Chapter 165: Gratitude
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Gumihou
Proofread by Mori
Gumihou: Very heavily edited
Fu Qiuning: No, no, the word should be corrected. Very heavily corrected, that cheap woman from Unedited Version is NOT me
Gumihou: I will do my best to sift the truth out of the lies
Fu Qiuning: Amitabha
Fu Qiuning looked into Jin Fengju’s sparkling eyes with their treacherous, unfathomable depths and had to look away. Even so, she could not remain silent forever. However, even after searching her thoughts, the only thing she could think to say was, “Pity the parents of the world. The Lord Marquis is plagued by many troubles, this I understand. However, do you believe that by sending the children to me they could be educated as you wish? They are nothing like Feng’er and Jiao’er. Who knows just how much hate they harbour in their hearts against me? How do you expect me to ‘educate’ them?”
Jin Fengju beamed brightly, “Qiuning is a brilliant woman with unparalleled intelligence and method. You have educated Feng’er and Jiao’er so well with limited resources. Naturally, I’m sure you could think of a way to educate Zhenyi and Xiunan. If you are concerned, I shall be by your side as you educate them, what do you think?”
It was all she could do to hide her disgust against this man’s presumptuousness. “In short, you are rewarding me with more work for a job well done?”
“Naturally, I shall reward you in other ways as well~”
Fu Qiuning stared at him for a moment, before scooting away. As Jin Fengju’s face fell, she said, “It is not impossible for me to take in the children. As for educating them, I shall do my best. However, I can never be the children’s mother. Once Xu’shi has settled in the village, arrangements must be made for them to visit her. The Young Marquis may not wish to see that woman’s face ever again, but that is not the case for the children. It is best if she could have a small courtyard of her own somewhere in the estate so that they may see her often. If you can agree to this, I shall agree to take the children.”
Jin Fengju thought for a moment, “That is fine. However, I’m afraid that once Xu’shi returns, she will not have the tenacity you had when you were at Night Breeze Pavilion. Once she’s here, I shall give you the power to manage the household. Otherwise, she would not be able to survive.”
Fu Qiuning suddenly stood up, her face white with anger and her hand trembled.
“Qiuning, Qiuning, what is it-”
“Do you want me to die?” was all she could say through gritted teeth. Hot tears slid bitterly down her cheeks as her body trembled. “You want me to die?”
“No, no, of course not…”
“Is it not enough that you force me out of my sanctuary, bribe all of my servants and roll me up into inner court battles with your other women and put children with good reason to hate me into my courtyard-”
“Qiuning, calm down-”
“Why should I? Why should I calm down when I am being harassed and coerced like this? Why should I calm down? You tell me now! You tell me!”
Jin Fengju’s hands fluttered as his grin faltered. However, he persevered and started chuckling as he reached for the teapot and poured tea. “Come now, look, your husband has personally poured you a cup of tea to thank you for your hard work. Come, have a drink.”
Fu Qiuning looked at this thick-faced man in disbelief. “I dare not. I dare not receive this cup. I fear that the Young Marquis will work me to death. I dare say not even my blood and head would be enough to pay for this cup of tea.”
Finally, realising that Fu Qiuning was truly angry, he suddenly felt annoyed with himself: How could he have forgotten what this woman was like? The one thing she hated was trouble. She values her leisure and though she had lived a destitute life in Night Breeze Pavilion, how hard did he have to work to get her to move into Elegant Mansion? Though she was well-clothed and well-fed now, how many troubles had crossed her courtyard? Once the two children enter her care, educating them was one thing, but how would Madam Jiang, Jiang Wanying, Cui’shi and Huo’shi look at the matter? Who knows how much hatred and jealousy would be poured onto her head?
In all fairness, Jiang Wanying and the rest would definitely be unwilling to take in Jin Zhenyi and Jin Xiunan. However, it was one thing to be unwilling. If they had personally kicked these children out of their courtyard to be picked up like rubbish by others, that would have been fine. However, Jin Fengju had directly taken the children to Elegant Mansion right away. How could it be considered ‘fair’? What could this mean? That the woman he chose to raise these children is beyond virtuous and benevolent? Is that it? How could the women beside Jin Fengju tolerate having such a saint in their midst?
However, though they harboured such hatred within their hearts, it could only stay inside and not a single woman dared to raise any objections. Are you joking? Have you not seen what happened to Xu’shi? Their Lord Husband is generally very kind and amiable, who would have thought he would suddenly lose his temper today and be so terrifying and heartless? After they had some time to calm down, they realised that Jin Fengju only became this way to protect Fu Qiuning, and that made their hatred against her grow even more.
Thus, when Jin Fengju saw that Fu Qiuning was determined not to take this cup of tea, he became more mischievous and pushed the cup over to Qiuning with a chuckle, “Qiuning, you drink this tea. I shall tell you some good news. If you don’t drink it, I won’t say it~”
Fu Qiuning stared at the man, dumbfounded by his callousness. Was he just stupid or insensitive? He had wilfully hurt her so much and yet tried this kind of childish tricks to… what? Coax her? Unable to stand it anymore, she moved away and picked up a half-embroidered purse to work on it, completely ignoring the grinning man.
“Qiuning ah~ don’t be so cruel. It’s really good news, you know? Haven’t you heard the rumours in the Capital lately?” Jin Fengju coughed. However, Fu Qiuning continued to ignore him. He privately cried: Just how did I find this kind of woman as my wife? Normal woman would be dying of curiosity by now, but look at how she is ignoring everything. Helpless, he could only raise his voice and said, “It’s about my brother-in-law’s pregnant lesser concubine. You really don’t want to know? Then, I won’t speak of it.”
Fu Qiuning touched the pattern she had sewn and said, “What of it? I have no interest in your brother-in-law’s women. All this talk about lesser concubines, is that a hint for you to take on another…”
“No, no, no, of course not. Of course not!” Jin Fengju actually jumped up at that.
She sighed and said, “Speak if you must, or go and look at your own children. The two that you just brought in only have one person left to protect them, now that you have sent the other one away to the village.”
“I will tell you the story,” said Jin Fengju still with that grin on his face. “However, you must first drink the tea.”
Fu Qiuning stared listlessly at the cup of tea. The way Jin Fengju had jumped up and down, practically bending backwards and doing acrobatics to avoid acknowledging the harm he had brought into her life had disillusioned her even further. She could only say, “The tea is cold…”
Before she could say anything else, Jin Fengju swiftly swept up the cup, and tossed the tea to the ground with a splash, before handing a second, warm cup of tea to Fu Qiuning with an indulgent chuckle.
“… …” she touched her forehead and closed her eyes.
“Qiuning? Qiuning?”
“Don’t talk to me, you wastrel. I know that you have more money than I could ever dream of, that you had casually bribed all of my maids’ loyalty from me with gold leaves and pearls. That cheap hussy Yu Jie served this Long Jing from the pre-Ming Dynasty just because you’re here and yet, you just threw it to the ground.”
Jin Fengju coughed. He knew he had misstepped again. This was the woman who had lived frugally for… many years. To think that this one careless move would ignite the anger of his beloved like this. Let alone this precious pre-Ming Dynasty Long Jing, he had regularly tossed even more precious tea to the ground…
Ah, but even though he had not gone out much these days, he had done some fairly amazing things! Things that could flip the world upside down! He was bursting with pride over his cleverness, yet, he could not boast about his cunning actions to anyone in this world aside from this woman in front of him. His precious confidante. He must get it off his chest at once!
With this in mind, he giggled and tugged at her hand pleadingly, “Yes, yes, yes, I was wrong. So what? It is merely Long Jing from pre-Ming Dynasty. You just wait, when I go back, I shall bring you a tube of Emerald Green Snow from the Western Lakes bestowed to me by the emperor. Now, that is real treasure. Even the palace only received five or six catties a year, and it all came from the officials who oversaw the tea gardens. Our family only receives three or five [1] liangs each year. Surely that is precious enough?”
Fu Qiuning stared at this man with barely hidden disgust, “So that you can throw it on my floor? No thank you. I shall only serve you cheap tea from now on. Speaking of which,” she stood up and smiled grimly down at him. “Surely my Lord Husband should be anxious to see that his two children are well settled in their new place? [2]”
[3] Jin Fengju’s face fell at her indifference. Was she truly angry? But isn’t it just tea? Moreover, didn’t he offer to compensate her? Why is she still angry? He wanted to coax her, but Fu Qiuning was already walking away. In a panic, he hurried over to block her way.“What are you doing?” Fu Qiuning frowned.
Jin Fengju put his arms around a stiff Fu Qiuning and kissed her cheek, “Now, now, don’t be angry. I won’t throw tea anymore. Don’t be angry. I will tell you my tale too, how about it?”
“Will you take those two children away after your ‘tale’?”
“Well… no.”
“Then, there is no need for you to tell me.”
“Wait, wait,” he more or less picked up Fu Qiuning and settled her on the couch and sat very close to her. “My dear Qiuning, ah.”
Fu Qiuning got off the couch and sat on the other side, further away from him. “I would rather not give the servants a spectacle.”
Since she had made her stance clear, Jin Fengju had no choice but to sit upright and take on the role of a dignified Young Marquis. He tapped a finger on the table and said solemnly, “Right, yes, of course. Brother-in-law has taken that courtesan as his concubine. Fortunately, the child was safe and would arrive safely in this world in another four or five months. Brother-in-law has few male heirs. He had only the two sons from the previous princess consort and one from Elder Sister. If this concubine could add a son for His Highness, that would be a truly great thing.”
Fu Qiuning waited. However, when it was clear that this was the end of his grand boast, she found herself at a loss. What did he expect her to say? Congratulations? What?
“Qiuning! Don’t you think this is wonderful?” Jin Fengju eagerly prompted, clearly waiting to be praised.
“…this humble woman is unclear… the only thing this humble woman could feel is… pity for my sister-in-law. It is unclear if this courtesan woman is fortunate or cunning. Though Elder Sister-in-law is intelligent and wise, she may still be troubled by a cunning woman…”
Jin Fengju waved his hand casually, “We have already investigated. It looked like the suicide was not a clever fake. If the maid had been a step late, she could have truly lost her life. Still, I feel that she is a strong woman.”
Fu Qiuning touched her neck. The original Fu Qiuning had not been that strong. She had died in the end, leaving nothing behind this world aside from her body and her hard-won ‘feminine skills’ for Fu Qiuning…
“Qiuning? What is it?” Jin Fengju looked concerned.
“Oh, nothing. I was just remembering the ghost who had lost her way and ended up in the Night Breeze Pavilion. If Yu Jie had not been diligent, I would have been the hanged ghost that haunted that place. Perhaps, we could have been companions…”
[Gumihou: Ugh, I’m creeped out. Ugh, the heebie-jeebies, ewww, ughh, blegh. Can’t take this MC without a strong dose of syrup and nail polish]
[1] liang – a unit of measurement – about 50 grams. 1/16 of a ‘catty’ [2] In place of ‘ahahaha, the tea poured by Lord Husband is sooo fragrant, just like your farts~’ go with, ‘let’s check on the kids’ [3] Unedited Qiuning was very ‘coquettish’ and shiny butt JFJ ‘loved her very much’
Fu Qiuning: Someone please stab her.
Gumihou: She had been erased from this chapter. Don’t you worry.
Fu Qiuning: Someone stab him too.
Gumihou: That… would be problematic, but I can reveal his asshole. It’s not hard, since his butt is so shiny.
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