Note: The names are retained in traditional Chinese characters as the RAWs Iâm translating from are in traditional Chinese and it also makes it easier for me when Iâm translating. The new vocabulary terms on the other hand are in simplified Chinese.Characters Shown / Mentioned in this Chapter:
èççć â Ye LiLi er â Main Female Protagonist â first di daughter of the Ye family, but the third child in the family.
æž é â Qing Shuang â Ye Liâs yatou
ćźçćźćçćąšäżźć ŻÂ â Ding w.a.n.gDing guow.a.n.g Mo Xiu Yao â Imperial Prince Ding of the highest rank
é»ç 湚æŻé»Â â Li w.a.n.g  Mo Jing Li â Imperial Prince Li
éłłäčé â Feng Zhi Yao â Friend(?) of Ding w.a.n.g
Ye Family Members:
çæ° â w.a.n.g shi â the current main wife of Ye Shangshu and current zhumu  of the household
There was a s.p.a.cious yet plain and simple horse-drawn carriage that had unknowingly parked outside Shen De Xuan[1] . Although the person sitting inside the carriage was unable to see the situation that was going on inside, his hearing ability was much better compared to that of ordinary people and was able to hear what was currently happening inside Shen De Xuan very clearly.
Inside the carriage, there was a young man fully dressed in red brocade clothing and who had a pair of long eyebrows, handsome beyond worldly standards. A face filled with laughter while lazily leaning against the carriage and looking with ridicule towards the quiet man facing him.
âFeng Zhi Yao, are you too idle?â A man dressed in white sitting upright in a wheelchair looked indifferently at the man in front of him who wouldnât stop laughing. Although he was sitting in a wheelchair, his back was perfectly straight that it almost seemed as though no matter what happened, it wouldnât cause him to collapse in general. A clean and handsome mien that had a trace of mild-mannered flavor, yet that pair of clear eyes could make the person being looked at by him feel a certain chill. He inclined his head to look towards the man dressed in brocade, a slightly hideous scar on the left side of his face was undoubtedly exposed, immediately destroying the original appearance of looking cultured and refined, causing people not to dare look straight at him.
With the âshuaâ sound of unfolding the fan in his hands, Feng Zhi Yao leisurely fanned and said, âAm I not too idle? Laoyezi[2] doesnât allow me to go outside the capital. However, most recently I most likely wouldnât be too bored, after all within a month their royal highnessâ Li w.a.n.g[3] and Ding w.a.n.g are indeed about to get married. This emperor is also too eccentric, Ye Ying had been nicknamed to be the capitalâs number one beauty while this Ye Li is known in the capital as the sanwuqianjin[4] ah. Xiu Yao, do you really want to marry? Isnât the emperor making it clear that heâs trying to make you look bad?â Even if being the sanwuqianjin was no problem, she had still had her engagement broken off by Mo Jing Li, this imperial family was trying to have the Ding guow.a.n.g[5] fuâs[6] reputation trampled under their feet.
The man dressed in white was actually the current Ding guow.a.n.gye[7] Mo Xiu Yao. Mo Xiu Yao faintly smiled, outside the carriage, the light yet not sounding the slightest bit weak voice of the female inside the Shen De Xuan entered his ears, âThe monarch wants chen[8] to die then chen has no option but to die, not to mention it is only a bestowed marriage? Didnât you also say that Ye third xiaojie[9] is really quite interesting?â
Feng Zhi Yaoâs eyebrows knitted, a look of worry on his face as he looked at him, âThis matter is a major lifelong event for you, taking a w.a.n.gfei[10] for a wife is different from taking in a concubine, did you really think this through carefully?â
âEven if I didnât think it through clearly so what? Itâs justâŠthis appearance of mine, only afraid Iâve caused others to feel wronged.â
Feng Zhi Yao was silent. Indeed, even if one didnât think it through clearly so what? The emperorâs decree cannot be defied, otherwise it will only cause the Ding guow.a.n.g fu to be drowned in calamity. Not to mention, Mo Xiu Yao was already twenty five years old, he shouldâve already been married by this age. However, among the number of unmarried daughters of n.o.ble houses within the capital, which one didnât avoid it as though it were like serpents and scorpions? NowâŠonly hope that this Ye familyâs xiaojie was not a bad woman. However, would the emperor choose a good wife for Mo Xiu Yao?
There wasnât even enough time to send off the young man who had sold the painting when a pair of handsome man and beautiful woman walked in from outside. The shopkeeper saw what could be his savior and repeatedly shouted out, âYing er[11]âŠYing er, w.a.n.gye[12], save me ahâŠ..â
The two who had come in hand in hand were precisely the capitalâs well-known Li w.a.n.g Mo Jing Li and Ye Ying. Ye Ying looked at the handsome man standing next to her and then strode over to Ye Liâs side and said in a pampered voice, âThird elder sister, what are you doing here? Did tangjiu[13] do something wrong to provoke your anger? I only request that you look upon him as your elder and not to feel bothered about it a lot.â The lightly uttered sentence made it seem as though Ye Li was the type to disrespect her elders. Mo Jing Li heard what was said and looked at Ye Li attentively with his eyebrows knitted.
Ye Li looked at Ye Ying with a smile that was not quite a smile and indifferently said, âFourth younger sister has recognized the wrong person, my waizufuâs[14] family only has three jiujiu[15]. At this time, there is only second jiu[16] in the capital. Not to mention, this Shen De Xuan is part of my motherâs dowry, but if those jiujiu of mine donât feel rest a.s.sured they wouldnât need to personally come over to be the shopkeeper. This is merely an underling from home, why would fourth younger sister think that this is third elder sisterâs elder?â
Ye Yingâs pink face flushed red in anger and was even more resentful on the inside. She would have to be an idiot if she didnât understand the meaning in Ye Liâs words. In Ye Liâs eyes, she had never once thought of their w.a.n.g familyâs relatives as her own relatives all along, naturally even more wouldnât recognize the w.a.n.g familyâs elders as her own elders. And so, since her own tangjiu is working as a shopkeeper in Shen De Xuan, in Ye Liâs eyes he was her underling. This woman normally appeared to be gentle and looked like the type not to fight over things, but actually dared to make her lose face in front of Li w.a.n.g!
Biting her cherry lips, Ye Ying forced herself to smile as she said, âThird elder sister is telling a joke, but in the past there wasnât anyone managing this Shen De Xuan, only then did mother entrust tangjiu to handle it on her behalf, how could he be an underling?â
Ye Li nodded, smiling as though she understood clearly and said, âSo it was like that, it was this elder sister who misunderstood. From now on, these matters donât need to trouble furenâs[17] niangjiaâs[18] elder brother, I myself will have someone to handle it. In awhile I will trouble this w.a.n.gâŠlaoye[19] to follow me to go back to the Ye fu and settle the handover in the presence of fuqin[20] and zumu[21].â
The shopkeeperâs and Ye Yingâs faces changed. The shopkeeperâs face is naturally for the generous ill-gotten gains from his commissions. Now although w.a.n.g shiâs[22] eldest daughter was the Zhao Yi niangniang[23]Â in the palace, but the foundation of the w.a.n.g family was too meager that otherwise at that time the w.a.n.g familyâs di[24] daughter wouldnât have married into the Ye family to become a concubine. Although in these recent years there was a turn for the better, but there were only a few who were currently serving as government officials. This shopkeeper was w.a.n.g shiâs tangxiong[25], he originally was only staying at home with nothing to do, where else can he spend his days comfortably like the time in which he managed the Shen De Xuan?
Ye Ying also knew that her own mother earned a lot of silver from this Shen De Xuan every year and she herself would normally directly take away any rare antique that she took fancy in, thus she was rather well-regarded in the capital among the well-bred young ladies. If they were to lose control over this Shen De Xuan, it wouldnât be very convenient in the future.
Ye Li could care less what these two people were thinking on the inside and with a smile on her face, pulled Ye Ying and said, âFor the time-being letâs not be concerned over these matters, what was fourth younger sister going to do in coming to Shen De Xuan at this time?
Ye Yingâs complexion turned rigid and hesitated for a bit before finally saying, âHis Highness Li w.a.n.g has taken a preference in the shopâs statue of Guanyin (the Bodhisattva of Compa.s.sion or G.o.ddess of Mercy) and wanted to give it to the empress dowagerâŠIâm accompanying w.a.n.gye to come take a look.â
Ye Liâs smile didnât change, still as calm and indifferent as before, not even the slightest bit of hidden bitterness and sadness over the man who had broken off her own engagement could be seen. She even smiled more amiably, inclining her head towards Mo Jing Li with a smile and saying, âSo it was His Highness Li w.a.n.g ah, this little girl has met before. Itâs justâŠwhy did fourth little sister let His Highness Li w.a.n.g come to the store personally, wouldnât it be better to just send it directly over to the Li w.a.n.g fu?â
Ye Yingâs eyebrows creased as she looked at Ye Li, in her heart she wondered if it was possible that she still hadnât given up and wanted to fawn over Li w.a.n.g? Mo Jing Li stood at the side with his hands behind his back, looking at Ye Li with a flash of disdain in his eyes, obviously also thinking that Ye Li wanted to fawn over himself with this move. Only heard Ye Li continuing to laugh and say, âBut since w.a.n.gye has come, He shifu[26], have the Guanyin statue wrapped up to give to w.a.n.gye. I donât know ifâŠw.a.n.gye will be paying in cash or in banknotes?â Everyone was surprised for a moment at the explanation, Mo Jing Liâs face turned ugly as he looked attentively at Ye Li and said, âWhat did you say?â
He shifu who was standing at the side had already carefully taken out the Guanyin statue, Ye Li took a look at it and saw that it was a white jade Guanyin statue.
White jade Guanyin statue
Although it was only from looking from a distance that can already make one clearly feel the look of Guanyin being compa.s.sionate towards people in general, it was obvious that no matter what, the carving skill was of the best quality. Contrariwise, she hadnât expected that Shen De Xuan would still have this kind of valuable object, if she hadnât come today, was only afraid that it wouldâve been a huge loss.
âXiaojie, it has been packed well. The total would be five thousand and one hundred taels.â He shifu could also see the third xiaojieâs meaning. He originally was an old man brought in with the dowry and taken into the Ye family as a caretaker. Now that third xiaojie had taken over the Shen De Xuan, he would naturally lean towards his own householdâs young master. Ye Li was also very satisfied towards He shifu and nodded her head at Mo Jing Li with a shallow smile and said, âRounding it off some more, that will be five thousand taelsâŠw.a.n.gye, what do you think of this?â
âThird elder sister! YouâŠ.â Ye Ying looked at Mo Jing Li somewhat anxiously and called out to Ye Li with a look of grievance.
Ye Li laughed coldly on the inside, these past couple of years she didnât know how much silver taels and items w.a.n.g shi secretly took from the store and now Ye Ying wanted to go on a higher level; in order to please Mo Jing Li, she actually went so far as to think of bringing him to take an item from the store for free of charge. Did she really think of her as someone with more money than sense?
Qing Shuang inwardly disdained Ye Yingâs act of trying to appear delicate and laughed with a âhee heeâ, saying, âWhatâs the matter, fourth xiaojie? Our xiaojie is actually looking upon His Highness Li w.a.n.gâs future status as the fourth guye[27] and thus discounted several hundred taels. If it were any other family, they wouldnât be able to get such a price. Itâs stillâŠnubi[28] knows now, presumably w.a.n.gye hadnât brought that much silver with him.â
Ye Li shallowly smiled and said, âThat doesnât matter, I naturally trust w.a.n.gye. w.a.n.gye may as well take this item with you first. Later on I will have someone send over the bill to the fu and then also might as well take the silver taels in pa.s.sing. What does w.a.n.gye think of this?â
Mo Jing Liâs complexion turned somewhat ugly, what can he do? If he were to decline, others will only think that he wanted to take other peopleâs things for free of charge. If he were to say that he wasnât buying it and the people present all knew that it was something that was to be given to the empress dowager, not buying it because it was too expensive would make him appear to be unfilial. This Ye Li was said in the capital to have no looks, no talent, and no virtue, but it hadnât been said that her very nature would actually be this cunning.
Letting out a cold humph, Mo Jing Li nodded his head in a way that could be considered as agreeing. As if in that moment he was unwilling to to stay in the store any longer, he pulled up Ye Ying to go outside. Even that shopkeeper w.a.n.gâs calls werenât cared about.
Ye Li smiled in satisfaction, waving a hand towards He shifu with a smile and said, âw.a.n.gye is indeed frank and straightforward. He shifu, make sure to appoint someone to send over the bill to the w.a.n.g fu. Oh right, at the same time also check to see in the past if there are still any charges, then lump it together to give to w.a.n.gye to deal with. As a dignified w.a.n.g fu, they absolutely wouldnât lessen this little money of ours.â
Hearing this, the complexion of Mo Jing Li who had just gone out the door turned ashen, pausing in his step before pulling Ye Ying to leave without turning back.