Higher Level Wife – 162 – Inquiries

Chapter 162: Inquiries

Author: White Pear Flower

Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/

Translated by Pill Bug

Gumihou: Today’s word of the day is ‘Indifferent’

 

“How could I make Father feel sorry if the cut is not big? Mother, don’t worry. I’m fine. As the saying goes, One could not catch a wolf if you spare your child [1]. I don’t like seeing those two cheap seeds in the school hall. If this injury could help Mother clear out that woman and expel those cheap seeds from school, this cut is worth it.”

Jin Zhenyi was casually sitting on the bed, nibbling on an apple as blood continued to drizzle down his face. Now and then, he would use his hand to wipe the blood off.

“Good, Zhenyi is truly mother’s good child,” Concubine Xu was both relieved and happy. Thinking that: My son is truly the best and most attentive. Just look at the way that shameless Fu Qiuning happily raising those pair of cuckoos. Tch, surely there’s nothing but bitter water in their black bellies, right?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a maid outside the courtyard who almost shrieked, “The Young Marquis has arrived!”

Jin Zhenyi was so frightened his soul almost flew away. He jerked his hand and the half-gnawed apple flew across the room to land somewhere in the room. He quickly pulled up the covers and huffed and puffed a few times to make himself look weak and breathless.

Right at that moment, Jin Fengju came through the door and into the room. He glanced at the two lesser maids holding the door curtain. The corner of his mouth twisted, revealing an [a] unclear smile.

“One cannot tell just from your look just how loud your voices are. I fear your voices could even cure the death.” He sneered [a] the moment he stepped in. He had already seen the half-gnawed apple rolling under the table.

What kind of person was Jin Fengju? A single look at the gnawed apple with its skin on was enough for him to know that it was eaten by Jin Zhenyi. Because that child had the habit of eating whole apples instead of getting the servants to properly peel and cut them for him. Moreover, the exposed apple flesh still looked bright, with not a hint of brown on it, indicating that the apple had clearly just been bitten.

More thoughts brewed in his heart as he walked towards Jin Zhenyi’s bedside. He looked at Concubine Xu,

“How is he? Lord Husband may take a look for himself. It is the fault of those precious washer woman progeny’s fault,” Concubine Xu continued to cry and sob, but her words were still clear. “Lord Husband, just look. Look at that large cut, how could that little bastard bear to commit such an evil deed? No matter what, it’s still his younger brother, ah. Though they are not from the same womb, they still share the same father, surely there must be some small measure of affection between them? Yet, to move his hand in such an evil way… wuwuwu, Lord Husband, you must attain justice for us mother and son, ah. Otherwise, I too cannot… wuwuwu…”

Jin Feng moved closer to the bed. On cue, Jin Zhenyi weakly opened his eyes and whimpered, “Father…” before fainting away like a wronged person on his deathbed.

“Jin Ming, go to the Imperial Hospital and call for Imperial Doctor Li,” Jin Fengju tapped his palm with his folding fan. He frowned at Xu’shi, “You were so filled with sorrow that you actually forgot to call for a physician? Look at his face, some of the blood had already dried. You can’t even wipe the blood off his face?”

Concubine Xu froze. She had deliberately not called for a physician to bandage the wound. Are you joking? Once the wound was bandaged, how could she show Lord Husband her son’s pitiful, blood-soaked appearance? As for wiping his face, the cut was made to produce lots of blood, the more the better. Wiping it off would mean wiping off her poor son’s efforts.  However, seeing Jin Fengju’s eyes, it was as though the man had seen through everything, she could not help the guilty feeling in her heart as she weakly said, “Indeed, this humble woman… was scared stupid, wuwuwu…”

A sudden commotion from the outside interrupted this act and in came Madam Jiang, Jiang Wanying and a few others. Seeing Jin Fengju on site, Madam Jiang went white with fury and she viciously said, “Do you see it now? Just what kind of injury did Brother Yi receive? You always say they are sensible children. Pei! Blood always tells, aren’t they just like their cheap and vulgar mother? Starting fights over the smallest slights, is this the behaviour of a noble? They must not have the guts to do this until you brought them in. Now look, with you favouring that side, they are all of them becoming more and more lawless.”

Jin Fengju’s answer was an indifferent, “Do not be impatient, Mother. I have not yet investigated the matters properly…”

Concubine Xu suddenly jumped up to scream, “Lord Husband is too biased, what is there to investigate? Our Brother Yi is lying on the bed, bleeding from a wound and yet Lord Husbands still wants to talk about investigating matters properly?  Did our Brother Yi run over and offer to have his head beaten in? Good, good, good, looks like us mother and child no longer have any standing in this family. If Lord Husband is not going to obtain justice for us, I shall go and find that cheap seedling myself. I’m going to hit him head-on and ask just what kind of backing he has? What does he have that allows him to recklessly flaunt himself like this?”

She cried and screamed, her hands tearing at her hair like a mad woman. Jiang Wanying, Madam Jiang, Huo’shi and the rest of the women were inwardly pleased with her performance. Suddenly, Jin Fengju shouted, “Presumptuous! Who taught you to make a fuss like this? I am still here, where are all your feminine virtues? Do you even know what this place is? Be quiet.”

It was very rare for him to become this angry. His suddenly loud voice shocked Xu’shi to silent fear. She should only cry silently on the side, her anguish making her face bitter and swollen. Jin Fengju gave her a disgusted look and said to Jin Ming, “Invite Second Madam over, bring Changfeng too.”

As the person closest to the Young Marquis, Jin Ming understood that matters have blown up quite a bit and hurried off to Elegant Mansion.

Meanwhile, Jiang Wanying helped Madam Jiang into a chair. Though she wore a sad expression on her face, she was secretly happy. She thought: I have not wasted a year’s worth of time planning and hinting for them to make a move. Clearly, these women could not bear seeing Fu’shi in Elegant Mansion and made their move. Isn’t this a most wonderful flare-up? The only downside was that this crude tactic would not escape Cousin’s eyes. However, this downside was no loss either. If this tactic could remove the annoying Xu’shi and Jin Zhenyi, I would consider it an acceptable win. After all, I never expect to kill two birds with one stone. Once Xu’shi is gone, I can slowly clean up Fu Qiuning at my leisure.

Even in her dreams, Concubine Xu never imagined that she would be slowly ground down to become a useful knife through various means by Jiang Wanying for close to half a year. There was nothing but delight in her heart as she thought: The children at school all have their stories in line. Humph, I want to see just how you mother and child plan to argue this matter? As the saying goes, there is no way to argue against a hundred mouths. Haha… Fu Qiuning, want me to let you have Lord Husband’s favour? Pei! What are you? Just a shu-born girl. Jiang Wanying may be an incompetent fool, but I refuse to let you rampage about.

Jin Fengju sat in a chair, slowly sipping at his tea. No one could see through his thoughts. However, it did not look like he was particularly worried about the bedridden Jin Zhenyi. Madam Jiang’s heart was tangled in knots. She had no idea whether this was part of Jiang Wanying’s secret schemes since it was not aimed solely against Fu’shi. It’s best if this scheme could drive Fu Qiuning away, but looking at her son’s expression she could not help the worry brewing in her heart again. She thought: Surely even Fengju would not throw away his own son over that Fu’shi, right? If so, do not blame me for bringing the Old Master in to attain justice for the family.

While she was still thinking hard, having completely forgotten that her beloved son had already thrown a pair of twins away once, someone brought news that Fu Qiuning had arrived with Jing Changfeng and Jin Changjiao. Jin Fengju said, “Let them in.” The curtain lifted and Fu Qiuning stepped through, holding Jin Changfeng and Jin Changjiao hands.

After they greeted Madam Jiang and Jin Fengju, Jin Fengju noticed that Jiang Wanying was seated next to Madam Jiang, so he pointed to the spot next to him and indifferently, “Sit, ba.” Xu’shi looked like she wanted to say something, so he glared at her, making Xu’shi swallow her words back.

After another glance around the room, Jin Fengju turned to the maid next to Concubine Xu, Bai Lu. “You, go and call all the servants to gather at the courtyard. Not a single person is allowed to stand near this house.” He flashed a glance at the maids beside Madam Jiang and Jiang Wanying and spoke in a grave voice, “Unrelated people should all leave.”

As the servants retreated, timid Cui’shi, seeing that a battle of sorts was going to take place also made to leave but Jin Fengju said, “All of you stay here and witness this until the end. Lest someone say that I am biased and unjust.”

Thus, Cui’shi, Lesser Concubine Yue Lan, Cai Lian and Bi Yu stayed behind and stood silently behind Jiang Wanying.

Jin Feng lifted the [a] teacup in his hand aloft in the air. [b] All the better to create an aura of inexplicable importance, impartiality and increasing his coolness points, thought Fu Qiuning absently. This was not her first inner court confrontation. It would be interesting to see how Jin Changfeng would do under such pressure. Right now, with Jin Fengju so heavily biased towards her and the worst fallout for them all was being sent back to Night Breeze Pavilion, this was the best time for Jin Changfeng to make his mistakes. It would do the twins good to see just how shameless and dirty inner court politics was. This was the payment they all have to make so that Jin Fengju could enjoy himself more conveniently.

At any rate, as Jin Fengju held his cup ‘o tea aloft, he looked gravely at Jin Changfeng and said in a dramatically soft voice, “How long did you kneel at school?”

“To reply Father, it was not long, two hours.” Jin Changfeng answered in a solemn voice. Although his head was lowered, his posture remained upright, his little chest perfectly straight and steady. Madam Jiang felt like she was in a trance as she stared at Jin Changfeng. She could not help but see traces of her son on the boy. Fengju always did have that habit of speaking with his chest perfectly straight. Therefore, she could not help but glance over at Jin Fengju.

“Two hours could not be considered short either. Your knees must be all bruised. There’s no need for you to kneel anymore. No matter the reason, it is wrong for you to strike first, understand?” Jin Fengju was still speaking in that neither hurried nor leisurely tone. Xu’shi’s hatred caused her to grind her teeth so much that she nearly cracked them. However, seeing his cool expression, she could not muster up the courage to act out again.

“Why did you hit beat your younger brother?” Jin Fengju finally reached the important bit of questioning. Xu’shi was brimming with eagerness and relief. She had been waiting for this moment. She thought: Say it, say it! Say anything! I already have a bunch of witnesses just sitting here waiting for your to step wrong.

However, to her surprise, Jin Changfeng did not speak.

Jin Fengju also did not appear to be annoyed by the lack of answers. Instead, he repeated the question, only to see Jin Changfeng drop to his knees suddenly and said, “ This son is at fault. Please punish this one. There is no reason.”

“That’s nonsense,” Jin Fengju raised his eyes and gave Jin Changfeng a look. “Is this what your mother teaches you? To hit people for no reason? If that is how she educates you, there is no need for you to remain in Elegant Mansion.”

[b] Here it is, Fu Qiuning thought: The ultimate threat. Do as I say or I will take away your most precious thing. To think that Jin Fengju would do this to a child. Then again, he had already abandoned that child not once, but twice. My dear gentle son, how will you handle this?

As expected, Jin Changfeng’s expression changed. His little fists suddenly clenched tight. After a long time, he finally said quietly, “That’s… this son was angry at Brother Zhenyi for his teasing. After enduring for so long, I could not endure it anymore and… hit him today. Would Father please punish this son.”

“En, that is a slightly more plausible reason,” Jin Fengju nodded slowly. Then, he asked, “What did you use to hit your younger brother?”

“Inkstone.” This time, Jin Changfeng did not hesitate.

“Do you know how badly you hurt your brother?” Jin Fengju’s voice grew harsh. Concubine Xu’s eyes suddenly started shooting sparks.

“Yes, this son… hit brother’s head and a large bump appeared,” Jin Changfeng continued to speak in that serious voice. Naturally, he would never admit to Jin Fengju that he did not regret striking Jin Zhenyi, or that the sight of that bump growing before his very eyes caused the building annoyance stuffing up his heart to dissipate.

 

[Gumihou: I really have to salute the author. She used every single opportunity to shove JFJ into the Cool ML mould. Seriously, with over 150 chapters left, JFJ could still have his redemption arc without the need for artificial fast-tracking tricks. This is all so unnecessary… please let the relationship develop more naturally without putting holes in people’s brains]

 

Pill Bug TL Notes:

 

[1] 舍不得孩子套不着狼 The original Chinese idiom is 舍不得鞋子套不住狼, “You can’t catch the wolf if you won’t spare your shoes (i.e. run so much until your shoes wear out)” but because in Jin Chinese slang, “鞋子” “shoes” are called “孩子” “children”, the idiom got corrupted along the way and became what it is now.

 

[a] Text adjustments: The author seems very determined to make readers very sure that JFJ is very, very, clever derr in action. Unlike FQN who was bestowed with loooong TED Talks, JFJ showed his suaveness through actions. Things like: ‘somewhat mockingly’, ‘inexplicable smile’, and other Cold CEO aura related language.

It’s tedious.

[b] There is a severe lack of Fu Qiuning’s thoughts. Gumi fixed it.

I guess it’s difficult to look cool if the woman you forced to hang out with you have private judgy thoughts.

 

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