Chapter 296: To Stay
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated by Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
Gumihou: Just so everyone knows, I edited the stupid out of this chapter. Go ahead and thank me.
However, if she continued to neglect her responsibilities and acted recklessly, it would spell the end of their marriage.
After Jin Fengju left, Madam Jiang allowed herself to breathe a great sigh of relief. She thought: Thank the heavens that my son still has some sense of humanity left. Otherwise, if he truly insisted on divorcing, this matter would no doubt be brought before Old Madam and my lord husband. If that happens, I would have no way of de-escalating the situation. Ah, dear Wanying must be feeling anxious and regretful. I shall have a maid call her over.
Meanwhile, the Old Madam had already given the order for Jiang Wanying to be confined within Clear Soft Pavilion. However, when the guards received the message from Madam Jiang, they dared not go against the Elder Madam’s words and sent the report to Jiang Wanying through her maids.
After a while, Jiang Wanying emerged from the gates. She was neatly and beautifully dressed, nothing at all like the fierce mad woman of the morning. In fact, she looked like a new bride about to meet her husband for the first time.
As she made her way to Madam Jiang’s place, Jiang Wanying’s brows knitted a little. [1] While waiting inside Clear Soft Pavilion, she had half-expected Jin Fengju to send servants to drag her out to be killed, or at least, to be divorced and sent back to her maternal family. She had not expected this scummy cousin of hers not to show up instead. [1a] What could this scumbag be thinking?
After she was led to her aunt’s parlour and asked to confess, Jiang Wanying randomly made some confessions about how seeing Fu Qiuning gradually gaining power disturbed her heart, how she poisoned the kittens, and how further confusion made her act blindly with the knife, etc etc. In fact, she was not even entirely clear what she was talking about. Jiang Wanying ended her speech by dramatically declaring that she wished for nothing but death.
“Death is the only path for me!” [2]
Jiang Wanying wailed dramatically at Madam Jiang from the floor. [2]
Even Madam Jiang, as sheltered as she was, realised that Jiang Wanying was faking it. [3] Still, she had to maintain her appearance. After scolding her for a bit, she ‘allowed’ Jiang Wanying to stand up, after which she proceeded to lecture her, “Wanying, you have reached this point because of your stubbornness and desire to win. Back then, wasn’t your cousin doting on you enough? Later, when Qiuning appeared, your cousin treated her with a bit of kindness out of guilt for those two children she had cared for. It is a pity that even I did not realise it at that time. If I had known earlier, I would have advised you to lower your guard and show generosity and pity as befitted a daughter of the Duke’s family.
If not for your actions back then, surely your cousin would not have run over to surname Fu’s side, right? Now that matters have come to this point, Aunt knows that you are a proud person, but as women, we ultimately rely on men to give us a good life.
Just look at Fu Qiuning. Though she had spent five years at Night Breeze Pavilion as a forgotten woman, isn’t she now acknowledged as the Marquis’s wife? Has she ever acted as arrogantly as you?
For women, ah. The most important thing we must have is a gentle heart. Back then, your cousin had fully embraced Clear Soft Pavilion, but because of your arrogance, you quarrelled with him, and now look? Wasn’t it because of your sarcastic words to him that pushed him over to surname Fu’s side? Listen to your aunt; this kind of display of force will not get you anywhere. For now, you should lie low and live quietly at Clear Soft Pavilion for at least two years.
I do not believe that your cousin will not notice your good behaviour after five years. In fact, he may even look upon you favourably after two peaceful years. Furthermore, you have birthed Xiuzhen and Xuen’er for him. You also have me to speak for you. I shall speak with the Old Madam and Old Master as well; however, you must also do your part and change for good. Understand?”
Jiang Wanying was already staring into the distance, her aunt’s long-winded talk more like a passing breeze to her ears. [1] Madam Jiang clearly knew nothing. Her cousin had already long since moved to Fu Qiuning’s side. Was she blind to the way he had systematically removed all other women in his harem at the slightest provocation? However, there was no way that her aunt would ever believe her. Still, she had to say something after Madam Jiang’s long speech.
“Aunt… your niece deeply regrets her action, but… could my cousin truly forgive me so easily? I fear that he would divorce me at the slightest reason, and Aunt has no way of stopping him.”
[1b]
Madam Jiang sighed, “Indeed, your cousin was truly angry and insisted on divorcing you. It took a lot of time for your aunt to persuade him and remind him of the love you had once shared to calm him down. Aih, your cousin is truly confused. To think that he would actually blame you for Qiu Xia’s death, he even implied that you’re involved in Tian Yu’s death. After he found out that cheap slut Huo Xiangmian was the spy, he also became suspicious of Qiu Lian’s death, claiming that you had instigated the incident. I scolded him fiercely for doubting you and reminded him of all the sacrifices you had made for him in the past and silenced him…”
Jiang Wanying stared at her aunt, [1] unable to believe just how stupid this older woman was. Had that sly, crafty Jin Fengju really sprung from this foolish woman’s loins? She had perfectly laid out all of Jiang Wanying’s so-called crimes, which were really just some basic harem intrigue deaths that would only become a ‘problem’ when the man of the house decided to make them a problem.
[1c] So what if a few maids died? Maids dying within a noble house’s inner courtyard was nothing out of the ordinary. Maids died all the time, and so did forgotten concubines and the odd child or two.
“Wanying, ah. You were not involved in any of the incidents, right? Your aunt will defend you, but… but…”
Jiang Wanying looked at this stupid woman for a moment. Surely it was not her fault if her foolish aunt convinced herself that the things she had recited never happened, right? Moreover, what person would admit their wrong just because someone questioned them with a few words?
A moment later, she was struck by a moment of melodrama and she loudly declared, “My dear aunt! Though I, your niece, have wronged many, to think that you would say such things of me! Oh, woe is me. I can no longer bear living in this world!”
Then, Jiang Wanying rushed towards the side table that contained a small sewing basket. She was about to seize a pair of scissors when Madam Jiang threw herself onto her niece with unexpected agility and cried, “Don’t! Don’t! Your cousin is just spewing some angry words. After I had scolded him well, he backed down almost immediately. Don’t forget who you are. You are the di-granddaughter of a duke, a noble lady whose status is no less lofty than a princess. Not even a crown prince has the ability to harm you. Not to worry, your aunt knows you are innocent. Your cousin just had an unruly thought in his head; he will never mention this again.”
[1d] Privately, Jiang Wanying rolled her eyes. Even if she had not done anything, there was no guarantee that Jin Fengju would not manufacture some incident to get rid of her in order to win Fu Qiuning’s favour. She laughed bitterly to herself, thinking: This cousin of mine is still trying to pull some sort of trick to impress a woman who had long since been indifferent to his charms. Who knows what kind of trick he is willing to pull in order to show his sincerity?
[1d] Still, it was surprisingly tiring to have to wail and sob dramatically in front of her aunt, who still thought that Jin Fengju was a fool like herself. Therefore, when Madam Jiang ordered her to return home to recuperate, she gladly went back to Clear Soft Pavilion and shut herself in her room. There, she lit a candle and meditated upon the little flame.
Thus far, she still had two informants left. As for Xiuzhen and Xuen’er, [1] given Fu Qiuning’s too-soft disposition, her children would be safe with her. For now, to gain the favours of their children, her cousin even deigned to pay more attention to them.
[1] Jiang Wanying spent the next two days in this manner, thinking and waiting for something to happen. On the third day, a maid who had taken the opportunity to collect information on the excuse of shopping returned with a cheerful face.
“Madam, the Crown Prince has given his orders. You must pull yourself together, take the Marquis in your grip and monitor his recent activities. News from the north has arrived and we have confirmation that the Emperor had indeed been shot with a poisoned arrow. Though it was a pity that the northern barbarians could not get hold of strong poisons, the Emperor is old and his health is failing. Therefore, though he survived the shot, he is not expected to live.
According to the reports, even the closest ministers have been barred from visiting for the past ten days. Only Prince Rong was allowed to serve him. Our spy was not able to get close to the imperial tent, but managed to find out that about ten days ago, messengers had arrived from the borders with several carts of goods. It is suspected that the Emperor may have secretly returned to the Capital. In short, although the Emperor is not in good health, the Prince fears that the wily Emperor may undo his work once he returns to the palace. Therefore, it is imperative that the Emperor does not make it to the Capital under any circumstances!”
[1e] Jiang Wanying raised a delicate eyebrow. To have the maid come in so suddenly with news that was favourable to the Crown Prince directly after her scum husband had ‘forgiven’ her? Also, only Prince Rong, the Jin family’s ally, was allowed to personally attend to the Emperor? Just how obvious was this trick supposed to be?
[1e] For a moment, Jiang Wanying could only knead her head and wondered just how stupid everyone around her was. For some reason, she had a sudden urge to just pack up her jewellery and just… leave.
However, now that things had come to this, there was nothing she could do but move other people’s plans along. Didn’t the Crown Prince ask her to monitor Jin Fengju’s movements? She might as well do that.
She turned to the maid, who had been planted into the Duke of Jin’s estate by the Crown Prince, and said, “Very well. However, you should also know that my cousin is a busy man. I could ask him to visit Clear Soft Pavilion, but considering how he had not done so in the past months, what do you think would change? You have a better opportunity to observe him than I do.”
[Gumihou: Got rid of most of the stupid…]
[1] Did my best to restore Jiang Wanying’s intelligence level. Maintained the content, but changed the wording so that Jiang Wanying’s actively thinking and not go askjfl*&*&^%^%$da
[1a] Deleted: ‘Was Xuan’er’s suspicion wrong?’ because, she’s an adult with a supposedly intelligent mind (until that brain is inconvenient for the author). Anyway, Gumi put her brain back inside her head.
[1b] Deleted 90 words of dumb Jiang thoughts
[1c] Added some era-correct thinking in place of more ‘oof, I is wrong lols’
[1d] Instead of ‘ohmygosh I got lucky lols’, have Jiang Wanying roll her eyes at JFJ’s unnecessary mind games.
[1e] Instead of Jiang Wanying doing the ‘le gasp’ over the maid’s verbal diarrhoea, have her react in a noblewoman way
[2] Because, despite the extra 50 words to explain the thing, that’s basically what happened in the end.
[3] Making it clear that it’s a performance without a long explanation to the readers that it was a grand performance. Like, we’re not stupid.
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