The higher you go, the further to fall. Also, a conversation occurs.
Chapter 18 Bathing Together
In the study, He Heng closed the missive in his hands. Looking at the completely darkened sky, he said: “Come, light the way to zhengyuan.”
Ming He, who had been waiting at the door motioned for a little taijian to hold a sectioned off lantern and personally held a tasselled palace lamp. He waited quietly at the side for wang ye to start on his way.
The study and zhengyuan were separated by a garden. He Heng walked to the border of the garden and saw a shadow hidden beside the fake mountain. The person couldn’t be identified from the pale shadow but the sound of a female voice reciting a poem spread.
“When the geese are returning, the full moon shines down on the Western tower. The flowers fall, the waters flow… …”
“Who’s there?” He Heng looked expressionlessly at that shadow. The flickering lamplight made as though his eyes had an additional light.
“Wang ye?!” The voice suddenly stopped, visibly frightened. A woman wearing a pale robe tied at the waist with red eyes kneeled in front of He Heng. A white jade hairpin was the only ornament in her hair, the thin figure kneeling on the ground seemed as pitiful as one could ever be.
Ming He saw the lack of expression on wang ye and spoke: “Yun Qing guniang, what are you doing here? It’s cold these winter nights, you’ve just recovered, you should wear more clothing.”
He Heng’s lips curled. He looked at the insubstantial article of clothing on Yun Qing and started to walk around Yun Qing. Originally, he had felt that she was a little bit interesting, but looking at her pitiful act, he suddenly felt nothing at all. This wasn’t as enticing as when she had acted virtuous and noble. When a virtuous woman suddenly turned to ingratiation, it didn’t seem as interesting.
Yun Qing watched as wang ye walked away. She gritted her teeth and said: “Wang ye.”
He Heng turned his head to look at the woman still kneeling on the ground. He suddenly spoke: “Do you still remember when ben wang wanted to make you my tong fang, what you said?”
“Nu said, to receive the heart and soul of one person, to not separate until the heads turn white.” Yun Qing raised her head to look at He Heng, her eyes full of adoration.
“Then what are you doing now?” He Heng scanned Yun Qing in an interested manner from head to toe before his gaze, at the end, fell upon that pale while chest.
“Nu is truly in love with wang ye,” The tears in Yun Qing’s eyes glimmered, “If nu had the foresight to know what would happen today, nu wouldn’t have stayed in this wang fu in the very beginning.”
“Che,” He Heng raised his eyebrows and spoke to Ming He, “Remember tomorrow to remind ben wang to raise this woman to a tong fang. Send somebody to deliver her back. It’s very late, don’t alarm any others.” Finishing, he turned and walked towards the zheng yuan, not looking even once more upon Yun Qing who was still kneeling.
Ming He smiled and glanced at Yun Qing, “Nucai will remember.” He turned to follow.
After everyone had left, Yun Qing finally stood. She wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, staring with wide eyes in the direction that wang ye had left in. Her gaze lit up with unprecedented brightness.
He Heng stepped into the zheng yuan and dismissed the announcement of the servants. He strode directly into the room that Qu Qing Ju lived in. At the doorway, he saw Qu Qing Ju gazing at a jade gourd pendant under the light. Her gaze held a peace that he had never seen before, as though time had stopped within her eyes.
He knew that this jade gourd had been left behind by wang fei’s birth mother, Tian shi. These past days, wang fei had kept it constantly on her neck. Seeing her posture, he assumed that she was reminiscing about her birth mother so he said: “Wang fei, why haven’t you gone to sleep yet?”
“Wang ye’s here?” Qu Qing Ju placed the jade gourd back around her neck. She stood and walked in front of He Heng. She smiled as she saw the familiar palace maids and taijian outside the doorway and said, “It’s so deep into the night, I thought wang ye wouldn’t have come.”
“The long night passes by slowly. Without wang fei at the side, ben wang has no desire for sleep,” He Heng enclosed the person in front into his arms. He lowered his head to kiss Qu Qing Ju’s forehead, “Come, a bath and a change of clothes.”
Hot steam rose from the enormous bathtub. Flower petals floated on the surface as Qu Qing Ju was taken along by He Heng into the water. The two faced each other nakedly and experienced together in the tub the intimacy of skin.
He Heng’s hand’s swept across Qu Qing Ju’s pale chest, his index finger curling around the delicate jade gourd. He gave a deep laugh, “The way Qing Ju looks, nobody could resist,” He bent over to suck on those moist lips. He didn’t like kissing women, but to be this intimate with wang fei, he felt a few stirrings of emotion.
Taking advantage of He Heng’s bent legs as a seat, Qu Qing Ju lifted her hand to wrap around He Heng, pressing her soft chest into He Heng’s embrace. There was an unspeakable charm about her full head of hair spread out in the water, contrasting against the vibrant flower petals.
A warm palm glided across a smooth back, slowly moving downwards and lighting a ferocious fire.
A round of delights of the flesh later, both felt very contented. He Heng offhandedly grabbed a robe, bending down to carry Qu Qing Ju from the slightly cold water. He placed her on the bed and took a towel to personally dry her hair for her.
When men were satisfied, they always were especially caring. That quality could be seen very clearly on He Heng.
Qu Qing Ju slid on an inner robe, and allowed He Heng to continue his attentive behaviour. She yawned: “Why did wang ye come so late this night?”
“Had to take care of something, so it was a bit late,” He Heng saw that the hair was more or less dry and switched for a new towel to dry his own hair. The two wrapped around each other as they sat inside the blankets. In the time as they waited for hair to dry, they started to chit-chat about other things.
“I heard that you had sorted out that group of disobedient stewards?” He Heng inquired suddenly, “That group is truly disgraceful. You were too benevolent to them, this type of people, they should be beaten to death.”
“Lives aren’t that worthless,” Qu Qing Ju laughed, “I saw that they are very sincere in their present duties. They have learned their lesson. If they can fulfill their duties, it would be a great boon for this wang fu.”
“Those disobedient servants, you don’t have to be soft-hearted,” He Heng knew everything about how Qu Qing Ju was handling the affairs of the hou yuan. He didn’t find anything unsound. To take control of the hou yuan and at the same time make others feel appreciated while inspiring respect, that took skill. The wang fei that he, He Heng, wanted, was this kind.
“If a death occurred, it wouldn’t be good for our Duan Wang Fu,” Qu Qing Ju understood He Heng’s intentions and said, “This is enough.”
Upon hearing this, He Heng didn’t continue on the matter and turned to the jade gourd on Qu Qing Ju’s neck: “This jade gourd is very exquisite.”
Qu Qing Ju rubbed the jade gourd when it was mentioned. Her smile became fainter: “This was left behind by qie’s mother, and was always in the possession of stepmother. At the beginning, all possible ways were tried, but this couldn’t be wrested from her hands. Now that qie is Duan Wang Fei, she quickly presents it.” These words praised He Heng and also took a few stabs at Liang shi. Qu Qing Ju felt no pressure doing it.
“This Liang shi is a cruel person,” He Heng’s face darkened as he said, “Now, with me to protect you, she wouldn’t dare to be as bold. It was good fortune that your jiujiu protected you in the past. Otherwise, where would I find such a virtuous wife.”
To call the Tian Family by jiujiu, but to call the Chang De Duke by Duke. Even if he was a member of the Imperial Family and he could use whatever titles he liked, this double standard was a bit too obvious.
“My jiujiu and jiumu always protected qie. Otherwise, how could qie have the hundred and twenty trunks for my dowry when I married into the wang fu. And those properties and stores. All of those were left for me by my mother or added by my aunt on the day of,” Qu Qing Ju laughed lightly, “Qie is both unfortunate but fortunate. At least qie has a protective jiujiu.”
“Jiujiu is kind,” He Heng smiled as he hugged the other, “Now that you are the mistress of the wang fu, if you have free time, you could invite your jiumu over. I also want to meet your two biaodi[1].”
“If wang ye doesn’t distain Jiujiu’s family, qie will definitely let the biaodi pay their respects to you if there is a chance.” Qu Qing Ju raised her head to look at Duan Wang. A smile bloomed on her face as though she was very happy that He Heng was close to her jiujiu.
“We’re brothers of the same family, don’t discuss paying respects,” He Heng was very satisfied with Xiang Qing Hou Fu. The family discipline was tight and proper and their actions were upright. This type of family didn’t dishonour the reputation of the noble families. So to call the Marquis of Xiang Qing by jiujiu, he was very willing to do so.
Qu Qing Ju’s smile didn’t change upon hearing the words: “They wouldn’t dare call themselves brothers of wang ye. Wang ye might not know, those two biaodi of qie’s are very pedantic from studying all day. The only things they talk about all day are the Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Family and Teacher.[2] For them to disregard your position, it would be harder than for them to stop studying.”
“This is a good family,” He Heng caught the closeness that Qu Qing Ju felt towards the Tian family. He patted her back and said, “In future interactions with the Tian Family, don’t doubt yourself. They’re our relatives, there’s no need to be overly cautious.”
Qu Qing Ju naturally agreed. As to what she would do, that was her concern. The conduct of the Tian family was naturally one loyal to the emperor. She didn’t dare be interested in what He Heng thought, but she didn’t want the Tian Family to get swept into this type of matter.
She, Qu Qing Ju, was not a kind person, but she knew an eye for an eye and to repay others for their kindness. She mysteriously possessed this body, so she had to repay the favor.
When she woke on the morning of the second day, Qu Qing Ju sent off He Heng to the Royal Court before taking a beauty nap. She just rose to wash and eat breakfast but heard a curious matter before she finished her meal.
“You are saying that wang ye is taking Yun Qing guniang as a tong fang?” She wiped her hands. Looking at Xiao Gan Zi, she said with a joyless smile, “That being the case, bestow upon Yun Qing a pair of jade bracelets as my congratulations to her.”
“Wang Fei is very kind. Just a tong fang, it isn’t worth your gift,” Xiao Gan Zi replied with a smile, “It was just last night that Yun Qing nagged wang ye in the gardens. Wang ye was too impatient to deal with her so he said to make her a tong fang. It was just a sentence, nothing else has been bestowed down.”
“Nagged wang ye?” Qu Qing Ju smiled thinly. No wonder he was late last night. He had stopped to admire a beautiful woman.
Xiao Gan Zi saw that wang fei had a calm smile and thought to himself that wang fei didn’t seem to care for the matter. His heart went back into his chest and he continued: “Yes, those of inferior birth, they only know those cheap tricks. Nu cai is afraid of dirtying wang fei’s ears if he said them out loud.”
“It must have been hard for Xiao Gan Zi gonggong to be so clear of the matter,” Qu Qing Ju smiled, “The wang fu is getting busier these days. You can help me look at the stewards in charge of purchasing, see if they have been remiss in any areas.”
“Nucai will keep a close look,” Xiao Gan Zi felt a burst of joy. The purchasing of good was a rich duty. With what wang fei had said, those stewards responsible for daily purchases, didn’t they had to carefully worship him on a pedestal?
As expected, the best way was to ingratiate himself with wang fei. He wouldn’t try to compete with Ming He and the others. But to be favoured with wang fei, wasn’t that also a sign of his abilities?
[1] 表弟: male relative from the maternal line (younger)
[2] 天地君亲师: The tradition was that men only knelt for these five. They would kneel for Heaven and Earth while praying, they would kneel to the Emperor (to show fealty and respect) and to their elders of the family and their teachers (filial piety).
Hmmm….I love that DW and QQJ have good relationship. I wonder how YQ will try to break this closeness…..thanks for the update……
I don’t think she really knows herself …….
YQ is so incompetent. She is actually expending effort to up her status, but that puts her under the jurisdiction of QQJ. Such folly.
Who falls in love first? It does seem that Wang Ye is quite fond/pleased with YG, but it’s not exactly love… And YG doesn’t seem to like him very much…
I loved the phrase: When men are satisfied, they always were especially caring – it’s very true! It reminded me when Xiao Nai carefully and gently wiped WeiWei’s body after their first night together… 😋
Thanks for the chapter!
*QQJ not YG
Who’s Xia Nai?
He’s a character from Love 020, a Chinese drama
He is a man product of ancient society where polygamy is a norm, let a lone growing up as a prince… So, in his case, having interest on beautiful women is not something special.
He even took QQJ’s maid as a tongfang after watching her dance, so there is no love to speak of. Let a lone with YQ, at this stage…he still has no love to anyone…not even for his main wife.
He is just doing his part as a man according to how he was raised and educated.
From YQ’s side? Love come from her mouth is just nonsense, she only used that word as a pretense to ask for a status.
She is obviously a fake hypocrite.
She barely know anything about him except for his status and his face, she even though that he has no brain, so what love is there to talk about?
She is a huakui, was given as a gift, but acted like a chaste noble lady initially.
Now seeing that it doesn’t work, she immediately changed her strategy into trying to please him… seducing him to the point of enduring the extreme cold winter with just a thin dress…
What does she take him for?
An idiot?
One can’t be in love with someone barely knows, of which personality is not even noticed…that is an absolute bullshit.
If at all it can only be the same infatuation we have for a movie star or such. Frankly speaking, it is even still less alike with idolizing a star..
Because fans know still much enough about their idols, because there should still be a reason why we idolize star A instead of B or C although they are all beautiful and talented.
But all this YQ knows about He heng is only his title, and wealth.
So she can’t even talk about idolizing him, let alone loving him…
What she likes is just as superficial as many others huakui ladies: money!
And from He heng side, what he wants was just her taste, her body and talent.
Nothing more…
But now… He has no interest anymore because her trick is getting too lame, nothing special anymore and…talking about good sex, he apparently got it well served by QQJ already.
We all can see that QQJ is soemone sexually confident, she is obviously enjoying her session, not just serving him.
That is what makes him enticed, at least at this present stage of relationship.
And he is so lucky that he got this feeling from his main wife.
Thanks for the new chapter 😊. I agree, it seems like QQJ is playing house with HH because it’s beneficial, not like she has any special feelings. On the other hand, HH seems merely infatuated. Whether that will turn to a deep love or not….will cause us ro read on ^^
YQ and QQJ battles begin
Thank you…does HH has to sleep with QY in order to raise her as a tong fang….
No, he doesn’t have to. But usually, the promotion occurs after sex.
Thank u for daily update😊…
XGZ is so cute.. always compare with the other two who is more close to wangye althought that is indeed for survival but the way he compare is quite amusing😅… curious with how YQ try seduce wangye after she use wrong method in the Duan wang fu😮
I don’t understand. Why did HH raise YQ to be a tong fang? He is interested in her ?
I think more like he is annoyed with her. he is used to this kind of trick so instead listening and watching YG drama, he gave her the title to stop her from bothering him
Great answer!
Do I feel a hint of jealousy when QQJ thinks HH was late because he was stopped by YQ?
Thanks for the update.
Everything is open to interpretation … … I would say irritation more than jealousy… … but that’s just how I interpret the text so I guess only the author knows.
Thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for reading!
Thank you so much!!
Turned my eyes away for some time and lots already happened. I´m waiting to see if this couple will succeed in peeling each others masks till genuine love settles in. HH brings out the feeling of already in love, but QQJ is hesitant about his motives. (sigh) Love mixed with politics is really complicated.
Thanks for showering us with favours of frequent updates. A nice feeling to start my day 🙂
Peeling masks is hard because a lot more is going on. Are you waiting for chapters to accumulate before reading them?
Rather than waiting, I just read other new ones. Most of the translations I follow have slow paced updates, that´s why yours was a heap of suprises. But now following you, I can know when something new happens. Have a nice day
He Heng and Qu Qing Ju do not give me the “couple in love” vibe. Right now, I think He Heng only finds his wife very attractive, sexually and intellectually. That is probably why he stays at zhengyuan all the time. Also, like wyhcwe mentioned previously, he needs an heir from the legitimate wife (Qu Qing Ju) and doesn’t want to offend or tick off Qing Ju’s uncle. However, all those reasons don’t make him a very likable fellow as male lead. As for Qing Ju, she never seems to believe any loving words uttered by He Heng, which is very smart of her. In her mind, He Heng can never be a faithful husband, given his status and the many beauties at his fingertips. He may find her intriguing right now, but will he still feel that way many years later? Therefore, she definitely is not in love with him as she is guarding her heart very closely. When she learned that He Heng was late to zhengyuan because he was “admiring a beauty” whom he immediately promoted to tong fang, I think, rather than being jealous, Qing Ju was derisive. In her mind, she already expected Yun Qing to try such a tactic and He Heng to have a wandering eye. She probably felt justified for guarding her heart from He Heng. in a way, I sort of feel sad that both leads feel a need to playact in front of each other. It is such a farce of a marriage, but I guess that is how arranged marriages are like. 🙁
Qing Ju is only about 16 years old, right? He Heng is 20, right? Sometimes, I am amazed at how cunning everyone already is and they are just teenagers (except for He Heng)! How old is Rui Wang? Also, does it say how old Feng Zi Jin and all the other concubines are? Is it typical for a noble to have a bunch of concubines first before even marrying a legitimate wife?
Well, the original Qu Qing Ju was a teenager. This one isn’t. She’s at least in her twenties.
I’m going to object to the level of cunning they possess. He Heng is cunning but there is history behind it. Qu Qing Ju worked in the entertainment circles in the modern era before so she knows how to manage relationships. Jing fei is late thirties or possibly in her forties. There are people who are not cunning, and we get to meet many of them soon.
Rui Wang was born a few months after He Heng. The other concubines are older than Qu Qing Ju. Well, it’s very like for a noble to have concubines before marriage. First, there is a minor/major age gap between husband and wife. The parents would get someone to “guide” the man’s first sexual experience if he didn’t find one for himself. And then he can go find his own women. Also, as long as he doesn’t have a son before the wife marries over, he isn’t doing too much wrong. It depends on the family and the dynasty.
They are still at the stage of “as respectful as guests” which was the most “respectful” kind of martial relationships historically. Of course, love is just a bonus.
He Heng’s wandering eye … … is stuck on his wife at the moment. (and forever and ever and ever, at least in this lifetime.)
then why does HH stares at YQ’s chest? even though he’s not interested in her as a person, he still seems to somewhat look lustful from what I have read. he just gives off a feeling of being unfaithful (afterall he has so many concubines 😭)
thank you for this chapter! i like that he hangs wandering eye ……is stuck on his wife at the moment and forever and ever in this lifetime!! ahhh really loving it
Yun Qing is only looking for ways to die. She should already be contented that Qu Qing Ju let her live by providing medical assistance. *sigh* She’s too delusional that she’s superior than all He Heng’s wives.
Thankies for the chapter!
Thanks for the chapter!
Oh boy… here comes another misunderstanding.
thanks for the chapter!
Well, I don’t like HH. As for now…. I guess. I hope this will change later on.
I’m here again cos I love this so much…however when I reach this chapter again I just can’t help to think how fake and stupid this Yun Qing actually is.
He heng is a prince for God sake, and the one with a potential to be an emperor.
What makes her think that she could play noble with him and then she would be treated like a princess?
Even Feng Zijin who is born in an official family can only be a lowly concubine, what makes her think she can compete with a wangfei?
Even if He heng is still single, and supposedly he really liked her, what makes her so confident that he would marry her and treat her so highly so that she has the arrogant to speak to him that way in the past… Being an affectionate and loyal mandarin duck?
Her status doesn’t even allow her to be taken as a proper Shiqie and only fit for a tongfang.
Does she think He heng would give up her status as a prince and go against his mom and emperor father just to marry her or what?
Isn’t she too delusional?
She thinks like in a fairy tale, QQJ is right LOL.
Let a lone now when he is already married with a decree of the emperor, if she is really that talented and knowledgeable…how come she still dreaming to scheme against QQJ?
She is not even fit to fight against FZJ or those at her level.
Sorry…but they r living in feudal era, not in our present digital era.
A decreed marriage by emperor can’t be broken that easily.
And to act noble and pure in the past but to change immediately into seduction when it didn’t work…well well, what does she take He heng for?
An idiot or what?
If she was truly virtuous and pure, having a wangfei that is favored should have become her opportunity to get a freedom.
QQJ would gladly set her free and give her slave contract if she beg her to.
Whose main wife is not delighted to get rid of her opponent easily?
But no…she has to change her stand and lower her self to finally resign being a tongfang…
Such a ridiculous thing… She only makes her self an embarassment and miserable.
Now it is already too late to get a status relying on her beauty and talent in front of Heheng,
She shouldn’t play noble since the very beginning if she really likes money and status.
She could have compete well with other concubine if she had done that.
She might not be able to be a main wife, but it would have been possible to be a favored Qie, and if he became an emperor, she still can be a Pin qie.
But now she made her trick to be so obvious, only an idiotic man would still use her.
Someone full trickery but stupid like her would only bring him trouble in the future.
He has a rough journey to go through to get the throne.