RVW – Chapter 28

After a few days, the order of the Su Wang Mansion was completely restored, as if the shadow of the death of the palace maid bestowed by the Empress Dowager had become a thing of the past.

Chu Baning, apart from that night’s loss of composure, quickly regained his solemn demeanor the next day and remained the imposing and powerful Su Wang. Though there were some differences, in that Chu Baning apparently had gained an understanding on how to be considerate and concerned for her. If she so much as had ink stains on her when he returned at night, he would silently stare at her with those pair of chilling eyes for a long time before continuing to work in the study.

Ah Nan was often confused by him, not understanding what he had in mind. Every time Ah Nan felt concerned about Chu Ba Ning’s mood, she invited four trusted maids to discuss together. Except for Ru Cui, the stupid maid with incredible courage of a bear who could say a few useful words, the other three maids all looked at her with denouncing eyes reflecting “Are you really such an idiot?” So much that she felt pressured by their heavy as mountain gaze ah.

In addition, she had to take medicinal food under maids and Momos every day to supplement her internal heat, yet felt she felt like her internal heat was almost deficient¹补得她虚火上升，觉得快要虚不受补了. My understanding is that in Chinese traditional medical knowledge, there is something called internal heat. If there is an excess of heat (实火), the person would have fever, headache, and other symptoms that I will not delve deep into. In this literature, Ah Nan was said to have 虚火, deficiency of heat because of loss of yin and yang qi and blood. So she was given tonic to add that heat. However, Ah Nan said that she feels like that heat is not replenishing. Ah Nan also felt that she suddenly had a lot of free time every day. Apart from reading, practicing calligraphy, and strolling around the courtyard, she no longer had to worry about other things. Everyday, a few Guanshi Momo would handle things properly, and then bring the book over for her to review. Even when she held an embroidery frame, wanting to embroider a small purse, she will be stopped by the Momo, saying that there are professional embroidery women in the mansion. Just say what was needed, no need to worry over trivial matters that might cause mental exhaustion²The word they used here is 伤神, it can mean feeling deeply hurt or feeling exhausted psychologically..

Ah Nan 囧: Embroidering a purse could cause mental exhaustion? Isn’t it one of the basic skills that everyone knows~~

Such an obvious move, if Ah Nan didn’t understand then she must be a wooden club.

Ah Nan let out a sigh internally. Although living as a leisurely Wang fei was tempting, not working while still receiving her Wang fei salary would make her extremely uneasy ah.

At night, Chu Baning was once again busy until the lanterns were lit before he could enter the room.

Ah Nan had already prepared bath water with essential oil and sun-dried warm clothes. After Chu Baning took a comfortable bath, the servants had already prepared steaming hot food for him on the table.

A variety of piping hot dishes with perfect color and aroma, coupled with a young and sweet little wife attentively serving him, any man would feel very comfortable and cared for after a day of exhaustion.

The maids had already gone away. Ah Nan sat down with Chu Baning, smilingly filling his bowl with his favorite dishes, looking like a thoughtful and virtuous wife. Chu Baning was also hungry, only stopping his chopsticks after several bowls of rice, making Ah Nan’s heart ache.

This man really deserved of being considered as a “good talent for the country and the people” by the Imperial teacher Gongsun Yaobai. Once he starts doing something, he seems to be staking his life, striving for perfection, always seemingly unable to rest. Every time she instructed Chu Banning’s trusted servant, Mu Yuan’er, to remind him to eat all three meals properly, Mu Yuan’er always came back with a disheartened face and told her that Wang ye was not listening at all, even told him to shut up and not be like a woman who kept nagging³The RAW is 别像个娘们一样婆妈啰嗦, I can’t find the right words to translate it, but Chu Baning here is saying don’t be like those women (as in young ladies) who nags resembling mothers’ and grandmothers’ nagging.

Ah Nan mentally facepalmed⁴In fact the word used here is 仰倒 (Raw: 阿难听了真是一个仰倒), meaning ‘falling on the back’, not facepalming. If you watch anime or read Manga, you might have seen 仰倒, that is when the characters hear something ridiculous and then fell due to exasperation. More or less like this. It’s just that I don’t know how to translate it upon hearing, really wanting to ask a certain Wang ye, what’s wrong with women? There are also women with cold noble personalities who don’t like talking!

After dinner, Chu Baning did not go to the study, but instead sat on the long Ta⁵Ta or Zuo ta (坐榻) is a long seat like this. The bed surface is made using rattan or other material. next to the window in their bedroom, contemplating, fingers knocking on the table.

Ah Nan is very familiar with this sound, often making her feel at ease.

Night has turned late unknowingly, when Chu Baning came back to himself, he found that his little wife, who had been making a purse, had fallen asleep on the long Ta armrest. A prepared purse lay quietly in the middle of the rattan. Chu Banning reached out and brought over the purse. It was made of high-quality tribute cloth for the royal family, on it were embroidery of two red-clothed figures that Chu Banning couldn’t figure out. Cute⁶QQ, referring to something that is cute, soft, squishy/chewy. Usually mochi is described as QQ.. It looked like a groom and bride wearing wedding clothes, very cute and festive. Chu Banning remembered that Ah Nan had spent several nights embroidering this thing. He straightened up the wrinkles on the two little figures on the purse with his fingertips, and without hesitation, Chu Banning put it on the pocket near his heart.

Chu Baning bent down to pick up his little wife from the Ta, walked steadily and placed Ah Nan on the bed.

Ah Nan woke up as soon as her body touched the bed, but she was still somewhat drowsy, sleepily looking at him with one eye.

Chu Baning waved his hand to extinguish the candle, then lay down on the bed and extended his long arm to hug Ah Nan closer.

“Ah Nan… I’m going to leave the capital in a few days,” Chu Baning hesitated for a moment before whispering to Ah Nan.

Ah Nan’s drowsiness gone all at once, immediately appearing extremely sober with widened eyes, “Leaving the capital? Wh-, why?” They had only been married for about a month, still newlyweds, isn’t it like running away and leaving the newlywed wife alone?

“Brother emperor asked me to escort the grain and grass⁷As in army provisions. Grain for the soldiers, grass for the horses. to Tongcheng,” Chu Banning didn’t want to say too much. He lowered his head and kissed the girl’s forehead in his arms, saying hoarsely,” You would be alone at home, be careful, wait for me to come back…..”

The man’s voice was slightly hoarse, as if unsure of something. Ah Nan’s heart hurt, but when she was about to say something, her lips were blocked. Then she was pushed down and bitten by this man with strong learning ability, easily prying open her teeth and entangled with her tongue.

Ah Nan really wanted to hit his back in protest, but didn’t have the courage and could only make a whimpering sound.

Chu Banning slowly let go of her lips, instead nibbling lightly on her earlobe. Ah Nan trembled, almost screaming—her ears were her sensitive area. Since Chu Banning discovered this secret, he has liked to play around with her ears when they were intimate. And Ah Nan, this cowardly person, has never had the courage to retaliate back, afraid of provoking a certain Wang ye  and make him more excited, there would then be no end to it.

“……Wait for me to come back, okay?”

Ah Nan gritted her teeth, thinking ‘don’t do sexual stuff and use your seductive voices to say such heartbreaking matters aaaaahhhhhh!!!!’

The two of them quickly stripped off their clothes, the darkness made their senses and touch more sensitive, full of ambiguous emotions.

………………..

After a moment of passion, the two of them entangled with each other skin to skin, sweating profusely, but not willing to let go of each other, enjoying their embrace, emotions still lingering.

Ah Nan leaned into Chu Baning’s arms, lazily unwilling to move. The situation finally calmed down after some time, Chu Baning got out of bed and brought a clean towel. He thoughtfully cleaned Ah Nan’s body, and then went to bed to embrace the lazy girl who refused to move.

Ah Nan leaned into his arms, feeling some reluctance.

In just a month, she went from being cautious to now opening up her heart to him. When she decided to accept him, he is now going to go far away. Not to mention when he will come back, who knows how dangerous it is just to go to a border area like Tongcheng…..

Ah Nan hugged him tightly, burying her head in his arms.

Chu Baning kissed her forehead, patting her burdened back in consolation, comforting her to sleep.

***********

On the birthday of Shu fei, Ah Nan entered the palace early in the morning.

Ah Nan took Ru Cui along firstly to the Empress Dowager’s Chonghua Palace to pay respect to her mother-in-law. Along the way, she naturally met a group of beautiful harem members led by the Empress who also came to pay respect to the Empress Dowager.

“Yo, Su Wang fei, it has been a long time since we met, is there anything for you to enter the palace today?” The Empress affectionately took Ah Nan’s hand in accordance to intimate sister-in-laws look.

Ah Nan smiled shyly, saying in a sweet voice, “Ah Nan missed Mu hou and wanted to come and see her. Are Huang hou Niangniang⁸皇后娘娘 (huang hou niang niang). 皇后 means empress, 娘娘 is how people respectfully call the palace’s women. and the other Niangniangs going to pay respect to Mu hou as well?”

The empress covered her mouth and smiled: “No! I heard that you came into the palace today, so Ben gong brought sisters to come liven up the atmosphere. The more the merrier, may also make Mu hou happier.” The empress said, naturally she also discreetly examined Su Wang fei. En, still having the soft and sticky appearance of a child, not much similarity⁹I think she was comparing Ah Nan to Shu fei. Her face was pretty good, ruddy pink and tender. She appears to be exactly the opposite of having a burst of terminal lucidity¹⁰The empress said Ah Nan doesn’t look like 回光返照 (a phenomenon where a dying person suddenly regained their clarity and health before finally dying, final radiance of setting sun). In fact terminal lucidity and 回光返照 is a bit different: terminal lucidity only pictures the person’s clarity/consciousness, but on 回光返照, the person’s physique also somewhat recovered. But honestly that is the closest term I know so I used terminal lucidity in this literature..

Thinking of this, the empress recalled the palace maid who died a few days ago in Su Wang’s mansion, then increasingly felt that, isn’t Su Wang fei’s current appearance exactly similar to terminal lucidity?

In fact, there are many imperial concubines who have similar thoughts with the empress. Although they are constantly fighting with each other, their time spent deep in the palace is also lonely, some gossip is needed to dispel the loneliness of the soul. The newly appointed Su Wang fei has too much uncertainty, allowing the concubines to have fun digging gossip. Therefore, every time Ah Nan enters the palace, a group of palace concubines will come and chat with her, showing all kinds of goodwill.

To be honest, although they all wanted to fight tooth and nail with Ah Nan’s eldest sister, Shu fei, it didn’t prevent them from getting close to Ah Nan.

If Ah Nan knew the thoughts of this group of idle women who could only engage in palace fights, she would definitely slap them to death! If her face was a little pale, they would all say she could die anytime¹¹香消玉殒, meaning a jade (usually used to refer to a girl) who would vanish like smoke (smoke as in fragrance); If she was in good spirits, in their eyes she was having a terminal lucidity—go away, don’t play with people like that!

A group of women went to Chonghua Palace smiling, talking and praising each other.

After paying respects to the Empress Dowager and speaking with her a little, everyone dispersed. As everyone left, the Empress Dowager also signalled the empress to leave, leaving Ah Nan alone.

Although the palace concubines appeared respectful on the surface, in their heart were ridicules as they went back to their palaces, probably running straight back into their own beds and have a good laugh.

Ah Nan internally felt bitter, but her face still appears innocent and lovely.

The Empress Dowager sat expressionlessly on the Kang¹²炕 (Kang) is a heatable brick bed like this. The holes you see on the base are for charcoal to be put under the Kang, and then ignited when winter comes to warm up the bed., her expression dim.

The beautiful palace maids quietly served tea and then withdrew. Soon, the only ones left in the palace hall were the Empress Dowager Niangniang with her deep expression and the blinking little daughter-in-law.

“Su Wang fei, talk, what happened?” The Empress Dowager asked as she fiddled with the fan in her hand, her voice faint, unable to discern any joy or anger.

Ah Nan secretly twitched her lips, thinking that she had not even met those beauties face on. How could she know what was going on? Wasn’t it just dying after getting infected with a cold.

Ah Nan felt that according to the Empress Dowager’s habit of interfering in her son’s backyard matter, she must have sent a spy in the Su Wang’s Mansion. Her asking this question, isn’t it just looking for her fault and prove she isn’t good?

“Mu hou, what do you want me to say?” Ah Nan silently cursed, her face still showing innocence and naivety.

The Empress Dowager glanced at her, unsure whether Ah Nan was pretending to be foolish or truly foolish. However, based on her experience in interacting with Ah Nan several times, the Empress Dowager believed that Ah Nan was foolish and easy to handle. She was a standard indecisive Shu daughter who shouldn’t be showed off¹³What the Empress dowager means here is that Ah Nan is too stupid and indecisive to interact with the public (the rest of the nobles), so to save their royal family and Su Wang’s face she should not attend public activities as she might be fooled. Not to mention that she is a Shu daughter.. Originally, this kind of daughter-in-law was the best, whatever the mother-in-law says would be obeyed without question, even if mother-in-law farted she would never say anything¹⁴RAW: 婆婆说东绝对不会说西 (if mother in law says east, she would not say west)，婆婆放个屁绝对不会说是屎 (if mother in law farted, she would not say shit).. But the bad news is that her son is wholly unable to be controlled. No matter how much pressure she puts on her daughter-in-law, not only the son would always protect her, he would even slap her in the face, shaming his own mother.

Recalling this son Chu Baning, the Empress Dowager feels like her heart was choked up.

“Su Wang fei, Ai jia bestowed those three palace maids originally to serve you husband and wife. They were useful in the palace, there is no way they have the guts to play dirty tricks¹⁵The Empress Dowager’s “dirty tricks” also include seduction (Raw: 偷奸耍滑). Yeah she is trying to tell Ah Nan “nah they are there as maids and not bed warmers who would seduce your husband.” once they arrive at Su Wang’s Mansion, the Imperial physician also said they are all healthy. Ai jia wants to know, they were fine, how could a person pass away?”

Ah Nan sincerely looked at the Empress Dowager, saying, “Mu hou, this is Chen xi‘s¹⁶臣媳 (chen xi) means “this daughter in law”. The 臣 here basically means I or your servant, but usually only used by officials or people with certain titles. fault. Chen xi didn’t know they were so delicate. Rain brought harm in spring and sadness in autumn¹⁷伤春悲秋, I translated it literally (injury on Spring, sadness on Autumn), but this is actually a pretty poetic and melancholic way to remember seasonal change., once fall a person was gone.”

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager felt some anger in her chest, even more upset, not knowing how to react¹⁸So the empress dowager has some anger (气 qi; can mean Qi energy, can also mean anger) in her chest. The RAW said 哽得不上不下的 (literally meaning: choked, unable to go up or down); What this refers as up and down here is the 气 as in energy and emotion. Qi goes up (气上) in anger, Qi goes down (气下) when in fear. So the empress dowager doesn’t know if she should be angry (at Ah Nan for being careless) or fear (because of the curse that made autumn rain able to cause someone to die). Edit: Oh yes forgot to add that Qi going down may also mean suppressing anger/trying to calm down (opposite of Qi rising).

“Mu hou, Lady Shi Qing’s death also made Chen xi grieve.” Ah Nan’s expression was heavy, her eyes red, twisting her handkerchief as if she was about to cry, saying, “The night before, autumn rain had fallen. Heard that Lady Shi Qing wanted to watch the rain and so opened her window for half a night… Chen xi heard that Lady Shi Qing’s poetry was excellent, and was a talented person. She naturally wanted to make poems while watching the rain. But who knew it would lead to catching cold and high fever? Chen Xi was truly moved and heartbroken when she heard Lady Shi Qing’s brave sacrifice for art…” She said as she used a handkerchief to cover her face, letting out choked sobs.

The Empress Dowager’s mouth corner twitched, thinking that her low-born daughter-in-law was really capable of talking nonsense. However, her expression was so sincere, making it hard for others to refute.

The Empress Dowager finally knows what it feels like to feel pain without eggs.

Really makes one TMD¹⁹Is abbreviation to 他妈的 (ta ma de, literally meaning your mother), a swear word. annoyed²⁰蛋疼 (egg pain) ah!

Translator’s little theater:

Ah Nan: Finally experiencing love of married life, only for the emperor to beat us mandarin ducks >:( 

Note: Next update would be posted next week~