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Accident (1)
T/N: Translated by Jen on Broken Jinsei! Please do not repost my translations! All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
When encountering an awkward situation, how should one cleverly resolve it?
Of course, it’s going with the flow, cleverly borrowing the time, place, and people, and pretending that nothing happened.
Shen Lan Chi directly shot up from the stool, and in the next moment, elegantly bowed, cupping her fist towards the Chu Emperor and the others, saying in a refined manner, “This commoner, Shen Lan Chi, greets your Majesty, your Highness the Second Prince, Noble Consort, heir………”
There were too many titles that needed to be addressed, she nearly became tongue-tied. Fortunately, she was natural enough, nonchalant, as if her standing up was just for the sake of saluting.
Chu Emperor stroked his beard and smiled, “Didn’t expect that the Shen family’s young lady would also look good dressed as a man, actually even more like a refined gentleman than that older brother of yours with outstanding painting skills.” Afterwards, he asked Princess Yong Chun, “Yong Chun, what are you up to here?”
“Replying to imperial father, Yong Chun was thinking of preparing something novel for the Banjaro envoys, thus let them dress up as men.” Princess Yong Chun replied, “Imperial father certainly hasn’t seen before, right?”
“Oh?” Seeing that the blush on Princess Yong Chun’s face was still there, Chu Emperor teased, “Just now, this emperor heard Shen second miss say, the person she liked was both talented and good-looking, possessing extremely high martial arts, and even has the Lu surname. Don’t know if this emperor heard wrong?”
Shen Lan Chi didn’t expect that this line would get heard by his Majesty and them. The tip of her ears turned slightly red as she hurriedly explained, “Lan Chi was merely joking, your Majesty absolutely shouldn’t take it seriously.”
“Oh? A joke?” Chu Emperor asked back.
“Yes…….a joke.” Shen Lan Chi was somewhat lacking in confidence, secretly glancing at Lu Qi Yang.
The heir stood behind Lu Zi Xiang, having a look of waiting to settle the debt after autumn. Lu Zi Xiang, on the other hand, carried a smile on his face, his handsome eyes and brows filled with warmth, don’t know what he was thinking.
Lu Qi Yang seemingly sneered, his eyes turning away. Shen Lan Chi saw, complaining inside: She was indeed joking! What is there to sneer at?
The person she liked, how was he just ‘handsome, good at martial arts, and deeply passionate’, this simple?
Clearly, it was needing to use two lifetimes of luck in order to exchange for.
“Imperial father, Shen second miss is a young lady of the boudoir after all. It isn’t good to use the matter of marriage to tease.” Lu Zi Xiang slightly hooked his lips and deferentially said to the Chu Emperor.
“Xiang’er is thoughtful.” Chu Emperor slightly sighed, revealing a regretful look, “This emperor originally was thinking, among these youngsters behind me, which one had the fortune of obtaining Shen second miss’s favor……..Sigh, one and two, all not up to par.”
When Noble Consort Liu heard, the corner of her mouth twitched, her charming smile stiffening. A good while later, she finally recovered her smile, urging, “Your Majesty, imperial mother is still waiting for you. If we go late, we’ll inevitably make imperial mother worry.”
“This emperor nearly forgot about this.” Chu Emperor pretended to have a sudden realization, and then said to Princess Yong Chun, “Dressing in men’s clothes although is interesting, it can’t compare with Yong Chun’s usual attire. Since we want the envoys of Banjaro to know the elegance of the daughters of Great Chu, then it’s better to not mess around with these things.”
TN: All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
When Princess Yong Chun heard, she obediently responded ‘yes’, yet felt very vexed inside.
Chu Emperor led away that grand party of people. Prior to leaving, Noble Consort Liu turned back and glanced at Shen Lan Chi. When her gaze swept over that old-fashion style jade bracelet with gold wiring, her expression suddenly became heavy.
• • •
His Majesty has spoken. Princess Yong Chun didn’t dare to go against his word. She could only let the girls change back to their normal clothes and obediently practice dancing. However, she still had her little calculations, wanting the four of them to all wear a veil, covering up half their face. In this way, no matter how beautiful that Shen family’s second miss was, others won’t be able to see.
Half a month later, the Banjaro delegation finally reached the capital.
Reportedly, this delegation brought countless gifts. Not only gold, spices, and fabric, there was even red-haired green-eyed slaves and dancers, filling a whole carriage. As soon as the delegation entered the capital, the grand fleet of carriages took up an entire street. The people all crowded around, crowding the streets of the capital, fighting to see these foreign guests. They saw that these Banjaro people were indeed like the rumors, having a tall stature, tall nose bridge, deep eye-sockets, and green pupils, greatly different from the Chu people.
It was already sunset. The golden setting sun was spread across the horizon. Every tavern by the Vermillion Bird street were all packed full. The windows on the second floor were all wide open, with countless heads sticking out, fighting to see the Banjaro delegation.
The waiter of Dengyun Pavilion wasn’t an exception either, twirling the rag in hand as he stood at the door, sticking his head out and watching for a while, wanting to see what the Banjaro people looked like. The shopkeeper flicked around the abacus for quite a while, yet still didn’t see the waiter turn back, thus he angrily said, “Guo Er, what are you looking at? Are you going to work or not!”
The guy called Guo Er flinched and hurriedly stood at the door with a smile. As soon as Guo Er stood still, a sedan chair stopped outside Dengyun Pavilion. A gentleman wearing a bamboo green round-collar brocade gown came down from the sedan chair. He had a handsome and valiant face and a sturdy body. This gentleman saw Guo Er and handed over a small piece of silver, asking, “Has the heir come?”
Guo Er has mingled in the marketplace for a long time, knowing that this money was for sealing his lips. He immediately put on a fawning smile, “You must be Gentleman Song, right? That young master has already been waiting for you for a long time.” After saying this, he strode forward, bowing and nodding as he led the way in front.
The young gentleman lightly nodded, raising his head and glancing at Dengyun Pavilion’s horizontal board before slowly stepping through the door.
Inside the second floor’s ‘Heaven and Earth’ private room, the bamboo curtains already got switched with a pale red cloth curtain with flower and leaves. Lu Qi Yang leaned against the window, peeling another plate of gingko nuts. His fingers were nimble, peeling quickly and eating even more quickly. In a blink of an eye, there was a pile of gingko shells left on the table.
Guo Er lifted the curtains and also collected the gingko shells on the table while he was at it, saying to Lu Qi Yang, “Young master, Gentleman Song has come.”
Lu Qi Yang pointed at the other side and said, “Sit.”
The gentleman in the bamboo green long gown lifted the hem of his gown and sat down, his gaze directly landing on Lu Qi Yang’s face, full of scrutiny.
His name was Song Yan Li, coming from the military lineage Song family, and also the Second Prince Lu Zi Xiang’s childhood study companion, having a rather close relationship with Lu Zi Xiang.
“The heir picked today to meet with me, even in this kind of place, isn’t it a bit inappropriate?” Song Yan Li said.
“No worries. In any case, in your prince’s eyes, I’m merely an idle person. Even if meeting with you, it’s merely talking about pointless affairs.” Lu Qi Yang was unconcerned, “Tonight, his Majesty will hold a large banquet for the Banjaro envoys, hope that Gentleman Song can properly look after your prince’s safety.”
Song Yan Li revealed a confused look, “The Banjaro delegation entering the capital, what does it have to do with the second prince?”
“Even if you want me to explain, I can’t explain it clearly, just do as I say. Being extra careful ultimately can’t be wrong.” Lu Qi Yang said. “Whether your prince’s luck is good or bad will depend on tonight.” Pausing for a moment, he tossed the gingko nut and added, “Perhaps, there will even be a little idiot that will charge out and help your prince block this disaster.”
After saying this, Lu Qi Yang flicked his hand. The gingko nut in his hand suddenly shot out as swift as an arrow, directly hitting a topless man in the head downstairs. That man had a hunched back, having a shady look. Getting hit by the gingko nut, he covered his head and started crying out in pain.
Song Yan Li was slightly surprised, immediately standing up, urgently saying, “Did someone follow Yan Li here? Yan Li will leave right away and absolutely won’t give heir trouble.”
“Hey, it’s fine.” Lu Qi Yang said, “I merely saw that person stealing someone else’s money pouch, so helped them in passing. Why don’t you sit down.”
Song Yan Li blanked for a moment, before finally sitting down again, lightly brushing his clothes.
He had doubts inside, but didn’t dare to ask them out loud.
In the early summer of this year, when the second prince returned to the capital, this Zhennan Wang Manor’s heir specially sent someone to warn, saying that someone had tampered with the horse carriage, wanting his Highness to be careful. At the time, Song Yan Li and the others were very conceited, just treating it as nonsense, so completely didn’t take it seriously. As a result, Lu Qi Yang personally came, saying that he wanted to protect his Highness, ensuring his safety along the way. Afterwards, that horse carriage really fell off the cliff, nearly causing a major accident, finally waking up Song Yan Li and the others.
Afterwards, Lu Qi Yang frequently assisted in secret, letting Lu Zi Xiang avert disaster many times. Just, Lu Qi Yang would never openly tell Lu Zi Xiang, only secretly warning Song Yan Li. Song Yan Li would tell Lu Zi Xiang after the fact, but Lu Zi Xiang would just think that he was joking and didn’t take it seriously.
“That Zhennan Wang heir never learns anything useful, just muddily passing the days. A joke from him, you all actually took seriously?” Lu Zi Xiang would always laugh it off like this.
Song Yan Li has had this doubt bottled in his heart for a long time already. Seeing the young heir across from him sticking his head out to look at the Banjaro people, he somewhat couldn’t hold it in anymore, asking, “Why won’t heir tell his Highness yourself? Heir is clearly well-versed in the current events, also having a pair of eyes that can detect the outside from the inside, so shouldn’t be left in the pond, why pretend to be a wastrel all day?”
“En?” Lu Qi Yang started laughing, “Song Yan Li, helping your prince was merely done ‘in passing’. This young master still has other important business to attend to, so don’t have the time to feign civility with your prince.” After saying this, he had the gingko nut in his hand shoved into Song Yan Li’s mouth. He dusted away the gingko remains on his hand and said, “You slowly eat, I’ll be going now. The beauties in the palace are like the clouds. Once you miss them, you won’t be able to see them anymore.”
Song Yan Li got shoved a mouthful of gingko nuts, unable to speak, only able to watch Lu Qi Yang lift the curtains and leave.
• • •
Lu Qi Yang left Dengyun Pavilion. Looking up at the sky, it was already dusk. More than half of the dark gold sun has set, leaving only a streak of gold spread across the horizon. The Banjaro carriage fleet has already entered the imperial city. The commoners in the streets gradually dispersed, re-revealing the solemn bluestone paved streets.
He half lowered his eyes, his right hand bending, taking out something from his sleeve. Turns out, it was a narrow dagger, tied onto his lower arm using red strings. Unsheathing the dagger blade, it exuded a bright slivery light, also reflecting Lu Qi Yang’s slightly raised phoenix eyes, his pupils even darker than the night.
“That idiot…….”
After muttering this, he had that dagger put back into his sleeve, carefully tucking away.
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You’d think the princess would be a lot more wary of foreign envoys.
I’d be wondering if the emperor was planning to use me for a diplomatic marriage.
personally, I think that SLC is doing the best she can keeping everyone safe. she has always been in the boudoir, so it’s not like she has a ton of spies or anything to help her out. she really does have to charge in herself to be able to prevent things from happening. I think if SLC and LQY got together and worked side by side, it would be way easier for the both of them. I don’t see it happening though. I think they both enjoy tiptoeing around each other too much 😔