Chapter 292: Way Out
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
Gumihou: Since the children were ‘schemers’ in the first 80% of the novel, maintain that instead of having them vomit out information that was only favourable to JFJ and AR Qiuning [1]
Also, it’s shocking how many people’s characteristics and thoughts had to be… modified to make JFJ a moderately decent human garbage. Tsk
[1] “The way Father is always telling us to spend more time at Honoured Mother’s place and to stay is… concerning,” Jin Zhenxuan said almost blankly. His eyes were dark and clouded. “What do you think of it?”
[1] “What about it? Isn’t that just his way of courting favour from Honoured Mother?” There was a smirk on Jin Xiuzhen’s face, but it was more out of habit than anything else. “Loath as I am to admit it, Honoured Mother’s benevolence is sincere, which makes it difficult for the insincere to sway it.”
[1] The two siblings shared a dark laugh together as they stared down at their papers, pretending to study. After a while, Jin Zhenxuan said, “What will become of Mother?”
[1] “Banished. Punished. But most likely not fatally so,” Jin Xiuzhen’s voice faltered a little at the end.
[1] “Right, because Honoured Mother is truly benevolent. It would look bad if all of Father’s women were all picked off and thrown away…”
[1] “Not to mention, Mother has status, and is related to Grandmother.”
[1] The two fell silent again.
[1] Then, in a hard voice, Jin Zhenxuan said, “Mother had already laid the grounds for us. All we have to do is walk on it.”
[1] “What do you… No, don’t tell me…”
[1] “I’m sorry to say this but Spotty-”
[1] “NO! Don’t say it! Don’t say it! Don’t say it! That’s just- that is too cruel-” tears welled up in Jin Xiuzhen’s eyes. “Why would she do that? Why?”
[1] Her brother shrugged. “To give Father an excuse? To give us a reason to hate her? To sever ties…”
[1] “… Mother likes her schemes too much,” Jin Xiuzhen sighed.
[1] “She truly does…”
[1] “Then, we shouldn’t mess up her plans, right?”
[1] “As children, it is only right for us to show filial piety.”
Neither of the children noticed the silent figure standing just outside their door. After a while, the figure retreated, their steps so light that the two servants guarding the door never awakened.
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The next morning, Fu Qiuning woke up, did her morning grooming routine, stopped by Health & Longevity Court to pay her respects and returned to Elegant Mansion. A little while later, the servants brought word that Cai Lian and Bi Yu had arrived, so she had Jian Feng and Qiu Yu bring out the two boxes that she had prepared.
Cai Lian and Bi Yu greeted her awkwardly, both stepping forward to kowtow at her. Fu Qiuning accepted their greetings and directed her maids to give them the boxes.
“You have served the master well and with great loyalty. For your care, you have suffered grievances. Therefore, it is only right to compensate you and ensure that you will be treated right in your future household. I hope that this jewellery will give you some face and much dignity. Pursue your happiness as best you can. So long as you are not at fault, you may send word to me, your sister, should you need someone to mediate.”
As the weight of the boxes settled in their hands, Cai Lian and Bi Yu realised the fortune that had been bestowed upon them. Though they were considered ‘old bedmates’ at 23 and 24 years-old, both still possess remarkable beauty. The status that they held in the household they entered was as household servants who served the Duke of Jing’s family. While it was considered an honour to marry the women who used to serve their Master, with the fortune in their hands, their status within would be further assured.
Therefore, it was with great joy and happiness that they stood up and gave thanks to the benevolent Official Wife before leaving to begin their new lives.
Later that afternoon, Jin Fengju’s other woman, Yue Lan, stopped by. As was routine, Fu Qiuning brought out a box of jewellery as well as a banknote worth 200 silver taels for her. After all, she at least had the status of being her dear husband’s concubine, so this much effort should be given, right?
“I have just sent Cai Lian and Bi Yu away with money and jewellery with the Master’s blessing. As a concubine, you deserve at least that much and a little more. Though the Master had shown great generosity, I believe it is best to have you properly sent away and be reunited with your cousin before accusations relating to green hats can be thrown about. What do you think?”
Yue Lan was overwhelmed.
She had not expected that in just one day, all of her dreams and wishes would come true. Not only would she not be punished by drowning, but she could leave openly and be with the man she truly loved and would love her in return in an upright and proper manner. Overcome with emotion, she burst into tears and threw herself to the ground to thank Fu Qiuning. Hands tried to pry her off the floor, but she refused to rise until she had kowtowed three times, expressing her endless gratitude before leaving.
Yue Lan left the courtyard with a skip in her step.
Fu Qiuning watched from the window.
[2] She thought of the happy faces she had seen today. If any of them had been truly in love with Jin Fengju, none of them would be willing to leave, fortune in their hands or not. As women, they had no way of making it in the world except by attaching themselves to men. Even now, all three women she had just gifted money and jewellery to were happily skipping off to… marry yet another man.
[2] Not a single one of them thought to use their fortune to better themselves. They were all eager to restart their lives with different men as the central feature of their existence.
[2] Suddenly, she felt sorry for these women.
[2] How sad was it for a woman to have her entire existence defined by men? The more she thought about it, the more upset she became. She had quit the stage due to patriarchal bias into a teaching job. To think that she would be transmigrated into this world where a man’s word is meant more than a woman’s…
That evening, when Jin Fengju returned and learned that even Yue Lan had left, he was momentarily stunned. He hurried over to beam happily at Fu Qiuning and said, “While I did give permission, I thought this would be something that would happen in the future. Why were you so anxious to send her away, hm?”
He was clearly trying to imply that she was jealous or something, which was ridiculous. She elected to give him an even stare and said, “Are you accusing me of jealousy?”
Jin Fengju laughed out loud and said, “No, no, forget it. I’m just saying, well, now that the others are gone, you and I can spend all the time we like together~” [2a]
[2b] “I see, how convenient for you,” said Fu Qiuning in a neutral voice.
[2] What could Jin Fengju do but laugh some more? His Qiuning is so amusing, ah.
On the grand scale of things, Yue Lan and the two former bedmates’ departure did not cause much of a stir.
[3] Jiang Wanying, of course, knew everything that was happening within the inner court. When Fu Qiulan next came to visit, the woman made a big fuss about Jiang Wanying’s lack of competence etc. etc. Honestly, it was already quite ridiculous to think that a noblewoman brought up in a prince’s household was stupid enough to keep coming over to visit the Duke of Jing’s place to ‘spy’ on her husband’s behalf. That she would visit the secondary wife first instead of the official wife even as courtesy went beyond mere base foolishness. Was the woman trying to implicate Jiang Wanying? Had she been instructed thus? It was more realistic to think of this breach of basic etiquette as part of someone’s scheme than the woman’s own base foolishness.
[3] Surely there was some grand plan happening in the background? Surely she cannot be this stupid after growing up in a noble prince’s household? Fu Qiuning had a sharp mind, so her sister couldn’t really be this stupid, right?
[3] As the woman in front of her continued to prattle on and on at Jiang Wanying, instead of visiting her own blood sister who happened to be the official wife no less, Jiang Wanying could not even persuade herself to imagine this person’s ability to think.
[3] It was odd how stupid this woman was compared to the other Fu woman. After the scolding, Jiang Wanying took herself off to visit Madam Jiang and made a fuss there, enough that whatever spy hanging around the Jin household would have plenty to report.
[4] The whole thing unsettled Madam Jiang enough to call up Fu Qiuning to question her about the women she had ‘gotten rid of’. Fu Qiuning listened to the woman’s long-winded and winding scolding until the woman tired herself out before informing her that it was her beloved son who was the one who arranged for the women to leave.
[4] “Why send any of them away? Humph, I supposed with them all gone, Jin Fengju can call in some fresh blood into the family,” she muttered to herself. “Indeed, those women are too selfish for their own good. Not to mention, most of them are too old anyway.”
Fu Qiuning made a humming sound, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
[4] “My dear, you must understand that it is not seemly for a woman to monopolise her husband too much; it is just not done. A man should have many flowers around him-”
[4] Fu Qiuning pretended to listen until it was time time to leave. Looks like she had found the source of Jin Fengju’s love of giving speeches.
[2b] She was happy to escape Madam Jiang and make her way back to Elegant Mansion. For now, there was only Jiang Wanying left. Unlike the other women who were either maids or noble women of lesser noble families, as the granddaughter of a ducal family, she was the most difficult person to get rid of. How… unfortunate for Jin Fengju. Except that this woman and her entire family were somehow involved in a conspiracy with the Crown Prince, the political enemy of the entire Jin clan.
[2b] How convenient.
[2b] Was this ‘betrayal’ even real?
[2b] Moreover, why did the emperor even bother to come by the Imperial Garden at the Jin family estate? If he really wanted to send some secret information, wouldn’t it be better to send a single trusted man into the Jin estate to quietly relay the information instead of camping there? What’s with all the big drama?
[2b] Was the emperor getting senile or something?
[2b] Was the war not exciting enough?
She was still pondering on the curiosity of the man’s ego when Elegant Mansion came into view. Voices of children’s laughter floated to her along with yowls of cats. Concubine Xu stepped out to greet her with a concerned look on her face, “Hello Madam, I heard that Elder Madam called to meet you privately. Did she do it to reprimand you? Surely not.”
[Gumihou: Yeah, let’s not pretend that JFJ is the good guy here]
[1] Here’s a sample of the info vomit that contributed absolutely nothing to the story.
Jin Xiuzhen felt overwhelmed by her brother’s words and, in a moment of panic, stomped her foot and said, “Then what should we do? We are still mother’s children. While mother is here, what excuse do we have to go to Honoured Mother’s place?” Though they shared a familial bond, after analyzing so much, Jiang Wanying’s image as a caring mother was no longer reliable or respectable in their eyes. Especially when they recalled the poisoning of the kittens and the high expectations she imposed on them—now, at such a critical moment, how could these children, who grew up amidst household strife, be expected to remain steadfastly loyal to this mother? Moreover, they still had their father, who was the centre of their world.
[2] What an apologist.
For some reason, she suddenly felt a bit of sorrow for Jin Fengju. But then she thought, wasn’t all this caused by his having multiple wives and concubines? Since he chose to be unfaithful in the first place, paying a little price now is nothing.
Anyway, deleted the above and replaced it with some serious philosophical thoughts
[2a] Deleted dumb thoughts that are just more ways for author to show how ‘nice’ JFJ is
Although he said this, he was somewhat puzzled in his heart. He thought to himself, something’s not right; Qiuning isn’t that kind of person. There must be a reason behind this. She’s probably not telling me because she’s worried about further upsetting me. After all, discovering that two close companions were spies is a tough pill to swallow, even for me. Could it be that Yue Lan was also a spy?
Impossible. If she were, Qiuning wouldn’t have dealt with it so hastily without discussing it with me. Or perhaps Yue Lan couldn’t withstand loneliness and cheated on me? That explanation seems more reasonable and suits Qiuning’s kind nature. The young marquis had no idea that his casual guess would actually hit upon the truth of the matter.
The author is basically putting several large banners over a polluted poisonous bog proclaiming ‘Reclamation ongoing here! Nothing to See! All is Well!’
[2b] Actual Qiuning instead of a gushing JFJ simp
[3] Jiang Wanying not being an idiot or evil for the sake of evil just to make JFJ look good
#JusticeforJiangWanying
Look at this idiotic line: Jiang Wanying only discovered it three or five days later. At this time, because she couldn’t monitor Jin Fengju’s actions, she was scolded by Fu Qiulan last time, which only fueled her resentment. She thought about how Fu Qiulan was also Fu Qiuning’s sister, and what kind of sisters were they to both come and squeeze her out? She was in a state of madness and naturally didn’t realize that this path was one she had chosen herself. Otherwise, even back when she and Jin Fengju were still like a harmonious couple, if she had quietly spoken to her cousin, Jin Fengju would have certainly arranged a proper way out for her, preventing things from coming to this point.
And yes, it was in that compact long, absolutely boring sentence style.
[4] Madam Jiang’s unrealistically repention
Having experienced the matters with Concubine Huo and Concubine Xu, she also regretted in her heart, thinking that she shouldn’t have let Fengju take so many wives and concubines in the first place. In the end, how many problems had arisen? While others were manageable, that Huo Xiangmian turned out to be a treacherous spy. Fortunately, Fengju and Qiuning discovered it early; otherwise, if a major mistake had been made and Prince Rong’s affair was ruined because of her, wouldn’t she and her son have become the eternal sinners of the Jin family?
As a noblewoman, it is unlikely for her to feel this kind of remorse. It’s more likely for her to feel annoyed by people not acting out the way she wants them to. Adjusted.
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