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After Ruan Xi’s horse carriage reached the imperial palace, Ruan Xi alighted the carriage with the support of Mama Yang and Su Yu.
She caressed her bulging abdomen, gazing at the surrounding high palace walls, and the clean and spacious roads before sighing inaudibly.
“Fourth Young Lady, please follow nubi.”
Yao Hong led the way in front.
From the back, Ruan Xi followed her with slow steps. With Mama Yang and Su Yu supporting her from both sides, the wound around the continuously extending palace walls, and after walking for an incense stick’s worth of time (30 minutes), they finally reached Ruan san niang’s palace— in front of Gentle Fortune (Fu Rou) Palace.
By this time, sweat was dripping down Ruan Xi’s face, and it was faintly tinged with fatigue.
If it were not for her strolling around Harmonious Dwelling every morning and evening, she feared that she would have been terribly exhausted awhile back.
It was evident that Ruan san niang had already considered this aspect.
A pregnant woman five months into her pregnancy, whether real or fake, would suffer from having to travel this stretch of distance, especially given that Ruan Xi was a young lady from a noble family who scarcely wandered out the large gates.
“Young Lady, nubi will help yĂ”u wipe the sweat.”
Su Yu was visibly distressed, and she quickly retrieved a clean handkerchief to help her Young Lady wipe away the perspiration.
“Shao Furen, lean against this old slave’s body first and rest for a while.” Mama Yang said in distress.
“Mn, troubling Mama Yang.”
Ruan Xi did not oppose it, leaning her entire body on Mama Yang. It was true that she was tired.
“Fourth Young Lady, please hold on for a moment, nubi will go in and report.” Yao Hong lowered her head, not daring to look at Ruan Xi. After bowing respectfully, she stepped into Gentle Fortune Palace with quick steps.
Ruan Xi and her two servants stood outside, waiting.
On the other side, once Wen Ting Zhou learned that Ruan san niang had summoned Ruan Xi into the palace, he was burning with anxiety as he entered the palace to have an audience with the Emperor. The Emperor was already informed of Ruan san niang’s actions early on by the secret guards watching over her. Even if Wen Ting Zhou did not mention it, the old Emperor would not watch with wide eyes as Ruan san niang tormented Wen Ting Zhou’s pregnant wife.
“Ting Zhou, you can be at ease for the time being. Zhen will not allow Ruan fei to mess around, nothing will happen to your wife.” The old Emperor picked up the teacup on the table to swallow a mouthful of tea, before he observed the slightly conspicuous anxiety on Wen Ting Zhou’s handsome face with a crinkle-eyed smile.
Pursing his lips, Wen Ting Zhou said: “Chen is still worried about his wife.”
è‡Ł (pinyin: chen) – courtier/subject.
The edges of the old Emperor’s mouth twitched.
“Forget it, Zhen will bring you to the Gentle Fortune Palace later!”
Wen Ting Zhou sighed in relief before he hastily said: “Chen thanks the Emperor!”
Both exasperated and amused, the old Emperor shook his head, then dispatched his men to check on the situation in Gentle Fortune Palace.
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Gentle Fortune Palace.
Ruan san niang sat in front of the bronze mirror, looking at the beautiful lady in the reflection, and she felt increasingly upset the more she looked. She was at the age where the flower was just budding, and her appearance was as beautiful as a flower, but against all reason, she could only allow that pickled old fellow of an Emperor to take liberties with her.
In comparison to her fourth younger sister, who had married into a good family and had a shockingly talented, handsome, and yet clean-living and honest husband, she really felt unreconciled.
It was all Qi Yue An’s fault!
However, Qi Yue An neither possessed her nor did he marry her fourth sister; he was just a silk clothes son without the learning or the skill now, who only knew how to eat, drink, and play. Ruan san niang felt balanced in her heart, but she felt even more jealous of her fourth sister at the same time.
Not only did her fourth sister have a good life, but she even had a successful husband.
In the past lifetime, Wen Ting Zhou’s proverbial scenery had not been as impressive and boundless as this life.
The original owner must have had a terrible alloted fate, and she burdened her.
Ruan san niang felt more resentful the more she thought about it.
Since the Heavens allowed her to transmigrate and be reborn, why didn’t it allow her to transmigrate or be reborn as her fourth sister?
As Yao Si helped her do her hair and make-up at the side, she quickly lowered her eyes upon seeing that there was something wrong with her master’s expression.
“Men come hither, go outside and see when bengong’s si mei will arrive?”
æœŹćź« (pinyin: ben gong) – a form of self-address that a master of one of six palaces uses, when talking to people that are lower ranking than her.
Ruan san niang called out in a frustrated mood.
“Yes, Niangniang.”
A palace maid answered respectfully and left the palace hall. Just as she stepped out of the palace hall doors, she saw the returning Yao Hong guniang. Happiness seeped into her heart as she quickly spoke to her, and then Yao Hong went in.
“Yao Hong, you’re back. Where is si mei?”
Inside the palace, Ruan san niang’s eyes lit up immediately when she saw Yao Hong walking in.
“Replying to Niangniang’s words, the Fourth Young Lady is waiting at the palace hall entrance.” Yao Hong replied deferentially with due haste.
“She’s here, huh!”
Ruan san niang gazed at the bright, beautiful and delicate lady in the bronze mirror, while the image of her fourth sister’s breath-taking countenance emerged in her mind. Her pupils shifted.
“Yao Hong, tell si mei that bengong is having an afternoon nap, and tell si mei to wait for a while longer.”
Yao Hong quickly complied, retreating out of the room with a complicated mood.
Ruan Xi raised an eyebrow.
It seems like Ruan san niang would not be allowing her entrance so easily.
And reality certainly proved that to be the case.
Yao Hong bent her knees slightly with hands overlapped on her left waist as she spoke with an apologetic expression: “Fourth Young Lady, Niangniang is having an afternoon nap. The Fourth Young Lady is asked to wait for a while longer, Niangniang should be waking up very soon.”
A smear of anger flashed past Su Yu’s eyes.
The Third Young Lady was going too far; what afternoon nap and not being awake yet, it was obvious that it was just an excuse; she was clearly using different tactics to torment the pregnant Shao Furen.
Ruan Xi squeezed Su Yu’s hand, asking her to keep calm. Subsequently, she caressed her bulging abdomen gently and said with a smile: “I will wait for a while longer then. However, my body is disadvantaged, and I’ve just walked a long distance which has tired me out. If something were to happen, I would be blamed if other people were to misunderstand san jie.”
She was only stating objective facts, mn, she most certainly did not intend to threaten.
Mama Yang looked at her Shao Furen appreciatively.
Yao Hong’s red face went rigid. The Fourth Young Lady’s situation was special, if something were to happen, Niangniang would probably push her to the front.
“Nubi will go in right now to ask for instructions.”
Having said that, she tried to go in.
“Hold on, I’m hungry now, is there anything to eat? You should understand, pregnant women get hungry easily, and I’ve just walked such a long distance, and it has used up a great deal of strength.” Ruan Xi pretended to be embarrassed as she covered her bulging stomach.
Yao Hong’s footsteps halted, her complexion becoming more rigid. “Nubi needs to ask for instructions about this as well.”
Niangniang clearly wanted to torment the Fourth Young Lady, how could she possibly dare to act on her own accord?
Ruan Xi feigned surprise as she stared at her: “Even this requires instructions? Isn’t san jie taking her afternoon nap?”
Yao Hong’s complexion reddened instantaneously, and she fled in defeat.
Ruan Xi stared at Yao Hong’s fleeing back figure, the sides of her mouth rising slightly to smile in a calm and composed manner, pointedly ignoring the covert gazes directed towards her from her surroundings.
A brief moment later, Yao Hong came out hurriedly, lowering her head respectfully to say:
“Fourth Young Lady, Niangniang has awoken. Upon hearing that yĂ”u had arrived, she was extremely happy and she wishes to see yĂ”u!”
Yao Hong’s words were
 even she could not persuade herself.
As a matter of fact, she did not dare to meet her eyes at all.
With a superficial smile, Ruan Xi glanced at Yao Hong. “Let’s go, we shouldn’t let san jie wait for too long.”
After saying that, she started climbing the palace hall steps, and Mama Yang and Su Yu quickly stepped forward to support Ruan Xi.
Yao Hong wiped away her cold sweat in the dark.
How could Niangniang’s skill compare to the Fourth Young Lady’s?
Once she entered the palace, Ruan Xi was blinded by the palace hall’s lavish style.
The splendidly dressed and made-up Ruan san niang was currently sitting on a senior concubine’s couch eating fresh grapes, with several pretty palace maids fanning her and massaging her legs with their fists respectively.
She was incomparably content in the luxury.
“One pays her respect to Niangniang!”
Ruan Xi bent her knees and bowed the moment she stepped in, and no flaw could be picked out from her etiquette.
Mama Yang and Su Yu followed closely in giving their bows.
A glint of pleasure flashed past the bottom of Ruan san niang’s eyes when she saw her fourth sister bowing to her, but her mouth said otherwise: “Aiya, si mei, rise quickly, we are good sisters, you don’t need to be so courteous as to bow.”
Ruan Xi straightened her posture and smiled, “Etiquette cannot be abandoned.”
Who knew if Ruan san niang would make an issue out of this; there were no blunders to be had if one was careful.
A hint of disappointment flitted past Ruan san niang’s eyes, her fourth sister was truly cautious and prudent.
Her gaze then landed on her fourth sister’s bulging belly, her eyes darkening.
“Si mei, you’re really pregnant?”
She originally wanted to torment her fourth sister a little, but who could have anticipated that her fourth sister would actually use her stomach to start an issue, and it was not like she dared to gamble. However, since that small bit of torment ended with nothing definite, san niang felt a wave of sullenness in her heart.
But this did not mean that she had given up.
Ruan Xi caressed her abdomen briefly as she continued to smile. “Indeed, it’s been five months.”
Ruan san niang’s smiling expression distorted for an instant. She sucked in a deep breath, gaze lingering on Ruan Xi’s face, which still looked glossy and rosy despite having no cosmetics applied. It was unknown what her brain was supplementing, but a smear of frenetic joy flashed past the bottom of her eyes as she smiled and opened her mouth.
“Si mei, I’ve heard that foetal movement can be felt after five months of pregnancy. I’ve been preparing for pregnancy recently; can I touch your stomach to dabble in the auspicious air?”
In spite of that, she was laughing coldly in her heart. She had been pregnant for more than five months and yet her face was still as smooth as the past, without a single perceivable dark spot, it had to be a fake pregnancy.
Judging from how her fourth sister had yet to direct a scene of miscarriage, it was highly likely that she was going to change a raccoon dog for a crown prince when the time came around.
She had to expose her.
Ruan san niang did not know that not all pregnant women would grow dark spots on their face, and that using this one point to judge others was truly bizarre as well.
At that moment, Ruan san niang looked like she was full of evil intentions.
With palpable nervousness and heightened vigilance, Su Yu shielded Ruan Xi.
Mama Yang’s expression became taut.
Ruan Xi’s gaze flashed slightly. Honestly speaking, she was genuinely reluctant about letting Ruan san niang close to her and touching her belly.
Who knew if she would intentionally lose control of her hands
?
Ruan Xi did not dare to bet on Ruan san niang’s moral character.
But Ruan san niang had constructed her words well; she only wanted to dabble in the auspicious energy, and Ruan Xi had no reason to reject her.
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At this moment, the sharp and resounding voice of an eunuch rang out from outside the palace hall.
“The Emperor has arrived!”
Ruan Xi’s heart relaxed, a glimmer flickering past the bottom of her eyes. The Emperor could not be more timely with his arrival.
Su Yu and Mama Yang also put down their suspended hearts simultaneously.
Only Ruan san niang was endlessly annoyed. Just a bit more, and she would have felt for whether her fourth sister was truly pregnant.
That damnable old Emperor, he would always spoil her good matters.
Ruan san niang was quite upset, but no matter how upset she was, she did not dare to challenge the old Emperor’s dignity, hence she quickly straightened out her appearance to welcome the Emperor’s arrival with due respect.
Clad in a bright yellow dragon robe, Emperor Shengde walked in with large strides, and following behind him was a handsome and tall black figure.
All of the palace maids in the palace knelt down.
“Qieshen pays her respect to the Emperor!”
ćŠŸèș« (pinyin: qie shen) – a form of self-address used by a wife when speaking to her husband.
Ruan san niang, who was at the forefront, quickly bent her knees and bowed.
Ruan Xi knelt down and bowed with the support of Mama Yang and Su Yu at her sides.
“Wen-Ruan shi pays her utmost respect to the Emperor!”
“Rise.” Emperor Shengde’s faint tone of voice was tinged with august.
“Thanking the Emperor!”
Ruan san niang was the first to rise, while her heart silently cursed everything that was evil in this feudal society because she had to bend her knees and bow every time the old Emperor came over. It was only when she noticed the handsome man behind the old Emperor, that she had to contain her fuming rage behind gritted teeth, feeling both jealousy and hate towards her fourth sister.
She was merely inviting her fourth sister into the palace to reminisce about the old days, and yet Wen Ting Zhou followed over because he was not assured.
Truly, his feelings were deep, and his regards were heavy.
Why was her fourth sister always so fortunate?
She was clearly the female protagonist who possessed golden fingers and was transmigrated and reborn.
Ruan Xi also thanked him for his grace and stood up, but she still kept her head lowered.
Looking straight at Heaven’s face was prohibited unless permission was given.
Although her head was lowered, Ruan Xi could still sense the line of sight coming from above her head.
Emperor Shengde scrutinised the lady who was suffused in gentle and refined temperament as she silently stood there with a lowered head, hands overlapped and placed on her abdomen, feeling slightly surprised.
Ting Zhou did have good vision indeed.
The concubine-born daughter from the Earl Residence actually resembled a legitimate daughter more compared to Ruan fei.
Mn, she was not inferior to the noble daughters that were cultivated by influential and large clans.
Earl Chengyi had given birth to a good daughter!
As Emperor Shengde scrutinised Ruan Xi, Ruan san niang’s thoughts moved. What if she exposed her fourth sister’s fake pregnancy in front of the old Emperor and Wen Ting Zhou? Just the thought of it alone was exciting and stimulating. Just as the thought occurred to her, Ruan san niang acted by suddenly issuing a delicate laugh.
“Emperor, this individual is qieshen’s fourth younger sister, she is already five months pregnant. Qieshen specifically summoned si mei into the palace because besides reminiscing the old days, she wants to touch si mei’s stomach, and dabble in si mei’s auspicious air for the sake of opening up the branches and spreading the leaves for the Emperor.”
As Ruan Xi kept her head lowered, her lips twitched.
Emperor Shengde raised an eyebrow faintly.
“So that’s how it is. With regards to having a son, aifei does not have to worry, it will come sooner or later if it is meant to be.”
爱抃 (pinyin: ai fei) – beloved imperial concubine.
Truth to be told, Emperor Shengde was not planning on allowing the brainless and utterly selfish Ruan san niang give birth to his son.
Simply to avoid the possibility of her giving birth to a calamity.
He turned his head towards Ruan Xi.
“Wen-Ruan shi, raise your head and speak.”
Ruan Xi readily accepted the command and raised her head. This time around, she was finally in the position to view Heaven’s face.
As the father-emperor of the male protagonist the Fourth Prince, it was only natural that Emperor Shengde’s appearance was not terrible; he looked like he was in his early forties, his figure was decently maintained without any fat gained, and he possessed an awe-inspiring imposing manner.
Ruan Xi only took a swift glimpse at him before her gaze landed on the handsome man behind him.
It was Wen Ting Zhou!
He was here!
In the instant Ruan Xi saw Wen Ting Zhou, her heart became slightly emotional, and joy seeped into her demeanour.
Whereas Wen Ting Zhou was regarding Ruan Xi with a hint of distress and worry in his gaze. He was already aware that Ruan Ruan had to walk a long distance, and he feared that she had tired herself out. Was her body feeling uncomfortable, he wondered.
Emperor Shengde: “

”
Do not assume that he did not see this young married couple exchanging amorous glances. However, it was undeniable that Wen-Ruan shi had flower-like features and a moon-like face, and together with Ting Zhou, they were like the Golden Boy and Jade Maiden. All in all, they were exceedingly well-matched.
A speck of darkness glanced past the bottom of Ruan san niang’s eyes, and her long fingernails dug into her palms.
It was so eye-piercing!
Let’s see if both of you can continue being so deeply in love with each other after this.
Translator’s Note : There are several ways to translate the name of the palace that Ruan san niang is staying in. The first character of ‘柔’ can mean soft, gentle, or yielding, and the second character ‘穏’ can either mean happiness, blessing or good fortune.
I nearly translated it to ‘Yielding Fortune Palace’ but I thought that was a bit too ironic, so I compromised with ‘Gentle Fortune’, partially because it sounded better than the other options at hand.