Chapter 18

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Author: Xiao Yao

Chapter 17 – Title – Chapter 19

“This, how could I? I just need a few pieces of broken pelt, those remaining, it would be better to take them back.” In the corridor of the Hall of Heavenly Virtue, Hui Ming looked at the pile of animal skin sent by Yuan Bao, and refused again and again. Please read at insidethemirror translations. DO NOT REPOST.

“Aiyo, good Gugu.” Yuan Bao’s face had a wry smile: “You should accept them, just think of it as helping this little one!”

Hui Ming still hesitated, this wasn’t due to him though, but it was for no other reason than the pile of pelts brought by Yuan Bao was too expensive.

These were even the fur used by the masters in the palace, those that were very valuable, these were fine mink furs, Hui Ming only wanted to give Xu-momo a pair of knee pads, which didn’t take much, and she also knew that there were often some broken pieces of animal skins that were left over from those given to the masters in the Bureau of Administration, only then did she dare to use her monthly earnings and ask an acquaintance to request for it, who would have thought that Yuan Bao on one hand would bluntly deliver two pieces of one square foot of high quality mink fur, and also, a folded thick fox fur coat on top!

Yuan Bao bent toward Hui Ming again: “Gugu, this fox fur was rewarded by His Majesty when Master first arrived to serve, it hasn’t been used after all these years, Master said that this fox fur was too expensive, and it was not good for an Imperial steward to act ostentatiously, so it is a waste to leave it with him, it would be much better to send it to you, there is no fireplace in this corridor, you can spread it under you at night and it will be warm to sleep on.”

Seeing Hui Ming still having some hesitation. Lu An on the side also helped to persuade: “Towards Su-gonggong’s kindness, it is not good to refuse again and again, it’s much better to just properly accept it with gratitude.”

Yuan Bao casted grateful eyes towards Lu An, and repeatedly appreciated her help, Hui Ming in response thought about it, and contrariwise an idea came to her mind, so she no longer refused, and received it, then asked Yuan Bao to go back and thank Su-gonggong for her first.

For such a big thing, Yuan Bao had waited until it had gotten dark, so that when he delivered it there would only be few people around, because it was almost time for people to rest, so when Hui Ming accepted it, he no longer delayed, and quickly turned and went out the door.

Lu An turned and smiled at Hui Ming: “Gugu is too polite, this is clearly Su-gonggong’s kindness, you refusing like this, wouldn’t it hurt Su-gonggong’s sentiment?”

Hui Ming heard the teasing in Lu An’s tone, but didn’t say anything, Lu An was an discerning person, seeing Hui Ming’s expression, she seemed to have noticed something, and she immediately closed her mouth then instead turned to go and help Hui Ming prepare the bedding.

Hui Ming seeing this stopped her: “I’m not busy, you can sleep inside, I’ll do some more sewing, this way the light of the fire won’t shine on you.”

Lu An turned to look at the time and hesitated. “Are you in such a hurry? Wouldn’t it be better to wait for a good day so there would less strain on the eyes?”

Hui Ming still insisted with a smile, when Lu An arrived at the Hall of Heavenly Virtue to serve, her uncle had repeatedly given her instructions, to originally consider herself as an indistinct palace maid, and respond by not daring to obstruct someone’s path, but just assist in lighting more candles at the back1, so under the persuasion of Hui Ming she went to lie down and rest inside.

Hui Ming compared the sizes of two minks under the lamp, and having seen the size with her own eyes accordingly thought about something, she felt that it should be enough, she carefully put away the pillow first, then having found half of the knee pads that she had already made for Xu-momo, she planned to take advantage of the whole night to handle her sewing.

Regarding Xu-momo’s kneepads, Hui Ming still planned to sew them using the pieces of broken mink pelts bought from the Bureau of Administration, it wasn’t that she was stingy, but one, she had already made half of it, so there was no need for her to take it apart and replace it, two, the kneepads originally only needed two pieces of palm sized fur, so even with the whole piece of pelts that Su-gonggong had sent, it was still necessary to cut it, which would be a waste, she might as well just keep it, then starting tomorrow, she could make time, and make a pair of items for Su-gonggong. Please read at insidethemirror translations. DO NOT REPOST.

That’s right, in fact, as early as when Hui Ming decided to prepare some kneepads for Xu-momo, she had also thought about whether to make something for Su-gonggong, it was just the seasonal clothes for the people in the palace, were uniformly sewn and distributed by the Bureau of Administration, and it could not be easily changed, not to say whether Hui Ming had the same skill and materials to do it, if she made something, it would just be superfluous, as for the other things, originally making a double soled shoe was the most comfortable and practical, but something like that looked somewhat extremely conspicuously intimate, it was not appropriate behavior, and Su-gonggong was an upright gentleman, if there was a misunderstanding, explaining the misunderstanding could cause it to become more complicated.

Hui Ming had already been hesitating when Yuan Bao brought these two pieces of fine mink skin, and for an Imperial steward to wear mink was somewhat ostentatious, but the sizes of these two pieces was actually just enough for the mink fur to be sewn as an item that could be worn inside, which would be inconspicuous, so that when one went outside where cold wind was waiting, it would be comfortable enough to wear, and sending it to Su-gonggong would be perfectly appropriate!

As for the very expensive white fox fur… Hui Ming actually really had some selfish motive, she had planned to meet Hid Little Seventh Highness after a couple of days and secretly send it to him in the Hall of Calm Fragrance.

With this idea in mind, Hui Ming found a piece of cloth, wrapped the fox fur robe then placed it away inside her own trunk for the time being, waiting for when a suitable time came. At present, she abandoned all distractions and busied herself with the kneepads she was making for Xu-momo, she was careful and quick, and since it wasn’t something big, she kept focused, that it only took an hour before she finished what she was working on in her hands.

Hui Ming didn’t delay, and early the next morning, she took it with her when she went to work, after waiting for His Majesty to get up and deal with the state affairs, she found some time and went to find Xu-momo in the rear chamber with the kneepads.

Xu-momo proved to be stubborn and tough, although she didn’t go out, but at such an hour, she had already meticulous tidied up everywhere, she was sitting slightly askew and leaning on the chair warming herself on the brazier, but after seeing Hui Ming, her relaxed bearing immediately disappeared, and she sat up straight, then asked about her purpose for being there.

Even though in the eyes of others, she, Song Hui Ming had long become a close confidant of Xu-momo, but whenever she was in front of momo, she didn’t give her any preferential treatment, she still used such formal tone, which Hui Ming had long become used to, after greeting her, she took out the pair of kneepads and presented them, then courteously said, “It’s the fine mink fur that was sent by Su-gonggong, to show respect.”

Although Hui Ming didn’t mention herself, Xu-momo lowered her head and touched the kneepads, the fur was soft and it had fine stitches, compared with those ordinary female embroiderers the attention in this was exceedingly more meticulous, how could she not know that this was Hui Ming’s kind intention?

Although she didn’t inquire about it herself, but in Hui Ming’s eyes, it was obvious that Xu-momo had a look of gentleness, though her voice still held a serious tone: “Did Wei-shi bother you again these days?”

Hui Ming hurriedly shook her head, she thanked her once again, then spoke highly of Xu-momo’s identity and influence, seeing that all the words that should be said had been said, due to Xu-momo’s temper, she was afraid that the next words she would say was to urge her to immediately go back, and not delay her errands, so she rushed ahead of the other party and quickly asked: “Momo, there is one more thing…”

Xu-momo straightened her body, and Hui Ming looked at her with her head down, then she spoke of her doubts about His Majesty sending Su-gonggong to handle the previous empress’ death anniversary.

Xu-momo frowned, and instead of giving a direct answer, she asked, “Such a thing, why don’t you directly ask Su-gonggong about it?”

Hui Ming certainly knew that it is was quicker to directly ask Su-gonggong about it, in fact, not only the death anniversary of the previous empress, but she also couldn’t wait to ask Su-gonggong directly whether he was involved with the two princes competing to seize the throne at the moment, however, regarding such an important event, if Su-gonggong didn’t trust that person how could he easily open his mouth, in addition to having a deep conversation with a stranger, to assume that she could ask without exposing any bit of trace, it was hard, it would also arouse Su-gonggong’s suspicion, thus until today she still couldn’t find a chance to mention it in front of Su-gonggong.

Seeing the hesitation on Hui Ming’s face, Xu-momo sighed like she hated iron for not becoming steel2: “You are so close to that boy Jin3, yet you don’t ask him if something’s wrong, but turn a corner and ask other people instead? This is not the way for a husband and wife to get along! “

Hui Ming hearing the first half of her words in her mind already felt that something was wrong, and when she finally heard the words “husband and wife”, her heart jumped even more, at this time, she jumped up from her seat and shook her head to deny it “I am not, I didn’t!”.

It’s just that, when she heard such words in her previous life, her heart was filled with resentment and injustice, wanting to prove her innocence, but what about now? Hui Ming was stunned as she thought, now she was also in a panic and denied it, but the feeling in her heart, turned out to be something that she herself couldn’t tell…

Hui Ming was in a daze then she heard Xu-momo say again, “When you first came here, I had thought that you were unwilling, but looking at you these days it seems that I was wrong, since you have come around, you should properly get along, also how did you think of this kind of silly matter?”

After hearing this, Hui Ming finally recovered, and since she couldn’t clearly speak of it, she pressed down the complicated feeling in her heart and stood up for Su-gonggong: “Momo misunderstood, it’s because I had once met Su-gonggong when I first entered the palace, then after that when he saw me being punished by the head momo in the Bureau of Administration before, he offered a hand to help me, Su-gonggong is a man of honor, not as rumored by the others …”

Having listened to this, Xu-momo tilted her head and looked at her then grunted coldly: “Although it is not a secret, since it is related to the previous empress’ death anniversary, the reason cannot be told to just anyone, since you say that boy Jin has no intention towards of you, he certainly doesn’t want you to know, so how can I speak about it with you?”

Hui Ming hearing this was at a loss, then she heard Xu-momo open her mouth again: “You might as well go back and ask first, if that boy Jin doesn’t treat you as an outsider, he would naturally be willing to tell you, if you come back here again, then I will tell you the reason.”

Hui Ming: … Please read at insidethemirror translations. DO NOT REPOST.

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The author has something to say:

Hui Ming: Wait, I’m a little dizzy, something seems to be wrong? God assists * sees everything clearly * doesn’t eat dog food *

Xu-momo: Humph, you two are pretending with me again!

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES:

1. 根蜡烛: stay silent ↩

2. 恨铁不成钢: idiom, to feel resentful towards sb for failing to meet expectations and impatient to see improvement ↩

3. 瑾: Su Gonggong, his name is Su Jin ↩

If there are any mistakes, please do not hesitate to point it out.

Chapter 17 – Title – Chapter 19

❀.(*´◡`*)❀. °˖✧°˖✧° ˖✧°˖✧° ❀.(*´◡`*)❀.

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I do not own any of the novels translated in this website. All credits go to their respective author/s.

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