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Crown Prince’s Side Consort (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!
Once Zhennan Wangfei left, Shen first madam just started sighing. She reached out and poked Shen Lan Chi’s forehead, saying, “I was wondering why you suddenly went to listen to opera. Turns out, it was going to attract the heir again. I have to say, if you want to watch a certain troupe, just invite to the manor, why bother running to that Dengyun Pavilion?”
Pausing for a moment, Shen first madam furrowed her brows and said, “If you really want to marry the heir, it’s not impossible, just on your father’s side……it’s hard to say. You also know your father’s temper. Others have always been unable to persuade him.”
Hearing this, Shen Lan Chi said, “Mother, the crown prince isn’t a good match. If you have this daughter married to the crown prince, then regret it in the future, it’ll be too late.”
Shen first madam blanked, immediately recalling how Lu Zhao Ye and Ruan Bi Qiu were being intimate in the manor during the birthday banquet, instantly feeling unhappy. She composed herself and carefully said, “What nonsense are you saying? His Highness the Crown Prince is a jade among men, so how could he not be a good match for you? As a girl, it’s still better for you to not be so sharp with your mouth!”
“Just wait and see.” Shen Lan Chi calmly said.
Seeing her this confident, Shen first madam was momentarily helpless and could only shake her head.
The mother and daughter pair talked for a while before Shen Lan Chi returned to Fulan Courtyard to rest.
As soon as Shen Lan Chi got back to her room, Bi Yu just knelt before her with a thud, sobbing and weeping with her head down.
“Bi Yu, what’s wrong with you?” Shen Lan Chi hurriedly went to support her arm, “Quickly get up.”
“Miss……..today, miss encountered danger, yet Bi Yu, as the servant, was unable to do anything at all……..” Bi Yu wiped her giant tear drops as she said while choking up, “It’s better for you to have this servant sold off.”
Shen Lan Chi helpless laughed and said, “I was wondering what you were going to say. Turns out, it’s the Ruan manor’s incident. You’re merely a young girl, where have you seen this kind of scene before? Being scared is also normal.”
After saying this, she sent Bi Yu to rest.
Bi Yu and her grew up together, thus like sisters. She wouldn’t go as far as to have Bi Yu sold because of this kind of matter.
Bi Yu had gotten frightened to this extent, so how was it not the same for her? Despite having been scared to death all night, she still needed to pretend to be composed in front of others. Now, she was long mentally and physically drained. After taking apart her hair bun and bathing herself, she lay down to rest.
The candles outside the bed curtains were already extinguished. The inside of the room quietly turned into darkness.
At first, she quietly lay there, but as soon as she close her eyes, everything that had happened in the Ruan manor will suddenly take over her mind. That bloodstained axe and the scattered corpses lingered before her eyes like ghosts, making her not dare to close her eyes at all, fearing that the deceased might suddenly appear behind her, coming to take revenge.
She tossed and turned in bed. Unknown as to how much time had passed, the sound of the zichou[1] night watch sounded, the voice also sad and desolate. It was this late, yet she was still scared inside, unable to fall asleep.
TN: All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
In the end, she got up with her clothes draped over her shoulders and quietly walked out of her room. Lu Zhu who was on night duty was sound asleep in the outer room, not detecting in the slightest her miss softly and quietly going out. Hearing those extremely light footsteps, she just pushed her low pillow in her sleep.
The An Duke Manor at night was extremely quiet. Occasionally, there was the soft cries of the summer insects. On the second branch’s side, there were a few lantern lights flickering, unknown as to which master still hasn’t gone to sleep yet. The moonlight was bright and clear, spilling all over the courtyard, the moonlight in the entire courtyard like water reflections.
Shen Lan Chi walked to the wall in Fulan Courtyard, bending down, picking up a piece of rock from the ground, and throwing it towards the other side of the wall. She originally didn’t hold any expectations, just coming out to calm her mind. But, who knew that the other side actually threw a piece of rock back.
“Lu Qi Yang?” She leaned close to the wall and softly asked, “It’s this late, still not going to rest?”
“…….My father punished me to hold the water bucket.” A stuffy voice came from the other side of the wall.
Presumably, Zhennan Wangfei had told on him, thus causing the little heir to end up as such.
Thinking to here, Shen Lan Chi couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.
Lu Qi Yang naturally also heard her laugh, instantly getting angry, “You’re even laughing?”
After he said this, Shen Lan Chi just heard a ‘sploosh’ sound. Seems he’d tossed the wooden bucket in his hand that was full of water.
Don’t know where he splashed that water.
In a short while, Lu Qi Yang nimbly climbed over the wall, directly landing in front of her.
“I should’ve long known, you’re just this heartless of a girl.” He coldly said.
When Shen Lan Chi saw his figure, she was slightly surprised. It wasn’t for any other reason, just because of his current sorry state———He was still in that appearance from when they escaped from the Ruan manor, not wearing his outer robe, his top half naked. Just on that slender and well-proportioned body, there were some fresh whip marks, painful to look at.
“This injury……” The smile on Shen Lan Chi’s lips gradually faded.
“Got beaten by my father.” Lu Qi Yang was unconcerned, his tone nonchalant, “This young master is actually used to it, not scared of pain.”
Shen Lan Chi fell silent for a while, then grabbed his hand, directly pulling him towards her boudoir.
“What are you doing?” Lu Qi Yang was startled.
“You come in!” Shen Lan Chi said, “Tread lightly, so as to avoid disturbing Lu Zhu and have my mother called over later.”
Shen Lan Chi entered inside the green curtains, one hand holding a small lantern, the other hand quietly rummaging through the large pear wood cabinet. Very soon, she dug out some blue porcelain bottles and jars, turning around and saying to Lu Qi Yang, “This is the rejuvenating and moisturizing skin cream that my grandfather made. After applying on the body, guarantee that you won’t leave behind any scars, your entire body fair and tender.”
Hearing her wording, Lu Qi Yang who was sitting on the couch with his legs crossed helplessly laughed, softly saying, “Fair and tender? I’m not a little girl, why bother being this particular?”
“You may not care, but I care.” Shen Lan Chi carried a bit of disdain in her tone.
She had the muslin lantern placed on the shelf by the bed. Under the beansprout-like firelight, she screwed open the jar in hand, smearing a small lump of smooth and buttery ointment on her scallion-like fingers, then applied it on Lu Qi Yang’s body.
Lu Qi Yang didn’t speak and didn’t move, his hands placed on top his knees, just this quietly watching her.
He normally would always carry a frivolous attitude, also walking and behaving in a nonchalant manner like a wastrel. But, when really taking off his clothes, he nevertheless had the slim and firm body of a warrior. His entire body from top to bottom didn’t have even an inch of excess fat, just like a wild beast with slender limbs. If to insist on saying where was lacking, then it was just the either deep or shallow scars crawling all over his two arms and back, which were shocking to see.
“Your father really is quite ruthless.” Shen Lan Chi muttered.
“My father is used to being rough in the army camp, having that model from the Nanman borders previously also brought back to the manor. Yet, it just so happens that my mother is also from a military family, so didn’t stop him in the slightest.” When mentioning his father whose temper was always at odds with him, Lu Qi Yang’s tone slightly carried a bit of disdain.
Afterwards, he leaned over, using his forehead to snuggle against Shen Lan Chi’s head, smilingly saying, “Dear Lan Lan, aside from you, there’s no one else that cares for me in this world.”
He was like a guard dog just waiting for his master to pet his head, randomly rubbing against her nonstop. Getting interrupted like this, Shen Lan Chi was unable to properly apply the medicine. She wanted to say a few words to him, but as soon as she lifted her eyes, she just saw a different kind of scenery——-
The heir’s cheeks got illuminated by that ball of flame, giving off a warm yellow color. His eyes that contained a smile were like that golden amber that had water droplets preserved inside. Don’t know if the seven treasures[2] spread before Buddha were even one-twelfth as bright as this pair of eyes?
Shen Lan Chi blanked out for a while, her strength unconsciously becoming heavier. Afterwards, she quietly said, “I also don’t care about you, not in the least bit.”
Lu Qi Yang felt pain and nearly cried out. Shen Lan Chi immediately was on guard, carefully casting a glance towards the outer room. Seeing that Lu Zhu didn’t get startled, she finally relaxed a breath.
“Oh you……” She used her fingertip to repeatedly scratch an old wound on his chest, quietly saying with a sigh, “To want you to shut your mouth and be quieter, how come it was just this difficult?”
How come it was just……this difficult?
Really difficult.
After saying this, she raised her head and used her lips to block the heir’s yet to be spoken words.
She didn’t hold the small porcelain bottle in hand tightly enough, accidentally letting go and letting it fall. Fortunately, Lu Qi Yang steadily caught it, thus not letting this porcelain bottle shatter into pieces on the ground.
Once her hand was freed, it climbed up the man’s back, slowly caressing his spine, segment by segment, like stroking a fragile object. When her fingertips swept over the slightly protruding scar near his tailbone, her slender fingers lightly trembled.
The two intertwined shadows casted on the wall, slightly swaying for a while. Soon after, he lowered his head and quietly held her.
“Now you believe me?” Shen Lan Chi raised her brow, using her finger to poke his back, “Believe that I don’t want to be the crown princess and just want to marry you?”
“I believe—–” He softly said by her ear, “I don’t plan on having you yielded to others anymore, regardless whether it’s Lu Zhao Ye or Lu Zi Xiang.
“You even thought of having me pushed to Lu Zi Xiang before?” Shen Lan Chi’s finger poked even harder.
“That Lu Zi Xiang also secretly peeks at you all day, you never noticed?” Lu Qi Yang asked.
“Whether he’s looking at me or not, what does it have to do with me?” She was somewhat baffled. A while later, she lowered her eyes and quietly said, “I can’t fall asleep. As soon as I close my eyes, I just think of what happened in the Ruan manor tonight……a bit scared.”
Lu Qi Yang used his fingers to twirl a lock of the girl in his arms’ hair, saying, “I’ll stay with you.”
After saying this, he picked up that lantern placed on the shelf and blew it out.
The pitch black color of the night shrouded the room again, having his figure hidden away. Shen Lan Chi felt around for a moment and grasped his palm, finally lying down in the thin quilt with her mind at rest. Although everything before her eyes was dark, the inside of her palm was nevertheless genuinely warm and cozy.
“Heir, I’m warning you, don’t have any crooked ideas at this time.” In the dark of the night, she secretly smiled, licking the corner of her lips and saying, “Else, I will be even more aggressive than you.”
[1] In ancient times, there’s a night watch system for reporting the time at night, where a night watchman will go around striking the gong at certain time periods to indicate the hour. Generally the night is split into five periods, each period around two hours, starting from 7pm-9pm as the first period. However, what confuses me about what the author wrote is that zi and chou are two different time periods; zi is roughly 11pm-1am (third period of the night) and chou is 1am-3am (fourth period of the night).
[2] Different scriptures actually list these differently, so I’ll just list one set from the Amitabha Sutra: gold, silver, veluriyam (comes from sanskrit vaiḍūrya), glass, chequ (beads made from giant clam shell), scarlet pearl (sanskirt lohitamuktikā), and agate.
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