This is called “borrowing someone else’s knife”.
Chapter 12 Rage for a Beautiful Woman
“This box should have been given to wang fei a long time before, but it was just that when wang fei was getting married, it was forgotten in the rush,” Liang shi gave the box to Mu Jin. Seeing Qu Qing Ju take the sandalwood box from Mu Jin, she continued in a choked up voice: “I’ve been keeping it these past years, waiting to give it to you one day.”
The purple color of the sandalwood looked aged but there was still a faint scent when held in one’s hands. A gold lock was formed into the shape of a cloud. The lock had been opened already. Qu Qing Ju only had to lift the lid to see what was inside.
The hand that held the lid paused slightly. In a deep part of her soul, she felt the strong desire of this body towards the box. She could feel the hate and helplessness of a neglected and helpless little girl.
Slowly opening the box, inside there was high-quality cloth laid out and on top of the cloth was a single jade pendant. Fine mutton-fat jade had been carved into the shape of a gourd. The shape of peanuts were carved finely onto the gourd along with the words “Live for a hundred years.” Her heart jumped and a length of memory, like a movie scene, floated to the top of her mind. The original Qu Qing Ju had always wanted to get this jade gourd from Liang shi but Liang shi deliberately kept it away. Now she was, of her own initiative, handing it over, and pretending to be a good person in front of so many people. She was most likely scared that Qu Qing Ju was going to act against her in the future.
“Jiejie had somebody prepare this jade gourd very early that year, but jiejie passed away. In the rush, the jade store sent the pendant to me,” As Liang shi talked, her eyes reddened, “Jiejie died too young, her only concern was you, wang fei. In the past, I was worried that wang fei was too young and would lose what jiejie had left you, so I kept it for you. Now that wang fei has grown up, this jade gourd should be given into wang fei’s care.” She scanned Qu Qing Ju up and down and said ruefully, “Seeing what wang fei looks like now, jiejie in heaven will be happy.”
She lifted a hand to take out the jade gourd pendant. The feel of it was warm and smooth. Because it was carved to be small, there wasn’t much weight to it. It was possible to see that Tian shi had wanted to, at Qu Qing Ju’s hundred-day celebration, put the gourd on her body.
The nobility had the fashion of giving children a hundred-day celebration. When the child reached a hundred days, the elders would personally put on the child charms for a long life. Most of the charms would have magic clouds and peanuts and other objects of good fortune along with the words “To live until a hundred years.” This was to symbolize locking down a person’s life and that the gods would protect the child to live a hundred years.
Pity the love of mothers in this world, Tian shi died so young. The rumors outside said that she became ill due to anger, but a woman that, at the very end, still ordered for her child a jade gourd, would she be so weak as to die due to anger? Mothers grow strong in protection of their children. Tian shi wasn’t the type to fall into sadness, would she not care for her newborn daughter and get so angry as to die?
“Very early in life, I heard Gao mama say, not long after my birth, mother had ordered a jade gourd pendant for my hundred-day gift. But sadly, ten years ago mother made Gao mama retire and I never even once saw the jade gourd that mama mentioned. I didn’t think that mother had been keeping it for me all this time.” The hand that held the gourd tightened. Qu Qing Ju, in front of the females present put the jade gourd on her neck, her eyes reddening, “As a daughter, I troubled my mother to be pregnant for ten months. Even into death, my mother was concerned for me. The fact that I could not reciprocate, it is a failure of my filial piety.” In the previous life, her parents had died early in a car crash but until the last moment, they had been thinking about her. Seeing this jade gourd pendant, she felt her heart twist and felt that the people of this Chang De Gong Fu was extremely disgusting, to the point of throwing up if she had to look at them.
“Wang fei,” Seeing the situation, Mu Jin gazed worriedly at Qu Qing Ju. But she was a servant and couldn’t freely comfort her.
“When the child wants to show filial love, the parents are not there … …” Qu Qing Ju stood, looking at the smiling Liang shi. The emotions on her face gradually faded and her face became expressionless, “The care that mother has given Qing Ju, Qing Ju will never forget in this life. In the future, Qing Ju will definitely return the benevolence that mother has given in the past.”
Qu lao taitai had been feeling uneasy the entire time and seeing Qu Qing Ju was speaking so clearly, she couldn’t keep the genial expression up on her face. She wanted to speak to ease the tension but she didn’t manage in time.
“Today is father’s birthday and I should stay a bit longer. But there are many things to do in the wang fu so I have to leave,” Qu Qing Ju bent slightly towards Qu lao taitai, “This granddaughter makes her farewells. Furen, we will meet in the future.”
Everybody saw that Duan Wang Fei’s face was nothing to worry about but they didn’t make her stay. Liang shi, this stepmother, did things in such an unsightly manner that Duan Wang Fei couldn’t endure any longer. Not just Duan Wang Fei, but all children in this world, if they had to face such things, they couldn’t endure.
Qu lao taitai couldn’t sit any longer and could only stand to personally send away Qu Qing Ju. Duan Wang Fei, whose mother had died early, at the birthday banquet of her father, didn’t stay to watch the plays but left with red eyes. If this passed into the ears of others, this entire Chang De Gong Fu, what honor would they have left?
Everybody else stood to see her off, but when they reached the outside hall, Qu Qing Ju stopped them. Her white face held a smile: “All the furen don’t have to be so courteous, on another day, I will invite all of you to a gathering.”
Everybody accepted. Qu lao taitai still wanted to walk a bit further, but Qu Qing Ju stopped her. She smilingly said: “Grandmother is old now, we can’t let you send off your granddaughter, otherwise granddaughter would be unfilial.” Finishing, she ordered Mu Jin who was by her side, “Send somebody to give word to wang ye, I’m going to return first.”
Qu lao taitai had no other way but to see Qu Qing Ju leave. She turned to look coldly at Liang shi, and for the first time ever, she held onto shu daughter Qu Hui Xue’s hand to return to the play. The common people said “ to marry a wife was to marry virtue.” The Duke of Chang De, now that he had this woman, Liang shi, sooner or later he would lose everything.
Once Qu Qing Ju left, many of the womenfolk that had come to attend the banquet who had done so due to Duan Wang Fu stood and made their farewells. In less than an hour, more than half of the female guests left.
On the side of the male guests, He Heng, as a wang ye, naturally sat on the seat of the honoured guests. The person sitting beside him was Qu Wang Zhi. He didn’t have any interest in honouring others so he didn’t pay any attention to any others. But even so, there were still many people that came up to fawn over him.
An act of “Magu giving her birthday greetings” hadn’t finished when Qian Chang Xin had came over to Duan Wang’s side and spoke a few words. Qu Wang Zhi, who had been sitting behind Duan Wang faintly heard the words “wang fei.”
“What?!” Duan Wang’s brows slightly creased. The face that had originally carried a friendly if polite smile froze. He placed the teacup in his hands on the table, the flower teacup making a crisp sound.
The Duke of Chang De, who had been paying attention to this side, felt his heart skip a beat. He didn’t know what had enraged wang ye. Others pretended to casually look towards Duan Wang.
“The way that Chang De Gong Fu treats their guests has really widened the horizons of ben wang,” Duan Wang smiled frigidly as he stood, “Qian Chang Xin, let’s leave.”
“Wang ye, this … …” The Duke of Change De knew that something had gone majorly wrong and hurriedly came up to make his apologies. But He Heng didn’t even give him a glance but said coldly, “Ben wang came today to accompany wang fei and knew that the Duke of Chang De was very much in mutual love with his wife. But ben wang’s wang fei, she is still the duke’s di daughter. This fu has treated her so, is it that my Duan Wang Fu is being looked down at?!” Finishing, he didn’t wait for the Duke of Chang De to respond, and swept away.
The daren[i] that had been present paused for a beat before managing to respond. Many of them had heard the past events of Chang De Gong Fu, but everyone were male so they hadn’t paid attention to this type of things. But they didn’t think that Chang De Gong Fu’s people would be this ludicrous. It didn’t matter just how the servants had treated the deceased Tian shi’s daughter originally in this fu, but she was Duan Wang Fei now. Treating her rudely was treating Duan Wang rudely. Wasn’t this akin to slapping Duan Wang in the face over and over?
Even if Duan Wang was friendlier than Rui Wang, he wouldn’t tolerate such disrespect. It seems that this Chang De Gong Fu was more and more foolish. Everybody stood and made their farewells, not caring how terrible the face of the Duke of Chang De looked. They had made wang ye angry enough to leave so why would they say? Or did they have to tell Duan Wang, wang ye, you go be angry by your lonesome, we’re good friends with the Duke of Chang De and still want to stay here with the duke to drink tea and watch plays?
The Duke of Chang De was foolish, but they weren’t. At this time, it was best to leave early. They had to pity the Duan Wang couple for coming to attend the celebration but were provoked by dumb people into leaving earlier.
The busy birthday banquet instantly became silent and cold. The Duke of Chang De threw the teacup in his hands to the floor. Hearing the e-e-ya-ya of the voices on the stay, he felt even more furious and shouted angrily: “Why are you still singing, get off!”
“Father,” Qu Wang Zhi worriedly supported him, “Don’t be angry, think about your body.”
“I don’t need a body!” The Duke didn’t bear to push aside his only son so he threw another teacup, “Go ask your mother, what happened to make Duan Wang this angry?”
Qu Wang Zhi looked at the servants standing in the surroundings and felt that it wasn’t good for father to mention his mother so he persuaded: “At this time, grandmother and mother must be in houyuan. We could go ask together.”
Liang Rong, who had seen the guests off, stood to one side and also urged: “We don’t know what happened, Uncle shouldn’t be angry. Responding after we know what happened wouldn’t be too late.”
The Duke of Change De managed to force down his anger and, with an ashen face, walked into houyuan.
When He Heng entered the carriage, he saw his wang fei’s eyes were slightly red, and had been visibly unhappy. The rage he had suppressed originally rose again: “Wang fei, who hurt you, tell ben wang, ben wang will help you take revenge.”
Qu Qing Ju raised her head to look at him. Seeing the rage in his eyes wasn’t fake, she said: “Nobody can hurt Duan Wang Fei, but it’s just sadness from remembering the past.”
“I accompanied you today just so I could support you. You don’t have to be ashamed,” Thinking, He Heng added, “Not just today, in the future, other than those few in the palace, you don’t have to yield to anyone.” Finished speaking, he found that on Qu Qing Ju’s neck, there was a new addition of a fine jade gourd and looked twice.
“Isn’t wang ye afraid that qie would be arrogant in her acts in the future and ruin Duan Wang Fu’s reputation,” Qu Qing Ju touched the jade gourd at her chest, the warm feeling making her smile.
“Wang fei isn’t such an ignorant woman,” He heng moved his gaze aside, smiling happily, “Moreover, if it was you, Qing Ju, arrogance is not a disadvantage.”
Two pairs of eyes met. Qu Qing Ju gradually moved aside her gaze, revealing a warm smile.
These words, who believed them?
[i] 大人: adult, general term used to refer to those of status
Ohhohoho! Now now, what will happen! Thank you for the new chapter:)
I wonder if this is similar to The Good Wife tv show?
Um, no? I haven’t seen the Good Wife before but from the wiki page, it’s not the same thing. Maybe a bit in the personality of the main characters but not the context of the plot.
Indeed, Duan Wang Fu can sweet talk. But even if QQJ does not believe what DWF is spouting, I think there is some truth to it as DWF is now starting to like QQJ. It was also bad taste and bad judgement for the stepmother to give the 100days bangle to QQJ during the party. It should have been given to QQJ several years ago……Thanks for the update…..
And even if she wanted to give it later, it should have been done in private.
Thanks so much! Ahhh, Wangye is such a smooth man, definitely knows how to sweettalk women. Can’t wait to see QQJ’s father’s family get their just desserts.
Thank you for translating. LS is really stupid right ? What will WF’s father do to his wife, LS.. Can’t will to find out…
Thanks again. I miss you(in plutonic way) and glad you are back..
Was my break too long? I thought I bit off more than I could chew with To Be A Virtuous Wife but each chapter takes a long time.
No.No. I was talking about the break between ‘Just One Smile is Very Alluring’ and TBAVW. I have your page on bookmarked and would opened it every day. I was just waited till you were ready for this current project. I glad you are back. Thanks again for the hard work..
Thank you for the translation! I’m happy that QQJ doesn’t take the BS from her paternal family. She’s been mistreated for countless years. It’s about time for her to make her stand, and it is disgusting how her family tries to put on a show as if they’re all good and caring. I am a fan of QQJ because she knows to take what Duan Wang says with much more than a grain of salt. Sweet words from royalty, especially ones with many wives and can be lovey dovey then throw them away, can’t be trusted. I don’t know…I hope she finds someone that actually deserves her, be it Duan Wang or another male lead.
She takes He Heng’s words with all the salt in the oceans. The authors likes using the eyes as an indicator. Over the chapters, there will be a lot of eye-action.
Wow! I found and read all of the chapters within one sitting. You’ve been doing an amazing job translating these chapters so quickly!!! Thank you very much for your efforts to list the meaning of certain words!
I’m very grateful that you are putting out precious time to translate this for many English speakers like myself! Thank you greatly! (^o^)/
Hello English Speaker, thanks for reading! It’s lovely to hear that my explanations are useful. I hope the undercurrents and implications are clear as well. I think the author did it well in the text. Are there places where you don’t understand why they acted the way they did? (other than from sheer stupidity)
Hey!
I think you did an absolute wonderful job with everything. I can totally understand everything that’s happening (probably from reading/watching so much translated Chinese dramas/novels). (>u<)/
I'm so excited to see what will happen to Liang Shi after the Duke confronts her about the whole situation. @___@
I'll probably end up checking for update every minute…. xD
Hey! Thank you so much for translating this 🙂
I have a question
I commented this on another chapter but haven’t gotten a reply. I’m so sorry for taking your time, but if you or anyone else can answer this that would be wonderful.
*** What past life is she talking about?
I don’t recall reading of her time traveling or something like that.
Thank You so much for your tine. 🙂 ♡♡♡♡
The time-travel is well-hidden. Chapter One – she wakes up in a body that isn’t hers. Multiple times throughout the chapter, she remarks on the ages of those around her, such as the original Qu Qing Ju being a high school girl in her own time. Chapter three, she mentions that she was a successful manager in her previous life right after she meets He Heng. She mentions something about the manner of nobility in previous life in Chapter six. And then so on. You don’t see the process of her time-travelling or the incident that led up to it. It remains a mystery.
That makes more sense hehe no wonder I was confused when she would make a reference to her past like and I would be like huh o.O?
xD
Thank You so much for taking your time to reply 🙂 ♡♡♡
In the near future I hope that we can find out how she time travel.
Ahhh this chapter is easier to understand! I get that the bangle is made by her mother and was supposed to be given during her 100th day celebration which was aeons or dinosaur age ago yet the concubine/second wife kept the bangle coz of avarice/jealousy/to bully QQJ. She pushed QQJ’s buttons one time too many and they deserved to be shamed in front of their ‘guests’ during such an auspicious time (birthday). The bitch should’ve calculated better now that QQJ is taking no prisoners.
Btw, I like how QQJ is not swallowing all of her husband’s sweet talk. Men sweet talk on a drop of a hat. She is more cautious of what to believe and what to take in.
Thank you so much for the new chapter!!! Again, this is one of my most anticipated novels out there! I guess I have a lot, but I love her character! Cunning.
Hello! I’m a new reader of this story. I stumbled upon your translation just last Monday, and have got addicted! Haha. Are you planning to post a chapter every day? Sorry if I am mistaken, but are there 123 chapters in this story? I love how QQJ is being so badass. This story kind of reminds me of, “Black Bellied Prince’s Stunning Abandoned Consort.” I was following that story, but it has 800 over chapters. Omg.
Anyway, thanks for your wonderful work here! =)
Has it finished translating yet? The translator is amazing. I’m planning on one chapter a day. I need to edit the chapters beforehand.
Awesome! One chapter a day is a real treat! Nope, the translator stopped at chapter 123 back in February. I had to use Google Translate for the chapters after that & I gave up after 200 or 300 chapters.
Google translation is weird sometimes. It groups together words it shouldn’t and breaks phrases apart. Well, To be A Virtuous Wife is all translated so you get a happy ending. The worst that would happen is you get my unedited drafts. 😀
I ended up thinking how the heck did LS seduced the Duke, since she apparently is quite a fool. (or maybe the Duke is actually the same).
Oh, also…
Qu Qing Ju raised her head to look at him. Seeing the rage in his eyes wasn’t face…
wasn’t face, I think you mean fake?
Thanks for the chapter!
Changed it!
Well, the duke probably wasn’t thinking with his bigger head. 😀
“Seeing the rage in his eyes wasn’t face”…. Ah, I thought it meant that to see his rage was not giving him face or IOW she couldn’t acknowledge it.
Thank you very much…..can feel the tension building up…
Thanks for the update. Great job. QQJ is realistic not to take HH’s words to heart. He is such a sweet talker to have so many concubines. Appreciate your dedication.
Thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for reading!
Thank you so much!!! 😘😘😘
Thanks for reading!
Thank u very much…
Feel never get enough😅
It is indeed borrowing someones knife to kill other😃
When I translate, I always think I’ve translated a lot but then when I take away the Chinese text, it’s always just a few hundred words. And it only takes me a few minutes to read through it. I thought about using speech recognition to translate but it would disturb people so I’m stuck hand-typing it.
Well it’s not surprising for QQJ to take every vow of love or devotion from her Wang Ye with a big chunk of salt considering what she knows of men in that era or even men in this era. LOL … although at least in this era you’re not subjected to live in a houseful of your husband’s women as he accumulates them. It would be better to just have no expectations and live each day as it comes.
The great thing is at least when she time travel to this life … she inhabits the body of the main wife instead of someone with lower station in life.
Thanks so much for your frequent updates! =)
Yes, she is extremely lucky to have landed in the body of a wife rather than a concubine.
There definitely won’t be even that tiny honor left of Chang De Gong Fu ever since Liang Shi married (forced) into the household…definitely brainless. Wants to scheme but failed in the dumbest ways.
thank you for your translation, sorry my english is no good i’m french .I can read but can’t write.^-^
Ooh, lovely. I once learned French for a year, that didn’t work out for me. Are you the one sending me views from France? I also have some other French-speaking countries everyday as well.
No it’s not me .
QQJ is a badass in her own way. She ain’t gonna take crap from nobody. She clearly understands that being kind to those who show no kindness will get her nowhere.
He Heng is almost as shallow as a puddle. Dude doesn’t realize that his wife doesn’t take him seriously. How can someone respect you if all you do is use and drop the women you are supposed to take care of? QQJ isn’t a notch on his bedpost.
He’ll deepen in characterization as time goes. I would say that Qu Qing Ju is a good actor. When He Heng sent Qu Qing Ju the clock, it was a sign that he was supporting her which is why she left so crisply. And from what Qu Qing Ju did in the wang fu, they both know that the other is not stupid.
Technically the women are supposed to serve He Heng, not he serve the women. I have to say he is doing a pretty good job supporting Qu Qing Ju. Qu Qing Ju mentioned it herself in the beginning that the original was meek and wooden. There was no benefit to have supported that one, it was better to keep her in her yard and the way the author writes, I agree with He Heng’s decision to put her on a pedestal and leave her there. It really isn’t the original’s fault, but born into that kind of a family and marrying into the most special family, if you can’t stand up for yourself, there wouldn’t be anyone to help you. Seeing that the original didn’t have the power to run the household, that meant that the original didn’t even have the proper knowledge to be a “wife.” E.g. Command servants, relate to other wives of officials.
That’s true. The original QQJ wasn’t the type to stand up for herself. I still can’t but feel bad for her though. She seemed sweet.
I’m looking forward to He Heng developing as a person.
This is bad, I’m falling for He Heng even sooner than Qu Qing Ju. The last sentence of this chapter made me laughed. QQJ is one interesting character.
You’ll fall deeper in love with him as the story progresses =D
QQJ is similar to Zhuangwanyi in “This Profession – A Consort” in the not believing the love show from the male aspect.~~~
Thanks a lot!
why would they say?
Say->stay
didn’t bear to push aside
Didn’t->couldn’t
Hmph, that horrid stepmother! At leas tthe grandmother seemd to be treating hui xue better now. No interaction between hui xue and qing ju?Oh, that promise of his—-! I feel quite touched, but will his ‘feelings’ withstand the test of time, however? I’m influenced by qing ju, and knowing how cunning he heng is, i, too, do not know whether to believe him. Though for now, his words ar trustworthy.
Hahaha~ Time for Lian Shi to taste the consequences of her cruelty, or rather the whole Chang De Gong Fu.
Thankies for the chapter~
Thanks for the chapter!
thanks for the chapter!
revealing a warm smile.
These words, who believe them?
Oh God i love it!
Lol burn!