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Heir’s Birthday (2)
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!
Lu Qi Yang was the last to leave. He drank a lot, but because his drinking capacity was good, his mind was still clear. However, when he exited Flying Immortal Alley, he heard from the dark shadows across the street an unhappy “Lu Qi Yang”.
Upon closer inspection, turns out, it was Shen Lan Chi standing there.
She walked out from the shadows, unknown as to how long she has been standing there. A blanket of snow piled upon her cloak, her dark raven hair mixed with specks of white. Her originally fair as jade cheeks turned thoroughly red from the cold, appearing rather pitiful.
“Lan, Lan Lan…..” Lu Qi Yang blanked, asking, “How come you’re….still here?”
“I….” Shen Lan Chi frowned and turned away, saying, “I want to drink that jar of wine I brought.” Pausing for a moment, she exclaimed, “It can’t be that you’ve already drank up all of my wine with those monkeys?!”
Upon hearing this, Lu Qi Yang didn’t know whether he should first laugh at ‘those monkeys’, this address, or pacify her first. After holding back his laughter for while, he hurriedly went forward, brushing away the snow on her hair, softly saying, “Didn’t drink it. I didn’t allow them to touch your things.”
Hearing this, Shen Lan Chi’s eyes slightly lit up, “Then, I can still drink it?”
“It’s cold outside, go back home to drink it.” Lu Qi Yang said.
“No, if I go back, then I will get caught by my mother. I’d finally managed to sneak out with great difficulty.” Shen Lan Chi said.
Lu Qi Yang couldn’t win against her and could only sit down with her on the stone steps in front of Flying Immortal Alley. He ordered the servant boy to go ask for wine cups, then slapped open the sealing mud. This wine sure enough was good wine, overflowing with fragrance, intoxicating at a whiff.
“Thank goodness I didn’t leave!” Shen Lan Chi said in a low voice, “If I’d left, then I would’ve missed out on this kind of good thing, letting you have it for nothing.”
“What do you mean ‘letting me have it for nothing’? Isn’t this for me?” Lu Qi Yang helplessly laughed, pouring a cup of wine for her.
Shen Lan Chi raised the wine cup and took a small sip, feeling that the taste was sweet and mellow. She couldn’t help but take a few more sips. Her finger was raised, the tip of her nose scraped red by the night wind. Landing in Lu Qi Yang’s eyes, she was indescribably cute.
“Quickly drink, then go back home once you’re finished, so as to avoid catching a cold.” Lu Qi Yang urged.
“No!” Shen Lan Chi wiped the corner of her mouth and said, “You want to force me to leave again, but it’s not that easy.”
She drank several cups, gradually becoming somewhat drunk. Lifting her eyes, she saw the still slowly falling snow in the night sky. The tiny snowflakes fluttered in the air, turning a dim yellow by the lanterns under the eaves. If one were to extend one’s hand, then the snowflake would land in the palm, but in merely a moment, it would get melted by the warmth of the palm.
“Snow…..” She blinked, somewhat hazy and unclear, “When I died, it was also snowing.”
“En.” Lu Qi Yang held her waist, saying in a low voice, “I know.”
TN: All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
“You know what?” The drunken Shen Lan Chi didn’t understand what he was saying, just leaning into his arms, using her finger to tap his eyes and brows, saying, “You sure can endure. Clearly like me, yet endured for over ten to nearly twenty years.”
“Who let you want to be the empress?” Lu Qi Yang pressed down her restless hand, his voice increasingly low, “In the past, I figured, I’m merely a wastrel, and can only be a wastrel for life, so I’m unworthy of you. You’re just born to be the empress, so letting you marry the crown prince is for the best.”
“But….but……” Shen Lan Chi grabbed his collar, saying, “Now, I don’t want to be the empress.”
“En. I know.” Lu Qi Yang said again.
Shen Lan Chi’s eyelashes fluttered, letting out a ‘oh’, unknown as to whether she’d heard or not, continuously saying something about ‘snow’. Seeing this, Lu Qi Yang lightly chuckled, using his finger to brush aside the strands of black hair scattered over her cheeks, then found her soft lips and leaned down.
“……What are you doing?” Shen Lan Chi asked in a daze.
“The snow is heavy; the wind is strong, scared that you’ll catch a cold, so blocking the snow for you.” Lu Qi Yang answered.
After saying this, her lips sure enough warmed slightly, his burning breath brushing over her skin.
Clearly the winter weather was severely cold with snowfall, but Shen Lan Chi strangely felt her heart warming up. She tightly grasped Lu Qi Yang’s collar, breaking away from his kiss as she muttered, “Gave it to you, my present.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you want that ‘national heirloom of Ji Hou’? I’ve solved the riddle, precisely me. Go ahead, raise a pot of Lan Lan at home.”
• • •
Shen Lan Chi was drunk. It was Lu Qi Yang that had her carried back on his back. When he had this pot of Lan Lan returned to Shen first madam, Shen first madam was greatly shocked. But, when she saw that it was that heir next door who couldn’t be more timid sending her back, Shen first madam was immediately relieved.
What Lu Qi Yang was like, would she not be clear? Although appearing idle, he was nevertheless a kindhearted person deep down. When it comes to saving people, he would never hesitate.
Shen first madam ordered the little kitchen to prepare hangover soup and instructed the servant girls to keep this matter from Shen Xin Gu, then let Shen Lan Chi return to her room to sleep. The next morning, when Shen Lan Chi woke up, she just felt her head aching terribly, like having gotten pried open by something. Carefully recalling, she only remembered looking for Lu Qi Yang to drink together last night, and afterwards, she didn’t remember anything else.
That guy seemingly secretly kissed her again. As for the rest, she entirely didn’t remember.
She yawned, slowly getting up. The snow outside had stopped. In merely a night, the snow in the courtyard already showed signs of vanishing. But, Shen Lan Chi didn’t pity, because this snow would come and go, so the snow scenery will always come back.
This day, a shocking news came from the court.
The assassination case during the national banquet finally concluded. Although the main culprit was unrelated to the Shen family, but because of the Shen family’s failure in duty, Chu Emperor still demoted both Shen Xin Shu and Shen Ting Kang.
Ever since dividing the family, Shen Xin Shu’s days were just somewhat difficult. Now that he suddenly got demoted, his feelings were increasingly resentful. The frustrations and resentments in the past all exploded at this time, actually indulging in pleasure outside for several days in a row, living a life of drunkenness, unwilling to return home.
Shen Xin Shu was born wealthy and noble, so although his learning and talent weren’t excellent, but with the help of his family, he was still able to rise to a high position. After his younger sister entered the palace as the empress, in addition to having his elder brother and the crown prince shielding in front, Shen Xin Shu’s life can be considered to be smooth sailing. This time, first dividing the family, then getting demoted, actually made him become a bit gloomy, also becoming easily irritable. If Xiao-shi were to say something wrong, he would just hit her, scaring Xiao-shi into a frightened bird, no longer daring to say more.
Xiao-shi had the intention of letting her second son Shen Ting Kang speak for her, but Shen Ting Kang also got demoted, getting further and further away from the Grand Palace Grandee position that he’d been longing for. Moreover, he was also unwilling to be the middleman between his parents, so just used governmental affairs as an excuse to escape from home.
Xiao-shi was very depressed, feeling frustrated everywhere. There was just one thought left in her mind——-Once Shen Tong Ying marries into the Eastern Palace and becomes the empress in the future, their family will be able to rise again. When time comes, what will the An Duke Manor count as?
When bored, Xiao-shi would vent her anger out on Shen Ran. Shen Ran was like a ball of mud, letting her squish and squash as she pleased, actually letting Xiao-shi feel much better.
Shen Ran’s birth mother Hua-yiniang worried for Shen Ran, thinking to herself, ‘As long as her daughter marries, then the madam won’t be able to grasp her.’
Thus, she ran to beg Shen Xin Shu, hoping to let Shen Ran get engaged and marry sooner. Unknown as to how, this news leaked into Xiao-shi’s ear. As soon as she heard that Shen Ran was in a hurry to marry, she immediately had an idea.
On this day, she specially had Hua-yiniang invited over, saying with a mocking smile, “Didn’t you want Ran’er to marry sooner? I’ve already found a family for her, precisely that Ma family’s old master. Once Ran’er marries over, she will be the legitimate matriarch of the family, having great wealth and power!”
When Hua-yiniang heard, she was instantly dumbstruck.
This Ma family weren’t well known, simply unable to match with a daughter of the Shen family. Even if Shen Ran was a shu-born, she’s still a young lady related to the An Duke Manor, a head taller than those third-rate aristocrats. Even if not a concubine of a di son of a first class household, she can still become the main wife of those second-rate young masters.
Moreover, this Ma family old master was short, fat, and cruel, already over forty, old enough to be Shen Ran’s father. He has already married two wives, and at present, this was already his third time taking a wife. The people of the Chu capital all say that he ‘cursed wives’. Not only so, he also had a huge pile of tongfangs and concubines at home, a husband that no noble young lady of the Chu capital would pick.
The madam actually wanted to have Ran’er married to this kind of person!
Hua-yiniang’s eyes reddened, tearfully complaining, “Madam, no matter how unsightly Ran’er is, still need to consider for the An Duke Manor’s face! Having Ran’er married to this kind of family, how will others view our Shen family?”
Xiao-shi coldly sneered and said, “What An Duke Manor? Don’t flatter yourself! The An Duke Manor simply doesn’t care for us, long having our family kicked out. Tong’er will be the crown princess in the future, so her status is naturally peerlessly noble. But what does Shen Ran count as? To be able to marry old master Ma, it’s already of great fortune!”
Pausing for a moment, Xiao-shi turned her eyes, smilingly brightly, “If you’re dissatisfied, I’ll just carefully pick again. Those peddlers and commoners, as long as they’re good to Ran’er, presumably can also marry, right?”
When Hua-yiniang heard, she trembled in fear.
Seeing this deathly pale look of Hua-yiniang’s, Xiao-shi just felt the gloominess from getting slapped by Shen Xin Shu during the day all dissipate, her mood suddenly improving. While humming a tune, she got up and returned to her room.
Hua-yiniang thought about the main wife’s words just now and couldn’t help but collapse onto the ground.
Shen Ran has suffered for that many years. She can’t continue to suffer after marrying!
Thinking back and forth, Hua-yiniang clenched her teeth and looked for Shen Ran, saying, “You’re close with the first branch’s Miss Lan, can you go beg Miss Lan, letting the duke or the first madam speak up, so as to let our madam change her mind?”
Shen Ran sat before the window, her usually timid face just left with tranquility.
“Don’t worry yiniang, I have my own idea.” She said, “Older sister Lan Chi although is willing to help me, there’s no pay without work. Only if I help her, will she speak for me. Since the marriage arrangement has yet to be settled, then there’s still leeway to turn around. Just wait for the right timing.”
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