The palace attendant in red was polite, but Princess Royal Shou Kang knew that it was Lin Wei Xi the Empress Dowager was inviting. But seeing Lin Wei Xi and Shou Kang sitting here together, the Empress Dowager couldn’t just call for the Prince Yan Consort and leave the other behind, so they were both invited for a conversation.
Shou Kang could’ve taken the opportunity to decline, and rest for a little longer, but she was worried about Lin Wei Xi going by herself. So she stood up despite feeling exhausted and accompanied her to see Empress Dowager Qian. Many people saw the eunuch next to the Empress Dowager leave. And when they first saw the eunuch accompany the Prince Yan Consort, their jaws dropped in shock. On New Year’s Eve, the Emperor himself had left the palace to pay a visit to Prince Yan. Today, at the congratulatory ceremony, the first person the Empress Dowager called for a chat was the Prince Yan Consort. The power and influence of the Prince Yan Residence was truly frightening.
In Cining Palace, the Qian family were already sitting with the Empress Dowager. However, the Qian family came to see the Empress Dowager on their own after the ceremony; it was the privilege of being her relatives. Naturally, they were not the same as a non-imperial Lady like Lin Wei Xi, who had to be specifically summoned by the Empress Dowager to speak with her.
Lin Wei Xi supported Princess Royal Shou Kang as they slowly walked towards Cining Palace. When the two of them appeared, the few people who were already seated looked over and said, “The Prince Yan Consort and the Princess Royal have arrived.”
Except for Empress Dowager Qian, all the other Ladies stood up and offered auspicious New Year’s greetings to Lin Wei Xi. She smiled as soon as she entered the room and was about to pay her respects to Empress Dowager Qian when she was held up by the maid next to the Empress Dowager, “Prince Yan Consort and Princess Royal, no need to stand on ceremony. We’re all family here, so let’s dispense with the formalities. It’s so tiring to be bowing and paying respects all the time.”
“Thank you Empress Dowager.” Lin Wei Xi responded with a smile. Despite her words, she still completed her wanfu bow before getting up. After standing up, she immediately assisted Princess Royal Shou Kang. As they walked towards the rest, everyone in the Qian family felt a little cautious. One was the Prince Yan Consort, second to none in the capital and the wife of the powerful Prince Yan. The other was Princess Royal Shou Kang, a generation senior to the Empress Dowager Qian. When they both entered, who dared to sit in a higher position than these two?
The Qian family senior Lady took a step back and gave up her seat. Lin Wei Xi smiled when she saw it, “Senior Madam Qian is too polite. How could I trouble you?”
Senior Madam Qian laughed, “Your words make me feel ashamed, Prince Yan Consort. We are unworthy of sitting with the Prince Yan Consort. You and Princess Royal ought to take the seat at the front.”
Lin Wei Xi smiled but before she could say anything, the Empress Dowager, who was seated in the middle, spoke indifferently, “Princess Consort and Princess Royal need not be polite. Please take a seat.”
Princess Royal Shou Kang remained calm and nodded her head in agreement, “Then thank you senior Madam Qian.”
Shou Kang was worried that it would be inconvenient for Lin Wei Xi to accept, so she agreed on her behalf. While the Qian family had face in front of outsiders, they had no right to sit in a higher position above the two of them. However, Lin Wei Xi was still young. Even though her status was high, there were some things she couldn’t say. If she had agreed, she might’ve been labelled as intemperate. But if it was Princess Royal Shou Kang who agreed, then there wouldn’t be a problem. After all, Shou Kang held seniority and it was expected for them to defer to her.
After helping Shou Kang to her seat on Empress Dowager Qian’s right, Lin Wei Xi walked around to the opposite side and sat directly to the left of the Empress Dowager. Of course, Empress Dowager Qian, as the Queen Mother, sat in the centre. The seat directly to her right was the most respectable, followed by the one on her left, the second on the right, and so on. Everyone in the Qian family had been having a good conversation, but as soon as Lin Wei Xi and Shou Kang arrived, they all had to stand up and give up their seats. After all the fuss, the Qian family, who was already somewhat uncomfortable, became more embarrassed.
After everyone was seated, Empress Dowager Qian asked after the health of everyone in the Prince Yan Residence. This was a very standard small talk, Lin Wei Xi answered for everyone before finally taking the opportunity to ask about the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. As the two of them exchanged pleasantries, everyone else in Cining Palace could only stare, and no one dared to interrupt.
After speaking to Lin Wei Xi for a long time, Empress Dowager Qian glanced behind her and remembered that the Prince Yan Residence also had Gao Ran, the Shizi Fei. Empress Dowager Qian then asked, “Shizi Fei also came. You must be tired after being so busy today.”
Gao Ran lowered her head and said gently, “It is my blessing to serve my mother-in-law and the Empress Dowager. I am not tired.”
When the Empress Dowager heard this, she nodded slightly. She’d only asked in passing and didn’t really care about Gao Ran’s answer. One of the Ladies from the Qian family saw this and added, “Shizi Fei is really filial. Prince Yan Consort is fortunate to have such a gentle and sensible daughter-in-law by her side.”
The lady of the Qian family intended to compliment Lin Wei Xi, but her words praised both of them equally. Unfortunately, her flattery missed the mark. Both Lin Wei Xi and Gao Ran smiled politely at her words, but neither felt too happy about it.
After Empress Dowager Qian and Lin Wei Xi finished exchanging pleasantries, they didn’t know what else to talk about. She only found out late last night that the Emperor had left the palace. He’d gone to the Prince Yan Residence first, then to the Zhang Residence, before eventually being escorted back by Grand Secretary Zhang’s men. Empress Dowager Qian complained a lot when she learned about this. It was inappropriate for the Emperor to leave the palace without permission, but since he’d gone out, how could he not visit the Qian family? Empress Dowager Qian couldn’t say anything if the Emperor hadn’t gone anywhere, but he’d visited his uncle and his teacher, all except his maternal grandparent’s family, the Qian household. This made Empress Dowager Qian very unhappy.
However, the Emperor wasn’t her biological son, and even though she was his di mother, there were many things Empress Dowager Qian couldn’t say. Today, when the Qian family entered the palace, they’d also discussed this. Even though Empress Dowager Qian wasn’t happy about it, she still called on Lin Wei Xi to win her over. Yesterday, the Emperor had come over and specifically instructed her to do this.
The women of the Qian family looked at Lin Wei Xi and felt a complex mix of emotions that were hard to express. It was one thing to give their seat to Princess Royal Shou Kang. After all, Shou Kang had high seniority. The imperial family had to accommodate her, even for the sake of their face. But giving up their seat to someone old enough to be their daughter was embarrassing. The Qian family was ecstatic when they first became the Emperor’s maternal relatives, but over time, they grew used to flattery and were no longer satisfied with their current status. They were both relatives of the imperial family; Prince Yan was the Emperor’s uncle, but their Qian family was also the Emperor’s maternal household. But why could Prince Yan hold so much power, while the Qian family could only take on a few meaningless tasks and be treated like decorations.
Their conversation remained polite throughout. After Lin Wei Xi left, a niece-in-law who was very favoured by Empress Dowager Qian said, “Empress Dowager, the Emperor has us as his family here, so why does he always prefer outsiders?”
Although the Emperor called Prince Yan “uncle”, Prince Yan’s branch of the family was quite distant from the Emperor’s. To Empress Dowager Qian, even though they relied heavily on Prince Yan, how could Prince Yan compare to her own family, how could he favour Prince Yan over the Qian family? The niece-in-law’s words hit Empress Dowager’s sore spot. When everyone in the Qian family saw that Empress Dowager did not get angry after her niece-in-law spoke, they were overjoyed. One after another, they began to speak out about their grievances.
A palace maid who was serving beside the Empress Dowager frowned to herself. In the palace, the walls had ears, and every word had to be carefully considered. But this niece-in-law from the Emperor’s maternal family had said that Prince Yan was an outsider in front of a room full of palace maids and eunuchs, and even implicitly criticized the Emperor. The palace granny felt this was inappropriate, but the Empress Dowager didn’t rebuke the girl. The Qian family relied on this and became increasingly out of line. As a servant, it was not her place to criticize her master’s words and deeds, but the old granny still couldn’t help but sigh. No wonder the Emperor and Prince Yan were reluctant to entrust the Qian family with important tasks. Looking at their entire family’s behaviour, they really weren’t suitable for major responsibilities.
As soon as she left the Empress Dowager’s palace, Lin Wei Xi was immediately surrounded by people wanting to socialize. She sighed. It seemed she wouldn’t be able to relax all day.
After she finally managed to leave the palace that evening, Lin Wei Xi happened to run into the people from the Duke Ying Residence on her way out. When they saw her, they froze. Obviously, they still remembered the incident last year where they’d supported Gao Ran. The Prince Yan Residence and Duke Ying Residence were in-laws, so they couldn’t avoid greeting each other in the palace earlier, but they’d gone their separate ways after. Unlike then, it was now very awkward with only one road out of the palace.
Although the senior Duke Ying Lady had a calm expression, she still greeted Lin Wei Xi first, “Greetings, Prince Yan Consort.”
“Greetings, My Lady.” Lin Wei Xi couldn’t help feeling amused at the sight of someone familiar. She stood unmovingly. She used to be the junior, but now it was the Duke Ying Residence who had to greet her first. Of course, they also understood this. After the Ladies and daughter-in-laws of the Duke Ying Residence greeted her one by one, Gao Ran stepped out from behind her and said, her eyes lowered, “This child pays her respect to Grandmother, Aunt and sister-in-laws. Grandmother, please take care.”
The senior Duke Ying Lady felt embarrassed when she saw Gao Ran. During the previous incident, the senior Lady had aggressively brought her entourage to the Prince Yan Residence to support Gao Ran, but it turned out she was the one being unreasonable. The Duke Ying Residence had caused a scene and lost face. The senior Lady was angry with Gao Ran, so she didn’t meet Gao Ran and went straight back to her residence with everyone. Since then, this was the first time everyone in the Duke Ying Residence saw Gao Ran.
When they ran into each other last year during the Dragon Boat Festival, those from the Duke Ying Residence were overjoyed to see their residence’s married third daughter. They acknowledged each other as grandparent and granddaughter in front of everyone, and were very showy about it. However, in just half a year, when they ran into their third daughter and her mother-in-law, the atmosphere was completely different.
Gao Ran despised the Duke Ying Residence for being useless and treating their daughter like a commodity. They were good to her when things were going well, but when she needed the support of her family, no one was quicker to sell her out for the sake of the family. On the other hand, everyone in the Duke Ying Residence felt that Gao Ran was insincere. She’d done something wrong but kept it hidden, and instead instigated her family to quarrel with her mother-in-law, using her family as a weapon. The senior Duke Ying Lady had lost a lot of face in front of Lin Wei Xi, and she herself was very angry about this. But seeing Gao Ran’s indifferent attitude now, she became more frustrated.
Lin Wei Xi’s eyes flickered. She looked back at Gao Ran, then turned to look at the Duke Ying Residence in front of her. Finally, she turned back around with a smile in her eyes, “it’s been a long time since My Lady has seen Shizi Fei, hasn’t it. We just happened to run into each other today, and I’m also not an unreasonable mother-in-law. In any case, it’s a long road out of the palace. Shizi Fei, you might as well go and chat with your family. You don’t have to stay with me.”
“This won’t do.” Before Gao Ran could respond, the senior Duke Ying Lady said coldly, “It’s natural for a daughter-in-law to serve her mother-in-law. She is a junior, how can she leave her mother-in-law and go out on her own? Although Shizi Fei is surnamed Gao, since she married into the Prince Yan Residence, she is a member of the Prince Yan Residence. How can she return to her family so often?” After the senior Duke Ying Lady finished speaking, she looked at Lin Wei Xi, “She is your daughter-in-law. If she does anything wrong, please correct her. She isn’t a sensible child, and her di mother passed away early. She only has you, her mother-in-law, to rely on to teach her.”
Gao Ran also hadn’t wanted to talk to the people of the Duke Ying Residence, but she should’ve been the one to decline instead of being rejected to her face by her family. Gao Ran’s anger grew. She previously held some goodwill towards the Duke Ying Residence. After all, her father had conveniently arranged a good marriage for her. But hearing the senior Lady say such ingratiating words that threw her under the bus, Gao Ran’s last bit of goodwill towards the Duke Ying Residence disappeared.
Gao Ran was unhappy and she couldn’t stop it from showing in her voice, “Grandmother is right. I am now a member of the Gu family and shouldn’t be spending all my time with the Duke Residence.”
As soon as she said it, the atmosphere became even colder. Seeing the clear deadlock between the two of them, Lin Wei Xi quickly said, “the Duke Residence has a deep understanding of righteousness and Shizi Fei is sensible. This is truly a blessing for the Prince Yan Residence. It’s cold today. Please take care when you’re walking, My Lady.”
After speaking, even Lin Wei Xi herself felt it was very weird. Gao Ran and the Duke Ying Residence were surnamed Gao, while Lin Wei Xi was the step-mother-in-law. Normally, she’d be the weaker party and would’ve been targeted. How did she become the one mediating the situation?
Lin Wei Xi’s reminder to the senior Duke Ying Lady wasn’t just empty words. It had been snowing heavily before the New Year, and now the sky was dark, the west wind gradually picking up. The road out of the palace was indeed difficult to walk on. Black ice penetrated the cracks between the bricks lining the road and one had to be careful when walking. After Lin Wei Xi helped them come to a compromise, the senior Duke Ying Lady thanked her before silently allowing her maid and daughter-in-law to support her as she walked. Lin Wei Xi also had no intention to talk. They were walking in silence when a little palace eunuch suddenly approached them from behind, shouting from afar, “Prince Yan Consort, please stay.”
Lin Wei Xi heard the voice and turned around in surprise. Being loud and noisy was prohibited in the inner palace, and if the eunuch weren’t in a hurry, he wouldn’t dare shout so loudly. The eunuch ran up to Lin Wei Xi and after bowing to her, continued, “Princess Consort, please wait. The road out of the palace is long. His Majesty specially ordered a sedan chair to escort My Lady out of the palace.”
Everyone else gasped when they heard this. Lin Wei Xi furrowed her eyebrows and said, “This goes against proper etiquette. His Majesty is a very busy person. How could I trouble His Majesty’s eunuchs? This humble subject is thankful for the favour, but I shall decline the sedan chair.”
“Please don’t refuse, Princess Consort. His Majesty sent the sedan chair to pick you up after listening to Prince Yan’s request. If you refuse, Prince Yan will have to come personally. His Majesty will surely put the blame on this slave.”
So it was because of Gu Hui Yan. Lin Wei Xi wondered how the Emperor could remember a mere female relative like her. In front of so many people, Lin Wei Xi blushed a little as she tried to make up a proper excuse for Prince Yan’s behaviour, but the senior Duke Ying Lady answered very tactfully, “Since the eunuchs are sending the Princess Consort out of the palace, then this old lady and the others will not bother you anymore. Prince Yan Consort, this old lady will leave first.”
Lin Wei Xi became even more embarrassed and her face reddened. The Emperor had sent a sedan chair for the Prince Yan Consort because of Gu Hui Yan, but he didn’t care to do the same for the Shizi Fei Gao Ran. Gao Ran could only bow to everyone from the Duke Ying Residence, and after watching them leave, she personally helped Lin Wei Xi onto the sedan before walking out alone.
Gao Ran walked alone on the palace road, surrounded by twilight. Occasionally, there was black ice on the ground, the cold gradually creeping up from the soles of her feet to her heart. Comparison was the thief of joy, and many of life’s grievances came from comparing oneself to others. It was better not to know; once you had something to compare to, the difference was almost too easy to make one angry to death.
Author: Jelly
Chapter 63: Congratulating the Emperor
For the imperial court, New Year’s Eve wasn’t the most important celebration. The first day of the New Year was.
Early in the morning on the first day of New Years, the entire capital was filled with an unusual energy. It was still dark in the east, but every residence had lit its lamps. Even earlier than that, officials in full dress stood waiting in front of chengtianmen◇. The most stately affair of the year was congratulating the Emperor by bowing to him on the morning of the first day of New Years. On this day, hundreds of court officials performed the ceremony and every country attended court. This was the power of a great country.
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chengtianmen is the main gate to the palace.
The time period this story is set in is Yuanjia, 424-453 during the Liu Song dynasty (emperor was notably an adult so historical inconsistency #1), and based on my research, chengtianmen only started being used in the Sui dynasty (6th century). (historical inconsistency #2). Tiananmen, the main entrance of the Forbidden City in Ming and Qing Dynasties, was also once called “chengtianmen.
The congratulatory ceremony on New Year’s morning was conducted with extreme prudence. Normally, all titled wives, including the women in the imperial family as well as those outside the imperial family, also had to enter the palace to conduct the congratulatory ceremony with the Empress and the Empress Dowager. But the Empress’ palace was empty as the Emperor had yet to choose an Empress, so the rites for the women’s congratulatory ceremony were much simpler. Therefore, it was enough to suffer from dawn till afternoon.
Today, Lin Wei Xi got up before dawn, tormented as she got into the sophisticated court attire. She put on the Imperial Princess Consort’s ceremonial long sleeved garment. She wore a jiudi◇ headdress lined with plain muslin. A dark green juyi◇ was fastened over her garments, cloud and phoenix patterns embroidered with luxurious gold thread on the front and back. After hanging the jade pendant and ornaments on the juyi, she wore a voluminous, grand red silk long sleeved garment on top of everything else. Finally, she layered on a long xiapei◇ with a gold pendant at the bottom to weigh it down. Her entire outfit had a total of five to six layers and there were even many jade pendants and colourful ribbons between each garment. The sleeves of the red long sleeved garment almost touched the floor and when she moved, the dark green juyi and jade pendants were partially visible. Not to mention, the jiudi headdress was decorated with real gold, silver, jade and precious stones. Wearing such glamorous clothes, Lin Wei Xi was too noble and awe-inspiring to look at , but the weight behind that privilege was heavy.
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九翟 [jiudi] – ceremonial headdress
鞠衣 [juyi] – type of garment/layer to a ceremonial dress
霞帔 [xiapei] – colourful shawl like garment worn over a dress
Although heavy, the Central Plain◇ was known as a nation of etiquette. These complicated details were the best kind of power. Every detail on the ceremonial dress, even a tiny embroidered flower, indicated status and order. It was precisely when Lin Wei Xi stood in the main hall for the congratulatory ceremony that the sum of these details made her look dignified and magnificent.
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The Central Plain (中原 [zhongyuan]) was what China used be referred as back in ancient times. It is perceived as the birthplace of the Chinese civilization and human activities in this region can be traced back to the Palaeolithic period
Lin Wei Xi was a titled wife outside the imperial family. But since there was no Empress, and as the Prince Yan Consort, the other Princess Consorts did not dare stand in front of her even though she was the youngest. Lin Wei Xi tried to decline, but to no avail. So she stood at the head of the titled wives, elegantly and solemnly leading the crowd to perform the congratulatory ceremony, appearing a little like the powerful leader of the titled wives.
Actually, the ceremony had been simplified a lot. After all, compared to the Empress Dowager, the Empress was the true focus of the ceremony. Since the Emperor was young and had yet to marry an Empress, it was reasonable for the women’s congratulatory ceremony to be cancelled. However, Grand Secretary Zhang was very stubborn about these trivial and over-elaborate formalities. Not only did he nitpick the actions and behaviour of all the ministers, even the Emperor wasn’t spared. He would also impeach the scholars who came every ten days to teach the Emperor literature and history if they made the slightest mistake. If the men conducted themselves like this, then of course Lin Wei Xi and the women had to put up with it as well.
While welcoming the New Year the night before, everyone slept late. And today, they had to wake up at dawn to wear their ceremonial attire. After that, dressed from head to toe in 5 kg worth of clothes, they attended the long-winded and overly-complicated congratulatory ceremony. They stood and knelt over and over again who knows how many times. Lin Wei Xi and the other youth were still alright after completing the ceremony, but many of the elderly titled Ladies couldn’t take it anymore. When the ceremony ended, even Empress Dowager Qian breathed a sigh of relief and quickly had someone help her to the rear to rest.
When the Empress Dowager Qian left, all the other women could relax. Even though the congratulatory ceremony was over, they couldn’t leave the palace. They had to participate in the palace banquet and could only return once it was over. But the most troublesome ceremony was over and there wasn’t much to do in the remaining time. Grand Secretary Zhang was simply too demanding when it came to these trivial and over-elaborate formalities. Making a mistake would unfortunately cause trouble for the entire family.
Fortunately, the congratulatory ceremony ended smoothly. As the women couldn’t leave the palace yet, they used the remaining time to socialise. The congratulatory ceremony had strong symbolic meaning. In addition, everyone wore their grandest clothes today. No matter how much they normally bragged, with the strict hierarchical rules, their status was obvious at a glance. Therefore, many of the Ladies, together with their hardworking children and grandchildren, liked to socialise on the New Year’s Day banquet after the congratulatory ceremony.
Everyone dispersed from their positions in the congratulatory ceremony formation. Lin Wei Xi merely stood there, but was soon surrounded by the other Ladies who came to greet her, before she could step aside to rest for a moment.
All those eligible to participate in the congratulatory ceremony were respected titled Ladies. The next most honourable thing a man could do after distinguishing himself was to first confer a title to his mother, then to his wife. Thus, the Ladies who participated in the congratulatory ceremony were generally quite old. Being around forty was considered young, and it wasn’t uncommon for these old nobles to be seventy or eighty with white hair. Lin Wei Xi was only seventeen this year and especially stood out among them. On top of that, she was radiantly beautiful. The more splendid her clothes were, the more it set off how exquisite and splendid she was. She also looked exceptionally dazzling as she stood at the front throughout the entire ceremony.
Yesterday evening, it had spread throughout the capital that the Emperor had left the palace during the New Year’s. His first stop had been the Prince Yan Residence, where he’d stayed for half a meal (10-15 minutes). The remaining half was spent at Grand Secretary Zhang’s house. With this, it was clear how highly the Emperor thought of Prince Yan. Prince Yan had control of the army, and now it seemed like the new Emperor trusted him greatly. The Emperor even took the initiative to participate in his New Year’s Eve family banquet. His status could easily be inferred. The weight of three consecutive generations of Emperors relying heavily on Prince Yan was too scary.
Lin Wei Xi, the Prince Yan Consort, attracted attention as soon as she showed up today. If everyone had looked at her with curiosity and respect before, there was cautiousness and even fear today. Lin Wei Xi sighed to herself. The three regent ministers left by the previous Emperor initially held the same status, but when the Emperor did things like this, it forced the three of them into a hierarchy. But as the young Emperor grew up, his ambitions and schemes gradually grew. This wasn’t something that could be avoided even if one wanted to.
Before marriage, a woman was accompanied by her mother and aunt when socialising, and after marriage, she followed her mother-in-law. All anyone could see in the main hall were Ladies talking to each other, bringing along their daughter-in-law and even granddaughter-in-law. Daughter-in-laws supported their mother-in-law with a gentle smile. No matter how it was like in their family, they all looked like gentle mother-in-laws and filial daughter-in-laws here. But Lin Wei Xi and Gao Ran looked very strange.
Lin Wei Xi, the mother-in-law, stood in front, and was simply younger and more beautiful than her daughter-in-law. If everyone around her hadn’t seen the Imperial Princess Consort dress she wore, they wouldn’t believe it at all.
After seeing off several Ladies who had previously given their New Year’s greetings, Lin Wei Xi took the opportunity to walk towards a small room to the side. The weight of the jiudi headdress on top of her head was heavy and she felt that her neck would snap if she didn’t rest.
In such a situation, Gao Ran didn’t have the authority to freely move around. She could only follow her mother-in-law. Wherever Lin Wei Xi went and whoever she talked to, she had to follow. Even if she saw her maternal family, she couldn’t act without her mother-in-law’s permission.
The daughter-in-law would rise from her humble position to finally become a mother-in-law who takes charge of important matters. This wasn’t just a saying.
Princess Royal Shou Kang had also come to the palace today for the congratulatory ceremony. She was resting in the side room, and was pleasantly surprised when she saw Lin Wei Xi. Lin Wei Xi was just thinking about looking for her maternal grandmother, but she didn’t expect to coincidentally meet her in the room where she was resting. Lin Wei Xi hurriedly greeted her and moved to bow to her, “Greetings to Princess Royal. This junior wishes you Happy New Year.”
Lin Wei Xi was halfway through her bow when she was quickly assisted by the female official next to Shou Kang. Even though Lin Wei Xi was one hundred percent a junior, because of Prince Yan’s current standing, Princess Royal Shou Kang didn’t dare to accept her bow. Shou Kang had someone help Lin Wei Xi up and smiled as she held her hand. She glanced left and right, “I haven’t seen you for some time. You’re so heartless. Once you got yourself a husband, you stopped visiting this old woman.”
Lin Wei Xi chuckled and sat next to Princess Royal Shou Kang, leaning against her affectionately, “How could I forget you? I hate that I was unable to visit the Princess Residence every day. Fortunately, the Residence has many trivial matters to take care of at the end of the year, otherwise you would definitely be sick of seeing me now.”
Princess Royal Shou Kang laughed in amusement. In actuality, the two hadn’t seen each other for only a month. It wasn’t easy for women to leave the house and meeting once a month or every other month was quite frequent. Lin Wei Xi was a newlywed, and had just taken over such a large residence. It was normal for her to be unable to get away at the end of the year. But for Shou Kang, one month felt many times longer when she didn’t see her.
Shou Kang was quite old and these complicated and tedious ceremonies were too much for her. But when she saw Lin Wei Xi, her fatigue instantly swept away. Her whole body seemed to have limitless energy. Shou Kang took Lin Wei Xi’s hand and asked all sorts of questions extremely affectionately. However, she didn’t even spare a glance at Gao Ran, her granddaughter in name, who came with Lin Wei Xi.
Gao Ran stood to the side and couldn’t help feeling embarrassed, her expression ugly. Gao Ran comforted herself by telling herself that when the Heavens are about to bestow great responsibility on a person, it first makes them go through suffering to harden their will. These two villains had only gotten their way for now and she’d let them act as they pleased for the time being. In the future, she’d certainly repay them tenfold.
Princess Royal Shou Kang attentively inquired about Lin Wei Xi’s current situation and was relieved when she learned that no one in the residence dared to disrespect her, and that she’d smoothly taken over her duties as a wife. Although people in the capital had talked about how the newly-wed young Princess Consort of the Prince Yan Residence was very capable, taking full charge of the internal and external affairs of the residence within a month of entering the household, even personally handling the New Year gifts, Princess Royal Shou Kang was concerned. She only felt reassured after hearing from her directly.
Despite just entering the household and not knowing anyone there, she dared to take over authority of the Prince Yan Residence. It showed how capable and bold Lin Wei Xi was. In fact, it proved that she indeed had the prerogative to make this public. Princess Shou Kang felt emotional. She felt close to Lin Wei Xi when she saw her, and even her efficient and capable nature reminded her of Gao Xi. Perhaps this was fate at work.
Seeing that Lin Wei Xi hadn’t suffered hardship in the Prince Yan Residence, Shou Kang felt at ease and couldn’t help but turn her attention to another matter. Gu Hui Yan was also Princess Shou Kang’s nephew. Be it Lin Wei Xi or Prince Yan, Shou Kang was quite attentive to this newlywed couple she’d personally acted as matchmaker for. She took Lin Wei Xi’s hand, leaned in, and asked, “How are you and Prince Yan?”
Lin Wei Xi hesitated for a moment after being suddenly asked about her private married life. Without waiting for a response, Shou Kang saw her face and spoke for her, “Seeing your expression, it seems like it’s going well.”
Lin Wei Xi’s cheeks instantly turned red. They were both married women. Of course she understood exactly what Shou Kang was insinuating. She felt so embarrassed she didn’t know what to say. Shou Kang was comforted when she saw that the clever and eloquent Lin Wei Xi also had such a shy, girlish side. She patted Lin Wei Xi’s hand and said with great relief, “That’s good to hear. You are two of the few people I care about. Who would’ve thought that the two of you would end up together. Now that I’ve seen that you are doing well, I can be at ease.”
Lin Wei Xi’s smile froze, “Princess Royal… “
“It’s alright. I’m old and there’s no need to avoid these topics.” Shou Kang carefully looked at Lin Wei Xi’s face and her eyes couldn’t help but water, “Knowing that you and Prince Yan support each other and are in harmony, my wish has been fulfilled. There is really nothing else that I am worried about. You two must live well and give birth to a big chubby baby soon. If it’s a son he will definitely be like Prince Yan, smart and clever from a young age. If it’s a girl, she will be like you. Oh my, that would be a formidable combination, and I am afraid she won’t be easy to deal with.”
Lin Wei Xi laughed when she heard this. She entertained her elders’ imagination, but when she thought of what happened last night, she couldn’t help but feel down.
Prince Yan spoiled her now because of those superficial things between men and women. Only when it came to their son would she see his true attitude. What kind of feelings did Prince Yan have for her? What was her place in his heart?
Lin Wei Xi hadn’t dwelled on this question for too long before being interrupted. A palace attendant dressed in red stood at the entrance of the warm room, smiling broadly as he bowed to Lin Wei Xi and Shou Kang, “Prince Yan Residence, Princess Royal, the Empress Dowager requests your presence.”
T/n: this chapter took a lot out of me… all those ceremonial jargon just killed me. Also this chapter had like 7 different chinese words for beautiful, which was used describe FL, but they all translate to the same fucking word in english ;-; I tried my best to vary it. Also I had a midterm over the weekend. I’m damn tired. Appreciate my suffering. I plan to take a short break and maybe TL a short story?? I may upload onto novelupdates. See how
Chapter 62: Rebirth
Lin Wei Xi was in a very deep sleep, but someone was trying to wake her from her slumber. She thought that it was Wan Xing playing around, and slapped away the person’s hand, muttering “don’t be noisy” before turning around and going back to sleep.
The person seemed to sighed and said, “It’s me. Everyone is welcoming the New Year, hang on through this and you can go back to sleep when we return.”
Lin Wei Xi felt something was wrong when she heard the voice. She opened her eyes and found herself lying on black coloured embroidery. And because she wasn’t sleeping in a proper position, she was almost entirely in the other person’s embrace.
Lin Wei Xi pushed herself up absent-mindedly and happened to meet Gu Hui Yan’s gaze. She looked at him, dumbfounded. Her foggy mind finally clearing a little, she quickly looked around at the other people in the room.
Fortunately, the room was very quiet. The sound of firecrackers going off one after another merged into a sea of sound. The servants seemed fascinated by the excitement and had all left to watch the fireworks. Aside from her and Gu Hui Yan, no one else remained in the room.
But how could Gu Hui Yan not have any servant on standby next to him? Lin Wei Xi was a little embarrassed. He had obviously chased everyone out because of her. Since he’d done this, wouldn’t everyone know that she’d fallen asleep while welcoming the new year and that she was still nestled in Gu Hui Yan’s arms?
Oh God, Lin Wei Xi simply couldn’t continue thinking about it. How would she be able to face her subordinates and give them orders after this. Not even that. If she went out now, how was she supposed to face the maids and grannies outside, or even her son and daughter-in-law? It was enough to make her head hurt.
She whimpered and dejectedly rubbed her head, “My Prince, why didn’t you wake me?”
Lin Wei Xi knew the answer to her question after it left her mouth. It was quite troublesome to wake her up, and what could Gu Hui Yan say in front of everyone? She felt a little apologetic. This was her mistake, but instead she’d questioned him. However, he wasn’t impatient at all and wasn’t bothered by her grumbling. Instead, he said seriously, “There’s no need for that. You would usually be in bed early at this time. There’s no need to force yourself to stay awake, sleep if you’re tired.”
Gu Hui Yan was always like this: putting himself in other people’s shoes and being considerate. Lin Wei Xi was very touched. Seeing as she just woke up, she gave a little stretch and immediately took the opportunity to hug Gu Hui Yan, before returning to her previous position. She’d slept there for so long that the cool stiff fabric had absorbed her warmth. She couldn’t resist rubbing against it and she heard Gu Hui Yan laughing from above her.
“You’re already awake but you’re still acting coy. There are others outside.”
Lin Wei Xi originally considered stopping while she was ahead, but when Gu Hui Yan said this, she hugged him and refused to move. She tilted her face up from where it was resting against his chest and blinked at him intentionally, “My Prince, didn’t you chase everyone out? What is there to be afraid of?”
Based on the standards Gu Hui Yan abided by over the years, it was absolutely taboo to wear dishevelled clothes or have poor posture in a public gathering. Lin Wei Xi had now violated both of them. Gu Hui Yan ought to have seriously corrected her from the start, and even instructed her to sit upright, but as he watched his little wife nestled in his arms acting coquettishly, he was surprisingly reluctant to correct her.
Gu Hui Yan’s momentary hesitation gave Lin Wei Xi the encouragement to take greater liberties. Seeing as he was silent, she knew that although he seemed virtuous and meticulous, when it came to her little tricks, he quite enjoyed them. He merely refused to admit it. There was no one here anyway. Since she’d started it, she might as well see it through to the end, and immediately wrapped her hands around his neck. With this, all her weight was on her waist, and it twisted in a beautiful and captivating line. However, Lin Wei Xi couldn’t see this view from her angle. Gu Hui Yan put his hand on her waist, and it was at this moment that she leaned towards his ear and whispered, “My Prince, this is our second year of marriage. Happy New Year.”
Gu Hui Yan looked down at Lin Wei Xi. They were extremely close to each other, breathing the same air. Lin Wei Xi had intended to be provocative, but seeing the look in his eyes now, she couldn’t help feeling a little afraid, and even faintly regretted her earlier rashness.
The resounding echo of fireworks carried in from outside. It seemed that the young manservants had brought a new batch of fireworks and lit them all together for fun. The look in Gu Hui Yan’s eyes disappeared and he pulled Lin Wei Xi into his lap. This way, she wouldn’t continue to lean her weight on her waist. He straightened the hairpin on the side of her hair and said, “Today is one of the few days in the year that’s so lively. Let’s go and watch the fireworks.”
Lin Wei Xi thought the same. She’d long since outgrown the age for being curious about fireworks, but as the Princess Consort and mistress of the household, it was inappropriate for her not to make an appearance in front of everyone in the residence during shousui◇. She’d originally planned to call for Wan Xing and Wan Yue, but perhaps because the sound of firecrackers outside was too loud, the maid by the door couldn’t hear her. Lin Wei Xi felt embarrassed, but before she could repeat herself, Gu Hui Yan had her cloak in his hands. He carefully buttoned up and straightened out the fine fur on her coat.
◇
shousui is a New Year’s custom. The family reunites for dinner, and stays up late to welcome the new year while saying observing the end of the previous year. Modern customs vary across regions, but it is common in mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia for the parents/grandparents to give their child/grandchild money in a red pack (压岁钱). In Singapore (or at least, in my family), we put the red packet under our pillow for the duration of Chinese New Year, and only take it out after.
Lin Wei Xi immediately became quiet and silently watched Gu Hui Yan as he worked on her coat. When he got to the buttons, she reached out to take over for him, but was stopped by him. It was only after he straightened it out to his satisfaction that he patted her head, a smile in his eyes, “Let’s go.”
He was already holding on to her hand, so he led her outside. Come to think of it, it was strange that no one heard her call for a maid in the room earlier. But as soon as the door opened, the servants, who were doing who knows what earlier, immediately looked at her and greeted her one by one. The wind was a little strong outside, and the fur on her hood danced wildly in the night breeze. Half of her face was covered by white fur. It was too cold to take her hands out, so she nodded slightly at the servants greeting her, signalling that she’d heard their greet.
With the main courtyard of the Prince Yan Residence being so large, in addition to the strong evening wind and deafening sound of firecrackers, it was hard to notice activity in any corner of the courtyard. But the moment Lin Wei Xi and Gu Hui Yan emerged, everyone in the courtyard was immediately conscious of them. Although Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran were quite far away, as soon as the door opened, they glanced over out of the corner of their eye. Lin Wei Xi and Gu Hui Yan’s figures appeared and they stepped out together.
Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran had moved to another room for shousui earlier. Lin Wei Xi falling asleep on Prince Yan’s lap wasn’t something they ought to see. Yet, this was how humans were. Sometimes, the less they saw, the easier it was to let their imagination run wild. It was only when they welcomed the new year, the whole city releasing firecrackers, that Gao Ran saw the two of them appear in public, after waiting outside for a quarter of an hour.
Although Gao Ran smiled as she stood outside accepting everyone’s congratulations, she only had to imagine what had happened inside the room before she felt the disgust from earlier ooze from every pore of her body. What did it feel like to watch your father-in-law and mother-in-law show affection? Apart from Gao Ran, perhaps only Gu Cheng Yao could relate to that question.
For the past eighteen years, Gu Cheng Yao’s impression of his father had always been proper, solemn, dignified and invincible. Gu Hui Yan also approved everything Gu Cheng Yao imagined about his father. He respected and admired his father from the bottom of his heart. But no matter what, he didn’t expect his father to give his full attention to a woman’s needs. Gu Cheng Yao had also been there at the time. Of course he could see Prince Yan’s constant attention for Lin Wei Xi. None of her small actions could even be concealed from his father. And his father, who had always been cold and indifferent, was careful and meticulous as he placed her on his lap, treating her like a priceless treasure.
A year ago, if someone had told Gu Cheng Yao that Prince Yan could be this considerate, he would’ve scoffed at them. But now, he was speechless.
Especially when Gu Cheng Yao realised that this indescribably complicated feeling was not directed at Lin Wei Xi, but at his father, Gu Hui Yan. Although Gu Hui Yan hadn’t said anything aloud at the time, no one dared to remain in the room. He didn’t allow anyone to see what Lin Wei Xi looked like after falling asleep, but he himself stayed in the room for over an hour. Gu Cheng Yao suddenly realised what it was that he was thinking. His fist clenched tightly by his side. At that moment, a cold gust of wind blew by. Gu Cheng Yao covered it up by taking a deep breath of ice-cold air and allowed his mind, most likely lethargic from staying up late, to calm down.
Now that they’d seen them, Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran definitely had to pay their respects to their parents and give their New Year’s greetings. Although they stood next to each other, they were each in their own thoughts, and it seemed like they were in discord with one another as they made their way over.
Lin Wei Xi wore a scarlet cloak, fluffy white fur lining the ruff of her hood. She stood under the vermilion corridor, quiet and elegant. Her silence carried an unassailable magnificence, like Zhao Jun◇ came to life, a goddess descended to the mortal realm. Seeing Gao Ran and Gu Cheng Yao coming over to pay their respects, she simply nodded slightly before turning her gaze back to look at the dark night sky.
◇
Zhao Jun is one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China. Her full name is Wang Zhao Jun.
It was quite dark this evening, the air was cold and it carried the strong scent of fire. This was the distinctive ambience of New Years. The Prince Yan Residence had prepared many various fireworks. The young male servants eagerly and continuously moved the barrels of firecrackers to the courtyard, then they reached out to light the fuse. The maids covered their ears and stood in the corridor. No one knew whether they were afraid or delighted watching the young men as they lit the firecrackers, shouting and jumping.
Lin Wei Xi was unwittingly enthralled watching such excitement, her earlier sleepiness disappearing without a trace. Wan Xing was lively and had been unable to hold back herself early on, taking an incense stick and making a ruckus as she lit fireworks in the courtyard. Lin Wei Xi couldn’t help laughing when she saw this. She stood in the corridor and wasn’t looking at anyone, but many people were secretly paying attention to her. The Princess Consort, who was so beautiful she didn’t seem real, looked to be smiling. Many of those who were setting off the fireworks were inspired, and came up with even more ways to light the fireworks, hoping to win the Princess Consort’s attention.
Wan Xing truly played in a rowdy manner. Although Wan Yue was happy for her, she was composed by nature and tended to contemplate things more. Wan Yue called Wan Xing back and said, “There are so many servants in the garden to take care of such things. Look at the state of you after going along with them to light fireworks. Why don’t you take a break for now. Your priority is to serve the Princess Consort.”
Wan Xing was in the mood to play and was reluctant to suddenly be called back, but she knew that Wan Yue said this for her own good. Wan Xing could only mumble to herself and hand the incense stick to the maid next to her. However, she was downcast for barely two seconds before she saw Lin Wei Xi and became excited again, “Princess Consort, you’re awake?”
Lin Wei Xi coldly pursed her lip and smiled in response to hide her embarrassment. Wan Xing didn’t notice this. She was still excited, like she’d been injected by chicken blood◇, “Princess Consort, it’s a pity there are no children in the residence. The fireworks can only be lit by the servants. In a few years, the young masters will be running everywhere. At that time, the New Year fireworks will be lively!”
◇
“injected by chicken blood” is a phrase used to describe someone as hyperactive, high-spirited or aggressive. The phrase is also derived from Chicken-blood Therapy, a pseudo-medical treatment in China during the cultural revolution.
Since coming outside, Lin Wei Xi had been standing next to Gu Hui Yan, but the noise out here was so loud that no one could be heard unless they were shouting. With the sound of firecrackers concealing it, Lin Wei Xi and her maid did not appear to be having an unexpected conversation. But now that Wan Xing, this dim-wit, said such a thing, Lin Wei Xi hurried a glance at Gu Hui Yan to find that he was still looking ahead and didn’t seem like he’d heard. Relieved, she immediately glared at Wan Xing.
With regards to children, Lin Wei Xi’s attitude had always been to let nature take its course. After all, this was a patriarchal society. If a woman wanted to survive, she couldn’t avoid bearing a son. But she knew that her identity was sensitive. Would Prince Yan allow her to give birth to an heir? A daughter was fine, but what if she had a son?
Lin Wei Xi refused to think too deeply about this question, so she never allowed the maids to mention it in front of Prince Yan. It was out of the question even if they did it by accident. She didn’t want Gu Hui Yan to think that she was hinting at something.
This was something she’d thought through already, but at that moment, her excitement for the New Year suddenly dimmed, and the endless stream of fireworks before her lost its appeal. Lin Wei Xi’s mind naturally wandered. She stared at one spot in a daze, when a violent explosion of firecrackers suddenly sounded behind her. She was startled and took a step back in fright.
Fortunately, there was no small number of people who were frightened. The courtyard filled with screams and Lin Wei Xi’s loss of composure was no big deal. She took a step back. Before she recovered from the shock, she felt someone support her arm. Following that, her ears were covered by a warmth, the deafening firecrackers instantly fading away.
Lin Wei Xi’s violently beating heart slowly settled down. Her ears were blocked so the sound of her heartbeat was especially clear. Beat after beat, it was a strong presence in her chest. Gu Hui Yan was much taller than her, and now he bent slightly over her to cover her ears. Not only her ears, she could also clearly feel the heat of his body on her back. It was as if her whole person was wrapped in his arms. As if there was no need to fear the fire and loud noise outside. All she needed to do was appreciate the beauty of the fireworks without being concerned about the noise that came with such beauty.
Lin Wei Xi pursed her lips and finally stopped struggling. She allowed Gu Hui Yan to partially hug her in front of everyone. All the gorgeous and noisy firecrackers exploded quickly, as sparks as bright as peacocks sounded in the courtyard. Everything was indescribably lively and beautiful. Lin Wei Xi took advantage of the darkness to hide the corners of her mouth that were quietly raised.
That’s right, the New Year was here. Last year’s New Year hadn’t been pleasant. In December, she’d endured a hopeless marriage until death. She’d died at the mere age of seventeen after being married for less than a year. When she’d woken up again, although she’d been lucky enough to continue living, she was faced with Lin Wei Xi’s difficult family situation. It had also been difficult for her to celebrate her first New Year after being reborn with a peace of mind. But the fifth year of Yuanjia had passed. That year, she’d met Prince Yan, whom she’d never met in her previous life, gave up her entire life and glory from her previous life, and had no choice but to return to this residence that had brought her both honour and suffering. But in the sixth year of Yuanjia, she welcomed the first day of the New Year in Gu Hui Yan’s embrace that seemed to carry a cold air.
T/n: hey everyone, so sorry for disappearing. My dumb ass thought it was a good idea to do a full time internship + night class, so I died last sem. As of now, I’m not going to commit to an update schedule tho, job applications are kicking my ass (technical tests are so time consuming). But rest assured I’m back to translating this!!
Chapter 61: New Year
The Emperor personally visiting the Prince Yan Residence on New Year’s Eve was no small matter. It wasn’t easy for the Emperor to leave the palace, especially on an important day like New Year. If the slightest thing went wrong, no one would be able to bear the responsibility.
But he’d still left the palace without a word, and his first stop was the Prince Yan Residence. When Lin Wei Xi heard this, she looked at Gu Hui Yan and sure enough, his reaction was completely different from his subordinates, who rejoiced and felt deeply honoured. Although Gu Hui Yan looked calm as usual, there was an almost invisible seriousness in his eyes.
Gu Hui Yan stood up and following his actions, the whole room quietened. The Emperor’s goal for this trip was obviously Gu Hui Yan. He took two steps, seemed to think of something and halted before turning to Lin Wei Xi and said, “I’m going to welcome His Majesty. Wait here for now.”
Many people were waiting outside for Prince Yan, and it was at that moment he stopped in his footsteps and specifically explained it to the Princess Consort. No one around them dared to speak. Only Lin Wei Xi’s voice could be heard, “I understand my Prince.”
Perhaps because he saw how tense she was, Gu Hui Yan covered her hand with his. His warm steady palms gave her an indescribable sense of comfort, “I’ll just be outside. Don’t be afraid.”
Lin Wei Xi instantly calmed down. She squeezed out a smile for him and nodded, “Okay. I’ll wait, my Prince.”
Gu Hui Yan quickly left. The others who were waiting by the door saw him exit the room and silently followed after him. In the blink of an eye, the group of people disappeared from the inner courtyard decorated in red.
The Emperor had personally come to the Prince Yan Residence on a day like the New Years, which was a day for reunions. It showed how important Prince Yan was to His Majesty. All the servants felt honoured to be associated with Prince Yan and revelled in receiving His Majesty. Wan Xing was from the countryside. Before meeting Lin Wei Xi, she never thought that one day, she’d actually meet the Emperor. Wan Xing couldn’t contain the joy on her face. When she saw Lin Wei Xi’s indifferent expression, she couldn’t help saying, “Princess Consort, His Majesty is here. Perhaps he will even stay for dinner.”
“I know.” Lin Wei Xi replied softly. When the Emperor arrived, she had to pretend to be happy and grateful. She had a smile on her face, but her heart sank. Why had The Emperor abandoned the Empress Dowager and everyone in the palace, and went through the trouble to come to the Prince Yan Residence? It was impossible to hide this from everyone. What was he planning?
Gu Hui Yan left to receive the Emperor but Gu Cheng Yao stayed behind. Not everyone had the right to meet His Majesty. The Emperor was currently travelling incognito. If he asked to meet Prince Yan’s family, it was, of course, not an issue. But if he didn’t ask, then it was best to stay put.
Everyone in the room was smiling, but Gu Cheng Yao could tell with a glance that Lin Wei Xi wasn’t truly smiling. He glanced back at her again and couldn’t help saying to her, “Since the Emperor is travelling incognito and didn’t give advance notice, he won’t be too fussy about the reception. Mother… there’s no need to be nervous.”
Gao Ran looked at Gu Cheng Yao in surprise. Why had Gu Cheng Yao specifically said this to Lin Wei Xi? Was he trying to comfort her? Lin Wei Xi didn’t even bother to respond and merely nodded vaguely with an “um”.
Before long, hurried footsteps sounded from outside. The maids and the palace eunuchs hurried into the inner courtyard. Lin Wei Xi stood when she heard the footsteps. After hearing the message from the palace attendant, she immediately took everyone to wait respectfully by the door. Following the family hierarchy, Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran were Lin Wei Xi’s son and daughter-in-law, so she stood facing the wind in front while Gu Cheng Yao stood one step behind her. Gu Cheng Yao couldn’t help feeling upset as he gazed at the flaming red and delicate back in front of him.
Soon after, the Emperor appeared surrounded by everyone. The Emperor, who was still a child, walked in the middle. Next to him was Gu Hui Yan and behind the two of them were many eunuchs wearing the palace uniform.
Lin Wei Xi bowed deeply the moment she saw the Emperor. The beautiful lady’s folded skirts piled against the floor, her head tilted slightly, and her neck was especially slender and graceful. Gu Hui Yan instantly recognized Lin Wei Xi in the crowd. After he approached, the Emperor smiled as he spread his hands, “Princess Consort, please rise. Today, Zhen arrived uninvited and not only disturbed Uncle, but rudely troubled Aunt. Zhen has gone too far.”
Lin Wei Xi lowered her head and said she didn’t dare. Although the Emperor had allowed her to get up, she still properly paid her respects to him before slowly standing up with the help of the maids.
Gu Hui Yan said, “The wind is strong at night. We shouldn’t let Your Majesty stand outside for too long. If we have anything to talk about, we can do it inside.”
The little Emperor consented to it, and the group noisily walked into the building. Before the Emperor arrived, Lin Wei Xi and Gu Hui Yan were sitting on elevated seats at the head of the table. Now that the Emperor had suddenly visited, Lin Wei Xi definitely couldn’t let him sit in the second seat. She gave up her seat and a quick witted maid brought over a lightweight armchair for her. She ended up next to Gu Hui Yan.
In the small room sat the few most honourable and respected people in the world surrounded by gold and jade, the lingering fragrance billowing slowly. The maids and palace eunuchs stood with their heads bowed in respect, the servants like clouds. Everything was noble, magnificent and colourful. The young Emperor dressed in crimson plainclothes sat facing Gu Hui Yan. Although Lin Wei Xi sat on a smaller chair, she leaned closely against Gu Hui Yan, so it was obvious who she was. Gu Cheng Yao, Gao Ran, and the others were left to stand, and behind them stood many more maids and servants.
After the host and guest sat down, the maids entered one after another and served hot tea and pastries, before bowing their heads, holding their breaths and withdrawing, moving soundlessly. After everyone left, the Emperor was the first to smile and say, “Uncle, Aunt and Shizi were having a reunion. Zhen disturbed Uncle’s reunion with the entire family. Zhen is truly sorry.”
“Your Majesty, that’s incorrect. It is an honour that Your Majesty has graced the Prince Yan Residence with your presence.” Gu Hui Yan said.
The Emperor was now thirteen years old and transitioning from child to teenager. With a slender neck and fair skin, he looked young and full of life. He smiled at Gu Hui Yan’s words and replied, “Uncle, you’re being too formal. According to the family hierarchy, Zhen and Shizi are brothers. We’re all a family. All is well as long as Uncle doesn’t dislike Zhen for coming uninvited and disturbing your family conversation. How can Zhen use royal etiquette to trouble Uncle and the Princess Consort.”
The Emperor’s smile seemed clean and kind. This was a privilege every child and teenager had. No matter what they did, it was very difficult for anyone to loathe them. Gu Hui Yan nodded and smiled when he heard this, “of course. Luckily, Gu Cheng Yao is a few years older than Your Majesty. Thank you for considering him family and calling him brother. Both of you are in the same generation and will have more common topics to talk about. Be it studying or martial arts, if he and Your Majesty can learn from each other on a regular basis, it will serve him well.”
The Emperor’s smile became more sincere when he heard this. Although Lin Wei Xi sat close to the Emperor, Gu Hui Yan covered for her and she felt more safe. She didn’t need to pick up on any hidden intentions that the Emperor had. She slowly pondered over the Emperor and Gu Hui Yan’s conversation earlier. They appeared to be making small talk, but if one wasn’t listening carefully, it would be hard to discern the subtle implications in their words. The Emperor visiting the Prince Yan Residence on New Year’s Eve was already very significant and had even purposely said that they were of the same family earlier. And after that, Gu Hui Yan affirmed the Emperor and brought Gu Cheng Yao up. Gu Cheng Yao was from the younger generation. Letting the younger generation socialise was much better than Prince Yan promising good relations.
The Emperor couldn’t truly travel from afar just to exchange pointers with Gu Cheng Yao. What he wanted was Prince Yan’s political position. Right now there were many factions in the imperial court, and Grand Secretary Zhang’s followers were everywhere. Prince Yan was a titled prince and at the same time commanded a troop of 100,000 soldiers. Just whose side exactly was he on? This was the implication behind the “same family” that the Emperor mentioned.
By the time Lin Wei Xi picked up the subtle implication of these two sentences, the conversation between Gu Hui Yan and the Emperor had already moved on. She couldn’t help sighing to herself. No wonder they said that becoming a close minister to the Son of Heaven wasn’t appealing. This was the most powerful, and at the same time, the most dangerous place to be. If it were her, she’d most likely still be trying to understand the meaning behind the Emperor’s words, and the conversation would have ended. There was no way she’d be able to be like Gu Hui Yan, answering without hesitating, dealing with the Emperor in a composed manner, and communicating with hidden meaning in his words.
The Emperor got a satisfactory answer, and obviously became very high-spirited. Lin Wei Xi looked at the time and took the opportunity to ask, “Your Majesty, the Residence’s New Year’s banquet is ready. May I be so bold to ask if Your Majesty would like to attend?”
“Of course. For a long time, Zhen has looked forward to meeting the Prince Yan Consort, who is said to have a pure heart and as elegant as an orchid. Even The Empress Dowager, who stays in the inner palace, has heard about you. Zhen never expected to see you today.” The Emperor stood as he spoke, and everyone around him stood up as well. However, he took his time and said to Lin Wei Xi, “Although Queen Mother lives comfortably in the palace, it’s inevitable that she will be lonely, without anyone to talk to. Prince Yan Consort, if you have the time, there’s no harm in visiting the palace more.”
Lin Wei Xi responded with a smile, “I will.”
His Majesty took his seat and the Residence’s reunion dinner was immediately elevated to a higher level. Fortunately, Lin Wei Xi standardised the management of the inner courtyard. Now that she had a high enough status, she didn’t need to be wary of the servants under her, nor were there people like Granny Bu to criticise her. Lin Wei Xi’s arrangements were all the more ironclad and strict. The servants all had their own responsibilities, and Lin Wei Xi’s directions were understandable, so in an exceptional situation like His Majesty’s sudden visit, no mistakes were made.
When the Emperor suddenly arrived, much of the kitchen preparations had to be done over again. In such a situation where time was tight and the pressure was high, it was easiest for problems to arise. Gao Ran initially worried, but when she saw the annual banquet being served without a single detail being overlooked, without a single disagreeable aspect, Gao Ran’s feelings became complicated.
Gao Ran glanced at Gu Cheng Yao to find that he was also obviously relieved, a hint of admiration present between his brows. She pursed her lips and looked away. After this incident, Lin Wei Xi’s position in the inner courtyard would most likely become even more untouchable. She could even arrange a banquet with the Emperor in a moment. Was there anyone left who’d doubt her. Even a mistress who’d managed a household for twenty, thirty years probably wouldn’t dare brag about such a thing.
The Emperor said that he wanted to have New Year’s Eve dinner with the Prince Yan Residence, but in reality he only sat down for a few rounds of drinks with Gu Hui Yan before leaving. Now, the news that the Emperor had left the palace had most likely spread to every household. Even if the Emperor didn’t want to, he still had to visit Grand Secretary Zhang’s house.
After the Emperor left, everyone in the residence silently heaved a sigh of relief.
Gu Hui Yan still looked calm, but Lin Wei Xi spent so much time together with him day and night and could immediately tell that although he looked calm, the subtle change in his expression hinted that he had a lot on his mind. Only the young Emperor who just left could cause Gu Hui Yan to have that kind of expression.
“My Prince.” Lin Wei Xi whispered softly. Gu Hui Yan returned to his senses, glanced at her, and held her hand under the table, “It’s alright. His Majesty has already left for the Zhang Residence. We don’t need to worry about entering the palace. Continue eating.”
Lin Wei Xi nodded in response, and Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran sat down in an orderly fashion. However, after this episode, none of them could taste the food, and no one could relax and focus on the meal.
Lin Wei Xi saw several people put down their chopsticks, as if they didn’t want to continue anymore, and beckoned the maids to clear the New Year’s Eve banquet. The maids removed the dishes quietly, while the masters made their move to the next room and took their seats.
This was the first time in her two lives that Lin Wei Xi had spent New Years together with her in-laws. There was a huge difference between an unmarried daughter and a daughter-in-law. She usually did her best to find a quiet place with her sisters and maids so they could talk, but now she definitely couldn’t do that. Luckily, Lin Wei Xi didn’t have a mother-in-law and the only person older than her in the Residence was Prince Yan. However, accompanying one’s husband versus accompanying one’s in-laws to welcome the New Year were clearly two different things. Lin Wei Xi didn’t feel that accompanying Gu Hui Yan was unbearable at all.
Despite being in the same situation, Gao Ran’s state of mind was on the other end of the spectrum, as she had to constantly follow Lin Wei Xi. Lin Wei Xi sat down and felt sleepy, her eyes heavy with sleep. But she considered herself an elder who had to remain dignified in front of the juniors, so she forced her eyelids open. After a while, her eyes grew misty, her gaze bleary and unfocused.
A sleepy Lin Wei Xi was slow to react. Compared to her usual eloquence, her eyes were now misty and she looked harmless and innocent. To the people who were often scolded by her, she now looked undoubtedly much cuter.
This was what Gu Cheng Yao thought. Of course he knew it was inappropriate. She was his stepmother and he had to keep this to himself no matter how he felt. Not only was it disrespectful to his young stepmother, it was also disrespectful to his father. But even though he looked away, he couldn’t stop the scene he saw earlier from replaying in his mind. So that was how Lin Wei Xi looked when she was sleepy; her reaction was slow and she looked weak and delicate.
Gu Hui Yan solemnly sat upright for a while but couldn’t hold back anymore. He sighed and reached out to support Lin Wei Xi, who was swaying back and forth, and said, “Since you’re sleepy, just go back and take a rest.”
Lin Wei Xi’s head wasn’t very clear at the moment. Sleepy people were similar to drunk people in that they hated it the most when others called them sleepy. She slapped Gu Hui Yan’s hand away, “I’m not sleepy.”
The whole room went silent. The Princess Consort had actually slapped away Prince Yan’s hand? Wan Xing felt utterly suffocated. She wanted to step forward and shake Lin Wei Xi awake to remind her of where she was, but found that Prince Yan merely sighed, supported her shoulder, and laid her head on his lap.
Lin Wei Xi followed along and laid down. After a while, she fell into a muddled slumber. Gu Hui Yan straightened the hair that was spread out on the back of her neck, and immediately returned to minding his own business without the slightest hint of being offended. Wan Xing watched this happen, dumbfounded. Only after someone tugged her sleeves did she silently return to her senses. Just like the many people in the room who were gasping, she pretended not to see anything.
Lin Wei Xi didn’t know what was going on, only that she slept warmly and comfortably. After an unknown period of time, someone gently shook her awake, “Wake up. The New Year is here.”
Chapter 60: New Year’s Eve
The busy period passed in a flash and New Year’s Eve arrived in what felt like the blink of an eye.
Lin Wei Xi was lifted from the bed by Gu Hui Yan first thing at dawn so that she couldn’t continue sleeping, “it’s fine for you to be lazy on a normal day, but the juniors are coming to give their New Year’s greetings today. You don’t want to be laughed at by them.”
A red candle burned inside the Babu bed. Lin Wei Xi couldn’t tell what time it was, but judging by the light outside the canopy, it seemed quite early. She lazily retreated to the edge of the bed, hugged her knees, and tried to reach for the blanket, “any junior who dares to give their New Year’s greeting at this time won’t be getting any money◇.”
◇
A big part of the Chinese New Year celebration is for the older (married) adults to give red packets filled with money to the younger generation. Before the money is given, it is considered etiquette for the younger generation to first give their New Years greetings, which are usually idioms or four letter phrases for prosperity/good health/etc and the phrases/idioms are considered auspicious.
Gu Hui Yan looked helplessly at Lin Wei Xi, who was on the bed and refusing to get up. His finger held down a corner of the quilt. She pulled hard on it but it wouldn’t budge. As the saying goes “never give up, for there is always a way” Lin Wei Xi wriggled her way over and bundled herself in the blanket.
Gu Hui Yan looked away and chuckled before fishing her up from beneath the blankets, “that’s how it is when you’re an elder. Let’s see how much face you lose when the juniors find out that the Prince Yan Consort is still in bed.”
“I won’t.” Lin Wei Xi leaned her forehead against Gu Hui Yan’s strong arms and partially covered her mouth as she yawned, her eyes misting over, “no one would know aside from you”
Gu Hui Yan suddenly felt pleased by her words. That’s right, other than him, no man in the world would be able to see how coquettish and charming Lin Wei Xi was when getting out of bed. He sighed lightly and shook her again when he saw her leaning against his arm with no sign of movement, “there’s no use acting coy. Wake up.”
After a difficult struggle, Lin Wei Xi finally called in a maid to help her get dressed. Today, she wore a scarlet top with gold embroidery on the sleeves, the cuffs and collars embroidered with large bouquets of peony flowers. She paired it with a silvery red Zhuang Hua Duan six piece skirt◇ and it glittered subtly under the light. Today was New Year’s Eve, and the maids mustered all their skills as they vowed to dress up this delicate and unrivalled Princess Consort into a fairy. Once the torment was over, Lin Wei Xi stood up to find Gu Hui Yan, “my Prince.”
◇
Zhuang Hua Duan was an embroidery style widely used in the Song and Yuan dynasties. Usually used on satin and the patterns were usually flowers with embellishments. A six piece skirt is a skirt made of six pieces of cloth and has pleats at the side
Gu Hui Yan looked up and his vision filled with light; it felt as if she lit up the entire room. Lin Wei Xi also thought that the body she possessed was very pretty. She spread her arms and gave a twirl before Gu Hui Yan. The layers of her magnificent skirt parted like a flower. After tuning a circle, she ended up exactly by his side. He smiled as he supported her. She raised her chin slightly, her eyes sparkling, “my Prince, what do you think?”
“Your brilliance blinds me.” Gu Hui Yan rarely praised women, but his words were full of sincere admiration. Lin Wei Xi smiled proudly and took his arm with practised ease, “as long as you’re satisfied my Prince.”
The entire residence was beyond recognition today. The servants wore new clothes and everyone beamed with joy. This kind of large celebration would never let the servants feel dispirited. The moment Lin Wei Xi and Gu Hui Yan appeared, everyone gathered around them to greet them with auspicious words.
Gao Ran and Gu Cheng Yao also wore formal clothes and had arrived early to pay their respect to their parents. Hearing the greetings from outside the room, Gao Ran quickly readied herself. But despite that, when the door curtain lifted and she saw Lin Wei Xi, her eyes widened.
Lin Wei Xi was the pinnacle of beauty. On a normal day, dressing up a little was enough to render one unable to look away. Now that she was dressed so splendidly, she was simply too beautiful to be true. Today, Gu Hui Yan wore black clothing that reflected his status as Qin Wang. His posture was tall and straight, his years of military service all the more moulding him as stiff as a clothing rack. It had been a rite since the first emperor of the Qin dynasty to revere the colour black, and his top had ferocious golden dragon coiled on the front. The contrasting black and gold looked honourable and domineering. Gu Hui Yan was not overshadowed by the richness of the colour and instead appeared more handsome, powerful, cold and dignified.
Lin Wei Xi was dressed in a bright and pretty red. With Gu Hui Yan looking so handsome and cold, it was hard to look directly at them. Standing side by side, calling them resplendent wouldn’t be an exaggeration, and all those who came across them gasped in wonder. Even when they were far away, there were people who couldn’t resist craning their necks to look at them.
Gao Ran quickly hid her surprise and stepped forward to pay her respects to Lin Wei Xi and Gu Hui Yan. Gu Cheng Yao politely paid his respects as well, “Greetings Father, Mother.”
Gao Ran also gave her New Year’s greetings. She was also dressed in red today, but the quality of her clothes couldn’t exceed her position. Out of all the noble ladies, Gao Ran’s appearance was roughly a six out of ten. Be it her clothing or Gao Ran herself, she could never compare to Lin Wei Xi. This was hard to tell when Lin Wei Xi and Gu Hui Yan hadn’t arrived yet. But now with Lin Wei Xi outshining her, the red dress on Gao Ran immediately felt cliché, and even a little pompous.
The Prince Yan Residence was very busy today. Soon after Gao Ran and Gu Cheng Yao gave their New Year’s greetings to Lin Wei Xi and Gu Hui Yan, he quickly left for the front yard. There was an endless stream of people, some of whom had been waiting since dawn, who came to give their New Year’s greetings to him today. As soon as Gu Hui Yan left, Lin Wei Xi engrossed herself with her own business. The officials, from minor ones to important ones, gave their New Year’s greetings to Prince Yan, and many Ladies and Madams came to give their New Year’s greetings to Lin Wei Xi, the Prince Yan Consort, as well.
When Gu Hui Yan left, Gu Cheng Yao naturally followed. Now only Lin Wei Xi and Gao Ran remained in the room. Lin Wei Xi was too lazy to act out the compassionate mother-in-law to Gao Ran’s filial daughter-in-law. She called the servants who had been on standby since earlier to bring out the New Year gifts for every family, and immediately threw herself into sorting and counting the return gifts.
Lin Wei Xi sat on the warm heated seat, quickly finishing up the routine work that came with the New Year’s. Wan Yue stood to the side and helped her with the gift list. She came across a name and asked, “Princess Consort, Shen Han Lin also gifted a fruit bowl. Do you want to return the gift?”
“Shen Han Lin?” Lin Wei Xi repeated. It suddenly clicked, “was it Shen Ming Da’s wife, Liu Su Niang, who sent it?”
“Yes, it was Lady Liu.”
Although Han Lin was known as the person everyone had to get through if they wanted to enter the cabinet, he hadn’t made a name for himself yet. Today, the Prince Yan Residence received countless gifts from high ranking officials who’d already made numerous contributions. Shen Ming Da’s New Year gift had been mixed among his superiors’ and was very inconspicuous.
But Lin Wei Xi acted out of character and said, “Bring me the fruit bowl Lady Liu gifted.”
The maids were all dumbfounded. Only after Wan Yue pushed her from behind did Wan Xing suddenly realise what was going on and hurry out to retrieve the fruit bowl. After a while, she came back with a red lacquered box in her arms, “Princess Consort, this is the fruit bowl sent by the Shen Residence.”
Lin Wei Xi opened it and took a look. It contained normal dried fruits, melons and dates that symbolised reunion. It wasn’t difficult to understand that although Liu Su Niang had a small encounter with Lin Wei Xi at the Dragon Boat Festival, things were very different now. Lin Wei Xi was now the Princess Consort. Even if Liu Su Niang was grateful to her, she most likely didn’t dare get too close. Although Liu Su Niang had sent a New Year’s gift to the Prince Yan Residence, neither she nor Shen Ming Da had any expectation that Lin Wei Xi would return the gift. Hence, it was better to play safe and send a fruit bowl as their gift for their high ranking superior, the Prince Yan Residence. The best outcome for them would be to not draw attention to themselves.
Lin Wei Xi understood the situation when she saw the fruit bowl. She said to Wan Yue, “Send a return gift to Lord Shen and his family. No need to make any special preparations. Just send a regular gift.”
Even if Shen Ming Da was going to become the Grand Secretary, that was far in the future. Right now the best she could do was to send a regular return gift. If she was too impatient, it would instead be easy to shoot herself in the foot.
Everyone was surprised, and even Gao Ran found it unexpected. Lin Wei Xi was afraid of rousing suspicion, so she pretended to be casual and explained, “Liu Su Niang and I are acquaintances. It would be rude not to reciprocate. Since she sent a New Year’s gift, our Prince Yan Residence has no reason to ignore it. Wan Yue, have a dependable young servant send it to Lord Shen’s house.”
Wan Xing and Wan Yue understood when Lin Wei Xi said that. They’d followed her to the palace during the Dragon Boat Festival and Wan Yue remembered that Lin Wei Xi had even saved Liu Su Niang before. Although it was the Princess Consort who had helped the Shen family, since the Shen Residence had remembered her benevolence after all this time and specially gifted the fruit bowl, there was no reason for the Prince Yan Residence to avoid it. A noble’s magnanimity was in treating everyone equally and kindly.
Gao Ran remembered who Liu Su Niang was when she heard this. She’d thought that Lin Wei Xi’s behaviour was unusual, but stopped worrying and no longer paid attention when she realised that it was just a minor official’s wife.
The New Year’s gifting was a very formal form of diplomacy between the various Residences. During the New Year, every Residence prepared festive dishes and sent it to the families they were friends with as a sign of etiquette. Since it involved food, every household had to prepare different things. This was a test of the mistress’ skills. It truly required depth of knowledge to reliably and cleverly prepare the repetitive New Year food.
Gao Ran stood and watched Lin Wei Xi handle the formal inner courtyard diplomacy and couldn’t help feeling bitter. She and Lin Wei Xi were clearly around the same age, but Lin Wei Xi was now the one in charge while Gao Ran could only stand and watch. When would it be her turn to be the mistress of the household?
Time passed quickly as Lin Wei Xi dealt with the incoming and outgoing courtesy gifts while receiving a few Ladies who came to give their New Year’s greetings. Before she knew it, the sky was growing dark.
The reunion dinner◇ was the highlight of that evening. Lin Wei Xi was sitting in the warm pavilion questioning the maids and grannies when footsteps suddenly sounded outside and a greeting followed, “Greetings Prince, greetings Shizi.”
◇
the dinner during New Year’s Eve. Also called reunion dinner because the whole family gets together to celebrate
Lin Wei Xi and Gao Ran looked up at the door to see Gu Hui Yan and Gu Cheng Yao return. Both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law headed to the door to welcome them. In just a few steps, the curtain to the inner room lifted.
“My Prince.” Lin Wei Xi walked towards Gu Hui Yan and he smoothly caught her as she bowed. They were husband and wife, but Gao Ran couldn’t be as shameless as Lin Wei Xi. She could only give Gu Cheng Yao a wanfu across the crowd of people before returning to her position behind Lin Wei Xi.
Gu Cheng Yao also merely glanced at Gao Ran before looking away. He was composed and seemed noble and solemn, like a gentleman. But inside, he couldn’t stop thinking about how Lin Wei Xi looked as she smiled and welcomed them when he first entered the room. She was dressed very beautifully today, the dazzling red matching her snowy white skin, her beauty hard to resist. When she stood up from the inner room that was decorated in red and came to welcome her husband, almost no man on earth would say no to that kind of temptation. But she only had eyes for his father, and she only smiled for his father.
New Year’s Eve was celebrated by the whole country and the New Year’s Eve dinner was an important family reunion. Speaking from etiquette, Lin Wei Xi, Gu Cheng Yao, and Gao Ran were a family. Therefore, on a major day like New Year’s Eve, she had to accompany Gu Hui Yan as well as Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran to eat together, stay up for the New Year together, and welcome the New Year together.
New Year’s Eve was a big festival. It used to be lively and bustling when the previous emperor was still alive. His Majesty often threw a banquet on the New Year’s Eve and called the ministers into the palace to accompany him through the festivities. But the current emperor was young and the positions of the empress and the four imperial concubines were all empty. The only woman in the palace was superstitious of gods and wasn’t even His Majesty’s biological mother, the Empress Dowager. There really wasn’t anything lively happening. Moreover, if the Emperor held a banquet, he would have to invite the Grand Secretary, his teacher, Zhang Xiao Lian. Based on the Emperor’s childish temperament, he most likely wouldn’t want to see Master Zhang’s face on New Year’s Day.
And that was why the palace banquet had been cancelled. Gu Hui Yan didn’t need to enter the palace and was able to spend a rare reunion dinner in the Residence. In a normal family, the few generations usually gathered together for the New Years and it would be quite lively as they laughed and talked. Even in a small family, they wouldn’t feel awkward saying affectionate things to each other. But in the Prince Yan Residence, when the four only masters sat down, no one spoke.
The four of them were usually busy, so they really didn’t have much to talk about when sitting down with each other. The maids had just changed the hot tea and pastries, and Lin Wei Xi was slowly picking out the tea amidst silence, when urgent footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the room. Gu Ming Da then quickly walked in and kneeled to greet Gu Hui Yan from the other side of the engraved folding screen, “my Prince, His Majesty is here.”
Lin Wei Xi was so startled she stood up. It was New Year’s Eve, and it was time for the reunion dinner. The little Emperor actually came to the Prince Yan Residence?
T/n: so sorry for the late upload. My cousins last minute asked me for mahjong yesterday night and of course I will never say no to mahjong. Forgot to queue up this chapter
Chapter 59: Coquettish
Gu Hui Yan and Lin Wei Xi extended their living quarters to the study room and the furnishings needed to be purchased accordingly. The side room used to be small and the desk had been a narrow table made of plain weave. Now that the study room was expanded, the tables and chairs had been replaced with an intricately carved square rosewood table. Gu Hui Yan sat at the head of the table, with Lin Wei Xi sitting to his left in a chair with an elaborate cloud pattern. He returned from retrieving a book from the bookshelf and placed it near the edge of the table. As he turned to get his brush and ink, Lin Wei Xi unexpectedly hugged him.
“My Prince, it’s already dark outside. Let’s take a break and do something else, alright?”
She raised herself slightly to hug Gu Hui Yan’s waist. A man’s waist couldn’t be touched so carelessly, and he stiffened a bit and struggled to free himself on reflex. On the other hand, when Lin Wei Xi felt his movements, she hugged him tighter.
Gu Hui Yan looked down to see her arms circling him. Her gorgeous wide sleeves had been pushed up halfway, revealing smooth and slender forearms. She firmly refused to let go and gazed up at him pitifully.
They looked at each other for a few seconds. In the end, it was Gu Hui Yan who gave in, “Alright, let’s take a short break.”
Lin Wei Xi breathed a huge sigh of relief. The change in her demeanour was too obvious and Gu Hui Yan, who was looking at her, noticed everything. He looked up and said, “Let go. Sit properly.”
Lin Wei Xi made an “Oh” sound and sat back down primly and properly. The overlapping layers of her sleeve were too numerous and hung on the nook of her arm for a moment without falling back down over her arms. She didn’t notice at all and instead curiously flipped through the book that Gu Hui Yan had brought over earlier. After only skimming two pages, she frowned in distaste and lost all interest.
Lin Wei Xi had dark black hair and snowy white skin; even her forearms were paler than snow, slender, the contours of her skin graceful. Her translucent and smooth arms casually rested on the black rosewood table with a beauty that was hard to describe, that easily entranced people. Gu Hui Yan looked down at her and said steadily, “Tug your sleeves down and sit straight.”
Lin Wei Xi realised then how messy her sleeves were and sighed to herself. Prince Yan was truly so upright and serious that he couldn’t stand even a little bit of mess. A person like him who was so particular about orderliness would have to endure every moment he spent with her in the study. But Prince Yan had made a promise, so he had to put up with her.
Lin Wei Xi suddenly felt very disheartened. Seeing her grow gloomy, Gu Hui Yan couldn’t help questioning himself. Had he been too difficult to understand? Why did she look so worried?
The atmosphere in the study became a bit awkward. Gu Hui Yan stood next to the desk for a moment and criticised himself. Sure enough, even when he was at his peak physically and mentally speaking, he had no common topics to talk about with this lively young girl. In the end, he was an older man in a relationship with a much younger woman.
Sensing that the atmosphere was not quite right, Lin Wei Xi disregarded her feelings of envy and quickly grabbed Gu Hui Yan’s sleeve. With her chin propped on one hand, she looked at him and said, “my Prince, these books on the theory and art of war are too difficult for me. Why don’t you tell me about the Battle of Langshan?”
The battles of Langshan and Dingxiang occurred around the same time frame. They were the battles that propelled Gu Hui Yan to fame and also the start of his renown as a god of war. Since then, he’d been in charge of the army for close to twenty years and not once had he been defeated. The battles of Langshan and Dingxiang also became famous as a result, and became a model that every young general in the world studied before they went to battle.
The battle of Langshan had been studied and researched repeatedly almost until it was dissected to pieces. Even a sheltered girl like Lin Wei Xi had heard of it. Anyone from the army could recall parts of it. As for Gu Hui Yan, this was no problem at all. He never expected Lin Wei Xi to be curious about a battle he participated in when he was sixteen. This was much simpler than teaching a book about military tactics. He sat down, grabbed a piece of paper, roughly sketched the topography of the Langshan, and told her about the battle.
Lin Wei Xi immediately became very interested. Compared to the obscure and difficult theory on warfare, she was obviously more interested in Prince Yan. She brought up books on war that day so that she’d have something to talk about with him but what she really wanted to know was his past and experiences.
Discussing these battles brought vivid imagery to mind. It wasn’t as difficult to understand as Qimen Dunjia, and Gu Hui Yan was a very good teacher. His voice and logic were clear. Furthermore, as someone who witnessed the battle, he was the most appropriate person to dissect the battle of Langshan. He gave much more detail than those who merely theorised about it. Lin Wei Xi was so enthralled that without her realising, it was almost as if she’d gone back in time, like she was really standing in the never ending expanse of yellow sand of the Gobi desert and seeing the major battle for herself.
Gu Hui Yan was very considerate of her and she grew confident enough to ask questions from time to time. The fundamentals were required to understand military tactics and it was all about monopolising resources. There were an uncountable number of people who’d be overjoyed to obtain a military book, but they struggled to learn the fundamentals. If they found out that Lin Wei Xi had been taught by the commander of the famous battle himself and was even able to ask him questions face to face, at least half of them would jump into the river out of jealousy.
After she asked all her questions, she simply propped her head up and pestered Gu Hui Yan about his experience in the military. He felt that this wasn’t much to talk about, but she looked at him with such glittering eyes that he had no choice but to pick a few impressionable events and describe them to her. After he was finished with his story, Gu Hui Yan was afraid it had disappointed her and asked with uncertainty, “There’s really nothing interesting about my experiences. Did it bore you?”
“Of course not, how could it bore me?” Lin Wei Xi held her face in her hands and said with a smile, “I like learning about what you went through in your youth, my Prince.”
Gu Hui Yan’s gaze softened. Over the years, he’d heard countless excessive praise from those in the imperial court, from colleagues, from subordinates. After a long time, he’d been desensitised to it. But in that moment, when a word like “like” came out of Lin Wei Xi’s mouth, his heart melted.
She looked beautiful under the light, not to mention the fact that she was a beautiful woman whose beauty far exceeded the imagination. Gu Hui Yan looked at his radiant beautiful wife, the only one in the whole world, in front of him, and his heart suddenly pounded.
Lin Wei Xi would be seventeen after the new year. Although she felt young to him, in a normal household, she was old enough to be a mother.
Gu Hui Yan thought about it and filed away that thought, without a change in his expression, so that he could focus on the main topic at hand, “After talking about so many useless things, you most likely have rested enough. We still have half of the Taibai map to go. We can be done for the day once we finish this section.”
Lin Wei Xi’s brain hurt when she saw that Gu Hui Yan actually wanted to continue. She always felt that Prince Yan was a very noble and dignified person, to the point where he couldn’t bear the sight of her messy sleeves. He definitely wouldn’t like her making a fuss. But Lin Wei Xi really got a headache when she saw all these kanmen, zhenmen, shengmen and simen◇. She bit her lip and whispered, “How can the battle that brought my Prince to fame be called useless? Why don’t we talk about your past, my Prince?”
◇
This is a reference to the military book they were talking about. Again, I have no clue what it’s saying because Ancient Chinese GrammarTM but she’s complaining about how dry and difficult it is to understand.
“No, we can’t.”
His Highness Prince Yan was truly a principled person. Lin Wei Xi gave up, hung her head, and returned to studying the formation diagram. She forced herself to understand for ten minutes but after a day of work, her brain was too tired to continue. She steeled herself. Even if Prince Yan disliked it, she had to save herself first. She stepped over the chair, wrapped her arms around Gu Hui Yan’s neck. And looked at him expectantly, “my Prince, I really can’t continue listening. Let’s talk about this tomorrow instead.”
“Absolutely not. This is the schedule.”
Lin Wei Xi tightened her embrace around Gu Hui Yan’s neck. Her entire person leaned across the seat, almost hanging on his body, “my Prince… “
“You really don’t want to continue?”
“En.”
“Sit down properly first.”
“Don’t want to.”
Gu Hui Yan tried his best to bring out the demeanour he’d used to intimidate the Sixth Army and said, “Sit down. This is an order.”
“Are you ordering me? I don’t want to!”
… there was nothing else Gu Hui Yan could do. He put down the book he’d been holding, reached across the seat to place his hand around Lin Wei Xi’s waist and knees, and lifted her straight from her chair in a bridal carry.
Lin Wei Xi faintly felt that her goal had been achieved. She couldn’t help the joy on her face and immediately wanted to escape to freedom. But as soon as her legs moved, Gu Hui Yan’s hands firmly held them in place, “Behave yourself and don’t squirm.”
She tried again and discovered that he was serious about not wanting her to move this time. She obediently clung to his shoulders. After a while, she realised something wasn’t right, “my Prince, there are a lot of servants outside. You can’t let me go out like this, right?”
Wan Yue and the servants who were on standby outside the study room, from the corner of their eye, saw what seemed to be Prince Yan carrying the Princess Consort out. They quickly bowed their heads and Wan Yue immediately pulled everyone to withdraw. After they retreated outside the building, Wan Xing even thoughtfully helped her masters close the door tightly.
… that was the last straw for Lin Wei Xi and she glared fiercely at the two girls. She was sure that they definitely saw it. Gu Hui Yan chuckled and bent over to put her down in front of the dressing table, “You really know how to bully your servants.”
Lin Wei Xi looked at Gu Hui Yan through the bronze mirror on the dressing table and smiled, unwilling to admit defeat, “I’ll bully my servants if I want to. They can blame their luck for getting me as their master.”
Gu Hui Yan finally laughed. He reached out to gently pinched the tip of Lin Wei Xi’s nose and said, “Now you’re just twisting the facts.”
Lin Wei Xi merely humphed in response. She raised her head and looked back to scowl at Gu Hui Yan, “now that you’ve sent the maids away, how am I supposed to remove my makeup?”
She usually didn’t wear heavy makeup at home and only used light lipstick and brow shadow. She could handle her makeup herself, but she couldn’t remove the head ornaments herself. Gu Hui Yan looked at Lin Wei Xi’s pretty hair coiled in an elaborate bun, her black hair decorated with numerous jewelled tassels. He suddenly had an urge to do something and said, “I can help you remove your hair ornaments.”
Lin Wei Xi stared blankly. Gu Hui Yan thought she didn’t want to do it. Just as he was about to say that he was only joking, he heard her say as she smiled at him brightly through the reflection in the mirror, “Alright.”
Gu Hui Yan was relieved and slowly pulled out the dazzling spread of jewelled pearl and jade ornaments from her black hair. He moved carefully and managed to not pull Lin Wei Xi’s hair. He was almost as meticulous as the maid who did her hair. The dressing table was quickly piled with all kinds of hairpins. He saw as her gorgeous bun turned into a soft waterfall of hair in his own hands and his heart filled with affection.
For a man to draw his wife’s eyebrows was a fantasy. In this current dynasty where Confusion propriety was strictly followed, women were very restricted, and even fewer men were willing to pamper their wives in private. Lin Wei Xi also didn’t expect that the Prince Yan who rushed to battlefields on horseback and commanded an army would do something like this for her.
His hand lingered on Lin Wei Xi’s long hair and in the end, followed the line of soft hair to her cheek and caressed it. He stroked his slightly rough fingertips on her cheeks; his voice had become raspy at some point, “why don’t you take a bath first.”
How could Lin Wei Xi not know what Gu Hui Yan was up to when he’d helped her undo hair and driven everyone out. She blushed, but before she could say anything, he finished his own sentence, “forget it, I’ll go with you.”
T/n: dear god I think I’m truly well and done with the number of times the author describes FL’s beauty. It’s not that bad in Chinese, because the author uses quite a huge variety of words to describe FL’s beauty, with a poetic feel to it. But they all translate to “beautiful” so I understand that it becomes boring and repetitive to read in English after a while. But even so, I honestly think this is a little too excessive.
Chapter 58: Deceased Wife
T/n: Hey everyone! I recently realised that the way my footnotes are formatted doesn’t translate well onto mobile, so I’ve decided to change the formatting to make the overall flow and look of the text a little better. However, because I’m using the free version of WordPress, my solutions may not be the best, so I’m really sorry for that. That said, they’re now collapsible! Just click on the ◇ below the paragraph and the footnote should pop up. I spent the weekend changing formatting for all the previous chapters, so if you noticed changes while you were reading, I’m really sorry for the confusion/inconvenience. Please enjoy the chapter~
Gu Cheng Yao didn’t know what was wrong with him. He’d suddenly thought of his first wife Gao Xi on this quiet winter night.
Gao Xi had passed away on a snowy winter day in the twelfth month the previous year. As soon as Gu Cheng Yao returned to the residence, he’d been informed that Shizi Fei had passed away.
What had he felt back then? He couldn’t remember, only how shocked he’d been at the time. He’d been prejudiced against Gao Xi due to the incident with the jade pendant and afterwards, he disliked her overbearing personality, so he didn’t want to see her even more. It wasn’t until she died of illness that snowy day did he realise the severity of her illness.
Before that, the entire time, he’d thought it was just a woman’s trick to blackmail him.
Everything Gu Cheng Yao knew about Gao Xi came from Granny Bu and Yun Hui. Most of what he heard all day long was about how Shizi Fei was once again throwing her weight around and how she was relying on her family background to bully the old servants. A gentleman should, of course, care for the elderly and help the weak. As a result, it was difficult for Gu Cheng Yao to have a good impression of his wife. After that, when news of Gao Xi gradually decreased, he began to think she’d realised that her tricks were useless and had stopped out of embarrassment. It was only much later he realised that Gao Xi had suppressed the news and prevented the servants from passing it on to him. However, Gu Cheng Yao never expected that the next time he heard news of Gao Xi, that it’d be about her death.
At that time, he stood in the hall as white snowflakes steadily fell onto his shoulders. Gu Cheng Yao stood in the wind for a while before slowly remembering that as he was about to leave that day, it seemed that a maid indeed came to him and requested he see Shizi Fei. He’d been in a hurry to leave at the time and avoided Gao Xi as he disliked her using such tricks to coax him back. So he hadn’t taken it seriously and sent her away. It turned out that it would’ve been the last time he saw Gao Xi, but he still hadn’t gone to see her.
Gu Cheng Yao finally went to the inner courtyard to see his Shizi Fei. Gao Xi’s courtyard was just as quiet and tidy as before, and he was completely unable to tell that its mistress was no longer around. Gao Xi had been extremely strict with how she managed her servants. Gu Cheng Yao had always felt that it wasn’t good for her to punish her servants so readily. But as he stood in the house where Gao Xi had lived, he saw that although the servant’s eyes were red, they didn’t dare scream or shout. They were messy but not disordered. He was amazed that Gao Xi’s reputation was so strong among her servants that even in death, no one dared to disobey the rules she implemented when she’d been alive.
That was how Gao Xi, unfavoured, fell seriously ill and remained bedridden for a year.
When the maids who were bustling around saw him, they lowered their heads and avoided him like he didn’t exist. Some of them were probably Gao Xi’s personal attendants. They looked indignant when they saw Gu Cheng Yao but were immediately held back by those next to them.
Gu Cheng Yao felt that he ought to see Gao Xi one last time. Those few maids were very unwilling and one of them even said, “When Shizi Fei was seriously ill, we didn’t see Shizi visit even once. Now that Shizi Fei has made up her mind and you have no relation with each other, why has Shizi decided to visit? Shizi Fei left peacefully by herself. Shizi, why are you disturbing her after death?”
The maid wearing silk was pinched by someone next to her before she could finish speaking and reluctantly shut her mouth, bowing her head angrily. Gu Cheng Yao had received a great deal of doting since young and had never been contradicted by someone like this before. The fuzzy and lingering sense of suffocation that wrapped around his heart since learning of Gao Xi’s death greatly reduced. He originally wanted to just turn around and leave. Who were these maids to provoke him? But he didn’t leave in the end; he had his attendant pull down the white cloth. Separated by life and death, he saw Gao Xi for the last time.
Gao Xi had always strove to do everything well. Even at a time like this, she had herself tidied up clean and proper, without any sign of weakness or sickness. Instead, her makeup was beautifully and vividly painted, as if she were just sleeping. Gu Cheng Yao merely glanced at her once, before having his servants pull the white cloth back up and leaving.
The shock from this last visit was beyond what Gu Cheng Yao, and even greater than what Gao Xi, had expected.
Since then, he continued to deliberately avoid Gao Xi’s death. In the mourning hall during her funeral, his father-in-law, also Gao Xi’s father the Duke Ying Shizi, carefully suggested remarrying his daughter. Gu Cheng Yao agreed without really thinking about it. He felt that he needed a new wife quickly. As long as someone held that position, all traces of Gao Xi would soon fade. Actually, he hadn’t clearly heard that day which one of Gao Xi’s sisters he’d be remarrying. It was only later that he learned it was Gao Xi’s half sister, Gao Ran.
Everyone knew what happened next. Gao Xi passed away and Gao Ran became his second wife. Gu Cheng Yao told himself that this was good. Everything had been restored to before the mistake he’d made and everyone was happy. This was enough. After Gao Ran married him, Gu Cheng Yao did his best to be good to her out of a sense of repayment that even he himself wasn’t aware of. Everyone thought it was because he loved her, and he almost felt the same way. But on this chilly, snowy night, as he listened to the wind that sounded exactly like it had on that day, he realised it might not be true.
He felt guilty and he was making it up to someone who didn’t know.
When he was young, Gu Cheng Yao often listened to his mother tell him about how she’d met his father. On almost a daily basis, as long as she had the time, Shen Shi would certainly recount how Prince Yan had saved her life and their burning, passionate love for each other. Actually, the details of Shen Shi’s story often changed, and Gu Cheng Yao didn’t know what was true and what was from her imagination. His mother really liked to read story books. She could hardly pull away from stories of gifted men with beautiful women, heroes with beauties, and often couldn’t differentiate reality from fiction. Although Gu Cheng Yao felt it wasn’t good for his mother to do this, at the end of the day, she was his mother. He instantly felt it was unfilial of him to think so.
At that time, only his grandmother, mother and him lived in the Residence. His grandmother would sometimes call him over to teach him, but not long after sitting down, Shen Shi would follow and stand to one side with tears in her eyes. She’d stare at him, as if she was afraid he’d be abused. Of course his grandmother was displeased. After reading but a few sentences, she had no choice but to let Shen Shi bring him back. After this happened several times, his grandmother rarely spent time with him anymore.
The effects of one’s childhood were invariably invisible and ubiquitous. When Gu Cheng Yao recalled the past as an adult, he felt that what his mother did hadn’t been very good. His grandmother, the previous Prince Yan Consort, was the di daughter of a literary family in the capital. Personally teaching Gu Cheng Yao history and classics was completely for his sake, but he’d still been unconsciously influenced by Shen Shi. He subconsciously felt that his parent’s love would overcome all obstacles, that gifted men and beautiful women could cross social divides, and that Prince Yan and Shen shi were together because he’d saved her life. So when the same thing happened to Gu Cheng Yao, he unconsciously succumbed to a kind of meticulous suggestion. He told himself that this was the right thing to do, so he married a complete stranger, someone whose identity, looks, conduct, and family he knew nothing about. When he later found out she was the eldest di granddaughter of the Duke Ying Residence who was worthy of Prince Yan’s family, he was pleasantly surprised and believed even more firmly that he was right.
It was just like a fated marriage in one of those mystical novels.
After Gu Cheng Yao spent the first month of his marriage with his wife, he suddenly learned that he’d identified the wrong person. In other words, his fated partner had been deliberately replaced with someone else.
It looked like this could be a story with twists and turns. If Shen Shi were to see this situation, based on her personality, she’d definitely cry for the pitiful heroine and resent the vicious sister who took the heroine’s place. Gu Cheng Yao’s impression of Gao Xi plummeted and he remarried Gao Ran after she died. If life were a play, this would be his happy ending.
In the month following Gao Xi’s death, Gu Cheng Yao felt a constant buzzing in his ears. He quickly arranged for the wedding despite knowing it would offend his father. It was only after Gao Ran entered the household the following month and the remnants of Gao Xi’s presence quickly faded, did Gu Cheng Yao feel a bit better.
Everything was back on track, as it should be. It was just a pity that his father couldn’t make it to one of the most important days of his life. Then one day in early spring, as the ice was melting and the air carried a distinctive feeling of dampness, his father, who’d been away for many years, finally came home. Gu Cheng Yao personally went to greet his father’s attendants. When they entered the residence, under the bright red winding corridor, he suddenly saw a slender and quiet figure facing him. At the same time, he heard someone shout, “Sister Xi.”
Gu Cheng Yao’s blood froze. Immediately after, he saw the woman slowly turn around, her skin pale as ice, white as jade. This was the first time in his life seeing someone so lovely, her gaze ice-cold and indifferent. He didn’t know if he was relieved or disappointed. Oh, it was Lin Wei Xi, a woman he didn’t know at all.
From then on, this Lin Wei Xi seemed to suddenly enter his life, vivid and full of life, and showed up almost everywhere. Whenever he entered a room, he always unconsciously searched for a trace of her. He watched her go from snow-white plain clothes to high buns and bright, beautiful dresses. She became his stepmother, his father’s Princess Consort.
Gu Cheng Yao knew his actions were utterly outrageous, but he couldn’t help feeling ridiculous. Her every move, her every word and action, even a slightly raised eyebrow or glance all felt incomparably familiar to him.
“Shizi? Shizi!”
Gu Cheng Yao suddenly snapped back to reality. He saw Yun Hui looking at him worriedly, concern clearly reflected in her eyes.
He suddenly wondered if Lin Wei Xi was this loving and gentle when she spent time with his father in private. In his memory, Gao Xi had always been refined and honourable. She was almost never gentle and thoughtful of her husband, neither did she seem concerned about how he was doing.
Yun Hui noticed that Shizi seemed to be thinking of someone else. She’d painstakingly dressed herself and even purposely changed into seductive clothing that showed her breasts, putting perfume on her body. Shizi was alone with her, yet he was spacing out? Yun Hui felt anger and shame amidst her discouragement. Who in the world was the person who could cause Shizi to worry so much?
Gu Cheng Yao truly wasn’t thinking about Yun Hui in a positive light. He suddenly remembered that on the night he and Gao Xi married, Yun Hui broke into their bridal chamber. Gao Xi had fluttered her eyes and with a few words, scolded Yun Hui so badly that she was unable to lift her face. The next day, Yun Hui naturally came to complain to him with tears in her eyes. He also felt that Gao Xi had been too tough, not at all like the ideal gentle wife. Now, Gao Ran fulfilled every aspect of the virtues of a wife advocated by scholars. Even if Yun Hui provoked her, Gao Ran would bear with it. It should be a good thing that his wife was sensible and generous. Yet he was now suddenly wondering what Gao Xi would do if it were her?
She would have definitely long since blocked the door to the study room, not only embarrassing Yun Hui, but even he would probably not be spared. Gu Cheng Yao smiled as he thought that, and his smile faded as his long buried feelings of pain surged, prickling and sharp as needles.
It was yet another year of heavy snowfall, and it had been a year since Gao Xi passed.
Yun Hui watched as Shizi stared at the same spot without moving. He was obviously thinking of someone, and smiled gently in the end. Although he was smiling, it was a very wan and distraught smile. Yun Hui was astonished. What was happening? She was beyond bewildered when she suddenly heard him say, “I don’t need you here. You can leave.”
Yun Hui was immediately dragged back from her wandering thoughts, clearly surprised, “Shizi?” Seeing that he hadn’t moved, she immediately felt wronged, “Shizi, it’s already so dark outside. If this servant goes back now, it may alarm the other servants. Besides, you can’t have no servants to serve you. Shizi, if you dislike it, then this servant will wait outside the room. This servant will come if you have any instructions, and will definitely not disturb you.”
Gu Cheng Yao thought that it was indeed quite late. Yun Hui was someone he’d grown up with and he couldn’t bear to leave her out in the cold wind, so he said, “Then, wait on the other side of the folding screen. I can help myself. I don’t need you for anything.”
Although she’d been chased out of Shizi’s study room, she fortunately didn’t have to go back. Although Yun Hui didn’t really want to, she softly answered in affirmation. At this time, the inner courtyard would’ve already locked its doors. If she went back now, she’d definitely disturb the maids and grannies in charge of guarding the entrance and the keys. If that happened, with so many people making a racket, the news that she’d been chased out by Shizi after going to serve him would become widespread. Fortunately, Shizi gave in to her. Although she hadn’t succeeded in becoming his woman, her dignity was still intact. She was truly relieved.
After Yun Hui left, Gu Cheng Yao was the only one left in the room. He sat at his desk for a long time without turning a single page of the book in his hands. In the end, he couldn’t bear it any longer and put down the book, walked to the window and forcefully pushed it open.
Cold wind immediately whistled into the room and the air, carrying fluffs of snow, caused the candle flame to dance under the lamp covering. Gu Cheng Yao stood amidst the wind and looked out the window at the tranquil sky and the snowy ground that glowed under the moonlight. He stood still, lost in thought for a long time.
The lights were on in Gu Cheng Yao’s study. If he headed North from there, he would see that the largest and most magnificent courtyard in the Prince Yan Residence was also constantly lit.
“Taicu Judui is the Taicu men, and Yinde Jugan is the Yinde men. The first general on the right, the line can be water, the black flag banner, is for the Jingmen◇.” After Gu Hui Yan explained it, he asked Lin Wei Xi, “did you understand what I said?”
◇
This is from a book called Tai Bai Yin Jing, which is about military tactics, so that’s what they’re talking about. I honestly have no idea what this entire dialogue means, because Ancient Chinese GrammarTM gives me a headache. This is like some Shakespearean level linguistics, so I slapped it into google translate and called it a day.
She pursed her lips and stared for a long moment before finally shaking her head in despair, “No.”
“Shoushan Pavilion is a series of ten books that describe plots, military formations, memorial addresses, divination skills, etc. Without Qimen Dunjia◇ as your foundation, it will be extremely difficult to understand these.”
◇
A form of Chinese divination, where you ask a question and the diviner tells you the answer based how the stars are aligned
Lin Wei Xi thought to herself that this was beyond extremely difficult. She didn’t understand it at all.
She already regretted it. Why couldn’t she have a normal conversation with Prince Yan with this little time they had. Why did she have to give herself trouble?
But Prince Yan was a careful person and a meticulous planner. He felt that although his student’s foundation was a bit lacking, he’d definitely make Lin Wei Xi understand after trying a few different methods. So he picked another book from the bookshelf and considered starting from Qimen Dunjia.
Lin Wei Xi got a headache the moment she saw the thick ancient tomb. She watched Gu Hui Yan put the book on the table and move to take another brush in a manner that screamed ‘don’t give up even if you don’t understand’. She panicked. She didn’t care if it embarrassed her, she hurriedly reached across the table and tightly hugged Gu Hui Yan’s waist, “my Prince, it’s already dark outside. Let’s take a break and do something else, alright?”
Chapter 57: A Beautiful Reading Companion
T/n: hey everyone, so sorry for the hiatus. This last semester has been super super busy but I have more time now that it’s summer. I’m doing internship right now so I won’t be able to upload as often as before, but I’ll be able to maintain an upload schedule of once a week. Enjoy the chapter~
The head of the household didn’t say a word and Shizi lowered his head, conceding. Lin Wei Xi managed to smoothly change something that had been common practice in the residence for many years. This also made it clear that she was the new mistress of Prince Yan Residence and that past customs and rules would remain in the past.
Gao Ran had secretly looked forward to this show, but when she saw the conclusion, the vicious anger that had accumulated in the past many days rushed to her head.
Poor health was truly a shield that could be used wherever Lin Wei Xi wanted to. How was she so brazen and on what basis could she change whatever she wanted to change?
Gao Ran was truly frustrated by this “mother-in-law” who relied on her weak health to make unreasonable demands. She was suddenly at a loss. Lin Wei Xi was around her age, and there was no way she could endure her mother-in-law’s torture. The Duke Ying Residence had come to support her earlier today but failed to resolve her situation in the end. She couldn’t count on her maiden family and her father-in-law, contrary to his astuteness in court, completely indulged and pampered his wife. Surely the rest of Gao Ran’s life wouldn’t be spent being criticised by Lin Wei Xi and enduring her malicious behaviour?
Prince Yan was on leave today, so dinner was especially lavish and exquisite, but it was tasteless to Gao Ran.
Her mind wandered throughout the meal. After sending off Prince Yan and Lin Wei Xi, Gao Ran and Gu Cheng Yao returned to their courtyard. She was dispirited and not in the mood to talk. Gu Cheng Yao didn’t say a word either the whole journey for some reason.
When they returned to Qingsong Garden, he stopped at the entrance to the back courtyard and said, “You must be tired after today. Go and rest first. I need to revise, so I won’t follow you back.”
Gu Cheng Yao turned and left after saying that. Gao Ran couldn’t help exclaiming in surprise, but he didn’t seem to hear and was soon too far away. She watched his figure from behind, growing more agitated than she already was.
Although Qingsong Garden was merely one of the courtyards in Prince Yan Residence, it contained a total of three courtyards. The outer courtyard, study, main building and back building had everything they would ever need. It could be considered a small residence. All they needed to do was close its doors and it could stand alone as a courtyard. Gao Ran resided in the second section of the main building, which was the largest building used to reside in. Earlier, Gu Cheng Yao had walked to the entrance of this building before turning to the study room in the front courtyard.
Of course, what happened at the building entrance wouldn’t escape the eyes and ears of everyone there. Gao Ran returned alone and not long after sitting down, Granny Bu arrived, “Shizi Fei, did Shizi go to the front courtyard?”
Gao Ran wasn’t in the mood to respond to something so obvious and Granny Bu wasn’t truly inquiring about it when she asked that question. Granny Bu paused and said to herself, “It’s almost the New Year and Shizi is still so diligent. It’s truly a blessing for the family. If the Princess Consort could see this, how happy she’d be.”
The Princess Consort Granny Bu was referring to was Shen Shi. Ever since Lin Wei Xi forcibly took away her power, she’d been unable to accept it. Therefore, she vented her anger by refusing to address Lin Wei Xi as the Princess Consort and merely used ‘that one’ instead. She even frequently talked about what happened with Shen Shi in the past; who knew who she was showing off to. Gao Ran and Granny Bu had shared a hatred against a common enemy at first, but Gao Ran couldn’t stand how Granny Bu repeated the same things again and again, and now she couldn’t help feeling sick and tired of it. Even though she was already dead, it was annoying enough to repeat the entire story everyday. What’s more, she’d been dead for more than ten years. What was the use in saying how virtuous and affectionate Shen Shi was every day? Could she not see that the one in power was now that person?
But even if she was unhappy about it, when Granny Bu brought up Shizi’s birth mother, Gao Ran had to smile and respond, “Granny, you’re right. Shizi is so diligent and ambitious despite his respectable birth. If mother-in-law in heaven learns of this, she’ll definitely feel relieved. “
“Exactly. My young lady had been so lucky. In her maiden family, she was treated like a jewel and spoiled by her father and brother, and had never even washed her own hands. When she unfortunately came across a defeated enemy army that had fallen into disarray, she ran into Prince Yan, who’d been Shizi back then. Aiyo, what a magnificent sight it was to see a beautiful boy lead powerful troops. Amidst the confusion of the fleeing army, he alone stood at the forefront, commanding his men to charge from three sides and quickly suppressed the riot. You weren’t there to see the scene. The earth-shattering storm and a young man of only fifteen or sixteen commanding cavalry of more than a hundred strong. His composed bearing as he took command from across the gale and the wall of humans is seared into my mind. At that time, everyone was watching him. But once Prince Yan sorted out the situation, he left with his men without leaving his name. Nevertheless, after he left, we listened to the conversations of those around us and found out that he was the eldest di son of the Yan fief’s Prince, Gu Hui Yan.”
When she heard this for the first time, Gao Ran had been fascinated by the story, but now she only felt annoyed. At first, when she heard that Prince Yan and Princess Consort Shen were together because he had saved her life, she thought it was such a fairy tale romance. However, in reality, Prince Yan not only saved Princess Consort Shen, but many others as well. Afterwards, in the wake of Granny Bu taking great pains to retell the story over and over again, Gao Ran was at the end of her patience and instead felt antipathy.
Granny Bu continued to recall how handsome and brave the young Prince Yan had been back then. This was the kind of thing where if one wasn’t there to see it themselves, even if the person speaking was well spoken and eloquent, they wouldn’t be able to describe how mind-blowing it was to be there. This was currently the situation with Granny Bu. Granny Bu noticed Gao Ran’s disinterest, so she stopped reminiscing and reluctantly concluded her story in one sentence, “Young folks like you have never seen the perils of war. How can you understand how awe-inspiring Prince Yan is on the battlefield? He has risen in power these past few years and handles more court matters, which is why he has become more reserved over time. In fact, he liked to show off his abilities when he was young. Not only was he quick and ruthless in a fight, but he also looked exceedingly valiant and handsome. Back then, the common people at the border didn’t pray to spirits or gods, they prayed only to Prince Yan.”
For some reason, Gao Ran felt uncomfortable at Granny Bu’s high praise of Gu Hui Yan, so she said pointedly, “Even if Prince Yan was handsome and formidable back then, the northern frontier had strong sandstorms, the weapons and sand keeping him company all day long. How can it compare to Shizi’s life of luxury, the faint scent of books on him, and the noble aura he’s always had?”
It wasn’t reasonable for Granny Bu to touch Gu Cheng Yao’s matters on a normal day. But after hearing Gao Ran’s words, she unexpectedly didn’t side with Gu Cheng Yao, shaking her head solemnly, “Don’t say that. Prince Yan now holds a high and important position and his quiet demeanour hides great wisdom. Teenagers are young, frivolous, and like to show off. But no matter if it’s in his youth or now, he is extremely good looking. What’s more, just based on looks, the Prince was more handsome than Shizi at nineteen.”
Gao Ran was very unhappy to hear this, but the other person in question was Gu Cheng Yao’s father. She couldn’t talk badly about her father-in-law and could only swallow it. Even so, her expression showed she still disagreed somewhat.
Granny Bu couldn’t help staring blankly as she recalled the past. After returning to her senses, she again bragged about her lady’s fortunate life, “Our young lady lived a pampered life the moment she was born. She was spoiled by her father and brother in her maternal family, and later married the Yan fief’s young hero. Who knows how many little ladies secretly crushed on the Prince. But in the end, wasn’t it our young lady who became the Princess? This is clearly fate. After marriage, the young lady’s first child was a son. Look how hard she worked. It’s just a pity the lady wasn’t in good health, and she left before her son could grow up.”
Granny Bu sighed. She was obviously thinking that if Shen Shi were still here, how would Gao Ran be able to act so arrogantly. Gao Ran was afraid that Granny Bu was going to talk about the past again and quickly cut her off, “Exactly. However, Shizi is filial and making progress in his studies. Mother-in-law ought to be content in the afterlife.”
Granny Bu gently wiped at her eyes. She didn’t actually have any tears, but always made this gesture. She said, “If my lady were still here and saw Shizi studying hard even during the New Year, she’d definitely worry for his health.”
Gao Ran suddenly had a bad feeling. She prepared herself and casually echoed Granny Bu’s sentiments, “Of course Shizi’s health is the most important.”
“That’s right, us women can’t share the burden of Shizi’s court affairs, so we have to pay more attention to his basic needs. Shizi Fei, you’ve been so busy dealing with the New Year’s celebration that I’m afraid it’s too difficult for you to handle more than one thing at a time. Furthermore, Shizi has been working hard to study all day long with servants constantly around him. This slave came to tell Shizi Fei that Yun Hui has already left to serve Shizi and will not be returning to the inner courtyard tonight. Shizi Fei, no need to worry about how they’re doing in the study. While Yun Hui is there to manage everything, you just need to focus on recuperating.”
Blood immediately rushed to her head when she heard that. How dare a thing like Yun Hui have the audacity to take Gao Ran’s place and give orders to care for Gu Cheng Yao’s basic needs. Moreover, Gu Cheng Yao was unlikely to return to the bedroom to sleep judging by the time he left for study, and with Yun Hui also in the study…
Gao Ran couldn’t sit still. Probably no woman would be able to sit back and watch her own husband spend the night with another young woman. Perhaps Granny Bu saw Gao Ran’s dissatisfaction, as she immediately frowned and said, “Shizi Fei, this slave is one of the people Princess Consort Shen left behind, who was entrusted by the Princess Consort to look after Shizi when she was on her deathbed. And Yun Hui, who has followed Shizi for ten years, cares about him. This old lady can be rest assured if she’s taking care of Shizi. Furthermore, Shizi Fei has not yet given birth to a child for Shizi and for the past few days, has spent much time in the Buddhist sanctum. I’m afraid it’ll be even more difficult for you to conceive. Shizi Fei, you should take care of your health and extend the family line as soon as possible instead of getting jealous.”
It wasn’t good for a woman to be labelled as jealous. Granny Bu had even brought up Princess Consort Shen and jealousy, one of the seven grounds for divorce◇. Gao Ran could only take a deep breath and responded, “I’m not such an unreasonable person. Granny, you’re only doing this for my own good. I understand.”
◇
The Chinese phrase here literally translates to “seven outs”. In ancient China, they were seven reason that were considered legitimate reasons for a husband to divorce his wife: being unfilial, barren (ie unable to have a child), being too lewd/obscene/sexual, jealousy, unpleasant illnesses, being too talkative, theft
Granny Bu smiled and said, satisfied, “It’s good that Shizi Fei understands the trouble this slave goes through. Shizi Fei, this slave did this so that you could have time to take care of your health and not delay having children. Shizi Fei please don’t misunderstand this slave’s good intentions.”
Good intentions? If Granny Bu had good intentions, would she have kept a close eye on the door and chased after Shizi when he left the room, and even sent a servant specifically to stop her from leaving? Gao Ran was very disdainful and barely stopped herself from cursing. But when she thought about Gao Xi’s ending, she held herself back in the end. She squeezed out a gentle smile at this wicked slave in front of her who had inserted a third party into her marriage.
Granny Bu was very satisfied with Gao Ran’s behaviour. She paused for a moment. Only when she saw that Gao Ran didn’t show any signs of losing her temper or even chasing her out did she feel satisfied enough to leave. After Granny Bu left, Granny Tao and Ning Fu hurriedly surrounded Gao Ran and, speaking over each other, asked, “Shizi Fei, for the past few days, Yun Hui has only served Shizi in the study room during the day. But now she’s shameless enough to consider serving him as he studies at night. Granny Bu is still keeping an eye on the inner courtyard. What should we do?”
This scheme of Granny Bu wasn’t a secret. Gao Ran took a deep breath and thought for some time before saying, “It seems Yun Hui hasn’t been embraced by Shizi based on how anxious Granny Bu is. Since he hasn’t accepted her, she will surely think of another method. We don’t need to worry. Let’s bide our time and see what happens.”
Ning Fu and the others answered in affirmation. Gao Ran had gone through many events today and was mentally drained. This exhaustion wasn’t caused by physical fatigue, but one that spread from her heart and gradually consumed her whole. She’d hoped that by calling in her maternal family that they would punish Lin Wei Xi, but in the end, she lost a dowry maid. And when she returned to her courtyard exhausted from head to toe that night, she was told that Gu Cheng Yao wouldn’t return that night and that Yun Hui had followed him to the study to serve him.
Ning Fu and the other servants tactfully withdrew from the room when they saw Gao Ran’s expression. As they left the room, Gao Ran’s voice suddenly came from behind them, “Granny Tao, inform the kitchen to make a bowl of contraceptive soup tonight.”
Granny Tao stopped in her tracks. It was very inappropriate for a concubine to give birth to an eldest son before the main wife gave birth to a son. She also couldn’t stop her husband from doting on the concubine, so she could only give contraceptive soup to the concubine or tong fang◇ in order to properly safeguarding the interests of the main wife and di son. Gao Ran’s earlier analysis of the situation had been clear, but she was actually panicking.
◇
A maid who has the affections of the husband, but not officially a concubine
In the study room outside Qingsong Garden, the candle flame danced. As Gu Cheng Yao moved to shift the cover of the lamp, someone else picked it up first. Yun Hui held a pair of scissors as she cut the burnt wick, and the room brightened again. After she did that, she fastened the lamp cover and smiled submissively at Gu Cheng Yao, “Shizi.”
He was a little surprised, “Why is it you?”
Yun Hui said, “Daimao is careless and likes to doze off. If he ends up falling asleep tonight, he won’t even be able to get you hot water if you asked for it. I hate how crude he is, so I sent him back.”
Yun Hui took over for Daimao partially because she worried that Daimao wouldn’t serve Shizi properly, but it was mostly out of selfishness. Prince Yan was very strict when it came to managing Gu Cheng Yao’s studies. Those who served Shizi in the study were all young male servants. But without Gao Ran around these past few days, Yun Hui grew bold, running to the study during the day. Gu Cheng Yao also didn’t make her leave. When she saw him leave for the outer courtyard that day, it seemed like he wouldn’t return that night. Yun Hui felt that this opportunity was truly godsent, and quickly entrusted Granny Bu with watching Shizi Fei. Then she bribed Daimao with a piece of silver and sent him out for a drink, while she herself went to serve Gu Cheng Yao in studying and grinding ink. Although it was called a study room, a bed and other items were all available here. Yun Hui’s intentions were not purely to be a beautiful reading companion.
Gu Cheng Yao actually felt it was inappropriate when he heard this. After all, he’d been married twice before and was no longer a naive young boy. Of course he knew the implication behind a maid serving her master at night. Although his father was strict with his education, as he grew older in recent years, his father’s control gradually eased, especially on matters between men and women.
If Gu Cheng Yao were fifteen, Prince Yan wouldn’t have allowed Yun Hui to follow him to the study, regardless of whether he wanted it or not. But now that his son was older, there were some things Gu Hui Yan could no longer manage. At Gu Cheng Yao’s lack of response, he thought that Gu Cheng Yao had asked for it so he closed one eye and pretended not to know.
Gu Cheng Yao looked at the girl in front of him. Her hair was coiled up to reveal her pale, smooth neck, with pearl earrings dangling from her ears. Her skin looked much more exquisite under the light of the lamp, almost like glaze on porcelain. Yun Hui couldn’t be considered beautiful, but she’d served Gu Cheng Yao for more than ten years and had been like his sister since young. Now that she was all dressed up, she felt more like a woman.
His beautiful reading companion who was interested in him, the big sister who’d lived together with him since childhood; perhaps only a few men would refuse. But when Gu Cheng Yao looked at Yun Hui at that moment, he suddenly thought of something that had happened in the past.
It was when Gao Xi had still been alive.
Chapter 56: Sharp
Lin Wei Xi watched Gu Hui Yan return the numerous books to order. Her heart suddenly moved and she said, “my Prince, you were halfway through teaching me Taibai Yinfu last time. We haven’t finished it.”
That had happened when they first married. During Gu Hui Yan’s three days of wedding leave, the two of them suddenly grew closer. It was inevitable for them to feel awkward when living together, so Gu Hui Yan taught the books to her. It was Taibai Yinfu, an ancient book on the art of war. That day, Lin Wei Xi had only listened to half of the book, leaving midway to meet the managers and receive the servant’s greetings. They’d entered the palace the very next day and then Gu Hui Yan had ended his leave early. They hadn’t been able to finish the book where they’d left off.
Lin Wei Xi suddenly brought it up and Gu Hui Yan was a little surprised, “you remembered?”
“I’m not a blockhead. Why wouldn’t I be able to remember this type of thing?”she glared at him in dissatisfaction and when she looked away, there was meaning in her eyes, “my Prince, you haven’t taught me many things. It’s so rare for you to teach me, how could I forget? It’s just a pity that I’m not talented and couldn’t keep up with your pace. I can’t even finish this one thing.”
Few people now dared to talk to Gu Hui Yan so sarcastically, but Lin Wei Xi spoke so openly that he couldn’t be unhappy. He couldn’t restrain his smile as he glanced at her, “Stop messing around.”
He wasn’t angry and Lin Wei Xi grew bolder. She promptly acted like she’d “been given an inch and wanted a mile” and “emboldened because she had backing”, “how is this messing around? My Prince, you said so yourself that you spent very little time in the residence this month, so how much time is left for me? We’re husband and wife but we can’t even finish a book in one month.”
Although Gu Hui Yan looked at Lin Wei Xi with a smile on his face, guilt rose within him. His expression suddenly grew serious and he said, “This is indeed due to my negligence. I said I’d teach you, but ended up stopping halfway. It’s my fault.”
Lin Wei Xi had been playing along and teasing him, joking around, but Gu Hui Yan apologized so seriously that she felt embarrassed. She hurriedly said, “No, no. My Prince, there’s no reason for you to feel guilty. You were busy with court affairs and you shouldn’t have to worry about what happens in the inner courtyard. You’re already doing very well as my husband. On the contrary, I ought to share your worries, but I always end up causing you trouble. You are willing to go slow and personally teach me military books. It’s due to the character and morals that you’ve cultivated. How can I not know that? Don’t take me so seriously.”
“I have to fulfil my promise to you, I can’t make excuses.” Gu Hui Yan’s opinion was completely different. He said, “You don’t have to gloss over it, I know what I did. I’ve neglected my duty as your husband and spent too little time with you .”
Lin Wei Xi hadn’t expected him to take this so seriously. He truly was someone who was harsh on himself. He had a strong sense of responsibility and had extreme expectations of himself, but expected the least from others. This was how he acted with Lin Wei Xi. He constantly demanded that he be a qualified husband but never held her to the same standard. It could be said that he was very upright and strict with himself but treated others leniently. Lin Wei Xi sighed to herself. Gu Hui Yan was reasonable and responsible. On the contrary, she constantly caused trouble.
Gu Hui Yan finished speaking to find that Lin Wei Xi’s expression had fallen. He was surprised, just as he placed the last book in place. He sat on the chair beside him, the two close together, and he smoothly drew her towards himself, “What’s the matter?”
Lin Wei Xi let him pull her close and sat on his lap. Because it was a little cramped, she was a little unbalanced. She reached her arms around his shoulders and rested her forehead on his shoulders, her voice moody, “my Prince, do I seem arrogant and wilful, with high standards and no ability?”
Gu Hui Yan found it funny. He put one hand on her lower back to hold her steady, his other hand playing with the ornaments dangling from the pin holding her hair in a bun and didn’t say anything.
Lin Wei Xi humphed lightly, her voice displeased, “my Prince, you haven’t said anything. Do you really think that?”
Gu Hui Yan chuckled. He poked the tassel behind Lin Wei Xi’s ear and said, “Look at you. You like to think too much and end up in a bad mood. But when someone brings it up, you don’t let them contradict you. It’s too hard to understand your authoritarian way of doing things and that makes it difficult for others to figure out your thoughts and words.”
“Who said I’m authoritarian?” Lin Wei Xi raised her head. When he looked at her, she happened to catch his gaze. A smile bloomed in Gu Hui Yan’s eyes, “you see? And you still deny it?”
“I…” Lin Wei Xi was speechless and couldn’t hold back from explaining herself, “my Prince, you can’t think that I’m a careless person just because I embarrassed myself in front of you several times. I’m very neat and orderly when it comes to my work.”
“I know.” Gu Hui Yan couldn’t help laughing. He’d barely said anything and she immediately became anxious. After he finished laughing, he said, “Of course I know you have the ability. Everyone can see the changes you’ve made to the residence. I’m very thankful to you for your tireless work at solving the residence’s mess.”
Although Lin Wei Xi still looked displeased, the corners of her mouth obviously curved. You could insult her, but you could never insult her management skills. She was beside herself with joy at Prince Yan’s praise, but in front of her idol, she hid her feelings a little and pretended to be nonchalant as she said, “I only spent a few more hours on it. My work isn’t that good, so please don’t laugh at me, Prince Yan.”
Gu Hui Yan finally couldn’t hold back his laughter. He ruffled Lin Wei Xi’s hair and her neat bun immediately became undone. He set her on the ground with little effort and stood up as well, “You’re doing a good job. No need to be bothered by what others say. That’s all nonsense.”
His hands were very steady. Even as he hugged her, he still held her firmly in place. Lin Wei Xi stood there and only realized then that his words were in response to her previous question.
She wasn’t blindly arrogant, nor did she have high expectations but was incompetent. Her mood lifted. She quickly caught up to Gu Hui Yan, her voice lively, “my Prince, about the book we didn’t finish last time…”
“It’s time to prepare for dinner. After dinner, the servants who have no more duties to tend to can leave. I’ll continue teaching the book to you.”
“Okay. It’s a promise?”
Gu Hui Yan smiled and stopped. He grabbed her hand, saving her the effort of having to chase him, “Of course, everything is as you will it to be. Don’t worry, these few days are my rare off-days and I’ll have a lot of free time. I’ve rejected many unnecessary invitations to socialize and can certainly finish all the books that you want to read together with you.”
She felt really embarrassed, but she happily responded, “Thank you my Prince.”
It was only after Lin Wei Xi and Gu Hui Yan came out of the study that Wan Yue dared to fall in line behind Lin Wei Xi and whisper, “Princess Consort, the kitchen has sent word that all the food is ready. The dining room has also been properly set up and they’re just waiting for the Prince and Princess Consort.”
Lin Wei Xi said, “they can start preparing the meal. The Prince and I will be there shortly. Right, where are Shizi and Shizi Fei?”
Wan Yue lowered her gaze, not daring to look at the Prince Yan and the Princess Consort’s apparently linked hands, “Shizi Fei came out of the Buddhist sanctum at 5pm, then returned to Qingsong Garden. She’s already waiting in the dining hall with Shizi.”
Lin Wei Xi nodded and said nothing else. Wan Xing had already prepared a cloak and the hand stove. Seeing Lin Wei Xi coming out of the study, she quickly stepped forward to help her into her clothes. It wasn’t as complicated for Gu Hui Yan to get ready as Lin Wei Xi. He didn’t take long to put on an overcoat, but she was still sorting herself out. Gu Hui Yan didn’t wait outside as other people did. Instead, he stood by the door and quietly watched her put on a large cloak. The fluffy collar surrounded her face as she stood absent-mindedly, letting the maid fasten the gold buckles. After that, she took the hand stove and walked towards him, “my Prince.”
He reached out to straighten the fluffy white velvet around her neck. Lin Wei Xi’s palm-sized face was wrapped in fluff. She looked indescribably delicate and romantic.
“Let’s go.”
The two walked hand in hand into the dining hall. When Lin Wei Xi first entered, she intended to walk half a step behind Gu Hui Yan, but he intentionally slowed down and walked into everyone’s line of sight together with her.
When everyone in the room saw them enter, they hurriedly bowed and greeted them. Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran also greeted them one after the other, “Father. Mother.”
Gu Hui Yan nodded indifferently and amiably, and said, “You’re excused, you can sit down.”
Gao Ran stood up to follow Lin Wei Xi, her eyes lowered slightly. Lin Wei Xi glanced at her from the corner of her eye and chuckled to herself. During the meal, Gao Ran served Lin Wei Xi food using the serving chopsticks as usual. Lin Wei Xi said, “Shizi Fei has spent the last few days copying books. It’s hard work, so you may take a break.”
“I don’t dare.” Gao Ran intended to decline but Lin Wei Xi interrupted her with a smile, “no need to say anything. It’s rare for the entire family to have a reunion dinner during New Years. Just sit down. You will have a temporary break from copying texts tomorrow. Focus on preparing Qingsong Garden for the New Year. It’s never too late to show your filial piety, but you can’t neglect Shizi during the New Year.”
A temporary break. Gao Ran thought of the message the maid had delivered and felt wronged, but she had to gratefully thank Lin Wei Xi on the surface. The inner courtyard was Lin Wei Xi’s responsibility. When she disciplined her daughter-in-law, even Gu Hui Yan couldn’t easily intervene. Only after she finished speaking and Gao Ran took a seat did the servants by the side dare to fetch the utensils and quietly wait on Gao Ran for her meal.
The soft clanking of the bowls and cups sounded with the distinct tinkling of porcelain. Gu Cheng Yao sat and waited for Gao Ran. He stared at the dishes on the dinner table, a little bored, and suddenly realized something, “why haven’t we had any seafood for dinner these past few days?”
The maids who served them by the dinner table paused, then their movements relaxed. Gao Ran quickly glanced at Lin Wei Xi, raising her eyebrows like she was watching a play.
Everyone in the Residence knew that Prince Yan liked freshwater fish. But due to her grudge against the previous Princess Consort Shen, Lin Wei Xi had one-sidedly decided to remove most of the seafood from the annual banquet, and even changed their everyday menu. Now that someone had asked about it, and that someone was Gu Cheng Yao, there would no doubt be better results.
Lin Wei Xi suddenly became a little curious when she heard this. She put down her chopsticks and turned to look at Gu Cheng Yao, “seafood is rare in winter and sometimes it’s inevitable that it’s not fresh. It’s not uncommon to remove them. Shizi, why do you ask?”
Their eyes met. Ever since Lin Wei Xi married into the household, she rarely looked at him so seriously. Normally, she’d either maintain her image as stepmother and avoid looking at him, or she’d look at him cynically with ridicule in her eyes. Such an earnest and serious expression was really rare. Gu Cheng Yao looked at Lin Wei Xi’s bright black pupils and lost himself momentarily. He quickly came back to himself and said with a serious expression, “although seafood is rare in winter, they are father’s favourite and it’s something we naturally can’t be short on. When my mother was alive, the residence always had fish, shrimp, crabs and other animals in stock.”
Even now, Gu Cheng Yao still staunchly believed that Gu Hui Yan liked fresh seafood. Lin Wei Xi didn’t know what to say. If she remembered correctly, in her previous life, when Gu Cheng Yao occasionally mentioned Prince Yan’s preferences, he specifically mentioned that this was something Princess Consort Shen had told him. If this was the impression he got from his biological mother when he was a child, it definitely wouldn’t be easy to correct. But regarding things like meals, as long as Gu Cheng Yao paid a little attention, he’d know by the third meal that Prince Yan, who was rumoured to love seafood, didn’t actually eat it at all.
And the funny thing was that Gu Cheng Yao never suspected that something was wrong. Everyone else received instructions from the master and continued to steadily spread this wrong information. Now Gu Cheng Yao was even saying it in front of Prince Yan himself.
Gu Hui Yan’s expression was calm and he made no comment. Even if he heard his son forcing his “preference”, his expression didn’t fluctuate. He wasn’t someone who liked to declare things about himself, and the wrong perception had continued for more than ten years. If she corrected it now, not only would it embarrass Gu Cheng Yao, the entire Residence would also make a fuss. This wasn’t anything important so there was no need to get everyone involved.
There was a moment of silence at the dinner table. Lin Wei Xi put down her chopsticks and calmly took the handkerchief from Wan Xing, gently patting the corners of her lips. Her voice was as light as a feather, “My health isn’t good. The imperial physician said that I can’t eat too much food that triggers illnesses so that I avoid contracting a chronic disease. Hence, I decided to remove it.”
Gu Cheng Yao choked. He paused for a moment and finally said solemnly, “This son has been rude.”
Lin Wei Xi didn’t care and only Gu Hui Yan glanced at her lightly. This little miss was sometimes especially irritating, and sometimes she was incredibly sharp.
Chapter 55: Proud and Wilful
Prince Yan had returned. Everyone from the Duke Ying Residence was too scared to continue sitting. Lin Wei Xi sent everyone out out of courtesy. She politely said in passing, “Senior Lady, are you leaving now? It wasn’t easy for you to visit the Prince’s Residence. Aren’t you going to meet Shizi Fei?”
There was no reason not to see their daughters when the maiden family visited. But the situation today was different from normal. The senior Duke Ying Lady and Prince Yan were meeting face to face and she just wanted to leave as soon as possible. She didn’t want to remain in the Residence any longer. The senior Lady said, “no need. The Duke Residence and Prince Residence have a good relationship. We will have many opportunities to meet in the future, so no need to rush. On the contrary, we’ve disturbed the Princess Consort too long. You still need to set up lunch. This old Lady won’t disturb you any longer.”
“Senior Lady, you’re too polite.” Lin Wei Xi smiled and asked out of the blue, “in your opinion, senior Lady, how should I deal with Shizi Fei, who hasn’t finished copying The Classics of Filial Piety? The New Year is just around the corner and she can’t continue to stay in the Buddhist sanctum. Should I just leave it at that?”
That was indeed what the senior Duke Ying Lady thought. Wasn’t this something everyone tacitly agreed to and then swept under the rug? However, when Lin Wei Xi openly talked about it in front of everyone like this, no matter how shameless they were, the Duke Ying Residence couldn’t say “let’s just leave it at that”. The senior Lady could only brace herself and say, “How is that acceptable! She’s made a mistake, so how can she stop halfway? Once the New Year has passed, have her go back and continue copying.”
Lin Wei Xi made an “Oh”. She thought to herself that one grew more experienced and knowledgeable as they grew older, but it was a pity that she saw through the senior Lady’s ploy. It was useless to play the trick on her. She smiled and asked sweetly and bluntly, “what date is considered after the New Years? It’s too vague. I’m afraid of making a mistake. Senior Lady, it would be good to clearly explain which day you’re referring to.”
The second Gao Madam’s jaw dropped and she looked up at Lin Wei Xi in amazement as if she’d grown two heads. The senior Duke Ying Lady was already gnashing her teeth a little, “The seventh day of the New Year. After the People’s Day, when the Kitchen God returns to the Heavens.”
“Alright.” Lin Wei Xi responded with a smile, “Then I’ll follow the senior Lady’s instructions and have Shizi Fei continue copying texts in the Buddhist sanctum on the eighth day of the New Year. I will inform Shizi Fei. Senior Lady, second Gao Madam, do you want to wait for her?”
“No need.” The corners of the senior Duke Ying Lady’s lips stiffly pulled down and she said, “We’re leaving now. No need to see us out, Princess Consort.”
Lin Wei Xi really stopped at the courtyard entrance, smiled politely, and had the maid send them out. Normally, she ought to have walked them out a little, but Prince Yan was inside. Even if she left him to send off the guests, no one from the Duke Ying Residence dared to accept it.
Lin Wei Xi stood around the entrance and returned to the room when it was time. Gu Hui Yan’s expression hadn’t looked right when he returned earlier. What was the problem?
She didn’t see him when she entered the room and asked the maid on standby, “Where is the Prince?”
The maid bowed and whispered, “the Prince is in the study.”
She headed to the side room. She stood at the door and saw Gu Hui Yan standing in front of the bookshelf organizing his library. The Eastern side room was now a study, but it was actually unused. Now that the Prince had moved the books he frequently used back to the inner courtyard and the Princess Consort had put her things in it, the side room was too cramped. Naturally the study needed to be expanded. The East side room now opened to the veranda at the back. New windows were installed with clear coloured glass. The entire study was spacious and neat.
Lin Wei Xi might’ve contributed to the spaciousness. After all, it’d been her idea to open all the windows from every direction, but the neatness was entirely because of Gu Hui Yan. Lin Wei Xi wasn’t a messy person. After all, her family background and education were good. She wasn’t one to leave her things lying around. But Gu Hui Yan’s OCD was severe. His books had to be of the same height, aligned in the same direction, separated based on their different categories. No matter which direction one looked from, the books were neatly arranged in a straight line.
When Lin Wei Xi walked through the door, she couldn’t help pausing. Prince Yan had laid out everything so neatly that it made it difficult for her to wade through. She really felt like a huge mess.
Gu Hui Yan had long since heard Lin Wei Xi’s footsteps. He waited for a while but found that it’d stopped. He turned around to see her leaning by the door with a strange expression on her face. He was amused by that wacky expression, and the solemn expression on his face livened up a little, “Why aren’t you coming in? What are you doing by the door?”
“My Prince, you’ve organized everything here into a clear order. Won’t I mess it up once I enter?”
“At worst I’ll just arrange it again. It’s not a problem.” Gu Hui Yan looked at her and smiled, reaching his hand out to her, “Come here.”
Lin Wei Xi actually leaned forward. She took the book in his hand, looked up at him, and smiled crookedly, “my Prince, although you say it’s not a hindrance, I’m still afraid that you’ll secretly blame me. I’ll give you a hand, so you definitely can’t do that.”
He smiled and acquiesced. He said, “Then I’ll have to thank you for the trouble.”
Lin Wei Xi and Gu Hui Yan stood side by side in front of the tall and solid red sandalwood bookshelf that faintly gave off a distinct woody fragrance. Gu Hui Yan held the book in one hand, quietly and calmly returning it to its proper place. The setting sun passed through the coloured windows and landed on him, lighting his profile with a layer of golden light. He looked more like a god descending to the mortal realm, handsome and refined. The orange sun shone on his hands, outlining his slender and well proportioned hands, while the light calluses on his fingers and palms quietly reflected his strength.
Lin Wei Xi became entranced as she watched. When he saw that she wasn’t responding, he repeated himself more seriously, “Questions and Replies between Tang Taizong and Li Weigong.”
She woke up from her trance. She quickly pulled the book from her arms and handed it over to him.
The atmosphere was harmonious between the two of them as one handed over the book while the other placed it on the shelf. Although Lin Wei Xi felt that she wasn’t being very helpful and suspected that she was slowing him down, she shamelessly gave herself credit for organizing the library with Gu Hui Yan. The atmosphere in the study was harmonious. Lin Wei Xi asked as she searched for a book, “my Prince, were you angry earlier?”
His hand paused imperceptibly and he turned to straighten the spine of the book while looking away, “No. Why do you ask?”
“It’s nothing. It just felt like you were in a bad mood.”
Gu Hui Yan glanced down at her and said lightly, “How old are you to know how to read a person?”
“What’s wrong with being young? Can I not be born naturally intelligent and talented?” Lin Wei Xi disliked that he always talked about how young she was and couldn’t help mumbling to herself, “isn’t it because I always see you that I have to ask. Otherwise, who will take care of you?”
Gu Hui Yan glanced lightly at her. After a while, he couldn’t hold back his smile.
He rarely actually revealed his emotions, especially emotions that exposed his true thoughts, like anger and displeasure. He actually hadn’t intended to bring this up, but who knew he’d be seen through by his delicate and bad-tempered little wife. He didn’t think it was because his many years of martial arts training had regressed. Perhaps, as Lin Wei Xi said, the two of them lived together and were intimate, so the small changes in his expression that even his political opponents couldn’t discern couldn’t be hidden from the person who shared his bed.
Lin Wei Xi saw Gu Hui Yan’s smile and the pressure around him eased. She felt encouraged and tried to sound him out, “Is it because of Gao Chen?”
No one knew where Gao Chen had learned that “good habit” of eavesdropping in other people’s homes. And he’d almost gotten away with it. If Gu Hui Yan hadn’t suddenly returned and wasn’t more vigilant than the average person, perhaps Lin Wei Xi still wouldn’t know that what she’d said had been heard word for word and could be instantly passed on to Han Shi and even Gao Ran.
Lin Wei Xi thought that Gu Hui Yan felt displeased about catching someone eavesdropping in his own residence. But he laughed and shook his head, “Of course not. Why do you think so?”
Even if eavesdropping was a vulgar and lowly thing to do, Gao Chen wasn’t even a speck of sand to Gu Hui Yan. Why would he be worried or displeased with someone so unremarkable? The number of people who could affect him could be counted on one hand. And now, another had been added.
Gu Hui Yan looked down at Lin Wei Xi. She was still ignorantly pondering about the culprit that had caused his mood to deteriorate. When she mentioned Gao Chen, she couldn’t help thinking of the Heavenly Book and how he’d inherit the Duke Residence in the future. Her heart pounded and she couldn’t help asking, “my Prince, what do you think of Gao Chen?”
“Him?” Gu Hui Yan hadn’t expected Lin Wei Xi to suddenly ask about him. He was just a seven to eight year old shu grandson from the Duke Ying Residence. Gu Hui Yan didn’t think much of that child. Hearing Lin Wei Xi’s question, he thought about it and said, “he flatters people too much and is unreliable.”
His verdict was completely different from the ending that Lin Wei Xi saw in the book. But Prince Yan’s judgment of people was never wrong. So why was there such a huge discrepancy? She was curious, so she asked, “my Prince, why do you think that? Is it because of his eavesdropping?”
“No, it’s not. Those who are successful don’t bother with such trivial matters. What does it matter if he justifies his tricks and eavesdrops on someone else’s conversation. But whether he truly has a noble or a deceitful character, all those who succeed have, without exception, perseverance and clear goals. But he’s too shallow and all he thinks about is how to ingratiate himself to the tastes of those around him. I don’t know this child’s whole story, but he’s most likely adept at pleasing the women of the inner courtyard and has only been exposed to those in his family. He’ll be good to have in power struggles, but he’ll never be able to expand his influence.”
Lin Wei Xi suddenly saw the light when she heard this. It was no wonder that even though Gao Chen would indeed rely on the help of his sister and brother-in-law in the future to become the Duke despite being a shu son, the Duke Ying Residence didn’t stand out. He completely relied on the glory of his in-laws. It wasn’t inconsistent for Gao Chen to become the Duke despite being incompetent. Coming out as the winner of a family power struggle didn’t mean he could lead the family to prosperity. The saying “a person’s personality can be determined at three” didn’t pop out of thin air. With a single meeting, Gu Hui Yan’s assessment resolved her long-standing confusion.
Lin Wei Xi had been very uncomfortable that Gao Chen would inherit the Duke Ying Residence. After listening to Gu Hui Yan, she wanted the current timeline to follow the Heavenly Book even less.
If Gao Chen were really a talented person, then there was a limit to how much she could dislike him due to her personal grudges. But if he couldn’t bring prosperity to the Duke Ying Residence, maybe even leading the family to linger in the status quo and slip into the abyss of stagnation, then Lin Wei Xi had no reason to sit by and watch someone incompetent, someone she hated, become the head of the Duke Residence.
Lin Wei Xi looked down and couldn’t help thinking about her cousins from the branch families who were exemplary in virtue and academics. It didn’t matter to her whether the person who inherited the position of Shizi from her father was an adopted relative from a branch family who didn’t share the same parent as her, or her shu younger brother. After her rebirth, she’d vowed to draw a line with her past. Her identity, status, past glory, and even dowry had been buried together with Gao Xi’s death, and everyone in the Duke Ying Residence was no longer her maiden family. Even if she had approached Princess Royal Shou Kang out of selfishness, she had used another identity and she didn’t intend to divulge the secret that she was Gao Xi.
That’s why Lin Wei Xi really had nothing to do with her past life anymore. The Duke Ying Residence’s fate had nothing to do with her. But the Duke Ying Residence had once raised her after all. A generous lifestyle since childhood, an advanced education, and the pile of gold and jade spent on her had all been given to her by her family. It would be very low of her to enjoy the shelter of her family, and then curse them out the moment she got married. Although Lin Wei Xi had already died and was now reborn, and wasn’t involved, she still wanted to do her part for the family that had once birthed her and raised her. The least she could do was watch the Duke Ying Residence’s progression while she was alive.
Lin Wei Xi quickly went through the people from the branch families and tried to choose a child who was suitable in every aspect. But this kind of thing couldn’t be decided in a hurry. She raised her head and saw Gu Hui Yan looking down at her, his gaze deep, “What are you thinking about?”
Lin Wei Xi blinked. She reached out to hug his arm, smiled innocently, and refused to say anything. He couldn’t do anything about it so he let it slide.
If he really wanted to know, he didn’t need to ask her. He let her play dumb and act coquettishly because he didn’t feel like investigating it.
Lin Wei Xi had initially been properly helping and handing over the books. But she later didn’t feel like answering, so she simply clung onto Gu Hui Yan. She was so distracting that it was impossible to organize the bookshelves. Fortunately, the books were more or less tidied up and all he needed was one hand to finish the job. Gu Hui Yan unhurriedly organized the books, his other hand wrapped around Lin Wei Xi’s waist. He unwittingly asked, “The scenery outside is nice but you want to stay in the room with me to tidy up books. Isn’t it boring? “
“No, it’s not boring.” Lin Wei Xi couldn’t make heads or tails of his question, “why would you think I’m bored? It’s rare for you to have so much free time. To be able to do something together with you… although you did most of it, I’m actually having a good time.”
Gu Hui Yan lowered his head to see Lin Wei Xi resting her head against his shoulder, her fine chin slightly raised, proudly and wilfully confident in her conviction. He smiled slightly, his heart slowly relaxing. This wasn’t actually the answer he wanted to hear. Lin Wei Xi didn’t understand what it was he’d been trying to sound out. Sometimes she didn’t even realize he was probing her. But what did it matter? She was already his wife. Before thinking about the issue of providing for her in old age, she’d be spending much more time together with him. So there was no need to investigate the reason why she chose to marry him.
Gu Hui Yan could understand her reasoning at that time. Because Gao Ran had decided to promise her to someone else and said something that provoked her. Lin Wei Xi refused to be overpowered, just like an unmarried little miss refusing to be oppressed by her sister. Gao Ran had flaunted her status as Shizi Fei, so Lin Wei Xi married someone of a higher status out of spite. Gu Hui Yan knew that she’d been acting rashly from the start and he was merely a tool, a way out, to her. But it didn’t matter. He could be a way for her to climb the social ladder precisely because he was at the top of the social ladder. His achievements and glory were a part of him.
What’s done is done. They were already married, the marriage consummated, and the little miss really enjoyed playing the role of the Prince Yan Consort. It wasn’t impossible for him to provide her a long life where she lived proudly and happily.
Moon Jellyfish 