WuxiaWorldEU

CH 149

Chapter 149: Revenge

“Come on, do tell me if you know what happened today. What is the He Lian family planning?” Consort Shu stared at He Lian Min Min with a displeased expression on her face. Such a big thing and she didn’t even reveal the slightest rumor, did she even take her seriously?

He Lian Min Min knew that things in the family were not right, yet she still passed over the Sixth Highness and Consort Shu and went straight to deal with the Imperial Noble Consort and Fu Zhaoyi. Consort Shu being angry was reasonable.

Of course, He Lian Zhang would not speak directly to Consort Shu who had always been on the same page as His Highness. As long as His Royal Highness didn’t allow it, Consort Shu couldn’t force him. And it was even more difficult to ask the Sixth Highness to welcome He Lian Wei Rui into the door than to ask Emperor Yuancheng to grant him this marriage. Unless He Lian Zhang had the courage to fearlessly move his hand, and under the eyes of Emperor Yuancheng in the palace, tell Consort Shu the matter of the “Phoenix stick - The Emperor’s Swallow” fortune-telling stick [1], well, let’s say he does it, but after that, the next thing to face would be the wrath of the emperor and being accused as “peeping on the throne”.

[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. Behind Mu Xi Yao getting this fortune, there’s the hidden meaning of Zhong Zheng Lin becoming the Emperor. Since HLWR also got it, the He Lian family is trying to stick her into his backyard.

So things got weird. Things went around so much that by the end, Consort Shu, her mother-in-law was isolated from the matter, at least until this day.

“Niang Niang, isn’t this the concubine’s fault? I’m ashamed.” He Lian Min Min really felt guilty. If it weren’t for her own problems, the He Lian family would not be able to grasp a handle, and hurriedly abandon her. “This concubine’s shu sister met His Sixth Highness once at Anguo Temple, and after returning home, she never forgot about His Highness. Although this concubine was married into the mansion... after serving several times, the stomach has not moved and has therefore made the family anxious and so they acquiesced to my sister’s request, Like this, they thought of a way to send her into the palace to help me one or two. If she can get an heir, father said that the child will be recorded under this concubine’s name.”

The matter of the “Phoenix stick -The Emperor’s Swallow” signature must not be known to Consort Shu. If Niang Niang ever knew, then she too would force His Highness to bring He Lian Wei Rui into the mansion. Now she could only speak half-truths to confuse the matter, at most making Consort Shu feel that the He Lian family was radical and utilitarian.

Consort Shu frowned when she heard that the He Lian family was too concerned. “How long has it been since you got married? How could He Lian Zhang be so ignorant?” Consort Shu was dissatisfied with the He Lian family, they couldn’t even understand the rules.

“This concubine has only heard of this matter recently. I will let my mother enter the palace tomorrow to make amends with Niang Niang.”

“That’s alright. Let Madam He Lian enter the palace early tomorrow, I have to speak to her in detail.”

“Yes, I will pass the news to the family when I go back.” He Lian Min Min felt happy. Things had just started there, and Consort Shu over here was already dissatisfied. Didn’t this count as Lord He Lian’s saving a little but losing a lot? [2]

[2] 因小失大 - yīnxiǎoshīdà. to save a little only to lose a lot (idiom). Meaning to lose big benefits for small benefits. From Han Liu Zhou’s New Theory: Greed for Love: “Destroying the country and ruining one’s body, losing the big gain by being greedy for small gains only makes the world laugh.” Baidu.

He Lian Zhang was cunning, and of course, he would not overlook such an important person as Consort Shu. He went to the palace the next day to plead guilty, and not only did Madam He Lian arrive, but he also brought his equal wife, the adoptive mother of He Lian Wei Rui, Lu-shi.

To be able to stand against Madam He Lian, how could she be a simple character? Lu-shi’s long sleeves were good at dancing [3], and her words were full of humility. Describing He Lian Wei Rui’s affection for His Sixth Royal Highness made Consort Shu’s expression ease. In the subsequent plea for guilt Lu-shi even wiped away tears. She said that He Lian Wei Rui and Zhong Zheng Ying were acquainted from the academy, and friendship gradually developed between their exchanges. Since the girl really couldn’t let go of her feelings for His Highness, she asked for help, and it was so that yesterday’s absurd scene happened.

[3] 长袖善舞 chángxiù shàn wǔ. Long sleeves help one dance beautifully (idiom). As described by H°Lifestyle: “Skillful in dancing with long sleeves refers to someone who’s good at socializing, great at diplomacy and thus easier to achieve success, socially active”.

Consort Shu was not a fool, although this might look like the truth, there were too many holes in the story. Seeing that Madam He Lian didn’t even bother to talk to Lu-shi from the beginning to the end, she wondered if the He Lian family had a lot of infighting, and this He Lian Wei Rui entering the backyard was in fact, one more of the main wife and the second wife fighting each other. Climbing up to the sixth prince, naturally, the sky was closer, and power can be expected. As for He Lian Zhang, how could he not be happy with two daughters in His Royal Highness’s mansion?

Consort Shu also came from a big family and she knew what they were like. It was so that she began to think this was a matter of the family fighting internally. The main room has the glory to marry the sixth prince, and the second room naturally wants to take a piece. Things could be taken slowly to plot but it just so happened that the eight prince’s selection for a cefei was happening and they couldn’t hold their breath, so things were done hurriedly and she noticed there was something going on.

Consort Shu didn’t take He Lian Wei Rui into her eyes. She was just a woman. If her son liked her, he can well enough carry her into the door, but if he didn’t like her, then this girl needed to come back to where she came from. Consort Shu already had a grudge against Zhen Yu. She didn’t like girls stalking her son regardless of how his son felt. Like this, Concubine Shu figured out what was going on, and chased the two of them out of the palace.

In the evening, when Emperor Yuancheng was flipping the brand for the night he saw that the brands were less than usual, “What happened?”

Wang Rui, the Deputy Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Household, pulled down the whisk in his hand and took a few steps closer to answer. “Reporting back to the emperor, Consort Shu’s little day is coming. Fu Zhaoyi has a cold and took the initiative to have her card removed. Hua Meiren and Zhang Jieyu had a conflict in the day, and their cards were withdrawn by the Imperial Noble Consort for three days.”

Concubine Shu was inconvenient to serve, so Emperor Yuancheng, who had planned to go to her palace, went to sit with Fu Zhaoyi. Taking the initiative to remove her brand, this move was still sensible. The ice beauty acted very pleasingly, and Emperor Yuancheng sat with her for half an hour before going to Consort Qi’s palace and settling down for the night.

Seeing that the matter was done, Wang Rui suppressed a smile and secretly went to the Imperial Noble Consort’s palace to receive his reward.

On the second day, Emperor Yuancheng suddenly sent the Imperial Noble Consort on a new errand and asked her to take care of the other princes’ backyard. If she saw a good woman who could give birth, then let her stay. For the royal family having too many children was never a problem.

The Imperial Noble Consort had already received the Empress Dowager’s oral order, and now even the emperor had ordered it. This matter had to be taken care of. It’s so that the matter of the eighth prince choosing his cefei became lively and the number of selected women doubled.

Mu Xi Yao watched from the beginning to the end, and up until now, He Lian Zhang’s chess game hadn’t taken a single misstep. The old fox successfully created this situation, and now He Lian Wei Rui would naturally be selected, and she would not necessarily be given to the eighth prince. Who could say that if she tried harder she wouldn’t end up entering the sixth Highness’ door?

Lord He Lian was really hardworking and much more diligent than her backup.

Mu Xi Yao leisurely glanced at the motionless fishing rod, and pouted, unwilling to wait. Because this woman didn’t have the patience to hold the fishing rod still, she went looking for a reason why she wasn’t in the wrong if she didn’t. She held the tail of the fishing rod in her right hand and gently rose it, making the front end hit the water’s surface lightly.

Standing beside her, also holding a fishing rod, Mister Wei, who was fishing seriously, showed disapproval on his face.

Mu Xi Yao explained to him her unreasonable actions: “Watching the beautiful scenery of the rippling blue waves will help you relax your mind therefore helping your brain become smarter and better able to deal with the endless means of the He Lian family.”

The fishing rod in Master Wei's hand trembled, and the corners of his lips pursed solemnly. If Mistress Yao continued to make such a fuss, today’s fish feast couldn’t be counted on. Just now, he patted his chest and promised the little master five piebalds and five stone tails. Now, Wei Zhen felt that he needed to change to another location.

“Mister Wei, how come the silverfish sent by His Royal Highness doesn’t bite the hook? This concubine has sat for a long time, is the fish not hungry?”

Boss could catch these fishes so effortlessly, but how come she couldn’t see a single fry? It seemed it was still the boss’ ability, even Wei Zhen didn’t seem to be good at fishing.

Mu Xi Yao completely ignored her own unreasonableness in spoiling the situation, and directly labeled Wei Zhen as a fishing waste.

“If Mister Wei can’t do it, let’s change to a fishing net. Lunch can’t be delayed.” Before Wei Zhen could reply, Mu Xi Yao muttered to herself, turned around, and ordered others to do it.

Wei Zhen had no choice but to put down the fishing rod, and for the first time experienced the grief of returning empty-handed. What did she mean by “sit down for a long time”? Mistress Yao, your posture had just been set, and the bait of your hands was just thrown, ah, this patience…

When Mu Xi Yao brought the servants out to fish, except for Mister Wei, who had honestly believed in her words and started fishing with her, everyone else had expected this outcome. After listening to her instructions, they skillfully took out all kinds of nets and tossed the nets from the edge of the pond.

Wei Zhen watched in awe as the crowd showed their skills, and took him a while to understand that, to be serving at Mistress Yao’s side, one needed to practice more than one day, and even he, afraid he couldn’t do it…

Cheng Qing immediately cheered as he watched the plump and fresh fish jumping around in the net. His two fat legs jumped vigorously, shouting, and insisting that Wei Zhen take him to the pond to join in the fun.

Seeing this, Mi Xi Yao spoke, “Mister Wei, take this skinny monkey to play.”

Some servants caught a few small fish and put them in the bucket and let Cheng Qing play with it. This little guy who too small and couldn’t hold any big fish.

Mu Xi Yao felt that her son definitely followed the boss. That man was born ambitious, add to that he belong to the royal kind who were never peaceful and rather talented. She thought to herself that his son must also be like this.

Mu Xi Yao picked and chose, and finally selected ingredients of good quality. Satisfied, she led the people straight to the small kitchen. For the remaining ones who weren’t eye-catching, she casually rewarded them to the servants so that they could have a taste of it.

Mu Xi Yao felt that this meal was too tasty and needed to be reported to the boss. After getting up from her nap in the afternoon, she was just in time to “express her sincerity and sorrow” in the daily letter to the boss.

In Jiangzi Pavilion, Zhu Jin finally collected all the information about the He Lian family, wrote it, and presented it to Wan Jing Wen for her perusal.

Wan Jing Wen quickly browsed the top-secret news, kneaded the paper into a ball, and laughed so much that her shoulders could not stop shaking.

“He Lian Min Min was actually regarded as an abandoned child by the He Lian family!” Wan Jing Wen laughed wildly. In her previous life, it was only after Emperor Jian’an was enthroned that she was forced into such a situation by her maiden family! “Indeed, this is her karma”.

Zhu Jin witnessed how her Mistress’ expression changed greatly, and how she laughed madly without daring to utter a sound. Although she couldn’t understand her Mistress’ hate towards the princess consort, she knew how much she plotted against her, even making plans when she was in the boudoir. Still, she knew that although her Mistress was laughing, she wasn’t in a good mood. She glanced at the tearful eyes of Wan Jing Wen and stayed silent.

Wan Jing Wen vented fiercely and finally wiped her tears with a silk handkerchief. In this life, she was unsure of many things, and she didn’t expect to be treated with extra kindness by God on the most crucial things.

“Zhu Jin, the time has come.”

For her poor child, she had waited too long for this revenge.

“Do you understand what to say when the news is released?”

“Yes, Mistress once taught this slave to say, «The sixth prince’s main consort has a root disease in her womb, but it is a hidden disease that is difficult for ordinary people to detect. Her womb was born cold and she cannot conceive».”

“I thought of another sentence.” Wan Jing Wen looked at the woman with a grim expression in the bronze mirror and turned her head away in disgust. “The He Lian family noticed something was wrong, and they deliberately deceived the sixth prince, it’s because of this that they wish to send He Lian Wei Rui to the mansion to make amends.”

Zhu Jin was so shocked that her palms were sweating. The Mistress’ words charged the He Lian family with the crime of deceiving the king! If Emperor Yuancheng believed it, the He Lian family, a century-old family with nearly a thousand members would cease to exist in the world in the blink of an eye...

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Relationship Diagram (by Sith Kazar)

▲ Footnotes