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Chapter 139: Awareness
“What you just said, is it true?” He Lian Zhang, who had always been steady and cold, was so excited that he lost his self-control.
“This daughter does not dare to lie to father. The abbot personally predicted that the sixth Highness was to be on that seat.”
“How can you hide such an important matter till now?” Since she was ten years old, He Lian Zhang has rarely spoken to He Lian Wei Rui with such reproachful words.
“His Royal Highness specially warned me that the time was not ripe and that I should not say it.”
“And do you think the time is right now?” He Lian Zhang stared at the bright woman in front of him, his brows solemn.
He Lian Wei Rui shook her head and sighed helplessly. “If it wasn’t for the Eighth Prince suddenly choosing a cefei, it wouldn’t be too late to talk about this matter.”
It was not the best time for her to expose the matter of the Phoenix sign [1]. It’s just that, a few days ago, He Lian Min Min successfully asked the sixth Highness for a decree, and so seven children of the He Lian family joined the Gyeonggi Wujian Division. When this was done, the He Lian family’s attitude towards He Lian Min Min immediately showed improvement, and even grandfather was slightly inclined to the main room of Lord He Lian.
[1] This is from Chapter 106. Mu Xi Yao and He Lian Wei Rui both get the “Phoenix stick  - The Emperor’s Swallow” fortune-telling stick which means that they’re going to be the Empress, cuz the Phoenix is the sign of the Empress. In fact, behind this there’s the hidden meaning of Zhong Zheng Lin becoming the Emperor.
On the occasion of Zhong Zheng Han’s selection for a cefei, if she does not speak, once she is on the roster of Imperial Concubines, she will have to attend the Hundred Flowers Feast held in the Harem in January. With her status, to be chosen as a cefei should not be difficult. It’s a pity that the blessing noble girls in Beijing couldn’t wait to ask for is not a blessing for her.
He Lian Wei Rui does not think Zhong Zheng Han is unworthy. After all, the eighth prince had been gaining momentum in the court for the past six months, and he was truly a talented person, it was just a pity that there was still the sixth Royal Highness Zhong Zheng Lin, who is more agreeable to He Lian Wei eyes and far more talented, otherwise being the eighth Prince’s cefei should be considered to be a good position.
Most importantly, Mu Xi Yao’s fortune-telling stick was exactly the same as hers. Since wealth and power are imminent, why should she take the next best thing? The fortune-telling stick indicated that the sixth Highness would be able to inherit the throne, and that he would be Emperor. If she is the Emperor’s swallow,  then naturally she should go back to the nest.
The only problem is that the He Lian family needs to be willing to send both daughters to the sixth Prince’s Mansion. Now He Lian Min Min has made a contribution to the family, and showed that she was not a wasted chess piece.
At this time, the only thing that can shake the confidence of the He Lian family is the Phoenix sign in Mu Xi Yao’s hand. Only if the He Lian family believes that He Lian Min Min can’t bear such a heavy burden, and she is likely to be overtaken by Mu-shi, can she enter the Palace smoothly and compete with Mu.
“This matter is of great importance, and you must not mention it to others. Whatever the family arranges, you wait for it.” He Lian Zhang waved to her to step back, his eyebrows wrinkled deeply.
“Yes, Lord Father. [2]” He Lian Wei Rui achieved her goal without delay, and she opened the door and went out.
[2] 父äșČ性äșș fĂč qÄ«n dĂ  ren - fĂčqÄ«n means father and dĂ ren means adult/grownup/title of respect toward superiors, so it’s a respectful way of addressing her father. Raws said Lord Father so I left it like this.
Taking the maid out for more than ten steps, He Lian Wei Rui’s expression became cautious. “You go see Aunt [3] later, and ask her to pay close attention to Dad’s itinerary for a few days. This matter is extremely important, don’t be negligent.” If Lord He Lian went to Anguo Temple to verify in person, then the family’s attitude would be clear.
[3] 槹湘 yíniáng - father's concubine (old). She is talking about her mother. I’ve seen in other novels concubines be referred to as ‘aunt’ so I left it like this.
A few days later, He Lian Zhang returned from Anguo Temple and summoned He Lian Wei Rui alone in his study. No one knew the content of the conversation between father and daughter except He Lian Zhang’s personal entourage.
“Mistress, there’s news about the thing you asked for this subordinate to pay attention to”.
“Oh? This He Lian family is very fast.” Since Mu Xi Yao learned that Zhong Zheng Han was choosing a concubine, she guessed that the most proud daughter of the He Lian family whose heart was higher than the sky [4] would not be an honest person. Since she had received the sign from the old monk before, it would be strange for her to be willing to enter the Eighth Prince’s Mansion.
[4] ćżƒæŻ”ć€©é«˜ xÄ«n bǐ tiān gāo - Heart higher than the sky. An expression from the Chinese classic, Dream of the Red Chamber: “The moon is rare, and the colorful clouds are easy to disperse. The heart is higher than the sky, and the body is low.” Meaning that someone is arrogant, arrogant and fanciful. There’s another expression like “heart higher than the sky, life thinner than paper” which should be familiar to the To Be A Virtuous Wife’s readers haha.
“How is it going?”
Although Wei Zhen didn’t understand completely, he guessed that something big would happen, otherwise Mistress would not deliberately ask him to take someone to guard the mountain gate of Anguo Temple for two days. “As expected by Mistress, Master He Lian really arrived at Anguo Temple. After that, he met the abbot and the two talked for a while.”
“I see”. Mu Xi Yao nodded, said hard work, and let Wei Zhen go down to rest.
He Lian Min Min, have you ever felt sad to be born in such a family? Her family decided to send her shu younger sister in to compete for the illusory “Empress seat”, but the rightful Master of this seat was still safe and sound, and even had the same roots.
Don’t know how the principal consort He Lian-shi will keep people out this time.
Mu Xi Yao was not in a hurry to reveal the news. If He Lian Min Min didn’t even notice this kind of thing, and if there was a more intense confrontation later, what chance could she have?
***
A day later, Zen Ruoyuan.
He Lian Min Min clenched her fists, and the silk handkerchief in her hands was almost torn apart by her.
“Mother really said that?” The news was shocking, and the matter was so big that it was difficult for her to understand the family’s intentions.
Liu Qing nodded and replied more carefully, “The Madam said that the Lord went to Anguo Temple, and then made such a decision after discussing with the old man.”
Grandfather agreed? He Lian Min Min’s heart was twisted like a knife [5]. Is this her remarkable and proud life? Being used by her own family and then abandoned, afraid she is still the first among the prince’s consorts!
[5] ćżƒćŠ‚ćˆ€ç»ž xÄ«nrĂșdāojiǎo - to feel a pain like a knife being twisted in one's heart (idiom).
“Why is there such a sudden change? Can you find out the whole story?” She didn’t believe that the He Lian family would have no reason. Considering what she had done for them, they would not be so eager to leave people behind unless there were greater interests involved.
“Madam has made inquiries from various sources, and only got to know that this matter was related to Miss Wei Rui. A few days ago, Miss Wei Rui met with the Lord in his study.”
“It’s her!” He Lian Min Min was furious. “It’s that venomous snake woman, that bad thing again! She actually has the face to beg to enter the palace!”
It was already difficult for her in the Prince’s Mansion. After finally gaining the trust of His Highness, she was just getting better, and her body was being recuperated, then this kind of thing happened. Was this to force her to go back to her mother’s house to seek an explanation?
“Feng momo, tomorrow morning we will go back to the house and make arrangements.”
***
“Mistress, principal consort He Lian hurried back to her maiden house with people.” Zhu Jin looked at the exquisite patterns written by the Mistress and had to admire the Mistress’ extraordinary patience. For this blossoming peony, the Mistress just meditated and painted each petal with a gold edge stroke by stroke. The flowers are of different colors, although they are all red, they have their own merits.
Wan Jing Wen finished the last stroke calmly, and carefully watched the scroll again and again before she was satisfied and handed the brush to Yin Shuang for cleaning.
Why was He Lian Min Min going back to her parents’ house at this time? Not right. What can make her run to the house again and again regardless of the rules?
“Let's keep an eye on it, the money is scattered, and the news must be found out.”
She always paid attention to He Lian Min Min’s actions. Never allow that woman to play tricks under her nose.
***
In the middle of Shu, at the foot of Tianmen Mountain.
<table> Tianmen Mountain.</tbody></table>
“His Royal Highness, the rebels have retreated into the mountain stream. There are a lot of traps inside.”
“The prisoners will explore the way.” Zhong Zheng Lin waved his right hand and the armored soldiers pushed their way to the front.
Zhong Zheng Ming and Zhong Zheng Lin sat high on horseback and walked side by side, being guarded by everyone and advancing slowly.
“Sixth brother does not wait for the foreign experts in Shu to come and dismantle the traps, and prefers to use prisoners to explore the road, are you not afraid of leaving the name of cruelty?”
“The fight must not be delayed. Fifth brother does not agree with this?” Zhong Zheng Lin didn’t even squint, he does not care whether the people beside him agree or not.
“No.” Zhong Zheng Ming smiled mildly, “I agree. Those in Shu rebelled and did perverse acts, everyone who had a hand on it should be punished.”
The two looked at each other, their eyes sharp.
“Of course.” Zhong Zheng Lin nodded, and the group fumbled forward.
Half an hour later, more than half of the prisoners were killed or wounded, and there was still no trace of the leader of the rebel party. Zhong Zheng Lin looked at the sky, pulled the reins with force, and the team stopped.
“Set up camp.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Yan Cheng Zhou led someone to convey the order. The 8,000 soldiers dispersed quickly, and the entire team was orderly and arranged for the night.
“His Royal Highness, the prince’s residence has sent an official document.” Ye Kai entered the prince’s tent with a stack of documents in his hand, most of them were reports and two letters on his hand were particularly eye-catching.
Zhong Zheng Ming caught a glimpse of Mu Xi Ya’s familiar font and continued to study tomorrow’s itinerary on the marching map.
Zhong Zheng Lin stopped his official business, as usual, looked up, and read Mu Xi Yao’s letter in detail.
The little woman was still acting like a spoiled child. First, she praised herself for a while, then she mentioned ChengQing, praising the child’s amazing literacy speed, her tone was full of pride. Afterward, she carefully cared about his clothing, food, and march, and the most inked space was, unsurprisingly, another Shengjing rumor. All kinds of news were relayed vividly, which was much more exciting than the information sent by the dark guards.
Zhong Zheng Lin carefully analyzed Mu Xi Yao's seemingly disorganized “anecdote” and found that she was indeed well-intentioned.
After combing through the news she had heard, this woman picked out the things she thought were valuable. She didn't make any comments, and she didn't have any emotions. She just talked about things and presented them to him with the original taste. These seemingly market-flavored gossips often has other deep meanings behind it. It is complementary to the espionage of the dark guard, which makes his thinking clearer, and is often useful when handling political affairs, he can do more with less effort.
“His Royal Highness, principal consort He Lian made a special trip to send an urgent letter.” Ye Kai put away Mu Xi Yao’s letter, he always kept Mistress Yao’s letter in a separate place. His Highness specially ordered him to take over this errand.
Handing over the letter from principal consort He Lian-shi, Ye Kai honestly waited by the side.
Zhong Zheng Ming glanced blankly at Zhong Zheng Lin’s expression, and seeing that there was no strange expression on his face, he knew that Mu Xi Yao’s situation was alright.
Today, Zhong Zheng Lin used prisoners to explore the way. Probably, the biggest reason was to catch up with his firstborn son’s Draw Lots Ceremony [6]. He was this unwilling to wrong mother and son. Although it was true that the war conflict would not be delayed or hindered, he was not nervous to take hundreds of lives to make it on time.
[6] æŠ“ć‘š zhuāzhƍu - Draw Lots Ceremony. Custom of placing a variety of articles (writing brush, abacus etc) before an infant on its first birthday to see which one he or she picks up (The article chosen is supposed to be an indication of the child's inclinations, future career, etc.)
Going back this time, there will definitely be people in the cabinet who will use this as a pretext to preach around with great fanfare, criticizing him with words and writing that he was cruel and lacked benevolence and righteousness. Zhong Zheng Lin completely disdained this, what was he afraid of? To fulfill that woman’s wish he was not unwilling to do this.
“Humph!” Zhong Zheng Ming was busy using both his heart and his mind, but Zhong Zheng Lin suddenly snorted coldly and put the letter aside.
Mu Xi Yao didn’t mention anything, but He Lian Min Min explained it in detail. Zhong Zheng Lin never thought that the little woman would be sensible this time, and didn't even complain to him about her grievances.
The sixth Highness raised his eyebrows. He didn't give Zhong Zheng Ying the slightest thought, instead, he was very interested in such abnormal behavior of Mu Xi Yao. A pity the timing was wrong, and he missed her colorful play. However, that did not mean that Zhong Zheng Lin appreciated the scene of her bowing her head.
“Is something wrong?” Zhong Zheng Ming looked away from the army map and landed on Zhong Zheng Lin’s face.
“It's just a small matter, just for the fun of the women in the family”. Zhong Zheng Lin replied casually.
He is not worried about how Mu Xi Yao will handle the matter. The manpower that he secretly left for her was enough to protect her thoroughly. As for the success and length of this battle, since the little woman didn’t care about it, he would accompany her to enjoy the process. Letting his woman suffer like this made the sixth Highness endure some temporary “compromising” on his prestige. This was his first time experiencing this. Zhong Zheng Lin didn’t take it seriously. Instead, he was quite looking forward to Mu Xi Yao’s “Willows and Flowers” [7] singing.
[7] æŸłæš—èŠ±æ˜Ž liǔ'Ă nhuāmĂ­ng - lit. the willow trees make the shade, the flowers give the light (idiom); at one's darkest hour, a glimmer of hope / light at the end of the tunnel. It is also a metaphor for encountering a turning point in difficulties. / There is a way out (for somebody). / Every cloud has a silver lining.
***
Relationship Diagram (by Sith Kazar)
â–Č Footnotes
[1] This is from Chapter 106. Mu Xi Yao and He Lian Wei Rui both get the “Phoenix stick  - The Emperor’s Swallow” fortune-telling stick which means that they’re going to be the Empress, cuz the Phoenix is the sign of the Empress. In fact, behind this there’s the hidden meaning of Zhong Zheng Lin becoming the Emperor.
[2] 父äșČ性äșș fĂč qÄ«n dĂ  ren - fĂčqÄ«n means father and dĂ ren means adult/grownup/title of respect toward superiors, so it’s a respectful way of addressing her father. Raws said Lord Father so I left it like this.
[3] 槹湘 yíniáng - father's concubine (old). She is talking about her mother. I’ve seen in other novels concubines be referred to as ‘aunt’ so I left it like this.
[4]ćżƒæŻ”ć€©é«˜ xÄ«n bǐ tiān gāo - Heart higher than the sky. An expression from the Chinese classic, Dream of the Red Chamber: “The moon is rare, and the colorful clouds are easy to disperse. The heart is higher than the sky, and the body is low.” Meaning that someone is arrogant, arrogant and fanciful. There’s another expression like “heart higher than the sky, life thinner than paper” which should be familiar to the To Be A Virtuous Wife’s readers haha.
[5] ćżƒćŠ‚ćˆ€ç»ž xÄ«nrĂșdāojiǎo - to feel a pain like a knife being twisted in one's heart (idiom)
[6] æŠ“ć‘š zhuāzhƍu - Draw Lots Ceremony. Custom of placing a variety of articles (writing brush, abacus etc) before an infant on its first birthday to see which one he or she picks up (The article chosen is supposed to be an indication of the child's inclinations, future career, etc.)
[7] æŸłæš—èŠ±æ˜Ž liǔ'Ă nhuāmĂ­ng - lit. the willow trees make the shade, the flowers give the light (idiom); at one's darkest hour, a glimmer of hope / light at the end of the tunnel. It is also a metaphor for encountering a turning point in difficulties. / There is a way out (for somebody). / Every cloud has a silver lining.