TL"s notes :
This picks up immediately after chapter 17, and there are no missing texts. The portion that links the previous arc with this one is midway through this chapter. So if you"re confused (like I was), just hang in there. ?
Footnotes (mostly for little bits of interest and are mostly optional) are at the bottom, but any usage of Pinyin in the chapters will be immediately followed with a quick explanation, so as not to detract from the reading.
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The Prince"s escaped fiancé (Arc 2-1)
Hornless dragons shaped from the violet gold incense burner coiled and twisted around a faintly smoking incense. On a rosewood bed, a youth of about seventeen years lay on his side. His skin was fair, with red lips and rosy cheeks, his features fine and delicate. A smile from him would draw many an admiring stare. He was leisurely flipping through a book on the past scholars of talent with keen enjoyment.
Four pretty maids surrounded him, two of whom were gently waving scented fans, another two were strumming on the pipa with one singing a little ditty. The swelteringly dry heat heralded the arrival of late spring.
Suddenly, a young servant boy garbed in blue burst into the room, crying agitatedly: "Young master, bad news! Young master, it"s terrible!"
The youth tossed his book aside and waved his hand irritatedly: "All of you stop, stop. You"re as lively as the dead, is this the type of service you"re giving to this young master? If you"re so unwilling, just get lost already! This young master is the eldest Di son of the Minister of Revenue, there are people lining from the north to the south of the city for a chance to serve me!"
Note: 嫡长子 (dí zhǎngzǐ) – First son born to the official wife. The eldest Di son holds the paramount position over all other children of the house and holds the right to inherit.
The maids dropped to their knees, chorusing that they wouldn"t dare. How would they dare plead that their wrists were sore and swollen from waving the fans, that their throats ached from all the singing, and that they"ve long lost the strength to continue plucking on the strings for the music.
The youth was clearly too used to having his way, he slammed down on the books littering the reading table as he hurled a torrent of abuse at them: "Wouldn"t dare wouldn"t dare, you empty headed cows really can"t say anything else, just get out of my sight!"
Once they have left, he narrowed his eyes at servant boy in blue: "As for you, making such a ruckus in my courtyard, do you still want to keep your tongue?"
The servant boy stood in front of the bed, and bitterly replied: "Master ah, pull out this servant"s tongue if you will, but do hear what this servant has to say first, a huge event is happening outside!"
The youth knitted his brows, "What huge event?"
The little servant boy in blue pulled on a grieving face as he cried: "It"s the Fifth prince! The Fifth prince is back!"
Stunned stupid, the youth nearly fell off the bed. The little servant boy hurriedly steadied him, but found his wrist held in a tight grip as he was questioned: "Is this true? The Fifth prince he… he still lives? How could this be, didn"t he receive an arrow to the chest? How is it possible to survive such an injury!"
"This-this servant doesn"t know, but everyone in the entire state is saying the same thing, the Fifth prince led an army one hundred thousand strong to victory and has returned triumphant! He is now stationed outside the city, and will enter the palace tomorrow, it"s likely true. Master, what you did to him before… what should we do now?"
The youth jumped off the bed in a hurry and closed the doors. Turning around, he began rummaging for valuable items in the room.
"Ah Gui, quickly, quickly help me pack up the light valuables, we"ll leave the town tonight. Jing Cheng has always been extremely petty and spiteful, he"ll never spare me!"
Ah Gui replied promptly: "Yes."
Note: Ā (阿) – prefix used in front of persons" given names or kinship terms to express familiarity
While the master and servant pair was cleaning the room out, the doors were slammed open. A beautiful woman stood glowering at the entrance.
Her hair was combed up high in a dignified round bun, overlaid with gold and jade ornaments, her eyebrows curved in a delicate arch. She carried herself with the proud and stately air of a warrior, trailing behind her obediently were seven to eight maidservants and two grim faced old women.
"Tao Ziyu! You ungrateful child, where do you think you"re running off to? Back then when the Fifth prince was dangerously ill, he requested your presence in the army to see him one last time, but, thankless wretch that you are, you left a shameful rescinding letter to break off the marriage contract and ran off with your belongings, now you wish to repeat history?"
As soon as she had appeared, the youth had flung away the little bundle he had packed up to kneel at her feet and beg for mercy: "Mother, your child knows he"s wrong, I should have listened to you in the past, but I"ll die if I don"t leave this time. I"ve seen how cruel Jing Cheng could be, he must despise me now! Could you really just stand by and watch while he tortures me to death, Mother!"
Wu Xueyan was driven into a trembling fit of rage, she struck him hard across the face.
"How could I have given birth to the likes of you, a little smarter than average on the usual days, but turning into a halfwit when faced with trouble! Do you still the think that the Fifth prince of today is the same Jing Cheng from three years ago? He commands hundreds of thousands of troops, with his current capability, what is out of his reach? If you run off, what will become of our house? What of your father, mother, brothers and sisters! In your eyes, only your own hide matters, you selfish, self-serving child!"
Tao Ziyu realised he couldn"t move her, and shifted his focus to plotting an escape. Wu Xueyan had raised him for eighteen years, how could she not understand the turn of his mind? She immediately ordered the women to tie him up and send him over to the Fifth prince"s residence tomorrow morning as a peace offering.
Tao Ziyu struggled and raged at Wu Xueyan: "Are you really my mother? Sending your own child to his death, how are you so cruel!"
Seeing them stunned for a moment, he shoved the women away and bolted.
Wu Xueyan"s nails almost broke the skin of her palms, she pointed at the patrolling guard in the courtyard, shouting: "Bring him back on pain of your lives!"
Tao Ziyu didn"t get far before his foot slid on a stone, he skidded and slammed his head hard into a wall. And in this way, he died.
The two guards turned him over, checked for his breathing, and were badly shocked. They were about to check again when he suddenly drew in a breath, to their great relief.
This little lordling is the Minister"s eldest Di son, if anything were to happen to him, ten of their lives would not be enough as recompense.
Su Yang opened his eyes to two strange faces dressed in strange costumes.
"Eh???"
Where is Fu Zhou? Last night, weren"t they doing that… that…
System: "After last night, the progress bar was completely filled, so I switched worlds for you."
Su Yang let out a sigh of relief, what happened last night had left him paralysed with shame. He had been resistant at the beginning, but for some reason, he ended up eventually going along with it, he really was useless.
"But for me to just die like that, will he be apprehended as a murderer?"
The system explained: "The original owner had already died when the back of his head hit the wall in the bathroom. After you leave, the body will follow the original death route. When the forensic doctors discover the blood clot in the head, they will a.s.sume it was death from an old injury. Fu Zhou will not be implicated as a murderer."
Well, so long as he hadn"t ruined Fu Zhou"s life, it was fine. Su Yang shook his head as he stood up to gather his bearings of this body"s memories.
"Tsk, turns out he"s a rich dandy….."
Before he could explore his situation further, a group of women strode up to him. The one in lead had an awe inspiring presence, and was wearing luxurious silks and a ferocious expression.
"Brat, even now you"re still trying to escape! You know best how the Fifth prince held you dear. When he was dying, you didn"t want to be in the same boat as him, and refused to see him for one last time. You even had the gall to write such a humiliating letter to break off the arranged marriage, causing him to be the laughing stock of the entire state. How do you live with yourself? Does his care for you for all these years mean nothing at all?"
Su Yang stared at her aggrieved expression blankly. After a long while, he spoke in a whisper: "Excuse me, who are you? This Fifth prince you spoke of…. who is he?"
Alright, the thing is, after listening to Wu Xueyan"s accusations, Su Yang felt that only playing the memory loss card could save his life.
Wu Xueyan was dumbfounded. She instinctively felt that Tao Ziyu, who had always been the cunning sort, was pulling one of his tricks. But looking at Su Yang"s limpid eyes, and the obvious bruise on his forehead, she hesitated.
"Granny Wu, invite the doctors over, remember, the more the better."
The granny obeyed and took a few maidservants with her as she left the courtyard. Wu Xueyan brought Su Yang back into the room.
A servant girl carefully treated his wound. Su Yang smiled at her: "Thank you, sister."
The servant girl was frightened and trembled, pressing on the injury. Su Yang hissed in pain, and she hurriedly dropped to her knees to beg for mercy: "Young master, please spare this servant, this servant wouldn"t dare again…."
The corner of Su Yang"s mouth twitched, was Tao Ziyu"s temper that bad?
He cracked his face in a grin, and crouched down to face her: "Haha, you"re funny, who is Young Master? Who is this servant? Why are you so scared?"
Wu Xueyan watched him from the side. After telling the servant girl to leave, she took over the task of treating his wound herself.
"What can you remember? Can you remember who your mother is? Do you know who you are?"
Su Yang rubbed at his eyes and grabbed her hand. Playing with her purple gold bracelet, he muttered: “My head hurts, I can"t remember anything.”
Wu Xueyan eyed him with a frown, and watched as he started giggling to himself. His laughter was too innocent, and for a moment, she couldn"t bear it.
This child had been led astray by his father to be cunning and crafty. In front of the Fifth prince, he wore the guise of a good and upstanding youth, but in private, he was a demon driven by greed for wealth and was averse to honest work. If it hadn"t been for his mother stepping in and forcing him to toe the line from time to time, he would have long brought disaster upon their heads.
Su Yang knew her heart was wavering, after all, she carried him for ten months in her womb, how could her heart not ache for him. He leaned on her shoulder and whined softly: "Head hurts, my head hurts, make it stop…."
Such a childlike gesture made the rims of Wu Xueyan turn faintly red. In the end, this was her own flesh and blood, even as a woman descending from a military lineage, there were still some things she was weak against.
After enough time to make a cup of tea has pa.s.sed, the doctors have still not arrived, but the Minister of Revenue, Tao Yunfeng, came by instead. This person was Tao Ziyu"s Father, and he was accompanied by his newest concubine, Sun Yingyue.
Compared to Wu Xueyan"s dignified and elegant bearing, this woman looked more like a silly, simpering flirt of some insignificant background.
However, in Tao Yunfeng"s household, the women"s quarters for concubines held at least seven, if not eight of these women, and every one of them had behaved this way. Every year, there will be a new mistress he doted on and showered with affection and gifts. This, the whole household knew, except for those women who were deluded into thinking that they were special, and even schemed and aspired to rise to be the official wife, each thinking that they were the cinnabar mole in the Minister"s heart.
As a matter of fact, so long as Wu Xueyan"s father, Wu Xingde, the supreme general of the current dynasty, is still around, there is no one who could oust her from her position in the Minister"s household as the official wife.
Sun Yingyue leaned on Tao Yunfeng"s arm and said coquettishly: "My lord, just look at that, didn"t Madame just vow to personally tie him up and send him over to the Fifth prince to appeal for clemency, but seeing how this mother and son pair are now so close, seems she can"t bear to do so, this concubine"s heart is really touched."
Tao Yunfeng patted her hand while looking at Su Yang, "What happened to Yu-er, did he hurt his head?"
Note: 儿 (er), suffix for children, or to convey tender affection.
His question was directed at Wu Xueyan, she raised her hand to smooth back Su Yang"s messy hair as she answered coldly: "I ordered him to be tied up, but he tried to run off and ended up accidentally hitting his head against the wall. Now it seems…. he has lost his memories and is rather confused."
As if to prove her words, Su Yang laughed, plucked out one of Wu Xueyan"s decorative hair pins, and flung it hard. The hairpin flew in an arc, and managed to land right on Sun Yingyue"s head and stuck in her hair.
"Ah——!!"
Sun Yingyue shrieked in sudden fright, it was no wonder she was terrified. The ends of the hairpin were sharp, and if the trajectory had not been right, it could have scratched her face. Her value would have been lost then.
The room full of serving maids laughed. Tao Yunfeng"s complexion was ugly as he snapped: "What are you still doing here, get out!"
As he waited for the group of servants to file out, Tao Yunfeng gazed at Su Yang for a moment, then he said heavily: "If the Fifth prince had died, as my eldest Di son, Yu-er would have been my heir. But now it turns out the Fifth prince had not only survived, but managed to bring about a resounding victory in the northern war. The hundreds of thousands of soldiers stationed in the north are only loyal to him. For the survival of this household, this is the only way…."
Wu Xueyan gripped Su Yang"s hand tightly as she sneered: "Spare me your maudlin nonsense. Did you think I wouldn"t know, how could Yu-er have been bold enough to attempt escaping the marriage contract by running away, if not for you inciting him. You were afraid that the Fifth prince would not return, and decided to throw your lot with the Emperor and pledge your allegiance to him instead. But now you realise you have made the wrong choice, and you want to sacrifice Yu-er to appease the Fifth prince. Tao Yunfeng, you really have planned well."
Tao Yunfeng went to the table and poured himself a cup of tea. After sipping it, he spoke: "Am I wrong to do so? I am the Minister of Revenue, in charge of handling all the silver in Greater Ming. Every half step I take has to be carefully calculated, else I will meet a disastrous end…. If it wasn"t because I took you as my wife back then, why would a Di son of Tao Yunfeng have to be wedded off to a man, why would I need to be so fearful for his sake every day! In the end, this was all your fault!"
Wu Xueyan"s face was white, and she smiled bitterly: “Yes, it"s all my fault. And now you will use us mother and son in exchange for a beautiful life for yourself.”
Tao Yunfeng took a deep breath and said slowly: “When Yu-er"s injury has healed, send him to the Fifth prince"s residence.”
Su Yang"s heart thundered in his ears. He had thought that Wu Xueyan would have been the difficult one to handle, and didn"t expect that the father who had doted on the original host since childhood was actually the bigger obstacle. It seems that there were many secrets hidden in this family.
王爷 (Wángyé) – The Fifth prince here, is referring to the Emperor"s brother.
嬷嬷 (Mā mā) – Generally refers to elderly maids. Granny Wu is their maid, not their blood relative.
Thanks for reading.
-Syeki