He Heng and Qu Qing Ju interactions in this chapter that was brought to you by me, ororomunroe90, and leecherleechleech (I always have a game show voice going on in my head when I type this). Enjoy!
Chapter Fifty Five Fortune and Misfortune
Qu Qing Ju didn’t know what kind of feelings He Heng had towards He Ming as his didi, but she felt that it wasn’t to the point of indifference. Qu Qing Ju was only certain that his desire to see He Ming recover and regain a healthy body seemed sincere.
The items on her list weren’t extremely rare but they were certainly valuable and definitely suitable for He Ming’s consumption. She placed the paper aside to dry before standing up, “After two more days, si shu will be back in Jing. Wang ye shouldn’t worry too much.”
“I remember, when I was younger and living in the palace, I used to play with si di for a long time. But when the schoolwork started increasing, our interactions gradually lessened,” He Heng started to reminiscence about the past. Even though he was not as important as He Yuan in fuhuang’s eyes, He Heng was still treated much better compared to He Qi. Out of his four brothers, the most neglected one was He Ming, “As we grew up over the years, the feelings have diminished, but we’re still brothers so there is some lingering camaraderie.”
Back then, right after si di had been born, it wasn’t known what Shu guifei had said to fuhuang which made him start to neglect si di and si di’s birth mother. No other imperial children were born after that. Perhaps his romantic of a father had promised something to Shu guifei. But whatever had happened between his father and Shu guifei wasn’t that important to He Heng.
He Heng didn’t really have much thoughts and feelings towards his fuhuang. He was just a silly man. Otherwise, the Da Long Dynasty wouldn’t be currently showing slight signs of decay instead of prosperity.
Qu Qing Ju saw that He Heng’s face held disdain. She stared for a beat and then understood. No one would be happy to have a father who treated his children like the Emperor did, “The feelings between two people in childhood are probably the purest.”
“Qing Ju’s words hit me at my heart,” He Heng smiled but didn’t want to discuss what occurred in the past. He remarked, “Lao san added a ce shi to his fu. It’s not some major event, but our fu should send a gift.”
Lao san had been quite sneaky, and hadn’t properly notified his brothers. But as his gege, it was only proper that he paid attention.
Qu Qing Ju felt that He Heng didn’t have any good intentions. Clearly, the Emperor had already expressed dissatisfaction towards He Yuan for taking a qie. But he just had to say it was a happy occasion. Was it really good to stick a knife in his brother like this?
“The day after he took the qie, I had someone deliver a gift,” Thinking about how she felt when the news first reached her ears, Qu Qing Ju couldn’t resist sighing, “My maternal family is becoming more and more unpresentable. A di noble daughter of a duke going to become a ce fei of a wang fu, and it wasn’t even because someone in the palace had made the match. It’s such a laughing stock.”
“Why worry over such minor things? You are my wife, therefore you are of my Duan Wang Fu. How Chang De Gong Fu acts has no connection to you,” Assuming that Qu Qing Ju would feel bad because of such a thing, He Heng reiterated his thoughts, “You are you, Chang De Gong Fu is Chang De Gong Fu, I won’t confuse the two.”
Qu Qing Ju saw his face was serious and understood that his words were mostly sincere. At least, he seemed genuine at this moment. And if his attitude somehow changed in the future, well, that wasn’t something she could control, “Wang ye treats me well, I know.” Leaning her head on acthis shoulder to disguise the calm in her eyes, “Like I said before, being able to marry wang ye was my good fortune.”
The women who married He Heng and He Ming would be slightly more fortunate than the other two He brothers. He Qi’s wife would be forced to become an obedient steward. Marrying He Yuan would most likely be the biggest challenge in any woman’s life.
Disregarding the fact that He Ming had an honest and generous personality, He Heng might have a deep and complicated mind, but he didn’t have that attitude of He Yuan where he used the bottom of his foot to look at women. This was a lucky happenstance of her time-travel.
Gently patting the back of the person in his embrace, He Heng felt an unspeakable joy in his heart. It wasn’t that he had never seen beautiful women before, and this woman certainly wasn’t the most beautiful woman, but he felt that she was a perfect fit for him. Even with her small temper and occasional cheating at weiqi, in his eyes, that was extremely attractive.
Suddenly thinking of the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, He Heng couldn’t help but smile. No one would believe it and even he was surprised that a man like him could feel that rarest feeling of them all for a certain woman. If he really did fall in love, then wouldn’t everyone else in the world be romantics?
Maybe it was only because that he felt she was good and thus she appeared beautiful in every way. Maybe after some time, she wouldn’t be any different from the other women in the fu.
Loosening his grasp of the woman he embraced, He Heng raised his hand to pinch at her soft earlobe, “After si di returns to Jing, I’ll take you to that estate in the suburbs to soak in the hot springs.”
Qu Qing Ju gave a smile, “That will be wonderful. After a few more days, the apricot, peach and pear flowers will have all bloomed. We could go sightseeing outside the fu.”
“Alright, we’ll have them prepare some barbeque. It will be a picnic.” He Heng didn’t blindly follow the rules. During his leisure time, he enjoyed his life. When Qu Qing Ju mentioned the blooming flowers, he immediately thought of a picnic.
“That’s a good idea,” Qu Qing Ju clapped her hands, “Hot springs, barbeque, flowers. It’s would be a great experience.”
He Heng saw her face was full of joy and couldn’t help but laugh. Standing guard outside, Ming He, Mu Jin and the others heard the laughter and chatter inside and relaxed in response. As servants, if their owners were happy, their lives became easier.
At this time, He Yuan had returned to his fu, and saw Qin Bai Lu sitting with a crowd of yahuan and mama in the garden. His concubines were also kneeling on the ground, including the one he had recently taken, Qu shi. His mood hadn’t lifted and his face became even darker after taking in the scene. He stared coldly at Qin Bai Shuang: “Wang fei, why have you made all these shiqie kneel here and obstruct ben wang’s path?”
The expressions of Qin Bai Lu and the concubines instantly changed. The former because she had just been publicly humiliated, the latter because of the uncaring attitude wang ye showed towards them. The gardens became silent.
“Get lost! What are you all kneeling here for? If you really want to block ben wang’s path, why don’t you all go kneel at the main gate?” He Yuan kicked aside the manservant kneeling nearby. He pointed at Qin Bai Lu and berated her, “This was a good wang fu. Look at what you have done to it. Ben wang gets bothered just looking at it.”
Qin Bai Lu knew that wang ye may have been reprimanded by the Emperor at the palace. Qu shi was the one who caused all this trouble but he raged at her instead. Her heart felt ill just thinking of it. She lowered her head to glare at Qu Yue Su standing close by. Barely suppressing the rage inside, she said in a somewhat gentle tone, “Wang ye doesn’t have to get so angry. You were just taking a qie. Fuhuang certainly wouldn’t be angry at you because of that.”
“Are you allowed to surmise fuhuang’s thoughts?” He Yuan’s face darkened. As He Yuan thought about fuhuang’s eyes when he had admonished him, he felt that his own rage was unsightly. Turning, he saw Qu shi standing submissively on the sidelines and said, “Qu shi, come with ben wang. Everyone else scatter!”
Qin Bai Lu ground her teeth as she watched wang ye lead that slut Qu shi away. She could only hatefully point at the other concubines and scold harshly, “You can’t even serve wang ye well. What’s the use in keeping all of you here, leave!”
The shiqie who became wang fei’s punching bag hastily retreated. They hated how unkind wang fei was and also hated Qu shi for her trickery. These days, wang ye was constantly spending the night at Qu shi’s place. Was there any room for them to survive?
Qu Yue Su wasn’t being tenderly loved like they all imagined. He Yuan’s actions against her were brutal and merciless. To him, she was nothing more than a plaything, something used to vent his anger and desires on. He loved tormenting her but she couldn’t speak of it. Every morning when she woke up, she looked at the bruises on her body and then at the valuable items He Yuan bestowed upon her. She felt both humiliated and resentful. She hated the Heavens for being unfair and He Yuan for his cruelty.
After suffering through another round of He Yuan’s venting, he stood up and left, leaving her to lie alone on the spacious bed . For some strange reason, Qu Yue Su thought of Qu Qing Ju as she heard Yao Xi murmuring and sobbing. What was she doing now? Was she sleeping in an embrace with Duan Wang or sleeping soundly alone in a soft large bed?
“Zhuzi, nubi will get you a bath,” Yao Xi looked at her mistress, her face looking vacant as if she had lost her soul. Her voice rose in pitch as she repeated her words, “zhuzi, nubi will get you a bath.”
“Yao Xi, what do you think da jie is doing right now?” Qu Yue Su woodenly stood up and allowed Yao Xi to support her into the bathtub.
Yao Xi stilled and she responded a beat later: “It’s late now. She is probably preparing to sleep.”
“Yes, sleep,” Qu Yue Su raised a hand to cover her face and laughed loudly.
Qu Qing Ju let the servants put away the qi board and insatiably said to He Heng: “Wang ye, don’t you think that my weiqi skills have improved a lot?”
He Heng’s expression faltered briefly: “En, improved a lot.”
“It’s all due to wang ye’s efforts,” Qu Qing Ju walked up to him and kissed his cheek, “Then, we’ll continue to play next time.”
He Heng touched the spot she’d kissed before picking her up and carrying her to the bed, “Qing Ju makes me happy. I will certainly make Qing Ju satisfied in return.”
Qu Qing Ju twisted her waist, indicating his words were too perverted. As a woman with proper upbringing, she expressed her embarrassment of his words.
And then she reached out to pull at his belt and looked up at him with a clueless face, “What happy and satisfied?”
If anyone could still resist at that point, then they weren’t a man. He Heng pressed down on the person underneath him. The Yun brocade robe on Qu Qing Ju’s body was pulled off, the under-robe was heartlessly torn off. When pulled by his big hand, the chest covering embroidered with peach blossoms easily fell off.
Qu Qing Ju raised her left hand to cover her chest, her right hand pulling the other’s lapel, trying to express her hope to share in good fortunes and in nakedness.
Men were always skilled at undressing, especially on the bed.
When the two of them nakedly started moving, Qu Qing Ju thought that it was delusional to think that He Heng was becoming more enthusiastic of late.
In the end, Qu Qing Ju was carried by He Heng to the bathtub. As was their usual custom, they mutually washed each other, He Heng groping her occasionally. After putting on their clothes, she pouted for He Heng to carry her back to bed.
Her reason was that … … her endurance had all been used up. So He Heng was most willing to carry her, his face blooming with pleasure.
Thank you so much!! 😘😘😘
You commented so quickly!
Thanks a lot!
The stark contrast between he yuan and he heng…! Qing ju is indeed lucky to have been married to he heng. He ming’s wife would be lucky too. Lol, qing ju and he heng so cute!
Thanks for the chapter~
Jars of honey!
Thanks so much. QYS is very unlucky to have chosen HY. He’s an awful man. In contrast, QQJ is lucky to have ended up with HH. Although he is very calculating, he at least knows how to treat women well. The problem for QQJ is of course he treats only the woman he’s interested in well, so if he gets bored with her, he will quickly ignore her like he does the other women around him. It’s super cute how he is always carrying her though 🙂
I’m pretty sure QQJ won’t allow HH to become bored with her. 😉
That’s the sad thing about He Heng’s personality. In the earlier chapters, he acknowledge himself that him treating his women well were just one of his hobbies. If he’s already bored, he’ll just look for something interesting again then forget the old one’s. Time will tell if QQJ will be forgotten. Well if that day comes, it seems that she wouldn’t care anyway. She just want to make herself happy.
True. But a man speaking that way is a man who had yet to meet someone he really think worth to cherish, someone whom he feels like he found home when being together with her, therefore all he could do previously ofcourse to spoil those women who can please him…and not only with money but also with an appropriate tenderness.
But evenso, it still make him a rather good man compared to his 3rd brother who completely disregard the woman’s feeling.
He is still more or less a responsible man and proper.
I won’t criticise his womanizing tendency because he is a prince and that is how he was brought up.
A person is a product of society.
All the women he had was not his own seeking afterall, they were all delivered to him, so why not.
But he is not a muddleheaded man like his father at least, cos he still intended to treat his main wife as protocol before, to treat her respectfully.
He didn’t pamper the original QQJ cos she never acted like a wife towards him afterall. It can’t be helped.
She was truly pitiful.
HH slowly fell for QQJ cos she has the capital to be a capable Wangfei but also the ability to play with a man and confident in bed, like a top notch courtesan…which I think it is thanks to her years worth of experience as aan entertainment manager before.
She is much older than HH as a soul.
And she knows many kind of men to be able to perceive their mind well.
This is what captured HH completely, any men in this era would just fall into her like him if they had a wife like her.
There is really no need to get another Qie.
And an existence like her is a rarity in their era.
Noble ladies, the candidates for legal wives, are taught to be virtuous and demure, sex is only to please a man and for procreation…
Proper ladies shouldn’t like sex… So,
It is rather normal that most men look for many women since they are allowed anyway.
But QQJ wants to serve herself well, she doesn’t even fear death… Let alone being abandoned.
Especially since she knows HH is not an imbecile, even if he change heart, he wouldn’t kill her or demote her unless she made terrible sin…
So why not just enjoy herlife?
With this properties, it is not strange that HH feel intrigued and fall in love with her. Cos she is indeed an excwptional lady.
No one comparable with her in his circle…peerless indeed.
I don’t agree about the word “unlucky”… she was warned beforehand about this man already, it’s her fault for letting her mother do as she wanted, she’s the one who thought that path was the best for her to achieve happiness in the future, I don’t pity her at all.
Considering how HY treated her during that lantern festival, I can’t believe she could think he’d treat her well once she becomes his plaything. Her mistake, now gotta take responsibility.
In my opinion though, she herself ALONE couldn’t have resisted her mother. She herself knows she isn’t good at scheming or being witty like Qing Ju, Reading this story over for the sixth time I do feel pity for her.
Agree, 100%. It is not like she didn”t know the risk. Her jealousy and greed overshadow her intelligence.
She is spoiled by her mother, so I don’t believe she can’t reject if her mom wants to send her as a Qie.
Moreover because it is rather obvious that it is her own family who is approaching Rui wang..it is not a case where the palace sent decree to get her or Rui wang who forced her to.
Obviously even Rui wang looks down on her already during the lantern festival.
A man that has intention, no matter how snobbish he is, wouldn’t treat a woman he likes that way outside..because it is embarassing.
Rui wang attitude clearly shows like how he sees another women of low birth who are gifted to him by some officials…
You know, just like Yun qing in Duan wangfu.
So…it was indeed her own fault for destroying her own future by gambling with low odds like that, only out of greed
Kyaaaa.. OMG I can’t stop smiling
Thank you for the chapter 🙂 :*
Thanks for the chapter~ HH and QQJ’s relationship in contrast to HY and QYS is like night and day. Love the sweetness between HH and QQJ, his reactions are so funny when she asked him if she improved and that it was all thanks to him so he needs to play with her more. This chapter is really sweet tinged with the bitterness you see from QYS’s life in contrast. More sweet chapters plz!
Poor QYS ! Soon or later she’s going crazy but there is KARMA from what her mother did to QQJ .
Thank you!! QQJ and He Heng…so sweet =)
QYS doesn’t need to envy QQJ’s life. QQJ also suffered though probably QYS no longer remembers.
Lol. That would be true if it was the original Qu Qing Ju that was still alive. It was really unfair to her.
Thanks for the update. Great contrast between the 2 couples. He Yuan is so abusive compared to HH. Looks great on the outside to be married to a prince favoured by the Emperor. The amount of abuse will make one go insane. Can’t wait for HH and QJJ to go sight seeing and have a picnic. More lovey dovey time.
Here is hoping a love rival shows up between QQJ and HH….although I love them it’s just kinda boring that there is no drama in the relationship.. HH is staring to fall for her but I find that QQJ feelings lacking XD I hope her feelings goes deeper later on o3o and damn poor that QYS…getting so much abuse from HY and his wang fu…her mom might be awful but she does deserve getting treat like that x-x also thank you for translating this story!! It’s wonderful and the updates are so fast!! 😀
*QYS does not deserve to treated like that* lol my bad this is wat I meant!!! XD
QYS’s demeaning relationship with HY is in contrast to QQJ’s happy relationship with HH. How unfortunate for QYS considering that both she and QQJ come from the same family. I say “happy relationship” between QQJ and HH because they seem not to entertain love in their relationship as they are not sure whether the good feelings will last. However, the romantic me wishes that they do fall in love with each other and have a happy union. Was it ever possible in the past?….thanks, ororomunroe90 and leecherleechleech for the update….
Thanks for another lovely update! 😘😘😘
Love the interactions between HH and QQJ 😊 … just that I hope QQJ will also start to have a little more romantic feelings towards HH even if just a little I’m not asking for much since the story still needs to develop more 😋… I mean she will eventually fall for him too right? 😅They are the otp and all.
Thanks for the chapter!
I read with different voices in my head too at the intro. “Brought to you by..” Lol. Thanks a lot. HH is falling more and more with QQJ. Theres nothing he can do about it. ❤️❤️❤️ For three of you.
I could do with only HH and QQJ Lovey dovey interaction, they’re so cute together, its also refreshing to see it from a guy’s pov. I hope HH wont change his heart
QYS is so jealous of QJJ. She wanted to have a life like QJJ and look what she got into. Feel bad for her though for having such a mother.
Looking forward to the picnic and hot spring bath. 😉
I can’t help but feels that QYS is very pitiful. She is too young and her environment is not good. She could only cling to dreams of better future. When HH gets the throne (which would be a good thing, considering the temperament of others wang ye) i think her situations will only worsen. Such a shame…
I agree that even if HH forget her, QQJ would still able to find happiness. After all, QQJ is a smart and wise adult woman.
I’m not too optimist about HH’s faithfulness.. Beside, he is the type that didn’t like to have memories of the past dragged to the surface (see when FZJ try to entice HH using a paper boat). Meaning, once you lose his favor, it would be doubly difficult to regain it, since he dislike remembering the past and likes new and interesting things. HH intelligence made him quick on figuring people out, and once he figure you out, you wouldn’t be interesting anymore.
I totally agree with you about HH. However, since I already finished the novel once and is currently re-reading it, I truly believe that it might just be that HH hadn’t meet THE ONE. As in human nature, we tend to flip flop between different things, trying to figure out what interests us most. This is true in almost all aspect of life, from food and clothing to relationships like love and friendships. But that is only because we haven’t find the one thing that will settle us.
In HH’s case, I think he is like that because he didn’t find his past interest to be something he found worthy, such as his concubines. However, if you compare them to his desire for the throne, it’s like night and day. He is willing to compete for the throne because it is what he wanted and wouldn’t let obstacles gets in his way. Therefore, in terms of relationship, i feel that he’s the same way.
Okay, so that was cute 😛
Thanks for the chapter!
Also, poor Qu Yue Su being abused like that. Her family definitely made a mistake making her a qie to He Yuan.
Also, I guess Qu Qing Ju was right to hold back with him. It seems he’s still not certain he loves her. He hasn’t truly committed himself either, just like she suspected.
Seriously, I just discovered this gem and I lost so much sleep…..I have exams!!
I thank you for translating this amazing story!
thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for translating this novel, I just start reading c-novel and totally fall in love with this story.
I felt sorry for Yue Su, when all came to all she was just a naive fifteen years old girl who had live a sheltered life. No matter how mature and calculation she may sound, she could never had imagine such an ugly truth. Lets face it, no matter how much we may hated her family, Qu Yue Su was raised in a loving home, where her mom and dad loved each other deeply (They suit each other with their stupidity). Unlike Qing Ju, Yue Su had been careful raised with loved and adoration, how could she even imagine being treated this way. Such a sad, sad fate for this child (she still is a child!).
On another note, I think even if Qing Ju wasn’t lucky and had ended up with He Yuan instead of He Heng when she woke up, she would still be able to turn the table around and had He Heng felt for her. After all both brothers was raised to see women as only a plaything, they may had different temperament and different way to show it but deep down they did had the same outlooked on women. He Heng seems sweet because Qing Ju, who knows if Qing Ju ended up with He Yuan we may think He Yuan is sweet. I think it was because Qing Ju loved herself very much. She wouldn’t allow herself to be miserable. When a women knew how to treasured herself, it would be easier to make men treasured her too.
I don’t know if He Heng would have allowed himself to fall in love because it wouldn’t be “proper.” One of the reasons in my mind that he could fall in love with Qu Qing Ju is that she occupied the position of his legitimate wife so favouring her was not strange and it was safe to have a relationship since they were in the same boat.
But I do agree that if Qu Yue Su had treated herself better, she might not have ended in the way she did.
I’m conflicted on QYS’ case, I kind of feel sorry for her. Even if she wanted to compete with QQJ by becoming HY’s ce fei but she had good elders then they wouldn’t permit such a thing. However she has such a TERRIBLE and short-sighted mum.
But too bad for her she laid her bed like that and she will just have to sleep on it. It would be very interesting if QYS actually does something about her current situation.
QQJ and HH *squeals* They are the only ones having such a nice time as husband and wife. I’m curious as to how their relationship will grow.
I am loving this book so far! Recently I’ve been into C-Novels and found that I particularly like this kind of genre. Thank god I got curious and decided to read this story. QQJ IS AWESOME. Thank you for the translations!!! (If someone sees this, can you recommend me some other C-Novels that I should read? Preferably with the same genre. Thanks!)
Have you tried reading Chu Wang Fei? It hasn’t been completely translated yet, but it’s also a very good one.
Yes i have! I am running out of things to read that’s why haha. What else do you recommend?
“Even with her small temper and occasional cheating at weiqi, in his eyes, that was extremely attractive.”
Lol when a man can tolerate his wife cheating on a game, that’s love.
Qu Qing Ju couldn’t resist sighing, “My maternal family is becoming more and more unpresentable…”
It should be “My paternal family is…” since we are talking about her family from father’s side