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"Then what does Granny Song propose?" said Qi Yunruo.
"Eunuch Yunbao is one of Her Highness" servants of great use. What do you think?"
He dropped his gaze. Slowly said, "Those who are to be punished have been punished. Those who are to be beaten have been beaten. Even if you discuss with me now, it is already of no use. From now on, the only thing that can be done is to have Eunuch Gao control the servants better. Eunuch Yunbao isn"t the only useful person at the princess consort"s side. Keeping such a dishonest servant close will give Her Highness a bad name."
As soon as Granny Song opened her mouth, the temperature in the surrounding area fell. "Third Young Master really has a way with words."
Seeing that he had kept silent, the old female servant snorted and left directly for Winter Plum Courtyard.
Unlike Granny Song, Qi Niqun had a clearer view of the situation and a sharper mind. Although in her opinion, Qi Yunruo was a person who failed to appreciate kindness, she was more suspicious as to why Eunuch Qian had reported the case to this younger brother of hers.
Eunuch Qian was in charge of patrol and supervised the interior eunuchs and maidservants. He did not have much of a relationship with Qi Yunruo, and certainly did not cross paths with him often. Qi Niqun had from the start found Eunuch Qian observant, able to see through the hearts of others.
While suspicious of Eunuch Qian, she was still upset at Qi Yunruo for losing face for her in public. If he had instead gone and informed her of Eunuch Yunbao"s crimes beforehand, this situation could have been avoided.
To pacify one of her capable servants, Qi Niqun had sent people to give Eunuch Yunbao a box of medicinal ointment. She had a servant let him know that once he had completely healed, she would return his prior position and responsibilities to him. Extremely grateful, Eunuch Yunbao had one of the servants send a message to his master. The note read, "This slave thanks Your Highness, the princess consort for your grace and benevolence. This slave was set up. Those wicked things forced this slave to partic.i.p.ate and then led Eunuch Qian over. There must be someone trying to use this excuse to go against Your Highness."
After reading the note, Qi Niqun"s expression remained neutral. She slowly said, "Tell Yunbao to take his time to heal."
Those who had lured Yunbao to gamble were people belonging to Consort Ji. What a pity that Qi Niqun could not take back the power to manage the estate from Qi Yunruo. Consort Wei was with child. She also could not rely on Tertiary Consort Li, since the prince held a low opinion of her. Concubine Yi"s status was too humble, as were the rest of the concubines" in the estate. She inhaled deeply in her heat. There were only a few months left…
Qi Yunruo…
If he was willing to offend others, then let him do so. Wait until he lost all his power. Then he"d know what true, unadulterated fear was. Qi Niqun smiled with ridicule. Once he was forced to the precipice of death, who could he blame?
The next day, word of the servants" crimes and subsequent punishments spread through the entire estate like wildfire. Concerned, Ji Huan took a visit to Qi Yunruos" residence. Expression neutral, Qi Yunruo said, "Older brother Ji needn"t feel worried about me. I know what to do."
Ji Huan sighed. "You actually have the guts to offend others. If you keep doing this from now on, you"ll have offended everyone in the estate."
A soft sigh also left Qi Yunruo"s lips. "What else could I do?"
Ji Huan knew the youth before him wasn"t a ruthless person¹. For a moment, he was at loss for words.
"Since they gave me this responsibility, then I should do it to the best of my ability. Otherwise, what"s the point? Older brother Ji, you don"t have to worry about me."
"How could I not?" In fact, Ji Ru"s actions and thoughts worried him the most. Such a foolish woman. Did she really think no one was aware she had been the one to incite the current situation?
On Qi Yunruo"s lips, a blossoming smile. "That"s fine too. Presently, I have power. Starting now, no one will dare to cause trouble at the surface. Once Her Highness has a month of rest after giving birth, I will return the privilege of managing the estate. But with several months left, I cannot just stand there weakly until the end.”
Ji Huan was speechless. Once Qi Niqun gave birth, he would have already returned to his home estate. At that time, who could protect Qi Yunruo? He coughed once, embarra.s.sed. He sat down next to Qi Yunruo and said softly, "There"s something I"d like to ask you."
"Hm?"
"That night… I heard that…" Ji Huan felt a little awkward. "It"s just what I heard, but… Her Highness wanted you to… His Highness… Then what did you…? Um…”
"Oh." Qi Yunruo nodded.
Ji Huan reached out and helplessly patted his head. "I"m just asking."
Qi Yunruo tilted his head but said nothing.
"You don"t want to?"
After a moment of thought, Qi Yunruo said, "I don"t really have an opinion about it…"
Ji Huan sighed. He seemed to be sighing a lot lately. "It"s something that will eventually happen."
Expressionless, Qi Yunruo lowered his head.
"I can see that you and the princess consort aren"t close. The other people in the estate won"t be friendly with you either. Apart from relying on His Highness, who else can you rely on? I see you as my younger brother, but unfortunately I will be leaving soon. In the future, I won"t have the opportunity to help you in the estate. At that time, what can you do?"
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Yet Qi Yunruo only smiled. "I"ll deal with it when the time comes."
“I don"t know what to say to put some sense into you," said Ji Huan, feeling helpless in his heart.
"Then let"s end this topic here, brother. I"ll bring you to the second floor to admire the lotuses."
And with that, Ji Huan was pulled up the stairs. On the second floor, leaning over the balcony, he could see the lotuses that had yet to bloom. Their leaves stretched out generously, their petals sharp in their unblossomed state. Qi Yunruo said, "We mustn"t pluck them once they"ve blossomed. That way, we can eat the lotus seed pods²."
"No wonder this place is called Lakeside View House. The scenery and flora here are the best."
“If brother likes it, then visit more often,” said Qi Yunruo. “During a hot summer day, the interior of my house is the coolest."
"Alright."
On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Qi Niqun woke up and had her makeup applied early in the morning. Today would be the day she brought gifts to the imperial palace. She put on robes of several layers and a shawl exclusive to first-rank honored ladies.
It was the hottest day of the year. The moment she had left the main chambers of her courtyard, she felt the heat hit her straight on. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Bring the small palanquin."
Once she had arrived at the imperial palace, she mingled and chatted with the other n.o.ble personages. The empress took pity on her heavily pregnant condition and told her to rest in the Palace of Bright Sun³. Qi Niqun felt grateful. After thanking the empress, she left for that place.
Her birth mother was a first-rank lady, and as such her status was high, high enough to accompany her to sit. With a smile, Countess Ziyang said, "Her Majesty, the empress cares about you."
But Qi Niqun merely sighed. "Her Majesty, the empress treats everyone the same. She has never shown a bias towards me. She also doesn"t spoil His Highness. In fact, I"ve heard that she cares about the fourth prince the most."
Countess Ziyang said, "No matter how lackl.u.s.ter her affections for Prince Chun, he is still her full-blooded son. His ident.i.ty is n.o.ble. The empress dowager raised Prince Chun so he isn"t that close to the empress. However, his heart will always remember who his mother is. What is Her Majesty, the empress" reputation? It"s that she treats all the princes the same, whether they are from the legitimate line or not. Everyone praises her for her conduct, so it"s impossible for her not to like her own son. You just need to act on filial piety. Eventually, she will acknowledge your goodwill."
Qi Niqun nodded and stroked her abdomen with a smile. Not a word left her lips.
Once all the guests had arrived, Qi Niqun and Princess Consort Jing led the guests inside the main hall with their gifts. Shortly after, n.o.ble Consort Yuan brought the imperial concubines to kowtow to the empress. The empress sat down prim and proper. A gentle smile on her face. "May all the sisters quickly rise."
Since Imperial Concubine Jing was with child, she had gotten up first. Everyone else performed the full ceremony before rising.
Gaze cold as frost, Qi Niqun watched as Marchioness Beichang brought her daughter to pay respects to n.o.ble Consort Yuan. n.o.ble Consort Yuan then brought the future Princess Consort Qing to see the empress. She smiled. "Your Majesty, look at this young girl. Truly a sight for the eyes and adorable."
The empress also smiled. Grasping her hand gently, she pulled the young lady to her and said a few words.
The future Princess Consort Qing, Miss Zhang, was at a tender age. Pet.i.te. Whether n.o.ble Consort Yuan truly liked her was anyone"s guess. That said, she kept praising Qi Niqun for being fortunate.
Due to her young age, Miss Zhang did not know how to conceal her emotions. As she witnessed her future mother-in-law praising another woman, her upset was suddenly visible. After a moment, she excused herself to change clothes. Right before she left, however, she shot a glare in Qi Niqun"s direction.
Qi Niqun did not respond to the provocation, and slightly smiled as she sat right beneath the empress.
Once the group of guests entered the Imperial Garden, Miss Zhang made sure to stay far away from Qi Niqun. Instead, she stuck by close to Princess Consort Jing. As she held the other party"s hand, she did not know what to say.
During their stroll, the empress received the prostrates of the courtiers in the distance. A few princes came forward to kowtow to her. The smile on her face grew brighter. When her gaze fell upon Li Chen, she suddenly paused.
The empress dowager was very old, and as such did not come to partic.i.p.ate in the festivity. She also rarely called people over to her palace. The empress led the procession right outside the Palace of Merciful Peace⁴ to kowtow. After that they left to prepare for the noon meal.
After finishing all the procedures, Qi Niqun was exhausted. She couldn"t help but look at Li Chen and saw that his gaze toward Palace of Merciful Peace was very complex.
His heart was full of yearning, grat.i.tude, and guilt.
Empress Dowager Lan was so legendary that the annals left behind described her character in colorful and detailed language. She had been widowed at a young age, and in a scenario where the front was full of wolves and the back tigers, she was still able to clear a path full of blood for her only son. Later on, she raised the next generation"s Princess Royal, Li Yao, and the Second Imperial Prince, Li Chen. Once they were older, she retreated to her residence and rarely left. She didn"t take on guests. Even Qi Niqun, her new granddaughter-in-law, had to kowtow outside her palace.
As Li Chen left and tore his gaze away from the Palace of Merciful Peace, his heart throbbed with love and pain.
Grandmother…
Chapter is three hours early today! Whee!
Okay so good news. Thanks to some cuties at the CG discord, I found out about this awesome Chinese-to-English dictionary app called Pleco. It"s made my life so much easier, and the translation so much more accurate. I was getting such a headache trying to differentiate words like “beautiful,” “gorgeous,” and “beautiful” (yes I said beautiful twice) from each other since my Chinese vocabulary is a bit lacking. Synonyms and their nuances in English is easy for me to differentiate, but when it comes to Chinese, I"m left scratching my head most of the time. So from now on, I would say I"m going to go from a ~85% accurate translation to a whopping 90%. Where did the other 10% go? Well, that"s for poems, Buddhist scriptures, and human error…
Anyway, I"m so proud of our little radish. He can really talk back ahaha. And also, that awkward convo between Ji Huan and Yunruo… so cute LOL. Ji Huan"s trying his best to be the responsible older sibling here.
If you"re reading this at an aggregator site, shame on you! I post my translations for free and ad-less at sleep chasher"s word press. For those of you reading on my wordpress, I love you to bits.
The next regular chapter will be out Sat.u.r.day, September 14, 2019 at 12 pm EST.
Chapter Supplement:
Lotus Seed Pod ( 莲蓬 ) If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a like or a comment below, or on NU ?
ruthless person: (两面三刀) Literally 2 faces, 3 knifes. lotus seed pods: (莲蓬) A picture will be provided in the chapter supplement.Palace of Bright Sun: (景阳宫) Jingyang Gong. In the novel, this is where the empress lives. Palace of Merciful Peace: (慈安宫) Ci An Gong. In the novel, this is where the empress dowager lives.