Finally get a title for this chapter.
This chapter has been provided to you by me, orormunroe90, leecherleechleech and vivie.
Chapter Seventy Four Jealousy
On the day of He Ming’s marriage, Qu Qing Ju and Jin An Princess received the womenfolk who’d arrived for the celebration as the mistresses of the house. Now that Ning Wang Fei was under house arrest in Bright Moon Tower, Qu Qing Ju held seniority among the wang fei. For this wedding of He Ming, her little brother-in-law, even if she wanted to be lazy, she couldn’t avoid it.
The womenfolk were fine. Order a few cheerful plays, put out some fruit and refreshments and chit chat. It wasn’t very difficult. But it was more complicated on the men’s side. It didn’t just touch on the personal interests of some, they had to pay attention to people who were drunk and would cause an unfortunate disturbance. Additionally, He Yuan wasn’t willing to demean himself by receiving guests so He Heng and some of the officials of the Ministry of Rites had to organize the guests.
Even if it seemed busy, most of those who came were smart. They wouldn’t cause a disturbance at this kind of setting, and wouldn’t try to find trouble. Most of them respectfully sat down and waited for the wedding to begin.
Jin An Princess paid attention to the time. Not long after, a taijian ran over and reported that the wedding sedan was almost at its destination. A crowd of women stood to walk to the front hall and waited for the couple to bow to the Heaven and Earth.
Qu Qing Ju and Jin An Princess stood together. She swept a gaze across the hall. The men and women stood at their own sides, the men on the left and woman on the right, clearly divided. In a short while, the music sounded. She tilted her head to look and saw He Ming wearing the bright red wedding clothes, his hand holding one end of a red silk cord as he walked in from the outside. On the other side of the red silk cord was Luo Wen Yao, who was wearing a phoenix crown and cape.
While Qing De Emperor and the Empress didn’t personally attend, their gifts had been sent down very early beforehand. Qu Qing Ju watched as the couple bowed to the empty seats above them and once again looked down on the Imperial House. The father wasn’t present when the son got married. Was there even any meaning left when the Imperial father and son were like this?
When the three brothers in front of He Ming had married, Qing De Emperor had personally written out a celebratory speech to be read at each of the ceremonies, expressing the regret of his absence and wished to make up for such a deficiency. Why wasn’t there one when it was He Ming’s turn?
After the ceremony, Qu Qing Ju and the others followed the newly wedded pair to their bridal rooms and waited for He Ming to lift the bride’s veil.
The bridal rooms were very busy. Qu Qing Ju even saw Jin An Princess’ two children. She watched as He Ming slowly lifted the bride’s veil. Underneath it, Luo Wen Yao’s face was full of bashfulness, like a flower just before blooming.
Some said that a woman was most beautiful on the day of her marriage. Qu Qing Ju smiled at the bashful Luo Wen Yao and had to admit it was true. She and Jin An Princess smiled as they came forward to say some lucky words. After the children received their red packets, they ushered everyone out and left a silent space for the newlyweds.
Coming out of the bridal room, Jin An Princess looked at the darkening sky. She smiled as she reminisced: “That year I was married, the didi were still all children. Now, all of them are married.”
Qu Qing Ju guessed that Jin An Princess was thinking of her failed marriage, comforting: “Time is like flowing water, jiejie doesn’t have to be sad.”
Listening to the noise from the banquet in front of them, Jin An Princess smiled as she glanced at Qu Qing Ju: “You are assuming that I am sad over what happened with the Count of Bei Lu?” She laughed, “Right now, I am the Princess Royal, I have a son and daughter, and they have their titles. What do I need to be sad about?”
Qu Qing Ju hadn’t thought Jin An Princess would say such unaffected words and stilled before conceding: “It’s me that was mistaken.”
Jin An Princess shook her head: “When the Count of Bei Lu betrayed me in the beginning, he should have thought of the conclusion. I am the daughter of the Emperor, he underestimated the people of the Imperial Family.” Maybe it came about because of the Imperial Family were too courteous to him when they used to return to Jing, and that made him forget what they were truly like.
Qu Qing Ju felt that Jin An Princess was extremely domineering right now. As they walked closer to the wedding banquet, she looked ahead and hesitated before speaking: “A few days ago, a subordinate of my wang ye came back from Jing Zhou. I heard him say that ninth-grade official’s daughter died from sickness, the Count of Bei Lu hasn’t stepped out of his home and even sent up a request to transfer the title to his didi.”
“Fuhuang will not agree,” Jin An Princess smiled as she explained, “This title, until the Count of Bei Lu dies, will always be on his head. But after he dies, it isn’t certain that this title will still be the Cao Family’s.”
Qu Qing Ju looked at the smile on Jin An Princess’ face, instantly feeling reverence. This was what a true woman should be like.
At the wedding banquet, He Heng occasionally drank a cup with the guest but most of the time, he only had to sit to one side and wait for others to come to him. Looking at the noisy play on stage, he gave a yawn of disinterest.
“Er ge is tired?” Sitting by his side, He Yuan played with the wine cup, looking lazy, “Now that lao si has married, he will get busy in the future.”
He Heng didn’t seem to hear the implication in his words. He raised the wine cup and swirled the contents: “With a wang fei to care for him, si di will have more relaxing days.”
“Ha,” He Yuan snorted, “When did er ge become so simple? Didi finds it very unexpected.” He Heng was pretending not to understand his words, still acting in front of him.
He Heng gave a warm smile as he responded: “Er ge is always like this. It was san di who didn’t know before today.”
The corner of He Yuan’s lips jerked. He turned his head to avoid looking at He Heng’s expression and saw his eldest sister and Duan Wang Fei emerge from the back and walk to the female side. He frowned as his gaze landed on Qin Bai Lu who had been seated the whole time. The hand which held the wine cup tightened. They were both wang fei, but why was the difference in conduct so large?
The noise eventually had to quiet down. When Qu Qing Ju and He Heng came out of Cheng Wang Fu, it was already the deep of the night. She inhaled, watching as the guards surrounded Jin An Princess as she left, before she said: “We can finally return and rest.”
He Heng helped tie her cloak: “Let’s go back.”
“Er ge and er sao, take care.”
Qu Qing Ju turned her head and saw He Yuan and Qin Bai Lu walking together with a stride length between them. Qin Bai Lu’s expression didn’t seem right.
“San shu, san dimei,” Qu Qing Ju smiled, “It’s late, you two should return and rest too.”
“Thanks for the concern, er sao. Of course we know to rest,” Qin Bai Lu calmly said, “Today, er sao was very busy, don’t exhaust yourself.”
It was easy to detect the queerness in her tone. He Heng’s brows furrowed slightly, his eyes instantly becoming cold. Even the smile on his lips disappeared without a trace. It was only the fact that the other was his dimei that he didn’t speak.
“Shut up,” He Yuan snapped, “If you’re tired, then go to the carriage and rest.”
Qin Bai Lu’s expression changed as she coldly answered: “If that’s the case, qie will leave first. Wang ye can do as he pleases.” She really did abandon He Yuan to leave first, and didn’t even care that He Heng was present.
Qu Qing Ju felt that Qin Bai Lu painted a gigantic black dot on the reputation of the Qin Family as an educated and noble family. And this stain couldn’t be washed out, and couldn’t be brushed off.
He Yuan’s face was so dark, ink could be squeezed out of it. He managed to raise his hands to the two and state: “Er ge, er sao, you go first.” He said to Qu Qing Ju, “Er sao, forgive me for the wife’s ill manners, and for letting you see such a joke.
This wasn’t the first time I’ve seen your embarrassments. Qu Qing Ju smiled calmly as she replied: “It might be that dimei isn’t feeling well. San shu should go take a look. We don’t live very far from here and can get back to the fu very quickly. You go first.”
He Yuan nodded: “Goodbye.”
Qu Qing Ju reached out to hug He Heng’s arm, whispering in his ear: “Our san dimei’s temper isn’t soft at all.”
He Heng smiled coldly, wrapping an arm around her waist to enter the carriage before declaring: “The Qin Family raised a good daughter!”
Qu Qing Ju listened to the tone of his voice and had the impression of it expressing “wait and see”. She smiled, “Who cares whose daughter she is? It has nothing to do with us.”
He Heng embraced the other in his arms, gently patting her back. A long time later, he stated: “Don’t worry. In the future, no one would dare to be disrespectful to you.”
The person in his embrace didn’t speak. A beat later, he lowered his head to look but only saw the other’s sleeping visage. He smiled helplessly. It seemed that today had exhausted her.
“Clang!” A blue-ink porcelain teapot smashed onto the floor. He Yuan angrily pointed at Qin Bai Lu, “Look at what you’ve done. How does it look like anything a proper lady would do? Even an uneducated shrew would be better. Ben wang gets angry just looking at you.”
“Who do you not get angry looking at? Lu He in the Dong Yuan, Qing Liu or that whore in Xi Yuan?! The women of the Qu Family are all fox spirits but you men stop moving after taking a look … …”
He Yuan dealt a blow to Qin Bai Lu’s face, making her stagger. He expressionlessly looked at Qin Bai Lu who was covering her face, “Before saying this, think of your position. If you feel that you can’t stay in my Rui Wang Fu any longer, then get out and stay in your paternal home for the rest of your life. Don’t come here to be an eyesore.”
Qin Bai Lu covered her face. That slap had been extremely heavy. She still felt her ears ringing. She raised her head to look at He Yuan. From the other’s handsome face, other than dislike for her, she couldn’t see anything else. She looked dazedly at the man, her tears streaming.
“The Qin Family is an educated and noble family. Don’t stain the Qin Family’s reputation. My Da Long Dynasty has had wang ye in the past who’d divorced their wives. If you don’t accept, you could try.” He Yuan took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands in disgust. He turned and left the room, not looking once at Qin Bai Lu.
It didn’t matter how noble the xiaojie of the Qin Family were. He was an imperial son, a wang ye. If she married him, she had to obey his rules. If she couldn’t obey, then get out.
“Wang fei,” Seeing that wang ye had left, the yahuan who served Qin Bai Lu hurriedly supported her to a seat. She got others to bring a towel and medicine, the zheng yuan quickly descended into chaos..
Qin Bai Lu was crying and laughing: “I can’t even scold that Qu Family whore. Just a qieshi, but wang ye treats me like so for her. That whore has good tricks.”
“Wang fei, why do this?” Ru Hua, one of the yahuan who was part of Qin Bai Lu’s dowry, had reddened eyes as she helped put on medicine for Qin Bai Lu, “No matter how Qu shi is, she’s just a qie. Why be hostile against wang ye for her?”
Qin Bai Lu woodenly looked at the darkness outside the door, “Come say, which part of Qu Qing Ju is stronger than me? Do men really place such importance on a woman’s face?”
Ru Hua asked in confusion: “Wang fei, why are you mentioning Duan Wang Fei?”
“Why is it that I can’t receive what she can get?” Qin Bai Lu still remembered the rumors before the marriage decree. At that time, there were people saying that the Emperor wanted to marry Qu Qing Ju to wang ye and her to Duan Wang. However, the decision had been changed at the last minute for some reason.
She had rejoiced that she was engaged to Rui Wang because Rui Wang was more favoured by the Emperor than Duan Wang. And two years ago, she’d seen Rui Wang in the palace once, she had silently given her heart away.
Ru Hua didn’t understand why her wang fei would have that kind of idea. After she applied the medicine, she carefully said: “How Duan Wang Fei lives, only she knows. What we usually see might only be intentional. Wang fei, you have no need to compete with Duan Wang Fei. You have to know that, other than a face, she is less than you in every other aspect.”
Qin Bai Lu listened to her words and suddenly laughed, “Yes, I want to see just how long she can be proud.”
She wasn’t living well and so she couldn’t bear to see people who were lesser than her have better lives.
Thank you so much!! 😘😘😘
I almost felt bad for qbl there. But changed my mind at the end. She a pitious and a viscious woman. Hatred and jealousy are all thats left in her heart. Im surprised that she was once supposed to be married to HH, it must be all Shu Guifei’s plot, much to QQJ’s luck.
He Yuan is Qin Bai Lu’s first crush. We can ease a little bit off the 16 year old for being jealous.
Lol. Its easy to forget that she was just a teenager with all the schemes going on. Hope they get to have their own little contented happy ending inspite it all.
Honestly I’m sure even if QQJ was married to Rui Wang, she’d still be having a good time. The key is to make the best of your situation and QQJ knows how to do that in every situation.
Why did they get so mad over Qin Bai Lu’s comment to QQJ? It wasn’t the first time she was impolite though. Could you please post the original Chinese for this part?
“Thanks for the concern, er sao. Of course we know to rest,” Qin Bai Lu calmly said, “Today, er sao was very busy, don’t exhaust yourself.”
One part of it was seniority. Qu Qing Ju is married to He Heng who is older than He Yuan so she’s the “elder” of Qin Bai Lu. Qin Bai Lu is very rude because she brushes off Qu Qing Ju and lectures Qu Qing Ju in return (she shouldn’t do so because she is technically, a tiny bit below Qu Qing Ju in status).
Exactly…and additionally, it is extremely rude and deserve a punishment in ancestral hall because she was implying that her sister in law has been very busy hosting the party, so she should better know to take a rest herself and not exhausting her self “serving” HH later.
She is jealous of the conjugal bliss of QQJ & HH and trying to cover it with that rude criticism.
(she is implying that QQJ is just as lowly as those beautiful Qie who can hold her man relying on beauty and skill in bed service).
That’s why even the unbridled arrogant stupid He yuan is feeling embarassed towards his brother, whom HY actually very dislikes and tried to embarass all this while by himself.
It’s because QBL is really crossing the line too far this time.
She is not just giving an impolite remark but an insult to her senior.
Thanks! QBL…she would rather blame others for her deficiencies than herself.
HH is super caring again, tying QQJ’s cloak.
The disparity between QQJ and QBL is glaring. Despite coming from an educated and noble family, she does act like a shrew. No wonder HY is never attracted to her. But QBL is so jealous of QQJ. Will she do something to hurt QQJ ion the future?…..thanks a lot for this update….
I can understand QBL if she ‘s hostile toward HY. But also getting hostile to QJ, bcs she lives better life than her is childish. QBL is too proud, she and HY is complete fire meet tornado.
Also,imo, HH’s ambition seems even more solidified with QJ by his side. He wants to ensure a position for his beloved wife tht no one can disrespect her. Behind a great man, there’s always great women (QJ and JF) :p
Thanks for this chapter 🙂
I agree. QBL and HY.. They are too alike, in their childishness and arrogances
che, men are not just captivated by QQJ’s face but also her inner beauty. best of all, she doesn’t look down on others if they don’t trigger her.
doesn’t matter if QBL came from an educated and noble family, her heart is so evil
Thank you for the translation!!!
QBL is such a bitch o-o You never get wat QQJ have in a lifetime acting the way you do!!! I love HH and QQJ love live. But it would be nice to get more details on HY and his fu xD also what are his true feelings about QQJ? Does he have any feelings at all towards QQJ? Hope it gets answer in later chapters xD
Thanks for the update. Despite coming from a better family background than QQJ, she is a vicious, jealous and vindictive person. In all ways, she loses to QJJ. She blames everybody for her inability to catch HY’s heart. Glad QJJ ended up with HH, not HY as originally intended. Love the HH couple time. So sweet.
thank you very much!
yes—-! it’s finally the long-awaited wedding—-! -cheers for the couple- i hope they will have happiness together! going to be hard not to, when both of them are so nice—! also, yay jin an princess and qing ju interactions! jin an princess is a strong woman, and who cares about the stupid count!? i am quite shocked at the revelation that initially, qing ju would’ve married he yuan, and bai lu, he heng. well, he yuan’s the one who pushed for qing ju to be married to he heng, and it’s a good thing he did! he yuan’s so violent and temperamental, but that’s how it is, right? he’s been spoiled by his parents. i’m hoping we’ll get to see more he ming and wen yao interactions—! -cheers-
They are both very intelligent people so I they will fit well together. I would have liked to see a story where Qu Qing Ju would have “taught” He Yuan to her specifications. He Yuan might have fallen more easily than He Heng did.
yes, he ming and wen yao, i hope, will have a very happy marriage! and they’re both good-natured, and as you’ve said, intelligent, so they should be able to get along well. what i feel, though, is that he ming will finally have someone, aside from his mother, whi pays attention and loves him!-gets choked up from being happy for he ming-
ah, i was tempted to say that, knowing qing ju and her ability to adapt, even if she were married to he yuan, she would have been able to survive and thrive! i think qing ju should also be skilled at dealing with spoiled people, since she worked as a manager in the entertainment industry—!
Yeah it would be interesting.
May be some one would write a fanfic.
Hmmm. Now you mentioned it, I’m curious too. QJ would have known the strategy to make man happy. Since HY most of the time is not thinking with his head, I’m sure HY will be all over QJ faster. Maybe QJ’s challenge will be his short temper and I don’t see Shu gufei as complex and as smart as Jing gufei either. So HY is piece of cake 😛
“He Yuan might have fallen more easily than He Heng did.”
I wonder, would He Yuan have been capable, with his personality, to fall in love with QQJ and treat her well longterm? Even with her beauty and superb tactics, I don’t know if she could have been more than a passing fancy to him; he’s so self-centered. What do you think?
I did’nt believe that QBL jealousy to QQJ is so deep en took her to the deathness !
The title really suits this chapter because it shows that jealousy can make you a vicious person no matter how “noble and upright” family you are from. QBL really dare disrespects QQJ infront of HH. Well, it’s going to get back at you babe. Pretty face don’t mean a thing if you got no manner(or as in QQJ advice,skills). lol.
Ah, thank you for the translation! ^^
I hate HY more though…no matter what she did, HY shouldn’t raise his hand towards her face. Even if he had to teach her manner, a slap at the back or bottom is enough. How can she face his concubine later with the bruises face?
I hope he won’t make this a habit. He really is a cruel man…doing that to QSY and this to QBL
“He Yuan’s face was so dark, ink could be squeezed out of it.”
AHAHAHAHAAAAA
Thanks for the chapter
I love it when HH becomes protective of QQJ
That slap is definitely for QJ and not QYS, HY doesn’t even care for QYS let alone would slap his wang fei for her
I read ahead and feel sorry for what happens to QYS.
Thank you! HH and QQJ <3
Thanks for the chapter!
I actually feel a bit pity for QBL. She is probably still a teenager and she seems to be in love with her wang ye, so it makes sense why she has such hatred towards the qie (probably due to very strong jealousy because she feels like the qie took her place?) Also it’s so pitiful that she still doesn’t understand her wang ye, that it really has nothing to do with the qie, but that’s just how he is as a person. He seems like the worst out of all 4 brothers. It seems like it was very pitiful times for women.
“Don’t worry. In the future, no one would dare to be disrespectful to you.” I’m liking He Heng more and more with everything he is saying to Qu Qing Ju. The markings of a future Emperor envisioning his Empress’ future.. I’m totally sold.
I don’t agree with He Yuan slapping Qin Bai Lu, but I’m still amazed he’d do that because of Qu Qing Ju. I agree that a love triangle between He Heng, Qu Qing Ju and He Yuan would have been very interesting! Qu Qing Ju definitely can be the one to tame He Yuan and shape him up. XD
Ah.. QBL would be a good career woman I think. She works hard but she seems to lack people skills… Maybe she’d gain them if she had more time? Even if you’re jealous you can’t act that way! You’ll only hurt yourself.
…I can’t help but think she has bad taste though. Even if Rui Wang is pretty, he clearly doesn’t give a Frick about women as people ._.; Given the direction of the story she probably won’t get a chance to learn either. She’ll probably end up rotting in some bad end.
I know that it’s not possible for QBL to have as much insight as us being readers but we know that even if the couples had switched wives, she will still end up jealous bc QJ knows how to please her husband. I can only wish she realize that instead of being jealous of others relationship that she works to improve hers
thanks for the chapter!
All of those women are quite pitiful to have to live in a timeline that puts the men above the clouds but makes the women just an accessory. QQJ can be also vicious and cold at times but what makes her more acceptable is the fact that she would never slight someone or wish them bad when they don’t do so to her first. QBL on the other side is too pitiful, but she leashes all her frustrations onto others and even tries to ruin others prospects of happiness. Well, karma is a bitch.
She’s so blinded by jealousy that she fails to see what the problem is. If HH and HY are blinded by QQJ’s beauty, what about the noble women and her relatives from are maternal side? Is she also saying it was QQJ’s face that made those women like her? Oh please….
I know she’s 16 years and all, but this isn’t the modern era where teenagers throw tantrums and do whatever. She’s in an era whereby an silly mistake can lead to the execution of her whole family. It would have been a different thing if she time-travelled at that age from modern age to this period, but nope she was born and bred here. I sincerely don’t understand why she’s this stupid.
As for HY he’s just a lustful jerk. He’s lecturing QBL on being a disappointment. He had better removes the log of wood in his own eyes first. If he was ever contented with what he has/had, his fu and wang fei will not be in the predicament they are at the moment. But he’s never contented, always coveting this and that, tramples on this and that. QBL might be a pompous silly teenager but if HY shows just a tenth of affection that HH gives QQJ to QBL maybe, just maybe things won’t degenerate to this point.
And then we have his mother *smh* Let’s just say the 3 of them are cut from the same fabric, hence they compliment one another perfectly well lol!
I’m six years late but I’m really surprised to hear that their marriages were reversed. I know that He Yuan is the most favored and He Heng is the second most favored, but why would the emperor be considering Qu Qingju for his most favored son? The previous goods were looked down upon and more or less a joke, from an empty/declining manor. Even if she had some connections with her maternal Tian family, how could that compare to the noble Qin family? We’ve seen repeatedly that He Heng is the unusual one for disregarding her ‘proper’ family home and acknowledging her Uncle’s home.
Even that aside, It’s been mentioned repeatedly that Qingju isn’t especially beautiful, it’s just her charisma that makes her look dazzling, so it isn’t even that. Lmao, who was playing mindgames and told Qin shi that the marriages were originally reversed?
Tsk, He Yuan with Qu Qingju to back him up would have been a real terror. I feel like Qu Qingju probably would have used managing the manor to make him think about his actions a bit more and be more concerned about appearances, and she might have even been able to pick out He Heng’s schemes at least a little bit. I don’t think she could ever have an honest conversation with He Yuan since I doubt he’d accept being taught by a woman, but she could teach by ‘showing’ – no, He Yuan, you can’t just replace officials because you’re mad at them, it takes time to train people to do a job, tsk tsk tsk, look at what a waste of time this has been.
Really what a pair… a husband that covers his own brother’s wife and a wife that envies others so much she goes insane and lashes out at the people around her without thought… truly they deserve each other. I really can’t stand these types of people who think that “if they have it, why can’t I have it?!?! I want it too!” This type of envy and greed really corrupts the mind