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Raising a Tiger to Catch Chicken
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!
In merely a few days after Shen Ran entered the palace, she just gained Lu Zi Xiang’s favor, getting promoted to the top court lady by his Majesty’s side.
His Majesty has always kept his distance with women and has a deep loving relationship with the Empress Ji Fei Xia. For such a beautiful court lady in the prime of her youth to suddenly appear in Qianfu Palace, it inevitably will lead to speculations.
Lu Zi Xiang explained to others that this court lady with the Shen surname although was implicated in the past because of her family’s crimes, she nevertheless possess considerable talent and learning, excelling in poetry and prose. That’s why, he had Shen Ran kept by his side. Whenever someone would ask, he would quiz Shen Ran on the spot on poetry and history. And Shen Ran sure enough was able to answer fluently, not losing to men in the slightest. As a result, outsiders somewhat had their doubts eased.
At most, they just found it a bit strange. Shen Ran, as a mere shu daughter, where did she learn this many things from?
Even Lu Zi Xiang doesn’t know how Shen Ran learned these things——-When it comes to the Shen family’s family discipline, they don’t seem to be the type that would force their daughters to study. Shen Ran’s two di-born older sisters both don’t like to study and don’t have any reputation in this aspect. Whenever Lu Zi Xiang would ask Shen Ran about this matter, Shen Ran would just say that she has liked to read since her boudoir days, thus knowing a lot.
Now that Shen Ran has entered the palace, she was beyond Lu Zhi Ning’s reach, unable to run into her again.
However, Lu Zhi Ning still didn’t give up, wanting to seal Shen Ran’s mouth. Before returning to Jiangxia, Lu Zhi Ning entered the palace to have an audience with Empress Ji, secretly having the matter of Lu Zi Xiang pampering the court lady by his side told to Ji Fei Xia.
Lu Zhi Ning was extremely confident in her calculations. Ji Fei Xia has been pampered and delicately raised since childhood, so how can she endure such grievance? She certainly will fly into a rage and have that Shen Ran who has seduced his Majesty expelled from the palace.
But, who knew, after Ji Fei Xia finished listening, she just very gently smiled and said, “Junzhu afraid has thought too much. His Majesty values talent, thus had Court Lady Shen kept by his side. Such rumors and gossip, don’t mention anymore in the future.”
Lu Zhi Ning was somewhat disappointed and frustrated at her response.
His Majesty keeping a woman by his side, what other ideas can there be? Yet, Ji Fei Xia just had to be this naive, insisting on believing his Majesty’s words!
Lu Zhi Ning still wished to say more, but Ji Fei Xia’s expression turned somewhat cold, wearily saying, “Jiangxia Junzhu will soon set out to depart from the capital, so should go back early to rest. The troublesome matters in the palace, there’s no need for junzhu to worry over.”
Seeing Ji Fei Xia’s expression, Lu Zhi Ning slightly blanked.
Prior to marrying, how innocent and lively was Ji Fei Xia, when has she ever showed such an expression before?
Perhaps, it’s not that she didn’t believe her words, but rather, she was merely deceiving herself.
Thinking to here, a sense of pity rose from the bottom of Lu Zhi Ning’s heart, feeling that ‘she too was a pitiful person’. She no longer continued and retreated out of Ziluan Palace.
After Lu Zhi Ning left, Ji Fei Xia walked to the window-side, her two hands propping up her cheeks as she leaned against the window frame. Her gaze was somewhat in a daze as she muttered, “Sir Song, how could I not know about his Majesty and Lady Shen? That Shen Ran is older sister Lan Chi’s younger tang sister after all, her every glance and every smile all alike. For his Majesty to be moved, it is only natural.”
TN: All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
A long time passed, yet no one responded outside the window. Only the spring wind blew past with a curled up leaf. Empress Ji finally sighed wistfully and said, “Oh, I forgot. Sir Song is on duty before his Majesty today, so won’t secretly come over.”
• • •
Lu Zhi Ning originally wanted to find another opportunity, thinking of a way to seal Shen Ran’s mouth, but time very quickly flew by. Very soon, she needed to set out to return to Jiangxia. She could only reluctantly leave the capital.
Leaving the capital this time, her dream will thoroughly shatter. She will leave, while Lu Chang Si will stay in the capital to take a wife and serve as a hostage. Her fate with her older brother perhaps will also end here.
When Jiangxia Wang’s family departed from the capital, the weather had already warmed, the flowers in full bloom. Not long after, followed by a few light afternoon rain, the capital entered summer. This year’s newly admitted officials into the Ministry of Appointments were all people of outstanding talent. Among them, there was one called Wu Xiu Ding that greatly displayed his talents before his Majesty, getting appointed as first place in the palace exam. Overnight, Wu Xiu Ding just went from an unknown shu son to the top scorer of the imperial exam known all over the capital.
Wu Xiu Ding was full of talent, so certainly will become a popular person before his Majesty in the future. The imperial court from top to bottom, as well as countless influential aristocratic families, all had the intention of winning him over. Every family was busy preparing gifts to pay him a visit.
Lu Qi Yang although didn’t have this intention, he still needed to go through the formalities on the surface. Shen Lan Chi helped him pick out a few presents and ordered someone to send them to Wu Xiu Ding’s newly renovated residence.
While she was preparing the gift list, Lu Qi Yang continuously wandered around by her side, constantly muttering some strange words.
“At the Northern Pass, the most fun thing to do is ride big horses.” He counted on his fingers, trying his best to tell Shen Lan Chi how great the Northern Pass is, “The capital at night will have curfew, so unable to ride horses, and normally, the streets are crowded with people, so also not convenient to spur the horse. But, the Northern Pass is different, having large stretches of land, letting you race around as much as you want.”
Shen Lan Chi let out an “oh”, flipping over a page of the gift list and half-heartedly responding, “I don’t know how to ride a horse.”
“It’s fine if you don’t know how to ride a horse, I can teach you.” After saying this, Lu Qi Yang erected another finger, “My royal father once stayed at the Northern Pass for thirteen years. The people there all love my royal father very much. If we go, we will certainly be welcomed too.”
Shen Lan Chi let out another “oh”.
The Northern Pass, for her, was a very distant phrase. For as long as she could remember, she has never really left the capital before.
“Also…….” Lu Qi Yang did his best to squeeze out the next line from his mouth, “The Northern Pass has a kind of small pony that’s docile and pretty, unable to be found in the capital, worth thousands of gold each. If you come to the Northern Pass, I can find one for you.”
He has already been rambling all morning. Shen Lan Chi finally realized something.
She had the gift list in hand given to the servant woman and said, “Husband, since this morning, you have been telling me how great the Northern Pass is nonstop. Are you……planning on taking me to the Northern Pass to play?”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Lu Qi Yang squeezed out a smile and hurriedly nodded, “I want to take my wife to the Northern Pass to relax.”
Although said as ‘going to relax’, in reality, this wasn’t fully the case.
Lu Qi Yang knew, Lu Zi Xiang doesn’t quite like him. He has already recieved a secret report, stating that Lu Zi Xiang recently has been attempting to contact the barbarians beyond the border, don’t know what he was planning. Perhaps, it won’t be long before the two of them cross swords in battle.
Shen Lan Chi was his wife. Leaving her under Lu Zi Xiang’s eyelids ultimately wasn’t safe.
But, if to say that Shen Lan Chi was ‘fleeing to the Northern Pass’, then it would sound too pitiful, so it was better to say that she was going to the Northern Pass for fun, which sounds a bit more casual. To this end, Lu Qi Yang used up an entire morning, racking his brains, painstakingly wanting to arouse Shen Lan Chi’s curiosity towards the Northern Pass.
At this very moment, getting his thoughts pointed out by Shen Lan Chi, Lu Qi Yang was somewhat nervous.
Shen Lan Chi brushed her sleeves, casually saying, “Sure thing. Wherever you go, that’s where I’ll go, following you the whole way.”
Seeing her agree this carefreely, Lu Qi Yang instantly relaxed a breath.
As the two of them were talking, they suddenly heard a loud ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’ come from outside. It was truly resounding and powerful.
Shen Lan Chi was startled for a moment and went out for a look, seeing a large rooster with bright feathers, a red crown, and thick wings haughtily landing on the roof on the opposite side, flapping its wings from time to time, and like Lu Zi Xiang inspecting Lingshan, proudly strutting around on top of the roof.
Under the eaves, the housekeeper, servant women, and servant boys all gathered around, some holding nets, some holding bamboo poles, using all kinds of method to poke that large rooster that resembled Lu Zi Xiang. Just, this rooster was too clever, its feet nimble, as if having secretly learned some secret technique of the pugilistic world, always able to gracefully dodge the attacks.
“Quick, quickly catch it!” The housekeeper anxiously said, her forehead filled with sweat, “This is the chicken for the top scorer! If it flies away, it will be a bad omen! Inauspicious!”
According to the customs of Chu, as long as it was someone who has passed the imperial exam, others will need to give a large brightly colored rooster as a congratulatory gift. The housekeeper deeply believed in this without doubt, fearing that if the chicken flies away, it will cause Wu Xiu Ding to get demoted.
Seeing this lively scene, Shen Lan Chi was surprised for a moment. Shortly after, she patted Lu Qi Yang’s shoulder and said, “To raise a tiger for a thousand days, just to use a tiger for this moment, quickly go! Catching that chicken is also considered a great achievement.”
Lu Qi Yang hesitated for a moment, softly whispering, “Lan Lan, I’m the esteemed Zhennan Wang. You want me to climb onto the roof to catch chicken……?”
“It’s because of seeing that everyone is powerless, I thus shamelessly turn to Zhennan Wang for help.” Shen Lan Chi was extremely calm, her tone serene and composed, “Furthermore, do you feel that you, the esteemed Zhennan Wang, climbing onto the roof to catch a chicken is more embarrassing, or seeing a large rooster fly out from Zhennan Wang Manor and fly around in the streets more embarrassing?”
Lu Qi Yang thought about it and immediately said, “I-I’ll go catch the chicken right away.”
After saying this, he ordered someone to bring over the ladder and swiftly climbed onto the roof. He rolled up his sleeves and slowly approached that proudly strutting large rooster.
One step, two step, another step………
“Wangye! Go wangye!”
“Show it who’s boss!”
“Let this chicken know who is the War God of the Northern Pass!”
All of a sudden, that chicken sensed the approaching danger and instantly turned its head around. In a flash, that rooster’s little black beady eyes gleaming with peerless wisdom met with Lu Qi Yang’s eyes, a man and a chicken staring at each other in deadlock.
This glance made Lu Qi Yang blank for a moment.
——-Help, why does this chicken look so much like Lu Zi Xiang!?
Precisely in this moment, that rooster flapped its wings, loudly crowing as it raised its claw, kicking it towards Zhennan Wang’s handsome face. No sooner said, than in the blink of an eye, Lu Qi Yang extended his hand, wanting to grab that rooster’s neck!
Unfortunately, he missed. The rooster flapped its wings and quickly escaped, flying into the neighbor’s yard.
Lu Qi Yang stared at that rooster’s back disappearing into the distance. Standing up, he murmured, “Your Majesty………”
Having failed to complete his mission, Lu Qi Yang somewhat awkwardly climbed down the ladder, wanting to go before Shen Lan Chi to accept his punishment. But, just as he walked before Shen Lan Chi, her body swayed, passing out in Ah Luo’s arms.
Lu Qi Yang turned pale from shock and hurriedly yelled, “Quickly go invite the doctor!”
About a cup of tea later, a white-haired and white-beard old doctor sat in Shen Lan Chi’s room. Through the bed curtains, the old doctor stroked his beard as he took Shen Lan Chi’s pulse, his expression wavering and shifting.
“It’s like this…..” Lu Qi Yang’s face filled with an uneasy look, his conscience unable to be at ease, directly confessing, “It was my fault. I didn’t catch the chicken wangfei wanted, angering wangfei. It’s all my fault, can’t even catch a chicken……..”
“Chicken?” The old doctor narrowed his eyes, revealing a confused look, “Wangye, her Highness Wangfei is pregnant with a child, what does it have to do with a chicken?”
“Ah?” Lu Qi Yang blanked for a moment, still having yet to come to realization, subconsciously continuing, “I was originally about to catch that chicken, but got distracted for a moment, letting the chicken fly away. As a result, wangfei just fainted from anger…..” Pausing for a moment, he finally realized something, swiftly shooting up from his seat.
‘A child’ and ‘chicken’ tore at each other in his mind, making his thoughts chaotic. However, on the surface, he was both surprised and delighted. Amidst a wave of congratulations, Lu Qi Yang revealed a bright smile, loudly shouting at Shen Lan Chi, “Lan Lan! Did you hear what the doctor said! We……we……we have a chicken!!”
We have a chicken——
Have a chicken———
Chicken——–
Behind the bed curtains, Shen Lan Chi who’d just opened her eyes quickly closed her eyes again.
Heavens help us, she better pretend to still be unconscious.
Really embarrassing to death.
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