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Older Cousin Coming to Visit
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!
The heir’s hands were warm, his embrace also warm.
Recalling that momentary warmth in the sedan chair just now, her steps were also somewhat light.
Shen Lan Chi slowly strolled along in the streets, her gaze scattered. The streets were noisy with carriages, a bustling scene.
In the last lifetime, Lu Qi Yang was actually able to hide that well, letting her genuinely assume that he and her were merely just childhood friends. At most, it was nothing more than the childish banters between them. She still remembered, that day when she got officially engaged to Lu Zhao Ye, Lu Qi Yang even came to congratulate her. Don’t know how many feelings and thoughts were hidden in that congratulation?
If to let her smilingly wish the person she liked a happy marriage with someone else, she was unable to do it. Her heart has always been narrow. She would only grind her teeth in hatred, and then use every trick in the book to have the person snatched back.
Because she was distracted, she nearly bumped into a lantern a peddler had hung in front of his stall. That lantern was roughly made into a peach shape using paper-mache, the color exquisite, even having a lively and vivid Monkey King[1] drawn on top, his magical staff perfectly as the lantern’s handle.
“This gentleman, how about buying a lantern? Next week will be the lantern festival. Buying a pair of ‘National Grace and Heavenly Fragrance’ lanterns for a lady is the most fitting for the occasion.” That peddler selling the lanterns rubbed his hands, coming up with a fawning smile.
Shen Lan Chi swept a glance, seeing that this stall was full of all kinds of lanterns. There was a small rabbit with pointy ears, a tiger with a few whiskers drawn on, a figure that one can somewhat manage to make out it’s Chang’e[2] with a slender waist, and also a large gold yuanbao[3].
Lantern festival……..
Shen Lan Chi finally recalled. According to the Chu capital’s custom, in late autumn, every family and household all need to hand-make lanterns. However, this was just a festival celebrated by the ordinary commoners, no different from the markets and temple fairs each week. The great majority of the powerful noble families all won’t involve themselves with this celebration.
She stood in front of the lantern stall for a while, but didn’t buy anything, returning empty-handed.
After returning to the An Duke Manor, she was originally thinking of directly returning to her room, but suddenly, she changed her mind and headed towards her grandfather’s Songshou Courtyard. She had the intention of finding out the reality of her grandfather’s illness, thus deliberately lightened her steps, slipping in through the side door that wasn’t guarded by anyone.
The scent of medicine swirled around the courtyard against the verdant greenery and blue walls. The An Duke sat cross-legged upon a rock by the pond, with a pot of wine by his side and a fishing pole in hand, appearing in high spirits, very much enjoying himself, not seeing that sickly appearance previously anywhere.
Shen Lan Chi was slightly angered——–grandfather sure enough was pretending to be sick.
“What is grandfather doing?” Shen Lan Chi walked out from behind the tree she was hiding behind, saying in slight irritation, “When grandfather fell ill, father and mother were both extremely worried. But, looking at it now, grandfather clearly is perfectly fine.”
Shen Rui got startled by her, his old face stiffening, saying in embarrassment, “Lan girl, how come you returned this early? To not take the front door, and not let anyone come inform……..”
“If I didn’t secretly sneak in, how would I’ve known that grandfather’s body is actually this healthy?” Shen Lan Chi said.
“Aiyaa, aiyaa, pretending to be sick, this kind of trivial matter……..” Shen Rui tugged his white beard and mumbled, “Isn’t it all for the sake of this Shen family? If not for this old man falling ill, your father might even help your tang brother do something bad!”
TN: All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
Upon hearing, Shen Lan Chi’s original complaint got swallowed back down.
It was true that her father would always be partial towards the second branch regardless of the reason or cause. This time, for Shen first master to firmly and resolutely decide to punish Shen Ting Zhu, it was already rare and hard to come by. If not for Shen Rui falling ill, perhaps Shen first master will change his mind afterwards, having that Shen Ting Zhu fished out from prison again. But, if her grandfather who’d gotten angered by Shen Ting Zhu continue to be bedridden, then Shen first master certainly won’t become soft towards Shen Ting Zhu.
“Grandfather, why go this far? Making this granddaughter worry for nothing.” Shen Lan Chi squat down next to Shen Rui, blurting out, “Can’t you just directly reprimand my father?”
Shen Rui, however, shook his head and said, “The sons have grown up, no longer obedient. Your father has the An Duke Manor viewed too importantly. As long as it’s someone of the An Duke Manor, he will all help, regardless of how distant of a relative. If he were to mistreat a certain one, he will feel that he has let down the horizontal board above the door. Yet, this person is very stubborn, unwilling to listen.”
Shen Lan Chi echoed ‘indeed’ inside, feeling that her grandfather was right.
“Lan girl, you better help me keep this secret.” Shen Rui stroked his beard and said, “Else, without my illness pressing down, your father might have a sudden whim, having that unfilial grandson that has committed such a crime brought back home. Then, that would really be bringing dishonor to the Shen family ancestors.”
Shen Lan Chi nodded her head and said, “Alright, I will help grandfather keep this secret.”
• • •
After a period of time, the cool breeze swept through the capital city, already deep into autumn.
During this time, Shen Ting Zhu was locked up in prison the whole time. Xiao-shi was unwilling to sit by and give up, clenching her teeth and secretly selling off the shops in her dowry, then organized out a large stack of banknotes, begging for help from top to bottom, wanting to preserve Shen Ting Zhu’s life.
When she did this, she naturally kept it from the entire Shen family. Shen second master and Shen Ting Kang were busy to begin with so naturally didn’t discover her little movements. Only Shen Tong Ying’s eyes were sharp, instantly discovering that her mother’s dowry had rapidly reduced.
The person Shen Tong Ying was going to marry was the crown prince. Her dowry certainly will need to form a ten li[4] long line and gather a total of a hundred and twenty lifts[5]. The second branch’s private savings weren’t as abundant as the first branch. If they want to gather a hundred and twenty lifts, it’ll still be somewhat difficult. As such, Shen Tong Ying had long started eyeing Xiao-shi’s dowry, just hoping that Xiao-shi can have the treasures her maternal grandmother left behind evenly distributed down to her.
But, during this period, Xiao-shi had been spending money like water. Those shops disappeared quickly, not knowing which hole it went down. Shen Tong Ying carefully ordered someone to ask around, finally learning that Xiao-shi was trying to save that useless older brother of hers.
Upon learning this, Shen Tong Ying was furious.
Never mind that her eldest brother was disappointing, he was even going to drag her down! If she becomes the crown princess, then the Shen family second branch’s prospects in the future will be unlimited. Compared to her useless older brother, who was more important, her mother actually couldn’t understand at all!
Shen Tong Ying was resentful inside, immediately looking for her second brother, Shen Ting Kang. The two siblings formed a plan. Shen Ting Kang said, “Absolutely can’t let mother continue making mistakes like this. Elder brother’s crime has already given the An Duke Manor a bad name. Little sis still needs to marry into the Eastern Palace in the future, so how can we get dragged down by him again?”
Shen Ting Kang has always had ideas, immediately spending a bit of money, making some small maneuvers.
On the other side, Xiao-shi had exhausted her money, finally convincing the prison warden to use a death row inmate of a similar build to have Shen Ting Zhu switched out. Although unable to let Shen Ting Zhu restore his past glory, for better or worse, he was able to keep his life, which was already enough to let Xiao-shi thank the heaven and earth.
Just, that prison warden meaningfully said something to Xiao-shi, “Shen second madam, this young master Shen, I definitely can switch out for you. But, he has already gone through torture, so certainly will carry a bit of injuries, hoping that you don’t mind.”
Xiao-shi just thought that it was the injury from the whipping, so hurriedly nodded her head. As long as he can preserve his life, that was already an enormous fortune.
However, when Shen Ting Zhu got sent out, Xiao-shi instead saw his dreadful state. A perfectly fine young master bloomed with cuts and bruises, his figure skin and bones, deranged and unable to even stand up. Upon seeing Xiao-shi, he started crying like a child, with snot and tears streaming down his face.
Once she got him to the estate outside of the city, she invited a doctor to examine him. Only then did Xiao-shi learn that Shen Ting Zhu’s leg tendons got cut and had six to seven major injuries all over his body. Not only so, he even lost his mind, becoming a deranged and crippled person.
Xiao-shi finally understood what the prison warden meant by ‘certainly will carry a bit of injuries’. She was immediately heartbroken to death, nearly passing out again.
Shen Ting Zhu getting beaten to this degree certainly must be the works of someone behind the scenes, bribing the prison warden, wanting him to die in prison before his execution. Just, Shen Ting Zhu was lucky, managing to survive through it. As for who would do this, Xiao-shi racked her brains and could only think of those few from the first branch.
That Shen Lan Chi got the crown princess position stolen from her, so harbored a grudge. And her sister-in-law Ji Wen Xiu has always found her unpleasant. This mother and daughter pair, seeing that her son got caught, rushed to throw stones down the well!
Xiao-shi recalled the secret she overheard outside of her father-in-law Shen Rui’s bedroom previously. The old grudges and new hate overlapped, filling her with anger. She gazed at the deranged and blankly drooling Shen Ting Zhu before her, immediately coming up with a plan inside.
What did the Shen family first branch count as?! This An Duke Manor originally should belong to her husband!
[1] Refers to Sun Wukong from the Journey to the West. He’s an extremely iconic character in chinese culture.
[2] Chang’e, also known as the lady on the moon, or the moon goddess. She’s a character in chinese mythology. There’s many versions of her myth. In one version, she was the wife of Houyi, the guy who shot 9 of the 10 suns and later banished to earth because of this. In the myths, the world initially had 10 suns, who were the sons of the Jade Emperor in heaven. Originally, they were suppose to take turns and run across the sky day by day, but one day, they decided to all go out to play, which scorched the earth, making it hell for the mortals on earth. Huoyi was tasked to bring them in, but he shot and killed 9 of them, leaving only 1 sun. During his exile on earth as a mortal, he received pills of immortality one day. As for how he got them, it differs from version to version of the myth, as well as the reason why Chang’e took the pills alone also vary. Overall, in the end, Chang’e took the pills behind her husband’s back and ended up floating to the moon palace because her body became so light she couldn’t stay on earth anymore. Some versions state that she landed on the moon because it’s closer to the earth, since she floated away against her will and wanted to be closer to her husband on earth. Other versions state that the pills she took weren’t real or incomplete, usually in this version of the myth Chang’e betrayed her husband and selfishly took the pills on her own, so she couldn’t truly return to heaven and could only land on the moon.
[3] Yuanbao – The shape of the gold and silver ingots in ancient times. It represents wealth and prosperity. Wontons are also commonly made into this shape for the same reason.
[4] Measurement in ancient times 1 li ~ 500m, also this phrase isn’t literal so don’t take the measurement too seriously.
[5] I was originally going to translate as chest/trunk, but considering that large furniture pieces as well as grains, and sometimes even livestock, were part of a dowry, this was more fitting. Each ‘lift’ consists of two lifters lifting a part of the dowry.
T/N: I felt it was important to note that this lantern festival in late autumn isn’t the same as the Lantern Festival during the new year. In chinese the lantern festival during the first lunar month is called Yuanxiao, or Shangyuan festival. In this chapter, it’s just a 灯会(deng hui) meaning lantern gathering.
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Xiao-shi has a hole in her head instead of brain..
so there are multiple latern festivals …. mindblowing
Xiao-shi is a more than a little brainless, huh? I know it’s a tough choice if you had to choose between your elder son and your second son and your daughter, but like… this is also going to affect her husband too, and the whole family. and also her future prospects. if anyone at all found out that he was sentenced to die and didn’t, wouldn’t that be another handle for their enemies? but maybe she just didn’t think about anything at all except her baby was in trouble for something that wasn’t even that bad at all! (sarcasm)
How can her baby do anything wrong🥺😡!!
Jokes aside, she’s really one of the most braindead antagonists I’ve seen, definitely on the cliche dumb and evil side.