Qian DuoDuo was biting an apple with a sound of a kacha (snap). However, being too fascinated in watching the beauty, she wasnât careful and therefore dropped the apple core, which was already totally jagged from her gnawing, to the ground.
âAiyou (ouch)âŠâŠ!â that soft frail cry hadnât yet properly landed, but a little maid about fourteen or fifteen years old, who had followed behind a woman, had already pointed her finger at the sky in front of them, shouting imposingly to scold:
âWhich dog slave is it that doesnât have eyes like this? To actually dare to offend our YanRan GuNiang[1]!â
Qian DuoDuo didnât get angry. She had often seen this kind of âdogcounting on its masterâs power'[2] thing. Thus, she carelessly wiped the fruit stain on her hands away and, ceng! (whoosh!) leapt down from the tree branch.
âDogâŠâŠ slaveâŠâŠ reckless barksâŠâŠâ She threw a glance at the maid, whose face had turned red from anger, before staring at the beauty before her, âJust now, I became silly for a moment because I saw Niangniangâs[3] beauty. I actually wasnât careful and offended Niangniang. I was really rude. Please, Niangniang, donât count this sin.â She bent her body, imitating what sheâd seen on TV.
Itâs Zhen Huanâs[4] parody!
She can do it too!
Hearing the little girl in front of her calling her âNiangniangâŠâŠâ, YanRanâs deeply furrowed brows finally loosened. She was surprised and asked, âWhat did you call me?â
Qian DuoDuo installed a very sincere and very naĂŻve expression on her face, saying: âNiangniang ah! Although I havenât entered the fu[5] for a long time, such a beautiful person like yourself is definitely a Niangniang!â
YanRanâs long, small eyes were narrowed into a line in happiness. Her thin silk handkerchief covered her cherry-like lips as she âgegeâ giggled, âThis girl really has a clever mouth. TaoEr, reward.â
The maid who was being called TaoEr shot her a glance, looking very unwilling. However, guniang had spoken. Although she dawdled, she still took a silver ingot out, throwing it towards Qian DuoDuo.
Glistening silver!
Ancient times silver!
Itâs the first time she saw one!
Qian DuoDuoâs clear, beautiful eyes moved swiftly. She imitated the manner in TV dramas, coughed once through her teeth, and started to flatter: âThanks Niangniang, for the reward!â
Qian DuoDuo acted like a total philistine, at hundred percent fawning mode. She caused YanRan, the famous beauty of BaiHuaLou[6], to have the guts to proudly feel that in one leap, she would really become the mistress of this WangFu.
Although WangYe occasionally summoned her, and she had also come to WangFu several times, these slaves had only treated her with proper respect. No one had ever done things like the girl in front of her did, treating her as âNiangniangâŠâŠâ.
The more YanRan thought about it, the happier she became. She even hummed a song when she complacently left the garden.
(If you are not reading this story on Renrenâs WordPress or Wattpad page, then youâre reading a stolen material; I hope you can just read on my page, itâs free of charge and free of virus. To those people and webâs admins who copied-pasted my translations, I wish you a whole life of fungi-infested-armpits and bald-scabious-head.) â RenRen â
â DuoErâs Dividing Line â
NightfallâŠâŠ
It was very quiet inside San WangFu. Except for the orderly sound of footsteps from groups of imperial guards occasionally making their night round, even the sound of a cat meowing couldnât be heard throughout the night.
Qian DuoDuo was lying down on a certain roof of the WangFu. One of her legs was raised, crossed over the other as she counted the stars leisurely.
The ancient night sky was really beautiful. The air was also good. There were also quite a lot of handsome guys (although she had only seen one, Long YuTian). She was really afraid that she would be accustomed to live here, that she would be unaccustomed to the haze of the 21st century.
She sighed and then sang with that tone-deaf voice of hers:
âTwinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are~~~[7]â
Under those green roof tiles was Qian DuoDuoâs wedding chamber. A heavy fragrance filled the room. YanRan was tenderly gazing at the man in front of her. That âfoolishly in loveâ expression of hers was self-explanatory.
âLalalala~~~ Lalalala~~~ Little star, Lalalalala~~~ Little star.â
A lively melody once again spread down from the roof. YanRanâs long, shapely eyebrows were wrinkled as she coquettishly said: âWangYeâŠâŠ listen to this song, seems like it comes from aboveâŠâŠâ
Long YuTian didnât pay attention to YanRanâs complaint. He patted YanRanâs cheek in a ruffian-like manner, causing YanRan to accusingly say: âWangYeâŠâŠ Youâre really bad.â
* [3]NiangNiang (ćšćš/ niĂĄngâniang): term to address the empress/ high-ranking consort. For example: HuangHou niangniang, GuiFei niangniang, etc.
* [4]Zhen Huan: a character in Chinese tv series âThe Legend of Zhen Huanâ (or Empresses in the Palace). Itâs based on a novel series âHougong Zhen Huan Zhuanâ. The drama was such a success that people started to follow the way Zhen Huan speaks, such as using âBenGongâ, âNiangNiangâ etc.
* [5]Fu (ćș/ fÇ): official residence/mansion/household. In this sentence the fu she meant is WangFu.
* [6]BaiHuaLou (çŸè±æ„Œ/ bÇihuÄlĂłu): House of a Hundred Flowers. (Usually, itâs a name for brothel)