CHAPTER 7
Song Yuanzhi just didn’t like the young man comparing Lu Shaoyou and Xuanyuan Yu. In Song Yuanzhi’s opinion, there was no comparison between the two; one was a martyr who sacrificed his life for the country, and the other was a psychotic playboy. Comparing the two of them together was an insult to Lu Shaoyou.
However, Song Yuanzhi had no opinion about this young man. If it weren’t for him last time, Song Yuanzhi might not have been able to return to the Song Mansion smoothly, causing Xuanyuan Yu to suffer a loss.
After the excitement, Song Yuanzhi looked at the young man again and asked curiously, “How long have you been in the Marquis’ Mansion?”
The boy was stunned for a moment, then smiled, “That’s been a long time.”
Song Yuanzhi understood that he was a secret guard trained by the Marquis’s Mansion since childhood. She was curious and asked tentatively, “Madam seems to be in a very good mood today; did you hear any good news?”
The other party touched his nose and shook his head apologetically. Seeing that Song Yuanzhi was quite disappointed, the young man’s eyes moved slightly, and he smiled and said, “Your martial arts are not bad, but they’re mostly like leg martial arts. The last time you injured Xuanyuan Yu, it was also unexpected. If you compete with him face-to-face, you will definitely not be his opponent. Be careful next time, and don’t be so arrogant. The hairpin is useful, but it can’t be used all the time.”
“I was forced into this situation, wasn’t I?” Song Yuanzhi’s eyes lit up with anger when she mentioned this. “Who knew that thing could do such a wicked thing!”
After saying that, Song Yuanzhi felt something was wrong again. She glanced at the boy cautiously and lowered her voice suddenly. “You…you won’t tell Madam Qin about this, right?”
Although Song Yuanzhi thought it was nothing, who could stop a psychopath from going crazy? Song Yuanzhi’s clever escape from the fate of being imprisoned was already very impressive. Though this matter is not a big deal, it is not a small matter either. These days, reputation is more important than anything else, especially for women. If Song Yuanzhi had not been extremely cautious along the way and had not been discovered, who knows what would have happened to her if she was discovered? With Song Yan’s snobbish eyes, if Song Yuanzhi’s reputation was really ruined, Song Yan would really do something to let Song Yuanzhi die to prove her innocence.
Of course, Song Yuanzhi would definitely not agree, but the various arguments were annoying. Song Yuanzhi wanted to come to Zhenbei Marquis Mansion to live a quiet life.
What’s more, Madam Qin is so capable. She can manage the mansion, is capable, is dignified and elegant, and can also wield a sword in the martial arts field. Facing such a cool elder, Song Yuanzhi only wants to shout, “Sister, I also want to do it.” She is simply a role model for women.
If Madam Qin felt resentful about her being kidnapped and it affected her marriage with Lu Shaoyou, Song Yuanzhi would definitely feel regretful.
The young man looked surprised and couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. “Do you like Zhenbei Marquis so much?”
Song Yuanzhi choked and then said confidently, “Who doesn’t like a young hero?”
“Even if you’ve never met him?”
“Of course!” Song Yuanzhi answered decisively.
The tips of the boy’s ears turned slightly pink, and he nodded slowly, “I understand. I will definitely not tell this to Madam Qin.”
“Thank you, big brother!” Song Yuanzhi’s eyes lit up. After calming down and recalling the conversation between the two sides, she suddenly realized something was wrong. “How do you know that I used a hairpin when I fought with Xuanyuan Yu before?”
She ran for a long time before she met this big brother. He was so far away from Xuanyuan Yu’s villa, but how come this big brother seemed to see everything clearly? Is he the reincarnation of the clairvoyant?
The young man was stunned for a moment, then he took out a long silver tube from his arms and handed it to Song Yuanzhi. “Here, this; take a look.”
“Telescope?” Song Yuanzhi was surprised. Are there telescopes these days? Although the workmanship is rough, it looks like a telescope.
Song Yuanzhi took it and looked at it. It was indeed a telescope. Although the magnification was not high, it was enough. There was no obstruction in the back garden of Xuanyuan Yu’s villa. If this brother stood on the mountain and looked down with a telescope that day, he could see it clearly.
The young man’s eyes flashed, and he looked at Song Yuanzhi deeply and said meaningfully, “Young lady is well-informed, and she also knows about such rare items.”
Song Yuanzhi’s hand holding the telescope suddenly stopped, and she glanced at this big brother in surprise and suspicion. So telescopes are still a rare item?
However, Song Yuanzhi was not slow to react and immediately laughed dryly, “Maybe I heard somewhere that there is a strange thing in the world similar to clairvoyance, called a telescope. Today I am fortunate enough to see it for myself.”
The young man did not comment but just looked at Song Yuanzhi deeply. He did not ask any more questions but just stood aside with a smile, watching Song Yuanzhi fiddling with the telescope.
Soon, someone came forward and respectfully saluted the young man. Just as he was about to speak, the young man raised his hand to stop him. Seeing this, Song Yuanzhi tactfully returned the telescope to the elder brother and looked around. “It’s getting late. I should also say goodbye to Madam Qin and return home.”
Madam Qin really liked Song Yuanzhi. They were born with similar temperaments, and both had some martial arts skills, so they got along very well. When Song Yuanzhi returned home, she brought back a lot of valuable gifts, such as ginseng and deer antlers, which were rare and tonic. Just the few pieces of soft smoke silk, embroidered satin, cloud and mist gauze, etc., were very valuable, and ordinary people could not even see them. The few pieces of fabric that Madam Qin gave to Song Yuanzhi were the best of the best. They were tributes that the Empress gave them to her after she got them. Needless to say, they were precious.
Song Lilan was angry and was about to mock Song Yuanzhi as usual. However, when she met Song Yuanzhi’s clear eyes, Song Lilan couldn’t help but shrink her neck, suddenly recalling the fear of being knocked to the ground and slapped in the face by Song Yuanzhi that day.
However, it is difficult to change a person’s nature. Although Song Lilan was afraid of Song Yuanzhi, she still didn’t want to show her fear in front of Song Yuanzhi, lest Song Yuanzhi be proud. After careful consideration, Song Lilan resumed her attitude of looking down on others and snorted at Song Yuanzhi with a lenient look: “Don’t think that you can be proud just because Madam Qin likes you. Let me tell you, Xuanyuan Shizi is extremely satisfied with me and always goes along with me. If it weren’t for Xuanyuan Shizi’s persuasion, I wouldn’t even bother talking to you, and even looking at you makes my eyes dirty.”
“What a coincidence; I thought so too.” Song Yuanzhi rolled her eyes and strode past Song Lilan, knocking her off balance. Before she could get angry, she folded her arms and taunted, “You haven’t married into the Nan’an Marquis’s Mansion yet, so you’d better hold on to this fig leaf of sisterly harmony.”
Song Lilan was aggrieved. “You are the same!”
“That’s really different,” Song Yuanzhi shrugged. “Madam Qin didn’t ask much of me.”
Seeing Song Lilan’s unwilling eyes, Song Yuanzhi waved her hand easily, smiled, and encouraged her, “Keep working hard; one day Xuanyuan Shizi will understand that you are such a kind and gentle girl~”
Song Yuanzhi truly wished Song Lilan a successful marriage to Xuanyuan Yu from the bottom of her heart. These two unrecyclable garbages were put together to eliminate harm to the people, but they should not bother normal people anymore.
Song Yuanzhi could also imagine that Song Lilan would definitely strive to show her kind and beautiful side in front of Xuanyuan Yu. Even if she wanted to kill herself in her heart, Song Lilan would still pretend to be a loving sister in front of Xuanyuan Yu.
That’s enough.
Xuanyuan Yu wanted to teach her a lesson. With Madam Qin and the Empress around, he couldn’t take revenge on herself, so he thought of torturing others to make her suffer. The more Song Lilan showed her deep sisterly love in front of Xuanyuan Yu, the more determined Xuanyuan Yu would be to use her for revenge.
Song Yuanzhi was so happy when she thought of this scene, so she didn’t care whether Song Lilan was willful or not. She just wanted to wish her and Xuanyuan Yu a happy marriage.
Song Lilan couldn’t stand Song Yuanzhi’s smugness, but when she thought about how she had been getting closer and closer to her sweetheart recently, she became happy again. She curled her lips and thought, Even if this bitch wins Madam Qin’s favor, so what? She is destined to be a widow in this life. I don’t bother to bother with her!
It must be said that Song Lilan has indeed improved a lot. Madam Liu was also very pleased; patting Song Lilan’s hand with joy, she said, “That’s the right way to think. You are the cloud in the sky, unreachable, and she is the mud under the ground, trampled on by others. Why bother to get angry with her? It’s just a waste of time.”
Song Lilan nodded in agreement and prepared herself mentally.
As a result, early the next morning, a distinguished guest visited the Song Mansion.
Song Yuanzhi was basking in the sun in the courtyard when a maid came running over. When she saw Song Yuanzhi, she came up and pulled her hand, panting, “Miss, hurry up! Someone came from the palace!”
Song Yuanzhi immediately stood up, supported the maid with her backhand, and asked curiously, “Someone from the palace? What’s the matter?”
“Oh my dear miss, how dare we speculate about what’s going on in the palace? Let’s go meet the steward first! If we neglect that lord and upset the nobles in the palace, no one can afford it!”
Song Yuanzhi became curious and followed her to the main hall.
In the hall, an eunuch in a purple brocade robe was sitting on Song Yan’s left side, drinking tea. Liu’s mother and daughter pair had arrived long ago. Song Yuan was also standing behind Song Yan. He frowned slightly as he looked at Song Yuanzhi, who came in hurriedly, as if he were a little dissatisfied.
The steward had a round face that looked festive. He was talking to Song Yan happily. When he saw Song Yuanzhi coming in, his smile became even more friendly. He smiled at Song Yuanzhi and said, “This is Miss Song, right? The Empress is free today and would like to invite you to Fengyi Palace to have a chat.”
Before Song Yuanzhi opened her mouth, Song Yan smiled and nodded, saying, “It is her honor that the Empress has invited her. But she has lived in seclusion for a long time, and her words and etiquette are vulgar. This is her first time in the palace, and she doesn’t know the rules. I am afraid that it will offend the Empress, so why not let my wife bring her into the palace so that she can at least give her some advice?”
“Oh, that won’t do. The Empress has ordered that she wants to only see Miss Song.”
Madam Liu almost couldn’t keep the smile on her face, and Song Lilan even frowned and gave Song Yuanzhi a vicious look.
Song Yan didn’t notice the little movements of his wife and daughter and nodded repeatedly in response to the steward’s words, “Chief Steward Gao is right. Thank you for your advice to my daughter. I will be very grateful.” As he spoke, he handed over a purse.
Chief Steward Gao saw the expressions of the few people, and with a kind smile on his face, he pushed Song Yan’s purse back and said cheerfully, “Master Song is too polite. Miss Song is a very lucky person. We dare not accept your courtesy.”
Song Yan understood what he meant. The Empress raised the Marquis of Zhenbei as her own son. Now that Madam Qin wanted to choose a wife for the Marquis of Zhenbei, the Empress naturally had to inquire about it personally.
This was the first time that Song Yan was treated so politely by the chief steward of the palace. For a moment, he liked Song Yuanzhi even more. He felt that his wife was not completely useless. After all, she gave birth to a useful daughter.
Song Yuanzhi blinked, feeling a little scared but more excited. How could she not be excited to see the imperial palace of this era with her own eyes and to meet the Empress?
Song Yuanzhi followed behind Chief Steward Gao and boarded the carriage to the palace. Song Lilan waited until Song Yan left and then exploded, sweeping the teacup on the table to the ground, angrily saying, “You actually let that bitch go! Mother, look, Chief Steward Gao clearly doesn’t take you seriously. With the Empress ‘s support, that bitch will be even more proud in the future!”
Madam Liu was also aggrieved, but she was more thoughtful after all, so she reprimanded Song Lilan, “Be careful with your words! He is the chief steward of the Empress; how can you just comment on him casually?”
“She is now putting pressure on me. How can I not be angry? So what if he is the steward beside the Empress? Isn’t he also a servant?”
Madam Liu grabbed Song Lilan’s arm and said sternly, “Shut up! You are a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister. If you keep talking nonsense, even if you successfully enter the Nan’an Marquis’ Mansion, you will offend everyone!”
Speaking of Xuanyuan Yu, Song Lilan finally regained some of her sanity. She barely suppressed her anger and said unwillingly, “I just can’t stand seeing her so proud!”
Madam Liu clenched her right hand into a fist. The constant stinging pain made her extremely sober. She gritted her teeth and comforted Song Lilan, “Wait for a few days.”
When the day comes when Prince Wu ascends the throne… let alone the Zhenbei Marquisate, even if it’s the Empress, what can she do?
Song Yuanzhi didn’t know that Madam Liu and Song Lilan were so dramatic. She could think of the mother and daughter’s tricks when she went to the palace to see the Empress.It can only be said that in the past ten years, they were used to suppressing the original owner and were used to the days when the original owner was extremely humble in front of them. Now, if she stood out in any way, she would become a thorn in their eyes.
There’s no hope.
After figuring this out, Song Yuanzhi suddenly realized that she seemed to have found another good way to torture the mother and daughter. Aren’t they just not happy with me living a comfortable life? I’m sorry, I have to make my life colorful and stab them with countless nails.
I just like to see them getting so helpless and furious that they can’t stand themselves but can’t do anything about it.
Song Yuanzhi blinked, looking at the palace wall that was getting closer and closer, and thought to herself: Since the Empress has taken good care of her nephew Lu Shaoyou and even raised him for a period of time, and now that Lu Shaoyou has died in the battle, the Empress should not be too harsh on me, a person who is willing to marry Lu Shaoyou’s dead body, right?
TRANSLATOR’S NOTE :- I have completed the translation of this novel. If you want to read all the chapters in one go, you can purchase them on my Ko-fi page, https://ko-fi.com/cupcaketsl (as some of my readers were asking if I had an advance chapter thing). Those who want to read it all at once can buy them.
And Dont worry i will post regular updates here too. ( 3 chapters a week)
Thank you for the translation!