Chapter 74 - A Leisurely Day In The Qixi Festival.

Chapter 74: A Leisurely Day In The Qixi Festival.

It was the 7th day of the 7th Lunar month, the day of the Qixi Festival ¹ .

According to legend, every year on this night, when the Weaving Maiden and the Cowherd finally meet on the Magpie Bridge, women beg the Seventh Sister for wisdom and skills, as well as ask for a happy marriage.

Zhongdu, the most extravagant and prosperous city of the Great Xu, was very lively at this moment.

The golden and jade Imperial carriage crossed over the road, while the sound of drums could be heard in the distance in the twilight of the city.

Not only was the city bustling, but it was also the Qixi Festival, the most popular festival among the young daughters of every family. These young women would be looking forward to a happy marriage and meeting the right husband, preparing a few days in advance for this night. They would worship the Seventh Sister and pray for happiness and longevity by displaying flowers and fruits…. However, at present, that wasn’t so important to them. At some point in time, the women had started to release river lanterns onto the Mingxuan River. If they met someone they liked, they would give them the embroidered pouch that had been made a long time ago…..

This was also a night for the young women to indulge in a little bit of fun.

The Capital City, including the outer city, the Imperial Palace, and the Imperial City, was big enough to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people.

The outer city wall had twelve gates, and the Imperial Palace was located in the middle of the Northern side of the inner city. The Imperial City was located to the South of the Imperial Palace. The northern outer city walls and the Imperial Palace’s walls were separated by a wide street ² .

The Imperial City wasn’t as lively as the outer city, so the current Emperor’s third Prince, now known as His Royal Highness King Xuan, had naturally invited some friends to drink in the most famous winery in the Capital City.

What kind of person was King Xuan? Instead of obtaining the ‘King’ title by relying on years of service, he obtained it by meritorious military  service, becoming the first person of the current Dynasty the Crown Prince feared the most.

However, ordinary people naturally didn’t care about these things, they only knew that: “His Royal Highness King Xuan is talented in literary and military tactics, enough to fight against the Ministers of the Court. He also led the Northern expedition to protect the people on the border. It’s said that he’s very handsome, tall and slender, with a pair of peach blossom eyes that seem to smile nonchalantly. He has already charmed all of the Officials’ daughters, making all of them want to marry him and think of him night after night…..”

His Royal Highness King Xuan, who was now on the second floor of the Winery drinking with his friends, stopped raising the cup of wine to his mouth when he heard the nonsense coming from the storyteller’s mouth. As he shook his head shallowly, he laughed: “I didn’t know that every Official’s daughter in this city thought of me this much. If I knew before, how could I allow myself to make them so distraught?” Su Jingmo’s remark was so frivolous that it made the beauty in his arms giggle.

“This one didn’t know either.” The beauty was dressed in a thin emerald garment ³ , with a loose emerald pleated skirt and a thin emerald gauze on his shoulders. His shoulders looked as if a sculptor had sharpened them with a carving knife, while his small waist looked like it had been wrapped with a belt. The beauty’s skin was glistening, and the air around him was mysterious. The exposed snow-white shoulders, matched with the seemingly concealed anger in his eyebrows, made him look even more charming and beautiful. Although he was a man, he also had a rare type of beauty that was both bewitching and charming.

“Oh?” As his voice rose on the last tone, Su Jingmo raised his eyebrows. Looking down at the bright and beautiful young man in his arms, his peach blossom eyes curved a little . “Is Ming-er jealous?”

There was no shortage of wealthy sons of Officials and merchants in Zhongdu, and this Shui Qingming was the most famous courtesan in the largest brothel in the west of Zhongdu. Many people rarely got a chance to see him, and fewer people knew that King Xuan was the favorite guest of this beautiful young man.

The appearance of His Royal Highness King Xuan was unparalleled, making people feel excited when looking at him. Not only was he warmly flirtatious, but when his peach blossom eyes looked down his body, Shui Qingming’s face would turn bright red, making him look even more gorgeous.

Shui Qingming didn’t reply, he only snorted softly and straightened up, pretending to be angry.

As the beauty left his arms, Su Jingmo smiled slightly, hugging the beauty back to him. After teasing him some more, he took the cup of wine to drink with his two friends, who watched the play on the side.

“King Xuan is pleased just to have beautiful people in his arms, and he doesn’t care whether the daughter of an Official falls in love with him or not.”

The one who spoke was the eldest son of Prime Minister Ning, Ning Yunze. He had been acquainted with His Royal Highness King Xuan since childhood, so he wasn’t afraid of offending the third Prince. With a proud smile on his face, he continued: “What the storyteller said isn’t complete garbage. Didn’t the daughter of the Ministry of War’s Minister hurt her health because she thought about you too much? Perhaps she’s releasing a lantern on the river for you tonight.”

Su Jingmo couldn’t stop himself from laughing at the mention of the daughter of the Ministry of War’s Minister. That woman was turning 28 years-old this year, and she was still waiting to get married. She had been engaged once, but if Su Jingmo hadn’t flirted with her once on the street in May, she would’ve been married by now.

“What the storyteller said may be true, but he’s also exaggerating a lot. You have to be careful.” Zhang Jing, courtesy name Xinmiao, was the most serious out of the three. Although he also flirted with women, he was different from Su Jingmo and Ning Yunze, who were more reckless. He spoke with the same solemnity as the other two, and even though it seemed that he was old-fashioned, there was no denying that he was also a talented person. His eyes seemed calm on the surface, but there was a hidden understanding of everything in them.

Indeed, as he said, Su Jingmo was too popular. At this moment, rumors such as “talented in literary and military tactics, enough to fight against the Ministers of the Court, led the Northern expedition to protect the people on the border”, weren’t a good thing.

Su Jingmo drank a cup of wine, but his true emotions were still hidden deep inside his eyes: “There’s a beauty in my arms, so why are you saying such unpleasant things?”

As Su Jingmo looked outside the window, at the lanterns floating in the river, he said with a smile: “I came here to see the lanterns on the river, so why don’t we go to the bridge together?”

Ning Yunze and Zhang Jing naturally agreed once they saw all the excitement outside the window.

The riverside was crowded with people, as if every single young man and woman of the Capital City had come to the river at the same time. The three men’s appearance was top-grade, attracting many girls’ attention, who would frequently turn around to look at them. But since the three of them were accompanied by beauties, the girls were all left heartbroken.

However, there will always be some brave and straight-tempered young girls. When they saw how Shui Qingming, who was next to Su Jingmo, was dressed, they naturally guessed that he must be a courtesan. And these girls knew that men couldn’t become concubines, no matter how beautiful they were. With a plan in mind, one of the girls walked forward and stood in front of Su Jingmo.

The girl glanced proudly at Shui Qingming beside Su Jingmo, snorted, and stopped looking at him. With a blushing face, she pretended to be calm on the outside, stared at Su Jingmo, and handed over her embroidered pouch: “Please marry me!”

Su Jingmo looked funny at the young girl in front of him, who looked like a 13 year old, and didn’t say anything. He simply bent down and smiled at her: “Did you just say…. ‘please marry me’?”

Su Jingmo’s close proximity naturally made the girl blush more, but she couldn’t say a word, and all the courage she had built up until this moment suddenly turned into ash.

Su Jingmo laughed a few times, and patted the girl’s head before walking towards the bridge with his friends.

When the girl came back to reality and turned her head to look for him, Su Jingmo had already disappeared among the sea of people.

On the other side of the bridge, there were even more young men and women. Qin Rongshun looked at the women passing by and hastily patted the shoulder of his fourth brother: “Hey hey! Look at that girl, what do you think? She’s very pretty. If you like her, I’ll ask your sister-in-law to make an appointment.”

Qin Zonghuan sighed helplessly: “This is the Qixi Festival, Dage. That girl doesn’t have an embroidered pouch in her hands, so she may have already met her match.”

“Tsk! You’re already 22 years old. I mean, aren’t you in a hurry to start a family? Our parents died early, and I’m trying to arrange a marriage for you, but you’re still not willing? When I was your age, Xiao-Chun was already 5 years old!”

“I don’t want to get married yet, alright?” Qin Zonghuan had studied history books, and he was thinking of travelling in the future to further his studies. He once thought of marrying, but when he found out that if he travelled he wouldn’t be able to bring his family along, he changed his mind. Rather than letting his wife and children suffer alone at home, it would be better to not marry…. Besides, his ambition in life was to become an historian….

“Not yet? Then when are you planning to? You spend all day reading those books! Not only will you not be able to pass the Imperial examination ⁴ , but you’re also delaying getting married! My eyes aren’t working right anymore, and I don’t know what you will do in the future!”

“They’re history books. It’s….”

“Don’t give me that excuse! I don’t care! I….”

However, before Qin Rongshun could finish, a cry came from the bridge in front of them.

“Ah! Ah! Someone fell into the river!”

Qin Zonghuan went forward immediately. Sure enough, there was someone shouting for help on the bridge of the brightly lit river. It looked like the person who had fallen in didn’t know the natural current of the river, so he was about to sink!

Even if his brother was trying to persuade him, Qin Zonghuan immediately took off his outer garment and shoes and jumped into the river. He wasn’t able to see the person at a distance, so when he first looked at him, he thought it was a girl. When he finally pulled the man out of the water, he found that the man had a beautiful face with a faint and delicate fragrance coming from his body.

Even if he hadn’t been to ‘that kind of store’ before, Qin Zonghuan could guess this person’s identity.

However, that didn’t matter when saving someone’s life. After Qin Zonghuan took that person to the river bank, he felt quite tired. After all, a man’s body is still heavier than a woman’s. Even if the man was slender, the weight was still there.

After Qin Zonghuan gasped for breath, he realized that the man seemed to be choking on the water, since he was coughing heavily. Qin Zonghuan thought of patting his back, but unexpectedly, the man dodged his hand. His clothes looked like a mess, even a bit of his skin was showing. Since he fell into the river, his shoulders were soaking wet, and coupled with his beautiful face, everyone, including the women, were looking at him in astonishment.

Except for Qin Zonghuan, of course.

Therefore, when Su Jingmo and his friends arrived at the scene, almost everyone was stunned at Shui Qingming’s appearance, looking at him in a daze. The scholar who saved Shui Qingming wasn’t even glancing at him, he simply took off his inner garment and wrung out the water….

Su Jingmo couldn’t help but laugh, which made his friends stare at him in surprise.

Regardless of his two friends, Su Jingmo stepped forward, with the style of a wealthy Gongzi, and thanked Qin Zonghuan: “My friend is the one who fell just now. I was trapped among the crowd and couldn’t get out to help him. Fortunately, you saved him.” Su Jingmo said as he glanced back to take the cape handed over by the other two courtesans. When he turned back, he found that the scholar in front of him wasn’t looking at Shui Qingming. Instead, he was looking at Su Jingmo in a daze.

Su Jingmo’s eyes curved as he looked up and down the scholar. Only then did he discover that even though this man looked like a scholar, he was as tall as himself.

Qin Zonghuan noticed that the man’s eyes were a little cold, but he could also see that the person in front of him was smiling, looking at him without saying a word. Qin Zonghuan quickly shook his head. The man in front of him was very handsome, and he was wearing a light blue brocade coat with a white jade pendant hanging from his waist. He was dressed neatly, like a wealthy man. Even though his peach blossom eyes looked like they were smiling, there was a kind of majesty that couldn’t be concealed, revealing his rich identity….

After remembering that he was still topless, Qin Zonghuan took the wet clothes in his hands and hurriedly put them on. Then he looked directly at the man in front of him: “I was just helpin–….”

“Zonghuan––!”

When he heard his older brother’s voice, Qin Zonghuan sighed slightly as he turned back and said: “I’m fine!”

“Good boy, I brought you here to find a wife, but you’re suddenly jumping into the river! Didn’t you hear that you shouldn’t enter the river at night?!”

There was indeed a saying about this. It was said that if you fall into the river at night, you’ll get bad luck. This was a mysterious saying, but it didn’t exist without reason. At night, the river is completely dark, and no matter how good at swimming you are, it’s extremely difficult to ensure that you’ll be safe in that circumstance. Of course, Qin Zonghuan didn’t believe in that.

“The number of people that have drowned on the Mingxuan river is far less than that of the Weijing river-…..”

“Shut up!” Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by his elder brother. Qin Zonghuan understood that there was good in fearing some things, so he no longer spoke.

At that moment, he looked back at the man in front of him. At some point, Su Jingmo had pulled the man that Qin Zonghuan had saved into a hug and was comforting him in a low voice…

Qin Zonghuan’s face stiffened, and when he spoke again, he simply said: “At this point, we shall go our separate ways.”

When Su Jingmo heard Qin Zonghuan’s voice, he looked up at the scholar in front of him and nodded his head: “I’m Su Yunzhi. I wonder, what is this honorable man’s name? I’ll definitely go to your house to thank you properly.”

Qin Zonghuan shook his head: “There’s no need to thank me, I’ll leave Zhongdu in a few days. My surname is Qin and my name is Rongcheng, courtesy name Zonghuan. You can call me–…..”

‘ Qin Cheng….. ’

The name ‘Qin Cheng’ couldn’t be said, because he saw that the man in front of him wasn’t paying attention to him anymore. That man had lowered his head to tease the beauty in his arms, so Qin Zonghuan stopped talking.

After saying this, and unwilling to stay any longer, Qin Rongcheng left with his elder brother.

The events of this night became just another episode in the eyes of some people, since the battle to seize the throne was soon to become more and more fierce in the future….

After the Qixi Festival, Qin Roncheng saw this man again in October. On that day, he was carrying a bag, ready to leave Zhongdu and travel out to study. At that moment, His Royal Highness King Xuan had succeeded in suppressing the bandits, and had just returned to the Capital with his troops. The person leading the troops was Su Yunzhi, the man he met that day….

Qin Rongcheng took out a piece of paper from his bag and wrote it down. This was the first piece of history he wrote for the history record he would keep on writing for the next few decades.

“King Xuan, name Jingmo, courtesy name Yunzhi….”

It’s said that people can fall in love at first sight, but it’s unknown what will happen when they see each other again. Qin Rongcheng shook his head and stopped looking at the high-spirited man on the horse. After all, he won’t return to Zhongdu for at least 20 years. In this lifetime, Qin Rongcheng didn’t have the opportunity to see him for a third time….

✨Extra Chapter thanks to Ko-fi✨

Sorry it took me so long!!!

But look at this chapteeeerrr aaahhhhhh!

We got a bit of Su Jingmo’s past (before he became the emperor) and we even have none other than QIN CHENG!

Qin Cheng met Su Jingmo in his past life!!!!!!! And he fell in love with him at first sight!!! Just like he did in this current lifetime!!!! *screams*

No matter the lifetime, Qin Cheng is always obsessed with history lol so cute 💖

Aldjsldjshdks even tho this chapter was kinda hard to translate, it’s such a good chapter 🤩🤩🤩🤩✨✨

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(((o(♡´▽`♡)o)))

Footnotes

<ol><b>七夕节</b> <b>qī xī jié</b> ; A traditional Chinese folk festival. This festival derived from the worship of astrology and is traditionally known as the “Seventh Sister’s Birthday”, which is held on the 7th day of the 7th Lunar month, which is why it is called “Qixi Festival” (or Double Seventh Festival). As time passed, people started to celebrate this day for the romantic legend of two lovers, Zhinu and Niulang, also known as the “Weaving Maiden and the Cowherd”. This tale has been celebrated since the Han Dynasty and it inspired the “Tanabata Festival” in Japan. In modern times, it has the cultural meaning of “Chinese Valentine’s Day”, and because it’s celebrated on the 7th of the 7th Lunar Month, the date on the Gregorian calendar changes every year. In ancient city designs, there were two parts of the capital city. The outer city and the inner city. The inner city was the residence of the Emperor, Princes, Ministers, Noblemen and powerful Officials. While the outer city was vast, where the majority of the people lived. There’s also another category, although the Imperial Palace and the outer city were separated, they would also have connecting parts, making both seem separate on the surface, but in fact be inseparable as a whole. <b>翠烟衫</b> <b>cuì yān shān</b> ; It’s like a thin dress of summer, something like <b>THIS</b> . <b>科举</b> <b>kē jǔ</b> ; It’s a civil service examination system set in Imperial China to select candidates for the Court. The concept of choosing members of the Court by merit rather than birth started early in Chinese history, however, the written examinations started in earnest during the mid-Tang Dynasty. The system became dominant during the Song Dynasty and lasted, until it was abolished, in the late Qing Dynasty in 1905.</ol>