Jing
guifei
recently. So when the Emperor went to Jing
guifei
's place, no one was surprised. It was only Shu
guifei
, after hearing of the incident, who reacted by smashing a cup.
"Wei
shi
, that slut," Shu
guifei
gasped for breath before speaking to He Yuan sitting below her, "Yuan'er, now that
lao da
has fallen, you have to take advantage of the opportunity and not let Wei
shi
and her son sneak in."
"Don't worry,
mufei
. Even if they wanted to, they have to see if
fuhuang
thinks they are worthy. Jing
guifei
has played so many tricks, but doesn't
fuhuang
still love you the most?" He Yuan condescended, "
lao er
always like to act as though he's so sanctimonious. Some always fall for it."
Shu
guifei
furrowed her brow: "You cannot underestimate Duan Wang. He is regarded as important by the Emperor. He must have some skill. Wei
shi
, that whore, isn't as favoured as me, but after so many years, the Emperor still hasn't forgotten her. Even her position isn't lower than mine. You have to be careful of that mother and son's tricks."
He Yuan finished listening and objected unhappily: 'As long as
fuhuang
isn't willing, it's futile, no matter what tricks they use."
Shu
guifei
opened and then closed her mouth. Even though she felt that, over the years, the Emperor had been using his heart to care for her, and because of her complaint, he hadn't allowed any other woman of the
hougong
to have children, she didn't know why she still felt very insecure deep inside presently.
"Tomorrow, you are holding a flower-admiration banquet at your
fu
. Get your wife to become intimate with Jin An Princess. She may not have actual power, but she is the Emperor's first daughter. The feelings are naturally different," Shu
guifei
raised the teacup to take a drink, "The year she married, the Emperor didn't care about the objections of the officials of the Ministry of Rites and gave her the title of Princess Royal. No one else can compare to this kind of favouritism from the Emperor."
In the Da Long Dynasty, the previous Princess Royals had mostly been the sisters of the Emperor. Almost none had been given to the daughter, but the Emperor gave it anyway. He had even posthumously titled Qin
pin,
who had given birth to He Gui Nian and died as
huang guifei
.
[i]
It could be seen just how important He Gui Nian was to the Emperor.
"Qin
shi
's conduct is too proud. This son really has nothing to say to her," Thinking of Qin Bai Lu, He Yuan unhappily complained, "If I knew she was this kind of woman beforehand,
mufei
should have let me marry Qu
shi
instead. She's better than an uninteresting woman like Qin Bai Lu."
"Ridiculous!" Shu
guifei
was proud, but even she knew that He Yuan's words were outrageous, "What is the position of Qu
shi
? What status does Qin
shi
have? Behind Qin
shi
is the Qin Family which is revered by many scholars. When you married her, you received the support of the Qin Clan. How could that fox-spirit Qu
shi
help you? Just the conduct of Chang De Gong Fu, if they didn't make any more trouble, it would be good fortune. And right now, she is your
er sao
, you cannot say this again!"
"What educated and noble family? I can't really see how Qin
shi
has the composure of a daughter of an educated and noble family," He Yuan submissively listened to Shu
guifei
's admonishment, but still felt dissatisfied with Qin
shi
, "She has made the
wang fu
a total mess. I get irritated just looking at it."
As a
popo
, there was always a tendency to pick on the
erxifu
. After He Yuan complained, Shu
guifei
became even more dissatisfied with Qin Bai Shuang: "Qin
shi
's birth may be better than Qu
shi
but her tactics aren't as good as Qu
shi
. Don't be irate. During the great selection, I'll pick a few suitable women for you."
He Yuan bowed with his hands together raised in a fist: "Then I will have to rely on
mufei
." He thought that it would be best to pick a woman with more flavour than Qu
shi
, but thinking that Qu
shi
was his
saozi
, he didn't say the words that would definitely breach the rules.
"The flowers are wilting and falling in the night, the flowers carry their fragrances as they float to the ground." Qu Qing Ju stood on the stone bridge and looked at the red flower petals as they floated in the stream. She couldn't help but think of these two lines of poetry that described spring. She scattered the fish feed into the water and watched as the red koi turned into a swarm. In a happy mood, she ordered, "Mu Jin, tomorrow at Rui Wang Fu, I will wear that floor-length wide-sleeved dress with the hundred flowers and butterflies. Such a good spring, it wouldn't let down that beautiful dress."
There was no way to avoid it, she was a mortal. She liked wearing beautiful clothes, liked wearing exquisite jewellery. It was already such a tragedy that there was no internet in this era. If she couldn't find some interests, then her days would be too miserable.
"Yes, those clothes would perfectly fit the swallow ruby and lapis lazuli encrusted head comb, and that pair of five petal jade flower
buyao
." Mu Jin started to ponder in her head which earrings and bracelets that Qu Qing Ju should wear. Even the handkerchief, shoes, and the ornaments hanging on the dress had to be match perfectly.
Qu Qing Ju saw Mu Jin and the other
yuhuan
had already started to discuss her outfit and smiled as she leaned against the stone post. Looking at the bottom of the clear water, she narrowed her eyes as she uttered: "No matter what, all I have to be tomorrow is the most beautiful." Didn't Qin Bai Lu like wearing light-colored cloths and act all virtuous and high? As a common person, she could only develop herself towards becoming beautiful and stunning.
Thinking about wearing a beautiful dress in a sea of flowers and standing in front of Qin Bai Lu, Qu Qing Ju strangely felt that she was in a good mood.
She knew that Qin Bai Lu looked down on commoners like her. She couldn't stand Qin Bai Lu's conduct either. Since the dislike was mutual, it didn't matter that she would deepen the negativity.
"
Wang fei
, Luo
yiniang
wants to see you," Rui Xiang rushed over and bowed in front of Qu Qing Ju, "
Nubi
saw that Luo
yiniang
's face didn't look well. Something major must have happened."
Luo Yin Xiu? Her impression of the person was silent and reticent, didn't compete for favour and didn't speak much. Qu Qing Ju didn't have a deeper impression of her. After hearing Rui Xiang's words, she responded, "Get her to sit in the outer hall, I'll come over immediately."
"Yes," Rui Xiang bowed before retreating.
"
Wang fei
, why would this Luo
yiniang
suddenly want to see you?" According to Jin Zan's knowledge, Luo
yiniang
was very aware of her role and she didn't have much courage. When she appeared in front of
wang fei
, she usually was shrunk in and didn't dare to speak. On her own, she was asking to speak to
wang fei
, what major event had occurred?
"Let's see first," Qu Qing Ju felt that, out of He Heng's concubines, both Jiang Yong Yu and Luo Yin Xiu, if they had the choice, wouldn't have been willing to be a concubine of a
wang ye
. But they had to accept the reality.
In the front hall, right after Qu Qing Ju sat down, Luo Yin Xiu knelt in front of her with a bang. Qu Qing Ju saw that Luo Yin Xiu already had tears streaming down her cheeks.
"
Wang fei
,
nubi
begs
wang fei
to help
nubi
!" Luo Yin Xiu was gasping from crying and couldn't speak properly.
"What is this? Yin Liu, help Luo
yiniang
up," Qu Qing Ju saw Luo
shi
's face had turned entirely red from crying. She asked, "What happened? Tell me first."
After Luo
shi
brokenly finished talking, Qu Qing Ju finally understood what had happened. Luo
shi
's parents had died when she was young and she had been raised in her
jiujiu
's family. Her
jiujiu
's family had been good to her. Even though her
jiujiu
was only a small and minor seventh-rank official, they made sure that she'd never lacked for nothing. They treated her like she was their own daughter.
But right now, Luo
shi
had received a letter from her
jiujiu
's family that said her
jiujiu
had died due to illness and was going to be buried three days later. Luo
shi
wanted to go to the funeral for her
jiujiu
but as a
qieshi
, she wasn't allowed to leave the
fu
unless it was for a major matter. Even more so, when the one who had died was her
jiujiu
and not her parents.
"
Wang fei
, you also have a very good
jiujiu
, please take some pity on
nubi
and let
nubi
say farewell to
jiujiu
.
Nubi
doesn't need very long, it will be fine for me to just kowtow on the day of
jiujiu
's funeral, please." Luo Yin Xiu sobbed and knelt again in front of Qu Qing Ju.
When He Heng entered the front hall, what he saw was that scene. He frowned in displeasure. Why did these
qieshi
keep bothering Qing Ju all the time? He was going to speak out but then he noticed the sympathetic expression on Qu Qing Ju's face so he closed his mouth. He walked to sit down next to Qu Qing Ju, "What is going on?"
Luo Yin Xiu looked at
wang ye
, her face changing and her heart froze. Would
wang ye
agree to such a thing? She widened her swollen eyes to look at
wang fei
, hoping that
wang fei
would put in a good word for her.
Qu Qing Ju hadn't expected that He Heng would appear at such a time. She looked at Luo Yin Xiu. She was just seventeen or eighteen. In her previous life, she would have been a student preparing for the university exams.
"Luo
shi
's
jiujiu
has died of illness. Luo
shi
has been raised by her
jiujiu
for so many years, she should go to the funeral," Qu Qing Ju sighed, "For those who come after, it is good fortune to have a good
jiujiu
. As one of the younger generation, you cannot disappoint your elders. I think Luo
shi
could go back for a few days, kowtow more, burn incense and paper money to satisfy her filial piety."
He Heng might not like to have the
shiqie
running around, but he had already investigated Luo
shi
's background. There was nothing suspicious. Additionally, Qing Ju had only managed to grow up due to her
jiujiu
's care, so it wasn't beneficial for him to contradict Qu Qing Ju. He nodded and confirmed: "You can make the decision at this time."
Hearing this, Luo Yin Xiu started crying due to joy and kowtowed heavily towards the two: "Thank
wang fei
, thank
wang ye
."
Standing to one side, Mu Jin looked sympathetically at Luo
yiniang
. Such a minor matter yet she had forgotten the order to give thanks in. It was tragic and pitiful.
After Luo
shi
left, He Heng pinched Qu Qing Ju's hand gently: "Do you like what I had the servants deliver?"
Hearing this, Qu Qing Ju smiled and informed: "Very beautiful, I'm wearing them tomorrow." From a certain perspective, He Heng's tastes fit what she desired.
"As long as you like them." Looking at Qu Qing Ju's smile, He Heng revealed a satisfied smile. He loved seeing his
wang fei
dressed and adorned beautifully. This preference probably wouldn't change in this lifetime.
[i]
皇贵妃: the highest position in the Imperial Harem other than the Empress. 皇 is imperial so the title is imperial guifei.
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