Fei Pin Ying Qiang Volume 1 Chapter 2

(Although his name is Li Chen, Prince Chun (淳王) is his t.i.tle bestowed by the emperor.)

The inner courtyard looked completely different from the outside. The group of women that had trailed Qi Yunruo previously did not follow him within. In fact, other than Liusu and Xiao Siqing, the only people traveling with him were a little eunuch and two head servant girls. These servants stopped once the group was in front of the Winter Plum Courtyard. The residence in which Qi Niqun would live from now on. Its specifications were a little less grand than that of the Prince's residence, the Ink Lotus Courtyard.

Standing by the entrance was a steward eunuch, Eunuch Gao. As he started to walk, Eunuch Gao said, "By the rules of the estate, the princess consort will have her own residence. The two secondary consorts live in the western Frost Autumn Courtyard together, and the four tertiary consorts¹ live in the back residence, the Sunset Courtyard. There are also three regular concubines who live together in Tinglan House. Besides the prince, the princess consort has the most power and the largest residence. You will be living there as well."

Although Eunuch Gao said this, in reality Qi Yunruo would only be living in the Winter Plum Courtyard by the slightest technicality. A small garden separated two houses in the southern side of the courtyard from his suite².

Qi Yunruo didn't pay much attention as he had listened to Eunuch Gao speak. How much he actually heard was anyone's guess.

Because of this, Liusu shot him a look. She walked up to Eunuch Gao. "Our young master is young and careless. May Eunuch Gao please advise him in the future." Finished speaking, Liusu retrieved a piece of silver from her sleeves and handed it to the steward eunuch.

After receiving the silver, Eunuch Gao carelessly put it away. "Young master will have two people attending you in your suite. Including miss Liusu, there will be three servants. Everything has already been prepared. This old slave³ will no longer accompany you."

Qi Yunruo would not be living here for long. His name had been added to the dowry only recently. As such, it wasn't unusual for the prince estate to not have a proper place for him. Once his sister, Qi Niqun, becomes familiarized with living here, Qi Yunruo would be pushed out of her residence.

"Have a safe trip, sir," Liusu said as she sent off Eunuch Gao.

Meanwhile, Xiao Siqing examined the small house. Two servants girls saluted them from the inside. "Greetings to young master."

Exhausted, Qi Yunruo sat on the bed provided for him. He swept his gaze through the servants without saying a word. Then he asked, "What will be my duties later?"

Xiao Siqing unfurled the schedule parchment. Took a look. "Today there isn't much to do. However, young master must wake up very early tomorrow to attend to the prince and eldest miss in the morning. And you must also wear a new outfit."

Qi Yunruo asked, "When will eldest miss enter the prince estate?"

"Soon."

Qi Yunruo said nothing. In his heart hid a clawing sort of fear, and a sadness that he didn't know put into words to tell others. Starting from a month ago, upon waking each day, he would be bombarded by those two emotions. His life inexplicably disrupted, he was now unsure on how to move forward.

The newlyweds would soon arrive at the Winter Plum Courtyard, to the main room at the front. Qi Yunruo cracked open the window and glanced outside. And he saw the second prince.

After Li Chen had delivered his bride to the room, he shut the door behind him. As he spun on his heel, on his way to the celebratory banquet, Li Chen felt as though someone was looking at his direction. He turned around again in time to catch sight of Qi Yunruo.

The moment their eyes met, Qi Yunruo slammed the window shut. 　

The banquet stretched on, sounds of cheer and laughter permeating even the walls of Qi Yunruo's small suite. Still, he was able to sleep through the loudest moments. Before dawn arrived, Liusu shook him awake. It was about time to enter the main room.

Since he had slept in his clothes, Qi Yunruo's hair was in slight disarray, a few strands loose here and there. Liusu helped him brush his hair. Helped him into a new green outfit before he took his leave.

Qi Niqun had brought four personal maid servants who had served her since childhood to the estate. Their names were Liubai, Liufang, Liuyue, and Liuling. The four of them looked stunning as they stood still outside the main room. Once Liusu brought Qi Yunruo right before the entrance, she instructed him to take the basin of water from Liubai's hands. 

This translation is the property of Sleepchaser at . If you read it anywhere else, it's stolen.

A soft cough could be heard from inside the room. Two tall maidservants, who seemed like overnight attendants, pushed the doors open from the inside. In walked Liubai and the three other maids, with Qi Yunruo following behind them. Liusu trailed at the back.

One of the tall maidservants opened up the curtains to the windows. Then she maneuvered around a divider screen to the master bedroom. The red curtains hanging from the bed, which doubled for mosquito nets, were still drawn. The silhouette of a single person sitting upright could be seen.

Liubai and the three other maids had already seen this person before. They saluted and said, "Paying respects to His Highness."

Li Chen nodded. Seeing that Qi Yunruo did not move, Liusu nudged him. He lost his balance. Splashed some of the basin's water on the two servants before him. Qi Yunruo hesitantly lifted his eyes, then remembered his duties. Quickly, he took a few steps forward and knelt by the bed. He lifted the basin of water.

Li Chen said nothing.

If the master did not speak, no one else would dare to. Qi Yunruo's shoulders started to grow stiff and tired. However, Li Chen had yet to use the basin. As such, Qi Yunruo could only grit his teeth and endure.

In this tense moment, Qi Yunruo helplessly pondered over his master's actions. Or rather, the lack of. In Qi Yunruo's opinion, he had already fulfilled his duties properly. He sneaked a peak at Li Chen. Saw Li Chen lowering his own head to look at him. Panicking, Qi Yunro quickly dropped his gaze.

“Who are you?”

Those words shocked Qi Yunruo to the core. Once again, he lifted his gaze, staring dazedly at the man before him. This man was twenty years old⁴, handsome in a heroic and righteous way⁵, and possessed a high nose. His gaze was serious as he stared at Qi Yunruo. Qi Yunruo was rendered speechless.  

Lu Xuan, a servant who had attended to the prince since childhood, presented Li Chen tea. She said, "This is the young master from the princess consort's family." 

Li Chen nodded. "Everyone leave. Don't bother the princess consort."

Sure enough, the rest of the people in the room followed Li Chen outside. Furrowing her brow, Liusu pulled Qi Yunruo to his feet. Finally did he realize that everyone had left. He followed suit. On the other hand, both Liubai and Liusu stayed behind, waiting for Qi Niqun to be aroused from slumber.

Maneuvering his way around the screen divider, Li Chen sat on the small couch just beyond. This time, Qi Yunruo was quick to perform his duties, immediately kneeling before the prince, the basin of water raised high. As Li Chen washed his face, the other servants handed basins of salt and mouthwash to Qi Yunruo to present to Li Chen. His arms started to grow sore again. After Li Chen finished brushing his teeth, he glanced at Qi Yunruo once more.

Naturally, Li Chen would recognize him. It had taken just a glance from yesterday. Separated by ten or so yards, he had caught sight of a young teen surrounded by several female servants. Such a sight was too conspicuous. 

If a dowry escort was female, as the sister or niece of the household's mistress⁶, she had a chance of becoming a side consort in the future. On the other hand, because males could not give birth, aristocratic families often sent some to their newly-wed daughters' households as part of their dowry. Generally, these men were left unt.i.tled. Not to mention that their futures were practically ruined, only a minuscule amount of them were liked by powerful masters. Although it's possible for them to pick up officialdom in the future, the chances were slim. It was hard to garner even in the odd chance they succeeded in becoming an official.

While Li Chen felt his own thoughts strange, when he first laid eyes on Qi Yunruo, his immediate impression was as followed: Qi Yunruo did not seem like that kind of person.

In Li Chen's estate, there was already a Ji Huan, a "guest" of Secondary Consort Ji. And who was gentle and courteous to others. Originally, Li Chen had thought to send him out of the estate after some time had pa.s.sed. The time spent here wouldn't have been wasted if Ji Huan could buy some deeds and set up some industries.

"Your Highness, the princess consort has awaken."

Qi Yunruo rose to his feet, patting his knees to relieve the strain. He went to stand by the side. Then, in one fluid moment, Qi Niqun slowly came out from behind the screen divider.

She had transformed into a different person overnight. Yesterday, as she wore a large phoenix crown⁷, although she appeared beautiful and exquisite, the bridal attire of a princess consort had seemed too heavy and complicated for her. She still had the demeanor of a maiden. Now her hair was styled into a cloud bun⁸, a long hairpin inserted to keep the hairstyle together. At the end of the hairpin dangled three strands of small pearls. The gentleness of a married woman had replaced the demeanor of a maiden. 

A Phoenix Crown. A Cloud Bun

Li Chen personally helped Qi Niqun into her seat. Then, the rest of the servants saluted. "Paying respects to Her Highness."

Qi Yunruo's soft voice could not be distinguished from the others'.

He waited for the couple to finish eating breakfast. After the meal ended, as a dowry escort, he would follow them into the imperial palace to pay respects to their elders. Before that could happen, however, Liusu pushed him back into his little suite. As soon as they entered through the doorway, she said, "What happened this morning?"

His voice betrayed a hint of awkwardness. "I don't know."

Liusu sat down. She felt that the way the prince looked at Qi Yunruo had been strange. She spent a moment pondering. "Let's not worry about this for now. First, we need to help eldest miss secure a foothold in the estate. As such, third young master must watch the prince's expression carefully when fulfilling your duty."

Liusu, Liubai, and the others were servants that Countess Ziyang had nurtured for a long time. The count estate still had three: Liushang, Liuyue, and Liugui. The four that had accompanied Qi Niqun were already the best of the bunch, though they could not be considered beautiful. Out of those servants, Liusu was the youngest, and her status was the lowest as accordingly. The rest were first-ranked servant girls personally trained by Countess Ziyang.

This translation is the property of Sleepchaser at . If you read it anywhere else, it's stolen.

Thinking herself as the most talented of the group, Liusu aimed to be seen as very loyal to Countess Ziyang and Qi Niqun. For that reason, she was also very cold to Qi Yunruo, and believed that she could use him to gain benefits for herself.

Qi Yunruo's entire dowry could fit in one carriage. Other than Liusu and Xiao Siqing, he also had two cases, neither of them too big nor too small. The smaller one contained items left by his mother. The larger one was given by the count, and contained undergarments and small ornaments⁹. 

“Small ornaments.” Think this, but less… modern.

Qi Yunruo felt as if he wouldn't be living here for long, so he did not unpack just yet.

His two rooms were connected to each other. They weren't too small. Eunuch Gao had summoned Xiao Siqing outside today, so there were only Liusu and two servant girls left in his suite. He now had the time to speak with them.

With their hair arranged into two small buns, the servant girls appeared to be around eleven to twelve years old. They saluted Qi Yunruo. Then he asked them for their names, and their future aspirations.

One of them replied that her name was Xiao Shan. The other revealed her name to be Xiao Jiu. They were brought into the estate two years ago, and had never attended to the masters before. Both of them were very nimble with their hands. Xiao Shan showed Qi Yunruo her embroidery of a duckling, and Xiao Jiu outstretched her arm to show off her sleeve. She said she was learning how to tailor clothes.

Li Chen and Qi Niqun were kept in the palace until lunch ended. In the prince estate, Eunuch Gao instructed people to serve Qi Yunruo his meal. Two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. Once the food had arrived, Qi Yunruo gestured for the two servant girls to share the meal with him. This action prompted Liusu to shoot them a look.

The three of them devoured the food, leaving not a grain of rice behind. Afterward, Qi Yunruo inquired Xiao Shan and Xiao Jiu about the matters of the estate. Back in the count estate, it was already hard for news from the outside to enter the eldest miss' courtyard. It was even harder for his own. Therefore, Qi Yunruo was completely ignorant of the situation here.

The two servant girls did not know much. However, they still knew more than Qi Yunruo.

According to them, Li Chen was the current second prince of the empire. He was born from the empress, and was granted the t.i.tle of Prince Chun and given his own palace at fifteen years old. He was twenty years old this year. Three years ago, the eldest daughter of the Minister of War's Right a.s.sistant, Ji Ru, married into his estate as a secondary consort. One year ago, the daughter of the Imperial Academy's Sacrificial Wine Specialist¹⁰, Wei Qiang, married into the estate as a secondary consort as well.

The imperial palace also bestowed four tertiary consorts of lesser birth. Two from the empress dowager and two from the empress. Not only that, there were three regular concubines, which the prince had brought from the palace once he received his own estate.

After Xiao Shan finished speaking, she paused. Then, she slowly said, "This is just the estate's inner courtyard, but there's another place in the forecourt. It's where Ji Huan, a young master from the Ji family, stays."

“Hm?”

Liusu shuffled closer, her tone serious. "Isn't that the younger brother of Secondary Consort Ji?"

Xiao Shan nodded. "Once, when Granny¹¹ Cheng sent me to the front to deliver something, I saw him. Apparently, he's the younger illegitimate brother of Consort Ji, and has been staying here for the past two years."

Xiao Jiu shook her head. "It's actually the elder illegitimate brother."

"What?"  Xiao Shan couldn't understand the implication behind her fellow servant's words.

Although Xiao Jiu was young, she saw the situation clearly, and coughed once. "Young master Ji came here when Consort Ji first became pregnant. The little master is now one and a half years old."

A frown slid its way across Liusu's lips, her voice but a whisper. "The prince's eldest son is already so big. Eldest miss must give birth to a son soon."

“Liusu sat down. She felt that the way the prince looked at Qi Yunruo had been strange.” Ohohoho. Strange, huh? You don't say?

So yeah, I decided I will pick this novel up, though I have no idea if I'll be able to finish it. The release schedule is once every week on the weekend. If you want faster releases, you can sponsor a chapter, up to four maximum a month. Sponsored chapters will be $15 each.

Anyway, in case any of you are confused, the maidservants are implying that Secondary Consort Ji brought her brother into the estate as a “guest” because she got pregnant, and couldn't attend to the prince's … needs in the meanwhile. So she needed someone she could control to keep Li Chen's attention, until she's able to attend to him again. Yunruo was brought to the estate for that same reason. The difference is, which we'll learn in the next chapter, Ji Huan (the brother of Consort Ji) was only considered a guest and lived in the outer courtyard, unlike Yunruo who was married in as a dowry escort. Though similar on the surface, their statuses are completely different.

But whether Li Chen actually uses Ji Huan for the purpose the maidservants think remains to be seen. I personally think this may be a red herring of sorts, because if that was Ji Huan's purpose, then why wasn't he married in as a dowry escort? It just doesn't make any sense. Plus, the novel has a tag of “pure love” on jjwxc. I severely doubt there'll be too much entanglement with others that aren't Yunruo.

Right now, Qi Niqun, Yunruo's elder sister, is in quite a pickle. The secondary consorts had free reign of the estate for three whole years, and one of them even had a son! Hopefully she doesn't make things hard on Yunruo because of this…

Stick with me guys! I know our boy Li Chen's only just appeared halfway through the chapter, but it gets better I promise!

If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a like or a comment below, or on NU ?

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tertiary consorts: (庶妃) Shufei  or tertiary consorts, one rank beneath ce fei, or secondary consorts. suite: It's kind of like a suite in modern times, except without a kitchen and a bathroom all together. In ancient china, for each courtyard, the dining room, bedroom, and living room would all be in one large room. Remember that each master of the estate (husband, wives, children, and sometimes concubines) will have their own courtyard in an estate. Since Yunruo isn't a master, he only gets a small suite that's part of his sister's courtyard. Most likely, it's a room originally meant for servants. This old slave: (老奴) Lǎo nú. How older servants referred to themselves when taking to a superior. twenty years old: (弱冠之年) Ruòguàn zhī nián. In ancient China, men who reached the age of twenty would enter the family's ancestral hall. A crown would be placed on their head as part of a ceremony of sorts. handsome in a heroic and righteous way: (剑眉星目) Jiànméi xīng mù. Literally brows as straight as sword blades, eyes like stars. Basically means handsome in a heroic and righteous way. as the sister or niece of the household's mistress: Most of the time, a dowry escort would be the sister or niece of the bride. phoenix crown: (凤冠) Fèngguān. It's like a crown brides wore on their wedding day in ancient China. A picture is provided in the text. cloud bun: (随云髻) Suí yún jì. Hairstyle for married women. A picture is added in the text. small ornaments: (小摆件) Xiǎo bǎijiàn. Image provided in the text. Imperial Academy's Sacrificial Wine Specialist: (国子监祭酒家) Guózǐjiān sometimes translated as the Imperial Academy or Imperial College. From Wikipedia– the national central inst.i.tution of higher learning in Chinese dynasties after the Sui. It was the highest inst.i.tution of academic research and learning in China's traditional educational system, with the function of administration of education. The job of Sacrificial Wine Specialist was to pour wine during sacrifices during ancient China. Granny: Not literally their grandmother, but an older female servant.