Chapter 288: Adultery
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
Gumihou: Since their actions don’t make sense, let’s find a scapegoat to blame.
Fu Qiulan smiled and said, “That is true. Only, the Emperor is getting on with age and I fear for his safety. Recently, there had been some quiet rumours about how the Emperor had been struck by a poisoned arrow on the battlefield. I also heard that the reason why he had not yet returned to the capital was because he still had not recovered from the poison from the arrow that was poisoned.”
[1] “… …” Fu Qiuning was speechless. She thought: Did this woman just mention ‘poison’ three times in her speech? Was this something like a ‘great hint’ for them? [2] In contrast, Jian Feng and Jin Yanfang gasped dramatically. [1] Oh right, those two were here too. After another look around and finding no sensible people next to her, Fu Qiuning said, “Since it is a rumour, best not to spread it around.”After chatting a little more, they all bid Fu Qiulan goodbye and Fu Qiuning escorted her out of Elegant Mansion. [2] When she returned, she found Jian Feng and Jin Yanfang almost bouncing with excitement.
[1] “Did you see the strange sparkle in that woman’s eye? How suspicious, ah! Could it be true?” [1] “It can’t be, can it? It must be lies spread around by the Crown Prince’s people.” [1] “Or, it could be that the Emperor himself had orchestrated this-” [2] From the side, Fu Qiuning poured herself a fresh cup of tea and watched as the two women continued to banter animatedly about the incident. After a while, she excused herself to take a nap after lunch.Whatever the case, once Jin Fengju finds out about Jin Qiulan’s visit, he will have plenty to say. When she woke up later, she decided to visit the Imperial Opera Division. [3] After all, it had been a long time since she had some good artistic company. It was nice speaking with the singers and music composers and getting to know them a bit more.
[4] As it gets dark quickly in late autumn, by the time she reaches Elegant Mansion, the people there have already started lighting lanterns. Only… there were a few lantern lights moving about in a way that was rather odd… [4] Unease suffused her body as she stepped closer, finding the servants moving the lanterns low along the ground or too high up in order to light up the rafters. [4] “What are you doing?” [4] “M-madam! We-” [4] It turned out that Mister Cat had gone missing. Qiu Yu was nearly crying as she told her mistress how the cat had just disappeared and how she feared the cat may have suffered a terrible fate at Clear Soft Pavilion… [4] “Clear Soft Pavilion?” Fu Qiuning asked, thinking hard. While it was not out of character for Jiang Wanying to attack cats. Surely whoever she tasked to handle Mister Cat would suffer more? [4] However, Qiu Yu was howling too hard for Fu Qiuning to even hear her own thoughts. Even the children were starting to look worried at all the people walking around holding lanterns in areas where no humans could be found. [4] “Fine, let’s go take a look,” said Fu Qiuning before stalking away. Qiu Yu scuttled behind her mistress, a lit lantern in her hands as she followed her mistress. [4] “M-madam, are we going straight to- to that place?” she hissed. [4] “You wanted to see whether Mister Cat is there…” [4] “But we can’t!” [4] “Why not?” Fu Qiuning asked reasonably, wondering just what kind of excuse the girl would give. [4] “I-it’s just not done!” [4] In fact, Fu Qiuning was not at all worried for Mister Cat. Whoever tried to capture him must be regretting it by now. Since Qiu Yu refused to enter Clear Soft Pavilion, the two women circled the courtyard once before Fu Qiuning decided that she had enough and was making her way to Elegant Mansion when Qiu Yu suddenly hissed, “Madam, I saw a shadow in front of us just now. It went into that courtyard!”The courtyard pointed out by Qiu Yu belonged to none other than Concubine Yue Lan.
[4a] “… …” was this another spy in Jin Fengju’s household? Or, was he just taking a drink while swimming and using the opportunity to eliminate all the other women in his household while still looking like a hero? Albeit a tragic one. Why are all of his women like this? Surely the problem lies with Jin Fengju rather than the unfortunate women he had married? [4a] While Qiu Yu was being suspiciously excited, Old Lin came out to inform them that Mister Cat had been found. Just as she was about to go back to Elegant Mansion, Qiu Yu quickly revealed what she had seen to Old Lin and tried to get them both to enter Yue Lan’s courtyard together. [4a] Too suspicious. [4a] “Why?” Fu Qiuning asked. [4a] “Th-this…” Qiu Yu stammered. She hemmed and hawed. Her eyes shifted. Meanwhile, Old Lin was looking at them both with a lantern in hand, wondering why they were outside someone else’s courtyard and not going home. After all, the reason why they were outside was to look for the cat, right?Now that the cat had been found, surely it was time to return?
[4a] “B-but we must investigate! Old Lin, you know some martial arts, right? We’ll be safe!” Fu Qiuning really, really wanted to ask Qiu Yu why they just ‘have to’ enter Yue Lan’s courtyard right now, but the maid’s suspicious actions could only stem from two sources. [4] Jin Fengju or Jiang Wanying. [4] However, the culprit was most likely Jin Fengju. Right now, she has two choices. Leave and ignore the drama that was about to unfold in Yue Lan’s courtyard and face another attempt from Qiu Yu again in the future. Basically, she could get it over with now or be dragged into something else in later. [4] “Fine, let’s go.”The three of them entered Yue Lan’s courtyard. The doors and windows were all tightly shut with not a servant in sight.
[4] “O-oh my, isn’t this suspicious?” Qiu Yu squeaked excitedly. [4] Old Lin and Fu Qiuning exchanged a look, thinking that while this was a little unusual, this maid’s actions were even more suspicious. In fact, Fu Qiuning had to wonder whether Qiu Yu’s claims of having seen ‘a figure’ were even true. Maybe Yue Lan was having an early night due to a headache or something.Then, they heard a faint sound of laughter.
[4] Fu Qiuning paused, well, if people were laughing, surely that means all is fine? When Fu Qiuning looked at Qiu Yu, she looked back with excited eyes.“Why are you so anxious? Why not come in the early hours as usual? If you come at this time, I have to send all the maids away, won’t this raise suspicions?”
[4] The voice belonged to Yue Lan. [4] Fu Qiuning looked at Qiu Yu again. Then, as a second voice spoke, she noticed a change in the maid’s features. It was a look of triumph. The joy of having completed a mission. [4] The second voice, a male voice, said, “How heartless, here I was thinking of you. Surely it is more troublesome for you to wake up in the odd hours? What are you afraid of? So what if we are discovered? I shall whisk you away if that happens.”Yue Lan’s voice answered, “What nonsense are you talking about? Do you not know what the people here are like? If we’re found out, neither you nor I would live to see next day’s dawn. There will be no escaping…”
[4] With a sinking feeling, Fu Qiuning realised there was real fear in Yue Lan’s voice.The man laughed again, “Surely it cannot be that serious. How long has it been since the Young Marquis paid attention to you? Two years? What’s the point for a young lady on the cusp of her youth to waste her years waiting alone and lonely… surely he is not the unreasonable type-”
“You don’t understand! Isn’t he still a man? Can a man tolerate having his woman cheating on him? Would you tolerate it? You understand nothing. You don’t know just how ruthless he can be. When Concubine Huo got into trouble, they said they would send her back to her family, but in the end, she disappeared without a trace. I suspect she was either thrown into the river or buried in some unmarked grave. You still have such delusions now, because you are blinded by ignorance.”
[4a] Fu Qiuning listened a while longer, but it was just a pair of lovers having a tryst. Fu Qiuning gave Qiu Yu a look before leaving, when they were out of the couple’s hearing, Qiu Yu urgently hissed, “Madam! Shouldn’t we be catching them red-handed? They are having an affair-” [4] “You are shockingly eager to catch them, is there a reason why you lead me here? Is the man your lover? Is that why you are so angry?” Fu Qiuning asked curiously. [4a] Qiu Yu gave a little scream of denial. “No! This- No!” [4a] “Enough about this. Do not speak of this at all, understand?” [4] Qiu Yu and Old Lin nodded. Qiu Yu looked mulished while Old Lin just looked confused. Finally, he said with a smile, “Madam, I caught a few large snakes in the garden these few days. With winter approaching, they have gotten quite fat. I have stewed a large pot for Master, Madam and the young misses and little masters to nourish their bodies. It should be ready for dinner. Madam, do hurry back. I’m sure the Master is back as well.”Fu Qiuning nodded appreciatively at Old Lin’s words. “Thank you, that is a wonderful thing to look forward to indeed.”
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When they reached Elegant Mansion, Jin Fengju was already there and was looking through the children’s homework. He smiled when he saw her, “Where have you been? To only come back at this time.”
[4] Fu Qiuning studied Jin Fengju. Generally, whenever the man had done something wrong or wanted to curry favour with her, he would look through the children’s homework. [4] In the end, she elected to be mostly truthful and said, “I went to check on the opera training. When I came back, they told me that Mister Cat was missing, so Qiu Yu and I went to look for him. We were on our way back from the search when Old Lin came to tell us that he had been found.” [4a] Jin Fengju had been nodding along at her explanation until the point when she returned to Elegant Mansion without incident. His smile grew wider and he asked, “Is that all?” [4] “My sister, Qiu Lan, paid a visit. Yanfang happened to be here, so I introduced her.” [4a] “I see…” Jin Fengju frowned, but his brows soon cleared up as he said, “I sensed that you are hiding something from me. Since Old Lin came to see you, he must have said something else as well. Now, now, don’t be stingy, you must share that precious snake soup of yours with the rest of us. Come, gather the children, let us enjoy this most excellent snake soup tonight!”“Snake soup?” some of the children asked.
Fu Qiuning smiled at them and said, “Yes, it is a soup made with snake meat. Old Lin was supposed to come with us to the south, but unfortunately, his wife fell ill. I insisted that he should stay behind and look after her. If he had been there, there would have been plenty of good ingredients available, although I am not sure how the dish would have been received by the others.”
Jin Fengju asked, “What of Xiuzhen and Zhenxuan? I heard they have not been by for a while? What happened?”
[4] “Second Madam Wan said that the two children have decided to pay more attention to their studies recently. Now, now, Brother Yi, do not stick out your tongue like that, if you dare to misbehave and bully your Fourth Sister again, I shall give you a spanking.”Jin Changjiao, who had linked arms with Jin Xiuru, rolled her eyes, “He likes to bully the weak but fears the strong. That’s why he dared not try his tricks with me or Third Sister. Fourth Sister, if he dares tease you again, let’s draw two large turtles on the back of his hands and see how he likes it.”
Jin Zhenyi rolled his eyes at her, “Humph, as expected, women and villains are difficult to raise. Do you know that you are growing up to become a tigress? Humph, I still have Eldest Brother on my side. I don’t believe that two men would lose out to three women!”
[5] Jin Xiunan raised an eyebrow, “Elder brother? On your side? Are you sure?” [5] Jin Changfeng pinched Jin Zhenyi slightly on the back of his neck and shook him a little, “Now, now, enough fighting. You too, Jiao’er.”Jin Fengju watched the children playfully teased each other and felt very pleased and at peace. By this time, they had all sat down in the dining room. Jin Fengju then said to Fu Qiuning, “Whenever you have time, you should have Xiuzhen and Zhenxuan come over for a change of air. I’m sure it must be stifling at that place. At such a young age, they should be playing with their siblings, why be so anxious about studying? Did they not know the saying, ‘Those who only read sage’s books are deaf to outside matters’?”
[5] Jin Zhenyi was quick to pick up on this, “Really? Then, let’s go horse riding tomorrow! After that, we can have archery lessons and-”“That saying can only be applied to those who are already proficient in their studies,” Jin Fengju quickly said.
At that, Jin Zhenyi said, “In that case, Third Brother really needs to study more. The teacher even said he had not been doing his best and even missed out on several parts of his writing. Maybe that’s why he’s been studying more.”
[Gumihou: Yeah, steamrolled it.] [1] Fu Qiuning being a spectator to the idiocy around her [2] Excited cloak and dagger fans [3] Reason for the opera troupe visit being ‘I want to’ and not ‘To avoid looking suspicious’ [4] As mentioned, Author is not good at writing ‘intrigue’. Gave assistance [4a] Instead of ‘She couldn’t help but feel surprised and thought to herself, could this also be a spy? My goodness, is that possible? Isn’t Jin Fengju a good man? How come the women around him are all spies? How much power does he really have to make everyone take notice to this extent?’ rather than the ass patting, let’s go with ‘again? At this rate, isn’t it a you problem rather than a them problem?’Also, Qiu Yu, why are we entering this suspicious building and not Clear Soft Pavilion?
[5] Children being children per their set characteristics
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