Chapter 176: Violent Hate (Edited)
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated Pill Bug
Edited by Gumihou
Gumihou: A character had triggered the automatic protection under USMiC. See if you can spot them
While the Emperor was escorted back to the palace, there were no assassination attempts or any other dramatic events that often occur in novels and legends. Jin Fengju personally watched the Emperor enter the study, and only then did he let out a sigh of relief and took his leave. The Emperor chuckled and said, “We actually wanted to keep you here, but you still have guests to attend to at home. It’s fine, you may leave. Do not forget to attend court tomorrow. We only fear that these leisurely days have made you forget that you are still an official of Our Great Ning Empire.”
Jin Fengju quickly knelt down and said, “This official is filled with trepidation and dares not forget the heavy burden this official bear as an official of the Great Ning Empire.”
The Emperor’s gaze flickered, and he nodded with a smile. “That’s good. Keep these words firmly in your heart, and everything will be fine in the future, just as it has always been. Alright, you may leave now.”
“Yes, this official will comply with Your Majesty’s orders, this official and will take his leave,” Jin Fengju replied. He then backed out of the study and happened to encounter Li Dezheng, who had personally come with tea. Jin Fengju smiled and said, “Eunuch Li, if something like this happens again, please try to persuade His Majesty. Who can endure such a sudden event? I cannot imagine what kind of chaos is happening at my estate even now.”
Li Dezheng chuckled and replied, “Who says I did not try and persuade? Does the Young Marquis not understand our Emperor’s temperament? This servant knew that your residence wasn’t prepared, so this servant specifically mentioned it to the Emperor. This servant suggested that it would be better to go to the Prince’s palaces since you and the Duke were not in your estate. However, His Majesty did not agree. Young Marquis, your favour and prestige have truly reached the heavens. Except for the princes, no other officials had enjoyed such favour and grace.”
Jin Fengju laughed and said, “Indeed, I am grateful for the Emperor’s kindness. It’s just that this visit was far too sudden. If we had been informed a few months in advance, we could have made much better preparations.”
After exchanging a few more words with Li Dezheng, this chief eunuch, who had been serving at the Emperor’s side for many years and had been observing from the side with cold, calculating eyes all that while, also understood the significance of this visit. He knew that the position of the crown prince was almost certain to fall into the hands of Prince Rong. As for the power behind this move? Was it not as clear as a mirror? Therefore, he took care to especially flatter Jin Fengju.
After leaving the palace, Jin Fengju hurried back home and went straight to Health & Longevity Court. As he entered, he heard a commotion inside. He quickly walked in and saw Huo’shi, Cui’shi, and others had also arrived and were standing in a group with Jiang Wanying. As concubines, they were not qualified to be in the same room as the Emperor and could only show their faces after the Emperor had left. The women were standing together, facing off against Fu Qiuning.
“What’s going on here? Are you all massing together to attack someone?” Jin Fengju quickly approached and found Fu Qiuning with an indifferent expression on her face. When he appeared, she turned to him with a smile that wasn’t really a smile, “Lord Husband may ask them about it. I fear they are on the verge of tearing my flesh off and feasting on my bones.”
Jiang Wanying’s smile was both coquettish and flirtatious, “Elder Sister really knows how to make jokes. Seeing how the Emperor praised Elder Sister, we merely begged for a few more details out of envy. How could we ever dare to tear off Elder Sister’s flesh or feast on her bones? Lord Husband would be the first to reprimand us. Did everyone see how protective he is of Elder Sister? I had thought that heroes saving beauties in distress only happens in place, [b] but lo, I am now witnessing it with my own eyes. The hero coming to rescue the beauty!”
Jin Fengju was not at all interested in twisting words with these women. He sneered and said, “It’s good that you know that I’m protecting her. You should also learn to restrain yourselves. It’s only been a few days since Xu’shi left, and you’re already thinking about making trouble? If you wish to attack someone, you should go after softer persimmons.”
Ignoring the displeased expressions on [c1] the other women in his harem, he turned to Fu Qiuning to ask, “Where did the children go?”
[c2] Fu Qiuning looked at him, then at the angry secondary wife and concubines, then at that despicable so-called husband of hers. She debated calling out his behaviour, but then said, “They went to play in the inner court. Has the Emperor returned to the palace?”Jin Fengju nodded and said, “He has returned. I’m afraid this sudden event has given the people in the estate quite a fright. I shall go and check on Elder Madam. You should find a place to rest for a while. If it is too noisy, you can go into the Old Madam’s room and sleep there.” As he spoke, he headed towards Old Madam Jin’s side.
Once he was gone, Jiang Wanying sneered and said, “Elder Sister, you’ve truly become the apple of his eye. To receive so much consideration even on little details like this. Why don’t you hurry over to the back room and rest? Please don’t waste Lord Husband’s efforts.”
Fu Qiuning watched her resentful gaze and [d] sudden pity welled up in her heart for this poor woman who had loved this scum since her girlhood. She slowly sat down on a nearby chair and said, “Dear sister, why don’t you sit down for a bit? It is not good for you to be so angry all the time. You of all people should know that Lord Husband’s feelings are thin and what kind of woman he favours. Come, let us sit together and wait for him.”
[d1] How could such an intelligent woman turn into this pitiful and spiteful creature? Clearly, this patriarchal society was too poisonous for women, to turn them into what was basically a group of vicious chickens fighting for the favour of one cock. [a] “Elder Sister, please spare us. If Lord Husband turns back and sees us quarrelling, he might suspect that we are causing you trouble. Younger Sister cannot bear that accusation.”Jiang Wanying’s body was trembling faintly with anger. She, a dignified granddaughter of Duke Lu, was being suppressed by a mere shu-born daughter of a feudal king’s heir. Ultimately, who was the prime culprit behind all that? Her gaze involuntarily turned towards the great-grandmother and great-grandchildren on the couch who were chatting and laughing.
Hatred flared in her heart, as she viciously cursed: Don’t be too pleased with yourself. Do you think you have won? There will come a day… a day will come when I trample upon all of you. Dear Cousin, if you are unkind to me, don’t blame me for being unjust!
“If you do not want the master to suspect any trouble, then perhaps it is best if we stay away from each other?” [c]
Fu Qiuning looked sympathetically at Jiang Wanying, thinking: Yes, considering how Jin Fengju likes to misinterpret things and jumping to conclusions, it is probably best if they reduce contact with each other. [a1] [d1] Instead of looking appeased, Jiang Wanying’s face contorted and she had to force herself to calm down: Hmph, what was the point of fighting with this woman? She needed to broaden her perspective. She would topple this smug and self-satisfied Jing Dukedom from their lofty peaks. How dare they look down on her? One day, they will all fall from grace. When the time comes, not just this woman, even her cousin would have to bow down and beg for her forgiveness. The thought of making the usually proud Jin Fengju grovel before her lifted her mood considerably. She cast a final cold glance at Fu Qiuning before turning away and leaving.
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Something… is not right.
Fu Qiuning watched Jiang Wanying’s retreating figure [b1] and sighed. She recognised that look in her eyes. It was the classic look of a ‘Hell Hath no Fury like a Woman Scorned’. She had seen this look many times on television since many an actress was praised or hated by the netizens for successfully pulling this look on screen. Now that Jin Fengju had upset this woman… [c3]
She sighed again. Have this ‘love’ addled man completely forgotten about Jiang Wanying’s background? She was the precious duke’s granddaughter and had connections as the family’s financial overseer. There are some people one should never piss off, and those are: a jealous woman and a finance person. Jin Fengju managed to do both.
Personally, she had no sympathy for Jin Fengju or his family in general. Her greatest concern was for the twins and… herself. Her maids had already defected to the other side and one already married out, so she owed them no loyalty, really. Should she start sewing gold and silver beads into the hems of shabby-looking clothes just in case? If Jin Fengju is dragged down by a scorned woman, she must make sure to leave a route for herself and the twins to live.
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Jin Fengju exchanged a few words with the Old Madam and then went out to entertain the guests. That day, the Emperor visited the Jing Dukedom incognito, and it was easy to imagine what kind of storm and waves this honour would stir among the visitors. Jin Fengju was busy entertaining guests until late at night before he could return to Elegant Mansion. When he saw that the light was still on, his feet lightened, and he eagerly stepped in… and was welcomed by a sleepy-looking Yu Jie.
“Master, you have returned.”
“… oh,”
“The madam tasked this maid to wait for your return.”
“I… see,” he looked around for a moment. “Wake me early tomorrow, I need to go to court.”
“This maid understands. Also, the madam had personally prepared this sobering pill for Master,” Yu Jie’s eyes were bright as she presented the pill to the master.
Jin Fengju’s heart warmed and he took the pill. After changing his clothes and a brief wipe down, he climbed into bed to happily hug his fragrant wife.
The next morning, Yu Jie quietly sneaked into the room and shook Fu Qiuning awake. This obviously pissed her Madam off, but she was doing her mistress a service, ah! Think how happy the master would be to see her face first thing in the morning. Especially since he had missed seeing her last night.
Even she, a dumb maid, could feel how disappointed Master was to see that the one waiting for him last night was not Madam!
In the end, Fu Qiuning stumbled into the kitchen, much to Jian Feng and the cook, Aunt Qin’s surprise. The cook hurried over to greet the mistress and said, “Madam, why don’t you sleep a bit longer? It gets bright very early in the summer, but it’s still early in terms of time.”
Fu Qiuning tsked, “I wonder about that too.”
Yu Jie, who had followed dutifully after her mistress, smiled and hastily answered, “The Master has to attend court! What is for breakfast today~”
Jian Feng beamed and said, “Nothing special, just the usual, some white porridge, a few rice dumplings. Aunt Qin is about to fry some Youtiao and this maid has already sent Xiao Si to buy soy milk from the street. Although it is bought from the street, the taste is similar to the soy milk we get when we grind soybeans at home. We have also prepared a few small dishes and plan to boil some salted duck eggs. Would Madam like to add anything else?”
Fu Qiuning blinked, disgruntled, and said, “No, that’s more than enough.” A ‘standard’ noble house breakfast was already luxurious enough, moreover, she did not have to make anything herself, so why was Yu Jie being so nosy and dragging her out of bed? Still, she sighed at the thought of tasting ancient-era soy milk. In modern times, how could store-bought soy milk compare to freshly ground soy milk at home? And at that time, there was no need to worry about food hygiene, nor worry about random harmful substances added to the food. In a way, this was one of the great advantages of transmigrating back to ancient times. [1]
Of course, along with the advantages, there were also many disadvantages. Life without computers, electric lights, running water, modern comforts, or flush toilets was indeed too inconvenient. Fortunately, when Fu Qiuning was in the modern world, she was deeply obsessed with traditional opera and not so interested in the Internet. Otherwise, if she had become addicted to gaming, life in that ancient era would have been truly torturous.
Still, she often thought about the two novels she was following. Over the years, the author must have already completed them, right? But for her, they had become eternal black holes, causing her heartache just thinking about it.
[Gumihou: #SadforJiangWanying ] [a] If the readers need any evidence on how Fu Qiuning had spontaneously transformed into Jiang Qiuning/Fu Wanying:
…in such a patriarchal society, when women had to rely on men to survive smoothly, the feeling of being arrogant and domineering through favouritism was indeed satisfying. At the very least, looking at the gazes of Jiang Wanying and the others, she felt quite happy.
[a1] Remove Jiang QiuningGumihou: I guess it’s a matter of time before I have to do this
Fu Qiuning: Bless thee for thy work
[b] Give Jiang Wanying better dialogue to show how hurt she is, and how on the verge of insanity she is without blatantly just going ‘oh look, a crazy bitch’ [c] Ignoring reality? Gumi won’t let you: [c1] Gumi reminding everyone that JFJ is ignoring his ‘other wives and concubines’, not some neutral ‘others’ [c2] Have FQN look at JFJ incredulously at [c1] behaviour [c3] Remind everyone of JWY’s status and have FQN draw reasonable conclusions in place of ‘bitch, my lady bits tingling’ [d] #SadforJiangWanying [d1] Instead of making FQN into a righteous bitch, have her be sympathetic, but JWY just misinterprets all her actions as negative. Similar to how JFJ interprets all of FQN’s actions to ‘she likes me~~’
Pill Bug TL Notes:
[1] I have to object to this. Diarrhoea from food poisoning was a major cause of death in ancient times – it was why beer and wine culture was so widespread, because drinking raw unboiled water often lead to illness(they never realised they had to cook their water too…), especially infant death (that’s why they have a 1-year old naming ceremony and celebration because it was very common for babies to die before reaching 1 year old. Not naming a potentially dead baby saves them from some heartbreak). Fermenting stuff created alcohol and killed the microorganisms, leading to safe drinks. Nonexistent handwashing before food prep also contributed to all that disease and infant mortality.Also, no random harmful substances? Silly woman, we’re discovering traditional foods that cause cancer in modern days (chewing betel nut with limewater for example. Also, Koreans have 10x gastric cancer risk compared to US males due to Koreans’ high salt kimchi diet). The random substances were always in them, they just didn’t know about them yet.
