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Chapter 122: Moved by Affection
Author: White Pear Flower
Raws: https://book.qidian.com/info/2386994/
Translated Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
Aunt Yu and Yu Jie continued to talk, trying their best to persuade Fu Qiuning. [1a] Their mistress did not say anything either, and it was not until they found themselves nearly hoarse from talking that they finally realised that Fu Qiuning had not said or reacted in any way. Finally, one after another, they fell silent, and awkwardness began to build.
[2a]
“Are you done talking?” asked Fu Qiuning quietly.
“Madam…”
“If you are done cursing me into a doomed relationship, you may leave.”
“Madam, but how can this relationship be considered doomed!” Yu Jie cried. “The Young Marquis clearly loves you!”
“Indeed,” said Fu Qiuning. “But tell me, for how long? Do you intend for me to fall into jealous despair like Jiang Wanying? Or be like one of those petty concubines, playing games and scheming for my Lord Husband’s favour?”
“But, the Master wouldn’t…” Yu Jie withered under Fu Qiuning’s glare. “He, he surely wouldn’t?”
“And you know this, how?” Fu Qiuning arched an eyebrow at her. Then turned to Aunt Yu, “Suppose that Third Brother Zhang decided to get a concubine or even a mistress, would you be happy about it?”
“M-madam…” Aunt Yu flinched.
Fu Qiuning was sorry to treat this good woman like that, but it had to be said. She would not be hounded to death by her own maids about her sex life with a supposed ‘pinnacle of man’. Who needs men in their lives? She could just jog along nicely in life without one of these scums.
[2a]
It was one thing to have a novel-like romantic relationship where a man and a woman form a pair and promise to love and honour each other. It was quite another to get involved with a [1b] [3a] schemer who could not even have the decency to pretend to keep his promise. Not to mention the way he tried to gaslight her into thinking that it was safer within the inner court than Night Breeze Pavilion.
She [1b] could see herself turning into another Jiang Wanying once she got involved with Jin Fengju. Pity the woman, including herself, who fell for that bastard’s good looks and coaxing behaviour. Even her own maids praised him as ‘the pinnacle of man’, what of those who shared his bed and hated her for taking away their nightly privileges?
[1a] “Leave me, I want to sleep,” Fu Qiuning ordered. The two maids scurried away, cowed by their mistress’ displeasure.
Fu Qiuning lay on the bed, contemplating her future as she bit a corner of her quilt. She could not bite those maids for their nonsense, therefore the quilt had to be the one to suffer. She tried to remain objective. [1c] Jin Fengju was good-looking, there was no doubt about that. It would not be difficult at all to do the deed with him to derail whatever test the Jiangs thought up. The question was, would it be worth it?
[1c] Give up the v: The Young Marquis might be clingier, or he could lose interest once he tasted the v. The second possibility would be more favourable to her since she could remain at Night Breeze Pavilion.
[1c] Don’t give up the v: She could be driven out of the marquisate if the test showed her virginity. The Young Marquis would undoubtedly defend her against the Jiangs, possibly alienating both mom and wife, causing them to hate her even more. The Young Marquis would be ridiculed, and maybe eventually hate her… or be even more obsessed with her.
Sigh.
[1c] What a bother over a stupid social construct. Who on earth decided a woman’s worth should be measured by the thing between her legs? How vulgar. What a stupid society, filled with stupid people…
It was under such tangled thoughts that Fu Qiuning finally managed into a troubled sleep.
She was suddenly woken up by a smiling Jin Fengju who sat by her bed, “Qiuning, today, you must satisfy my intent, otherwise, neither Mother nor Wanying will ever let the matter go. To still be a virgin after six years of marriage within the marquisate. Even I would have a difficult time preventing our divorce.”
Then, he suddenly rushed over to overwhelm her.
Fu Qiuning was so frightened by the sudden attack and tried to dodge, but she could not fight him off. In the end, she was pressed down and forced into doing this and that and… suddenly, she jolted awake and realised that it was merely a dream.
“… …” well, all that talk about sex must have stimulated it. When she moved, [1d] she felt a little wetness between her legs.
“… …” well, the good news is, she could probably stand letting that stallion rut into her v. [1d] Awesome, at least that’s one question answered.
She flopped back to bed and stared at the ceiling contemplating life. Before she knew it, the sky gradually brightened, and she could hear Yu Jie and Aunt Yu moving about. Eventually, she got up, freshened herself and sent the children off to school.
The ladies went back to their rooms to do a little more embroidery work. [2a] The atmosphere was a little tense as the maids dared not speak about yesterday’s faux pas. At mid-morning, there was a commotion at the gate and Fu Qiuning found Jin Ming leading more than a dozen male and female servants in.
He beamed at Fu Qiuning, “Madam, the Master says that he cannot let you have your way and that today, these people must be added here. Madam may be at ease, the Master personally chose these people himself. They do not serve any particular courtyard, but had worked in kitchens and laundry rooms as well as other chores. They are here to serve as escorts for Madam. Naturally, the maids by Madam’s side would still be Yu Jie and Aunt Yu, but the mansion would soon purchase a few more girls. When the time comes, new ones will be sent to serve Madam.”
[1e] Gaslighting.
[1e] Was Fu Qiuning’s first thought. Followed by: So he never did intend to keep his ‘will not stuff people into my courtyard for the next three months’ promise. Why am I not surprised? [1e]
[2c] Jin Ming’s beaming smile gradually faltered under Fu Qiuning’s steady stare. “M-madam?” Then, he quickly bolstered his beaming smile again, this time even more strongly as he said, “Madam, do be at ease. The Master has always been very thorough and careful. Otherwise, the emperor would not have entrusted him with important matters, ah. Only, since the care of the marquisate is under Elder Madam and Second Madam, the Young Marquis rarely pays too much attention to it. With his time taken up by important missions, where would he find the time to pay attention to the affairs of the house? Even so, since it is for Madam, the Master thoroughly vetted the people here just for Madam. This servant had never seen the Master so thoughtful before.”
“Indeed, your Master is very capable.”
[2c] The answer was short, to the point, and somehow made Jin Ming gulp.
[2c] Suddenly, Fu Qiuning smiled. It was a grim smile, “Indeed, the servant is as capable as his master. With every breath, you sing praises to your master, leaving me no room to refute. Go back and tell your master that I understand his thoughts very well.”
[2c] “Ah, then, Madam? The servants…?”
[2c] “Since you have already [3b] stuffed them here, there is nowhere for them to go, isn’t there? Leave them. As for the new maids, tell your master I don’t need them.”
Luckily, Jin Ming was a well-trained bootlicker with a thick face. He beamed at Fu Qiuning ingratiatingly, saying, “The Master is at the palace now. He had been thinking about Madam and sent this one back first to arrange for the servants. This one shall rush to the palace with Madam’s message. Should Madam need anything done, just order them as you like.” Even as he spoke, Jin Ming had been bowing and stepping backwards, before fleeing the place altogether.
[2a] Yu Jie and Aunt Yu cautiously came up. When Fu Qiuning did not react, Yu Jie cautiously said, “What does Madam think? Seeing how much effort the Young Marquis put into picking out the servants, something that is usually left to the women of the estate, surely the Master has Madam in his heart?”
“Madam, don’t be unreasonable. If even this cannot change your mind, surely you are being too hard-hearted? Surely even a heart of stone would melt at this?”
[2a]
Fu Qiuning turned her gaze towards the maids. They were shocked by her bitter expression.
“Madam, what…”
“So, you think a man who casually breaks his promises is a good man?”
“Madam…?”
[2a]
“Whatever, just… just give those people something to do. I’m going to my room.” [4a]
Fu Qiuning paced in her room for a few moments before she gave up and went out for a walk. She stared at the fields that she had personally ploughed and planted, at the chickens and little piglet that Third Brother Zhang had somehow managed to bring back alive from the marketplace. At some point, a brood of chicks had been hatched and she found herself surrounded by plump, fluffy chicks.
“Who knows how long I can stay in this place,” Fu Qiuning sat down and leaned back against an old apricot tree. Overhead, white apricot blossoms had bloomed and were now swaying in the wind.
Intense reluctance brewed in her heart. To leave this wonderful little paradise… no, she must find a way to not move out of here. The only way was to have Jin Fengju lose interest in her. Should she cut her face with a knife? Would it even work? Appearance-wise, she was only average against his other women. [4b] Even so… why should she disfigure herself for a man? Moreover, what would the twins think?
Was she… truly helpless here?
Trapped, she was trapped one way or other.
How she hated Jin Fengju for casually breaking his promises. [3a] That is the reason why she could never trust him, this scheming gaslighting bastard. As for that Jiang Wanying, she hated that woman for her stupidity. Why would she randomly make trouble for people? Didn’t she know that if she just stayed calm and lived as a model citizen, Jin Fengju would love her forever and not come sniffing around Night Breeze Pavilion? You think you’re so clever thinking up ways to harm me, but don’t you know the more you harm me, the more that dog of yours clings to me? What man doesn’t like playing the hero? Have you never heard his solo speeches? He loves being a hero and now you obliged him by playing the villain, you stupid, stupid woman.
[1f]
We are both fellow women, but you want to make trouble for other women for a man’s love? Where do you think a man’s love is from?
It’s from his heart and his crotch. Not my heart or my v, you stupid woman!!
In fact, you have succeeded where Jin Fengju had failed. You have made me contemplate letting him have the v! Congratulations, you stupid woman!
Even if you get rid of me, do you think your husband will thank you for it? Huh? What guarantee do you have that he wouldn’t just marry someone else in? Perhaps even a princess? Someone with an even higher status than you!
Stupid woman!
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com ~
In the next two days, Jin Fengju did not visit Night Breeze Pavilion. He considered himself a tactful man and knew that if he were to go there, he would face Fu Qiuning’s wrath. Moreover, he was just too busy, ah.
The next few days passed quickly. When he finally managed to wrangle some free time, he first went to give his greetings to Old Madam Jin in the morning. Then, finally, unable to wait any longer, Jin Fengju headed straight for Night Breeze Pavilion.
As he strolled through Yong Cui Garden, he suddenly spotted a large gecko sunning itself on some rocks. Jin Fengju could not help but remark, “Is it time for geckos to appear?” He stepped forward and quickly snagged the creature with his hands. He showed it to Jin Ming with a smile, “Look, this fellow is quite large.”
Jin Ming also smiled, “How odd, I rarely see them in the past, but just a day ago, while delivering satin to Clear Soft Pavilion, I saw one at the wall. Well, that’s because Miss Qiu Xia screamed so loudly in fright that I hurried over and saw one. I quickly caught it and threw it far away. However, the one in Master’s hand is much bigger than that one. Could it be that we have too much food in the estate and these things grew big eating our food?”
Jin Fengju laughingly scolded, “What nonsense are you talking about? These things only eat bugs like mosquitoes and the like. Now that we are coming to summer, with all the bugs coming out, it’s natural for their predators to grow large from feeding on them, no?” Suddenly, he frowned and lowered his voice, “You say that Qiu Xia screamed in fright?”
“Isn’t it so? Unexpectedly, that brave and sassy Miss Qiu Xia would be afraid of such a little thing.” Jin Ming collected the little thing from Jin Fengju’s hand and was about to throw it away when Jin Fengju said, “Don’t throw it. Bring it to Qiuning, let her play with it.”
“Master, don’t joke around anymore. You want to give this to the Madam? Wouldn’t she run away from you in fear?” Jin Ming asked with wide eyes.
Jin Fengju’s lips quirked up, “If she is truly afraid, you can throw it anywhere in that yard.”
Jin Ming paused. He had no idea just what kind of medicine his Master was on, but this sharp servant soon caught on and was secretly amused. He thought: For the sake of forcing the Madam into the inner court, he had really worked hard, ah. This is truly doing evil for the sake of good. Tsk, tsk, really, this Madam… could you really beat Master? You should just move in sooner for everyone’s sake, and avoid suffering Master’s underhanded methods.
As he pondered over various things, they eventually arrived at Night Breeze Pavilion. Yu Jie and Aunt Yu were in the middle of arranging flowers in vases. As for Fu Qiuning, she was sitting on the porch, dressed in a light green dress, quietly watching them work.
Looking at the ladies was truly like looking at a painting.
[Gumihou: … ah, doing evil for the sake of good? Have you never heard of the saying ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions?’]
[1] Change details per previous chapter:
[1a] Would a displeased Fu Qiuning be ‘shaken’ and ‘moved’ by her maid’s blathering? I don’t think so.
[1b] Instead of ‘sex’ being the deal breaker. ‘JFJ’s shitty attitude per [3a] being the reason for her hesitation
[1c] Instead of ‘he’s so handsome, kyaa~~ as a woman I… kyaa~~~’ go with ‘should I, should I not?’
[1d] Deleted the pants washing scene because this is not an omegaverse story and real women don’t gush like that
Pill Bug: Medically speaking, it’s kind of impossible for women to gush enough for them to have to wash their pants
Gumihou: Further evidence that Author did not know how sex works
[1e] Delete Fu Qiuning’s gushy ass polishing ‘aww, he personally picked people for me, kyaa~’. Replaced with ‘so, he never did intend to keep his promise’
[1f] Switched out reasonable details about ‘JWY knows that love is from JFJ’s heart etc etc’ to repeated lamentations of ‘stupid woman!!!!’ from a frustrated FQN
[2] Consequences of Change:
[2a] Consequence of [1a]
[2b] Since she’s not washing her pants per [1c] allow her to flop back to bed and contemplate life.
[2c] Consequence of an expressionless and angry FQN as per [1e]
[3] Terrible Truths:
[3a] Hate him not for his many wives and concubines, but for his scheming attitude and refusal to honour his promise, and gaslighting behaviour
[3b] ‘Since you’ve already stuff them here’ – Imply JFJ’s tendency to stuff people into places against their will
[4] Deleted Stuff:
[4a] Directly delete blah blah, told the maids to tell the servants to do this and that, bla.
[4b] Deleted ‘JFJ might not love an ugly person, but I can’t face being ugly, ugh, dilemma~~’