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Chapter 138: Undercurrents
“Mistress, are you okay?” Mo Lan looked at Mu Xi Yao’s swollen calf in distress and kneaded her gently.
Well, that was easy.
Mu Xi Yao took the fragrant fruit that Hui Lan handed over, and answered nonchalantly, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing.” She bit down on the fruit and only felt that the cold juice sliding down her throat made her recover her spirits by two points. “What about Chun Lan? Can you hire a doctor? Send her the box of ointment that His Highness gave last time”.
The little girl had her arms twisted and was forced to kneel in the sun for nearly half an hour. She must have burned her face, not to mention whether her knees were blue or purple.
Zhong Zheng Ying’s means had the trademark of harem work, being one hundred percent vicious. This Princess was nothing but a poisonous woman corrupted by the deep palace.
“Mistress, why do you have to be so patient? If His Highness knew of today’s events, he would definitely be unhappy.”
Mistress curtly bowing her knees for half a cup of tea, if it were His Highness, he would never tolerate this happening.
Mu Xi Yao tilted her head to look at the lotus pond outside the window. The lotus flowers inside were already in full bloom, the leaves wrinkled and drooping, and the entire pond had no more scenery to speak of.
“Mo Lan, you can’t count on His Highness for everything. Besides, His Highness should not intervene in this matter.”
As soon as Zhong Zheng Lin left Sheng Jing, she was ‘bullied’. If the sixth Highness came back, and hurriedly vented his anger for her, it would surely make Emperor Yuancheng unhappy.
“Don’t underestimate a woman raised in the harem. When she choose this time, it can be said she used her brains”. If Zhong Zheng Lin, who had already suppressed her once, repeated the old tricks, the sixth Highness would be scolded for not being moral and righteous.
“The more arrogant the Fourth Princess is, the better. Afraid that your Mistress in the future will continue to look like this, so be prepared. ”
Everyone on their side should be restrained and well-behaved. This battle between backyard women was a long-term entanglement, which was by no means what Mu Xi Yao wanted, but Mu Xi Yao has always felt that it was stylish to combine both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ methods. The ‘hard’ means had been played quite a lot, but the ‘soft’ path seemed to be not practiced enough. Finally, a very strong opponent, Zhong Zheng Ying appeared at her doorstep
 Alright, she had to grab this chance!
To cause pity in Emperor Yuancheng’s heart, how much of ‘bad news’ does he need to listen to make him completely disappointed with his fourth daughter? Mu Xi Yao’s eyes shone with a wicked glimmer, and she began to think hard in her heart...
***
The Palace, the Imperial Study.
Emperor Yuancheng looked at Zhong Zheng Han, who was standing in front of him, and nodded in appreciation, “You have done a good job recently. Is there any reward you want?”.
This question was asked casually, but Zhong Zheng Han did not dare to be careless. “Imperial Father, it’s expected of Erchen [1] to do this much, and there is no need for additional rewards. The other brothers have done a good job on errands, and Imperial Father also praised them. This is enough to encourage Erchen to keep improving.”
[1] ć„żè‡Ł Ă©rchĂ©n - Son minister. Ér means child/son while chen means official or subject in dynastic China / I, your servant (used in addressing the sovereign). It’s the way the Emperor’s sons refer to themselves in front of him.
“Eighth brother’s words are very true. Father, the sons are looking forward to sharing your worries, and they must be careful when they are on duty.” At the moment, the Crown Prince is alone in Sheng Jing, and without Zhong Zheng Ming and Zhong Zheng Lin around to make him stumble, this is a bit hasty to say.
“Second brother has indeed been a lot more diligent in recent days, but I see he has grown up again.” Zhong Zheng Chun is now weak, and the barefooted people are not afraid of those who wear shoes [2]; the treatment of the Crown Prince is not as good as before. The old enemy is still shouting in front of him, how can he be at ease?
[2] ć…‰è„šçš„äžæ€•ç©żéž‹çš„ guāngjiǎodebĂčpĂ chuānxiĂ©de - lit. the barefooted people are not afraid of those who wear shoes (idiom) / fig. the poor, who have nothing to lose, do not fear those in power.
This is living with his head up [3]. Once Zong Zheng Hui succeeds on the throne, the first one to kill, regardless of his thoughts, is definitely himself who has been singing against him for more than ten years. This made Zong Zheng Chun unable to relax at all times, and he hated Mu Xiyao even more.
[3] æç€ć€Žèż‡æ—„ć­ tĂ­ zhe tĂłu guĂČrĂŹzi - Methapor. ‘Live with your head up’ means being in a dangerous situation all the time. Something like keeping your eyes up and around to foresee dangers. —From Yao Xueyin's “Li Zicheng”, Volume 1, Chapter 28: “If people can survive, who will follow others to rebel? Since he has the name of a thief, he has to live with his head up. People who don't have a tank of bitter water in their stomachs can't be so cruel.”
So the Emperor’s words, unknowingly, attracted everyone’s guns and arrows.
These sons did not want to suppress their dislike for one another and continued to compete in plain sight. The Emperor was extremely dissatisfied with this.
“Okay.” Emperor Yuancheng’s memorial fell on the table, interrupting the Crown Prince’s desire to explote. “I’m asking the eighth, are you all the eighth?” This was a faint sign of anger.
The Crown Prince hurriedly pleaded guilty, squinting at Zhong Zheng Chun’s dissatisfied dull face, although his face expressed his dislike for being interrupted by Emperor Yuancheng, in his heart he was very gloating.
“It’s fine if you don’t want a reward. I will remember it for you, and will reward you at a later time.” Emperor Yuancheng looked at this little son with great satisfaction. “Old [4] Eighth, since your Mother-Concubine [5] passed away, your Mansion has been much deserted. I have asked the Imperial Concubine to choose a virtuous woman for you, it is good that someone takes care of you and shares the cold and the heat.”
[4] 老 lǎo is a prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity. Translated as “old”, it’s the same lao used on lao-gong which is an endearment for calling ‘husband’ in modern China. (This lao is used in various ways, but here I just talk about the part which concerns us.)
[5] Only the Empress can be called Mother. The concubines of the Emperor can only be called Mother-Concubine for their own sons, and these sons are obligated to call the Empress, Mother.
Ever since Ping Xiuyi passed away, this little son can hardly smile. If it weren’t for the peaceful expression on his face, Emperor Yuancheng would have thought that he had another son like the sixth.
Although Zhong Zheng Lin was much better than before, he was still colder than others. If it wasn’t for the eldest son under his knees, and the Mu family’s girl making a fuss in his house, afraid he could be a vegetarian [6]  and chanting scriptures now!
[6] In Chinese culture, being sexually active is known as ‘eating meat’. ‘Being vegetarian’ therefore it’s the opposite, it means that he is not interested in sexual affairs, he is abstinent, ascetic, etc.
Emperor Yuancheng attached great importance to his sons’ position both on the inside and outside of their courtyards. [7] With Mu Xi Yao as a successful example, the Emperor planned to put a decent woman in his eighth son’s house, but he had no time, so he could only tell the Imperial Concubine to take care of it.
[7] Inside refers to the backyard, meaning the women, and outside, it’s the men’s business. So he means that having sons and being a capable prince/ruler are things he attaches great importance to. Chinese philosopher Mencius gave three examples of what it means to lack filial piety, the third is: «If a grown child doesn’t want to marry and have a baby, then they are not living up to their filial piety duties». So it’s actually important that Zhong Zheng Ling hadn’t had children, as he would not be really “qualified” to be the Emperor because he lacked filial piety which is the first and most important virtue in Chinese culture.
Zhong Zheng Han had long felt that there was a shortage of people in the backyard, and now Emperor Yuancheng opened his mouth first; he was naturally happy to accept it, and quickly thanked the Emperor for his grace.
After leaving the Imperial Study, the Crown Prince patted Zhong Zheng Han on the shoulder, as if envious.
“Old eighth, your treatment is about to catch up with the old sixth boy. Among us brothers, only his cefei was hand-picked by Imperial Father. and the rest of the women were just the harem ladies who saw them pleasing to the eye and cherished the brothers. Because no one took care of them, they stuffed people into the mansion. But this time your concubine is also an exception. The Imperial Concubine will personally choose the people, which shows that Imperial Father values you. When it comes to Mu cefei, the person chosen by Imperial Father is really different, tsk, tsk
” The Crown Prince’s lewd gaze was not concealed, and it was clear at a glance that he held some idea of Zhong Zheng Lin’s woman.
“What does the Crown Prince mean? The Emperor was only looking out for this younger brother because of the loss of Mother-Concubine. It’s just a little care.” Zhong Zheng Han didn’t seem to understand the provocation in his words, and he just continued the conversation.
If he was so easy to lead around the nose, he would not be standing here right now. Afraid the Crown Prince would continue to be unhappy. Wanting him to trouble Zhong Zheng Lin out of jealousy, the Crown Prince seemed to think he was stupid.
As for Mu-shi, he focused on investigating her for a while. That woman's ability was also easy to see. If his cefei selected this time can have half of Mu-shi’s skills,  Zhong Zheng Han could also rest assured in handing over the backyard affairs to her.
Seeing that he pretended to be confused and wouldn’t take the bait, the Crown Prince snorted coldly in his heart as he continued to exchange caring words.
Zhong Zheng Chun was now hopeless. The remaining brothers were the fifth brother Zhong Zheng Ming, the sixth brother Zhong Zheng Lin, and the eighth brother Zhong Zheng Han. Among these people, only Zhong Zheng Han was still immature and he may be able to try to win him over. The other two have hardened their wings, and they would definitely not accept him, and instead see through his scheme right away.
Zhong Zheng Han was younger than the Crown Prince, but his eyes were much more vicious. Seeing that the Crown Prince was suddenly silent, he didn’t speak first.
Zhong Zheng Hui’s abilities were mediocre at best, and he was especially jealous of talents. How could such a character be worthy of being a Crown Prince? If it hadn’t been for the good-for-nothing eldest son, he would not have that position, yet he was in the same league as Zhong Zheng Chun. This waste was now tinkering with two rare things in farming in the Ministry of Industry, which was valued by Emperor Yuancheng and ordered by the Ministry of Industry to try to promote it. From this point of view, his Mother-Concubine was now precious by the virtue of her son, and so she still had some days left to be pampered.
After this day, the news of the Imperial Concubine’s selection of cefei for the eighth prince spread all over Sheng Jing. After seeing the success and fame of the well-known Mu family in the sixth Prince's Mansion, who would not be willing to rise to the top and become rich in one day?
While the major families in Sheng Jing were rushing to get to know each other and vying for the position of the prince’s cefei, a very secret conversation was taking place in the He Lian Mansion of this century-old family.
***
â–Č Footnotes
[1] ć„żè‡Ł Ă©rchĂ©n - Ă©r means child / son while chen means official or subject in dynastic China / I, your servant (used in addressing the sovereign). It’s the way the Emperor’s sons refer to themselves in front of him.
[2] ć…‰è„šçš„äžæ€•ç©żéž‹çš„ guāngjiǎodebĂčpĂ chuānxiĂ©de - lit. the barefooted people are not afraid of those who wear shoes (idiom) / fig. the poor, who have nothing to lose, do not fear those in power.
[3] æç€ć€Žèż‡æ—„ć­ tĂ­ zhe tĂłu guĂČrĂŹzi - Methapor. ‘Live with your head up’ means being in a dangerous situation all the time. Something like to keep your eyes up and around to foresee dangers. —From Yao Xueyin's “Li Zicheng”, Volume 1, Chapter 28: “If people can survive, who will follow others to rebel? Since he has the name of a thief, he has to live with his head up. People who don't have a tank of bitter water in their stomachs can't be so cruel.”
[4] 老 lǎo is a prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity. Translated as “old”, it’s the same lao used on lao-gong which is an endearment for calling ‘husband’ in modern China. (This lao is used in various ways, but here I just talk about the part which concerns us.)
[5] Only the Empress can be called Mother. The concubines of the Emperor can only be called Mother-Concubine for their own sons, and these sons are obligated to call the Empress, Mother.
[6] Inside refers to the backyard, meaning the women, and outside, it’s the men’s business. So he means that having sons and being a capable prince/ruler are things he attaches great importance to. Chinese philosopher Mencius gave three examples of what it means to lack filial piety, the third is: «If a grown child doesn’t want to marry and have a baby, then they are not living up to their filial piety duties». So it’s actually important that Zhong Zheng Ling hadn’t had children, as he would not be really “qualified” to be the Emperor because he lacked filial piety which is the first and most important virtue in Chinese culture.
[7] In Chinese culture, being sexually active is known as ‘eating meat’. ‘Being vegetarian’ therefore it’s the opposite, it means that he is not interested in sexual affairs, he is abstinent, ascetic, etc.